The Holy Fire of God’s

Glory

Dr. John D. Shiver

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are taken from the New King James
Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Special thanks to Paula Bordin for her work on the cover design

Copyright 2010
First Edition
John D. Shiver

World rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system,
transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy
photograph, magnetic or other record, without prior agreement and written permission of
the author.

ISBN: 978-0-578-06395-9

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What leaders are saying about The Holy Fire Of His Glory:

John’s dedication and service stands as a model for all Christians everywhere. We
resonate with the same desire and dream that John has, to see with our eyes what we
have beheld in our spirits for so long…Heaven to come down and kiss the earth again.
John brings revival to life by providing a compelling and unforgettable narrative that
will provoke you to examine the depths of your faith and encourage you to reaffirm your
life and commitment to Jesus and His plan. John truly shows “the shape of Godliness.”

Pastor Lynne Hammond

Living Word Christian Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota

John Shiver calls on over 30 years of ministry experience in thousands of meetings and
dozens of denominations around the world to bring this timely and prophetic word to the
modern Church. Its sober message is provocative, balanced, and challenging. It will be a
blessing to many in the Body of Christ and may it spark a fresh desire for holiness,
reverence, and the fear of God in our nation again. I highly recommend this book to any
Christian who truly has a sincere desire for a deeper and more intimate walk with the
Lord.

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda

Christ For All Nations
Orlando, Florida

The revivalist Charles G. Finney remarked, “There will never be a revival until
somebody makes particular efforts for this end”. Thank you, John, for your particular
effort to bless the Body of Christ with this timely publication. Biblical, anointed,
convicting, and passionate--this vital message calls for prayerful study and assimilation.
I recommend it wholeheartedly as a MUST to everyone who hungers for a Heaven-sent
holiness revival.

Gunter Krallmann, Ph.D.

Author, Teacher, Speaker
Youth With A Mission
Norway

John has presented us with a work that is very provoking and full of truth that the Church
needs to embrace and hear. I know John to be a man who is very passionate about the
Body of Christ and therefore know that this book is written from a heart filled with the
compassion of God. I recommend every leader and person in the Body of Christ read this

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book with an open mind and heart. God’s Word must be the plumb line and compass for
the Church. Yes John, we MUST have revival!

Pastor Jerry McKinnon

El Bethel Church
Hazlehurst, Georgia

John Shiver has been a personal mentor to me for many years. This book is born out of a
deep-rooted love for God's glory, honor, and Word. John exposes a dangerous
atmosphere which is evident in some segments of today's church, where irreverence,
deception, and in some cases outright rebellion, is tolerated. Every leader in the body of
Christ needs to read this book.
Pastor Michael Peterson
Sr. Pastor Maranatha Fellowship
Nappanee, Indiana

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 Table of Contents
Preface .......................................................................................................................... 6

Introduction................................................................................................................... 9

Chapter One: The Indescribable Holiness Of God ................................................14

Chapter Two: Whatever Happened To The Fear Of The Lord?............................33

Chapter Three: Sin Is STILL A Very Serious Issue With God! ..............................53

Chapter Four: The “Mystery of Lawlessness”.......................................................71

Chapter Five: The Three Greatest Sins of the Church...........................................82

Chapter Six: Whatever Happened To The Need For Repentance?......................93

Chapter Seven: The Consequences of Ignoring the Holy Spirit’s Voice...............121

Chapter Eight: The Anointing of God Does NOT Equal God’s Approval...........131

Chapter Nine: “And Then The Lord Said….” ......................................................142

Chapter Ten: Deception in the “Last Days” - Even In the Church!..................160

Chapter Eleven: Hunger for the Supernatural Without the “Fear of the Lord” ......178

Chapter Twelve: The Five Righteous Judgments of God........................................209

Chapter Thirteen: Why We MUST Have Revival Glory Once Again .....................229

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 Preface

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with FIRE.”
Luke 3:16

We are living in amazing times! God is moving in the earth in unprecedented ways.
Millions of people around the globe are experiencing new dimensions of the presence and
power of the Holy Spirit. But a greater revelation of His glory that is unlike anything we
have seen thus far is approaching. It is going to be a revelation of His HOLY FIRE!
Someone once said, “Just seeing the light doesn’t really change people. What changes
them is when they are touched by the fire!” In recent years, the Church has seen a new
dimension of the light of His glory. Now is the time for us to be touched and changed by
the consuming heat of the FIRE of His glory!
Fire is often associated with the presence and holiness of God in the Bible. With
only a few exceptions, whenever we read accounts of the revelation of the glory of God
in Scripture, it is associated with a reference to fire. Moses stood before a burning bush
that was ablaze with God’s glory and was told by the Lord to remove his sandals for the
ground on which you stand is holy ground (Exodus 3:5). Ezekiel’s vision of God’s glory
was described as being like fire in a windstorm (Ezekiel 1:4-28). He described the Lord
as being One filled with fire (Ezekiel 1:27-18). Daniel described His throne as flaming
with fire (Daniel 7:9-10). During the wilderness experience recorded in Exodus and
Numbers, God’s presence in the Israelites’ midst was seen as fire. Throughout the Old
Testament, God’s people experienced and therefore understood Jehovah to be a God of
fire! Hebrews 12:29 says of the Lord, “For our God is a consuming fire.” When the Holy
Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, His anointing was seen as divided tongues of fire
that rested upon the heads of the disciples. There is a very real connection between fire
and glory in Scripture.
John the Baptist spoke of Jesus saying, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
with FIRE (Luke 3:16). Baptism refers to being immersed in something. In Biblical
times, it was a reference to soaking a garment in dye until the new color had permeated
every fiber and its appearance was radically different. This was the same process John
was referring to when he prophesied Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire. This
would be a baptism of holy fire that would permeate every dimension of a person’s life.
Whatever fire touches, it changes!
In recent years the Church has experienced a new dimension of the presence of the
Holy Spirit. He has come to renew and refresh us. His presence has brought us into a
place of intimacy with God like we’ve not known before, but Jesus is going to do a new
thing that will complete the work that renewal has begun. He is going to baptize and
brand us with Heaven’s fire in ways so profound the Church will take on a completely
new look. This coming baptism in the fire of God’s glory is going to purify the Church,
as gold refined in the fire (Revelation 3:18), as we yield our lives in humility to Him.

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What will not be surrendered to Him will be burned up (Luke 3:17). In either case, His
fire is coming and when it does, everything it touches is going to change.
In 1994, God gave me a prophetic word that became the DNA of the ministry that
that He has entrusted to us since that time. He simply said, “I have called you to go and
help prepare My Church for what I have already prepared for My Church--the coming of
My Glory and the greatest revival the world has ever seen.” From that day to the time of
this writing, we have sought to be faithful to that commission. Since that original
prophetic word, we have ministered in well beyond 3,500 meetings in 49 denominations
on 5 continents; and we continue with no plans to slow down. His glory and power have
been present in every meeting and in every place He has sent us. To God be ALL the
glory, honor, and praise for all that He has done. The book you hold in your hands is all a
part of that process of seeking to help prepare the Church for something that God has
already prepared for the Church. He wants to reveal His power and glory like never
before, and in so doing, bring untold multitudes to Himself, but part of this process
involves the fire of His glory.
This book was written with two passionate desires in mind. One is a desperate hunger
to see a greater revelation of the presence and power of God in the earth like no other
generation has ever witnessed. When the glory of His presence fills the nations as the
Bible promises, it will bring forth an atmospheric revival that will potentially sweep
untold millions if not billions of people into the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ!
There is a second passionate motivation in this book that is closely connected to the
first. Until we, the Church, clearly embrace this truth, we will not see this glory and the
atmospheric revival God desires to send. That truth is that the presence of Almighty God
MUST be honored, MUST be reverenced, and MUST be respected by the Church before
revival glory in nations can become a reality. The holy fire of His glory will bring us to a
place of burning change which must come for a glorious Church without spot and
blemish to emerge. Part of this baptism with fire will cause the true Church to have
honor, reverence, and respect for the written word of God as well as His presence. We
MUST have a deep abiding love for both. One of the frightening characteristics of the
last days Church described in Scripture will be a lessening emphasis on the written Word
of God which ultimately will cause some people to stray from the truth. There is
sufficient evidence today to cause us to believe that this is happening now.
In the chapters ahead, we are going to look at things that the Church can do to help
correct that process by providing balance. One of those things the Church must do is to
return to a place of greater emphasis upon Scripture and understand why Scripture MUST
have precedence over personal, supernatural experiences. We thank God for the
restoration of the supernatural in the earth in our generation. But for these things to stay
pure, clean, and on target, they must be filled and consumed with the fire of God’s glory
as recorded in the written Word of God!
The author of Hebrews wrote these words, “For the word of God is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul
and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open
to the eyes of Him to whom WE MUST ALL GIVE ACCOUNT” (Hebrews 4:12-13).

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 One of the most powerful works that the Holy Spirit does in our lives is to take the
written Word of God and use it like a surgeon’s scalpel to separate the carnal or soul
nature of the human mind: the intellect, will, and the emotions from the spirit realm. He
brings the power of anointed truth filled with the life and power of God into a person’s
life which then enables them to live by God’s thoughts, attitudes, and ways rather than
those things which are controlling influences from the world. One of the devil’s most
deadly forms of deception is when he pollutes the truths of God with issues that grow out
of the soul realm of the mind, will, intellect, and emotions. This is what he invariably
uses to bring deception into the lives of people and to the Church corporately.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was one of the greatest men of God ever in England. God
used him in a phenomenal way to bring the holy fires of revival to his nation. During one
of my many visits to London, I went to the cemetery where he was buried. Engraved
upon his tomb are words of great hope and encouragement to anyone who happens to
pass by. In a message to anyone who ever stopped to read, Spurgeon told of how he was
not there in that cemetery but was enjoying himself forever in the glories of his final
home in Heaven with Jesus, whom he dearly loved. Then he gave the plan of salvation!
Spurgeon wanted all who passed by to know for themselves how to be saved from sin and
secure for themselves a home in Heaven with Jesus just as he had done so many years
before. Charles Haddon Spurgeon is still preaching today from the Word of God
engraved upon his tombstone in London! Perhaps there will be people in Heaven from
many different generations whose testimony will be that they read the Gospel on
Spurgeon’s tomb and made Jesus the Lord of their lives. Spurgeon was driven with
passion to see people saved--even after his death.
In his later years, someone asked Spurgeon the secret to his ministry. He replied that
everything he had ever been used by God to do could be traced back to the summers of
his childhood when he spent weeks at his grandmother’s home in the countryside of
England. He told of how his grandmother would pay him a penny for every mouse or rat
he killed, and a penny for every Scripture verse he could memorize. Spurgeon said that
he spent his summers on his grandmother’s farm killing mice and memorizing the Bible.
Near the end of his life he said he had long since forgotten all the mice and rats, but those
summers memorizing scripture had been the reason God used him in such an amazing
way.
Jesus used the written word of God as the basis for all that He did while He ministered
on the earth. He quoted it often and applied it as a measurement for all things. We would
do well to do likewise in this present hour of hungering and thirsting for greater and
greater revelations of the glory of the Lord.
This book contains many references to Scripture along with stories of great revivals of
the past. These are used in an effort to help us better understand where we as a Church
stand at this present time, and things that we can do that will better prepare us for all that
God wants to send in the days ahead.
Great revival is hovering on the horizon. God’s heart does not need to be changed at
all for it to come, but many Christians aren’t ready for that glory at present. God is
revealing His glory today in a measured way, but He desires to send a greater revelation
in the days ahead that will bring multitudes into His kingdom. He wants to send the holy,
consuming fire of His glory. Hopefully this book will help prepare you for all that God
has prepared for you. Let’s not allow things that hinder to stand in its way any longer!

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 Introduction

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life”
John 3:16

Back in the 1940’s, there was a story of a young couple who desperately wanted to
have children, but the wife had been unable to conceive. They had prayed and believed,
but no child had come. Then the dream they had both longed for became a reality. The
young wife became pregnant and nine months later delivered a beautiful, healthy, baby
boy. There were no words to express the joy this baby brought to them both. The baby
grew into a wonderful little boy that became the joy of this couple’s life. They were so
happy and thankful to God for the great gift that He had given to them.
The father worked for the railroad, tending a bridge that crossed the river in their
town. His job was to be on duty at the railway bridge opening it so that barges could
navigate the river and closing the bridge so that when trains approached, they could cross
safely to the other side.
One day the little six-year-old son went with his father to work. They had an
enjoyable morning together, and at noontime they ate the sack lunch the mother had
prepared for them both. As they were finishing, the little boy wandered outside of the
small railroad building where his father kept duty. Somehow he stumbled and fell down
several feet into the machinery that raised and lowered the bridge. He was scratched and
bruised, but otherwise he was going to be okay except one of his legs had gotten stuck
among the gears and machinery. His father jumped down to help his son, but the leg was
lodged. He tried to wiggle his foot around to slip it free. The little boy struggled but
couldn’t get his foot and leg out. As the father was working to help his son, he heard a
horrifying sound off in the distance. It was the sound of a distant whistle blowing! A
passenger train was coming and the bridge was up in the air! It had to be lowed before
the train arrived, or hundreds of people would plunge into the river.
The little boy was stuck in the gears that were needed to raise and lower the bridge.
The father was frantic. He began working with all his might to free his son. In the
distance he could hear the train whistle getting louder as the passenger train approached.
He was weeping and struggling to get the little boy out. He had to get him out quickly so
that he would have the time necessary to lower the bridge for the train to be able to pass
over safely, but his son was stuck and time was passing. What could the father do? If he
lowered the bridge, his son would be crushed to death in the gears of the bridge. If he
spared his son, a passenger train full of innocent people would plunge into the dark river
below. A decision had to be made.
That afternoon hundreds of people passed safely over the railroad bridge. Business
people, families, and vacationers were all resting comfortably onboard the train. Some
slept. Some were discussing business. Some were visiting with family over a meal in the

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dining car. Others were looking forward to arriving at their vacation destination. Some
passengers were looking forward to getting back home again from a long trip. But that
afternoon as the train passed safely over the river, none of the passengers onboard ever
heard the heartbreaking screams of grief and sorrow of a man who had just sacrificed his
only son in order that total strangers he would never meet might be saved from certain
death. His son died that afternoon in order that total strangers might live.
This story represents the very essence of the Gospel. The analogy isn't perfect, but
the point is that it was a painful choice! Two thousand years ago the God of the entire
universe stood and watched as His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, died a long and
agonizing death for the sins of the world. Jesus bled, suffered, and died on a wooden
cross for your sins, my sins, and the sins of every generation of mankind. Why? Because
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God loved people enough that to
prevent us from certain everlasting death in hell, He paid the price of sin with the only
sacrifice that would be sufficient to meet the requirements of justice. He gave His only
son Jesus’ life in exchange for ours. Jesus died that day on a cross in a garbage dump in
Jerusalem in order that we might live!
It cost God nothing to create the stars and the planets. It cost Him nothing to bring
the earth into existence. All that we see in this life was relatively simple for Him to
create. But two thousand years ago, it cost Him the most precious thing He had when He
watched from Heaven as His only Son, Jesus Christ, died for the sins of the world. He
gave Him over to die because “He so loved the world,” and the death of Jesus was the
only sacrifice that would be sufficient to pay for the sins of the world.
This simple message of the Gospel, when it is believed with simple child-like faith,
is sufficient to translate anyone from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
The power of this Gospel can change everything in the life of the one who believes it and
acts upon it. It destroys the power of sin and death and paves the way for a blessed life in
this world, and eternal life in the one that is to come. This Gospel makes it possible for
people to personally know God. Think of that. Ordinary people can have a personal
relationship with God because of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Yet the motivation behind this amazing act that would change the course of history
was love. It was a love so great, it is beyond man’s ability to measure it or understand
the fullness of its power. When I was in seminary, I had a philosophy professor named
Dr. Harold Kuhn. He was undoubtedly the most brilliant man I have ever met. He was a
German man approaching seventy years of age. He had wild, unkempt, reddish-blond
hair. He always smiled. His I.Q. was so high that it was beyond the ability of researchers
at that time to even measure it. All they were able to determine was that it was
somewhere out beyond two hundred--which was as high as the scale went. He spoke
thirty-three languages but only claimed seventeen, because he could think and reason in
seventeen languages, some simultaneously!
One afternoon, a student asked him this question, “Dr. Kuhn, what is the most
amazing concept that you have ever considered?” I felt like diving for cover under a
chair because I was sure that whatever it was, it had never occurred to me! Dr. Kuhn
smiled, lowered his head and looked at the student over his bifocal glasses. Then he said,
“The most amazing thought I have ever considered has frustrated me all these years,
because I have never been able to make very much progress in my efforts to understand

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it. I’ve tried and tried but have never been able to understand its meaning. That thought
is, ‘Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so.’”
A children’s Sunday School song told a story so amazing that the most brilliant man
I’ve ever met had struggled for years to make even modest progress understanding its
true significance. It was difficult for Dr. Kuhn, and it is mind-boggling for us today if we
really think about it. Why would God love us in such immeasurable ways that only He
can truly understand? Perhaps in eternity we will understand better, but today we must
simply receive His love and benefits as acts of His kindness and grace and wait for
another life in Heaven to learn and understand why.
Myles Coverdale translated the first English Bible to be printed in 1535. He was the
first person to use the word lovingkindness. It came from the Hebrew word checed
(pronounced, kheh'-sed) for which there is no English equivalent. Checed speaks of
God's continual striving to demonstrate His love and grace toward people always looking
for a way to bless them. Coverdale combined two English words, loving and kindness to
express the true meaning of this powerful Hebrew word. It is used 240 times in the Old
Testament. It also denotes strength, steadfastness, and love which can never be shaken.
Abounding and plenteous in checed is the way God is described in the Old Testament
(Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8; Nehemiah 9:17; Jonah 4:2).1 The God of the Old Testament
is the same God as in the New Testament, and is still the same now. He does not change!

The Gospel Is Really Quite Simple

The Gospel is simple. It’s not complicated at all unless people make it
complicated. All that mankind needs to know that will enable them to live forever in
Heaven can be reduced to a few short words. If a person will simply believe those words
and then act upon them, everything will change for that person. It’s really that simple!
On many clear, blue-sky days particularly on the weekends, the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is preached from 10,000 feet in the air over Disney World, Sea World, and
Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. A skywriter regularly takes his small airplane and
with smoke spells out these words high above the city: “God Loves You,” “Jesus Loves
You,” and “Jesus Died for You.” This can be seen from many miles in every direction.
He usually puts a smiley face behind his message. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of
people from all over the globe have watched him maneuver his small airplane in the skies
above Orlando as he proclaimed the great Gospel and love of Jesus from the skies above
the world’s most visited vacation resorts. Only God knows how many seeds have been
sown into the hearts of people through his efforts. Undoubtedly, he will meet many
people in Heaven who were saved because of the message of the Gospel that they read in
the sky.
The simple message of “God Loves You,” “Jesus Loves You,” and “Jesus Died
for You” is the most important truth anyone can ever know in this life. If they never
learn any other fact during their time on earth, the message high above Orlando is
sufficient to guarantee them a home in Heaven for all of eternity--if they will act upon
that one truth.
God didn’t give His only Son, our Lord Jesus, to start a movement. He didn’t
give Him up to suffering and death in order to create a church. He gave the Lord Jesus

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that mankind might live and not die, and that they would come to Him in faith and
believe the Gospel.
At the time of this writing, I have now been in full-time ministry for over thirty
years. I have been allowed by God to travel the globe in the ministry; and based upon the
people I have met in many countries, I am totally convinced that what the world needs
today is for people everywhere to know Jesus! I passionately believe that the Gospel of
Jesus Christ works, for it is the power of God unto salvation. It changes and transforms
lives when people believe it, receive it, and allow it to do its work in their hearts. The
Gospel is the answer that the world in our generation so desperately needs to hear.
God desires to reveal Himself in our generation by the revelation of His power
and glory. He wants to send Holy Spirit revelation that will take the Church to new
levels of understanding who He really is. He wants to restore the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
He wants to send greater glory of His presence for the Church to enjoy. He wants to
impart the anointing of His Spirit that will enable His people to be used by Him for His
purposes. His chief motivation for doing all these things is not that people are entertained,
but that the Gospel of Jesus Christ be preached so a lost and dying world might be saved!

Revival Glory and the “Last Days ” Church

Like all the other books I have written thus far, this book is about revival. It is
about living in the last days before the return of the Lord Jesus for His Church. It is
about a generation that will live to see the Holy Spirit poured out on all flesh, and the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. It is about
a moment in history in which God will reveal Himself in the earth in ways that will
forever take away the doubts and excuses of ignorance from an unbelieving world. It is
about open heavens and revelations of glory like no other group of Christians have ever
witnessed! It is about what I call atmospheric revival--where the glory of the Lord
covers cities, regions, and nations and results in a harvest of precious souls that only God
can number.
This book is also intended to be a prophetic warning to the Body of Christ about
things that the Bible clearly teaches will come to pass in these last days as God is pouring
out His presence and power like never before. It is a prophetic warning based upon the
written Word of God in concert with the voice of the Holy Spirit calling Christians to
love God as never before, AND for us to honor God, reverence God, and obey God
like never before! It is a call for Biblical (not religious, denominational, or doctrinal)
holiness and true repentance to be restored to the Church once more in preparation for the
soon-coming Bridegroom. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus repeatedly said in His
addresses to the seven churches mentioned by name, “Hear what the Spirit is saying to
the churches.” This is a book that passionately cries out, saying the same thing, to all
who will listen. If we really are living in the final days before the coming of the Lord, we
need to clearly hear and understand the voice of the Lord in our generation--for our very
existence depends upon it. We must see and experience the burning, consuming fire of
His holiness once more!
There are many references and examples in this book having to do with the
church in America; however, these problems are reflective of conditions that exist in

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many other parts of the western Church as well.
A large amount of Scripture is quoted in this book. It is hoped that the reader will
approach these with an open mind, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. It is
not the intent of this author to present conclusions already made, and then select Scripture
to support them. The purpose in the abundant Scriptures is to simply lay out a portion of
the evidence, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, let the readers form their own
conclusions based upon what God's Word says in regard to what is presented in this
book.
It should be understood that we as Christians must base our understanding of our
faith upon a higher authority than our own personal experiences and opinions, or the
experiences and opinions of others. That higher standard of authority should be the Bible.
If the Bible is not true, then we Christians have no basis for our faith or understanding of
God. But if the Bible is true, then our beliefs must be firmly rooted in what the
Scriptures teach. The Bible is true, and as such, we can always find safety in standing
upon it as the final authority.
There has never been a day when there was so much at stake as the generation in
which we now live. We truly are living in prophetic times. The time is short and the
harvest of nations is still in the fields. The immeasurable love of God has been extended
to all mankind. The Holy Spirit now broods over lives, homes, churches, cities, and
nations, longing to reveal the glory and power of God in ways never before witnessed in
other generations! Some people like to say, “We’re just waiting upon God.” But in
reality, God is the One who is waiting upon the Church! He’s ready now to ignite holy
fires of revival by His Spirit and bring transformation in nations, and an ingathering
harvest so large it cannot be measured by human means. God does not need to change
anything in His heart to make that a reality. What must be changed is the content of our
hearts, His people, and the Church. We are the ones who must be changed before the
revival that God wants to send will become a reality.
The time is now. We simply must have atmospheric revival. The love of God
awaits multitudes in desperate need of love. It is our job to tell them! “For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

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 Chapter One

The Indescribable Holiness of God

“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
Because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”
1 Peter 1:15-16

Benny Hinn once shared a story about how as he was praying, he asked the Lord
why the angels in Heaven were always saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy” before the Throne of
God. And the Holy Spirit spoke to him and said, “That’s not how they say it.” Benny
was puzzled and replied, “But Lord, Your Word says that this is what they do.” And the
Lord spoke again, showing him that in Heaven, when the angels turn toward the Lord and
see Him, it is as if they are stunned by an electric shock by His indescribable beauty and
immeasurable holiness, and they shout almost by reflex, “Holy!! Holy!! Holy!!”

In Isaiah 6:1, we read the account of the prophet’s experience in the realms of
God. He recalled that experience saying, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the
Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
Above it stood seraphim: each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two
he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.’”

The Apostle John had a similar testimony regarding Heaven and the holiness of
God: “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and
within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come’” (Revelation 4:8).

The words holy and holiness and their related derivatives are used hundreds of
times in the Scriptures in an effort to describe the beauty, sacredness, and absolute purity
of God. But adequate explanations will not be had in this life for there are none with
which to compare Him. Human beings do not have the ability to truly understand and
appreciate the greatness of just who He really is! Having just watched God split the Red
Sea and forever deliver His people from the Egyptian armies, Moses cried out to the Lord
and said, “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).

Ezekiel’s life was forever changed when he was given the holy privilege of seeing
into the glory realms of Heaven. He gave a partial description of what he saw, and
included the activities of angelic beings about the throne of God. His description is

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“Thus were their faces Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each other touched
one another, and two covered their bodies. And each one went straight forward; they
went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went. As for the
likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the
appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was
bright, and out of the fire went lightning. And the living creatures ran back and forth, in
appearance like a flash of lightning” (Ezekiel 1:11-14).

And then Ezekiel saw the Lord and described Him this way. “And above the
firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire
stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high
above it. Also, from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color
of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His
waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.
Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rain day, so was the appearance of the
brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking…” (Ezekiel
1:26-29).

When Ezekiel had a revelation of the Lord, his only response was to fall on his
face in total surrender! This was the same reaction the Apostle John had in Revelation 1
when he encountered the risen Jesus. When we really see and experience the Lord in all
His splendor and glory, it is always a life transforming experience. We are forever
changed. Nothing can ever be the same in our relationship with Him again. We will view
Him differently and live and worship accordingly.
I had just checked into a hotel in Toronto several years ago. I had spent a long
day on airplanes and was ready for some dinner and sleep. I had just begun eating a salad
in the hotel restaurant when the presence of the Lord suddenly flooded over me. Then I
heard His voice deep in my heart say these exact words, “Son, I am a lot bigger than you
think I am.” I was stunned. In an instant, Scriptures to support that truth fired through
my spirit like bolts of lightning sent by the Holy Spirit. My dinner arrived, but I no
longer wanted to eat. I paid the check and went to my room to pray and enjoy the
presence of God that was so heavy upon me in that moment. It was wonderful. But it
also represented a radical change in the way that I viewed Him. I’ve not been the same
since, because in a moment of time, God showed me that He really is a lot bigger than
we think He is! His only limitations are those that we impose upon Him (Psalm 78:41).
Because we have believed that to be true, a new level of faith has emerged in our hearts
and in the things that we have attempted for Him in the earth.
Scientists estimate that the universe is approximately 156 billion light years
across. This means that it would take light traveling at 186,262 miles per second times
sixty seconds per minute, times sixty minutes per hour, times 24 hours per day, times
365.25 days per year, times 156 billion light years to go from one side to the other!2
Yet the Bible, speaking of His greatness and power as the One who designed and
created it all, says that, “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.”
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:4-6).

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 “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed
with honor and majesty, Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretches
out the heavens like a curtain” (Psalm 104:1-2).

He really is much bigger than we imagine Him to be. That is the reason that we,
as His people, must show Him the honor and unreserved respect that is due Him! We
must fear Him with a holy honor, reverence, and respect for He is God. It makes
absolutely no sense whatsoever that One this awesome would love us, care for our well-
being, and adopt us as His children if we will simply come to Him in faith and accept the
free gift of salvation that He has provided. That’s too big for us to be able to understand.
So we just accept it in child-like faith and enjoy the benefits of being His family.
But part of His very identity--beyond His beauty, majesty, and infinite power--is
the fact that He is righteous, just, pure, and holy! And we must not forget that. We
really do not understand the implications of what is really happening to us when we
experience God. We are having a personal encounter with Someone who passionately
loves us, but is so big that He created and sustains a universe that would take light
traveling at 186,262 miles per second approximately 156 billion light years to cross it.
Yet we get to call Him, “Our Father.” Our human minds are incapable of even
comprehending such a thought!

The Holy Spirit is “The Holy Spirit”

We are living in a time of great revelation of the glory of the Lord. One of the
messages of this hour is the revelation of the great love of God. It is so wonderful that
people everywhere are now learning to know and love God with the belief that He loves
them too. God is love! It is the very essence of His nature.
According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the word love and its
derivatives are found approximately 485 times in the Bible. That is a large number of
references to love, but let’s compare that same number to the words holy and holiness
which are found approximately 600 times in Scripture. If we add in the derivatives and
the root idea of holy as they relate to the behavior of God’s people in such words as
sanctify, sanctification, or saint, the number of references grows to approximately 870
references. The point being made is that we rejoice in the 485 times that the Bible speaks
of love, but let us not ignore the 870 times that the same Bible speaks of the holiness of
God and His desire to reflect that holiness in His people! In this hour of ever-increasing
revelation of the glory of the Lord in the earth, we must never take His presence for
granted. He is a holy God above all else, and He desires and will soon demand that His
people treat Him as such. Every experience we have with God in this life is a result of
the Person of the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself to us and in us and through us. These
are days of increasing manifestations of the glory of God in the earth, but the glory of
God is not a feeling, an emotion, a manifestation, or a revelation. Some have deified the
glory of God almost like God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God the
Glory. Glory is not a thing. Glory is not an experience. Glory is not a substance, a cloud,
a wind, or a fire. Glory is a Person! Glory has a face. Glory is the manifested presence
of the Person of the Holy Spirit being experienced by people in the physical realm, using

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one or more of their five physical senses. This is why it is such an amazing experience!
Because He is the Holy Spirit, everything and everyone that He touches receives a
transference of His very nature and character. Whenever He is revealed to people as the
glory, there will be a manifestation of Heaven’s life, love, and blessing that will be
imparted. When He touches someone, there will be an imprint like a brand that will be
left in that person’s life, for no one can touch or be touched by God and go away the
same as they came.
When God chooses to pull back the veil that separates the earth from the
Heavenly realm and allows Heaven to invade the earthly realm, things must change. In
Isaiah 11:2 we read that one of the dimensions of His personality is that He is the “Spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” The Church has not known very much about
this manifestation of His presence. But it is coming! This is the fire of His glory that John
the Baptist spoke of in Luke 3:16.
It is that revelation of His holiness and the transference of His glory and power
that changes us when we really meet Him; and that change opens a new dimension and
capacity for us to experience more than before. The greater the change in our hearts, the
greater our capacity becomes to experience more and more of Him. It all becomes a
repeating cycle of blessing, producing change that then produces an even greater capacity
for blessing in our lives! This truth is reaffirmed in the following: “Who may ascend into
the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a
pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall
receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is
Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face” (Psalm 24:3-6). Jesus
was referring to this truth when He said in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.”

Jesus described those with righteous and pure attitudes toward God as being
blessed. Isn’t the lifestyle of enjoying the blessings of God the place where every child
of God longs to be? Yet Jesus said that it all comes by the integrity and holiness of the
heart! There is an implied meaning here which seems to suggest that while it is true that
"the pure in heart will see God,” it is also true that those who are not pure in heart will
not see God.

“For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who
rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit” (1
Thessalonians 4:7-8).

The words holy and sanctified both mean set apart and separated unto God.
Other Bible words which describe the same are: pure heart, clear conscience, fear of
God, upright, blameless, dead to self, and bearing our cross. Some of these will be used
in this book.
Being separated to God is always a process. Many Christians used to think they
must wear drab and outdated clothes, no make-up, and avoid doing a long list of things.
But they still couldn’t love each other! These practices were little more than dead
religion. Holiness is ALWAYS a heart issue first. The key to this process is to admit and
ask forgiveness quickly, whenever we sin.

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 Paul said in this Scripture (1Thessalonians 4:7-8) that rejection of the message of
holiness and integrity in the lives of God’s people is actually a rejection of God Himself!
Holiness is not a code word for dead tradition and religion which binds people up in guilt,
but is rather a path to freedom, blessing, and true intimacy with God! It is giving God
our very best, because we love Him so much.
There are several themes that run throughout this book. They are the revelation of
the holiness of God, which should produce a holy respect and reverence for God along
with repentance: the turning away from things that offend God. All of these things are
here within the context of God’s desire to send the greatest revelation of His glory that
will produce the greatest revival the world has ever seen!
The Church has based its very existence for the past two thousand years of history
upon certain foundational beliefs and practices. We passionately believe in such things
as the God of the Bible being the one true God. We believe in the birth, life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus. We believe in the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The
Church has been built upon foundational truths such as evangelism and discipleship, the
observance of the Lord’s Supper, baptism, prayer, the fellowship of believers, and the
work of the Holy Spirit. All of these things have defined who we are as a people.
Yet if we compare the number of examples in Scripture where the above
mentioned doctrines have their origins, their number would pale in comparison to the
number of times the Scripture speaks of topics such as holiness (relating to God and His
people), repentance, obedience, and having respect and a holy fear of God. These truths
run throughout the entire Bible, whereas some of our most foundational truths are
mentioned in a relatively small number!
If true revival is to come, and the Church is to be transformed into the pure
spotless Bride of Christ, we must return to the place of allowing God to define Himself
by His Spirit and His Word rather than being defined by denominations, churches,
preachers, and conference teachers who tell us what they believe Him to be. We must
humble ourselves and be taught by God and changed by God, allowing Him to transform
us into His image, rather than the Church attempting to change Him into the image of
who we want Him to be.

The Church is the Body of Christ

Have you ever seen a couple that has been married for many years and you
thought they almost looked like each other? It was not your imagination. They really do
look like each other! Researchers have discovered that when a man and woman live
together for many years beholding each other’s face on a daily basis, they subconsciously
begin to imitate each other’s facial expressions. As they do, they begin exercising the
same facial muscle groups, and over time those muscle groups begin to cause the couple
to begin to look alike!
The same principle applies to the Church who truly spends time beholding Jesus
in His glory. This is what Paul was speaking of when he said, “But we all, with unveiled
face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same
image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

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 The more time we spend living with Jesus, gazing upon Him continually, the
more we will begin to resemble Him. When we really begin to have the eyes of our
understanding opened to see Jesus for who He really is, we begin to take on His attitudes
and nature. Our thoughts and ways of living begin to diminish, and His thoughts and
ways begin to predominate. The more time we spend in the Word and in prayer, the more
profound the change becomes.
Let’s look at just a few of the Scriptures from the New Testament, written under
the New Covenant of grace, which refer to the 21st century Church’s responsibility to live
before the Lord lives of integrity, repentance, and reverence for His presence. These
Scriptures from God’s Word are not some form of legalistic religion intended to bind
people up in guilt, condemnation, and shame. They stand on their own as statements of
the expectations that Jesus has for His Church in this hour.
“…that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that
He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5: 26-27).

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon
the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient
children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He
who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be
holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges
according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here
in fear” (1 Peter 1:13-17).

“…that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in
every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord” (2
Corinthians 7:1).

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the
Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us

have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For
our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29).

Jesus did not come into the world to establish a religion or even to establish a
church. When Jesus came, it was to establish His Father’s Kingdom! That was the
ultimate truth behind the message the disciples preached: the destruction of the devil’s
kingdom and the establishment of the Father’s kingdom. A kingdom is a place where all
rule and government is determined by the king. The king’s likes and dislikes are
respected, and the king’s values are considered to be the final rule in that kingdom. If He
is the King, then those who are His subjects must conform to His desires and values, not
vice versa! He is so awesome, but He is also so holy and pure! If we are going to live in

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His kingdom, those attributes of His nature will manifest themselves in our natures as
well, unless we refuse to repent and continue to live in lawlessness instead! This is what
Paul was referring to when he said, “…work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure”
(Philippians 2:12-13).
John alluded to this same truth when he said, “If you know that He is righteous, you
know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29).

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our
great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us
from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good
works” (Titus 2:11-14).

Walking before the King in His Kingdom with integrity of heart is not an option
for us! Keeping the King’s commandments and living by His values are not dead
religion and tradition. They are the requirements that He demands from those who
consider themselves to be His people. Because of the responsibility for accountability
before the Lord, it would actually be better for people to have never heard the Gospel
than to hear of it and continue to live their lives in ways of lawlessness and rebellion
against God! Peter referred to this when he said, “For if, after they have escaped the
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they
are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the
beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to
them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his
own vomit,’ and, 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’” (2 Peter 2:20-
22).

As we live our lives in Godly reverence, respect, obedience, and fear, the Holy Spirit
works in our hearts to reproduce the very nature of God Himself in our lives and daily
living. This is what Paul was referring to in Galatians 5:22-23 when he described the fruit
of the Holy Spirit being: “Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” But as God is doing His work by the Holy
Spirit within, He needs our cooperation as well. God doesn’t need our works to make us
righteous in His sight, but He does need our yieldedness and surrender to cooperate with
Him in the removal of those things that offend Him. The Apostle Paul was referring to
this when he wrote, “…Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and
clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from
the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for
every good work” (2 Timothy 2:19-21).

He continued in this truth by saying to the Church in Rome, “I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,

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acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing your mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

The greatest revivalist in American history was Charles Finney. God used him to
bring atmospheric revivals that transformed cities and regions in America during the
1830s and ‘40s. Finney had the highest number of converts that remained faithful of any
modern day revivalist. Yet near the end of his life, Charles Finney remarked, “If I had
the strength to go through the churches again, instead of preaching to convert sinners, I
would preach to bring the churches to the spiritual standard of holy living.”3

Finney was deeply concerned that those who professed to be Christians

understand the absolute necessity of living their lives in ways that gave honor and respect
to Jesus! He understood salvation to be much more than a prayer that was prayed, but
also a life that was to be lived as unto the Lord! Though salvation is absolutely free, it
should never be considered cheap! He taught new converts the responsibilities of being a
Christian. One of his most famous lectures were “Instructions to New Converts, Part 1
and Part 2.”4

When Revival Came To Us

Great revival came to the church I was pastoring in January 1993. Many of us had
prayed and fasted for three long years for something that we had never even seen before.
We longed to see the manifestation of the glory of God. And then in early 1993, the
heavens opened and He came to us and touched us in many wonderful ways. We had
continuous meetings day and night for four weeks. The presence of God was tangible.
Hundreds of people were saved. Life as we had known it was forever changed, and the
ministry we have today around the world was birthed in that outpouring of the Holy
Spirit.
But not everyone was changed by the awesome presence of God that was so evident
in all of our services. My praise and worship leader was one of those. He had been a
successful professional singer and musician before he found the Lord in prison while
serving a drug-related sentence. God called him to become a worship leader and placed a
great anointing upon his life. There were many prophetic words of how God was going
to use him and his music all over the world. He really was that good naturally; and with
the wonderful touch of God that was on his life, there was virtually nothing he couldn’t
have done. The presence of God would come in awesome ways as he led worship, but he
did not have integrity in his life and had very little reverence for the Lord. He loved
music more than he loved God. It would be a better description to say he was an
extremely gifted, talented, and professional musician, than to say he led people in “spirit
and truth” worship to a God he held in reverence and respect. Yet his music and his gift
brought the glory and power of God into every meeting!
A year passed after the revival had come and God’s presence continued to flow every
time the church came together. But one day my worship leader came to me and told me
of offers he had recently received to perform rock music in a local bar, and how much

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money he could make for singing only three hours a night. He told how he could earn
more money in three hours than most people in the church made working forty hours a
week. I told him of the responsibility he had to the Lord to keep the wonderful gift that
God had given to him pure. It would not be pleasing to the Lord who had done so much
for him to take the holy anointing of God and prostitute it singing secular music for a
paycheck in an environment such as a bar. He totally agreed, and I thought the matter
was history. Then it came up again a few weeks later. I shared many of the same things
we had already discussed before with him, and he thanked me for reminding him of what
he knew in his heart to be true. He already knew that to take what God had given to him
and use it for the promotion of every kind of immoral behavior that goes on in bars would
be offensive to the Lord. I thought that would settle it forever, but I was wrong.
Several weeks later, we had the most incredible worship performance we had ever
known in a Sunday morning service. I used the word performance because that was all it
was. The music was incredible. The building resonated with the sound of the
instruments. His singing was beyond anything I had ever heard from him before, and this
guy had an awesome voice. Performance wise, I would have given him a “10.” If I were
measuring the anointing of the Holy Spirit and manifestation of the presence of God in
that Sunday service, I would have given him a “0!” It was totally dead. It was
frightening; because it was so apparent to anyone there that something was terribly
wrong. I was on the platform struggling to pray. I was crying out to God to please come
into that meeting! The music was incredible, but the meeting had nothing of the sense of
God whatsoever. I knew something was terribly wrong. I rebuked devils. I interceded.
I repented. I spoke of the blood of Jesus. I praised. I worshipped. I was terrified,
because I realized that unless something changed in that meeting, I would be unable to
minister and would probably be forced to just send people home early! I had never felt
so totally helpless and alone in ministry.
The music went for about forty minutes. I made the decision that once the worship
concluded, I would greet the people, make the announcements, receive the offering, and
then release the church to have a prayer meeting that day or just go home. I couldn’t lie
and tell people I was sick. I had no excuse or explanation. I just knew there was no way
I could preach in an environment that was so void of the presence of the Lord. I had
nothing to give anyone and had no idea what the problem was.
My worship leader was leading his last worship song of this fateful morning. And
then I heard the soft voice of the Holy Spirit say to me, “He took My anointing to a bar
last night.”
I was shocked beyond belief, but then I understood why the manifest presence of God
had been removed from the service. The Holy Spirit had been grieved by my worship
leader’s willful and deliberate sin and prostitution of the anointing of God. When he
finished, I took the microphone and simply told the people to bow their heads and close
their eyes; and I began my faltering, feeble attempt alone, without musicians or
instruments to softly lead them in one simple worship chorus. Suddenly the presence of
the Lord flooded the sanctuary. Tears filled my eyes. The Lord had come, and our only
reason for coming to church had returned. Our only reason for gathering that day was to
be with Him.
We had a wonderful service. I was able to preach under a powerful anointing of the
Holy Spirit. At the end, many people were touched and blessed by His presence and

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power. But when I finished ministering to people, I went straight to the worship leader
and asked him point blank, “Where were you last night?” He was stunned by my
question, but he knew that I already had the answer. With a bit of a smirk on his face he
said, “I sang in a bar last night, and they paid me more money than most people make in
a week; and I’m going back again next Saturday.” That was the last time he ever led
worship in our church. He left and took full-time employment singing in that bar, and
others. The money was great for a while. Then his marriage collapsed because of his
adultery, and he eventually moved in with a woman he had met while singing in the bar.
He started drinking and using drugs again, then his health began to falter, and his
lucrative singing career began to dissolve. He wound up on Social Security disability. He
and his girl friend eventually moved into a home in Miami with two homosexuals. His
entire life and destiny went downhill. All this was so tragic and so completely
unnecessary. God had such great things in store for this man, yet he missed it all.
Read and then study the accounts of the tabernacle in Scripture. Being clean, body
and spirit, before coming into the glory was of utmost importance in the eyes of the Lord.
The casual “I can do whatever I want to do” mindset had no place in God’s dealings with
His people in the Old Testament. The God of the Old is still the same God of the New
Testament! So great was the fear of the Lord and holiness, that God issued these
instructions concerning ministry in the holy place:

“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening for
his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the
opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. And upon its hem you shall make
pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between
them all around. A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate,
upon the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and
its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he
comes out, that he may not die. You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on
it, like the engraving of a signet: Holiness to the Lord” (Exodus 28: 31-36).

Obedience and holiness unto the Lord was the place of safety, and it still is today.
Encountering the glory of the Lord is something that is very sacred and holy, and going
into His glory unprepared could also be very dangerous! When Aaron went into the
glory of the holy place, those on the outside listened to hear the sounds of the bells on his
robe. If they could hear the bells ringing as he moved about, they would know that he
was still alive. This became the standard practice for all the priests who went beyond the
veil, into the glory, carrying blood for the atonement of the sins of the nation. Going
into the glory of the Lord was a very serious matter and something that was to be done
with great care.
God’s people must understand that God is still holy; and when we come into His holy
presence, we should do so with hearts of gratitude and respect for who He is. We should
passionately love Him enough that we don’t want to wound and grieve Him by sin and
disobedience. But if having sufficient love for Him isn’t enough to cause us to walk in
integrity before the Lord, we should respect and fear Him to such an extent that we will
seek to avoid the consequences of sin and its resulting judgment. We must come with
hearts tender and submitted, and be willing to be changed in whatever ways He deems

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necessary. There are many carnal things that He will allow for a time because of His
great grace and mercy while He gives us time to repent and turn in a different direction.
His love will carry people for a prescribed season of time that is known only to Him. He
wants to give them ample time to surrender their wills to Him and allow Him to bring
about changes by His Spirit in their lives and hearts. But through it all, He is still a Holy
God who is offended by the sin and rebellion of people. God does love people just as
they are, and will continue to love them to the very end, but His love doesn’t make room
for continuous and indefinite lawlessness and rebellion against Him. Sin will have
consequences in a person’s life.

Jesus is NOT a “Friend of Sinners”

That title got your attention, didn’t it? Good. Let’s repeat it again for
clarification. Jesus is not a friend of sinners. His enemies, the Pharisee’s, accused Him
of that but it was not true. He passionately loves sinners. Jesus cares for sinners, and He
cares about the pain their sin has caused them. Jesus has indescribable mercy for sinners
and extends grace to them. Jesus so passionately loves sinners that He went to a cruel
cross to bleed and suffer for about six hours before He died to pay the full price for the
salvation of sinners. Jesus loves sinners; but He is not a friend of sinners if they choose
to continue to live in their sin, lawlessness, and rebellion. His enemies accused Him of
being a “friend of sinners.” Jesus’ reply to His critics was, “I say to you that likewise
there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just
persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). He continued saying, “Likewise, I say to
you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”
(Luke 15:10). That joy came when those who were lost in their sin turned and received
His mercy and grace! Sin is rebellion in the eyes of the Lord and is a serious issue. Jesus
is not a friend of those who reject the free offer of His mercy, love, and grace, which
would transform them from sinners into people who walk in integrity, holiness, and the
fear of the Lord! He continues to love them, but He is no longer their friend when they
reject His love, choosing rebellion instead. He will not just hang out with those who
refuse His holiness and refuse to repent of their sin.
Look at the life of Zacchaeus as described in Luke 19:3. Jesus went to his house for
dinner to the consternation of people who didn’t understand why Jesus would be
associated with such a wicked tax collector. After all, Jesus was the holy Son of
Almighty God. But look at Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus after they had dinner together.
Zacchaeus had obviously repented of his sins of greed and offered to make restitution to
every person that he had wronged.
What about the woman who came to Jesus in Luke 7 and anointed His feet with
perfume, weeping and wiping His feet with her tears; her critics looked on in
condemnation of both Jesus and the woman? She was weeping because of the love and
mercy that He showed to her in forgiving all the heavy burdens of her past sins. She was
genuinely sorry for the way she had lived and was so grateful for His mercy instead of
the harsh judgment she knew she deserved.
What about the woman who was caught in the act of adultery in John 8? She
thought she would surely be stoned to death for her sin, but she wasn’t. Jesus asked her

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where her accusers had gone and she replied, “No man condemns me, Lord.” To which
Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn you; Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Jesus
extended love, grace, and mercy to this woman who, according to the law, should have
died for her sins. Jesus forgave her but clearly instructed her that she was to change
course in the way she lived by true repentance from her sins.
The contemporary mindset which says, “I am a friend of God” is only a partial
truth. I am a friend of God, but God is not just another ‘good old buddy’ of mine! He is
Almighty God! He is Maker, Creator, Sustainer of the entirety of absolutely everything
that even exists. For that reason, we must treat Him with honor and respect and have a
reverential fear in all our dealings with Him. We receive His love, grace, and mercy with
great joy and thanksgiving; but we must never take any of those things for granted for we
deserve absolutely none of it. It comes only because of His grace and mercy and in spite
of our behaviors!
We are living in a generation in which millions of people around the globe are
experiencing God’s glory and power in ways never before imagined. There is a new
level of intimacy with God that is now available to all who are hungry to know Him. We
are truly a blessed people that are living in prophetic times of unparalleled glory in the
earth; but with the blessing comes a responsibility to be faithful in what God is allowing
us to experience! We must take what God is doing with the acute awareness that
something very significant and very holy is taking place in our times. We must
understand that every person recorded in Scripture who had a profound experience with
the holiness of our awesome God was changed. They could not remain as they had been
before. Having an encounter with God really is a life-transforming experience. Let’s
examine a few examples of this truth.

Moses and the Burning Bush

In Exodus 3, we read the story of what was apparently Moses’ first encounter
with the glory of the Lord. He was alone tending his father-in-law’s sheep on the
backside of the desert, but the Angel of the Lord (in all probability Jesus) appeared unto
him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. Moses was curious, because the bush
was ablaze but not being consumed. As he approached the burning bush, the Lord spoke
to him calling him by name saying, “Moses, Moses!” Moses replied to the Lord and said,
“Here I am.” And then the Lord said, “‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals
off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’ ‘Moreover’ He said, ‘I am
the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:5-6)

A pastor told me recently that he allowed “no dead religion or tradition” in his
church. He laughed in amusement that his people regularly used profanity in church
(which he was eager and happy to give examples of) even while giving testimony to
things that God had done. He said, “In our church we just like to get together and hang
out with God.” As I listened to him, I thought of Moses’ encounter with God in the
Scripture cited above; how God commanded Moses to even remove his sandals, for the
ground on which he stood had become holy because of the glory of His presence! I could

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imagine Moses turning and hiding his face, because of the wonder of God’s manifested
presence in that place. He was actually afraid that he might see God and possibly die as a
result!
As I listened to this pastor bragging about the supposed “freedom from dead
religion and tradition that they enjoyed” in their church as they just spent time “hanging
out with God,” I thought of Exodus 33 and 34. Moses had grown from Exodus 3 to 33 to
a place where he passionately loved the presence of God. He loved the glory of God so
much that he told the Lord that he would prefer to continue living in the wilderness and
have God’s glory, than to go into Canaan with all of its blessings and God’s glory not be
there. He cried out to the Lord--begging Him, “Please, show me your glory” (Exodus
33:18).

God was so pleased with Moses’ request that He said, “'I will make all my
goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion.’ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’
And the Lord said, ‘Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall
be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover
you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My
back; but My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:19-23).

God was so pleased that He essentially said, “Moses, I am going to get as close to
you as I can get without killing you. I will hide you in a crevice in the rock, and use a
mountain to insulate you from My awesome power so that it doesn’t kill you! You cannot
see My face and live, but I will hide you and cover you with My hand and then allow you
to see My back as I pass by you” (Author’s Paraphrase).

God literally got as near to Moses as his human body was able to stand. Moses
was not allowed to see His face, because the Bible says that His face is so awesome and
powerful that the human body is not capable of withstanding its force! Just as a human
being cannot gaze upon the explosion of a nuclear weapon with naked eyes without going
blind, neither is the human body capable of gazing upon the Lord in the fullness of His
holiness. In spite of the fact that Moses did not see His face, Moses was so illuminated
with the glory of God that forty days later the Israelites needed a veil over his face
because of the light that was radiating from him. That was power!
That is what makes the Church mindset of today so confusing when people have
such a casual and careless manner about encountering God. Many speak about
“accessing the heavenly realms” like inserting a credit card into an ATM in order to get a
$20 bill to spend for lunch! They consider themselves to be so free from “dead religion
and tradition” that they are proud they can be comfortable even using profanity in His
presence. Some teachers today act like having encounters with Almighty God are little
more than watching “Monday Night Football” with their next door neighbor. Moses "just
hung out with God.” but the holiness of this experience was so powerful that had God not
shielded him, it would have killed him! God allowed all of His goodness to pass before
Moses. I really doubt that Moses was laughing and using profanity in His presence when
the events of Exodus 34 were unfolding.

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 This was certainly the spiritual attitude and mindset Paul was addressing when he
wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about the attitudes and conditions that would
be present in the days right before the coming of the Lord. “…having a form of
godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:5).

The power in godliness is God’s power to change and transform people’s lives
through their repentance from sin. Paul prophesied that there would be a form of
godliness in the Church in the last days that would appear to be acceptable to God. That
“godliness” is of a sort that never changes people’s hearts or the way they live. It is a
form of godliness that never produces a holy fear, reverence, and respect for the Lord. It
gives a mental assent to a type of false, religious godliness but is not something that
pleases the heart of God, nor is it something that God will honor and bless. Paul told
Timothy to turn away from those people because they are offensive in His sight!

Paul on the Road to Damascus

Saul of Tarsus was a violent enemy of the early Church. Raised as a devout Jew,
Saul saw the early followers of Jesus as being both an insult and a threat to his Jewish
tradition; and he set about to do all he could to eradicate Christianity wherever he could
find it.
On his way to Damascus with authorization to arrest and return to Jerusalem
anyone he could find there who were Christians, Saul had an experience that was to not
only alter his life, but the lives of countless others across the last two thousand years of
history. Here is a bit of his story: “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and
suddenly a light shone around him from Heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a
voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are
you, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for
you to kick against the goads.’ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do
you want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will
be told what you must do’” (Acts 9:3-6).

During the next three days, Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle. He was
radically changed forever because of this experience. He surrendered everything he had
to Jesus, and he never went back to the life he had known up until that point. He
repented or made a radical turn and change of direction that lasted the remainder of his
life on the earth. He was never the same again.

The Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos

Of all the disciples of Jesus, none had been closer to the Lord than John. He had
always remained faithful to Him and had been privileged to be in Jesus’ presence in times
when the other disciples had not been invited. He loved the Lord with all of his heart.
He was even trusted by Jesus to such an extent that the Lord spoke to John from the cross
telling him to care for His mother, Mary. John went on to become one of the cornerstones

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of the New Testament Church and was the only disciple of Jesus not to be martyred
before old age. Probably in his seventies, John was a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos for
his faith. It was there that he had a vision of the Lord and subsequent revelation that
became what we call the Book of Revelation. Part of his testimony is as follows:

“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw
seven golden lamp stands, and in the midst of the seven lamp stands One like the Son of
Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden
band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a
flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the
sound of many waters. He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a
sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me,
saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was
dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of
Death.’”
Revelation 1: 12-18

John had an experience with Jesus! This was the same Jesus he had lived with for
approximately three years while the Lord was in the earth. But the Jesus he met on this
day was the resurrected Jesus! This was the glorified, risen Lord! And the One that John
had been so familiar with before the resurrection had become the One that John now
spoke of saying, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”
Like Paul on the road to Damascus, when John experienced this wonderful
resurrected Jesus, he found himself in a place of almost instantaneous surrender and
yieldedness! There was nothing casual about his experience. He was not “just hanging
out with the Lord.” When John had this revelation of Jesus as He really is today in all
His majesty, wonder, and power, everything was radically changed for John--in a
moment of time!

Accounts from Revival Glory Invasions

When the presence of the Holy Spirit comes upon a church, a city, or a nation and
brings about a spiritual transformation, it happens with an acute awareness of the holiness
of God and the seriousness of sin. It is that awareness of the holiness of God that truly
changes people--far more so than manifestations of healing, or signs and wonders.
As God began to visit America with revival glory in September of 1857, the Holy
Spirit began an almost identical and simultaneous work in Ireland. The presence of God
was awesome and moved from town to town, but it was the acute awareness of the
holiness of God that powerfully impacted the multitudes. Consider some of the following
accounts from that great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

“At these meetings, many convictions have taken place. From one up to ten or
twelve have been arrested by the Spirit of God through the Word and prayer of these
honored brethren. Even strong men have staggered and fallen down under the wounds of

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their conscience. Great bodily weakness ensues. The whole frame trembles. Oh! It is a
heart-rending sight to witness. With ringing of hands and streams of tears, and a look of
unutterable anguish, they confess their sins in tones of unmistakable sincerity, and appeal
to the Lord for mercy with a cry of piercing earnestness…. I have heard the cry as I have
never heard it before, ‘Lord Jesus, have mercy on my sinful soul; Lord Jesus, come to my
burning heart; Lord, pardon my sins; O come and lift me from these flames of hell.’”5

These were not isolated events that those who were skeptical could explain away.
Entire towns and even regions were stricken by the power of the Holy Spirit in those days
of atmospheric revival. Let’s continue reading.

“In Ballymena, a thirty-year-old suddenly fell on his knees in the street, crying
out in agony as if someone had attacked him. People came running from all directions,
expecting to find a victim of crime. For ten minutes, he cried out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!
God be merciful to me a sinner.’ The awesome fear of the Lord fell upon people. One
after another was gloriously saved in homes and schoolhouses. People opened the
windows so that those outside and around the buildings could hear the prayer and praise
inside. Careless sinners broke down and wept like children. Drunkards were awed into
silence. Often people did not go to bed for two or three nights. Passersby heard people
crying aloud for mercy inside their houses, calling out to God in prayer, or singing
hymns or songs.”

"Business almost came to a standstill. Workmen, carpenters, shoemakers, and

others in trade spent nearly every minute in meetings the first week. Day and night they
prayed with people stricken by the Holy Spirit with conviction for their sins. From all
directions people called for ministers. New believers had to instruct and comfort the
seeking sinners. Prayer meetings in private homes were held at all hours of the day and
night. Every night, Presbyterian churches overflowed. It was not unusual to see praying
thousands filling a gravel pit or a graveyard. Many faces were filled with pain as people
realized what sinners they were.”

"The revival spread to nearby communities, and every area experienced mighty
outpourings of the Holy Spirit. In one large gathering in the open, as one of the converts
began to pray, people fell to the ground crying bitterly, confessing their sins. Others
went to a nearby graveyard and fell on the graves, weeping and sobbing over their sin.
When a message was given, many people fell on the ground before the speaker. The
meeting continued all through the night.”

"At Boroughshane, workers in a spinning mill were seized by the Holy Spirit’s
conviction of sin. Within an hour, more than twenty people were lying prostrate, and the
factory had to be closed for two days while people prayed.”6

When revival came to the village of Bereray in the Hebrides Islands, the
atmosphere was literally charged with a conscious awareness of the holiness of God, and
the awful nature of sin. It was an invisible yet inescapable force that indiscriminately
impacted everyone! The power of God was touching more people outside of the

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churches than inside. People who were confronted with the Holy Spirit’s presence could
not withstand the revelation of His holiness and power. The following is an example of
what was commonplace:

“Suddenly it seemed as though the heavens were rent (torn) and God swept
through the church. People everywhere were stricken by the power of God, as the Spirit
swept through the place in great convicting power.”

“Outside, startling things were taking place. Simultaneously the Spirit of God
swept over the homes and area around the village, and everywhere people came under
great conviction of sin. God gripped fishermen out in their boats, men behind their
looms, men at the pit bank, a merchant out with his truck, and schoolteachers examining
their papers. By ten o’clock the roads were crowded with people who streamed from
every direction to the church. As the preacher came out of the church, the Spirit of God
swept among the people on the road as a wind. They gripped each other in fear. In
agony of soul they trembled, many wept, and some fell to the ground in great conviction
of sin. Three men were found lying by the side of the road in such distress of soul that
they could not even speak--yet they had never even been near the church!”7

Yet What Are the Popular Revival Messages of Today?

The majority of the messages we hear today among groups who are identified
with revival or renewal have a distinctly different flavor than the messages of revivals
past. We hear the cries of those who hunger for His presence and glory, and we see their
willingness to go to great lengths in their pursuit. The emphasis seen in past revivals that
changed nations by such things as repentance, holiness, and the fear of the Lord is for the
most part missing. We hear much more today about the glory realms, how to receive the
anointing, accessing the supernatural, portals, angelic visitations, and heavenly
encounters, than we hear the themes that predominated in other global awakenings.
There is an abundance of Scriptural and historical reference being included in this
book. The purpose for this is very simple. It is critically important that we compare what
the Bible has to say about the things of God, relating to His holiness and power in past
revivals, in contrast to many of the attitudes we now see being demonstrated in the 21st
century Church. There seems to be quite a stark difference between the two!
Whenever God opens the veil and reveals Himself to a person, it is never for
entertainment purposes. When God reveals Himself in great ways to someone, His
purpose is to call that person to a far greater level of holiness and commitment than they
have ever known before. That’s what happened to Moses at the burning bush. It is what
happened to Paul on the road to Damascus. It was the same for John on the Isle of
Patmos, and it is the same for every person that the Bible records as having these kinds of
revelations and experiences with God!
It is impossible for people who have genuinely been in the awesome presence of
God in the Heavenly realms to remain the same. How can a person who survived the
collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001 not be changed by
such a defining experience? How can someone who was a passenger on US Air Flight

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1549 that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009 and walked
away ever look at airline travel the same way again? What about someone who was
diagnosed with a deadly disease and given up by doctors but was healed by the power of
God ever be the same again? It is impossible; for we each are a sum total of our
experiences either for the better or the worse. When something dramatic touches our
lives and emotions, either positively or negatively, there is going to be a profound shift in
the way we live.
God is a holy God filled with life, love, and immeasurable power! The Bible has
much to say about holiness and integrity before the Lord. This book is devoted to a
passionate desire to see revival in the earth. Before this can happen then God’s people,
the Church of Jesus Christ, must learn to treat Him with the honor and respect that He
deserves. We must learn the fear of the Lord and expect the blessings to come when we
do. We must learn to walk in repentance with God before we will ever become the
recipients of His boundless grace.
We are living in prophetic times. Things are rapidly shifting in the earth. God is
raising His mighty hand of discipline and correction on His people, the Church. Things
which have been overlooked in the past because of His patience and grace, will now be
dealt with because of our failure to repent and humble ourselves beneath His mighty
hand.

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it
begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?”
(1 Peter 4:17).

We must become a people who reverence and respect Him and yield to His will
in our lives. We must not arrogantly assume like spoiled children that we can live
however we choose, and still expect to inherit His blessings. Paul wrote of this: “Well
said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be
haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you
either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: On those who fell, severity;
but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be
cut off” (Romans 11:20-22).

Repentance, Surrender, and Reverence in His Presence

Throughout this book, there is a passionate theme of urgency calling upon the
Church to honor, respect, and reverence God. We must live before the Lord in humility,
surrender, and repentance. We are living in a moment of history like no other generation
has ever experienced. On one hand, people around the globe are having greater and
greater experiences with the presence of God. But on the other hand, there is a
casualness and arrogance about it all that is truly frightening. We have become so
relaxed in His grace and enamored by His love, many now seem to believe that His glory
is a common commodity that can be treated with indifference, and especially if it means
that change on our part is somehow necessary! This spiritual lethargy is leading many to
a mindset that borders on lawlessness, and there is nothing that can prove to be more

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offensive and dangerous than to live in careless rebellion before the Person of the Holy
Spirit! Carefully read the following Scriptures which illustrate this truth:

“I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend for the faith which
was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who
long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of
our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I
want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people
out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 3-5).

James, the brother of the Lord Jesus wrote about this crucial truth saying,
“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy
of God? Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us
yearns jealously?’ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee
from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let
your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:4-10).

Peter wrote about the urgency of the generation of those who would be alive
before the coming of the Lord, and how that generation should live before Him in
integrity and holiness. He said, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…” (2 Peter 3:11).

Our wonderful Heavenly Father who loves us so much is also a God who is so big
and powerful that He can build universes by the sound of His voice that are so big it takes
light 156 billion years to cross; and at the same time, He can build another universe just
as vast that is so small it can rest on the head of a pin. And in spite of His immeasurable
power, He is first and foremost in all that He does--a God who is holy. We, the 21st
century Church, must acknowledge Him as such, and live our lives accordingly!

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 Chapter Two
Whatever Happened to the “Fear of the Lord”?

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My
honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?”
Malachi 1:6

“God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by
all those around Him.”
Psalm 89:7

The following is an excerpt from John Bevere’s book, “The Fear of the Lord”
and is about a very painful lesson he learned that was to ultimately shape his future life
and ministry. Out of this experience would come blessing to multitudes around the
globe.

“In the summer of 1994, I was invited to minister in a church in the southern part
of the United States. It would end up being one of the most unpleasant ministry
experiences I would ever have. Yet out of it, a passionate quest was birthed in my heart
to know and understand the fear of the Lord.”
"Two years prior, this was a church that had experienced a powerful move of
God. An evangelist came for a period of four weeks, and the Lord revived this church
with His presence. They were experiencing an abundance of what many call “holy
laughter.” It was so refreshing that the pastor and many of his people did what so often
happens, they remained camped at the place of refreshment instead of continuing on to
pursue God. They soon developed more interest in manifestations of refreshing than to
know the Lord who refreshes.”
"The second night of our meetings, the Spirit of God led me to preach on the fear
of the Lord. At the time, my understanding of the fear of the Lord was still forming, but
God led me to preach on what He had already shown me from the Scriptures.”
"The next night I came into the service totally unprepared for what was about to
happen. Without any previous discussion, the pastor stood up after praise and worship
and spent a considerable amount of time correcting what I had preached the night
before. I sat in the front row, almost in shock. The basis of his correction was that New
Testament believers do not have to fear God. He backed this up with 1 John 4:18: ‘There
is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he
who fears has not been made perfect in love.’ He had confused a spirit of fear with the
fear of the Lord.”
"The following morning, I found a deserted area outside my hotel where I spent a
considerable amount of time praying. I came before the Lord with an open heart and

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submitted to any correction He desired to bring to me. I have learned that God’s
correction is always for my good. He corrects us that we might be partakers of His
holiness (Hebrews 12:7-12). Almost immediately, I sensed God’s overwhelming love. I
did not perceive His disappointment with what I had preached, but rather His pleasure.
Tears ran down my face in His wonderful presence.”

"I continued in prayer and after a while, found myself crying out from deep within
my spirit for the knowledge of the fear of the Lord. I raised my voice, drawing together
all my strength from within, and cried, ‘Father, I want to know and walk in the fear of the
Lord.”8

This event had a major impact upon John Bevere’s life and the course of his
future ministry. Something came out of that experience and the subsequent prayer that
God ultimately used to touch multitudes around the globe through his teaching on the fear
of the Lord.
The late radio personality, Paul Harvey, had a radio program entitled, “The Rest
of the Story.” He would take his listeners behind the scenes of important moments in
history and disclose little known facts and events that brought additional light to these
events. I would like to do the same with John Bevere’s story from Florida in 1994.
The church where this event happened was our home church. The pastor who
corrected John Bevere was my best friend. He had been like a member of my family, and
I loved him like a brother. He and I had met virtually every Thursday morning at 8:00
AM, at his church or mine, for three years praying that God would send revival,
something neither of us really knew very much about, nor had ever seen! We invited
other pastors, but at the end of three years there were the same three of us who had
started out in the beginning.
But in January of 2003, the revival that we had cried out for suddenly came. It
was glorious and changed our lives and the lives of hundreds more forever! The
meetings were packed with people who came seeking the touch of God that was so
lavishly being displayed. It was absolutely wonderful. We literally lived beneath an open
Heaven for four continuous weeks of meetings that were held daily: morning and night.
It was like one continuous meeting sixteen to eighteen hours a day. The tangible
presence of God could actually be felt when people drove into the parking lot.
Newspaper reporters did three different articles over the four-week period; all of which
were wonderful accounts of all that God was doing.
The manifestation of the Holy Spirit was what became known as holy laughter.
But it wasn’t a laughing revival as some claimed. It was the awesome manifested
presence of God that caused people to laugh in what is called the joy of the Lord. Though
it could be loud at times, it was so sacred, so holy, so precious, and so wonderful! God’s
glory had come among us and nothing else seemed to matter. Hundreds of people were
saved, testimonies of healings abounded, and the churches across our area fell in love
with Jesus in ways we never even knew existed before those days of glory. None of us
would or could be the same after all God did in that revival.
We were eyewitnesses of and participants in the explosion of revival that came
shortly after our meetings at Carpenter’s Home Church in Lakeland Florida in the spring
of 1993. From Lakeland, the revival began to spread all over the globe to places like

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Toronto, London, Pensacola, and to countless churches. They became watering holes of
revival all around the world.
The problem that John Bevere experienced when he preached on the fear of the Lord
over a year later was that many people, including the man who was my best friend and
pastor, misunderstood the fear of the Lord. They misunderstood it to mean some kind of
anxiety-filled dread that comes out of a harsh, hypercritical, judgmental brand of
denominationalism. It was a mindset of God’s going to get you if you don’t watch out!
That kind of dead religion was the very thing that His glory and joy had set people free
from, and no one wanted to go back! That kind of teaching has nothing to do with the
true fear of the Lord. But something shifted in John Bevere’s life and ministry when this
pastor got up and explained away what he had preached the night before.
Unfortunately, something also shifted in my dear friend’s life. In less than three
years, the church was completely gone. And my friend was out of the ministry. Was
there a moral failure? No. Did he get tired of pastoring and quit? No. Did he do anything
deliberately to sin against God? No. My friend loved God with all his heart. He
cherished the presence of God. But because of his belief that there should be no fear in
our relationship with God, he made some very unwise and hasty decisions. He was
deceived by the enemy in his efforts to help advance the kingdom of God. The problem
was that these decisions were ones that God never ordered. They were decisions that
were outside God’s will, and they were of very questionable integrity. He did things in
his zeal for revival that a person who has a holy respect and fear of the Lord would have
been afraid to do. Even though he loved God, he decided that the end justified the means,
and his goal was to do good. The result was that a church of several hundred people was
ultimately destroyed, the building sold to become a banquet hall, and my best friend left
the ministry for good. I’m not sure he ever really understood what happened or why. He
loved God, but never understood that just loving God is not always enough. We must
love God, but also respect God with a holy reverence and fear in our hearts. Someone
once said, “The love of God is what keeps us out of the ditch of legalism, but it is the fear
of God that keeps us out of the ditch of lawlessness.” That is so true!

Over the years, I have witnessed the same phenomenon again and again. Every
time I have ever heard someone preach against the fear of the Lord or of having a holy
reverence and respect for Him, their lives, churches, and ministries have ultimately been
destroyed. Every time, without exception, the result has always been the same! They
have crashed and burned, and hurt untold numbers of people. Now you know the rest of
the story of John Bevere’s unpleasant experience in Florida when he preached on The
Fear of the Lord.

What is the “Fear of the Lord”?

That is a very good question! MOST Christians who think they know the answer--
don’t! The “fear of the Lord” is a very misunderstood concept that is found throughout
the Bible. Let’s examine some Scriptures about the fear of the Lord. These are just the
ones found in the Book of Proverbs. References to and examples of the fear of the Lord
are found throughout the Bible. Because of the limitations of space, just a small fraction

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of those on this subject will be cited. Notice the promises of blessings that are attached to
these Scriptures.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom
and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

“Then they will call on Me, but I will not answer; they will seek Me diligently, but
they will not find Me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the
Lord, they would have none of My counsel and despised My every rebuke. Therefore
they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies”
(Proverbs 1:28-31).

“Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God”
(Proverbs 2:5).

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be
health to your flesh, and strength to your bones” (Proverbs 3:7).

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy
One is understanding. For by Me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be
added to you” (Proverbs 9:10-11).

“In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a
place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the
snares of death” (Proverbs 14:26-27).

“Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble”
(Proverbs 15:16).

“The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility”
(Proverbs 15:33).

“The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction;
he will not be visited with evil” (Proverbs 19:23).

“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life” (Proverbs
22:4).

As is clearly seen in these Scriptures, the fear of the Lord is not something that is
to be shunned and avoided, but is instead a pathway to God’s richest blessings. When
most people hear about the fear of the Lord, they totally misunderstand the true meaning
of what God’s Word is referring to. It is not something which brings harm and loss, but
rather a key that opens the very treasure house of all of Heaven’s richest blessings!
References to the fear of the Lord are found throughout the Bible. The two
primary words used in Scripture which are translated fear are in the Old Testament
Hebrew, yir’ah or yare, and in the New Testament Greek, phobos or phobeo. These

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words have two very distinct meanings. One is the apprehension of evil which causes
one to either flee or to fight.9 Within this context, it implies fear as being dread and
terror.10 There is another Greek word that is also used. It is deilia, translated
fearfulness.11 The meaning in these translations is a very negative fear, dread, terror,
timidity.12 Each of these words translated fear are used to describe something to be
avoided and that is offensive to God. This was the fear that Paul addressed when he
wrote to Timothy saying, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of
love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). It is also the fear referred to in 1 John 4:18
which says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear
involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” Within this
context, fear can be used to describe a very negative, dreadful, ominous, foreboding type
of calamity.
But these words can also be translated to describe a totally different type of fear.
It is this usage of fear in the Scriptures relating to the fear of the Lord. This type of fear
is best described as standing in awe. Used for a person in an exalted position, it
implies that one stands in awe and reverence recognizing the power and position of
the individual being revered. One just naturally renders him the proper respect and
honor which is due. In this respect, it implies a proper ethical relationship.13 It also
implies a fear of standing in the presence of a superior being. It is a reverence, honor,
and respect that will produce awe and amazement of being in the presence of an awesome
God.
Let’s use the example of a child to illustrate these two uses of the same word,
both translated as fear. A child can have a fear (dread, terror, timidity) of an abusive
father which causes the child anxiety and the desire to flee or escape. That same child
can have a fear (awe, reverence, respect, amazement, pride of being in the presence) of a
loving father which causes the child to show honor, respect, and obedience. The
scriptural context of the word fear is absolutely everything, if we are going to correctly
interpret the truth the Holy Spirit is revealing to us!
This is what John recorded from his experience in Revelation: “Then I turned to
see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and
in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were
white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine
brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters. He had in
His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His
countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His
feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the
First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:12-18).

John was totally overcome when he experienced the resurrected Jesus while a
prisoner on the Isle of Patmos. Yet Jesus told John, “Do not be afraid” as in a dread fear
from which one must escape. That day John experienced a dimension of the holiness and
power of Jesus he had never known, even though he'd been with Jesus for approximately
three years!
Because the Church has misinterpreted the Scriptural references to the fear of the

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Lord and has taken it to mean that God is one to be feared as in a dread, terror, timidity
and like that of fearing an abusive father, we have missed some of our greatest potential
for blessing! The enemies of God, those who would deny Him and rebel against Him,
would do well to fear the Lord with a dreading fear of impending judgment. But the fear
of the Lord for those who love Him and obey Him is a humility and reverence that results
in great honor and blessing. God wants for His people to give Him the respect and honor
He is due. That is the reason He said,

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My
honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?” Malachi 1:6

“God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by
all those around Him.”
Psalm 89:7

The root cause for the Church’s misunderstanding of the fear of the Lord is that
we have misunderstood God. We have become much too familiar with a God of whom
we obviously know very little. The teaching, which we hear constantly, is that God is a
God of love. We hear much about the Father heart of God and the wonderful revelations
of the Holy Spirit in our generation. Knowing the love of the Father and His great desire
for intimacy with His people is a transformational experience. That revelation is not
complete in and of itself. There’s more! We value the experience of knowing the love of
God. We must also understand that God is a God of extreme holiness and purity!
Chapter One was devoted to that very subject. We will never really comprehend His love
until we put it within the context of His great holiness. He is so holy yet He loves us just
as we are and even more than we can imagine. That takes a great measure of love!

The Fear of the Lord in the Old Testament

In Exodus 19 and 20, we find one of the most remarkable accounts of God’s
dealings with His people. He wanted to demonstrate His power and glory that they might
have a proper respect, honor, and holy fear of Him. Judgment was swift to those who
blatantly defied Him.
In this encounter, we find God instructing Moses to prepare the people, because in
three days He was going to come and reveal Himself to them in a powerful way. He
warned Moses to keep the people away from the mountain when His glory came upon it
lest they be killed by His awesome presence and power. Just as God had promised, three
days later He visited His people with His shekinah glory that rested upon the mountain.
Smoke, fire, thunder, and lightning accompanied this mighty revelation of Himself. The
people were terrified in His presence as the power of the Lord rolled like thunder that day
as He gave the Ten Commandments.
After God demonstrated in shock-and-awe fashion His great power before the eyes
of His people, in Exodus 20:20, something amazing happened. The Bible says, “And

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Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear
may be before you, so that you may not sin….’”

God had given them the greatest revelation of His glory thus far in their
experience with Him, and then Moses explained why. God wanted them to clearly
understand that He was a holy God; and when He spoke to His people, He wanted them
to understand He was not to be taken lightly. He had delivered them from 400 years of
Egyptian slavery, made them all rich, healed all their diseases, parted the Red Sea,
destroyed their enemies, provided water that flowed from a rock, and caused bread to
daily fall from Heaven. When He gave them commandments, He wanted for them to
clearly understand that He meant business!
This became the pattern of God’s dealings with Israel. He showed them great
glory but also demanded great obedience in return. When they sinned, He was more than
willing to demonstrate His power in judgment and correction. All of God’s rules are
motivated by His great love and desire to keep people from the deadly consequences of
sin. This is the reason the Bible clearly instructs us that God wants His people to fear
Him by giving to Him the respect and honor, through obedience, that He so rightfully
deserves!
Please examine this small sample of Scriptures of the times that we are told to
fear God. As you read them, give careful attention to the fact that these Scriptures are
not threats but are rather great promises. God is delighted to do these things for those
who will respect and obey Him by having a reverential fear of Him!

“Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendents shall inherit the earth. The
secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant”
(Psalm 25:12-14).

“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear
You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of
men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You
shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Psalm 31:19-20).

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His
mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine” (Psalm 33:18-
19).

“The Angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers
them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh,
fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions
lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing”
(Psalm 34:7-10).

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 Jesus Preached a Message of Having Fear of the Lord
The essence of the message that Jesus preached was over the issue of mankind’s
need to seek repentance from sin. All of His miracles, healings, signs and wonders were
demonstrations of God’s power that were intended to get people’s attention, so that they
would listen and understand the importance of repentance from their sins. Jesus
continually instructed people about the serious nature of transgressing God’s
commandments. He told the woman who was brought to Him, having been taken in the
very act of adultery, “Neither do I condemn you; Go and sin no more” (John 8:14). He
told the man who had been healed at the Pool of Bethesda, “See, you have been made
well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14). The entire purpose
of Jesus’ coming into the world was to bear the consequences for sin in order that the sins
of the world might be forgiven. Sin was such a serious matter that it required the life and
blood of God’s only Son to pay the penalty of the offenses in the eyes of a loving, yet just
and righteous God.
There is a widespread misconception in some people’s minds that portrays Jesus
as merrily going about laughing, healing people, blessing people, and forgiving their sins;
all the while making everyone feel good about themselves by speaking only positive
words of love, blessing, and encouragement. Jesus did all the above things, but His
words did not always cause people to experience joy. Some of His words were difficult,
and some were very uncomfortable to people’s ears. While preparing the manuscript for
this book, I took my Bible and very slowly read through the Book of Matthew. Every
time I read where Jesus mentioned sin or gave either a rebuke or a warning to people, I
put a small asterisk in the margin. I was very conservative in making my notations.
When I was through, I was absolutely shocked to discover that I had put 120 asterisks in
the margins of my Bible! This couldn’t be right. So I did the same thing in the Book of
John. When I was through, I went back and counted 70 times that Jesus either rebuked
people for sin or gave a warning concerning something that was to be avoided. Try this
for yourself and see that this is true. This is in stark contrast to the popular image of
Jesus happily going about healing, forgiving, and making everyone feel good, with only
positive words of love, blessing, and encouragement. Some of the things Jesus said were
intended as stern corrections and warnings to people. He is a holy God who loves sinners
yet hates sin in all of its forms!
Consider the following description from Scripture as to who Jesus was: "Your
throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your
kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your
God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions” (Hebrews
1:8-9).

Jesus spoke much about the great love of the Father and His care for us and
people everywhere. We see a reflection of the Father’s heart in the love and compassion
that Jesus had for those who suffer in the earth. Jesus gave us many wonderful promises
of hope and blessing that would follow those who believed and obeyed. But at the same
time, we also see Jesus portraying the Father as Someone not to be ignored or rebelled
against carelessly! Concerning our attitudes about the Father, Jesus also said, “And do
not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

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 Concerning the very serious and offensive nature of sin in God’s eyes, Jesus said,
“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more
profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast
into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is
more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be
cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30).

Concerning the Gospel that Jesus preached, He said, “From that time Jesus
began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew
4:17).

Concerning the patterning of our lives and motivations in the ways we treat others
and according to God’s values, Jesus said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your
Father in Heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Concerning obedience to the Father’s commands and leading, Jesus said, “Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who
does the will of My Father in Heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

Concerning the necessity of us walking in love and forgiveness of others, Jesus

warned, “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses” (Matthew 6:15).

Concerning God’s expectation that we bear fruit for Him while in the earth, Jesus
said, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”
(Matthew 7:19).

Concerning the words that we speak with our mouths, Jesus said, “But I say to
you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of
judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).

Speaking of the execution of Jesus’ own final judgment of sin, He said, "The Son
of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom all things that
offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.
There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:41-
43).

These are only a fraction of the Scriptures recorded from the life of Jesus which
reflect the serious nature of sin as viewed from God’s perspective, and the warnings He
gave to His followers. These Scriptures are not included here to suggest we live in some
form of dead, restricted, fear-oriented and lifeless spirit of religion. They are included
here to simply provide a more balanced and realistic Scriptural view of who Jesus really
is; in contrast to the more popular mindset that there should be no fear of the Lord in the

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lives of God’s people--just love and worship. These Scriptures and others about God’s
holiness must be counted into the equation in defining what our image of God really
looks like!
God is immeasurable love. He has boundless grace and mercy. He is kind and
compassionate. But He is also holy. He has infinite power. He has definite opinions on
how He expects His children to behave themselves in this life, and He has certain
expectations for His family to follow. Even though His very nature is love and
compassion, He is still a God of righteousness and justice who should be treated with
reverence, honor, and respect. He is a God of great mercy, but at the same time He is a
God of judgment for those who resist and rebel against Him.

The Fear of the Lord in the Early Church

Every person that we have record of in Scripture was stunned in amazement when
they encountered God in His glory! I am very skeptical when people share incredible
testimonies claiming to have had visitations to the Throne Room of God in Heaven, yet
they seem to have no holy fear or reverence of Him in their lifestyles. If what they say is
true, their testimonies certainly don’t fit the pattern of those who had the same
experiences in the Bible. Those people’s lives were never ever the same!
At the time of the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost,
three thousand people were saved and baptized. But in the days immediately following,
the Bible says, “Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were
done through the apostles” (Acts 2:43).

When Ananias and his wife Sapphira lied about the price of the sale of their land
in the manifested presence of the Holy Spirit, they died instantly. And the reaction of
the people to their immediate judgment was, “So great fear came upon all the church
and upon all who heard these things” (Acts 5:11).

In reaction to Paul’s conversion experience on the road to Damascus and the

beginning of his ministry, we read, “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee,
and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the
comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).

When Simon Peter was preaching to Gentiles at the home of Cornelius, he said,
“But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him”
(Acts 10:35).

"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians
7:1).

"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love...” (Ephesians 1:4).

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 "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12).

The word holy, excluding all the many references to the Holy Spirit, appears fifty-
eight additional times after the book of Acts. The word holiness appears twelve more. It
is very clear from the evidence of Scripture that the early church well understood the
responsibility for living a life of reverential fear and respect for God which would
produce integrity of heart!
It is readily apparent from those preceding Scriptures that the early Church
walked in both a passionate love for Jesus and a holy reverence and fear of God. These
two concepts are not at all in conflict with one another. When we truly know Him and
experience His glory in our lives, the love of Him will also cause a holy respect for Him.
A revelation of God brings with it an awareness of just how awesome He really is, and
when that happens, we can no longer treat Him in a casual way. All through the Bible,
whenever people had experiences with God, they were radically changed. They couldn’t
remain the same even had they tried. Encountering the glory of God is a life-altering
experience, and part of that experience is the development of a healthy respect and holy
fear for the One whom we passionately love with all of our hearts!

Where is the Fear of the Lord in the Church Today?

Let’s read about what happened the day that Jesus came to the temple and
discovered the money changers doing business there, and see what happened next.
“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in
the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who
sold doves. And He said to them, ‘It is written, "My house shall be called a house of
prayer,” but you have made it a den of thieves’” (Matthew 21:12-13).

I thought about that account recently as I drove by the front of one of the largest
churches in the area where I live. It attracts hundreds of people to every service. It is
affiliated with a large denomination known for evangelistic preaching and Pentecostal
doctrine. On the marquee out in front of their beautiful facility was an advertisement that
said, “Pro Wrestling! This Friday at 7:00 PM. Admission $5.” When I saw that sign, I
wondered what Jesus would think about turning a church building into an arena for
professional wrestling, and charging the public five dollars to come and watch the show!
Come on! The church was built with tithes and offerings for the preaching of the Gospel,
prayer for the nations, intercession, discipleship, and a place dedicated and sacred to His
presence (Ephesians 2:20-22). I was so grieved; I seriously thought that I would go in and
tell the pastor that our ministry would give him the five dollars admission price for every
seat in the place, if he would just agree to take my money and cancel the show!
Hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are not Christians, drive by that sign
regularly. Hasn’t the Church become a big enough laughing stock to a lost and dying
world for such ridiculous antics that have surely grieved the heart of God? The following
week, the same marquee advertised the Sunday sermon entitled, “Being Positioned To Be Blessed.”

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 A popular revival conference speaker regularly goes through his audiences
pretending to “shoot people up with the Holy Ghost” like a drug addict injects dope into
his veins. He tells people, “Make a fist. Find the vein. Now, have a double dose of the
Ghost! Bam! Bam! Bam! Go on. Get high!” He then prays for people acting as though
he is injecting them with the anointing of God through a needle like a drug addict injects
drugs. This kind of behavior may be entertaining to some people, but it is an insult to the
Person of the Holy Spirit! The sad part about it all is that these people don’t know the
Holy Spirit well enough to even recognize the offensive and insulting way He is being
treated by their careless attitudes. How can the Church continue to do these kinds of
things at the expense of truth and respect, honor, and true worship of God in all His
holiness? It is all so offensive and disgusting. More than that, it is also dangerous for it
is reflective of a mindset of carelessness and rebellion that is so prevalent in people
today.
We’ve had what has been called holy laughter in our meetings from time to time
over the years. It has been seen in virtually every major revival in American history. It is
always so refreshing, and we’ve seen lives radically changed and bodies healed when the
Holy Spirit comes and moves in that way. As much fun as it is when God moves like this
by His glory, I have always experienced it with a great sense of amazement and awe at
the holiness of God that would fill a meeting even through the laughter. As refreshing as
it is, it is not a game! God is no entertainer, and everything He does is for His purposes.
It is all so holy!
I was deeply grieved recently when I heard of a meeting being conducted by a
young revivalist who regularly experiences holy laughter or the joy of the Lord in his
meetings. He was ministering in a church and many people were on the floor laughing,
including him. There had been a weighty presence of the Spirit of God hovering in the
church earlier. He was crawling around on the carpet at the front of the church. When he
got near someone else on the floor laughing, he would raise up his leg pretending to be a
dog urinating on a fireplug in order to “release more of the anointing” on the person who
was already down laughing. The crowd would roar in laughter at the antics of this
revivalist who was manipulating the people, causing them to laugh even more.
These kinds of stories literally break my heart. I grieve so deeply within my spirit
whenever I hear about these things, because they so cheapen the glorious and holy
presence of the Holy Spirit! Playing games with the anointing of God is so disrespectful
and offensive to the Lord. It dishonors the precious Holy Spirit; but God has allowed
these things because of His grace. But that day of patient grace in the face of willful
disrespect is now coming to an end. A parent will tolerate and even enjoy certain
behaviors in their two-year-old child that they will aggressively punish in their sixteen-
year-old child. If God is our Father, He expects our reverence and respect!
The problem being illustrated in these two accounts is reflective of a far greater
problem that is rampant in the Church today. It is a problem with the Church having lost
the reverential fear of the Lord! It appears that in most churches today, whatever the
people want to do that entertains and keeps them coming back, is not only acceptable, but
preferable. If people are nervous at the prospects of the Holy Spirit doing something
unexpected in the services, we just control everything so tightly that the Holy Spirit will
get no opportunity whatsoever. If on the other hand, the people are really hungry to see

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the demonstration of supernatural power, many ministries will let absolutely anything go
on, whether God has anything to do with it or not! If time is an issue, everything is
choreographed to such an extent that everything that goes on in church is held to a very
restricted schedule. If people are uncomfortable at the mention of sin or the need for
repentance, we avoid those subjects like a plague. We hand out a generous dose of hope
and optimism for a minimal amount of discipline and commitment, not even to mention
the word sacrifice! Whatever is fun, entertaining, and seems good in the eyes of people
has become the goal many ministries strive to achieve. Yet in all our efforts to be
pleasing to people, where is the passionate desire to be “fully pleasing unto the Lord?”
Why is it that we feel we can just shut God out of something that really all belongs to
Him? Where is the respect, the honor, and the fear of the Lord that He so rightly
deserves?
Isaiah was so stricken by the intensity of the holiness and purity of God when he
encountered His glory, he cried out in great fear and anguish, “Woe is me, for I am
undone” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah experienced an overwhelming sense of the holy fear of the
Lord while he was in God’s presence!
In 2 Samuel 6, we find the story of David’s attempt to return the Ark of the
Covenant. He took thirty thousand men and a new cart pulled by oxen, which was not
the way God had prescribed for the Ark to be transported. When the ox stumbled and the
Ark was jostled, Uzzah reached out to steady it. When he did, he was killed by the
intensity of the power of God that was resting upon it that day! The judgment was
released against Uzzah because of his carelessness and disrespect. David and his men
were afraid to move the Ark any further lest they also die. They returned three months
later and successfully finished their transport--doing things God's way. Every six paces
from Obed-Edom's house to the final resting place of the Ark, they stopped and sacrificed
oxen and sheep, which were blood sacrifices for the covering of sin. They danced and
worshipped God with joy and celebration, while maintaining an attitude of repentance
with a blood sacrifice every six steps (2 Samuel 6:12-14).

Jesus Was Not “Just Hanging Out” On the Cross!

There are two events recorded in Scripture which were of such significance, there
is no way to describe them that adequately portrays their magnitude. The first was when
Adam sinned and broke fellowship with God through his rebellion. It was cataclysmic in
its implications for all of mankind! The second event was the day the Son of God freely
gave Himself to die on a cross to pay the price for that sin and make fellowship with God
possible once again. When Jesus died as a sacrifice for all sin, all creation stood still to
watch! Even the angels of Heaven were perplexed as they watched the events of that
fateful day unfold. What happened that day would never happen again! The human mind
cannot calculate the true depth of both of those events and the significance behind them.
Yet Jesus made it very clear in His teaching that those who were to follow Him were
called to take up their own personal cross and follow Him in surrender to the Father’s
will. It would not be a game. It would be a death to self-will! He spoke of the need for the
Church to die to our own ambitions in order that our surrender to Him might be complete.
He promised that if we would give up our lives and seek first His kingdom, we would

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actually find the life we sought. But if we hold on to our wills, desires, and live our lives
only for our own comfort and enjoyment, we would lose our lives! This theme is found
throughout the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments.
This is part of the reason we must be very concerned about the present state of
affairs in the Church. The contemporary mindset of the 21st century Church seems to be
preoccupied with making people feel relaxed and comfortable in church. We want
everything we do to be fun for people so they will come back. As some have said, “We
just want to hang out with God.” The focus is to make Jesus and church entertaining and
to do nothing that might appear offensive to anyone. The reason for this is we want to
attract people. The price of being a follower of Jesus seems to be going down on a regular
basis. No mention is made of death to self-will in pursuit of Him. Words like holiness,
repentance, the fear of the Lord are almost like profanity in many places. Most churches
have become preoccupied with being seeker sensitive more than being Holy Spirit
sensitive. Anything seems to be okay these days just as long as people feel casual,
relaxed, and enjoy themselves while going to church. The idea of No rules has now
become the rule in many places. It’s wonderful to have fun in church! No one is
suggesting otherwise, but having fun in church should grow out of being blessed in
church and not being “entertained.” The presence and power of the Holy Spirit being
encountered by people as they grow in the good things of God should be our
entertainment.
There was a time when those who were in the ministry were held in high esteem in
our society. Pastors and leaders in the Church were viewed and respected as leaders in
their communities. In fact, up until about seventy-five years ago, there were only three
recognized occupations which were considered to be professions. Those were the fields
of law, medicine, and the ministry! Every other profession was judged to be secondary.
Most people viewed ministers as being “men or women of God” and treated them with
respect accordingly. Today, that has all changed. The respect which ministers enjoyed in
the past has for the most part been lost. Their voices are no longer heard with the same
measure of influence and respect as they once were. Ministers are viewed by many
people with suspicion or ridicule. Some of this decline has been caused by the lack of
integrity in ministers and ministries, resulting in scandal. Some of it is the result of a
lack of wisdom. Some of it is due to laziness and the lack of discipline in their personal
lives. There are surely other reasons as well, but the end result is a dramatic decline in the
spiritual authority and credibility that ministers once had. Being in ministry is almost
considered to be a joke by many in today’s society.
Many leaders only add to this casual, “We’re just hanging out with God” image
by maintaining their personal appearance in ways that would not even be allowed for
workers at a fast food drive-in. Those places even have certain personal and dress codes
for their employees. Many leaders seem to go to great lengths to see just how sloppily
they can appear when they minister. They want to look casual and relaxed and their
uncombed hair, untrimmed beard, and clothes send a clear message concerning the
attitudes they hold. But what they may not realize is that they are making a statement
about their view of ministry by their appearance. It is a statement of disrespect and the
absence of value in what they are doing. Why is it that successful leaders, whether they
are presidents, congressmen, senators, Supreme Court justices, heads of state, officers of
banks and corporations, news and sports commentators, members of the military,

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lawyers, businessmen, and even late-night television comedians are well groomed and
dressed well when they go to work in their various professions? Yet today many of those
who are called by God to minister, to preach His Word, and represent Him as His
ambassadors in the earth, do so in the oldest, sloppiest, faded jeans that they can find
and with their shirt tails hanging out. Shorts and sandals are expected in many places.
Women on worship teams are no better. Some people minister looking more like they just
mowed their grass or washed their car than someone called by God to represent Him and
His interests in the earth! It is reflective of a casual, “We’re just hanging out” attitude
that shows disrespect to what they do. Most never even realize it. Their attitudes will
quickly spread to those in their audience. Notice the scriptures in the Old Testament
where God gave specific commandments to His people about their personal hygiene,
grooming, and clothing before approaching His glory. He even gave very specific
instructions concerning the priestly garments which were to be worn. It wasn’t the
condition or material their clothes were made of but rather the attitude of reverence and
respect that they reflected.
Buddhist monks don’t present themselves in a shabby manner in their temples;
neither would Hindu priests in their temples. Muslim Imams certainly wouldn’t do this in
their mosques. Mormons riding down the street on their bicycles wouldn’t do this! They
have too much respect for what they do to represent their ministry in such ways. They
would see it as disrespect and a dishonor of the god they serve. Why then has it become
the norm for the ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ who represent Him in the earth
to represent Jesus like this? Wearing faded jeans with holes in them has almost become
the official dress code uniform in many churches, and violators will be immediately
notified as such! Appearing in an unkempt manner has almost become a requirement in
many places. Most people would be fired from their jobs in the secular or business world
if they came to work in such a manner. Even minimum wage positions in many
companies require that employees be held to a higher standard. These employers do not
want this style of grooming and dress to be representative of their company, and they
won’t employ people who insist to presenting themselves to the public in such ways.
Please understand clearly what is being communicated. How leaders dress and
present themselves in church means absolutely nothing in and of itself. This is not
intended to be a commentary on the way leaders present themselves and dress in church
as much as it is about the attitudes being projected by their appearances. No one is
suggesting a return to the days of ministers wearing clerical collars and robes. The
problem for most is that the appearance they project is just a refection of the degree (or
lack) of honor and respect they give to the Lord, and the true value and worth they
place upon what they do! And that is the essence of the problem. Styles, grooming,
clothing, and cultures are all different. I’ve preached the Gospel around the globe and
ministered with leaders who presented themselves in a wide variety of clothing that was
reflective of their particular culture. But they had a motivation and attitude of excellence
in what they did that made a statement about the value they placed upon what they were
doing. Because of that, the style and appearance meant nothing.
The current leisure mindset seen today in churches ultimately reflects a much deeper
underlying attitude of disrespect for the value, importance, and worth of the work of the
Lord Jesus. It is often an indication of their measure of character and diligence that
covers a broad spectrum of factors in their daily lives. Could these attitudes that many

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contemporary ministers project of ease, comfort, relaxation, “no rules” and lack of
respect all be a part of the underlying reason that the Church is in the sad condition it is in
today? Jesus certainly wasn’t thinking, “I want to be cool when I go to the cross to die
for the sins of the world!” He took what He did seriously. We should do the same.
Casual church with its casual services in its casual environment have now succeeded
in producing Christians who are casual about attendance, casual about prayer, casual
about giving, casual about sin, casual about holiness and integrity, casual about their
study of the Word of God; and most frightening of all is that they are casual about their
commitment to follow Jesus, especially if they think it's going to actually cost them
something! The attitude seems to be, "If it's easy and comfortable, let’s go for it! But if
it costs us anything, it's probably a holdover from religion and tradition! We’re free from
that!”

Just because Jesus is free doesn’t mean that Jesus is cheap! Those who want to
be His followers will pay by giving up of their very lives through the surrender of their
wills. There really is no other way! I have traveled around the globe and have ministered
in many places. It has been my great honor to have met with and ministered to Christians
and their leaders in places where being a Christian was very, very difficult. In some of
those places, being a Christian can literally cost a person his life, and it does so on a
regular basis. These people have something they have found that they are willing to die
for! That is what makes the contemporary mindset of casual and relaxed Christianity so
horribly distasteful. It dishonors the Lord and shows disrespect for what He has called us
to do.

A “Bare Foot” and “Bended Knee” Church

In Exodus 3, we find the story of Moses’ meeting with God in the wilderness. It
is interesting to note that God commanded Moses to remove his shoes saying to him, ”…
the ground on which you stand is holy ground.” Think of that. God asked Moses to
remove his shoes in respect for the “holy ground” of dessert sand beneath his feet
because of the manifestation of His glory! God wants to be honored and shown respect
by His people. He is displeased with our attitudes of indifference and familiarity. The
theme of this book is a passionate cry for God’s people to show Him the honor and
reverence He deserves. We have treated Him so shamefully, taking Him for granted, and
acting with such blatant arrogance and lawlessness in His holy presence. The fear of the
Lord is a theme found through the entirety of Scripture. God expects that His people
show respect for Him and treat Him with the honor He so rightfully deserves. When
Moses had his experience at the burning bush that was ablaze with His glory, it is very
interesting to note that God demanded reverence. Why do we think that He somehow
demands less of the Church today?
One of the issues of this day is that many leaders in the Body of Christ have
cheapened the manifestation of His glory to such an extent, as now accessing Heavenly
realms and having throne room experiences sounds more like getting money out of an
ATM machine! Some people claim to travel back and forth to Heaven like they are going
to Walmart. They claim to see angels at every turn. They claim to hear the voice of God

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anytime they choose like they listen to their iPod. Talk is so cheap! Every account in
Scripture where someone had a powerful encounter with God, they were never the same
again. They were changed! So where is the holy difference and radical change in the
lives of many who make these claims today?
Whatever happened to the old practice of kneeling down when we pray? Is kneeling
down before the Lord some kind of religious requirement for us to meet with God?
Absolutely not! A person can pray in humility and surrender to God standing up or
sitting down. Another person can kneel down before the Lord and still have a heart filled
with rebellion and lawlessness. But what does kneeling before the Lord say to Him if our
hearts are yielded as well! The prayer that became the cry of the Welsh Revival was,
“Bend the Church and save the world.” There is no authoritative proof to substantiate
this, but tradition holds that James, the brother of Jesus and author of the book with his
name, prayed in a kneeling position so much that calluses had formed on his knees by the
end of his life. The point is not the body position in prayer, but rather the heart position
in prayer. The greatest privilege and honor a person can have in this life is to meet with
God in His manifested presence. When we do, we should come with a life that is barefoot
and a heart that kneels in worship and surrender in His presence.
There was a time in churches that when a person went to the front of the church or to
the altar, that they went for the purpose of surrendering or giving something of
themselves to God. Today, the reason to go forward in church is to get something from
God. They go in expectation of receiving the anointing, receiving healing, receiving a
blessing of some sort. Very little emphasis is put on going forward to give something to
Jesus that He wants for Himself!

God Blesses Nations That Reverence and Fear Him

America was a nation birthed in revival. Our Founding Fathers were men who
had been touched and influenced by the Great Awakening in the colonies during the
1730’s and 1740’s when God’s glory came in such profound ways upon this land.
Though far from perfect, America was born as a place where God would be honored and
respected. The Bible was considered to be a holy Book, and authoritative in all matters
of morality and practice. For all our faults and failures, this nation was built upon a
foundation of the Judeo-Christian beliefs. It was not built upon a Buddhist foundation. It
was not built upon a Hindu foundation. It was not built upon a Muslim foundation. It
was not built to be a nation of Deists. It was built upon a foundation of giving honor to
the God as revealed in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The Bible was
considered to be the final authoritative measurement and definition of what was right or
wrong. Any honest secular historian must admit this to be true.
The Judeo-Christian understanding of respect and honor to God has been indelibly
etched into the moral fiber of this nation since its inception. There are those today who
would seek to destroy that heritage and deny its reality; their efforts are to alter and
rewrite the history of this nation to suit their own agendas. The basic beliefs of honoring
the God as represented in the Ten Commandments of the Bible formed the basis of all we
have done since our nation's birth. Every United States President has taken the oath of
office with his right hand resting upon a Bible and swearing to, “… uphold and defend

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the Constitution of the United States of America, so help me God.” The words of Moses
and the Old Testament are inscribed in the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Liberty
Bell in Philadelphia, and in the Supreme Court in Washington. Moses’ words were
quoted by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other great American leaders of
other generations.
Every piece of money produced by the United States government is inscribed with
these words, “In God We Trust.” Those same words are inscribed in large letters on the
wall of the United States Supreme Court as well as on most court house walls across this
nation. If you read the preambles to the state constitutions of every one of our fifty
states, you will find an acknowledgement of God and in most cases an appreciation to
Him for His blessings of liberty and freedom!
There was a time when the Ten Commandments were posted on school walls, and
every school day started with prayer. In many regions of the country, school teachers
never assigned homework on Wednesday nights so that children would be free to go with
their parents to mid-week services at their churches. Every athletic event began with
prayer, asking God’s blessings upon all who were present, and those who were going to
compete.
Several months ago as I was changing channels on television, I discovered an old
rerun of the 1960’s series, “Gunsmoke.” I stopped to watch, and was amazed as I viewed
this program at just how much has really changed in our nation! Marshal Matt Dillon
was seated with the other characters of the show at a table in the Long Branch Saloon.
They were discussing bitterness and how “the good Book” (the Bible) teaches us that
unless we forgive other people, we can’t be forgiven ourselves. I thought how
remarkable that the scene was. In spite of the fact that these men were drinking in a bar
surrounded by dance hall girls, they were quoting from the Bible! The producers of the
show believed that the TV audience would understand what they were saying about
forgiveness. There was still a respect for the standards of Scripture in our nation, and it
was being portrayed by Hollywood!
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet astronaut, became the first man to orbit the
earth. When he returned from space, he told the people of the Soviet Union that he had
attempted to see God there, but had seen no one. He told them that he looked and looked
but saw no evidence of God anywhere, thus proving that there is no such thing as God.
Yet on the evening of December 21, 1968, three American astronauts onboard Apollo 8
were broadcasting on live TV to millions of people around the world. The astronauts
were orbiting the moon and sending back the first live pictures of the earth ever broadcast
from space. It was fascinating for people to see a view of our own planet for the first
time from space. As this nation watched, Mission Commander Astronaut Frank Borman,
chose to read from the Book of Genesis the account of creation of how God created all
that we were now seeing from space. It was a powerful moment in television history. In
conclusion, he said, “Good night, Good luck, Merry Christmas, and may God bless you
all….” People around the globe, Christians and non-Christians alike identified with what
Frank Borman said. We are not some cosmic accident, but rather created by an all-
knowing, all-powerful God. And no one seemed to have a complaint with Borman about
saying it.
All of this would be much different today. The atheists would be enraged that
Borman would say such a thing. The feminists would be offended because God was

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referred to in the masculine gender. The ACLU would file a lawsuit against NASA
because they had used taxpayer dollars to promote religion in violation of the separation
of Church and State. The skeptics in the media would be cynical of the whole thing
calling it a political stunt somehow instituted by the Religious Right. Other religious
groups would demand equal time insisting that in the future, astronauts be required to
read from the Koran or other religious books. Secular humanists would question
Borman’s fitness as a NASA astronaut because of his unenlightened beliefs. The
traditional values and beliefs we have held as a nation have radically changed in one
short generation!
As a nation, we are assaulted on every front. Economically, we are so far in debt that
there is hardly any way to even imagine the amount of money that would be required for
us to even be solvent again. Socially, the decline has been so steep that even the notion
of traditional family has become almost non-existent. Morally, things that the Bible
defines as being abominations are now considered to be perfectly normal. Perversion is
rampant. Addiction to a wide variety of substances and lifestyles affects millions of
people. As a culture, we are in decline. The standard of living for millions continues to
decline. Educationally, we continue to sink further and further behind other nations.
These are not politically popular statements to make, but they reflect a reality that we
have never had to face.
Today, America has become a nation that no longer honors God. Some people now
refer to this land as being “a post-Christian nation.” The Bible is not respected or
accepted as the final authority of what is right or wrong. The commandments of God are
broken with arrogance and rebellion. The things of God are mocked. The Church has
lost its respect in the eyes of most people who now consider it to be irrelevant. The root
of the entire problem is that we have as a nation lost something wonderful that was
responsible for bringing us the blessings we have traditionally enjoyed. We have lost the
fear of the Lord! Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a
reproach to any people.” God will honor a nation that gives honor and reverential respect
to Him. Rebellion, dishonor, and disrespect of Him, and the resulting sin that follows,
ALWAYS leads to despair and loss.

We Must Have a Restoration of the Fear of the Lord

The Church and this nation must return to the place of reverence and respect for
the Lord if we are going to have a hope for the future. We MUST return to a place where
God’s Word is honored in the Church and in the lives of those who seek to follow Him.
God owes us nothing yet we owe Him everything. The secret to why America has been
blessed as it has does not lie in our abilities, our intelligence, our work ethic, free
enterprise, capitalism, ingenuity, or natural resources. Traditionally, the reason we have
been the light and envy of the world is because we have been blessed by God. There is
simply no other explanation. The Bible is very plain when it says, “Blessed is the nation
whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance” (Psalm
33:12).

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 At the time of this writing, we must face the hard and difficult truth. We must have an
atmospheric revival in our nation that produces repentance and a return to holiness, or we
will have judgment. We can rest assured that we will have one, and maybe even both.
Whatever the case, we will not continue on the present course without consequences. We
must return to a place where God is once again reverenced, honored, respected, and
feared for that is the place of blessing and security!
The restoration of honor for the Lord must begin in the Church first. The Church is
always either a part of the problem or a part of the solution! Therefore we must come
back to the place we once knew where the fear and respect of the Lord was a part of our
very identity as a people of God. Our lawlessness and attitudes of rebellion must be
replaced with a heart of humility and surrender to Him. My best friend, who was
described in the opening of this chapter, believed he could do as he willed with Jesus’
Church even though he was doing it for all the right reasons. But because he rejected the
fear of the Lord, he brought the judgment of God upon his life and ministry in a profound
way. He paid a terrible price for all that he did, though it didn’t have to be so. All he had
to do was simply understand the great importance of living and walking before the Lord
in reverential fear and respect!

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 Chapter Three

Sin is Still a Very Serious Issue with God!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
In Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

In today’s world, the lines between right and wrong are becoming more and more
blurred. The mindset of most people is to do whatever you think is right and fair, and it
will all work out in the end. There are not many absolute values any more. Now
everyone decides for himself what is right or wrong. Everything is relative.
There has never been a generation like the one we are presently living in that has so
many choices about moral issues. Things have become confused on many different
levels; and for many, this confusion is overwhelming. I was recently in a city where a
national conference was being held for people who wanted to surgically change their
gender. Hundreds of people were there, many staying in the same hotel where I was. It
was hard to tell who was who, or what was what!
The tragedy of these blurred lines between right and wrong is a people who no longer
seem to care about those lines and have adopted a type of make-your-own-rules for living
their lives. Unfortunately, that mindset is growing in popularity in the Church. We
hardly ever hear someone preaching on the dangers of sin. We don’t want to make
anyone feel uncomfortable. They might not come back if that happened. Everything
about church these days is intended to be casual and comfortable and designed to make
people feel good about themselves. Come to church and enjoy yourself is the latest
trend. One large church actually sets up food tables in the back of the sanctuary where
people can pick up a snack to enjoy during the worship and teaching. It looks like a
Sunday Brunch while the service is going on. In the middle of the worship people are
free to roam to the back of the sanctuary and pick up a cup of coffee or juice, grab a
sandwich, or snack on cookies. "We just want everyone to be comfortable in church!”
That effort to make people feel comfortable has now been extended to failing to preach or
teach anything that offends or makes people feel uncomfortable about their lifestyle--
whatever it might be!
A recent newspaper advertisement for a particular church read as follows:
“Would you come back to church if we quit throwing the Book at you?” Next to this
question was a picture of a Bible! The ad continued saying that their church was one
based on love and forgiveness. The message in that ad couldn’t have been any more
plain. It communicated to people that if they would attend this church, they would have
no fear of anyone making them feel guilty over sin by telling them the truth from God’s

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Word! I shutter to think that we have now entered a time that churches will actually pay
money to advertise to the world that they no longer teach and preach from the Bible! The
bigger issue here is not that church; At least they were honest enough to put what they
believe in the newspaper. The frightening part is there are thousands of other churches
across this nation and others that obviously believe exactly the same way as evidenced
by their actions, but do not have the courage to speak it out publicly! God sees every
heart and is looking at every intent: spoken and unspoken. He sees absolutely everything
for what it is! It is a type of bribery to promise people a good time in church that is free
from the truth of the Bible in exchange for their attendance and money! It is a prostitution
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Look at the commitments that other religions require of their followers. Most
Muslim women are required to totally wrap themselves in clothes from head to foot so as
not to tempt men to lust. Many of them reveal nothing but their eyes from beneath the
garb they wear. Suicide bombers strap on explosives or drive vehicles filled with the
same into crowded places to die a martyr’s death because of their beliefs. Other religions
make harsh demands upon their followers. When someone departs from the faith to
embrace the Gospel of Jesus, many are beaten, their homes burned, their jobs taken away,
and some are even killed.
It seems that in the Church, we continue to drop the standards lower and lower for
following Jesus to such a place that there are virtually no standards left at all! The
mindset for many has become: “What can we do for you that will make you happy enough
or comfortable enough that you want to be a Christian? We never want to make you feel
that being a Christian will somehow infringe upon your freedoms or choices.”

God’s Word is very clear on what He expects about right and wrong. There are
absolutes between what is right and wrong, and those lines should be preached and be
very clear in the hearts of God's people. He has even given His Holy Spirit to live in our
hearts to teach and guide us in His ways. When we walk in His ways, there is peace and
well being. If we violate His Word, there is a check in our hearts that makes us feel
uncomfortable in His presence; or, it produces a feeling like He's left us. If you haven't
learned to ask forgiveness quickly, God may seem to be far away. God loves those who
sin but He hates the sin that they commit. Here is a promise of Jesus concerning the
coming of the Holy Spirit who was to assume the responsibilities for His earthly ministry
after His ascension back to Heaven:

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go
to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is
judged” (John 16:8-11).

Why does sin seem to be such a big problem with God? There are many verses
that answer this, but here are two: Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities have separated you from
your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, there was only one commandment
that they were expected to obey. They were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of

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good and evil. The devil came and tempted them saying, “Has God indeed said, ‘You
shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may
eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God has said ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then
the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day
you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”
(Genesis 3:1-5).

The serpent’s initial words to Eve were crafted in such a way as to cause her to
question God. Most things the devil does start with him asking someone a question! The
implication was clear. It was a direct and blatant challenge to God’s authority and
integrity. The serpent was calling God a liar and that what He had said wasn’t true at all.
Adam and Eve believed what the serpent said more than they believed God. When they
committed that first act of disobedience, eating the fruit that God had commanded them
not to eat, their action opened the floodgates of death and destruction. The effects were so
widespread that we will never fully comprehend it all until we go to Heaven. Sin is an
awful offense in the eyes of a holy God who has unlimited, immeasurable power and
authority! Its magnitude cannot be discounted or dismissed even under the guise of
God’s abundant love, mercy, and grace. An intentional or careless sin is a defiant
challenge to the very authority and power of God Himself, and is a sin that God will not
allow to stand unchallenged.
God is still a God of commandments and expectations of His children. Some
people teach that God’s anger over sinful behavior ceased with the coming of Jesus and
the institution of salvation by grace. Their rationale is that the God of the Old Testament
was the God of rules and regulations that demanded obedience and punished rebellion.
The God of the New Testament is a God that just loves people, who lavishly pours out
grace and mercy on everyone. God is the One who simply looks the other way when His
children sin against Him (More of this will be discussed in chapter ten).
But as good as all of this sounds, does the Bible teach us these things? The answer to
that is a resounding No! It doesn’t teach these things at all. The entire message of
God’s boundless grace and mercy as taught by many contemporary leaders has now
replaced the Biblical truth of the seriousness of sin in the eyes of a holy God. God is big
enough to be both filled with great mercy, love, and kindness, and at the same time be a
God of pure holiness that demands obedience and punishes rebellion.
Imagine a person who is pulled over by the police for speeding. The speed limit was
70 MPH. They were driving at 81 MPH. They are guilty. They have clearly broken the
law. They deserve a ticket and a fine. But the policeman makes a decision to simply let
the driver go with just a warning, if they promise they will not do it again. Does that
mean that there is no longer a speed limit on how fast a person can drive? No. There
was a law in place, and the speeder chose to ignore it. The speeder was caught and
rightfully deserved the punishment, but the police officer made a conscious decision not
to change the law but to extend mercy to the guilty. If the same officer caught that same
person doing the same thing an hour later, he would probably not be so generous and
forgiving! It would be clear that extending grace and mercy in the face of obvious guilt
had really not changed anything in the way he operated his car. If the officer wrote the
ticket, what would happen if the ticket didn’t change the person’s driving habits, and they
were stopped a third time for the same thing? They would get another ticket, and then

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another ticket if they continued to recklessly violate the speed limits. Finally, they would
lose their license; and if they got caught speeding after that, they would go to jail!
The grace and mercy of God works the same way. Because of His love for His
children, God has retained the option of issuing warnings to His children by the
conviction of the Holy Spirit when we break His commandments. He comes to us and
brings a citation of truth from His Word coupled with a conviction in our hearts that we
have violated His expectations in our lives. Just because God retains this right, it should
not be interpreted as meaning that there are no longer any speed limits in His eyes.
Further speeding tickets will bring greater and greater levels of corrective judgment. In
the end if people refuse to change, there will come a final judgment without mercy and
grace!
Jesus didn’t abolish God’s demands for moral integrity. He actually expanded them!
“For assuredly, I say to you, till Heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by
no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and
whoever murders shall be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever
says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You
fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it
from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your
whole body be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:27-29).

Jesus didn’t eliminate the offensiveness of sin in God’s eyes. He actually

enlarged the scope of sin as defined in the Old Testament. Jesus said that a man didn’t
actually have to commit the physical act of adultery with a woman as in the Old
Testament to be guilty of adultery. Lusting after a woman in his heart was the same
thing. Now according to Jesus, the definition of adultery has been expanded to just
thinking about committing it! What does that say about the constant bombardment of
sexually explicit messages that surround us daily in every form of communication
throughout our culture? Jesus said that a man does not have to physically take the life of
someone to be guilty of murder. Hatred and unforgiveness equals the same thing in
God’s eyes!
These Scriptures along with many more throughout the Bible teach us that God is a
holy God who still expects obedience to His rules from His children. He is filled with
love, mercy, and grace which He gladly extends to those who are genuinely seeking to
walk in His ways but falter through weakness and immaturity. He has very little patience
with those who choose to openly defy Him through careless or deliberate disobedience.
If you easily excuse yourself from obedience to something in God's Word because you
don't like it, you are in rebellion. Do you realize that man is the only part of creation that
is allowed to challenge, defy, and rebel against God, and not receive immediate judgment
and an unalterable sentence of ultimate destruction?

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 What is Religious Legalism?

Legalism is a religious system motivated by a religious spirit that attempts to

justify man in the eyes of God based upon keeping certain rules and regulations. The
idea is that a person can achieve their own right standing before God based upon their
own good works. They believe that if they have played by the rules, they have earned a
place of righteousness in God’s eyes, and there is no need for repentance. This is a most
grievous lie, because it is man’s attempt to do something that is absolutely impossible--
justify himself before a holy God by his own works! It is impossible to do. Isaiah said,
“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags”
(Isaiah 64:6).

But unfortunately, many in the Church today have come to attribute anything that
remotely sounds like God having expectations of particular behaviors for His children as
being old school, tradition, religion, or legalism. The words legalism and spirit of
religion have almost become code words in the Church that cover everything that
requires God’s people to do virtually anything that runs against their carnal, undisciplined
natures! This is further evidence of the message of hyper-grace that now predominates.
It is the No Rules mindset that might be good as part of the brand for Outback Steakhouse
but is certainly not part of the brand of Heaven for the people of God!
Legalism is merely man’s efforts to justify himself in the eyes of God by adhering to
certain behaviors. The message of the Bible is that God is a God of love and mercy who
is patient and kind, willing to forgive and pardon “all who have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), if they will come to Him in genuine repentance and
petition Him for grace. There is a world of difference between these two ideas!

In Deuteronomy 10:12-15, we read, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your
God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love
Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep
the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your
good?”

This passage pretty well sums up what the Lord is wanting from His people. It is
a combination of love, passion, obedience and respect which, if followed, will produce
blessing in people’s lives! Honoring and reverencing God will always bring Heaven’s
power into our circumstances.

God Looks at People’s Hearts More Than Anything Else

Recently I saw one of the most amazing photographs I have ever seen. It was a
picture of approximately twenty large German Shepherd police dogs sitting in a line,
heads down, ears pointed, and with every eye glued to a big fluffy cat that was walking
down the line like a military general inspecting his troops. You could almost sense what
these dogs were thinking as this cat flaunted himself right under their noses! Yet not one

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dog was making an aggressive move toward the cat.
This photo was not an accident. It was taken at one of the most prestigious police
dog training centers in the world. It represented the final exam that every dog must pass
before graduation. The cat is actually a part of the faculty. He grew up at the facility and
has no fear of German Shepherds. He was trained to strut before them, because he
represents the most important part of all their training, and it is their final exam!
The trainers line the dogs up and command them to sit and stay put. No dog is to
bark or take any aggressive action. Then the trainers disappear out of sight from the
dogs. These dogs have been bred and raised to become the best of the best. They are
drilled continuously to follow their handlers' orders and to never disobey under any
circumstance. Their training is now complete and graduation day is upon them. The
handlers are gone, and they believe that no one sees what is happening. Then the cat
comes strolling by. The presence of this cat is an affront to every instinct in these dogs!
Everything inside them longs to go after this arrogant, insulting, pompous cat; but if they
did, they would be violating all that their trainers have told them to do. But the trainers
aren’t there, and who would ever know the difference? The trainers watch intently by
closed circuit television. Any dog that exhibits aggression toward the cat is immediately
disqualified from the school and becomes ineligible to move forward as a police dog.
Why? Because in spite of all the extensive training the dog has received, and all the
discipline that has been drilled into him, down deep in his heart he is still a dog that
would rather chase a cat than obey his trainer’s orders. This test will prove if he can be
trusted or be disqualified to continue any further.
Sometimes God will allow cats to come into our lives that cause us to have to choose
between unwavering obedience to Him or doing what comes naturally out of our
undisciplined carnal natures. Jesus said, “Many are called, but few are chosen”
(Matthew 20:16). Before we graduate to a place of having been proven faithful, and
therefore ready for God to use us, we must pass many tests that prove the strength of our
commitment to obedience and faithfulness in what God has told us to do. If you really
want to be used by God, get ready, because there are some cats that are in your future,
and how you choose to respond to them will determine your ultimate destiny!
God is never impressed by what people look like on the outside. They can appear to
others to have great faith, unwavering devotion, and unquestionable character and
integrity. God looks beyond what others can see and judges the invisible components in
our lives, the true content of our hearts. If He sees those things that are invisible to the
sight of others and sometimes even ourselves, He does not hesitate to allow or even send
a cat to arrogantly walk by in order that these issues might be exposed and dealt with
through discipline. Yet in the times of encountering the cats and difficult choices being
made in the midst of great struggles, His immeasurable love, grace, and power never
falters for a moment! He may become silent. He may seem to have withdrawn His
presence. His blessings may seem to have disappeared. All that we were believing Him
for may seem to have slipped away, but it hasn’t. A cat is passing through our lives, and
God is watching us as we watch this cat!
I have known the Lord since I was a very small child. There has never been a day in
my life that I have not known His presence with me. However, there was an eighteen
month period in my teens when I wandered away from Him, but He never wandered
away from me. He went with me every step of the way and completely “ruined” the

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whole thing! He was always there with me in spite of my feeble attempts to ignore Him.
God touched my heart during a special week of youth meetings in our church, and I
rededicated my life to Him. I didn’t know how I would ever be able to fulfill my
commitment to Him. The temptations of being a teenager were surely too great for me to
handle. Everyday I would fall short of the standards of what I knew in my heart a
Christian should be. To make matters even worse, an older woman in our church gave
me a book on all the things a good Christian should be doing as well as all the things a
good Christian should avoid. My life looked like the opposite of what was in the book.
It wasn’t working.
Everyday was more of the same. I would attempt to live for Jesus, but my efforts
seemed to fall short. I would repent and then struggle all over again. Looking back now,
I can almost imagine that I can hear the following conversation going on in Heaven
between the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit:

The Father says with a chuckle: “They are so cute when they are at that age. He has
no revelation yet of My great power, and the fact I am now holding him in the palm of My
Hand! Nothing can ever remove him from that place as long as he desires Me.”
Jesus replies saying, “Nor does he understand the great love that I have for him and
the power of the blood that I shed for him. He doesn’t have a clue that when he fails, My
blood completely cleanses the offense and makes it as though it never happened.”
And then the Holy Spirit would add, “And he doesn’t understand that I am the one of
us who is living inside of him, and that I am continuously working out all the plans and
purposes of Heaven that are awaiting in the years ahead of this young man’s life. I’ve
got him covered.”
And then Father says, “Next time he reads his Bible, be sure that he reads and
understands what I said to My people through My son Paul when he wrote in Romans
8:31-32, ‘What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against
us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things?’”
And then the Holy Spirit says in reply, “I agree. I’ll take care of that!”

I can imagine that something like this happened, because one day as I was reading
the Bible, I found Romans 8:1 which says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to
the Spirit.”

And then I read the Scriptures that follow that verse, I discovered that it wasn’t me
who was keeping Him; it was He who was keeping me. I realized that though I might be
weak, He had more than enough strength for us both. I saw that there was no power in
the universe great enough to take me from Him as long as I simply loved Him and
wanted to obey Him. I suddenly saw and understood in these Scriptures that He was for
me and not against me. As I yielded to Him and trusted in His great power, He would
make all His will for me work out in my life.
That day something was forever settled in my heart. A new day of understanding of
God’s nature and ways had dawned in my life. Freedom and joy came. I could not, nor
would I, ever be the same again. Why? Because God saw the true content of my heart--

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the desire to genuinely live a life that was pleasing to Him! The fact that I wanted so
desperately to live before Him in integrity pleased Him and weighed far more than any
offense He may have had with my failures and weaknesses. His grace and mercy was
more than sufficient for those things, because He saw the true content of my heart. I
loved Him and didn't want to disobey Him even if I believed I could get away with it.

Sins of Weakness Are Very Different From Willful Sin

There is a world of difference in God’s eyes between people who sin because of
weakness in the face of temptation, and people who rebel and sin willfully. Thank God
for His great mercy and immeasurable love! He has already made a way for our failures
and offenses to be forgiven through the blood of Jesus which was shed on the cross.
Even Paul the Apostle struggled with this issue of sins of weakness in his life. In
Romans 7:14-25, Paul described the battle between his mind and heart. He wanted to live
in victory over the flesh but struggled to do so.
I heard the testimony of an aged pastor who had spent his life ministering among the
Native Americans in the western United States. He told of a tribal chief who had become
a Christian, and yet struggled with desperately wanting to serve and obey God, and yet
still warring against sin in his own life. He said, “It is like a great fight inside of me
between two dogs. One dog is a dog that wants to do good, and the other is an evil dog
that wants to do bad.” This missionary then asked the chief this question, “Tell me,
which dog wins the fight?” The old chief thought for a few moments and then said, “The
dog that always wins the fight is the dog that I feed the most.”

What great wisdom that statement illustrates! “The dog who always wins the
fight is the dog that I feed the most.” This man faced the same challenges that the
Apostle Paul struggled with. It's the same for each of us. Here is a Scripture that sheds
light on this. Galatians 5:16-17, "I say then: walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;
and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
Actually, the Holy Spirit does not fight. The struggle is which to obey! Do you follow
the Spirit or your flesh--your carnal human nature? When you choose to deny the flesh
and obey God, you will grow. As long as we confess quickly, we can walk in victory
without condemnation, guilt, or legalism. The following Scriptures illustrate these truths:
In 1 John 1:7-10, we read, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we
have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from
all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His
Word is not in us.”

Hebrews 8:12-13 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins
and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. In that He says, 'A new covenant,’ He
has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to
vanish away.”

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 Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For
we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Willful Disobedience is a Totally Different Matter!

Sin that is careless, deliberate, and done with very little regard for its consequences is
a much different issue. Willful sin doesn’t come as a surprise. It is a deliberate sin that is
planned ahead of time, and becomes a way of life for those who indulge in it. David was
a man after God’s own heart. There is no evidence that David had deliberated upon and
then carefully planned his encounter with Bathsheba. The whole thing happened in a
moment of weakness, but it was something that was to alter the course of David’s
destiny! Was he sorry for the sin he had committed with Bathsheba, including the
murder of her husband Uriah? Yes, he was. Read Psalm 51 and hear the heart cry of one
who had sinned against God and was deathly afraid that God would take His Holy Spirit
from his life. Did God forgive him of his sins? Of course He did, because He is a God of
grace and mercy. Did David ever really recover from the events surrounding Bathsheba?
No. He lived with the consequences for the rest of his life, and his family suffered, too.

Let’s compare the above Scriptures that deal with God’s mercy to these which follow.
They illustrate God’s view of sin toward those who carelessly and willfully rebel against
Him. The following references are some of the least taught Scriptures in the entire Bible
because of their frightening nature. They are there just the same.

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good
Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to
repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an
open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears
herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears
thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned”
(Hebrews 6:4-8).

“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and
fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’
law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse
punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God
underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing,
and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will
repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:26-31).

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 “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the
latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true
proverb, 'A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing
in the mire’” (2 Peter 2:20-22).

“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach,
patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant
them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses
and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2
Timothy 2:24).

Wow! What a dramatic contrast in the way God views rebellious, willful sin, and
the way the majority of Christians view sin today. It is all totally dependent upon the
motivations of the heart! God has made immeasurable provision to cleanse by the
blood of His own Son, every sin committed out of weakness and failure; but sin
committed by those who live in a casual or rebellious manner is both deceptive and
indescribably dangerous. There is a world of difference between being free in Christ, and
living in lawlessness. Lawlessness is an open and defiant, in your face rebellion against
God! Please carefully and prayerfully consider the following concept.
The mercy and grace of God extended to those who are lost in sin is different than
the grace and mercy God extends to those who have heard the Gospel, received the
Gospel, tasted of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, experienced the “powers of the
age to come” (God’s glory and presence), and have known and experienced His love,
who then choose to live in defiance, rebellion, and lawlessness toward God. God has a
totally different view of sin committed in weakness in the midst of a struggle to obey,
than sin which is willfully committed in defiance and rejection of His authority. The two
are worlds apart in His eyes, and there is another facet to this issue. There are many
people who consider themselves good Christians and may even have leadership positions
in their churches. They are not aware of sin in their lives, but there is something in God's
Word that they don't want to obey. So they easily excuse themselves, thinking they're
okay, and God must understand the circumstances. But this is still rejecting His
authority!
I recently witnessed a teenage boy being pulled over by a State Trooper for reckless
driving. The trooper approached the car, took his information, and came back to his car
and wrote him a ticket. When the ticket had been written and the usual warning against
speeding given, the trooper sent the teenager on his way. As the trooper began walking
back to his car, the teenager restarted his car and actually squealed his tires in anger as he
accelerated back onto the roadway. The trooper jumped into his car, turned on the siren
and blue lights and pulled the kid over again--two hundred yards down the road!
Apparently he didn’t get the message about speeding and reckless driving. I suspect the
trooper was a little more persuasive when he wrote the kid his second ticket because of
his obviously unrepentant attitude!

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 The purpose of this chapter and the theme of this book is to address the issue of
lawlessness and the lack of the fear of the Lord in the Church today. In most churches,
these critically important issues are hardly even mentioned anymore. God is presented as
a big bubbling Santa Claus-type figure who continuously lavishes His children with
goodies, and overlooks their misbehavior and rebellion because of His great love. He
may have posted speed limit signs in His Word, but He never writes any tickets because
He is a God of unconditional love, mercy, and grace; and His children are now free!
A pastor called to tell me about a situation he was facing in his church. A leader
had come to tell him that while visiting in another leader’s home, he had accidentally
discovered a variety of photos on their bathroom walls. This leader and his wife were
standing nude with others on beaches and on a cruise ship. He had called this leader to
his office to inquire about the pictures. The man smiled and informed the pastor they
were a part of a Christian Nudist Network (CNN). It was a part of a new revelation from
the Holy Spirit! He went on to say that God had created Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden with the intention that they live clothed only in His glory. When they sinned, they
lost the glory and had to substitute clothes in its place. When Jesus died for the sins of
the world, He removed all sin and made it possible for people to stand before God
without any artificial coverings to hide their nakedness. When Christians wear clothes,
he said it is like attempting to bring Old Testament practices into the New Testament.
This is actually offensive to God, because it implies that what Jesus did was somehow not
enough. This man went on to say that soon Christians everywhere would come to
church, shed their clothes, and worship God in Spirit and truth. This was a new
revelation, but not from God!
I ministered in a church several years ago where I learned that the pastor, youth
pastor, and worship leader were all secretly practicing a homosexual lifestyle--even with
others in the church. They were each married, and two of them had children. They were
secretly practicing homosexuality and at the same time preaching the Gospel, leading
worship to a holy God, and ministering to young people!
I heard of another church recently that had added an entirely new definition to the
words, “Wednesday Night Fellowship.” It seems that the church would gather on
Wednesday evenings to pray, have a meal together, and a program. When the offering
container was passed, the women would put in a key that fit the front door of their home.
They would then leave and go home to get ready for a night of fellowship. After giving
all the ladies a twenty-minute head start, the offering bucket would be passed around
again and every man would take out a key. They would then spend whatever amount of
time necessary traveling around their town trying their keys in the front door of church
members’ homes until they found a front door lock their key would open. They then went
in to spend the rest of the night in bed with the woman they had been in church with
earlier.
What does God say about pastors who lead secret lives of pornography addiction on
the Internet from within their church offices? One major Pentecostal denomination
estimates that 25% of their pastors have this addiction. My pastor friends in that same
denomination tell me that figure is inaccurate. They say the 25% are those pastors who
will admit it to the denomination and seek help. It doesn’t include many more who are
quite happy with the secret lifestyle they are leading! Another survey found that 54% of
pastors admitted to viewing pornography on the Internet in the past twelve months.

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 What does God really think about the church that has experienced a great move of
the Holy Spirit over the years and has learned to remain hungry for the presence of God
in their services, but lawlessness rules in the hearts of many of their members? They
believe in the great love of the Father, and how we only need to soak more in His
presence, and everything will all work out for everyone. Yet in this same church, there is
rampant immorality and adultery among the membership; but because of the Father’s
love, and their desire not to put religion on people, sin is never mentioned. They seem to
believe that if we soak enough in the Father’s love, everyone will be changed over time.

I have cited only a few examples of defiant sins of sexual immorality in churches
I have personally witnessed in recent years. Hatred, rebellion, prejudice, dishonesty,
gossip, and leading lives of sleazy greasy grace and sloppy agape are all just as offensive
in the eyes of the Lord. There are many other examples which could be listed, because
all of us have our own stories of such things that we have seen or heard about. These are
all references to Christian people and churches who have made deliberate and willful
decisions to continue to sin against God. They are not sins of weakness or failure. They
are premeditated and deliberate in their nature! They are done in defiance, and they are
trampling underfoot the blood of Jesus. They are an “insult to the Spirit of grace.” They
represent pure lawlessness at its worst. And those who live in such a manner will one
day fulfill Hebrews 10:30 which says, “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine,
I will repay’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

We must respect God and honor His Word! We must live our lives in a place of
loving, worshipful respect and honor for Him. We must never abuse His mercy and
grace, using His goodness as an excuse for lawlessness and rebellion! Sin is a deadly
thing! It began in the Garden of Eden when God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of
the fruit. They broke His command, and sin with all of its deadly effects descended upon
mankind and remains today. All death, all sickness, disease, war, crime, abuse, hatred,
and murder stem from that original decision to disobey a simple command from God.
The theme that runs from cover to cover in God’s Word is one of obedience to His
commandments. There is no exception to this anywhere in the Bible.

Is God Really “Always in a Good Mood?”

There is an increasing acceptance in the Church of the idea God will never bring
judgment against anyone about sin and rebellion against His commandments. God is
always in a good mood is the assumption in the teaching of many in our day. They say
that because He is a God of love, mercy, and grace, He will eventually win the hearts of
everyone by His overflowing goodness and His desire to be a blessing to people. He
comes and fills us with the new wine of His Spirit, heals us by His power, gives us
financial prosperity, lets us soak in His presence, and over time we will naturally grow to
a place that we love Him enough to obey Him. He would never bring judgment or
correction. He doesn’t use the old school methods of preaching against the evils of sin,
telling people that they need to ask for mercy they don't deserve, and petition God for

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forgiveness of their sins which have offended Him. That mindset is considered Old
Testament legalism. They say we are now living in a new day of abundant grace in
which we can just enjoy the kindness of God until we decide to change, or so the story
goes. One teacher actually stated, “God isn’t mad, so why are you?”
Imagine yourself in the following situation. You have five wonderful children
whom you dearly love. You have invested your life into them. You would do anything
for them because you love them so. You have raised them to serve the Lord, and they are
doing it. Imagine yourself coming home and finding your wonderful children laughing
and talking together in a clean house with a nice dinner almost ready that they have
prepared for the family. Would you be in a good mood? Some people would die of a
heart attack to make such a startling discovery! Of course you would be in a good mood!
You would be thrilled to be home with your children, and you would enjoy being with
them.
Now imagine another scenario. You have these same five wonderful children
whom you dearly love, and you have invested your life into them. You have raised them
to know and serve the Lord, and honor Him by obeying His commandments. You come
home and find them sitting around a filthy house smoking dope, drinking booze, cursing,
fighting, and there is a statue of Buddha on the kitchen cabinet. Are you in a good mood
now? Why not? Do you still love your children? Yes. Do you still want to see them
serving the Lord and loving each other? Yes. What has changed? What made the
difference in your attitude? Their behavior has NOT influenced your love, but it has
certainly influenced your mood!
Was Jesus in a good mood when He came into the temple and found the
moneychangers and merchants? Was He in such a good mood that He made a whip out
of cords, began turning over their tables, and chased them all out of the temple? What
about His good mood in Acts chapter five regarding Ananias and Saphirah? They
willfully sinned in the presence of the glory, and died as a result. There is an abundance
of Scripture throughout this book that clearly illustrates the fact that God is not always in
a good mood. His mood is subject to radical change depending on the behavior of His
children. When we honor Him, love, serve, worship Him, and walk in His
commandments out of respect for who He really is, His heart overflows with joy toward
His family. But when His children rebel against Him or treat their pet sins lightly, they
dishonor Him by their attitudes and actions. Though the Father's love remains constant,
His anger toward such behavior can be stirred; and punishment will be forthcoming!
The Scripture in Romans 2:4 about “the goodness of God leads (us) to repentance”
is the one most often used by those who challenge the idea of God's bringing unpleasant
discipline against people because of sin. The rationale behind this says, “A good God
will never bring a painful or threatening sense of conviction on anyone for their sin, but
will instead always draw people to Himself by His great love and by blessing them.”

Someone wrote me an email recently and said this: “John, even in the natural the
threat of a spanking rarely causes a child to run to a father. On the other hand the offer
of love, forgiveness, and restoration of fellowship (when a child already knows what it
has done is wrong) often produces the repentance necessary for the forgiveness to be
received and fellowship restored.” These words sound wonderful; however, is this really
a practical way of dealing with rebellion in children? Let’s be honest. Would this

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approach really work? Recently, I saw a young woman with her rebellious four-year-old
son in the grocery store; and he was creating havoc for the mother who just wanted to get
her shopping done. She spoke so kindly to him. She promised him rewards if he would
be a good boy. She made idle threats of “Mommy is going to punish you, if you don’t be
good.” The child knew better than to believe that. He wasn’t impressed at all. This
woman needed to establish some very real boundaries for her child; and the child needed
to know from personal experience that if he went outside those boundaries, he would not
like it! We are not talking about child abuse; but we are talking about a loving parent
who has expectations of appropriate behaviors. And, mom must be willing to bring
punishment to him if he rebels and disobeys!
The loving approach of God lavishing more and more good on people without
any expectation of moral responsibility is reflective of a rebellious, self-indulgent,
spoiled rotten attitude which says, "I don’t want anyone telling me what to do!" This is
so much a part of today’s society. The unspoken conclusion here is: “If I haven’t
changed, it is God’s fault. He hasn’t done enough good things for me yet to make me
love Him enough so I will want to obey and change.” It may come as a very real shock
to some people, but here it comes anyway. God doesn’t owe us anything. We actually
owe Him everything. He is the One who is God, not us! He doesn’t have to prove
Himself in any capacity. He’s the Father. We are the children. We play by His rules.
He is not obligated in the least to play by our rules in order to keep us happy.
The e-mail from the pastor mentioned before, citing the reference about it being
the “goodness of God” that ultimately brings people to repentance, is completely taken
out of its proper context. The logic continues by citing that God has committed all
judgment to the Son (John 5:22), and He is withholding it until the “day of the Lord” to
give as much opportunity as possible for people to repent. The next statement, usually
made to support the above, is taken from Luke 6:35-36 which says in part, “For He is
kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is
merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

To understand any Scripture in God’s Word, we must study it in the entire

context of what was written, and compare it to other Scriptures on the same subject. Do
not use an isolated portion plucked out and used as evidence to support something that
we have already decided to believe. Let us go back and cite Romans 2:4 within its
correct and entire context.
Beginning with Romans 1:28, God had just finished a stinging indictment of sin
in many varying forms and said that, “And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind….” (Romans 1:28-31).

We then read verse 32 which says, “…who, knowing the righteous judgment of
God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but
also approve of those who practice them.”

Romans 2:1 continues in God’s indictment against sin saying, “Therefore you
are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another
you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the
judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do

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you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same,
that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness,
forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to
repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are
treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds” (Romans 2:1-6).

So you can see that the context reveals just the opposite of what this pastor had
said! God is willing to bring correction, discipline, rebuke, pruning, and even judgment
to people at the present time. It is a statement of God’s mercy, immeasurable love,
kindness, and grace that makes forgiveness possible, but only to those who will repent
today. Repentance doesn’t occur in the final Day of the Lord and final judgment. It will
be too late by then. Repentance of sin is for right now, today. It is about living a
lifestyle in the fear, honor, love and respect of God now. This will cause us to
understand the horrible nature of sin, and its penalties. We must run to God in repentance
now, in order that we might be forgiven and released from the penalties of judgment
later.
This Scripture about the “goodness of God” leading people to repentance is often
used to reject the truth that God is willing to rebuke, discipline, and even judge sin in
people, churches, and nations now in this life. The belief of many people today is that
God just wants people to experience more of Himself: more glory, more prophecy, to see
more miracles, have more power encounters, and be filled with an ever-increasing
measure of His great love. Over time, they will eventually become so addicted to Him
that they will change their attitudes and behaviors. That is so wrong! The Old
Testament, the Gospels, and New Testament all present God as being One of
righteousness and justice, who does not casually overlook sin. He is thrilled to show
love and mercy and forgiveness to people who sin, but only if they will come to Him,
asking for His mercy, with repentant hearts that genuinely want to turn from their
offenses.
The idea that God is an over-indulgent Father, always benevolent, always giving
goodies, always happy, and delighted with everything that His children do and willing to
continuously lavish them with praise and unlimited blessings with the hope that in doing
enough for them they will decide to serve Him, is sheer foolishness! Any parent, who
believes that his or her role is to continually offer extravagant love, lavish giving, and
extreme efforts toward making the child happy, and never give boundaries or correction
when the child violates the rules, is a silly misguided person who is destroying the child’s
hope for a life and a future! A loving Father is one who does not hesitate to say "no” to
His children when what they are doing is going to hurt them.
Someone asked me recently about the woman who was caught in the act of
adultery and brought to Jesus. The Pharisees wanted to see if He would obey the Law of
Moses, which said she should be stoned, or would He break the Law of Moses and let her
go (John 8). Jesus did neither. He wrote on the ground to wait and hear from God, and
then He invited her accusers who had never committed sin to cast the first stone at her.
Slowly, because of conviction in their own hearts, they quietly slipped away. Jesus then
asked her, “Woman, where are those your accusers?” She replied, “No one has
condemned me, Lord.” Jesus then said, “Neither do I condemn you; Go and sin no
more.”

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 This person asked me what would have happened if Jesus had come back the
following day, and the woman had been caught in the act of adultery again. Would He
have had her stoned then? Probably not, but what if she had been caught the third time?
Would she have been stoned then? I doubt it. What about a fourth time? Probably not.
A fifth time, or a sixth? I still don’t think she would have been stoned, but I don’t think
Jesus would have continued to simply tell her again and again to “Go and sin no more.”
He would have become silent when it was readily apparent that the woman really didn’t
have any great desire to change. She could have continued to live in adultery for the rest
of her life and never be stoned for her sins, as the Law of Moses required. Would Jesus
have just dismissed it all because of grace, love, and mercy? No. She could have lived in
her sin for the rest of her life, died, and then spent eternity in everlasting hell! Why?
Because she never really understood that Jesus meant what He said about go and sin no
more. How many times does God have to say, “No!” before people really understand
that He means “No”? What part of the word, “No” needs further clarification, and why
is there so much discussion about it all these days? Revelatory experiences, angelic
visitations, supernatural dreams and visions can all be wonderful blessings; but
unfortunately, people usually don’t change very much when “they see the light.” People
change when they “feel the heat!” God wants to “send the light,” but He is also willing
to let people “feel the heat” if “seeing the light” didn’t produce the end product He
desires.
The overwhelming concern throughout this book regards carelessness with the
things of God, which seems to be on the increase in the 21st Century Church. The
message of hyper-grace is actually just a guise for lawlessness. Curious hunger and
fascination with the supernatural power of God without respect and honor for His
holiness appears to be a dangerous byproduct. Add the new revelations that seem to be
growing in popularity, and you arrive at a theological destination that is the exact
opposite of what the Bible actually teaches! These are very serious issues that must be
addressed. The root problem here is the looseness that characterizes so much of what we
now do in the name of pursuing revival. God is looking for obedience. He is looking for
respect, and He is not going to allow the lack of holiness and integrity to stand much
longer.
One of the most glaring examples in Scripture of someone who was chosen by
God to carry a great anointing and be used in a significant way was Saul, Israel’s first
king. The story of his life is recorded in First Samuel. It must be remembered that Saul
was actually chosen by God. Saul was anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit, but
the big flaw that brought him down was that Saul treated the things of God with
irreverence through a casual mentality of "make up the rules as we go along." God has
never operated that way. The same God that chose and anointed Saul, made the decision
to remove him from power. Much of the story is recorded in 1 Samuel 15. I would like
to quote from 1 Samuel 15:22-26 as it relates to a conversation and confrontation that
occurred between Saul and the prophet Samuel.
Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as
in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed
than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as
iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has
rejected you from being king.”

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 "Then Saul said to Samuel, 'I have sinned, for I have transgressed the
commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their
voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the
Lord.’”

“But Samuel said to Saul, 'I will not return with you, for you have rejected the
word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.’”

Do you see the pattern here? Saul played games with his office and anointing
because he wanted to please people. What looked innocent to Saul in his irreverence of
the holy things of God was considered as rebellion and witchcraft by God! The Bible
actually describes his casual and careless attitude as witchcraft. Because of that, Saul
was removed from the place of authority where God had originally promoted him. Even
when he was willing to repent and return back to worship the Lord, it was too late. As
someone once used the analogy, “You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube when it is
already out.” Saul’s day was over! He couldn’t go back and just start over. Demonic
spirits began to operate in his life and bring him pain and confusion. The one, who began
as a man raised up by God and greatly anointed with the Holy Spirit, fell to a place of
demonic torment and totally missed the destiny God had purposed for his life.
The popular mindset of unlimited grace, abundant mercy, and the Father’s heart
of love today would have given Saul as many chances as he needed to get things right.
But that isn’t the way God does things. Rebellion is considered by God to be the same as
witchcraft, and stubbornness in resisting what the Holy Spirit says is the same as iniquity
and idolatry. It’s a truth that we cannot afford to ignore. It is serious, and therefore must
be taken seriously by the Church.

“For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine. I will repay,’ says the Lord. And
again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God” (Hebrews 10:30-31).

In conclusion, let the reader clearly understand the following things. The Bible
teaches that there will be two opposites of revelation in the final generation before Jesus
returns. There will be an ever-increasing revelation of His glory and power in the earth
through a global outpouring of the Holy Spirit and revival. On the other hand, there will
be a corresponding increase in lawlessness, deception, false teaching, and doctrines that
are actually lies sent by the devil to those who do not know and love the truth of God’s
Word. The light of God’s glory and truth will be growing brighter to those who love
and obey, while the revelation of the powers of darkness and deception will be
multiplying in the lives of those who resist and rebel against His holiness.

We must understand that God has not changed. He never has, and He never will.
The God of the Old Testament is the Father of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus said, “He who
has seen Me has seen the Father…” (John 14:9). The same God of the Old Testament is
the God of the New Testament. The God of the New Testament is the same God of
today! We must use the entire teaching of the Bible to define who He is, and not use

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selected verses that support the ideas taught by our favorite teacher! The only thing that
changes about Him is this: The closer we come to the return of the Lord Jesus, the greater
the revelation of His power, glory, and holiness will become. He will increase while we
must decrease, in the light of His glory, power, and love.
God is merciful and full of grace. He is a kind and loving Father who
passionately loves His children and wants only good things for them. At the same time,
He hates sin and rebellion in all its forms. He is not a weak, over-indulgent Father who
lets His children openly and consistently mock Him through their casual or defiant
rebellion against Him. He does not look at us in a casual way, and we should not
consider Him in that way either! He is a holy God who desires our worship and our
praise, but He is also a holy and just God who, in spite of His great love and patience,
still demands allegiance from His followers. He loves sinners, but He still hates sin! He
has never tolerated willful rebellion against Him and will not start now. Sin will not be
ignored or just discounted as unimportant. Some people may get upset with me when I
say these things, but I speak the truth. Go to your Bibles and carefully study, and then
show me where these statements are in error.
We are living in both exciting and frightening times! The exciting part is that we
are living in days of ever increasing revelation of His power and glory in the earth. The
frightening part of this is what Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “For everyone to whom much is
given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him
they will ask the more.”
The standard that God sets for the generation that witnesses the greater measure
of His power and glory is going to be higher, not lower, than the standard set for past
generations! We must remember that Christians of the past lived their whole lives in
faith and obedience, and never once heard, saw, or experienced what we have now come
to accept and expect. We must not take that lightly. We will be held accountable to God
for what we have or haven’t done with the revelation of glory that He has committed unto
our generation.
In the next chapter, we are going to study one of the most amazing and frightening
aspects to all that we have been studying in this chapter--“The Mystery of Lawlessness.”

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 Chapter Four

The “Mystery of Lawlessness”

We recently kept a yellow Labrador Retriever for a friend. Her name is Tiki. She
weighs about 80 pounds. She is a very good dog most of the time. We did have some
interesting moments in the first few days of her visit, particularly on the first night after
she arrived. I had just gotten into bed and my wife was not too far behind. Suddenly, 80
pounds of Labrador Retriever was in bed with me. She immediately plopped down and
stared at me from the other side of the bed. She wanted to see my reaction. When I didn’t
immediately react with screaming and yelling, she moved up to where her head could rest
on my wife’s pillow and stared at me again. Then I calmly said, “You know you aren’t
supposed to be here.” In a moment she quickly jumped down to the floor. We both
already knew that Labrador Retrievers don’t sleep in our bed. She thought she would give
it a try anyway just in case she might be able to get away with it. Sometime during the
night, I awoke to a large object that had slowly and quietly slipped into the bed with us. I
pushed her out. Tiki thought she would try the same tactics as before, after we were
asleep in an effort to get something she still wanted that she already knew she wasn’t
supposed to have.
The next morning the scene repeated itself on the den sofa. She jumped up, quickly
laid down, and then stared at me to get my reaction. Our eyes locked for a moment. I
simply said “No” and she jumped down. She already knew that the same rules about
sleeping in our bed applied to the sofa but didn’t see any harm in trying to bend them a
bit for her benefit. A few minutes passed. She went to a large chair in the den and hopped
right up and plopped herself down. This time she looked the other way thinking if we
didn’t see each other, it might be okay! But in a few moments she turned toward me and
our eyes met again. I was silent. I remember the moment when her big ears folded back
in guilt, and this time she just hopped down without having to be told anything. Tiki
already knew the rules of the house, but thought it wouldn’t hurt to see if she could bend
them to get something she wanted from time to time.
The mindset and behavior of this Labrador Retriever is strikingly similar to human
nature. Unfortunately, it is also very similar to the mindset many of God’s people have
toward Him. They already know in their hearts what God expects of them but choose to
see if they can bend those rules to get something they want. Many believe that because of
the great grace and love of God, it might just be easier for them to get forgiveness later
rather than to ask for permission first! It is never a matter of the existence of rules. It is
only a matter of which rules are going to be enforced versus how many of God’s laws
they can break and still escape without a penalty or discipline. This may seem harmless to
some, but the underlying root cause is a human nature which wants to resist God by
doing what it wants whenever and wherever it wants. This mindset can give way to a

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lifestyle of what the Bible refers to as “lawlessness.” Whenever you see that word in this
chapter, I want you to form a mental image of a big Labrador Retriever who knew the
rules of the house, but thought she would deliberately push those rules on a regular basis
to see if she could wear them out and get what she wanted. It may be funny to witness
this attitude in a big dog. It can be deadly in a person, particularly if that person is a
Christian who continually pushes against God’s commandments. Paul wrote about a
dramatic increase in this attitude in the earth in the last days before the coming of the
Lord saying,

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains
will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the
brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of
Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception
among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should
believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had
pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).

This scripture refers to one of the conditions that would take place in the last days.
It was called the “mystery of lawlessness” which would rapidly increase in the earth the
closer the Church comes to Jesus’ return. Speaking of this “mystery of lawlessness,” he
said, “Only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” Most
Bible teachers believe that the “He” Paul was referring to here is the Person of the Holy
Spirit. It is the presence and working of the Holy Spirit in the earth that acts as a force of
restraint that holds back the tide of the demonic realm. Though Satan’s influence is
growing in these last days, he is little more than a mad dog on the end of God’s leash. In
spite of all that we see about us, the Holy Spirit continually keeps Satan and his insanity
restrained to a large measure.
Many Bible teachers believe the reference to His being a force of restraint,
“…until He is taken out of the way” may be a reference to the rapture of the Church.
When that happens, the way will be unhindered and unrestrained for “the coming of the
lawless one (the Anti-Christ) who is according to the working of Satan, with all power,
signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who
perish….” Ultimately, Jesus will, “…consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy
with the brightness of His coming.” Isaiah 59:19 says, “When the enemy comes in like a
flood, the Holy Spirit will raise up a standard against him.” The Holy Spirit is holding
back the full demonstration of the power of evil in the earth and will do so as long as He
is here. But when the Holy Spirit is removed, the way will be clear for Satan to do as he
chooses while fulfilling the purposes of God spoken prophetically thousands of years
ago.

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 God Will Ultimately Give ALL Lawless People Over to
Deception!
Now let's look again at the last part of the verse with which we began the chapter.
“…and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not
receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send
them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned
who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians
2:10-12).

Paul said that people who refused to receive the love of the truth would actually
receive a “strong delusion” from the Lord that would cause them to believe the lie of
the Anti-Christ. He repeated this frightening revelation a second time saying, “…that
they may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.”

Christians have read the Scripture above and just assumed that this was a
reference to people living in the world who had heard of the Gospel but had not received
it for themselves--continuing to live in sin. That is only a part of the truth. Multitudes
have heard, but have refused the Gospel. But when we couple this Scripture with the
ones that follow, it becomes readily apparent that it was directed to all persons who
would live in lawlessness and rebellion and that includes Christians who reject
repentance and the holiness of God in their lives! James 4:17 says, “To him who knows
to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

Paul continued to allude to this frightening truth when he wrote to Timothy

saying, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the
living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in
season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their
own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2
Timothy 4:1-4).

If Christians and non-Christians alike can be described in the above mentioned

Scriptures, we must fearfully consider the following truth concerning those who would
live in disobedience. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of
judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has
rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of
how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has
trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said,
‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His
people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:26-
31).

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 One of the most frightening concepts which Christians need to understand today
is that the Holy Spirit will not indefinitely strive with anyone who consciously, willfully,
and consistently lives their life in deliberate defiance of the Holy Spirit, and thus in
rebellion against God. This concept conflicts with the image that many have tried to
project of God being so full of love, grace, mercy and kindness that He would always be
patient with people. He would give them unlimited opportunities to change and never put
a deadline on anyone who might call on Him for help. God will strive with lost people
who have never known Jesus up until the last moment of their lives. He will reach out in
love and offering mercy because He is never willing that any should perish. It is different
for those who have already heard the Word of God, tasted of the Heavenly realms, and
experienced the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. If they continue to choose a life
of rebellion against God by refusing to allow the Holy Spirit to bring change to their
lives, it is an all-together different story--as we discussed in the previous chapter.

Jesus said in John 8:31-32, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If
you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall set you free.’”

Some have quoted this Scripture incorrectly saying, “The truth shall set you
free,” but that wasn’t what Jesus said! He said that it was the truth that we know and
believe, receive, and then act upon that sets us free. The truths of the Bible are absolutes
that never change. They are eternal principles that never vary. As awesome and
powerful as the Name of the Lord is, He has exalted His Word above His name. That’s
powerful!

Hebrews 6:16-18 says, “For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for
confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more
abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an
oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might
have strong confidence, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”

Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Those who teach about intimacy with the Lord and reduce it to only an
experiential, emotional encounter to the neglect of a passionate commitment to living by
the written Word of God, do not really understand the Lord’s nature at all! The Holy
Spirit has come to reveal the great truths and revelations of God, from the written Word
of God, that we might live in covenant relationship with Him and enjoy all the benefits of
intimacy and fellowship with Him in His glory. Intimacy with God or people outside the
boundaries of a constant, love-based, committed, covenant relationship is adultery. “Free
love” without commitment to keeping the trust and integrity of a covenant is always sin.
When we depart from that understanding, we are actually seeking to encounter the spirit
realm without the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, and that is a dangerous place to be!
There is no such thing as intimacy with the Lord in the realms of His presence for those

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who are hiding willful disobedience and lawlessness behind a covering of hyper-grace.
This is the reason that the emphasis on unlimited grace--which says that all God
wants is intimacy with us to the neglect of everything else He has said in His Word--is
such a dangerous teaching. It is a half-truth. And a half truth taken as the whole truth
always becomes a lie that leads people into deception. People, who reject the teachings
from Scripture concerning the fear of the Lord, while attempting to live in His glory
would do well to examine the Scriptures which deal with this issue. They are found
throughout the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the New Testament.
What we must clearly understand at this critically important moment, is that we do
not have unlimited time to hear and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. We have heard so
much about the Father-heart of God, the patience and kindness of God, His unwavering
mercy, and the message of hyper-grace. It seems by their attitudes and actions, that many
believe there are no time limits on God’s dealings in our lives. That is not true at all. He
loves us so much. Rebellion against Him in the light of His great love is a very serious
matter that many people seem to ignore.
When God speaks, those who hear become responsible for what they have heard.
When God reveals Himself, those who heard have a responsibility before God to act
upon that revelation, making adjustments and course corrections in their lives. This is
called living a lifestyle of repentance; something we hear very little about these days in
the 21st Century Church.
There are limits and boundaries in the things of God. There are seasons that come
and go. There are deadlines in Him, and those who miss God’s deadlines through
carelessness and rebellion will face judgment at some level. Regarding this truth Genesis
6:3 says, “And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever….’”

This was a reference to sin that was so offensive to God that He actually regretted
creating man! But consider this--they were sinning against God in a time where there
was no written law. There were no Ten Commandments. There was no Bible. There
was no cross, death and resurrection of Jesus, no Pentecost, or New Testament. Yet God
decided to destroy them all saying the “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.”
There was a limit to His grace, mercy, and patience. If God were willing to judge and
destroy man in a day before He had ever laid out His expectations because of their sins,
how much greater responsibility do we have today in light of all that God has given to us
that we seem to be increasingly ignoring? Noah was a “preacher of righteousness”
which was not a popular message in his day. His message was obviously rejected, and all
but Noah, his family, and a pair of every animal perished in the flood that was to follow.
The Holy Spirit used Noah to bring conviction to people’s hearts even though there was
no written law given by God. When they rejected that heart conviction, judgment came;
and they were destroyed.
What many people don’t realize is that the worst judgment of God is not fire and
brimstone, but rather when God simply gives people what they want! If we really
understand and believe that all of God’s rules are for our good and safety, yet we choose
to rebel and violate them, a time will come that God simply says, “Go ahead and do what
you want, and pay the consequences.” When people repeatedly refuse to believe what
God has said, a day will come that God will just release them, and even close their eyes,
so that they are no longer capable of having spiritual discernment to know the truth.

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Continuous rebellion eventually brings people to that place! God will not violate their
wills to choose, even if we choose death through disobedience, over life that comes with
obedience.
In the last days, God will increasingly give people over to their wills, even if it
brings their destruction. Remember what happened to people in the Old Testament who
never had anything close to the revelation that we have in our generation. If God judged
them, why would He excuse us when we have at our fingertips more information and
revelation than any other generation of Christians has ever known or imagined? It’s been
said before, but it’s true--God will owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology, if He simply
overlooks what is happening in large segments of the Church at this very moment.

Lawlessness dulls spiritual sensitivity and the ability to hear the Holy Spirit giving
correction. It is similar to the frog that is placed in a large pot of room temperature water
on the stove. The frog’s body temperature is the same as its surroundings. Begin to
slowly add heat to the water and the frog will never even realize it! His body temperature
will slowly adjust to his environment. Keep adding heat and the frog won’t even have a
clue that something is wrong because he is still comfortable in his world. You can slowly
continue to raise the temperature of the water until the frog dies and he’ll never know that
he was in any danger until it is too late. The frightening part about this is that this
scenario is descriptive of the process that happens to someone who persists in willful sin.
God will allow it all to unfold, just as the frog in the pot of boiling water, when people
refuse to hear His voice of correction!

Why Jesus Taught In Parables

“And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in
parables?’ Jesus answered them, ‘To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him
more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even
what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; while
seeing they do not see and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

“In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled which says, ‘You will keep
on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing but will not perceive, for the
heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have
closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.”

"But blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. For
truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and
did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Matthew 13:10-17,
NASB).

It is frightening to consider, but the facts remain the same. God will in fact shield
the eyes of people so that they are unable to discern spiritual truth, even when it is staring

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them in the face! God is not obligated to reveal truth to anyone, especially to those who
have already seen and heard some truth, and have chosen to ignore it.
In Matthew 24, Jesus was giving a description of the signs of the times
immediately preceding His return. One of those warnings is this one: “Then many false
prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love
of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:11-12).

Notice that Jesus said, “The love of many will grow cold.” Most people have read
this word love to mean the love that people would have toward God, but that is not what
Jesus said. That word is actually the Greek word agape.14
What Jesus really said was that the actual working of the divine agape, love given
by God solely by His mercy and grace into the hearts of people, would begin to cease its
work in those who were not lovers of the truth of His Word, who prefer to continue living
in lawlessness!15 Scott Holtz described it this way in his book, The Mystery of
Lawlessness:

“Therefore the Lord Jesus is indicating that in the last days before His glorious
return that His very agape love nature that has been imparted to many in His body will
begin to wax cold! He is not talking about human affections and congeniality, but His
very divine nature will begin to mysteriously grow colder and colder in the hearts of
Christians because of rampant lawlessness.”16

The implication of this kind of revelation is staggering. We have come to believe

that God would always be there looking for a way to excuse and overlook rebellion in our
lives, while we just continue to live in resistance to Him. When Jesus said, “I will never
leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5), He was referring to those who love, trust,
and seek to obey Him--not those who actively and continuously rebel against Him. It has
already been said before, but needs to be said again here: The grace and mercy of God
that is extended toward someone who is lost in sin and doesn’t know about Jesus is
different than the grace and mercy extended to those who do know Jesus but have chosen
to live in rebellion against Him. For the lost person who doesn’t know Jesus, His grace,
mercy, and patience extends to the last moment of that person’s life in an effort to bring
them to repentance. But for Christians who have no respect or fear of God and defiantly
resist Him, it is an entirely different matter.
Consider that many mainline denominations that once passionately preached the
Gospel and ministered the Word of God are today debating, questioning, and in many
cases approving of homosexuals and lesbians being ordained into the ministry. They
have forsaken their once strong stands on such things as evangelism, holiness (or
sanctification), prayer and fasting, world missions, and the absolute authority of
Scripture! Some even support humanism, abortion, and approve of gay marriages.

The Goodness AND Justice of a Holy God

God is good beyond anything you and I can imagine! His love and mercy are
overwhelming; but He has a severe side, too. Romans 11:22, "Therefore consider the

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goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if
you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.” He is a holy and
faithful God who always keeps His Word. He also expects to be honored, respected,
feared, and reverenced; and those who rebel against that truth are putting themselves in a
dangerous position. The power of the Holy Spirit is more than sufficient to keep God’s
people from absolutely anything that could ever separate them from the love and grace of
God, but with one exception. This keeping power can only be overcome by the
conscious and deliberate rebellion in the person who chooses to believe there are no
rules--which is lawlessness against God.
Imagine a lump of butter and a lump of potter's clay being placed outside beneath
a glaring noonday sun. That sunlight will soften and melt the butter and will at the same
time harden the clay similar to stone. That is the way the anointing of the Holy Spirit
works. Spending time in His glory will have the same effect as the sunlight, depending
upon the composition of our hearts. When we surrender, repent, love and worship Him,
His love and power melts us like butter as we bask in His glory. But when we come with
resistance, refusing to surrender, honor, love, respect, and repent of our sins and pursue
His holiness, His glory and presence will harden us like the potter's clay until we become
as dead and insensitive as stone!
There is a large body of Scripture quoted throughout this book. It's here to
illustrate the striking difference between much of what we hear and see today, from what
the Bible actually says, even though it now seems to be very unpopular. The Scriptures
which follow represent examples, difficult as they may appear, that reveal that God’s
grace has limitations, and God will turn those who consistently rebel against Him over to
error; even if it means actually hardening their hearts or sending them delusion and
confusion because of their lawlessness! Please study the following with an open and
sensitive heart.

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in
the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt
and bring My armies and My People, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by
great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My
hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them” (Exodus 7:3-5).

“But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as
the Lord had spoken to Moses” (Exodus 9:12).

“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel
go” (Exodus 10:20).

“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go” (Exodus
10:27).

“Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain
honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the
Lord” (Exodus 14:4).

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 “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set
your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the
wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me” (Deuteronomy 28:20).

“And He said, ‘Go and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart, and return and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10).

“For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed
your eyes, namely, the prophets; He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.” (Isaiah
29:10).

“But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So
I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels” (Psalm
81:11-12).

“And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in
parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given’” (Matthew 13:10-
11).

“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over It, saying, ‘If you had
known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But
now they are hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41-42).

“And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it
has been granted to him by My Father’” (John 6:65).

“John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to
him from Heaven” (John 8:27).

“And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do
not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind” (John 9:39).

“Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: ‘He has blinded
their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should
understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them’” (John 12:39-40).

“For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be
known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation
of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful,
but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to

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be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image
made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to
dishonor their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:18-24).

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions” (Romans 1:26).

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a debased mind, to do things which are not fitting…” (Romans 1:28).

“Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such
things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who
practice them...” (Romans 1:32).

“For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you
up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the
earth.’ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens”
(Romans 9:17).

“What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have attained it,
and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written, ‘God has given them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day. And
David says: ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a
recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down
their back always’” (Romans 11:7-10).

This series of Scriptures only represents a small sampling that illustrates a great
and frightening truth from God’s Word. Please notice that twelve of these were from the
New Testament, and that four of them are quotations of Jesus!
The truth is that God reserves the right to open the eyes of people whose hearts
are genuinely hungry for Him in order that they might have a greater revelation of
Himself. God also reserves the right to close the eyes of those who reject the truth of His
Word and ignore the conviction of His Spirit. And even beyond that, to those who
continue to refuse Him He will harden their hearts by sending delusion, and then let them
proceed on their way to destruction.
This is a very frightening concept to consider, but one that we must face in these
days of lawlessness and rebellion. Simply stated, those people, Christians and non-
Christians alike, who continue to ignore the loving voice of Jesus and resist the
convicting power of the Holy Spirit by living in lawlessness and rebellion are going to
be released and allowed by God to fall into deception! It needs to be repeated once again.
The worst judgment of God is when God simply gives people over to their own desires
and allows them to have what they want. Even if you are casually disregarding
something in God's Word that you don't want to obey, there is a very serious
consequence. You have opened yourself to deception brought by demons, "…Give no
place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27).

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 “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.
And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30-31).

In Revelation 3, Jesus addressed the church in Laodicea. This was obviously a

powerful church that had been birthed in atmospheric revival. Mass salvations had
brought many from darkness to light. The power of God had been demonstrated in
miracles and healing. Demonic power that enslaved people’s lives had been destroyed,
and the Name of Jesus had become famous. But over time, the brilliance of the glory of
God had begun to wane because of the indifference of people that had once been ablaze
with the fire of God. To this church, Jesus said, “I know your works, that you are neither
cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say ‘I am rich and
have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’--and do not know that you are
wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined
in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the
shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that
you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent”
(Revelation 3:15-18).

How does something that has been hot become lukewarm? The answer is that
other influences and factors which were cold were mixed in with those which were hot,
and the mixing of the two brought something that was halfway between them. The things
that will temper and reduce the heat of that which has been ablaze with the fire of God
are lawlessness, apathy, unbelief, and the absence of the fear of the Lord. As we grow in
holiness, even what we might consider little sins, if unconfessed, will hinder our walk
with God and cool us off. Jesus said that He would have preferred the Laodicean Church
be cold than for them to have tempered the fire of His Spirit with other things that had
polluted and defiled it.

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 Chapter Five

The Three Greatest Sins of The Church

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing
evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But
he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they
have been done in God.”
John 3: 19-21

The greatest love story ever told would have to be the love story of God for all of
mankind. Perhaps one of the most amazing accounts in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:8-
9 where we read, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord
God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him,
‘Where are you?’”

Think of that! Adam and Eve who were created in God’s image to live in
continual fellowship with God had just been seduced by the devil. He had challenged
God’s authority, and now man rebelled against the very One who had created them. Able
in a moment of wrath to destroy them and His entire creation, God came walking in the
Garden in search of those He had created for fellowship. He called out, “Adam, Adam.
Where are you?”

His love and mercy and desire to walk with those He had created now outweighed
His righteous nature that demanded justice for their sin. God had not been confronted
with rebellion and sin like this since Lucifer’s original rebellion somewhere in the eons of
past millenniums. In that case, He had immediately executed justice with absolutely no
opportunity to repent. What was done was final, and Lucifer’s fate, and that of the angels
who had followed him, was forever sealed. There was absolutely no way to undo the
consequences that their rebellion caused.
Something was different for Adam and Eve. Now God was searching for those
who had believed and obeyed the voice of Lucifer in preference to believing and obeying
the voice of their Creator. This was certainly a tremendous insult, but restoring
fellowship and intimacy with man was more important to Him than exacting justice and
penalty for their horrible rebellion. It is that same nature that has been demonstrated
from Adam’s day to our own. God seeks fellowship with man to such an extent that He
was even willing to send His only Son, our Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for the sins of
the entire world.

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 This is the reason that sin remains today as such an immeasurable offense to God.
We will never really have a deep understanding of the full measure of His mercy and love
until we truly understand just how horrible and offensive sin is to Him! Just because God
is love and full of mercy and grace should not be interpreted to mean that He hates sin
any less. Because of our experiences with His love and mercy, we have come to take on
the attitude that says, “Sin is really not such a big deal, because His grace has freed us
from rules and religion.” Sin is a big deal in God’s eyes. Adam’s minor indiscretion
that day opened the floodgates for even more sin, death, poverty, sickness and disease,
fear, war, abuse, and destruction. All those will endure until the Day when Jesus
ultimately comes to rule and reign. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.”

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in our hearts that changes some of
these erroneous beliefs which downplay the seriousness of sin. Sin, in all its forms,
deserves death. The only way forward is repentance to gain His mercy and grace. John
5:24 explains the word death from the above verse. "Most assuredly, I say to you, he
who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not
come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” So we see that death means not
saved. Ephesians 2:1 and 5 agrees, “And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins … even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

One modern version of the Bible actually replaced the word sin with the more
contemporary definition: missing the mark. Missing the mark sounds more like a
salesman who fails to make a sales quota on his job. We must understand that sin is a
very serious issue, for it is causing a just and holy God to be insulted and offended and,
but for His mercy, is deserving of death! There is no place in the original manuscripts,
Hebrew or Greek, from which Scripture was translated into English, is there any
inference to sin being only a failure to achieve a goal, such as missing the mark! Sin is
missing the mark, but with very serious negative consequences. Any definition of sin
must have within it the understanding that sin is always a collision between light and
darkness, or between the holiness and goodness of God and evil which opposes Him.
James 4:17 gives this definition. "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to
him it is sin.” So we see that sin is opposition to the purposes and plans of Almighty God.
It is far more than simply missing the mark.
One of the more dangerous trends today is the reliance on new contemporary
versions of the Bible that are based more in convenience than in Biblical scholarship and
careful translation from the original manuscripts. Those early manuscripts were revered
by the early Church fathers for their accuracy and integrity. There is a tremendous
difference between a version of the Bible being a translation, and a paraphrase. A
translation means that it was translated by Biblical scholars who used the most accurate
and widely accepted manuscripts available; and it was done in a scholarly fashion to
insure the absolute accuracy of the original meaning. There are no new, scholarly
manuscripts being created, just like there are no new manuscripts of the Declaration of
Independence, or the United States Constitution! Whatever scholars have had in the past
is all that they will ever have in the future.
A paraphrase is simply a conversion of language from one style to another while

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hopefully communicating the same thoughts contained in the original. There can be a
world of difference between a translation and a paraphrase. Paraphrases can evolve into
absolutely anything over time with the original absolutes of Scripture being lost in the
process. It’s happening today, and most Christians do not know the difference. One
paraphrase omits the word blood as in the blood of Jesus and replaces it with the word
death. The theme of blood such as in the sacrificial blood of Jesus runs throughout the
entirety of Scripture. Substituting another more palatable word such as death is not the
same thing. The previous definition of the word sin, which is a deadly offense committed
against God, translated as just falling short of the mark, or not achieving a goal is just
one example of this growing and dangerous trend.
One of the biggest misconceptions about God in our society is that there is some
kind of grading scale that relates to the seriousness of sin before His eyes. Some people
must believe that there is an arbitrary, numerical equivalent assigned, from minor sins
which would get a “1” and the scale goes up from there to the major sins which would
score a “10.” But from God’s perspective, there is no such thing as small sins or big sins.
He doesn’t grade on a scale from one to ten. If He did, Adam and Eve’s sin would hardly
be worth mentioning. Sin in the eyes of a holy God is serious, no matter what form it
takes. It’s all the same as far as He is concerned. Some sins may be more offensive to
God than others, but the penalty for all sin is the same. That penalty is death.

The First Great Sin of the Church

We find a remarkable account in the Book of Exodus that represents one the most
grievous of all sins in God’s eyes. It begins with Exodus 19 where God warned Moses of
His intention to manifest Himself in awesome ways on the mountain before the eyes of
the people. They had three days to prepare themselves for what He was about to do. Just
as He had warned Moses beforehand, three days later He came and demonstrated His
power to His people. They were terrified as they beheld His glory! The mountain was
covered in smoke, fire, and lightning. People literally quaked at the awesome display of
the power of God. God had warned them not even to come near to the mountain, lest
they die.
In the midst of this tremendous revelation of God’s power (Exodus 20), God gave
the original Ten Commandments which represent the most basic demands that God had
set for His people to live by. Verses two to six deal with His great desire for His people
to be faithful to Him, not worshipping any other gods. In verse 7, God said, “You shall
not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

God gave His commandments in an awesome demonstration of glory before the

eyes of His terrified people. He wanted to underscore the nature of His power, and cause
His people to fear, respect, and obey Him when He spoke. Yet in Exodus 20:20, Moses
said to the still quaking people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His
fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
God’s purpose in this grand display was to instill enough respect in His people so
that they would keep His commandments, motivated by the fear of the Lord! Hebrews 12

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talks about this very event and has some additional words for us. Here is verse 25, "See
that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who
spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks
from heaven….”

Throughout the following chapters of Exodus, God laid out His plans and
purposes for His people. His motivation was simple. He wanted to set before them a
pattern of living, that if they would simply follow it, He could manifest Himself in
greater and greater measure in their lives. He had already said to them, “You have seen
what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to
Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you
shall be a special treasure to me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you
shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6).

His intent in all His commandments was to fulfill His great desire to make these
two million people a special treasure; a people set apart, reserved forever only for
Himself. He desired a people who could become the objects of the revelation of His
presence, provision, and blessings, in contrast to the rest of the world. He wanted to
come and dwell in the midst of His people and be for them everything that they needed.
His blueprint for making that a reality continued to unfold in the chapters following from
Exodus 20 through Exodus 31.

But in Exodus 32, everything began to change. “Now when the people saw that
Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron,
and said to him, ‘Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the
man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of
him.’ And Aaron said to them, ‘Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of
your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people
broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And
he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and
made a molded calf. Then they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of
the land of Egypt!’ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a
proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.’ Then they rose early on the
next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down
to eat and drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:1-6).

God had already made Himself perfectly clear in the Ten Commandments that His
people were never to worship any other gods, nor were they to make any graven images
that they would substitute for Him as objects of worship. But in Exodus 32, we find that
they abandoned the worship of Jehovah to worship the demon-inspired golden calf. But
is that what they really did?
It is clear from the account that a golden calf was involved in this worship, and
the gold that was used to make it had originally belonged to the Egyptians. God caused
them to give it over to His people before they left. Now did they really abandon Jehovah
to worship this golden calf? I don’t believe they did! Let’s look at it a little closer.

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 Once the golden calf had been fashioned and the people said, “This is your god,
O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4). Then verse 5 says,
“So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and
said, ‘Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.’” The following verse says, “Then they rose up
early the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people
sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:6).

Aaron did not completely abandon Jehovah and fashion a golden calf for the
people to worship. Aaron created the image that the people wanted, and he believed it
would keep them happy. And then he essentially said, “Let’s build an altar dedicated to
Jehovah before this golden calf, have a feast day in honor of Jehovah, worship Jehovah
with burnt offerings and peace offerings, and let’s just not worry about the golden calf.”
Or in other words, Aaron built something that the people wanted, and then he called what
he had made "God.” He then attempted to get the people to worship Jehovah in the midst
of something that he had just created!
That is an example of the greatest sin of the Church. It is not the sin of
immorality, greed, deception, dishonesty, theft, or even murder. The greatest sin, the one
most offensive to God, is when we substitute other things that are intended to appease
people. Then we call the things that we create by our own efforts God and attribute it all
to Him! That was the reason behind the Fourth Commandment where God said, “You
shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). That is exactly what Aaron did that
was so horribly offensive to God. He would have destroyed them all had Moses not
made intercession, pleading with God for them.
Our God is a jealous God who refuses to share His glory with the creations of
people. And in the days soon to come, the lines between what is truly His and what is not
are going to be made even clearer. He is weary with people doing what people want to
do, and then claiming it all was His idea. He was angry with Aaron’s attempts to make a
golden calf as the people desired, and then build an altar before it, and still have a feast
day to the Lord complete with the appropriate offerings for Him.
What does that say to us today when the emphasis in so many segments of the
Church is geared more toward pleasing and entertaining people than it is to be pleasing to
the Lord? What are the implications of building churches and ministries that are solely
motivated by the desire to provide a product that the world will find attractive, more than
something that attracts the presence and blessings of God? A church leader who has built
a mega-church with many thousands of people, and taught others to do the same, recently
stated that his church has everything a pastor could ever desire as relates to success in
ministry, but he doesn't have people who know God! He built a mega-church on the
principles of giving people what they thought a church should be, rather than pleasing
God, and now he recognizes it all to be just “wood, hay, and stubble.” The Church must
preach and teach the Gospel of the Bible, and not a Gospel that is fashionable and crafted
to appeal to the ideas and preferences of people.

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 The Second Greatest Sin of the Church:
Impersonating the Holy Spirit
My wife’s parents live in a nursing home near where we live. We visit there often
and on a recent visit when we arrived, we could hear a most unusual sound. It was out of
place considering the circumstances and environment. The blaring sound of Elvis
Presley’s voice had filled the nursing home. One of the residents was celebrating her one
hundredth birthday, and her family had hired an Elvis impersonator to entertain at her
birthday party. All the residents had gathered in the dining room for the show. Elvis had
his own sound system complete with sound tracks from all the most famous songs the
real Elvis had recorded. He had Elvis’ haircut and Elvis’ sideburns and Elvis’ sunglasses.
He had Elvis’ sequined white jump suit with Elvis’ white boots. His voice sounded just
like Elvis, and he was able to put on a very good show for his wheelchair-bound, mostly
sleeping audience. One elderly lady looked at another and said, “We haven’t heard from
Elvis in a long time. He must be working in nursing homes now.” Her friend agreed.
What they had forgotten was that Elvis Presley by then had been dead for thirty-five
years! Everything in the show looked like Elvis and sounded like Elvis, and some of the
group undoubtedly believed this guy really was Elvis. But the problem with it all is that
though it was very creative, very entertaining, and remarkably real, this was not Elvis
Presley. It was an Elvis Presley impersonator.
A lawyer friend once told me that he had been taught in law school that whatever
you could convince a jury to believe was considered to be the truth, but that’s not the way
it works in the Kingdom. There are absolutes and then there are the others. The Bible
says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death”
(Proverbs 14:12). Some people believe that as long as a person is sincere, God
understands and makes allowances for their behavior. Just because someone is sincere
does not make them right. There were people at the nursing home who may have
believed that Elvis was doing a concert in their dining room, but he wasn’t. It just
appeared that way!
God is tired of the golden calf creations of church people that masquerade as
being Him when He had nothing to do with it. Some will carelessly prophesy things for
the sake of giving a word, because people want it. This is very serious! They are taking
the name of the Lord in vain. Those who build ministries on teachings that bring only
half truths and ignore entire themes of Scripture, because they are not attractive to people,
will one day give an account to God. One leader recently made the following statement:
“The things we did and the sermons we preached fifty years ago are not applicable to
today. We must adapt and adjust in order that we meet people where they are and give
them life principles that they can use to live by now in the 21st century. We must go to
where they are and not insist that they come to where we are.”

What this person said was partly true. The Church must adapt and adjust its
methods but we must never adjust our message. The only message that brings
transformation of hearts, lives, families, and nations is the message of what God says
about Himself and His ways. Methods can change, but the message of the Gospel is
eternal. A message that is only half-true leads people to a conclusion that is ALWAYS
false! Someone once said, “If you take a text out of its context, all that is left is a con.”

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There are many people that are being “con-ned” today by those who distort the
Scriptures in order to arrive at conclusions about spiritual things that God never intended.
The Word of God is from everlasting to everlasting. When we slice it and dice it to make
it fit something that we want to say instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to speak, we are
treading on very dangerous ground. We are making Him say things He never said! God
represents a consensus of only one, and that one is Himself. He will not adapt Himself to
fit the mold that people have made. Aaron believed that he could simply fashion a
golden calf that would make people happy, and then lead those same people in the
worship of Jehovah. God was incensed with anger over that. Are we to believe that God
has now changed His mind and attitudes about those things today?
We must come back to the place of reverence and respect for God. He revealed
Himself powerfully in Exodus 19 so that people would understand that He could do
whatever He wanted and that He demanded honor and respect from His people. He
expected them to keep the commandments He gave them to live by. He didn’t want to be
misrepresented then. He doesn’t want to be misrepresented today by the Church doing
things in His name and then telling everyone it is Him when it isn’t!

The Third Greatest Sin of the Church:

Taking the Holy Spirit For Granted
The episode with Aaron and the golden calf illustrates another issue that was in
the hearts of the people of Exodus 32. These people were living in the realm of the
revelation of God’s power and glory like no other people had ever known. They had
walked across the Red Sea on dry land because of the miraculous power of God. The
glory of the Lord had stood above them by day as a pillar of cloud and by night as a pillar
of fire. They were eating bread that came daily from Heaven. They were drinking from
a river of fresh water that flowed from a rock. Their bodies had been healed of all
disease. Their clothes never wore out, and they were now in possession of the wealth of
Egypt. They were living in the manifested presence of Almighty God. The glory of the
Lord rested upon them in ways that no other people had known before! Adam and Eve
had it in the Garden of Eden before they fell. But the glory of God is not a force or a
thing. Glory is a Person--the Person of the Holy Spirit. When He comes into the natural
realm, He can be experienced using one or more of their five physical senses, yet they
had become accustomed to the manifested presence of the Holy Spirit. He was being
taken for granted.
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that golden calves are substituted for the true
things of God is complacency. Golden calves come as a result of Jesus no longer being
enough to satisfy His people. And when that happens, familiarity and indifference begins
to set in.
I had gone to minister in Europe and had been on a very long and bumpy,
overnight flight across the Atlantic. I was tired from the sleepless trip and wanted to get
to the place I was staying and go to bed. I had been invited to stay with some friends, and
it was good to see them again. I was as sociable as I could be under the circumstances
but was looking forward to sleep. My friends told me they were going out for the
evening and that a babysitter would be arriving soon to take care of their three children:

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an eleven-year-old daughter, a seven-year-old son, and their four-year-old son Jack. He
had fiery red hair and a temperament to match. I told my hosts that I would be going to
bed early and would need nothing until breakfast.
The young babysitter arrived, my friends left, and I went to bed. Within minutes,
I heard the sound of yelling downstairs. Angry yelling! The sound of people running
began to fill the house. Not my problem; kids will be kids. The babysitter is here to
referee whatever is going on. My children are all at home behaving themselves in
Florida.
I heard the oldest daughter yelling at Jack. I heard the sound of the middle son
threatening Jack. And I heard the sounds of the babysitter pleading with Jack. He was
having his own party tonight, and no one was going to interfere. He was racing through
the house delightfully turning over things, breaking things, and totally ignoring all the
desperate pleas of a helpless baby sitter. His sister and brother retreated behind the
closed doors of their bedrooms, and it was now a race between Jack and the hired help.
Up and down the halls, up and down the stairs, the race continued. I could hear the
threatening which was actually frantic pleading of the babysitter. “Jack, I’m going to tell
your mother. Jack, you’re going to get in trouble! I’ll give you some ice cream if you’ll
be good. I’m not joking. You’re going to get in trouble, Jack. You’re going to be
grounded if you don’t do what I tell you. Your mommy is going to be mad. Jack, you’d
better listen to me right now!” But Jack didn’t care. He was having the time of his life
and no one was going to spoil it with their rules! He knew that he could get away with
anything as long as Mom and Dad were gone. And no one, particularly some babysitter,
was going to interfere with him.
Meanwhile, I just wanted to sleep! I tried sleeping on my right side. I tried
sleeping on the left side. I rolled over on my back and put the pillow over my face. I got
on my stomach, buried my head in the pillow and pulled the covers over my head.
Nothing seemed to help silence this small riot that was happening outside my bedroom
door. Alone there in the dark, I suddenly began to feel the Daddy anointing beginning to
flow throughout my body. I felt myself beginning to levitate upward out of the bed and
into my jeans. In one fluid motion, I yanked the bedroom door open and stepped into the
hallway. It was a scene right out of a Clint Eastwood movie where justice is about to
confront the evil villain: a four-year-old, red-haired, little boy named Jack. For a moment
there was silence. Then I heard the sound of little feet racing down the hallway coming
in my direction, and in the distance the weak, pathetic voice of the faint-hearted
babysitter still mouthing idle threats. He rounded the corner and skidded to a stop about
two feet in front of me. No obstacle had stood in his way only minutes before when he
made his last pass. He looked up into my face, and I looked down into his. Our eyes
locked on each other for a moment. Then he said one of the most amazing things I have
ever heard. He casually said four fateful words, “Oh, it’s just you.”
Then he proceeded to sidestep me and resume his own little reign of terror!
Something came over me, and from deep within my tired, sleep-deprived soul, I heard
myself very slowly and deliberately say these words with ever-increasing forcefulness,
“Little boy, do you see that door behind you with your name written on it? Put yourself
on the other side of that door now! I had better not hear one little sound out of you until
breakfast! Your little party is over. Do you understand what I’m telling you, Jack? Do
it!! Do it now!!!”

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 This four-year-old who had been enjoying a virtual reign of terror, vanished in a
heartbeat into his room. I slept peacefully and uninterrupted for the entire night, while
tranquility returned to the home. For the rest of my time there, Jack and I got along
beautifully. He is a wonderful little boy who just needed some boundaries set in his life.
We had a great relationship, but it was because he knew that no further rebellion and
childhood mayhem would be tolerated! At the end of my stay, his parents confided in me
that they had heard about the unfortunate encounter Jack and I had experienced. They
were absolutely amazed that Jack had actually obeyed anyone telling him to do anything,
and they wanted to know the secret. The secret is really quite simple. It was fatherly
love mixed with my perceived willingness to execute severe judgment on any further
open defiance and rebellion on Jack’s part.

“Oh, It’s Just You, Jesus”

This increasingly seems to be the attitude that many people have for God and His
authority in their lives. The greater problem in these days of the manifest presence of
God in our midst is that many folks have the same ho-hum attitude which says, “Oh, it’s
just you.” The greatest honor that any person will ever experience is to be in the
presence of God. There is no royalty, Prime Minister, or President that can even
compare. As we discussed earlier, the glory of God is when the manifested presence of
the Holy Spirit comes out of the spiritual realm and into the natural realm and is
experienced, using one or more of their five physical senses. Glory has a face. Glory
isn’t some psychological or subjective spiritual experience. The glory of God is His
manifested presence being physically and spiritually experienced. If we take the time to
think about that statement, it really becomes quite remarkable that God would allow a
mortal such a privilege!

What Else is Better Than His Glory?

Several years ago, I ministered in a church and had an incredible series of
meetings. Many lasted until almost midnight. God’s people didn’t want to leave because
of the manifested presence of the Lord. It was an awesome time in His glory. Before the
week was over, the pastor wanted to schedule me to come back, and I was eager to return.
It had been wonderful. He told me later that these meetings had been the most significant
ones they had ever had in that church. I rejoiced in thanksgiving for all the Lord had
done.
A follow-up meeting was scheduled for several months later. But a few weeks
before I was scheduled to return, the pastor called. He was very upset and apologetic, but
told me that they were going to have to postpone the meetings. He told me how that
when he had scheduled me, he had totally forgotten that the week we had agreed upon
conflicted with the annual Tomato Parade in their town, and the church people would
need to be busy that week constructing their float. The meetings would have to wait. I
readily agreed that we would just reschedule for another time.

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 A Tomato Parade? They needed time to make the church float? Round two of
what they said was the most significant event in that church’s history was now being
postponed so that people could get ready for their Tomato Parade? I totally understood,
and the dates were cancelled, but I never went back to that church again. A Tomato
Parade! Tomato Parades, golden calves, and a host of other things all equate to the same
thing. People simply prefer other things to God's presence in our midst!
But how many Tomato Parades do we have in our own lives personally, and in the
Church corporately? They aren’t necessarily bad things. They may be very good things,
but the worst enemy of the best thing is many times a good thing. Something that may be
perfectly harmless can deal a devastating blow to a moment of destiny in the things of
God. The way that usually happens is that we just become too complacent and
indifferent about the things of God. We develop an “Oh, it’s just You” attitude about the
Holy Spirit. And when that happens, it usually doesn’t take much of a tomato parade to
draw us off track in the plans and purposes of God.
Imagine a church service in which God’s people had worshipped the Lord, and
the weighty shekinah glory of God had come in like a cloud. Imagine the glory of the
Lord being so incredibly real, it seemed to be tangible. Because His glory was so real, no
one even dares to speak or even move! Imagine the Lord Jesus standing at the front
surrounded by angels. Imagine Him desiring to touch each person and bring them to a
new place of revelation and blessing. Imagine Him ready to heal the sick and destroy
every demonic bondage in those who are gathered in His presence.
Now imagine a clown car from the circus racing through the back doors of the
sanctuary, speeding down the center aisle, and skidding to a halt at the front of the
auditorium! Out of the car springs four clowns in orange and purple wigs, honking
horns, chasing each other around, and squirting each other with water pistols. Can you
imagine such a travesty? I think that is a pretty accurate description of the way Heaven
views some of the things that go on in many churches. God so longs to reveal His
presence, power, and glory to His people. Just as His glory is being manifested, people
and leaders race in the door doing their own clown routine of Tomato Parades, golden
calves, and a thousand other things. These are intended to entertain people, but they
totally abort everything that He wanted to do! We must learn the lesson of respecting
His presence!
In all of our meetings since January 1993, I have closed every service the same way. I
don’t! We prayed and fasted for years telling God that if He ever came, we would never
shut Him out. In January of 1993, His glory came, and has come in every meeting all
over the world since then to the time of this writing. His presence means more than life
to me and the ministry He has entrusted to us. That is the reason I haven’t given a
dismissal to a meeting since 1993. Whenever the presence of God comes, we never tell
Him, “Time’s up. It’s time for people to go home. God, You can just stop doing what
You’re doing because the meetings is over!” In thousands of meetings across this nation
and in many others, we’ve always had a policy of telling people they can leave whenever
they feel they are ready, but those who want to stay and enjoy His presence are free to do
so. Some of the greatest meetings with some of the greatest healings have been after
seventy-five percent of the crowd had left, and the really hungry people had stayed on--
still thirsting for more of Him. I have always asked people to do two things: “If you need
to go, go quietly,” and “If you are going to remain here, stay in an attitude of prayer and

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worship with no casual conversation with other people.” If they want to talk with their
friends or family, they need to take that conversation outside. Wherever the presence of
the Lord is being revealed is a holy place, and should be honored and treated with
respect. The presence of the Holy Spirit is so sacred, and He can be so easily grieved by
the arrogance or carelessness of people.
Why have we done things this way? The answer is very simple. I am so jealous
for the Holy Spirit’s presence to be honored in our midst. The wonderful presence of the
Lord Jesus has been stomped on long enough by careless people who are indifferent to
His glory in His own house.

But God is Going to Restore Respect For Himself Once More!

The Church in Acts 5 learned a frightening lesson when Ananias and Sapphira made
a deliberate decision to lie in the manifested presence of the Holy Spirit. Both of them
died that day for their complacency concerning His glory. When they died, the Bible
says, “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things”
(Acts 5:11). The Church and the world are soon going to see more of such frightening
displays of the power of the Holy Spirit.
God is going to restore honor and respect for His name and His presence in the
days ahead. The manifestation of His glory is not going to be treated with the
indifference it has known in the past. The present, “Oh, it’s just you” mindset is going to
give way to reverence, honor, and respect. The “Holy Spirit impersonators” are going to
be shaken with the fear to even think such a thing in the days that are to come. Those,
who build golden calves and add them to the worship of God in an attempt to appeal to
the likes and dislikes of the people, are going to see the judgment of God upon their
works.
Peter was one of the disciples most acquainted with the Lord Jesus when He
walked upon the earth. He became one of the cornerstones of the Church. If there was
anyone who was in a position to truly know the heart of Jesus, it would have been him.
Yet Peter said these words of warning to his generation and to ours: “For the time has
come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will
be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God? Now, if the righteous one is
scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:17-18).

We will see the days once more that fear and respect for God shall be restored in
the earth and in the eyes of His own people. This is the essence of this book. It is a call
to the Church to awaken from its slumber and religious games, and see Him as the Holy
and awesome God He really is, and then treat Him accordingly!

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 Chapter Six

Whatever Happened to the Need For Repentance?

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do (to be saved)?’ Then Peter said
to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will
call.’”
Acts 2:37-39

A recent news account of one man’s survival is most appropriate for us to

consider. A man had ventured into the Gulf of Mexico for a day of fishing. The weather
was good and the sea was calm. At the end of the day, it was time for him to return
home, but the motor on his boat would not start. His radio was not working either, and
clouds were beginning to form on the horizon as the sun went down. Alone and adrift,
there was nothing he could do but wait and pray. Near midnight the weather began to
rapidly deteriorate. The wind began to blow and cold rain began to fall. The calm sea
quickly gave way to waves several feet high, and the boat bounced helplessly in the
darkness. Suddenly a large wave capsized the boat, and the fisherman and all his
equipment were dumped into the water. For the next few hours he hung onto the cooler
hoping that someone would come along and rescue him. Eventually the storm passed,
but he was alone and adrift in the ocean.
At daylight he saw a distant boat and began waving and crying out for help, but
the boat didn’t see him because of the waves and just passed on by. Two hours passed
and then another boat could be seen. Again, he did everything he could to attract
attention to himself, but it was all to no avail. Another hour passed, and then another
boat came near by. Knowing that fatigue and the cold water had taken its toll and that
there was the ever-present threat of sharks, he decided that this boat must not be allowed
to pass him by. He could not survive long enough to wait for another opportunity for
rescue. This would be his only chance. He released the ice cooler and began swimming
toward the path of the passing boat. His ordeal would now end one way or the other. He
was seen by the boat’s captain, pulled onboard, and rescued from certain death. From his
hospital bed he said, “Everyday that I live from now on, I will owe it to the man who
rescued me. Anything good that I will ever have in my life, it will be because of what he
did for me that day. I owe him everything!”

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 We Owe Jesus Absolutely Everything!
A realization that will change everything in our lives is encapsulated in this very
simple and, at the same time, quite profound truth, “God owes us absolutely nothing, but
we owe Him absolutely everything!”

When we begin to understand that truth, our walk with God will begin to change.
He so loved us that He gave Jesus for us. The greatest mystery of the ages is found in
that statement alone! Why would God who made and sustains everything in the entirety
of the universe, love us with such an intense passion that He would be willing to sacrifice
His only Son to pay the price of justice for our sin and rebellion? Giving the innocent to
pay the penalty for the guilty makes no sense whatsoever, but He did just that. And had
He not done it, we would be lost forever with no hope at all. When we come to Him
through Jesus, we come like the man who was swimming for his very life toward his only
hope for rescue. Everything else that could have given him hope was gone. The
fisherman would see him and rescue him, or this helpless man would certainly drown.
There were no other options.
When we come to Him, we must come with the clear understanding that He holds
all the cards. We have no way of earning His favor. We have nothing to bargain with
that He needs from us. We have nothing to offer Him. We come only with the hope that
He will recognize us, have mercy upon us, and save us from our certain demise. All we
can offer Him is our love, realizing that this is the only thing He really wants. In
exchange for our love He offers us all the riches of His Heavenly kingdom for us to enjoy
for all of eternity. When we come to Him in our helpless state, He receives us and adopts
us as His very own children and with all of the benefits that go with it. He owes us
nothing, but gives us everything. We have nothing, and when He receives us as His own,
from that moment on and even throughout all of eternity we owe Him everything!
What does Jesus ask in return from us? He said to all those who would come to
Him, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take us his cross,
and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

The theme expressed in this Scripture is found throughout the Gospels. When we
come to Him, we must give up the control of our lives and wills to go in another direction
that He alone dictates. We either yield to Him and His will, or He will yield to ours; but
we cannot have it both ways.

Repentance Means To Turn in Another Direction

Let's imagine again the man adrift and alone in the water, facing certain death
unless something changed. He saw the distant boat and knew it represented his only hope
of survival. He made a conscious decision to release what he was holding onto and to
turn and swim in another direction with only the hope that he might be saved. This man
repented--for the true definition of repentance is to turn.
There are two Greek words from which come the word repent in Scripture:

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Metanoeo (met-an-o-eh’-o) which means to think differently or afterwards reconsider.17
It can also be interpreted as, to perceive afterwards, implying change; hence it means to
change one’s mind or purpose. The word is found in Luke nine times, five times in Acts,
and twelve times in Revelation, eight of which are addressed to the churches. In the New
Testament, the subject chiefly has reference to repentance from sin. This change of mind
involves both a turning from sin and a turning toward God. The Parable of the Prodigal
Son is an outstanding illustration of the usage of this word.18 The other word is the Greek
word, Epistrepho (ep-ee-stref-o) which means, to revert, come or go again, convert, or
turn about.19
The meaning of the words repent and repentance do not refer to a religious
enlightenment or personal chastisement of one’s self. Some people think that repentance
means to go before the Lord and weep, telling Him how worthless and bad they are, and
how guilty they feel for their sin. But having done that, they feel they have had some
kind of religious catharsis, which means they can just go on with their lives, living like
before. This is not repentance at all!
People travel to Mardi Gras in New Orleans every year to drink and party non-
stop for a week. Every kind of sin that can be committed is done with all the energy they
can muster! The last day of Marti Gras is called Fat Tuesday which is the biggest party
day of them all. It is the day before Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the
forty days of Lent, preparation for Easter. On Fat Tuesday people eat and drink and sin
as much as they possibly can. But the next day, Ash Wednesday, many of these same
people go about New Orleans with ash smudges on their foreheads, which represent
repentance and sorrow for the sin they committed during Mardi Gras. Ash Wednesday is
not really repentance from Fat Tuesday and the week of Mardi Gras drunkenness, nor
from the gross immorality which preceded it. People aren’t genuinely turning from their
sins; they’re just physically tired, hung over from all the drinking and drugs, and out of
money. They are not repenting. They are just trying to recuperate in time for next year!
True repentance means to completely abandon one thing and turn to an entirely
different direction and ultimately to a different destination. When that fisherman realized
was that his clinging to the small cooler was going to result in his death, he made the
conscious decision to let it go and swim in the direction of something that offered him
hope. He wasn’t sure he would be successful, but he was sure he would die if he stayed
where he was! In essence, he repented of holding on and turned to swim in search of
something else.
This is what Paul was referring to when he said, “Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). When a person really comes to Jesus and truly receives the
gift of salvation, they are going to be changed. They have chosen to change and to be put
on a different course for the remainder of their lives. Their past is fading away just like
the image of a car in a rear-view mirror. That image was of a place they had been, but
they are no longer there.
The love and grace of God says, “I love and accept you just as you are, but I love
you too much to just leave you that way!” Repentance literally means that we turn and
leave behind the old and begin to seek the new. It is the process of our cooperation with
Him and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit which turns us to a new and different
destination. Grace and forgiveness is God’s gift to us. Repentance is the gift that we

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give back to God. Choosing to allow Him to do what He desires in our hearts will
produce a change in the way we live our lives. The immeasurable love and grace of God
are so awesome; they are more than enough to cover our sin before we come to Jesus and
ask Him into our hearts. But the love and grace of God are limited, and the time God is
willing to extend it can be restricted by man’s rebellion and insistence on his own way--
which is lawlessness.

Two of the best definitions of repentance I know are to simply, Admit it, and then
quit it! or Just stop it, and drop it! Repentance doesn’t really have to be complicated! It
simply represents a change from the present, in search of a new way and direction for the
future.
Imagine a large aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The ship’s
captain receives orders from the Navy to reverse direction and proceed to another port on
an entirely different continent. A new course is established in the ship’s navigation
system with new GPS coordinates. Then the ship begins to make its turn. It doesn’t turn
completely around in a moment like a jet-ski would! Because of the size of the massive
ship, it takes time and a large turning radius of several miles before the new course
headings are established; but the ship does complete its turn and heads in another
direction. In time it arrives at a new, totally different port. Interestingly as the ship turns
and heads in an opposite direction, it will encounter the waves it created before it turned
around. It must crash through those waves, and then continue its journey.
The problem with many people is they want to go to a different port but are never
willing to make the turn necessary to get there. They want the benefits of the new port
with the blessings of God and ultimately the final destination of Heaven for all eternity,
but they somehow think they can arrive there without really changing their course. There
is a saying that seems appropriate: "If we keep doing what we did, we’re going to keep
getting what we got." This is the reason that some of the teaching on extreme grace
without responsibility is so dangerous. Much of it seems to imply that His grace and love
are all that we need. If someone suggests that a turning is necessary, it is viewed as being
“old-time tradition and religion. That's the spirit of religion from which the Father’s
love has set us free!” But as we will see, it is not religion and tradition that demands a
change. It is the process of being turned from one destination to another; turned from a
destination leading to eternal death to a place of life and blessing.
The reason many people never really repent or turn away from their sins is that
they never understand just how hopeless it is to hold onto the things and sins of the past.
They don’t understand that sin is deadly just like a cancer in the human body. It must be
removed in its entirety or else it will ultimately return and kill! What patient would
desire to receive surgery for cancer in one part of their body, and yet choose to hold on
and keep another cancer in different part of their body? Do they think it to be something
they might need in the future or miss if it was removed? Cancer grows until it kills the
person. Sin does exactly the same thing. It will lead to death and destruction and
ultimately hell. We must face it, deal with it, and then turn away from it, or it will follow
us and grow into something far worse than what we thought.
Salvation is more than simply saying a prayer. It is praying the prayer of
salvation and receiving Jesus into our hearts by faith, and it is turning away from the life
of sin that was leading us to death and going in a new direction! It is a Gospel that

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demonstrates the power and presence of God.
One teacher recently said these words: “If preaching the Gospel was really going
to change people, it would have worked by now. What the Church really needs to do is to
go into the world and do healings and miracles, and then people will become
Christians.”

It is never enough for a person to just get healed or blessed. Hell is filled with
people who came to Jesus’ meetings, heard the Gospel, were touched and healed by the
power of God, but then never repented of their sins! They live today in an everlasting
hell. They have the memories of Jesus’ words of life and blessing still ringing in their
ears, and the indescribable regret that they didn’t heed His words about repenting--
turning away from their sins. What is important is that a person both gets healed and then
stays healed in order that they can enjoy a full and productive life. This can only come
through repentance.
Some people believe that we must be continually repenting of sin. Living a
lifestyle of repentance is of utmost importance, but not repentance of the same thing we
just repented of five minutes earlier! We may need to be forgiven of the same sin we just
committed five minutes earlier, but true repentance means to turn. When we repent it
means we have turned in another direction. If we feel we must be constantly repenting,
we really aren’t repenting! It is true that we must live a lifestyle of sensitivity to the
convicting power of the Holy Spirit. When He convicts us of a sin, we repent or turn
away from whatever we were doing that caused Him to bring conviction to our hearts in
the first place. But when we repent, whatever it was should now be disappearing into the
distance behind us in our rear view mirror; and we should be looking ahead anticipating
the new direction and destination. If we are continuously repenting everyday of the same
old things, we are essentially just going in a circle of repentance. Receiving forgiveness?
Yes. But when we repent, our entire way of thinking shifts; and we realize that the old
things are passing away and all things are truly becoming new!

Memories of Former Sin Will be Painful

I went to Venezuela several years ago to conduct an evangelistic meeting in a
large baseball stadium. Many thousands of people gathered nightly to hear the Gospel.
The day I arrived, I met a young businessman named Guillermo. He was very friendly,
well dressed, and had a strong appearance about him. Though he spoke very little
English and I spoke virtually no Spanish, we seemed to connect and became friends. One
of the pastors related to me that Guillermo wanted to stay close and help insure my
personal security while I was there, and I was pleased to have him. Wherever I went,
Guillermo was never very far away.
I began to learn more about this young man’s background. He had grown up in
Caracas in a very poor neighborhood. At an early age, he became involved in a violent
street gang. He killed for the first time when he was only fourteen years old. By the age
of sixteen, he had risen to the rank of leader in a gang that had become one of the most
feared in the city. He went to prison when he was seventeen, and while there he began to
organize the prisoners and plot a violent prison takeover. What followed became one of

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the worst prison riots in that nation’s history. They took many of the other prisoners and
guards as hostages, and others were killed. Ultimately, the Venezuelan Army was sent
into the prison to restore order.
Guillermo was captured and severely beaten during his interrogation by the
police. They wanted to know how he had managed to smuggle in weapons from the
outside that had been used in the prison takeover. When he refused to tell, his beatings
only intensified until the guards had practically beaten him to death. They locked him in
his cell and left him to die.

But Guillermo had a praying mother, who refused to quit interceding for him.
While in his cell, a young nurse came to take care of him. Day and night she stayed with
him tending to his injuries. She told him that she had been sent there by his mother.
Over the days that followed, Guillermo began to recover and as he did, the young nurse
spoke of Jesus and gave him a Bible to read. Then the nurse was gone.
As he continued to recover from his injuries, Guillermo pondered the words this
stranger had shared with him. He began to read the Bible she had left, and the Holy
Spirit began to reveal truth to him. And there alone in his prison cell, he asked Jesus to
come into his heart and to change his life. A great peace flooded his soul, and he knew
that something had happened. Soon guards noticed the radical change in this violent
young man, and the prison warden decided to move him out of solitary confinement.
When he rejoined the prison population, he asked to see the young nurse who had
helped him, but the prison doctor said there was no woman nurse who worked in that
prison! The “nurse” that had stayed with him, witnessed to him, and even brought him a
Bible was actually an angel of God, sent from Heaven in response to his mother’s
prayers.
When I heard his testimony, I immediately encouraged him to share this amazing
story the last night of the evangelistic meetings. I suspected there would be several
thousand teenagers there in the stadium to hear. But to my surprise, Guillermo seemed
very hesitant. He was certainly not shy, so I couldn’t understand why he was being so
reluctant. I continued to urge him to speak until he finally agreed.
The last night was the largest crowd ever. At the right time in the meeting, I
announced that Guillermo was going to share his testimony. He and his young wife
slowly came forward and stood holding hands at the microphone. He began to share his
past life with the crowd, though in a very reticent manner. I didn’t understand what was
happening, and why he seemed to be leaving much of the really good stuff out. He
seemed to speak very guardedly of his life of drugs, sex, violence, and crime. At times,
his voice would crack with emotion. His young wife still holding his hand was crying
softly knowing the struggle her husband was going through at that moment. It was a very
powerful time, and everyone there was listening intently to every word.
Then the Lord revealed to me why he was reluctant to tell of all these things, and
why he had hesitated for so long before finally agreeing to share it. He was terribly
ashamed of all that he had done. He was truly sorry for the life he had lived before he
met Jesus and even talking about it was painful. These were the memories of another
man in another life, and Guillermo really wanted to forget it ever existed. But because of
his testimony, many people received Jesus that night. It was so hard for him because of
the shame he felt for what he had done to Jesus by his sin! Guillermo had truly turned

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from his past, and he never wanted to look back there again.
What a radical departure this was from many Christian testimonies that get
additional embellishment for the effect they have on the hearers. Guillermo understood
the great holiness of God, and the horror of the sins he had committed before God. He
was so overwhelmed with gratitude for God's great love and mercy that had transformed
his life. Even the retelling of his past was distasteful to him, because it forced him to
remember the hurt and offense he had caused God! He didn’t want to look back in the
rearview mirror of his life any longer and see the place where he used to be. He knew he
had turned a new direction and was now headed to a new destination. His past was now a
memory that he wanted to forget.
When the Holy Spirit brings conviction upon us about sin, we need to repent and
turn away from that sin and go in another direction toward change. But when we really
repent of something and then look back upon it, there should be distaste in our hearts for
what we did. When we are in Jesus there should never be condemnation, because when
we repent He forgives us, and the sin is gone! God sees it as though the sin never even
existed. When He forgives, He forgets! But when we look back and remember what we
did, we should remember the pain it caused God and others. We should remember the
pain it caused us, and we should be filled with heartfelt love and gratitude to God for His
goodness that made our redemption possible.
There was a woman who came to Jesus and literally washed His feet with her
tears, and anointed Him with a fragrant perfume. The Bible says in Luke 7:37 that this
woman had lived a very sinful lifestyle before she met Jesus. A religious Pharisee named
Simon scorned all she was doing and thought in his heart that if Jesus had been a true
prophet, He wouldn’t even allow a woman like that to touch Him. But Jesus said to him,
“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But
to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” And then He said to her, ‘Your sins are
forgiven.’ And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, ‘Who is
this who even forgives sins?’ Then He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go
in peace’” (Luke 7:47-50).

This woman loved and worshipped Jesus with such passion because she
understood where she had come from! She understood what His love and power had
done for her. She was overwhelmed with gratitude, just like the fisherman who was
rescued from certain death. Speaking of Jesus, she would have repeated the same words
the fisherman said concerning his rescuer, “Anything good that I will ever have in my life,
it will all be because of what he did for me that day. I owe him everything!” Oh, that the
Church would have that same understanding and constant gratitude to Jesus for what He
has done for us.

True Repentance Must Come Only by Holy Spirit Conviction

There is widespread confusion in many people’s hearts about the true meaning of
repentance. Because of that, many people reject it all entirely. My children attended a
major state university where almost everyday, a group of Christians gathered near the
student center to preach the Gospel. They were protected by the First Amendment's

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guarantee of freedom of speech as well as armed campus police. They were a small
group, but a force not to be ignored. They would gather every day around lunchtime and
preach their brand of the Gospel as thousands of students were making their way across
campus. It basically was screaming at people, calling them “adulterers,” “fornicators,”
“whores,” “sodomites,” and “blasphemers” who are all headed straight to hell to the
utter delight of God! They would ask in their preaching, “Do you want to know why God
hates you? He hates you because you are a sinner. He hates you because you are
offensive, a stench in His nostrils. He hates you because you are evil, and He is going to
punish you in hell for all of eternity because you are sinners unless you repent.”

Some students stopped to listen. Some laughed. Some yelled obscenities back.
There has been violence against these Christians in the past. That's why the police
protection was there as they exercised their First Amendment rights. Most of the students
just kept on walking in an attempt to ignore these people and treat them as though they
didn’t exist. These Gospel preachers are a hard-core version of something that might be
likened to a Christian Taliban, like the Muslim Taliban in Afghanistan. The problem is
that they are both driven by a hate-filled message originating with a religious spirit that
has nothing whatsoever to do with God! A religious spirit is the reason these people do
these things. Its purpose is to discredit the Gospel and dishonor Jesus. And it is working.
These college students want nothing to do with them or their message.
Unfortunately, many Christians associate the preaching of the Gospel that
includes references to sin and the need for repentance with this kind of practice, and they
resist it with disdain. To equate that kind of preaching with the true preaching of the
Gospel is to make a horrendous mistake. By rejecting them both with the idea that they
are alike, is like tossing the baby out with the bath water!
This was an extreme example, but unfortunately there are many others with more
subtle tones that have had virtually the same effect on people. Some preachers and even
entire denominations have demonstrated a Gospel that was more a lengthy set of rules
and regulations than a revelation of life-changing truth from God’s Word. Because of
this, many people have associated any preaching that includes such words as repent or
repentance, holiness, righteousness, godliness, or the fear of the Lord as being code
words for the hard-line religious practices referenced above. They are not.
There is an interesting statistic about death rates. The average number of people
who will die someday is one hundred percent! The message of repentance is a message
of life and hope. It simply says you are going to die for eternity (hell), if you continue to
depend upon that floating cooler in the ocean lifestyle you are presently clinging to. Let
it go. Abandon it, because it isn’t working! Stay there and just keep doing what you’re
doing and you’ll certainly end up in hell. Turn, let go of what you’re holding onto, and
swim with all your might toward Jesus. He will gladly rescue you, take you to shore, and
give you your future and your very life back. But you can’t drag the cooler with you; you
have to leave it behind!
On the night before He was crucified, Jesus told His disciples (and us) these
words: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I
do not go away, the Helper (Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send
Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of

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righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because
the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:7-11).

The Holy Spirit has been given to the world to do a variety of things. First and
foremost, He has come to bring a revelation of the holiness of God and an awareness of
the seriousness of sin in the eyes of a holy and just God. Sometimes we think that the
Holy Spirit has just come to make everyone feel loved and accepted by God; and if
people feel enough of those things, they will automatically run to Jesus. That’s not
always the case. Jude said these words: “And on some have compassion, making a
distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the
garment defiled by the flesh” (Jude 22-23).

The Holy Spirit causes some people to be aware of God’s great love and repent
and receive Jesus. They turn from their present course and abandon all evil by the power
of the Holy Spirit. The only way for other people seems to be for the Holy Spirit to
convict them of their sins and the impending judgment of God upon their lives and scare
the hell out of them! Do you doubt that God would use fear on a person? Later in this
chapter are testimonies of His doing just that. God is willing to do whatever seems to
work best, for “The Lord…is not willing that any should perish but that all should come
to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

The Great Commission of the Gospel

One of the last things Jesus said to His disciples is recorded in Matthew 28:18-20:
“All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The word, disciples means, a student, a learner, a pupil.20 It is always used

referring to those who become close, disciplined, and faithful followers of Jesus. When
He commanded us to, “Go therefore and make disciples,” He didn't mean trying to see
how many people we could get to pray a prayer or join a church. He wasn’t referring to
gathering large crowds of people to fill up church buildings on Sundays. He was referring
to the Church, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to see people come to repentance and
learn to change from their present course of living. Making disciples is bringing the
Gospel to people in such a way that they renounce their former lives, turn in repentance,
and become students who are faithful followers of Jesus! It implies a series of classes.
Many have mistakenly interpreted the Old Testament as being the story of an
angry God who was always out to bring harsh judgment against anyone who violated His
wishes. That is a total misunderstanding. In truth, God always seeks to extend mercy
and blessing, as opposed to judgment. Study the story of Jonah in the book that bears his
name. God had commanded the prophet to go to Nineveh and pronounce impending
judgment and destruction in forty days unless they repented of their sinful ways. Jonah
attempted to flee rather than obey. After the storm and three days in the belly of a giant

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fish, he went to Nineveh and delivered the harsh words of impending devastation and
judgment. The people of Nineveh believed Jonah. They believed that God was serious
about their sin, and the only way for them to be saved was to cry out to God for mercy.
They fasted, prayed, and turned from their wickedness. Let's look to see what happened
next. "Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented
from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. But
it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and
said, 'Ah Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled
previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to
anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.’” (Jonah
3:10-4:2).

The reason Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh was that he knew if he went and
prophesied to them, the word of the Lord concerning their sin, they would repent! If they
repented, God would have mercy and not destroy them. And if God didn't destroy them,
Jonah would look like a false prophet! So instead, he attempted to go to Tarshish. When
people understand that sin and rebellion are serious, and that the result will always be
judgment, they will fear the Lord. When people fear the Lord and repent (or turn) from
their wicked ways, the lovingkindness, grace, and mercy of God will be revealed, and the
judgment will be withheld.

The Message of the Old Testament

The message of the Old Testament is God repeatedly promises blessing, if His
people would obey; and He promises judgment, if they disobeyed. When they sinned, He
sought to bring them to repentance. And every time His people humbled themselves and
repented, His blessings abundantly returned. One of the greatest promises of the Old
Testament that illustrates this truth is found in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 which says, “When I
shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send
pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn (repent) from their wicked ways, then
will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Throughout the Old Testament, for the people of God, there is a common thread
of redemption and restoration that could always be found through repentance. His mercy
and grace was always available when His people drew near to Him in heart-felt
willingness to turn from their evil ways.

The Message That John the Baptist Preached

John the Baptist had an amazing ministry. Although there is no hard evidence to
support this, some Bible teachers believe that John’s ministry may have only lasted a year
or even less. In that year he baptized multitudes of people. Mark records that, “Then all
the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by

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him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5). That was a very large number
of people, but they were being drawn to John’s meetings by the Holy Spirit to hear a
message of repentance from sin. Multitudes responded to that message, confessing their
sins, because of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit which was being demonstrated in
John’s meetings. The following Scriptures illustrate this point:

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and
saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’” (Matthew 3:1-2).

“Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him
and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:5-6).

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism,
he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance’” (Matthew 3:7-8).

“John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance

for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out
to hear him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins”
(Mark 1:4-5).

“And he went into all the region around the Jordon, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3).

John was a forerunner of Jesus sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of
the Lord, but the means of preparing people was the same then as it is today. It is the
message of turning to the Lord through repentance, and being changed by the power of
the Holy Spirit.

The Message That Jesus Preached

The Bible records only a portion of what Jesus did on the earth, so it might be easy
for some people to get the idea that He did preach some, but spent most of His time doing
miracles and healing. That isn’t true at all. Jesus did heal multitudes of people, but His
reasons were more than just compassion for the sick. His biggest reason was that He
wanted to bring people to repentance by demonstrating the validity of His message with
signs and wonders. Some today speak only of Jesus going about doing signs and
wonders, but all those signs and wonders were announcements that the Kingdom of God
was in their midst! Because the Kingdom was present, it was now time for them to
repent from their deadly course of sin.
Every sick person whom Jesus healed of every disease imaginable eventually
died. Everyone died and went to one of two eternal destinations: either to Heaven to live
with Him for all of eternity, or to hell to endure unimaginable punishment forever and
ever. Those were, and continue to be, the only options which are available. Jesus had
compassion on the sick and healed them. But He was more concerned with healing the

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cancer of their souls in order that they could live forever, than just healing the cancer of
their bodies. His great desire was to bring people to repentance so that they might be
healed and saved forever. The following Scriptures represent this truth:

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did
not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel
of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15).

“When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to
repentance” (Mark 2:17).

Jesus said that all of heaven would rejoice whenever someone repented. Notice
the following two examples:

"I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

“Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

Some have thought that these Scriptures refer to angels having joy in heaven over
sinners who repent, but that isn't what they say. The actual words Jesus used here are, "
joy in heaven” (Luke 15:7). And in Luke 15:10, "joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner who repents.” These do not seem to be talking about laughing
angels. They seem to refer to the laughter, delight, and joy of Almighty God when He
sees people repent! This means that God gets great thrill and joy when people who have
been living in sin repent and turn to God to receive His lovingkindness and mercy. He
rejoices in delight over true, heartfelt repentance, just as His heart breaks over rebellion
and sin. The Gospel that delights the heart of our Father and that He wants preached in
every nation is the Gospel of repentance. Jesus described it in the following verse:

“Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the
Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:46-47).

Carefully consider the words that Jesus gave to the seven churches mentioned in
Revelation chapters 2 and 3. He commended them for the good things they were doing.
He rebuked them for the offensive things they were doing. He even issued threats of
judgment against five of them if they refused to heed His words and repent. He ended
each address with the same message, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches.” We MUST hear clearly what the Holy Spirit is saying to the
Church in this generation. It is the same message of generations past. It is the message of

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our need to live a lifestyle of holiness and repentance before the Lord Jesus.
In the coming days, we are going to see a greater and greater manifestation of
miracles and healings, but the true purpose behind healing revivals is to bring people to a
place of spiritual healing through repentance and the forgiveness of sin. Healings and
miracles are the announcement that the Kingdom of God is in our midst. These are the
things that capture people’s attention and draw them to hear the Gospel and be saved
from their sins. The greatest message in the preaching of the Kingdom is that sin is
deadly, and that the only way of escape from its power is to turn away from it through
repentance and receive salvation and forgiveness from God. This truth must never be
overlooked.

The Message the Disciples Preached

In the early years of the Church, there was no Bible, no buildings, no programs,
nor an established form for the Church to express itself. What they did have was the
testimonies of those who had been with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Armed with only
those two weapons, the disciples were used by God to literally turn the known world
upside down with the power of the Gospel. It was a message of repentance which would,
under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, cause people everywhere to turn with all their
strength away from their course of sin and idolatry to pursue the risen Christ. Even the
testimonies of the disciples represented a point of decision or judgment for many, as we
will read next.

“‘And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there,
shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it
will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that
city!’ So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many
demons and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them” (Mark 6:11-12).

The Message That Peter Preached

On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon one hundred twenty
believers who gathered together in the upper room. Cloven tongues of fire rested upon
each of them, and they spoke in tongues--languages they had never learned. Crowds of
people from Jerusalem gathered, and some ridiculed what was happening. Peter began to
preach with great boldness under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When he was finished,
his sermon had had a powerful impact on its hearers. The convicting power of the Holy
Spirit came upon them.

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them,
‘Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:37-38). The
message that Peter preached was a message of repentance, turning, and change.

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 The Message That Paul Preached
It is very apparent that Paul’s ministry had a great emphasis on the need for
people to repent from their sins. As God had sent him to the Gentiles, all that Paul
preached was the Gospel which required people to turn away from their idolatrous
worship and embrace the one true God. There was no other way for salvation to be
experienced. It wasn’t in human efforts and works such as keeping the Old Testament
law. It wasn’t faithful allegiance to the traditions of Israel. It was all in the Gospel of
faith in Jesus Christ, and the work that He had accomplished on the cross when He died
for the sins of the world. Paul preached that kind of conversion to all who heard him
across the known world of his day. Speaking of the nature of Paul’s ministry, Luke
recorded, “…but [Paul] declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and
throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn
to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20).

Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth concerning the necessity of repentance. “For
godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the
sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

And he wrote to Timothy about how sacred a gift the opportunity to repent really
is, saying, “…if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the
truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having
been taken captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25-26).

James, the Brother of Jesus, Preached Repentance

One of the most powerful books in the New Testament is the Book of James. It is
addressed to Christians and has a theme that runs throughout of absolute surrender to the
Lordship of Jesus. James wrote these words concerning the urgency of this issue of
repentance. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify
your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be
turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and He will lift you up” (James 4:7-10).

Whatever Happened to Water Baptism?

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do [to be saved]?’ Then Peter said
to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will
call’” (Acts 2:37-39).

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 Water Baptism is a powerful truth in Scripture. There are things that we do in the
natural realm that release great supernatural power, even when we really don’t
understand why we do them. Examples of this truth would include such things as tithing
and giving, fasting, the words we speak, worship of God, and observance of the Lord’s
Supper. We do not really understand how these things operate, but we know and have
seen the power of God released when we do them. Water baptism of new believers is one
of these things.
Study through the Book of Acts and you will see that most of the time when there
was a great move of the Holy Spirit bringing salvation, water baptism followed
immediately. Three thousand people accepted the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost, and
the Bible says that they were all baptized (Acts 2:41). The first thing the Ethiopian
eunuch did when Phillip shared the Gospel with him was to request water baptism (Acts
8:38). When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Gentiles for the first time at the
house of Cornelius, Peter immediately baptized everyone (Acts 10:47-48). The
Philippian jailer and his family were saved and baptized in the middle of the same night
(Acts 16:30-34)! We find references to water baptism throughout the New Testament.
Why is it that we hear so little about water baptism today? With a few
exceptions, most churches hardly say anything about it. Some churches will spend
millions of dollars on new buildings and never install a baptistery for the carrying out of
one of the most often practiced rites of the New Testament Church. Jesus commanded us
to do it as a part of the Great Commission, “...baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Water baptism is a powerful event for a new believer. It brings supernatural
power to break with their past sins. It is representative of being buried with Jesus and
arising from the grave free to live a new life in the presence and power of God. It
represents the death of the old life we lived before we met Jesus and the repentance
(turning) to a new life to be lived by following Him.
The absence of the emphasis on water baptism today is all reflective of the ever
increasingly dangerous trend toward the hyper-grace, “I’m okay, You’re okay” mindset
that seems to prevail today. Some things in our pasts need to be forgiven by God. Other
things in our pasts need to be healed by His power and love. But there are things in our
pasts that need to be abandoned by an act of our wills, in cooperation with the work of
the Holy Spirit. Water baptism is a gigantic step in that direction.

The Messages of Past Revivals

Much of what we hear being described as revival isn’t really revival at all. A real
revival is one that brings about a radical transformation of people and societies. There
are different faces of revival as I have described in my book entitled, “Revival Glory.”
But when it comes to a move of God that changes a nation, it must be based upon
repentance from sin, which results in changed attitudes and behavior. There has never
been a revival that altered the course of nations that did not involve the preaching of
repentance from sin. Every revival that changed history was focused on the serious

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nature of offending God and the need to turn toward Him in faith and humility, seeking
His mercy and forgiveness. Every revival that changed entire societies opposed sin,
rebellion, and exalted living with integrity and holiness in the sight of God.

Savonarola in Italy (1496)

Savonarola was a Roman Catholic monk in Florence, Italy who was touched by
the fire of God and began having dreams and visions. He had a passionate love for God
and studied the Scriptures continuously. He led a life of fasting and prayer. Sometimes
as he preached, people would witness a glow on his face, and sometimes he would
become so lost in the presence of God that he would just sit in trances for hours at a time
in the pulpit.
When the Spirit of God began to come upon Savonarola in 1496, he began to
preach against the sins of the Church in Florence and the impending judgment of God, if
people did not repent! When he preached, his voice was like thunder. Revival power
gripped the city of Florence and the surrounding region. People from every strata of life
wept in the presence of God because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning their
sins. People walked the streets of Florence unable to speak as if dazed by the gripping
power of the Holy Spirit.
Because of this atmospheric revival that came to Florence through the ministry of
Savonarola, wicked government was replaced. The economy flourished because corrupt
business practices ceased. People stopped reading immoral books. Carnivals were
forbidden and forsaken. Crime rates plummeted. The city came to burn their
pornographic art and other worldly objects in a great octagon-shaped bonfire two hundred
forty feet in circumference, and sixty feet high! Because of the manifestation of the
glory of the Lord, coupled with the preaching of Savonarola against sin and its practices,
transformation came to Florence, Italy.

John Wesley and “The Great Awakening”

The Great Awakening, which came between the years of 1739 and 1791, is
frequently called The Wesleyan Revival. Even though God greatly used Charles Wesley,
George Whitefield, and many others during that period of history, John Wesley
ultimately became its spokesman. He preached in more places, to more people, and for
many more years than did the other revivalists of that day, but his ministry was far more
than a revival. It was a strategic turning point for the church and became a movement
that God used to literally shape the future destiny of entire nations.
All that Wesley preached, and the volumes of his writings, was the message of
holiness and repentance before the Lord. He wrote and preached the doctrine of entire
sanctification whereby he believed Christians could come to a place of such passionate
love for God that the power of sin would be completely broken in their hearts and lives.
The message of repentance, holiness, and the subsequent change of heart and living was
the highway to this place of entire sanctification. Because of the blessing and anointing
of God that rested upon the message Wesley preached, his ministry is credited with

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igniting the fire of transformational revival on two continents through The Great
Awakening!
John Wesley had a brilliant mind and an Oxford education. But His preaching
was more than just words and ideas; it was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit that
brought those who heard him to heart-wrenching repentance. Whenever Wesley
preached, people were powerfully convicted of their sins. It was common for educated,
well dressed, mature people to suddenly cry out as if in the agonies of death. Both men
and women, inside and outside the church buildings, would tremble and fall to the ground
under the power of God while he ministered.21 In one meeting, a Quaker was suddenly
smitten to the ground in deep agony over his own sin. After Wesley prayed, the Quaker
called out, “Now I know that thou art a prophet of the Lord.”22

Jonathan Edwards--Early American Colonies

(1730’s-1740’s)
Between the years of 1734-1735, God used Jonathan Edwards to birth what was
known as the Northhampton Awakening, which saw approximately three hundred people
saved from their sins. By today’s standards that might not seem large, but in the cold
religious temperature of the early American colonies, that was quite a significant move of
God, and it had no precedent. Edwards’ message focused almost entirely on the need for
a personal religious conversion. As significant as they were at the time, these meetings
were only a forerunner of the revival that was to come several years later.23
Edwards’ most famous sermon was preached the first time on Sunday evening
July 2, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut. It is recognized by most historians as being the
igniting point of the First Great Awakening in America. It was entitled, Sinners In The
Hands Of An Angry God and is viewed by many as one of the most powerful sermons
ever preached. The glory of God was in the meeting that night, and the people present
had open visions of Heaven above and hell beneath. Women fainted. Strong men were
so gripped with fear they could only cling to the wooden pews until their hands began to
turn white. In many meetings in the coming years, the power and presence of God would
be such that people would shake, weep, and many fall to the church floors stricken by the
power of God.
The message of Jonathan Edwards was centered upon the great offense of sin in
the eyes of a holy and just God and man’s need for true, heartfelt repentance from those
sins. It was not just a mental transitioning to a new way of thinking, but a dynamic,
personal experience with God that brought about profound change in the person’s life.
There was no greater emphasis in the meetings of Jonathan Edwards than the holiness of
God, and man’s need to turn away from sinful behavior.

George Whitefield (1740’s-1750’s)

George Whitefield was a contemporary of John and Charles Wesley in England.
They had each been touched by the power of God in the same meeting on January 1,

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1739 on Fetter Lane in London. He was only twenty-two years old, but after that
experience, he preached with such power and conviction that multitudes flocked to hear
him wherever he went. He did most of his preaching out in the fields because there were
no church buildings large enough for the crowds that came. Twenty thousand people
gathered in one meeting, and practically all were moved to tears, as they were powerfully
convicted by the Holy Spirit.24
In November of 1739, George Whitefield made his first trip to America arriving
in Philadelphia. He brought with him the fire of the early days of the Great Awakening
which had begun in England. Whitefield was a powerful preacher. Benjamin Franklin
became one of his most loyal friends and supporters. Franklin estimated by measuring
the crowds at Whitefield’s meetings that his voice was so powerful, he could easily be
heard by 30,000 people at a time--in a day without microphones!25
Whitefield changed customary preaching from theological exposition into “an
emotion-laden tragedy whose catharsis lay in the experience of an evangelical new
birth.”26 When Whitefield preached, great conviction of sin came upon the multitudes
who had gathered to hear him. The presence of God was awesome in every place he
went and, as a result, thousands of people were touched by Heaven.
Recalling the events of meetings, he wrote, “Such a commotion was surely never
heard of, especially at about eleven o’clock at night. It far outdid anything I ever saw in
America. For about an hour and a half, there was such weeping, so many falling into
deep distress, and manifesting it in so many ways that description is impossible. The
people seemed to be smitten in scores. They were carried off and brought into the house
like wounded soldiers taken from a field of battle. Their agonies and cries were deeply
affecting.”27

The message of George Whitefield was a message of repentance from dead works
and sin. The Holy Spirit brought great conviction to people’s hearts as Whitefield’s
voice rung out in the meetings. Speaking of a revival that God birthed among coal
miners, someone wrote, “White gutters made by tears plentifully fell down their black
cheeks as they came out of the coal pits.”28 Whenever he preached, the people clearly
understood the serious nature of sin, the great holiness of God, and the need for
reconciliation through genuine repentance from sin. They came to God in mass, seeking
mercy and relief from the intense conviction of their souls because of sin. Their lives
were changed, and their futures altered, because of their experience with a holy and just
God who was abounding with mercy and willing to forgive all those who asked.

Charles Finney (1830’s-1840’s)

Charles Finney was undoubtedly the greatest revivalist in American history. He
had been an atheist lawyer in Chicago before his radical salvation experience. There was
a very unique and amazing anointing upon Finney’s life. I believe it was the anointing of
the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord mentioned in Isaiah 11:2. Probably the same anointing
that rested upon John the Baptist and produced multitudes who sought repentance.
Finney carried a tangible sense of the presence of God that brought conviction of sin
wherever he was. People riding in train cars would grow uncomfortable in his presence,

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not even knowing who or what he was. He could be reading a newspaper and people
would be convicted of sin by just being near him. People, who were walking the
sidewalks in front of the churches where Charles Finney was preaching, would suddenly
drop to their knees under the power of the Holy Spirit convicting them of sin. The
presence of God being made manifest in convicting power rested upon his life and
ministry.
In August of 1825, Finney went to Oneida County in central New York. It was to
become the beginning of a new dimension in his life and ministry. Great revival began to
break out; not just in the meetings but even in people’s homes! Rome, New York was
powerfully touched. The entire town literally radiated the presence of God. The Sheriff
of Utica, New York came to Rome on business. He had originally mocked the revival.
As his sleigh crossed the canal at the edge of town, the awesome presence of the Holy
Spirit came upon him. The closer he got to town the greater the presence became. When
he finally arrived he found the businesses in Rome so overcome with the Holy presence
of God that people were unable to speak. Trying to keep from weeping, he quickly
completed his business in Rome and went back to Utica. He was soon converted and
helped bring the revival to his city. Eventually, that whole region became known as the
Burned Over or the Holiness Zone because of all that God had done there. There was
virtually no one left in the entire region that had not become a Christian during those days
of explosive revival.29
One of the most interesting aspects of Charles Finney’s ministry, that research
later revealed, was the fact that approximately eighty percent of the many tens of
thousands who were born again in Charles Finney’s meetings were still actively serving
the Lord twenty-five years later! The reason given for this was that these people had
experienced the extreme holiness of God, which resulted in a fear of the Lord that
produced true, life-changing repentance in their hearts. The impact of such deep
repentance and Godly fear totally changed the economic, political, and social climates of
cities, and even entire regions for generations to come!

Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival (1904)

The greatest revival of the 20th century was the Welsh Revival of 1904. The
catalyst for this revival was a twenty-six year old man named Evan Roberts. When he
was a young boy, God gave him a vision of great revival coming to Wales, and he began
to pray toward that vision in the following years. He had no idea that God had chosen
him to lead it. When God ultimately opened the windows of Heaven and showered His
glory upon that land, Wales was transformed. Because so many people were being
saved, bars closed for the lack of business. Gambling disappeared. Football season was
suspended for three years because all that the people wanted to do was go to church. The
economy flourished. Crime dropped to such an extent that many towns actually laid off
their police forces for those years. And six years later, eighty percent of the people who
had been saved in the revival were still actively serving God in churches!
The effect of that revival was profound and lasts even to this present day over one
hundred years later. I was ministering in Wales several years ago and saw a soccer match
about to begin on television. Before it started, about seventy thousand people stood and

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sang some of the old hymns of the church. They still do that in commemoration of the
great Welsh Revival of 1904!
In the first week of that revival, Evan Roberts taught people to pray this prayer,
“Send the Holy Spirit now, for Jesus Christ’s sake.” Throughout the revival, he
continually emphasized four points: (1) Confess openly and fully any unconfessed sin.
(2) Put away from your life anything doubtful. (3) Obey promptly anything the Spirit
tells you to say or do. (4) Confess Christ openly.30 The prayer that was prayed
continuously throughout the Church across Wales during the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit was this prayer, “Bend the Church and save the world.”31 The message of the
Welsh Revival was repentance. That is the reason God used it to turn the direction of that
nation and others around the globe!

Duncan Campbell and the Hebrides Revival (1948)

In the late 1940’s, God in a most remarkable way visited the Hebrides Islands off
the coast of Scotland. It was true, atmospheric revival in which the tangible presence of
God was everywhere across the land. Hundreds of people gathered in open fields in the
middle of the night crying out to God for deliverance from their sin without a preacher
even being present. Lost people came into the police stations in their pajamas telling the
police that they had been at home asleep and were awakened with the awesome sense of
God’s presence. They realized they were lost and dying in their sins and had come there
in the hope that the police could tell them how to be forgiven and saved! Fishermen in
boats off the coast of Scotland ran their boats aground on the beaches and ran toward
towns in search of churches where they might be saved. The convicting power of the
Holy Spirit had come upon them in the night as they fished. It is said that people leaving
the churches late at night after the revivals would leave their cars parked and just walk
home. They did not want the sounds of cranking cars to disturb the holiness of God’s
presence which was upon their town. The presence of God was obvious in schools,
factories, homes, and businesses. Churches were overflowing with people continuously.
People passing each other on the sidewalks in the towns would ask total strangers, “Have
you done business with God today?” If someone replied that they hadn’t, a prayer
meeting broke out on the spot. Schools and businesses were closed so that prayer
meetings could be held.
Revival is always a sovereign move of God’s Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit uses
people. The man that God used to ignite the Hebrides Revival was Duncan Campbell, a
Presbyterian revivalist from Scotland. Here is an account of one of the very first
meetings when revival first broke out. It reflects the nature of the visitation of glory in
the Hebrides:
The next night, according to one report, “A solemn hush came over the church as
Campbell preached. After the benediction, the people left. As Campbell stepped out of the
pulpit to also leave, a young deacon raised his hand, moving it in a circle. ‘Mr.
Campbell,’ he began, ‘God is hovering over us. He is going to break through. I can hear
already the rumbling of Heaven’s chariot wheels.’

"At that moment, the door opened and the clerk of the session (a church elder)

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beckoned to Campbell, calling, ‘Come and see what is happening!’ When he went
outside, he discovered that the entire congregation had remained outside the church.
Others had joined them, drawn from their homes to the church by some irresistible force
they couldn’t explain. The faces of more than six hundred people in the churchyard were
marked by deep distress.”

"Suddenly, a cry from within the church pierced the silence. One young man
agonizing in prayer had felt such intense anguish that he fell into a trance and lay
prostrate on the floor. The crowd streamed back into the church, filling the building
beyond capacity.”

"A witness later recalled, ‘The awful presence of God brought a wave of
conviction of sin that caused even mature Christians to feel their sinfulness, bringing
groans of distress and prayers of repentance from the unconverted. Strong men bowed
down under the weight of sin, and cries for mercy were mixed with shouts of joy from
others who had passed into life. A mother was standing with her arms around her son,
tears of joy streaming down her face, thanking God for his salvation.”32

But in this environment of atmospheric revival, what was the message preached
by Duncan Campbell? He became the carrier of revival everywhere he went. Let’s read
a description of his preaching, written by an eyewitness of the Hebrides Revival:

“There was nothing complicated about Duncan’s preaching. It was fearless and
uncompromising. He exposed sin in all its ugliness and dwelt at length on the
consequences of living and dying without Christ. With a penetrating gaze on the
congregation and perspiration streaming down his face, he set before men and women
the way of life and the way of death. It was a solemn thought to him that the eternity of
his hearers might hinge on his faithfulness.”

"It was prophetic preaching, not diplomatic, and the hearers were called to make
a simple choice, for there was no middle path. During the revival, the wrath of God was
emphasized and coming judgment. Once he tried to be more pleasing in the presentation
of truth but without effect, and in spite of constant criticism continued to press the
flaming sword into the very heart of the foe….”33

The message of the Hebrides Revival was repentance and holiness. It was the
turning of heads and hearts from the course of sin and its destination of death and hell, to
a new course that would take people to life and blessing for now and eternity.
Some people might wonder if God hasn’t done very much in the earth since these
revivals. That is not true at all! The Holy Spirit has been moving with ever increasing
intensity in the revealing of glory in the earth. It is one thing for God to bless people, and
another thing all together for God to radically change people. The same is true for a
nation. Without repentance, nothing really changes. We have had wave after wave of the
Holy Spirit which has refreshed and blessed the Church, but now we must have wave
after wave of the Holy Spirit’s presence that convicts all people of sin and then brings

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them to radical salvation and repentance. God wants to do more now than just bless the
Church. He wants to bring in a great harvest of souls through repentance and
transformation. He has done it in past centuries. It is time for Him to do it again.

Is Salvation Even Possible Without Repentance?

“The second biggest fool in the world is the person who says there is no God. The
biggest fool is the person who says there is a God and that they believe in Him, but they
do not live according to His commandments.” (Unknown)

There was a popular saying in the early 1970’s which was “Love Means Never
Having To Say You’re Sorry.” It came from a line in the movie, Love Story. Its message
was very simple. If two people are truly in love with each other, any hurtful behavior
toward one another should automatically be excused--right? Wrong! When someone
truly loves another person more than they love themselves, they will not willfully hurt
that person. And if they do so accidentally, they are genuinely sorry for causing pain to
the one they love, and will ask forgiveness! Part of that process of asking and receiving
forgiveness is the implied hope that change will come, and the same hurtful behavior will
not be repeated in the future.
Most men who physically abuse their wives usually tell them afterward something
that sounds like this. “Honey, I’m so sorry. You know I love you. Don’t call the police.
Please don’t leave me. I promise never to ever do that again.” Their physically,
emotionally, and mentally battered wives often believe them and then try to work it out.
But in time, the husband flies into another rage over something else and beats her
senseless once again. When he cools off, he just repeats once more how sorry he is for
what he just did. These men are going to do what they want to do to make themselves
feel better and then depend upon their wives' love and grace to forgive them; so that once
again, they are not inconvenienced by their wives calling the police or moving out.
Millions of women (and men) are horribly abused by these same kinds of tactics. Love
means we are sorry for what we have done; and therefore, we make every effort to turn,
change, repent, and pursue a different course in the future.
Is salvation from sin, death, and hell really even possible without repentance?
That is one of the major questions in this hour. Can a person really be saved from sin,
become a child of God, and have a guarantee of eternity in Heaven simply because of
praying a prayer, but never changing course in life? People always act upon the things
they believe to be true, whether they are true or not. Repentance is changing the mind,
the thoughts, the beliefs, and behaviors. Therefore if a person desires to follow Jesus but
never changes course, they obviously believe more in that course than in the offer of a
new one being extended by Jesus. This is what Jesus was referring to when He said, “If
anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
Me” (Matthew 16:24). The cross is not literal like Jesus endured with suffering and
crucifixion, but it is a cross of death to self and to the old course we were traveling. It is
the adoption of a new course that will lead to a much better outcome and destination!
We know that salvation is not based upon works, but rather we are saved by grace
through faith in the finished work that Jesus accomplished for us at the cross. We also
know that lawlessness and grace cannot exist in a person’s life at the same time. Sins of

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failure, sins of weakness, and sins growing out of hurt are sins that God’s immeasurable
mercy, grace, and love will cover, when that person feels conviction by the Holy Spirit
and asks God in genuine humility for forgiveness. But the grace and mercy of God does
not extend indefinitely to those who really don’t want to change. Why? Because people
always find a way to do what they believe in their hearts to be true. A person can read all
the deadly health warnings about cancer and heart disease on a package of cigarettes but
still continue to smoke a pack everyday and ultimately die. If people believe (or want to
believe) in their hearts that doing things which violate God’s Word are fun, and God will
just excuse it because of grace, then that’s how they will live. The Bible says, “The
wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When people really believe that this scripture is
true and that the result of continued sin leads to eternal death (hell), their lives will
change. If people never change, it is simply because they do not believe in their hearts
that this Scripture is true. “Love Means Never Having To Say You’re Sorry” is just
another way of saying “I am going to do what I want to do, whether you like it or not!”

I read about a man who is today one of the largest producers of pornography in
the world. He has multiple mansions around the globe. He travels wherever he wants on
his own business jet. His personal fortune extends into the hundreds of millions of
dollars, but he says he is a “born-again Christian.” He claims that he had a genuine
experience with Jesus, but afterward he decided he couldn’t afford to give up his multi-
million dollar a year porn empire. He now believes that producing pornography is
actually “giving glory to God by allowing people to enjoy watching the expression of
human sexuality--a gift that was originally created by God for people to enjoy.” He said
that what he produces is actually God’s way of helping people to accept and enjoy their
sexuality.
I also recently heard the testimony of a Christian drug dealer. He had a real
experience with Jesus, but he was making approximately seven thousand dollars each
week in his business. He started going to church and generously giving money in the
offerings. He considered himself to be a “Christian businessman” who was simply
making his living providing a product that a select portion of society wanted to purchase.
He rationalized his behavior by saying that his clients were going to purchase their drugs
from someone somewhere, so why not from him? After all, he was tithing on his drug
money income. He viewed himself like a car dealer who sells cars. His rationale was
that once he had sold a car to someone; he was not responsible for what they did with the
car. He is now serving a lengthy prison sentence because a judge did not see it that way!
These are extreme examples, but the reality is this: The grace and mercy of God
only extends to people who want both to be forgiven and to repent (or turn) from their
present ways. How can a person truly be forgiven if they really do not believe that what
they are doing is wrong? Or how can a person be forgiven of sin if it is their conscious
intention to just continue sinning with no effort being expended to change their course?
Some people think it is just easier to be forgiven later than to ask permission first.
Lawlessness and rebellion against the Word of God and the convicting power of the Holy
Spirit is a frightful offense in the eyes of God, especially to those who know better.
Forgiveness of sin and repentance (or turning) from sin are both requirements by God for
people who desire and expect to inherit eternal life. You cannot be a Christian porn
producer or a Christian drug pusher. These two are simply impossible to reconcile with

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one another, but the same thing is true with all forms of willful and rebellious behavior
that are in the lives of God’s people.

What is the Message of Revival Now?

The seriousness of these two issues, the fear of the Lord and repentance from sin,
is found throughout this book. This chapter offers many direct quotations from the Bible
and from church history concerning the great worldwide revivals of almost three
centuries. All of these have one common thread: preaching a Gospel of repentance from
sin. They are included in the sincere desire that the reader will carefully and prayerfully
examine much of what we hear today in light of what the written evidence in God’s
Word has to say about these things.
In light of what was preached in great revivals of the past, there is reason to
question whether these would even be allowed in today’s Church. People like the Old
Testament prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, Jonathan Edwards, John
Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, Evan Roberts, or Duncan Campbell would
probably be unwelcome in most churches! They probably wouldn’t get many people to
register for their conferences or be able to sell many CD’s or books, and their Christian
television programs would be doomed to fail for lack of interest and acceptance. Their
methods and messages would probably be considered by most to be old school, religious
tradition, or motivated by a spirit of religion.
This next quotation is cited again in chapter ten, but it seems appropriate to
include it now as a comparison with the examples listed above.

“There are absolutely no rules for Christians. We are living in the days of God’s
unconditional and unlimited grace. The Father’s love abounds, and His mercy is
sufficient for all. If you still live your life based on rules and regulations that you believe
must be followed for you to remain a good Christian, you are still living under the dark
cloud of the spirit of religion. God wants our love and nothing more” (Quoted from a
CD series of a popular teacher).

Here is the crux of the issue. In most churches today, we offer people a change of
destination spiritually without a change of course in the way they live. It is assumed they
will somehow get what they need by spiritual osmosis. The reason for this hesitancy is
simple. People resist change, particularly when it's going to cost them something.
Therefore, the 21st century Church is doing all it can do to keep people comfortable,
positive, entertained, and intrigued with spiritual things, without telling them that
repentance or changing the way they think and act is also a requirement. We want to
help people learn to cope more than we want to help people learn to change. Being a
Christian is absolutely free, but it isn’t cheap. It ultimately will cost us everything,
including the abandonment of all the capsized and sinking boats in our lives that many
desire to continue clinging to!

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 The Parable of the Ten Virgins
In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus gave a most interesting parable when He spoke
prophetically about ten young women who were awaiting the arrival of a bridegroom.
The story is actually reflective of the Church as it awaits the return of the Lord Jesus.
Describing them, Jesus said that five of the young women were wise while the other five
were foolish. They all carried lamps with them, but the five who were foolish took lamps
without any extra oil. Throughout the Scriptures, oil is symbolic for the anointing of the
Holy Spirit.

The anticipated arrival of the bridegroom was delayed beyond the expected time.
Night came and all the young women slept. At midnight, a time that no one would have
imagined, the announcement went out that the bridegroom was coming. All ten of the
young women trimmed their lamps and went out to meet him. Five of them had run out
of oil and wanted the other five to share theirs with them. They refused, telling them to
go and buy oil. And while they were away, the bridegroom came and the five women
who were ready went with him. Later the other five returned; but the time had past, and
it was too late.
Bible teachers have suggested that the five young women who had lamps but no oil
represent people who are living in sin away from the Lord who were caught unawares by
the coming of the bridegroom. But in reality, Jesus said that all ten of these women were
obviously awaiting the coming of the long-anticipated bridegroom. The five who were
without oil were as eager for the bridegroom to arrive as those who had sufficient oil. I
believe that a better explanation here is that the five who had no oil didn’t have it because
they didn't think they needed it. And when they discovered that they did need it, there
was no time to go and get it. The “oil” in Matthew 25 represents the Holy Spirit and His
anointing in the lives of Christians. Yet only half of those ten young women who were
waiting for the bridegroom (Jesus) were actually ready to receive Him when He came.
The frightening part of this parable is that all ten sincerely believed they were ready!
Five found out too late that they didn’t have the most important ingredient that was
required that night. They had not been filled with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and
the reason they didn’t have it is that they didn’t know that they would need it.
We are going through a time of great shifting in the workings of God among His
people. Things that God used to let people get away with because of His grace and
mercy will now be judged because of their refusal to repent. There are three steps in
God’s dealings with people: First, He sends the Holy Spirit to convict us of things that
are offensive to Him. He does so as a loving Father giving His children a rebuke or
warning. If His people ignore the warning or convicting of the Holy Spirit, He then sends
His prophetic voice through other people and quickens their words in the heart of the
person. This can be through preaching, teaching, conversation, or a prophetic word. But
when these two methods are refused or ignored, He will send judgment: either final
judgment or corrective, disciplinary judgment which is never fun. The five young
women who were without oil for their lamps didn’t even know they had a problem until it
was too late.
We must take our commitment to Jesus seriously. Many today seem to be so
preoccupied with other things, and are building their walks with the Lord around those

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things, that are easy and comfortable. They genuinely believe that everything is well in
their relationships with God, but what would they say to Scriptures such as this?

“Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’ And He said to
them, 'Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter
and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door,
and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us,”
and He will answer and say to you, "I do not know you, where you are from?”’” (Luke
13:23-25).

I fear today that there are many who are living their lives in a type of counterfeit
salvation. They think they are ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus, but they aren’t.
Many may genuinely believe they are Christians and that when they die, Heaven will be
their home for all of eternity. Many somehow believe that God grades on the curve and
that living a mostly ethical, if not moral, life will be sufficient to make the cut and get
them into Heaven. They apparently believe that the grace of God can be abused; because
the love of God is so great, lawlessness of heart and lifestyle isn’t really such a big
problem for God. Sin and rebellion will surely be overlooked because repentance isn’t
necessary. Tragically, many will learn one day that these things were actually lies and
deception; but then it will be too late.

The Fields Are Filled With Both Tares and Wheat

In Matthew 13, Jesus taught the parable of the tares and wheat. He said, “The
kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain
had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the
owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then
does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to
him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you
gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather
together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my
barn”’” (Matthew 13:24-30).

The tares Jesus referred to are a plant that is called darnel. It looks exactly like
wheat as it grows in the field. It is virtually impossible for someone who is not a scientist
to tell the difference between the two. Jesus used the comparison between wheat and
darnel to illustrate a point which he told in parable form.
A man had planted a field of wheat and was anticipating a great harvest, but an
enemy came in secretly and sowed the wheat field full of the seeds of darnel so the owner
of the field would not be able to tell the difference between the two. When the crop
began to mature, the owner and his servants realized what had been done. The servants
asked the owner if he wanted them to pull out the darnel, but the owner said no. To do so
would result in some of the wheat being pulled out as well. He told his servants to let the

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two grow together until the time of the harvest. Then it would be easy to separate the
two. The darnel could be safely removed, tied into bundles and burned, and the wheat
could be gathered into the barn.
The reason this story is so significant is that it represents the evil seed sown by the
devil and the good seed sown by God, and that it is nearly impossible to separate the two
until the time of harvest. At harvest time, it's very easy to tell the difference between the
two previously identical plants! Because then, the weight of the wheat pods cause the
plant to bend down as if bowing. All the wheat will be bowed down as in humility and
worship, while the tares will remain standing up tall and straight! It then becomes easy
for the laborers to tell the difference; gathering the darnel to be burned, and bundling the
wheat into the barn.
The reason this parable is so important for us today is that at the end of the age
two things will happen. First, the true wheat prepared by God will bow down before Him
in humility, reverence, and repentance. Second, the rebellious, prideful, and lawless ones
will stand upright in their arrogant indifference to God’s holiness!
There is more truth being revealed today by the Holy Spirit than in any other
generation. But at the same time, there seems to be an equal amount of error from the
devil intended to produce deception. The church world today is filled with both the
genuine and the counterfeit. They all look identical to the untrained eye. Soon there is a
day of harvest coming in which the dividing lines will be drawn between the real and the
counterfeit--the wheat and the tares. The thing that will reveal the difference between the
two will be the heart attitudes. People will either have fear and reverence for God
which results in humility and repentance, or they will stand tall in pride because of their
knowledge and belief in other things. Harvest time will tell the difference. But on that
day, there will be no time left for repentance and change. The time for those things is
now. When the end of the age arrives and the harvest is ready, it will be too late!

The Church at Ephesus

John had a powerful experience with the risen Lord Jesus while he was a prisoner
on the Isle of Patmos. It's recorded in the book of Revelation. In Chapter 2, Jesus was
addressing one of the original seven churches, the church of Ephesus. He said to them,
"I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are
evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found
them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s
sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left
your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first
works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--
unless you repent” (Revelation 2:2-5).

The interesting and at the same time frightening message of this Scripture is that
the church in Ephesus was not living in open rebellion against God! In fact, they were a
very strong church that was obviously doing everything right and as a result, enjoying
success. Yet Jesus threatened to remove their “lampstand” (His anointing, glory,
blessing, presence) from their midst because they had departed from the love they had for

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Him at the beginning. And He called them to repent under threat of it’s removal. What
does this say to the Church of the 21st Century when we teach people that God is ready to
extend lavish grace to everyone for everything, expecting virtually nothing in return?

A Challenge to You that Could Change Your Life

Throughout this book, many quotations from the Scriptures and citations of past
history have been included. This has all been done in order that the reader might have a
basis on which to compare the things God has said and done in the past with much of
what is being taught (or not taught) in churches and conferences today.
With this in mind, I would like to issue a challenge to every reader of this book.
It could possibly change your life. I challenge you to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
and the Book of Acts through three times within a thirty-day period. It is really simple.
You just read one half of each of the five books every day. You will complete the first
five books in ten days. Then repeat the same process two more times. It will require
about an hour a day to do this, if you are reading thoughtfully and absorbing what you
read. Then read Romans all the way through the remainder of the Bible, ending with the
book of Revelation.
Before you begin this assignment, be sure to ask the Holy Spirit every day to help
you see and discern the truths that He wants you to see. As you read thoughtfully and
prayerfully, consider much of what we hear today in church, and simply compare that
with what you are reading for yourself under the tutorage of the Holy Spirit. Then draw
your own conclusions. That is my challenge for you, if you dare to accept it. Be open to
having God change your heart and even the way you see things that we are now hearing
in the Church, while we pursue His glory. You will be very surprised if you dare to
accept this challenge and put the Holy Spirit of God to the test. You will also be alarmed
at what is going on in the Church in our generation.

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 Chapter Seven

The Consequences of Ignoring the Holy Spirit’s Voice

We are living in the dawning of a new day--the demonstration of the power of

God in the earth. Jesus is coming soon; but before He returns, “the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk
2:14). The Gospel shall be preached with demonstration and power in all nations. No
man or woman will be able to stand before God and say that they did not know that Jesus
was Lord. All excuses and claims of ignorance are going to be taken away before He
comes.
Reinhard Bonnke is a German evangelist whom God has profoundly used across
the continent of Africa to bring the message of salvation, healing, and deliverance to tens
of millions of people. Over 55 million decisions for Jesus have been made in his meetings
in the past 10 years alone! (2000-1010) He told an amazing story of a recent crusade in
Nigeria. He said that the Holy Spirit came almost like a visible cloud upon the several
hundred thousand people while he was preaching. He said it almost appeared like a great
waterspout of glory formed, and suddenly a great deluge of Heaven was poured out upon
the people. Thousands instantly fell to the ground under the power of God. Healings
were happening all over the place. Others were on the ground writhing like snakes as
demons were being expelled from them, and multitudes were saved. Crusade workers
feared that pandemonium was going to break out and that lives might be in danger.
Bonnke replied, “This is the order of the Holy Ghost! Everything will be fine.” And it
was.
We will see these types of meetings in greater and greater frequency, even over
entire cities and regions before the coming of the Lord. He is coming, but before He
does, the Holy Spirit is going to glorify the Lord Jesus before the eyes of the world like
never before.
Christians get very excited when they hear about miraculous demonstrations like
this, and they should, but what most people do not realize is that God is not an
entertainer. Everything He does is for a purpose--which is to bring people, primarily the
lost, to Himself. God could have done what He did in Reinhard Bonnke’s meeting in a
very gentle and quiet way, but He didn’t. He did it with great power that demonstrated to
everyone who was there the reality of what He could do whenever He wanted to do it.
The purpose was to establish His power as supreme so people would come to Him,
surrender to Him, and be touched and changed by Him through repentance of their sins.
We must realize that the greatest demonstrations of the power and glory of God
are for the express purpose of bringing people to salvation and repentance. Again it
isn’t for entertainment, but rather to bring people to freedom from sin! Some people

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passionately go after a ministry of healing, which is wonderful. A person can be healed;
but if they don’t repent of their sins, they will still die and go to hell for eternity. They
will have the memory in their hearts that God had touched them, but they had never
really changed. The greater the revelation of glory and power, the greater the level of our
accountability to God becomes. The following illustrates this truth.

The Greatest Meetings Jesus Ever Had

In Luke 9:10, we read the account of one of the greatest meetings Jesus ever had.
He was tired and in need of rest. He had gone away to be alone in the wilderness and
away from the crowds. But when the people of Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum
heard that he was there, they went out to find Him. As He saw them coming, His heart
was moved with compassion as He viewed them as “sheep without a shepherd.” They
were in desperate need, and Jesus would not turn them away.

“But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and
spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing”
(Luke 9:11).

“But He said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ And they said, ‘We have
no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.’
For there were about five thousand men (not counting the women and children).’ Then
He said to His disciples, ‘Make them sit down in groups of fifty.’ And they did so, and
made them all sit down. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to
Heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the
multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments
were taken up by them.” (Luke 9:13-17).

Let’s imagine the scenario. The populations of three towns have come out into
the wilderness in search of Jesus. There were approximately five thousand men, plus
probably more women and children. They found Jesus and, instead of turning them
away, He gathered them unto Himself to teach them about the kingdom. He healed all
their diseases. Imagine that! Every sick person was healed of every type of problem
imaginable. Then He took a boy’s lunch of two fish and five pieces of bread, blessed it,
broke it, and gave it to His disciples to distribute among the people. The people were
gathered into groups of fifty. Why? Because Jesus wanted everyone to be able to see
with their own eyes the miracle He was about to perform.
As the disciples began breaking the bread and fish to give to the people, it began
to multiply. Every person in that meeting watched as the bread and fish were multiplied
before their very eyes. And when everyone had eaten all they could hold, there were still
twelve baskets filled with food leftover. How could anyone ever doubt the message and
ministry of Jesus after having been in a meeting like that? But apparently they missed the
most important point, the need for repentance!

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 In Matthew 11:20-24, Jesus addressed the same people that had been in that
glorious meeting: “Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty
works had been done, because they did not repent: ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.’

‘And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to Heaven, will be brought down to
Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would
have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.’”

Jesus rebuked the very people who had been the greatest recipients of His healing
and miracle power. He was deeply offended with them because they came seeking
miracles and healing, but never repented of their sins. He told them that if Tyre and
Sidon had seen and experienced what they had, those cities would have repented in
sackcloth and ashes. If Sodom, which was destroyed in judgment, had seen and
experienced what these people had known, revival would have come; and they would
have repented and remained to the present day.
Speaking of the level of accountability tied to the level of revelation, Jesus said,
“For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom
much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48).

Based upon this Scripture, apparently the greater the level of anointing and
demonstration of His glory--the greater the responsibility for repentance becomes.
That's holiness and the fear and reverence of God. This is especially true now when God
is moving in the earth in such amazing ways. Sodom had no Bible. They didn’t even
have the Old Testament Law. They had never heard of Jesus, His death on the cross, and
resurrection from the dead. They had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit and Pentecost.
They didn’t have the New Testament, the Church, or two thousand years of history of
God's working in the earth. Yet God judged them and destroyed them for their sins.
How much greater is our responsibility in the eyes of a holy God, considering all that is
ours?

What Happens When the Holy Spirit Leaves

One of the themes of this book is the fear and reverence of the Lord as taught in
the Bible, versus the dangerous message of unlimited grace that is being widely taught
today. It's dangerous because it equals lawlessness or a no-rules mentality. God is holy.
His power is real, but His Spirit can be grieved. And if His Spirit is grieved long enough,
He leaves. And if He leaves, there are consequences of His departure. No doubt, some
of you are objecting, doesn't the Bible say He will never leave us? Yes, in several
places. But please keep reading, and you'll see what is meant here.
In Mark 8:22-26, we read one of the most amazing and, at the same time,

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frightening accounts in all of God’s Word. “Then He came to Bethsaida; and they
brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by
the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His
hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, ‘I see men
like trees, walking.’ Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.
And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent Him away to his house,
saying, ‘Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.’”
We see in the Scriptures that when Jesus healed people, He used several different
methods. He spoke to people. He put His hands on people. Occasionally, He even used
His spit. (Mark 7:33, Mark 8:23, John 9:6) Those who would say that everything must
always be done decently and in order would have had a real problem with Jesus spitting
as one of His methods, but He did it nonetheless.
Back to my point, we see that Jesus took the blind man out of the town. Why?
Because this town of Bethsaida had seen great miracles and healing and yet they did not
repent. Jesus had warned them of the judgment that would one day come because of
their willingness to enjoy the miracles, but refusing to repent. The Holy Spirit had been
quenched in the town of Bethsaida. When the Holy Spirit is offended because of the
hardness of people’s hearts, He simply leaves. There is no big fanfare or fireworks. He
just quietly leaves. Because He had left Bethsaida, even Jesus, the Son of God, had
difficulty healing even one blind man from that town! So He had to lead this man away
from town before He could pray for Him.
The reason Jesus struggled to get him healed is because He depended upon the
anointing of the Holy Spirit to do the works, and the Holy Spirit had left that town. Jesus
employed every means He knew to get people healed. He put His hands on the man and
put spit on his eyes, and then asked him if he saw anything (v.23). Jesus did not know if
the man was going to be healed or not. Apparently, there was an anointing of the Holy
Spirit that flowed, but the man was only partially healed! He got some of his sight
back, but men looked like “trees walking.” Now Jesus, the Son of God, had to pray again
for the man. Putting His hands on the man’s eyes a second time, the anointing of the
Holy Spirit flowed, and this time the man was completely healed. Then Jesus warned
him, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town” (v.26). Why? I believe that
had the man gone back in, he would have lost his healing. The same power of the Holy
Spirit that heals a body maintains the healing. The Holy Spirit was through in Bethsaida,
and Jesus knew it. Their day had come and gone.
Do you realize that there are probably people in hell today that were in Jesus’
greatest meetings? They heard His messages and were healed in their bodies. They
watched fish and bread multiply before their eyes. They ate food until they could hold no
more. They touched Him and actually heard His beautiful voice. They gazed into His
lovely eyes of mercy and kindness, but today they are tormented in hell with the still
fresh memories of what they heard, saw, and experienced that day. They are in hell at
this very moment because having received all that He gave to them, they refused to
repent of their sins; and now it is too late. Healing and miracles alone are obviously not
enough to change everyone’s heart.
The same truth applies today as we are increasingly hearing, seeing, and
experiencing more of God in our generation than any who have ever lived. We must
remember that signs and wonders are not given by God to entertain people. They are

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given to make people acutely aware that He's real, and that we might recognize His
holiness, repent, and serve Him all the days of our lives with every ounce of strength we
have.

What Happens When the Holy Spirit is Offended

In Acts 5:3-11, we read the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphirah. They had
made a commitment to sell some land and give the proceeds of the sale to the church.
Once the land sold, they decided to keep back a part of the profit for themselves and tell
the church that the portion they were giving was the entire amount.

“But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy
Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it
not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you
conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’

“Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great
fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped
him up, carried him out, and buried him.”

“Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had
happened. And Peter answered her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?’
She said, ‘Yes, for so much.’ Then Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed
together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your
husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’

"Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young
men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So
great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.”

To understand what really happened in this account, we must look further into the
context of these events. Ananias and Sapphirah did not die because they broke their
commitments to God. If God killed everyone who broke a commitment to Him, there
would be none of us left! Let’s look further at what was going on in the church in those
days.

"And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and
women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and
couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a
multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and
those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed” (Acts 5:14-16).

The reason that Ananias and Sapphirah died was because of the revival that was
in the land! Signs and wonders were happening. Miracles and healings were
commonplace. The glory of the Lord must have been tangible through atmospheric
revival, and it was causing multitudes to be saved.

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 When Ananias and Sapphirah lied to Peter, they did so willfully in the manifested
presence of the Holy Spirit who was moving so powerfully in those days. That was the
real reason that judgment was so severe and so immediate. Great fear filled the people's
hearts as they realized that willful, deliberate sin in the glory was a dangerous thing to do.
The fear of the Lord gripped their hearts, and the Holy Spirit’s presence was treated with
respect and honor in the Church.
This is exactly what we need today. We see revelations of His glory and miracles
and healings, but many people in the 21st century Church view these things as
entertainment, but that is going to change in the near future. They are holy events that
demand a higher level of repentance and consecration in our hearts.
On July 2, 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached one of the most famous sermons
ever preached entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He preached this
message in the church that he pastored which was located only a few hundred yards from
his home and birthplace. His eyesight was bad, so he was forced to preach from a
manuscript which he held in his hand only inches from his face, while holding an oil
lamp in the other. He was not a particularly dramatic preacher, but that night the heavens
opened and the glory of God came. People hearing Edwards preach were struck by the
power of God and had open visions of the beauties of Heaven above and the horrors of
hell below. It was like they were suspended in mid-air between those two eternal worlds.
Many women fainted in horror. Grown men turned pale and shook in fear as Edwards
preached because they seemed to be near to falling into the hell just below them. This
meeting has been called the beginning of the Great Awakening in America, but that is
only a part of all that really happened.
Many people don’t know the whole story about that fateful meeting. The next
day, the townspeople were enraged at Jonathan Edwards over what had happened the
night before. He was fired as pastor of the church, and neighbors and friends he had
known all his life demanded that he leave that town and never return. Jonathan Edwards
and his family left forever, going to another town six miles away where he preached
“Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God” again and with the same results! Revival
broke out, and the Great Awakening began. Historians generally believe that more than
fifty thousand people, of the original three hundred thousand people, living in the
American colonies were dramatically saved during that two-year period. Even secular
historians point to this as being one of the most significant events in early American
history, for it would set the moral climate for the birthing of this new nation a little over
thirty years later.
A pastor friend took me to the former sight of the church where Edwards
preached that sermon the first time, and the people rejected his message and the glory that
accompanied it. It was a vacant field! A fire had burned down the church building in the
early 1800’s, and it had never been built back. Only a large stone in the front of the
vacant property remains to this day. There's a historical marker attached to it telling the
story of Edwards’ sermon. But my pastor friend told me a remarkable story. To this day,
that town has never had another revival, and there is no growing, healthy church in that
town. Churches around the area have attempted to plant new ones: sending in a pastor,
worship team, and twenty or thirty families, and the finances to help get a work started;
but every one has ended in dismal defeat with the church planting teams being forced to
return back to their home church. This has apparently been the pattern for many years.

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 Why would this happen? God sent His messenger to that town with His message,
accompanied by the glory and power of the Holy Spirit, in order to birth the most
significant spiritual awakening in our nation’s history to date, but the people would not
have it. When Jonathan Edwards was forced out, apparently the Holy Spirit left too. It is
a very serious thing when a person, a church, a city, or a nation rejects the visitation of
God’s glory. The following story illustrates that truth in a more profound manner.
In 1820 a fiery Methodist evangelist named Lorenzo Dow came to Georgia to
preach the Gospel. He went from town to town passing out handbills in the day, and then
preaching at night. He rarely stayed in the same place more than a few days. Read what
happened in the town of Jacksonboro.
Jacksonboro had a particularly bad reputation of much drinking and fighting. It
was a logging community about one hundred miles up river from Savannah, and the
tough lumbermen were very hardened in their sinful practices. It was a growing
community, and just before Lorenzo Dow’s visit, the Georgia Legislature had announced
that this growing community would soon become the county seat for government in that
area of Georgia.
Lorenzo Dow came to town and began preaching against sin, particularly the sin
of drinking alcohol. This didn’t go over very well! He would not be swayed in his fiery
condemnation of sin in all its forms, and the need for repentance and salvation. Things
went from bad to worse, and finally the men of Jacksonboro began to pelt him with eggs
and tomatoes as he preached. That didn’t stop him, so they decided they would just hang
him! A Methodist man, Seaborn Goodall, intervened. He took Lorenzo Dow into his
house, and then he confronted the angry mob telling them that he would personally see to
it that Dow would be gone by morning. There would be no hanging of the preacher that
night.
The next morning, the men gathered at Goodall’s house to be sure that Dow was
in fact leaving. As he mounted his horse and began his journey out of the town, they
pelted him with more eggs and tomatoes. They yelled and cursed the man of God sent to
bring revival to their town. When he reached the edge of Jacksonboro, he stopped, took
off his shoes, and shook the dust from his feet. He said, “I came here to save you from
your sins, but you would not receive me. So I have no choice but to shake the dust off my
feet. Your town is hereby cursed. It will wither and die from its wickedness. So sayeth
the Lord.” He then pointed to the Goodall house and said, “But the Goodall house will
remain, for they received me and heard my voice.”

Waves of cursing and laughter erupted from the townspeople as Lorenzo galloped
away. In the weeks that followed, the story of the crazy preacher brought round after
round of laughter in the local bars. But then a fire burned one home down to the ground,
then another fire took another house. Lightning started a fire that burned yet another
house. A hurricane came through, and many more houses were completely destroyed.
More vicious storms destroyed even more of the town’s homes. Soon the lumber
industry collapsed, no one had jobs, and the town literally died. The town and all of its
inhabitants were literally swept away, simply because of their unwillingness to receive
the man of God and the message, and then to just repent.
You won’t find Jacksonboro, Georgia on any Georgia map today. It doesn’t exist
any longer. The only thing that remains today of the once prosperous city is a dirt road

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and a single house. It is the original home of Seaborn Goodall, the Methodist man who
took in Lorenzo Dow and received him as a servant of the Lord! It is the only thing left
of Jacksonboro, Georgia. It was spared from the judgment of the Lord that came on the
town because they mocked the Gospel, and the man God had sent there to preach it.

Some would say that God doesn’t do these types of things any longer. The God of
the Old Testament did things like this but not the God of the New Testament. He is the
God of unlimited love, mercy, grace, and kindness. But the God of the Old Testament is
the same as in the New Testament, and we must learn to show Him the honor and respect
that He so rightfully deserves! The Holy Spirit must be honored and respected. Those
who refuse to repent at His urging are standing in a place of great danger before God.
I once had the opportunity to hear the preaching of the famous Baptist preacher,
B. R. Lakin. I will never forget his story of a series of revival meetings he did in a
Baptist church early in his ministry. B. R. Lakin was a tremendous preacher, and many
thousands of people were born again in his meetings. He told of a time when many
people came from around the entire county to a small Midwestern church to hear the
preaching of God’s Word. There were three men from the town who attended every
meeting who were not there to hear the Word of God. They came every night to mock
the man of God and the message of salvation. This went on night after night. They were
in the meetings, heard the Word of God, yet mocked and despised the repeated offers of
salvation. They even tried to disrupt the meetings by their sneering and laughter.
Near the end of one of these meetings, Lakin said, under the anointing of the Holy
Spirit, “Tonight is the last night for the three men in the back of the church who have
come to these meetings night after night to mock. God says that tonight you can still be
saved from your sins, but if you reject this His final offer, all three of you will be dead
and in hell before noontime tomorrow.” The church people sat in stunned silence. The
three men looked at each other, sneered, and then got up and walked out laughing at the
foolish words of the stupid Baptist preacher. They had one final joke in the parking lot
and then went their separate ways.
Before the church meeting was over, the sounds of sirens were heard in front of
the rural Baptist church. Reports came that there had been a single car accident down the
road and that a man had been killed. Soon word came that one of those three was the
man who had died. People still at the church wondered if this was a coincidence or did
the words of B. R. Lakin have something to do with this death. Could the words of
impending judgment against these men have been true? The other two men had left at the
same time but were not aware of the third man’s fate.
The second of those men went home; but as he was preparing to go to bed, he was
stricken with chest pains and within minutes he died. A shock went throughout the
community. Two men dead before midnight had to be more than just a coincidence. The
third man had not heard about his two friends’ fate until early the next morning. When
he did, he was stricken with terror. B. R. Laken said he came into town and simply
walked the streets looking as pale as a ghost. People who knew him and had heard the
words spoken the night before, knew of nothing to say. One man tried to pray with him,
but he just shrugged it off saying that the time for that had passed already! He wouldn’t
or couldn’t pray, even when others offered to help him. Just before noon, he sat down on
the front porch of a friend’s house and within minutes, he also died. Just as the preacher

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had said by noontime they had all died and were lost for eternity, simply because they
would not repent.
Mordecai F. Ham was a powerful itinerate evangelist for fifty years. He went
from town to town preaching the Gospel with great fire and the resulting awesome
conviction of the Holy Spirit. In the fall of 1934, a seventeen-year-old boy attended one
of his meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina. He came for the purpose of making fun of
Mordecai Ham. Rather than mocking, he was intrigued by Ham’s preaching. As a choir
sang, “Just as I Am,” the boy went forward for prayer and asked Jesus into his heart.
That young boy was Billy Graham! And everyone knows that he went on to become the
most famous evangelist of modern times.34

Here is a glimpse into the nature of the ministry of Mordecai Ham: “Mr. Ham’s
success was not the result of traditional evangelistic methods, but the fruit of apostolic
power. Often he would seek out the worst of sinners in a community and then proceed to
pray and plead with them until they were surrendered to Christ, resulting in a great
ingathering of the lost. At other times, he faced down stubborn opposers of the Gospel
declaring he would pray to God to either convert them or kill them. In Mr. Ham’s
biography there are several incidents recorded where those who resisted and opposed the
Holy Spirit were brought to swift judgment. The evangelist recalls with great reluctance
that deaths took place during many of his great campaigns. Ambulances would have to
come and carry bodies away from our services. Many persons who openly fought a Ham
meeting met with some form of violent death soon after.”35

The fear of God came upon people in Mordecai Ham’s meetings. They realized
God’s presence, and the fact that He must not be ignored or mocked! God is a holy God
who extends grace to all, but not indefinitely. There is a line that must not be crossed,
where the grace of God ceases and the judgment of God begins.

But What About Today?

Why are these kinds of stories included here? They are examples from Jesus’
ministry, the early Church, and our own history of revivals, showing that we must not
have a casual attitude about the things of God. The messages of casual Christianity and
hyper-grace attempt to dismiss the need of the fear of the Lord as it was understood in the
Old Testament on the premise that all of God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus on the
cross. Now, He is always “in a good mood”. They seek to portray life in the New
Testament as being only unconditional love and limitless grace and mercy for all. Their
implication is that it is just easier for us to get forgiveness later after we sin, than it is to
get permission first through obedience to His written Word. These stories illustrate the
perverse and dangerous error of these teachings.
God is in a good mood as long as His people honor Him, worship Him, love and
obey Him; but His mood changes quickly in the face of defiance and rebellion against
Him. We are living in most extraordinary times. God is moving in the earth in ways that
no other generation has ever experienced. Think of that! No group of Christians has ever
lived in a time in which so much was happening. Prophecies concerning the last days

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before Jesus returns are being fulfilled at an astounding rate. The knowledge of the glory
of the Lord is beginning to cover the earth as waters cover the sea, just as Habakkuk 2:14
prophesied. Miracles, healings, signs, and wonders accompany the preaching of the
Gospel on a global basis. What if we really are living in the days that the Old Testament
prophets spoke of concerning the time immediately preceding the coming of the Lord
Jesus?
The Church must take these truths seriously. They are found throughout God’s
Word concerning repentance, holiness, and the fear and respect of the Lord. How many
Christians today play in the presence of God, frolic in His precious anointing, worship
Him in His manifested glory; and then spend their time living casually in the false belief
that because of His Father-heart of grace and mercy, that all is well with their souls.
Some would object that these people are not rejecting Him like they did in Jonathan
Edwards’ meetings, Lorenzo Dow’s meetings, B. R. Lakin’s meetings, or Mordecai
Ham’s meetings. But when we choose not to be lovers of the truth of His Word, and
replace it with things we like better-- things that offer us more liberty with less
commitment, more freedom with less holiness, and more power with less surrender--we
have rejected His truth as much as these written about from past generations.
The people of Bethsaida, Capernaum, and Chorazin who were the recipients of
the most miracles Jesus ever performed, never rejected Him and mocked His ministry.
They loved Jesus and even went to extraordinary measures just to find Him when He had
retreated to rest in the wilderness. They loved being in His presence. They loved His
healings. They loved His miracles. They stayed with Him for so long that all their food
was gone, and the disciples were worried about their physical welfare. Then they loved
eating the fish and bread that He multiplied right before their eyes.
But it is mind-boggling to think that the people who saw, heard, and received the
most of any people Jesus ever ministered to are in hell today because they did not
repent. They were not lovers of the truths He taught. They wanted His presence, His
miracles, His healings, His provisions; but they never received and applied His message
to their lives through repentance! Because of that, everything else they saw and
experienced in those meetings remains a horrible memory at this moment, as they suffer
in hell.
We must take the things of God seriously and live our lives in repentance and in
the fear and respect of God. The more we see and hear, the greater the level of
accountability becomes for holiness, repentance, and yieldedness to His will in our lives.

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 Chapter Eight

The Anointing of God Does NOT Equal God’s Approval

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from
thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad
tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good
fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Matthew 7:15-19

I have always been hungry to see the demonstration of the power of God. I
continually thirst for a greater anointing in my own life and ministry. For that reason, I
have read with amazement the great accounts of those ministries that have operated in the
supernatural, particularly in the area of healing. Men like John G. Lake have been a great
blessing to my life. Smith Wigglesworth’s life and ministry has always been one of my
favorites. I have studied the accounts of the great Healing Revival that touched nations
with the healing power of Jesus. Men like Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, William Branham,
Kenneth Hagin, Jack Coe, and so many others were used by God in extraordinary ways to
bring the healing power of God to multitudes. The accounts of the ministries of Maria
Woodsworth Etter and Amiee Semple McPherson stir great faith and passion in my heart
that cries out, “Please God. Do it all again!” No other life has ever had a greater impact
upon my own, as did the life of Kathryn Kuhlman. It was my honor and privilege to have
been in many of her meetings. Benny Hinn’s life and ministry has also had a powerful
impact upon my life and ministry.
We are now approaching the dawning of a new era of the demonstration of the
power of God like the Church has never witnessed before. The days of miracles and
healing in the past will pale by comparison to all that is coming in the days ahead. To
God be the glory for it all!
We have been a part of the Toronto Blessing and the Lakeland Outpouring.
Rodney Howard-Browne came to our church just prior to the revival explosion that began
in Lakeland, Florida in 1993. I loved being in the meetings at the Brownsville Revival of
the 1990’s. We have always been eager to go and be a part of whatever the Spirit of God
was doing. We believe in signs and wonders, miracles and healings. The only problem I
have is the frustration of knowing that God wants to do so much more than what we have
seen thus far.
There are at least two very large problems in this present day: One, as I carefully
listen to much that is being taught these days, I hear things that are very troubling to me.
They involve the anointing of God and the increasing amount of teaching on “How to

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Get the Anointing.” The teaching goes on to tell people “How to get More anointing.”
Then we hear about the “double anointing,” increasing all the way up to how to get “the
unlimited anointing.” The mindset behind this seems to be the more anointing and
power we can get, the greater our influence will be. Just as there is something inherently
present in us all that wants to know and experience God; there is obviously something
inside us all that longs to be used by God! That is a very good thing, but there is an issue
that needs to be clearly understood. It relates to our motivation for wanting to be used by
God.
Secondly, there seems to be a greater and greater fascination with those who walk
in spiritual power with very little attention being given to the character and integrity of
that person’s life. If someone can prophesy, see people healed, make claims of great
visitations by angels, or testify to Heavenly experiences, they have automatically met the
approval of most Christians. They are obviously anointed, and if they are, there is little
else we need to be concerned about! Jesus never said that we would know the difference
between the true and the false based upon their popularity, their gifts, their prophetic
accuracy, or their CD and book sales. He said we would know them by the fruit that was
produced in their lives. In the following two sections, we are going to look at each of
these two important issues facing the 21st Church.

Why Are People Seeking The Power of God?

Do we desire gifts of healing because we have a passionate love for people and
desire to see them healed from their suffering and disease? Do we have a burning
compassion in our hearts that longs to see those who are oppressed by the devil be set
free? Do we want to speak the word of the Lord that people be able to hear from God
and have their lives changed? Or do we want supernatural power so that we can use it as
we choose for our own purposes, including entertainment? Our motivation is
everything to God! The tragedy of it all is that many leaders in the Body of Christ are
encouraging it and seeking to take advantage of it to their own financial advancement!
Much money has been made by those who claim to be equipping people for the work of
the ministry with a fast track to supernatural empowerment that is void of such
inconvenient elements as death to self, unconditional surrender to Jesus, the fear of the
Lord, and personal holiness! This subject is covered in more detail in chapter eleven.

What About Character and Integrity in Ministry?

One of the biggest problems in the Church today are ministers who lack integrity
and character in their lives. How many times must the media have to descend upon a
church or ministry with charges of immorality or financial improprieties before we
understand that the world really is watching? It seems to be happening more and more
often! Worse still, is the attitude many ministers have that fails to understand that God is
also watching, and yet they live and minister in the blind arrogance of somehow thinking
that they will be allowed to get away with what they do.
Amidst all these things, we don’t seem to understand why the world isn't

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particularly attracted to the Church! Ghandi once said, “The whole world would be
Christian if it weren’t for all the Christians.” Every time the sin and hypocrisy of a
leader is exposed, the ground grows harder for sowing the seed of the Gospel into
people’s hearts. The cynicism of the world toward Christianity is certainly justified in
many cases.

There will be people in hell because of the way Christians and the Church have
represented Jesus. The reason most people don't go to church today is because they have
already been! And when they hear about ministries and ministers who have come off
appearing like frauds and hypocrites, it only justifies their opinions and their rationale for
staying away. It is true that a day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue
will confess that Jesus is Lord, but unfortunately that day will be too late for many.
Consider the life of Billy Graham and the honor he has received across the years
of his ministry. He has been referred to by many as America’s Pastor. He has been a
confidant to many United States presidents and leaders from around the globe. He has
consistently remained as one of the most respected leaders of our times. Several years
ago when the Billy Graham Library was dedicated at his home in North Carolina, three
former United States presidents attended and spoke of the impact of his life and ministry
on their own lives. Many other leaders and dignitaries from around the world also sent
their best wishes to Billy Graham. In Asheville, North Carolina, there is a freeway
named in his honor. In Charlotte, North Carolina, there is a major highway named in his
honor. The name of Billy Graham has been held in esteem for decades by leaders from
around the globe.
Why has the ministry of Billy Graham been so honored and revered for decades?
It is really quite simple. The world is looking for Christian leaders who do more than just
talk the talk but who also walk the walk. The world is not looking for perfect leaders;
but they are looking for honest leaders: those who have integrity in their hearts and
lives. They are tired of being disappointed by men and women who have no integrity,
who are out to exploit the anointing of God for their own personal agendas. People
around the globe have respected Billy Graham for his genuine humility, integrity, and his
uncompromising message of Jesus, mixed with his love and compassion for people!
They trust Billy Graham, because across the years of his life, he has maintained a
lifestyle and a ministry based on honor, trust, and personal character. No accusation of
impropriety has ever been sustained against this man or his ministry. The Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association has given tens of millions of dollars to both evangelistic and
humanitarian ministries around the globe. Samaritan’s Purse continues to be an untold
blessing to millions of poor people in every part of the world, all being done in the name
of Jesus. He has never been a peddler of the Gospel like so many in our times, and in the
past.
Now let’s compare Billy Graham’s life and ministry to another contemporary
ministry. A pastor friend of mine recently told me the story of visiting a large church
known for its prophetic ministry. There was a shortage of places to sit because of the
crowds. After the sermon, people were encouraged to line up to receive prophetic words
from the Lord. Ushers formed three lines, and people were instructed to get into the line
that best suited them. There was one line for people who were prepared to sow $100 to
receive their prophecy. There was a second line for those who were prepared to sow $50

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for their prophecy. The third line was formed for those individuals who were prepared to
sow only $20 to receive their word from the Lord. The amazing part was that he said the
prophetic word was accurate, and he believed it to genuinely be from God. How could
such a gross prostitution of the prophetic gift still be anointed and from God? How could
someone abuse God’s anointing and God’s people in such a defiling, almost blasphemous
manner? These questions will be answered later in this chapter.
Another popular prophetic ministry recently advertised a conference that was
reserved for a limited number of people. It was an opportunity to spend three days and
three nights with some of the most popular prophets of our time. Every person would
receive their own personal time with the prophets to hear the word of the Lord for their
lives. The cost to attend this gathering was amazing! Three days and nights, double
occupancy hotel rooms, time to receive prophetic words from the Lord, and all for only
$1,700 per person! It would be interesting to know if someone who had only $1,690
would be allowed to hear from God at this prophetic gathering. Space was limited, so
people were encouraged to register quickly!
How can the Church even consider charging God’s people money to receive a
word from God? How is that any different from some psychic fortuneteller who takes
Visa or MasterCard to do the same thing? When people begin marketing the gifts of the
Holy Spirit for personal gain, how is it any different from calling the Psychic Network
and paying for spiritualist advice over the telephone? These are exploitations that are
regularly being done in the name of Jesus. How can any ministry think that God
approves of such a gross prostitution and abuse of the precious anointing of the Holy
Spirit and His gifts? If these types of things continue, which are going on at the time of
this writing, what will be next? Prior to the Protestant Reformation, the sale of
indulgences by the Catholic Church was the practice of selling forgiveness of sins in
exchange for payment to the church! Can we be very far away from that? Will we soon
be having After Christmas Sales for indulgences and the forgiveness for specific holiday
season sins? A ministry could probably find some Scripture verses to justify that practice
easier than the above cited example. At the present rate of decline in the Western
Church, nothing should be ruled out too quickly. Oh, how we desperately need revival
before it is too late!
But as perverse as these are, these ministries are at least honest with people. They
are plainly telling those who come to them that they expect to be paid in exchange for
whatever ministry they receive. That is at least more honest than many Christian
conferences where the organizers have much the same mindset. In these places, the
process begins when attendees are charged with registration costs just to get in the door.
They are given little bracelets which are checked at the door to insure that no one comes
in without paying for the conference. Then offerings are received in virtually every
meeting to support the ministries represented. Elaborate efforts are made to enlist people
to become ministry partners who will give their money on a monthly basis after the
conference ends. Addresses are like gold to these people, because they give ongoing
access, so additional funds can be solicited and products sold. Lengthy commercials are
done in these conferences promoting the sale of the speakers’ books, CD’s, DVD’s,
photographs, tee shirts, coffee cups, and a wide variety of other products, whose only
purpose is to make money. All of these practices are done in the name of ministry. From
my experience in attending these conferences over the years, there appears to be a

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relationship between the time spent on sales, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The
more the commercial emphasis, the less the anointing seems to be! We should seriously
consider why that is so.
Books, CD’s, and teachings should be offered only for the purpose of being a
blessing to God’s people and not as a money-making enterprise intended to extract as
much money from God’s children as they possibly can. Yet so much of these kinds of
things are done with the promise of helping people connect with God and hear what He is
saying to them and to the Church. Jesus was enraged about these very kinds of things.
He used a whip to drive the money changers from the temple, even overturning their
tables in His righteous anger. He said, “My [Father’s] house shall be called a house of
prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!” (Matthew 21:13). Maybe He would say
the same things today, if people who make such claims were actually hearing from God!
What about pastors who get involved with various multi-level marketing plans
which they then take to the membership of their local churches in an effort to sign them
up? They justify this by saying they are helping their people be blessed financially. But
because they are the ones who are signing their people up, the biggest profits are going to
come to them. Their church members usually make very little, if anything at all. These
people got into these businesses only because of their trust in their shepherd who told
them this would be a good thing for them to do. In every other profession, including
medicine, law, and politics, there is a matter of something called conflict of interest. This
means that it is unethical for someone to give advice or recommend certain activities to
others, if he is expecting to receive some sort of benefit or financial compensation as a
result. The people are paying because of what they have been told. Pastors who do this
are making money on the backs of the very people whom God has given them to serve.
Leaders are called to shepherd the sheep; not shear them in order to sell their wool!
One day those leaders who exploit their sheep will stand before the Lord Jesus and give
an account concerning their actions.
We were a part of the Lakeland Outpouring of 2008 from the second night on. It
was one of the most wonderful things I have ever personally seen God do. Night after
night the presence of God was so heavy, and the power of God was so strong. The world
watched live by TV and the Internet as Jesus touched the sick and brought healing to their
lives. But one of my greatest joys was watching the news coverage by the secular media.
It was virtually all positive! The local television stations were regularly covering the
revival, even announcing service times. The newspapers did the same thing. An
unbelieving world was attracted to the demonstration of the healing power of God and
was also encouraging others to come just as they had done in Jesus’ day.
The positive press and excitement of people across our entire region, as well as
the world, was what made it all so heartbreaking when the reports began to surface of
infidelity, eventual divorce, and the drunkenness of leaders. The revival was eventually
aborted. Millions of disappointed and disillusioned people went away quietly as they
watched the same news media that had been so positive turn with anger and vengeance
against the revival. Why? I believe even unbelievers reflected a deep disappointment,
that once again, the Gospel of Jesus Christ had been smeared by the failures of men!
What might have been the greatest healing revival since the book of Acts was aborted,
and believers and unbelievers alike around the globe were wounded and disillusioned.
People who were open to the Gospel because of the coverage they had seen walked away

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more cynical than ever--because of failure in people.
Space will not permit the citing of endless more examples like those listed above,
where failed character and lack of integrity in leaders has brought a damaging reproach
on the name of Jesus and the message of the Gospel. The world longs to see the
revelation of the glory of the Lord, but they have been disappointed time and time again
by the failures of leaders without integrity and character. It is past time for the Church to
look at the kinds of fruit being exhibited in a ministry more than its popularity. We are
in such desperate need for revival. We must have a revival from Heaven that includes
the burning fire of His glory that causes the Church to fear and reverence God in all His
holiness. We see this in Acts 5:11 where great fear came on everyone after Ananias and
Sapphira were killed by the glory. Holiness in His glory is not an option!

Leaders Will Give an Account to God for Their Ministries

The preceding examples are meant to point out why the Church is in this state,
and the fact that the spiritual, social, political, and economic conditions of entire nations
are suffering as a result. It's because a nation always reflects the spiritual temperature
and condition of the Church within that nation. The condition of a local church always
reflects the spiritual passion, personal integrity, and holiness of character in the lives of
those who are its leaders…or the lack thereof!
Leaders must understand the following simple truth: we all will one day give an
account to God for what went on in the Church on our watch. The condition of the
Church at this moment in history is directly attributed to the failed spiritual leadership of
those whom God has called to the ministry. That is the reason that James 3:1 warns that
people should not desire to be teachers so as not to receive the greater judgment and
higher level of accountability. When men and women of God walk in personal integrity,
passion for Jesus, and excellence of character and holiness, the people of God will reflect
those same characteristics. Whatever anointing or character (or lack thereof) is at the top,
always flows down to the rest of the Body of Christ!
Church leaders would do well--out of the fear of the Lord--to consider the impact
their actions have on their nations as well as upon their people. Failures of leaders have
widespread and far-reaching implications. When the world sees ministry guilty of
financial greed, even though they may not know what the Bible says, they instinctively
know enough to detest it for its hypocrisy. We need to have the horrible realization that
there will be people who will spend eternity in hell because of offences they had with the
Gospel, which were caused by the moral, ethical, and spiritual failure of Christian
leaders. Every expose′ the media does regarding the failed integrity of a leader creates
hardened cynicism toward the Gospel. When a Christian leader is discovered in an
immoral relationship, the confidence and faith of many people is shaken. The shaking is
not just of their faith in the leader, but also in the values and message the leader
represented. Some people abandon Jesus and are lost for eternity, because their faith is
shaken when leaders lack integrity! This is the reason that Jesus warned leaders saying,
“It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do
come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were
thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones” (Luke 17:1-2).

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 If leaders are unwilling to repent and change, they would actually do themselves,
their churches, ministries, and the nation more good if they just stepped down from
ministry. The longer they continue on their present course, the more damage they are
doing to people, and ultimately to themselves. Leading God’s people astray by false
teaching or irresponsible behavior is a very serious matter, and they will ultimately stand
before a holy and just God to answer for their actions. “It is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). For those who refuse to fear the Lord and
walk in holiness and integrity, it would really be better for them to simply go away and
do something else with their lives before their sin grows any larger and affects more
people. The path they are presently on is leading God’s people in ways contrary to Him
and is a very dangerous place to be.
A recent conference was held at a church in one of America’s greatest cities.
Several respected national and international leaders were scheduled to speak. The theme
of the conference was to explain to God’s people why there really is no such thing as
Satan and that there is no place called hell. The speakers at this conference once had
great respect and integrity in ministry. They preached the Word of God with power and
conviction. They had been used greatly in ministry. Their influence today is devoted to
explaining why everyone is saved, and that they can now look forward to eternity in
Heaven since there is no devil and there is no hell.
The successful pastor of a large denominational church known for its Biblical
heritage and salvation message recently challenged his congregation to simply trust what
he was about to say as being true. He told them that if they went to their doctor, they
would trust what their doctor told them because their doctor had been to college, medical
school, and done a residency in his specialty. They would trust him to know what he was
talking about. He went on to say that if they asked their lawyer for legal advice, they
would trust that person because they had been to college, law school, and had
successfully passed the bar exam in that state. He continued saying that he had graduated
from Princeton University and a prestigious theological seminary. If people would trust
their doctor and their lawyer, they should also trust him to know what he was talking
about. People seemed to be agreeable. Then he boldly and confidently announced that
there is no such thing as hell, and everyone on earth is already saved from their sins!
The tragedy of this is that people will actually attend these meetings and believe
that what these men are preaching is truth, but it is not. It is damnable heresy. It is a
deception. It is the doctrine of demons, and people who listen are giving heed to
seducing spirits! But what thoughts must be going through the heart of God as He
watches these men leading His people into deception--these who were once greatly used
for His purposes. They will stand before Him, a holy and just God, and one day learn
that everything God said in His Word is absolutely true. They will give account for those
they have misled into believing their lies. Let’s read again what Jesus had to say
regarding these matters.

“It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom
they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and
he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones” (Luke
17:1-2).

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 In spite of all the abuses, the same persistent and plaguing question remains: how
can people be genuinely anointed by the Holy Spirit and still be used as vessels of the
Holy Spirit, even though there is sin in their lives? Why does God continue to use such
human vessels as conduits of His glory when they are so blatantly offensive? Do people
who walk in great anointing automatically receive some sort of free pass that excuses
them from living in holiness and the fear of the Lord? Does God just look the other way
when His anointed servants live their lives in lawlessness and rebellion?

The Anointing Does Not Equal the Approval of God!

“But that ministry is so anointed by God, and the power of the Holy Spirit is
flowing in such a great way! Surely the blessing of the Lord is upon it, or all these great
things would not be happening. If God had a problem with something, He wouldn’t be
blessing it as He is!”

The above statements represent the mindset of most Christians when it comes to
viewing a ministry! Success, popularity, crowds of people, television, the anointing of
the Holy Spirit, and the resulting money that flows in, automatically equals God’s
blessings and approval of that ministry. Those things have nothing to do with whether
God approves or disapproves of a ministry! One of the most frightening Scriptures in all
the Bible is found in Matthew 7:21-23 in which Jesus issues a very stern warning to those
who are used by God in supernatural ministries.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of
Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that
day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name,
and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Jesus used the word many to describe those who would one day hear Him say,
“Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Jesus didn’t use the words, a few, or
several, or some. He used the word many. He describes those who were once anointed
with the Holy Spirit, spoke prophetically, cast out demons, and did many supernatural
exploits as those who will spend eternity in hell! Can you imagine anything more
horrible than having to live forever in hell with the memories of preaching the Gospel to
others, prophesying words from God, casting out demons, and being anointed for
supernatural ministry? Jesus said that many people are going to do just that! The reason
is that their lives were lived in both Holy Spirit anointed ministry and personal
lawlessness in their own hearts.
One of the hardest things for many Christians to understand is why God is willing
to entrust His power and anointing to people even when their lives are being lived in
lawlessness. The answer may not be as complicated as it seems. It is found in the truth
that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29). In other
words, when God anoints someone for ministry, He doesn’t take that anointing away

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even if that person is abusing it. If the anointing of God was dependent on whether or not
people deserved it, the anointing would then be based upon man’s works and efforts.
Everything that God gives is based upon His grace and not on whether people deserve it.
When God calls a person, the calling remains for that person’s entire life. When God
anoints a person with the power of His Spirit, He doesn’t give it and take it away
depending upon what people do. When God gives the anointing of the Holy Spirit to
someone, it remains. Whether or not that person is faithful or unfaithful is up to them.
This is a very dangerous realization, because the anointing can be intoxicating! It
causes them to think that they can get away with anything! In the end when they stand
before God, they will find that they got away with nothing, but they won’t know that until
it is too late.

But Doesn’t God Use Them to Prophesy, Heal, and Cast Out
Devils?
The greater the supernatural anointing of the Holy Spirit appears to be upon a man
or woman, the greater the attraction that ministry has. People want excitement. They
want to see God doing things. When they watch the supernatural power of God at work,
it is an affirmation and encouragement to their own faith. But just because someone is
being used by God in a supernatural ministry, doesn’t at all mean that God approves of
that person’s life! Though they may be used mightily, they may also go to hell when they
die, if they have lived their lives in lawlessness and rebellion toward God.
A pastor friend told the story of being saved in his early twenties as a rock
musician in one of the most famous bands in America at that time. The group he
performed with sold millions of records and was a household name in this nation and
beyond. He had made a fortune financially but lived in a world of drugs, alcohol, and sex
during those years. He was living the typical lifestyle of a rock band musician.
When he was saved, he left the band and that lifestyle behind and got a job
working for minimum wage. He was in church every time there was a meeting. His
pastor had a greatly anointed ministry, and three times each year the church would rent a
convention center for three days of meetings that were advertised as a Healing and
Deliverance Convention. Because of my friend's musical abilities, he was one of the lead
singers and musicians in the worship team. He was on stage and saw with his own eyes
the amazing miracles that took place during these meetings. He watched as the blind
received their sight, and those who were crippled walked. As a new Christian, watching
these miracles excited and strengthened his faith like nothing he had ever experienced
before.
On the last night of the meetings after watching the power of God heal and deliver
many, he accidentally overheard a conversation between his pastor and one of the women
on the worship team. As the pastor was leaving the platform, he gave his hotel room key
to one of the women and told her to go on up to his room, and he would be there shortly.
My friend was stunned. He approached the woman as she was leaving and told her that
he overheard the conversation. He went on to say that he understood what was going to
happen at the hotel because he had lived that same lifestyle when he was a musician; but
said he thought that when people were saved, they were not supposed to live like that any

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longer. The woman laughed, telling him that he really must be pretty naïve. She said all
the women on the worship team had slept with the pastor, and half the women in the
church! She told him that his wife hated the fact that her husband lived this way, and
most of the women didn’t agree with it either; but they reasoned that it couldn’t be wrong
because God was using the pastor in such a powerful way! The general thinking was that
if God had a problem with the pastor’s behavior, why would He use him to heal the sick,
prophesy, and cast out devils? My friend left the church shortly after this experience.

Another pastor friend told of how, early in his ministry, he had a man come to his
church every year who was internationally recognized as a great prophet of God. He
scheduled him at least one year in advance because the man’s schedule was so busy.
Every time this man came, there would be standing room only in all the meetings. The
gifts of the Holy Spirit operated in an amazing way through this man’s life, and many
people were greatly blessed.
There was also a veil of mystery around this man. He always insisted on staying
at an undisclosed hotel of his own choosing. He did not want to be disturbed. He said he
needed time to pray and prepare for the meetings.
My friend went on to tell that one time he took this man out to play golf and,
while playing, he made some comment to the man about the phenomenal ways that God
used him in ministry. He told him how he respected him so much for the way he allowed
the power of God to flow through him. Getting ready to swing a golf club, the man
suddenly stopped and said, “Son, I don’t need God for anything. God is the one who
needs me.” He hit the ball down the fairway and never mentioned another word about
the startling words he had just spoken. At that moment, my friend decided that he didn’t
care how many people came to the meetings, or how many miracles were being
performed; he would not have him back in his church ever again!
After the meetings closed, the pastor learned that the reason the man wanted to
stay at an undisclosed hotel was that every night after the meetings he had prostitutes,
both male and female, come and spend the night in his room. He would be used
powerfully by God to bring prophetic words to people, see people physically healed, and
cast devils out of others only to go back to his room and commit adultery.
The two ministers referenced in these stories have been dead for many years.
Unless they repented of their sins, and there was never any indication that they did, they
are both in hell at this very moment! Though genuinely used by God to touch tens of
thousands with His power, they were ultimately included in the crowd Jesus referred to in
Matthew 7:21-23, where He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall
enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many
will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out
demons in Your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to
them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'”

These people will be absolutely stunned when they stand before the Lord and hear
Him say, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” They will attempt to explain
that some type of mistake was being made. After all, they had been anointed and had
been used to do great supernatural exploits while they were on the earth; but Jesus will
reply to them that it had been His power doing what He desired. They were nothing more

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than a garden hose through which the power of God had flowed! But because they lived
in lawlessness toward Him and had never enjoyed the fruits of relationship and
fellowship with Him, they would now perish forever. They will be in hell for all of
eternity, while those God had saved through their ministries will live forever in Heaven
with Him.
Just because a person is being used by God is no guarantee that their relationship
with God is what it should be. The anointing of God does not equal the approval of God.
We’re to judge a ministry by its fruits and not by its works, popularity, gifts, healings,
prophecies, or miracles. It is a frightening realization, but we must recognize that there
are people who will spend eternity in hell because they lived in rebellion against God,
even though they were mightily anointed and greatly used by God. They may have led
revivals. They may have preached to multitudes. They may have been on television.
They may have had big churches or ministries. They may have ministered healing and
deliverance. They may have prophesied. But if they lived in rebellion and lawlessness,
everything they did for the Kingdom of God will have no bearing on their eternal
destination. They will perish.

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 Chapter Nine

“And Then the Lord Said…”

“Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For
he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him;
however in the spirit, he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and
exhortation and comfort to men.”
1 Corinthians 14: 1-3

One of the characteristics of the last days will be an increase in prophetic ministry
(Joel 2:28-29). God’s voice has been heard throughout the ages from the mouths of His
prophets, but His prophetic voice is going to dramatically increase with ever-growing
intensity in the coming days. The days of Elijah, which are a mixture of the prophetic
and the power of God, are truly coming again in the earth.
There is a deep hunger in the hearts of God's people to hear the voice of the Lord
through the prophetic gifts. God is going to respond to that hunger bringing a louder and
clearer sound of His voice in the earth through His prophets and prophetesses in the days
to come. God is going to use His people to deliver that word in greater measure. Every
Christian should desire to be used as a vessel of God’s glory, power, and anointing; and
every Christian should humbly submit to the Lord and seek to be one who speaks the
word of the Lord. But in so doing, we should also seek to minister with the utmost
respect for the holiness of what we are attempting to do! Prophecy should not be done
frivolously or in arrogance but in reverence and the fear of the Lord. Ministering
prophetically is not a Charismatic game that everyone should attempt to play. It is sacred
and holy and should be given the respect and honor it deserves. Prophecy is the
delivering of the word of the Lord God Almighty to people. Think of that! When we
yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to use us in prophecy, it is really a
remarkable thing.
Ministry in the prophetic is a wonderful blessing. Paul referred to it in 1
Corinthians 12-14 as being a source of true edification to the Church and also gave
guidelines for its operation. He encouraged believers to seek after the prophetic gift. He
described it as being superior to the gift of tongues unless it was accompanied by an
interpretation. He described the scenario of an unbeliever coming into their midst and
hearing prophetic words being spoken; the unbeliever would be saved because God
would use the prophecy to reveal the innermost secrets of his heart. He wrote to the
church in Thessalonica, warning them not to despise or dismiss the manifestation of
prophecy in their midst (1 Thessalonians 5:19). True prophecy, when orchestrated by the
Holy Spirit, is a wonderful blessing in the Church. It is going to be seen in ever
increasing frequency, authority, and power as the last days unfold!

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 Unfortunately, whenever there is a genuine move of the Holy Spirit, there will
also be corresponding moves that aren't from God. These will be from both immature
people as well as evil manifestations from the devil for the purpose of bringing confusion
to what God is doing. While God is working with ever-growing intensity, there will also
be an increase of false teachers and prophets who will imitate the voice of the Lord.
They will knowingly or unknowingly bring confusion and error to many people who do
not know the difference. People who have little place for the written Word of the Lord
can be easily misled and deceived by words from the Lord that God never said.
Just as the Holy Spirit calls and anoints people for prophetic ministries, He also
teaches us that the Church is expected to judge what is being spoken and affirm whether
or not it is truly from the Lord. Just because someone says they have a word from the
Lord doesn’t make it necessarily true. They may very well have a word from the Lord--
or not, but we must learn to discern and judge with accuracy the difference between the
two. It is not only acceptable to the Lord; it is expected. There is nothing to be feared in
knowing the truth about spiritual things.
This book is not about prophecy. Many other wonderful books are devoted to that
topic already. This book is a passionate call for the Church to show honor and respect for
God: loving Him with all our hearts, but also treating Him with a holy fear and reverence.
It is a call to the Church to get on our knees, both literally and figuratively in our hearts,
and worship God in spirit and truth. It is about humbling ourselves and our agendas
beneath the awesome hand of God, and repenting of the things we have done that have
offended Him. And it is about the passionate hunger and thirst for a revelation of His
glory in atmospheric revival that will transform entire nations and bring in a harvest of
souls so large it cannot be measured. To that end, some of the things that stand in the
way are being addressed here. We must find a place of discernment between those things
that are of God and those that are not. We must also find a balance and correction to
some of the things that prevail in the Church that are hindrances to what God wants to do
in this hour.
One of the biggest abuses in the things of God is in the area of prophetic ministry.
The other gifts and manifestations of the work of the Holy Spirit are fairly plain to see
when they are in operation. They are easier to judge and validate. But because prophecy
consists of people speaking in their own voices, there is more room for mistakes and for
abuse. These can only be distinguished by the discernment of those who hear.
Let it be clear that the things in this chapter are not written to discourage
prophecy, but rather that people would take prophecy seriously. It is a gift, a
manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the Church; therefore, the ministry of prophecy is a
holy occurrence by God and should be treated with respect. It isn’t a game. Prophecy is
the delivery of a holy word from Almighty God to people, and as such it should be done
in the fear of God so we get it right. Prophecy should never be taken lightly or treated in
a careless manner. Tragically, some of what we call prophesying would be more
accurately referred to as prophe-lying. Some people have an attitude that says, “If I will
just throw enough prophetic words out to people, some of it will probably seem to be
from God.” The people who do this may not even recognize this attitude in their hearts,
but it can be there just the same. Some people seem to prophesy to others until they
sense that they are getting a favorable response from the hearers. That’s when things can
really get into the danger zone. Pride in our hearts makes it easy for Satan to deceive us.
True prophecy is the delivering of a word from God to people--not seeking to get

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favorable responses of approval and agreement.
If a man or a woman teaches or preaches God’s Word to the best of their ability
believing that their words represent God’s Word and thoughts, everyone assumes that the
speaker has interjected some of themselves into that message. That’s okay because
everyone understands that. It may be “chicken” or it may be “bone.” In all likelihood,
there is a combination of both of those in all preaching! Both are acceptable and
expected in preaching or teaching. It can even be anointed by the Holy Spirit, but even
that anointing does not constitute a blanket endorsement of everything as being one
hundred percent truth! We understand and extend grace knowing that we are all works
still in process and that none of us have arrived. It should be assumed that both the
method as well as the content will change as we grow in the knowledge of the Lord.
It is perfectly acceptable when someone feels a stirring of the Holy Spirit to stand
up and to exhort or encourage the Church. This can be a type of prophetic blessing or
encouragement. Everyone understands that this person is being used by God to bless
others and build their faith. It is as though they are doing the job of a cheerleader who
builds excitement in the crowd at an important game. It is a wonderful thing when
Christians bless one another in the name of the Lord speaking words of life, anointing,
and calling forth in faith all the richest blessings of God upon another person. Prophecy
can be both “forth-telling” as well as “fore-telling,” but there is a difference between the
two.
It is an all together different situation when the person teaching or preaching says
by their words and manner, “I am about to begin prophesying or delivering to you a
personal message from Almighty God. The message you are about to hear is not really
mine. It will be the voice of God speaking truth to you, and He is using my voice like a
stereo speaker to do it.” That is claiming infallibility! In preaching or teaching, we all
have learned to just eat the chicken and spit out the bones. But in the case of prophecy,
because of its supposedly being of Heavenly origin, we must use a higher standard of
measurement than in evaluating the purity of preaching or teaching. We should want to
hear from God through prophecy. We should not want to hear from people who tell us
it's from God when it’s not! Prophecy must be a word from God or it’s not prophecy at
all. These can be words of exhortation and encouragement, or they can be words of
blessing from one person to another. They can be words of wisdom, empathy, or
experience that are shared among people and intended to build faith or foster hope in
others. All these words can originate from the Holy Spirit and be blessed and anointed
for building people up in their faith. But if you need a personal word, direction, or help
in making a decision, you should seek to hear from God for yourself. A true prophecy
comes to confirm what you have already received in your heart from the Holy Spirit. Do
not accept direction that you don't already know. God wants to tell you first.

The Three Origins of All Prophetic Words

There are only three sources of all prophetic words. It’s not really that
complicated. It may be possible for there to be a mixture of more than one source; thus
the Church needs to have discernment and judge it before it is accepted as originating
from the Throne of God.

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 #1: Words Given to the Church by the Holy Spirit
The first source is the legitimate voice of the Holy Spirit speaking the revelations
of God through yielded human vessels. In this case, the Holy Spirit will anoint a person
to speak and, as they begin, more comes. It ultimately produces a message from God. It is
pure and genuine. It resounds with the anointing of God. It produces life, blessing, and
faith as it goes forth, and it is a true word from the Lord! That is the key.
The spirit of the prophet is always subject to the will and direction of the prophet,
which means the person prophesying is in full control of their faculties. The voice and
mannerisms, the culture, and even the personality of the person prophesying will flavor
what is being spoken, but the message will have been sent from God to benefit those who
are hearing. There is such a thing as prophetic preaching or teaching in which the
preacher will be anointed by the Holy Spirit to deliver a word from God and that word
will go like a missile into the hearts of the hearers releasing an anointing of God into their
lives. It will come more as a declaration of Heaven’s truth under the Holy Spirit’s
anointing, but it will flow through a human vessel. It is not word for word truth fired
straight from Heaven. The words of the Old Testament and New Testament prophets
worked on this same principle of Holy Spirit impartation and power being released in
their words.
Prophecy can come from someone who is anointed in the office of prophet as
described in Ephesians 4, or it can come through someone who is yielded to the Holy
Spirit but not necessarily called by God to be a prophet. Not everyone who prophesies is
a prophet, but everyone who is a prophet will prophesy. In either case, the voice of God
can be heard through human vessels as the Holy Spirit wills. This is seen in the
inspiration of the written Scriptures where Peter wrote, “... that no prophecy of Scripture
is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men
of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

When God speaks, He goes beyond the will and purposes of man and will
manifest His presence and power through people. The greater the yieldedness of the
vessel, the greater the revelation of His voice and glory will be. Many times God will
authenticate the word given by performing signs and wonders such as healing and
miracles in order that people realize that what they just heard really did come from God.

#2: Prophetic Words That Just Originate with People

Secondly, there is prophecy that doesn’t come from God at all. It just originates
from the imagination or emotional realm of someone’s human personality. It is neither
from God nor the devil. This type of prophecy is the mental or emotional creation of
people who are speaking words to other people that did not originate with God. These
kinds of prophecies usually come through people who are either immature, or who have
wrong motives in prophecy. Sometimes they can just be wrong, even if their motivations
were sincere. I heard the story of someone who jumped up to give a prophetic word in a
church and with great zeal and passion they issued a prophetic warning that, “Unless this
church repents, I will write Michelob over the door of this house!” Michelob is actually

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the brand name of a popular beer! What the person who gave this prophetic word meant
to say was, “Unless this church repents, I will write ‘Ichabod’ over the door of this
house.” Ichabod means, the glory has departed. God doesn’t put beer advertisements
over the doors of a church, but He will remove His glory from a church in the face of
willful and consistent rebellion.
Some prophesy out of a sincere desire to be used by God. These people genuinely
believe what they are speaking is from the Holy Spirit, even when it isn’t. Many others,
either knowingly or unknowingly, have prideful agendas that cause them to use prophetic
words as a means to self-exaltation. Maybe they want to make an impression on people
that they are greatly anointed and gifted. It may even be done subconsciously, but they
want to lead people to believe they can actually hear the voice of God.
Some people even use prophecy as a means of manipulation and control of other
people, which Scripture says is the same as witchcraft! This is serious and frightening
because it is widespread in the Church. Interestingly enough, some people toy with
prophecy for the sheer entertainment of it all! They have learned that they can quickly
attract people’s attention by claiming to have this gift. Once they get people's attention
and confidence, they can use and manipulate them for their own purposes which usually
involves money. If they can convince people that they really are speaking the word of
God, they can tell people what they want to hear; and they’re set for life.
This is nothing new. People have been knowingly or unknowingly impersonating
the voice of God, telling people things out of their own hearts, and then calling it
prophecy. This problem dates back to the Old Testament. The following Scriptures
plainly address this error:

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has
not spoken?’--when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not
happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has
spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).

“An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets
prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it
so. But what will you do in the end?” (Jeremiah 5:30-31).

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts: 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who
prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not
from the mouth of the Lord’” (Jeremiah 23:16)

These warnings apply to every Christian who desires to prophesy. Claiming to be

delivering a word from God--when it isn’t--is nothing more than vanity of the human
heart and is something that dishonors and deeply offends God. It can also be something
that is very dangerous because it will quickly evolve into divination and witchcraft, and
many would not even know the difference.
While ministering in one church in California, my wife overheard a conversation
between two of the women who were making plans for the ladies of the church to can
peaches together the following Saturday morning. The question was raised about the
schedule. One of the ladies wanted to know if there would be time for the women to

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prophesy over each other during the canning session. It was decided that time might be a
little short, so maybe there would not be time to prophesy to each other this time. These
were sincere people who loved the Lord, but let’s think about that conversation. Canning
peaches might run a bit long, so perhaps it would just be better to tell the Maker of the
universe that they didn’t have room that day for Him to speak. Was that really what they
meant? Surely not. Or was it understood that their prophesying over each other was just
some more Charismatic entertainment being done under the guise of the Holy Spirit?
Whatever the case, the peaches won out and hearing from the Lord was put on temporary
hold until the next week when they got together.
In another church, the members were regularly told by their pastor to prophesy to
each other. I have witnessed this myself. It didn’t seem to matter if there was a leading
of the Holy Spirit or not. People had been taught that they can turn the voice of the Lord
on and off, whenever they liked. They referred to themselves as, “little treasure chests
that just need to be opened in order to let God out.” During worship services in that
church, people were instructed to just start giving prophetic words to people seated
around them. Most of what was being said was simple words of encouragement and
blessing, which is great, but that’s not true prophecy. Some elements of this service were
much more serious. Some of them gave words of warning to people that caused them to
fear. An example of this was a young pregnant woman whose husband was out of the
country. She was told by one of the prophetic people that she needed to pray because her
husband "was in great danger at this very moment.” She left the service frantic in her
attempts to call him. He was just fine and remained so. There was no threat whatsoever.
In that same service, there were married men rushing around the church
competing to get to the young attractive women in order to lay hands on them and
prophesy. It became a sort of prophetic feeding frenzy in which everyone was bringing
the word of the Lord to others. The implication was that you had better be able to
prophesy, or you aren’t as spiritual as everyone else. So no one remained silent!
Everyone had a word for someone else. Was this really of God? We’ll let Him be the
judge. The one thing that was very evident in those meetings was there was no sense of
the presence of God while any of this was going on.
One church has a microphone set up at the front so that anyone who desires can
use it to give a prophetic word at any time. People regularly stroll to the microphone and
say what they want to say, and then call it God’s word for the people. This church is so
eager to hear the word of the Lord they will just allow anyone to speak. We never want
to quench the Holy Spirit nor exercise control in ways that diminish what God seeks to
do. But at the same time, should we give a platform to anyone who wants it and expose
the entire church to some word that may or may not be God--in the name of freedom?
We must find balance and accountability in these areas.
People who have known each other for years have no business attempting to
prophesy over each other because they already know too much about them! In the
meeting described above, there seemed to be very little respect for God and the sacred
holiness of prophecy. They were pretending to be conduits of the voice of Almighty
God, something that seemed to be very doubtful. These kinds of things are more than
questionable. They can also be very dangerous, as the following story illustrates.
A pastor friend of mine shared this tragic story from his own life as it relates to
prophecy that didn’t originate with God. He had been radically saved from the world of

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the occult. He had completed the equivalent of a doctorate in engineering from a major
university and was employed by an oil company when he met Jesus. He was
immediately called by God for ministry and began the pursuit of Bible training to equip
him for the task.
At this same time, people in his church began to prophesy to him that he was
going to marry a certain young woman also in that church, and they began to prophesy to
her that she was going to marry him. It was a Thus saith the Lord kind of thing that made
it a defiant act of disobedience to God if they did otherwise! They began to date and
several months later they were married. My friend told me that on his wedding day, he
knew he was making the biggest mistake of his life. But as a young Christian desperate
to have all that God had for him, he entered into the marriage believing that God had
ordained it. It was because other Christian people who had the ability to prophesy had
said as much. It was a complete disaster from the very beginning. My friend’s wife
challenged him and his ministry at every turn. She did all she could to undermine him in
his church and in the eyes of other leaders. Those who knew him and had ordained him
supported him completely, even suggesting that he would not be out of line to separate
from her, but this pastor stood by his commitment for 27 years of horrific marriage to this
woman before they ultimately went their separate ways. It had a disastrous effect on my
friend’s life and ministry, and it remains to this day.
There are people who have given up businesses and careers to go into the ministry
on the prophetic words of people who were not speaking for God. Of course they ended
up shipwrecked and disillusioned. There are people who have lost everything including
their faith because they believed that God could speak to someone else better than He
could speak to them. What a tragedy it is because usually these people are never able to
fully trust the genuine leading of the Holy Spirit again, because of the hurt they have
incurred. I have watched helplessly as good and sincere Christians that I have known
literally destroy their lives on supposed words from the Lord which had absolutely
nothing to do with God. They would not listen to the counsel of others. They used no
wisdom or discernment. They acted on the word of the Lord in faith, only to wind up
disillusioned and confused when the word never came to pass. What they did not
understand is that God does in fact watch over His word to perform it, if that word was
His to begin with! If it wasn’t, God has no responsibility for it at all. He will attempt to
lead people and warn them if they are beginning to stray from His will. If they will
listen! Unfortunately, many do not or will not.

A Warning for Those who Consider Themselves Prophetic

The most serious of prophetic abuses come from those in ministry who prophesy
in order to impress people for the sake of financial gain or to build their own ministry
reputations. The more accurate and abundant the prophetic words are, the greater the
prophet’s reputation usually becomes. People are drawn in larger and larger numbers
because of the abundance of what is thought to be prophetic. Because people want to
hear from God, there is a certain amount of pressure to perform that weighs upon the
prophet. If God doesn’t give a clear word, they feel pressured to give a word anyway, a
word that they think is probably what God would say! One major prophetic ministry

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person recently confessed that fifty percent of the prophecies he gave were from God and
the other fifty percent he was simply taking it by faith. Maybe a better way of doing
things other than taking it by faith would be to deliver the fifty percent that really came
from God and then be quiet! This was the problem with William Branham which is
discussed in chapter eleven. It caused him to begin delving into the spirit of divination
that resulted in errors being taught. It ultimately destroyed his ministry.
Prophecy must be spoken to God’s people in humility and the fear of the Lord.
God opposes those who use His name frivolously as the following Scripture shows:

“'Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,’ says the Lord, 'who use their
tongues and say, “He says.” Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,’
says the Lord, 'and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their
recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit
this people at all,’ says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:31-32).

Ministries who want to make money by using a prophet to tell people what they
want to hear are in great danger! It becomes idolatry and opens the door for divination to
come in and replace a legitimate gifting. Balaam was willing to offer his prophetic gift in
exchange for money and, as a result, began to operate in the demonic power of
divination. This same principle applies today! Here is what Ezekiel had to say about
this.

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to
those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ Thus says the
Lord God: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen
nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into
the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.
They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, “Thus says the Lord!” But the
Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. Have you not
seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, “The Lord says,”
but I have not spoken.’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have spoken
nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,’ says the Lord God.
My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall
not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel,
nor shall they enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, “Peace!” when there is
no peace--and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar…’” (Ezekiel
13:2-10).

There are also false prophets who bring forth words that really aren’t from God.
They give words that originate in their own hearts and do not necessarily come from
demon spirits. We must distinguish between a false prophet and a genuine prophet who
has missed God for whatever reason. A false prophet prophesies things that they know to
be false at some level, and the purpose is to either bring deception to people or tell them
something simply because they want to hear it--and usually it's for notoriety, fame, and
money! This was the problem in Jeremiah’s day. He brought a true word from the Lord

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that was contrary to the more popular word of the Lord which was being given by the
other prophets. A false prophet is one who chooses to prophesy what people want to hear
more than the word from God. This can be caused by both demonic deception as well as
convenience, the desire to keep the support of the people more than the support of God!
Examples of this are everywhere today. Teachers and preachers, who have known and
preached the truth, now preach messages such as hyper-grace and lawlessness that they
surely must know to be untrue. Yet they do these things anyway because of the lack of
the fear of the Lord in their hearts and lives.
The Church has usually viewed false prophecy with far more grace and tolerance
than God does. God is very jealous for the honor of His name and reputation. He is
greatly offended when His voice is impersonated by people seeking their own agendas.
He is going to bring judgment against those who prophesy, yet have no fear and respect
for God. Examples of this are found in the following Scriptures:

“Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your
soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of
Babylon.’ For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will
drive you out, and you will perish” (Jeremiah 27:9-10).

Jeremiah warned again saying, “And the Lord said to me, ‘The prophets
prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them;
they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their
heart.’ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name,
whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’--By
sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! And the people to whom they
prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the
sword; they will have no one to bury them--them nor their wives, their sons nor their
daughters--for I will pour their wickedness on them’” (Jeremiah 14:14-16).

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the
Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow
their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By
covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment
has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber” (2 Peter 2:1-3).

Those leaders, who have studied the Bible and know what He says but choose to
preach otherwise because it makes people happy, are examples of false prophets. This
group would include those who preach, “Go into all the world and smile, because today
is going to be a fantastic day of great blessing!” This type of Gospel is meant to attract
people and their money. It also includes the seeker-sensitive leaders who do not want to
preach or teach anything that makes people uncomfortable for fear they may not come
back to their church the next week. False prophets include those who change the image
of God as He is revealed in the Bible; turning Him and His ways into something that He
is not.
These are very serious issues. We have personally witnessed the demise of

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traditionally great denominations. They were born in revival and have abandoned their
Biblical and Godly heritage. They brought into question the authority and truthfulness of
the Scriptures, and liberalism came in and filled the vacuum. As a result, the
denomination slid into apostasy! They have willfully abandoned the truth of God’s Word
on the claim that it really wasn’t God’s Word at all.
What is happening today is far worse than the above example because today’s
leaders are not denying the Bible’s authority and claims of being true. They simple pick
and choose what they think people want to hear, and then ignore the rest of the Scriptural
evidence. They know that if it was all taken into account, the Scriptures would present an
entirely different message than what they are teaching! Therefore preachers preach a
Gospel that doesn’t deny such things as holiness, reverence, respect, and the fear of the
Lord; they just conveniently omit them spending their time on the promises of God about
success, riches, blessings, and how to be happy and fulfilled in this life.
Many of those who prophesy prefer to deliver words from the Lord that offer
people great promises of financial increase, blessings, greater revelations, advancement,
breakthrough, and favor. Where are the Jeremiah’s of the 21st century Church? Where
are those who preach and prophesy like John the Baptist? Where are the Elijah’s of our
day who will stand and deliver the word of the Lord, even if it means that people won’t
like it and may kill the prophet? How many true prophets of God can you find in the
Bible who weren’t persecuted, rejected, imprisoned, or killed for the words they
delivered? And yet the Bible has entire books that bear their names.
I have known sincere Christians who chase people who are prophetic, always
seeking yet another word from the Lord to such a degree that they got into error. The
problem is that their quest for a prophetic word has become almost like an addiction to
these people. The word for the year quickly becomes a need for the word for the month
which soon becomes the word for the week and then the word for the day. Yet their thirst
for a word from the Lord began to look very much like the driving blind hunger of a
cocaine addict who must have more and more of the drug in order to get the same effect.
Because of this hunger, I have watched sincere Christians get involved in spiritualism and
the occult and never realize what they were doing until it was too late. The hunger for
the prophetic word must be balanced with an equal passion for the written Word of the
Lord. That Word is available twenty-four hours a day for those who will simply open
their Bibles and read it! God's people, who are desperate to get a word, would do well to
consider this Scripture. "And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to
prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from
his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God”
(Leviticus 20:6-7).

Why would the children of Israel be tempted to seek out mediums and those with
familiar spirits? I believe the answer is because they had not been able to get what they
wanted from God. It is with great fear that I believe there are many today within the
Body of Christ who are doing exactly the same thing without even realizing it. They just
want a word and seem willing to do anything and everything to get it. A person who
desperately wants to get a word will always be guaranteed of getting one. If God doesn't
answer them right away, some person or devil will certainly be there to fill the void!
That is where the extreme danger is found. For those who do these things, God has said

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He will cut them off, and then He reiterated that He expected His children to walk in
holiness.
The problem for many people is impatience. They are not willing to pray until
they get an answer. They are not willing to read their Bibles and wait for the Holy Spirit
to give them a sure rhema promise from heaven. And once they think they have
something, they are simply not patient enough to pray, wait on the Lord, and believe Him
until it becomes a reality. Selfish indulgence basically says, "I want what I want, and I
want it now!" They will go to extreme lengths to get their appetites satisfied, and that is
where most get into trouble. God has called His people to obey and to walk by faith,
which is firm confidence that what He has said, He will do! God has called us to believe
the word He has given us in the Bible, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and possibly
affirmed by prophetic voices of others. Hearing words from prophetic people is not a
substitute for living by faith.
The Church must learn maturity about these matters before it's too late. All of us
want to hear from God, but we should want to know the safety of really hearing from
God and not just something that appealed to our carnal appetites. Words today all seem
to carry the common thread that God is about to give us something in the near future, if
we'll just hang on long enough. New jobs, promotions with more benefits, money,
breakthroughs are straight ahead. These words can certainly be from God; and if they
are, everything that He has promised shall surely come just as He said. Why is it that
most prophetic words never carry any sound of correction from God? I really want to
hear about prophetic conferences that tell people about the need for personal holiness,
corporate humility, and national repentance in order that revival could come and that
people would travel from all over the world to attend these.
A true and honest prophet can make a mistake and be wrong unintentionally. God
will minister grace if that person will humbly submit to being corrected by the Holy
Spirit and others. There is a difference between the two voices! This is why there needs
to be judgment from other leaders concerning every prophetic word to determine its
authenticity and validity.
The men and women that I recognize, respect, and will accept the word of Lord
for me bring both a prophetic word and Scripture to support the truth they are bringing.
When a person prophesies over people but has very little Scripture to go along with what
they are saying, we need to beware.

#3: Prophetic Words that Are Demon-Inspired

There is another serious issue that relates to prophetic people. One of the most
dangerous things we must guard against are those who come to prophesy and are
knowingly operating in demonic power. They are more than just proud Christians who
seek to exalt themselves in the eyes of people. They are evil, but come into the Church
like “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” These will impersonate the real prophetic in order to
do harm to people. They are the “angels of light” that Paul was referring to in 2
Corinthians 11:13-15:

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 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel
of light. Therefore it is no great thing that his ministers also transform themselves into
ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”

In Acts 16, we read the story of a young woman who was deeply involved in the
occult. She made much money for others and herself by telling fortunes, which is
possible only through the spirit of divination. It is interesting to note that she followed
Paul and his ministry for three days endorsing and recommending his ministry to others.
She was proclaiming, “'These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim
to us the way of salvation.’ And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed,
turned and said to the spirit, 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of
her.’ And he came out that very hour” (Acts 16:17-18).

Why did this girl do these things? It was so that she might be identified with
Paul’s ministry in the minds of people. She was attempting to gain credibility in order to
masquerade as a legitimate prophetic ministry in the emerging Church of that day. After
three days, Paul discerned the true source of her power and confronted the demonic spirit
and cast it out. When he did, her psychic powers were gone and also the money she
made. This got Paul in much trouble because of the income that had been lost.
Early in my ministry, I had a woman like this to come into the church I pastored.
She could quote scripture right and left. She was in every prayer meeting. She was
working hard in an attempt to carve out a place for herself in ministry. She began having
prophetic words and words of knowledge about people’s medical conditions that she
claimed to have received from the Holy Spirit. The problem was that this woman was a
witch who was full of the devil. She went from church to church, winning the confidence
of people by her spirituality, and then falsely accusing innocent pastors of immorality!
People believed her because she appeared to be a woman of God who could hear the
voice of God about their medical conditions. Churches were destroyed because of the
charges she had made against their leaders. This wicked woman’s plots, accusations, and
lies had all but destroyed the marriages of several pastors.
She moved into the church I was pastoring, and I initially had no clue what she
was doing. She was really good at what she did; but the Holy Spirit began to give me a
great sense of urgency and alarm about this woman’s presence. I went away to be alone
with God in a hotel for three days of prayer and fasting about this entire matter. When I
came back, God had supernaturally unraveled every strategy she had used. I didn’t have
to do anything! He did it all. Everything about her was exposed including her words
about people’s medical conditions. They were actually being gained from reading church
members’ medical records in the doctors’ offices where she ran a cleaning business late
at night! She would search patients’ medical records while she was supposed to be
cleaning, and that was the way she was getting all of her revelation and words from the
Lord that gave her such credibility in the eyes of people! When she was confronted with
all the evidence and the truth about her schemes and who she really was, we never saw
her again. She was undoubtedly planning for my ministry, reputation, and church to
become one of her victims. The pastors of our town came together and discussed what
was going on and, when she learned of this, she left our county entirely.

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 As hard as it is to face, these kinds of stories are becoming more and more
common. There are people TODAY who are in the Body of Christ as “angels of light”
who are actually carriers of deep darkness. I heard the testimony years ago of a woman
who had been saved and then delivered out of witchcraft in a Benny Hinn meeting. As a
new Christian, she was eager to get involved in a good church. To her amazement, as she
began visiting churches in her city to find a church home, she began seeing people whom
she had known for years in the witches’ covens. We must be “as wise as serpents and as
gentle as doves” and pray for Holy Spirit discernment like never before! This is a crucial
hour in the Church! We MUST treat prophetic words given by people accordingly.

The Realms of the Spirit

In chapter eleven of this book, we look at some of the dangers for those who
flippantly attempt to access spiritual realms when they are living in lawlessness or have
no fear of God in their hearts. The realms of light and darkness seem alike to the
undiscerning. There are people who may genuinely believe they are operating in a
prophetic anointing, that are in reality delving into divination and witchcraft. Some do it
innocently, while others know it and understand what they are doing, but do it anyway.
Then there are other people who simply don’t know the difference. These have no fear of
God in their lives, and their lawless nature compels them to continue no matter what
source they are tapping into.
There should never be anything casual or innocent about people claiming to
access supernatural realms and bringing information from those realms into the natural
and calling it prophecy. It should never be treated like harmless Charismatic and
Pentecostal fun that may or may not be accurate--not today in the 21st century with the
rising flood of the occult! When people claim to be speaking a word from God by the
Spirit of God, they had better do it with the fear of the Lord realizing fully the seriousness
of this. Many people simply do not understand that fact. Man is a spiritual being who
has intellect and emotions that all reside in a physical body. When someone attempts or
at least claims to reach into the spirit realms, they are reaching into realms more real than
the physical. This is not a game, yet many Christians treat it as such. Spiritual realms
can be very nasty neighborhoods for those who do not have the fear of the Lord and who
are not walking in humility and integrity before Him.

Why Are We So Afraid to Openly Address These Issues?

There are two major problems with the Church’s response toward the prophetic.
First, because people are so desperate to hear the voice of the Lord, many will follow
practically anyone who claims to have a prophetic word! They take it in and then hope it
was a word from God. Sometimes people shop around with different prophetic ministries
in search for a word from the Lord that fits what they want to hear. If what they receive
doesn’t fit, they keep looking. Some Christians treat the holy and precious prophetic
anointing as little more than going after fortune cookies at a Chinese buffet, looking for
something they really like. This is very, very dangerous.

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 I was in a meeting one evening; and as I was praying for people in the ministry
line, a strong prophetic anointing began to flow. The Holy Spirit gave me very accurate
words of promise and hope for situations in people’s lives whom I had never met. They
were being powerfully blessed. I prophesied over everyone God gave me, and then I was
finished. But a lady came up to me and asked, “Do you have a word for me?” I bowed
my head and prayed but got nothing. I assured her of God’s love and care, and then
prayed for God to richly bless her. She insisted that I give her a word. I kindly told her
that God loved her, but I did not have anything to give her. I could tell she was upset
with me, but I refused to give in and say something to her just to make her happy. I
turned to walk away; but as I did, I clearly heard the voice of the Holy Spirit giving me a
word to give to her! I turned back and said, “God is giving me a word for you after all!”
She was obviously delighted and eagerly stepped up to receive. Then I heard the Lord
say these words, “Tell her that I want her to believe and act upon the last word that I
gave her. Tell her that I have spoken to her already, and that she has repeatedly ignored
My voice.” Wow! When I told her that, her face got red and she turned around and left.
She had obviously already heard from God. She just thought she would go search out
something else that fit better into her plans or was easier for her to do! There was a story
there for sure.
Second, because 1 Thessalonians 5:20 says, “Do not despise prophecies,” many
people are afraid to challenge prophetic words in the fear that they are rejecting the word
of the Lord, but let’s read further about the proper way of treating prophetic words. He
said, “Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit; do not spurn the gifts and
utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired
instruction or exhortation or warning.] But test and prove all things [until you can
recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21, Amplified).

At no time does the Scripture tell us to simply take at face value everything
anyone says is from God, and accept it as being truth. We must learn to hear, discern,
and judge for ourselves. We need to learn to eat the chicken and spit out the bones.
Unfortunately, many people have choked on prophetic chicken bones. If someone is
giving us a prophetic word, God expects us to judge it to determine whether or not it is
true! This principle was stated by Jesus when He said, “In the mouth of two or three
witnesses, every word shall be established” (See Matthew 18:16 and 2 Corinthians 13:1).
I have found in my own life that every time God has sent someone to speak a prophetic
word to me, it came only as a confirmation of something that the Holy Spirit had already
said to me.
Over the past thirty plus years that I have spent in ministry, I have had many
prophetic words given to me by people. By and large, I believe most came from genuine
and sincere Christians. But it is with great sadness and genuine disappointment that I
must confess a large percentage of those words were from people, and weren't from the
Holy Spirit at all. They were words from people and nothing more. I know in my spirit
the difference when a word comes from people and when it comes from God. Whenever
the prophetic word was really from God, there was a stirring and a connecting with
something deep within my heart. It was accompanied by a sense of the presence of the
Holy Spirit attesting that the word was really from Him. It was undeniable. Something
within my heart resonated on each syllable, and I recognized the word of the Lord for me.

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To this day, I still remember those words. Some of them were promises from God that
did not come into manifestation for many years, but I chose to believe God by faith that
what I had heard (knowing it to be from Him) would be seen. They did indeed become a
reality in time, just exactly as the Holy Spirit had said they would. There are some I am
still waiting to see, but I have absolute, undeniable confidence and peace that they will
come in God’s own time and for His purposes and glory. When a word is genuine and
originates from God, it ALWAYS comes to pass just as God said it. It will NEVER falter
or fail. When God really speaks, things happen…ALWAYS! It’s just that simple.
Today, many people run here and there in search of a word from God. They
collect them from every source they can like picking up seashells at the beach. But how
many of these so-called prophetic words do they really remember, unless they write them
all down? When God speaks, He burns it like a brand on our hearts by the fire of the
Holy Spirit. There’s nothing wrong with writing prophetic words down, as long as those
words have first been engraved upon our hearts by God! Some Christians will receive
almost anything, and just hope it is a word from the Lord. If what is spoken is inaccurate
or doesn’t come to pass, they simply excuse it by saying, “Oh, everyone misses it
sometimes. This person is just growing in their prophetic gifting.”

This is prophetic malpractice and is not excusable for doctors, lawyers, airline
pilots, or anyone else who holds in their hands the safety and future security of people.
Lives and destinies of sincere Christians have been utterly destroyed because they
believed and acted upon words delivered by people whom they thought were from God,
but in reality, they had nothing whatsoever to do with the Holy Spirit. Why does the
Church so quickly excuse error in someone who claims to be delivering a sacred word
from Almighty God with such a casual and forgiving attitude? This is going to change
dramatically in the coming days.

Learning to Judge Between True Prophecy and False

It is simply not acceptable for people to just say things and then claim they are
God’s words if they are not. It is just the same as committing identity theft, only the
victim is Almighty God! None of us wants for someone to steal our identities and
impersonate us. Our reputations, integrity, and money should mean more to us than that.
God feels exactly the same way. He is going to bring harsh judgment in the days ahead
to those to carelessly go about playing their games while they impersonate Him and use
His name frivolously. Much, if not most, of so-called prophetic ministry is not prophetic
at all. It does not come from the Spirit of God. It is the spirit of people or, worse yet, the
spirit of devils. How do we know this? It is really quite simple. Because everything that
God speaks is truth; God is not foolish nor is He schizophrenic--changing His mind every
other day in His dealings with people. He never makes mistakes or speaks things that
aren’t true. All that He does speak comes to pass just He said it would.
When a word that someone speaks prophetically proves to be untrue, it simply
wasn’t God to begin with. It’s just that simple, and we need to recognize it as such and
call it so. Let’s just be honest about these things. True prophecy from God is revealed
truth that will never falter. When God speaks, all of creation stands at attention and must

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comply. He never lies. He never says anything for entertainment purposes. His word is
always true. If that seems hard for some to accept, so be it. The true prophetic ministry is
far too important to be treated in a casual, haphazard way that is intended more for the
entertainment of carnal Christians than the delivery of a true word from Heaven. It is time
for us, the Church, to just face the truth about these things and admit the sinful way we
have treated the prophetic voice of the Lord in many instances. The time has come for us
to repent of these sins, turn, and move in a new direction of honor and respect for Him.

Many times prophecy is conditional, when God essentially says, “If you
will…then I will….” People and their choices are a major factor in whether or not a word
of the Lord comes to pass. When those kinds of prophetic words fail, it is never God’s
fault or failure. Those are because people are unbelieving or disobedient in something
God has told them to do. This must be clearly understood.
God does make conditional promises that are contingent upon people's obedience
and cooperation. The abuse here is when people deliver words to other people that they
claim originated with God, that have nothing to do with anything that God has said. It is
a very serious offense in the eyes of the Lord, and God is going to deal with this in the
days before us. He will cause the Church to walk in fear and reverence for Him and not
be so quick to open our mouths and start talking for Him when He is remaining silent!
One of the Ten Commandments given to Moses is, “You shall not take the Name
of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name
in vain” (Exodus 20:7). We have rightly assumed that this commandment referred to
carelessly using the Lord’s name as in an oath or in profanity. A fuller understanding
would include attaching the Name of the Lord to things that God has nothing to do with!
That would include words that are given prophetically that are not true prophetic voices
of the Lord. This is a sin that is very offensive to the Lord, yet the Church gives almost
unlimited latitude to virtually anyone who claims to have a word from the Lord. What
they don’t understand is that God is not quite as lenient. In the days coming, He is going
to begin making His displeasure known.
When the Old Testament Hebrew scribes were copying manuscripts of the Word
of God, they wouldn’t even correct misspelled words or grammatical errors made
accidentally by the other scribes, for fear that they might do damage to the holiness and
sanctity of the Word of God. They copied everything exactly from manuscript to
manuscript because of the fear of the Lord and their reverential respect for His words.
Today, the prophetic word of the Lord has become so cheap. It has become even
frivolous to many Christians. And when prophetic words, even by respected leaders, fail
to come to pass as the Lord supposedly said, no one even seems to notice. Some
prophets prophesy the outcomes of presidential elections only to see their candidates lose.
They prophesy terrorist attacks, earthquakes, and hurricanes with the dates that never
materialize. They speak of economic calamities or economic booms, neither of which
comes to pass as they said. One has given repeated dates concerning the capture of
Osama bin Laden yet, at the time of this writing, it hasn’t happened. How should the
Church respond to prophets who made millions of dollars on books, CD’s, tapes, and
conferences preparing us for things like Y2K on January 1, 2000? They claimed it would
set off a global catastrophe because of computer failures. But when it didn’t happen, they
simply hosted another prophetic conference, wrote some more books, and acted like

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nothing ever happened. And the really amazing part is that the same people who stored
their freeze-dried foods, converted their cash to gold, stockpiled water, stored fuel for
generators, and bought AK-47 assault rifles to protect themselves and their families from
the ensuing rioters rushed to the next prophetic conference to hear the latest word from
the Lord. Is it any wonder that Jesus called people sheep?!
What should prophets do when they totally miss what God was saying, when their
words fail to come to pass as they promised? It is all remarkably simple. They need to
just humble themselves and say these words: “I missed it. I now realize that I was
wrong in what I prophesied to you. I did not do this intentionally. And I now apologize
to the Church and to God for my mistake and humbly ask for your forgiveness. I would
also ask for your prayers that God will help me not to ever do something like this again.”

These words are so hard for many people to say because of pride. But it's not that
hard to do. Grace and forgiveness would be bountifully extended to them from the
Church, and we would all be better off for having experienced this. But most prophetic
people will not do this because, if they did, it would become an admission that they are
fallible and their influence and audience might be diminished. Please realize that this is
pride. God resists or opposes the proud, but exalts the humble (James 4:6 & 10). If you
hang onto your pride, your influence in ministry is going to decline. If you humble
yourself, God will see to it that you and your ministry excel. Someone once said, "The
degree of your humility determines your usefulness to God." Proverbs 22:4 says, "By
humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life."

The Church has become far too accepting of those who claim to be speaking the
word of the Lord when they aren’t. Generic prophecies that are so elastic they will fit
virtually anyone are not acceptable to God. And we as followers of Jesus should have a
sense of indignation when the One we love is abused, because of the proud and arrogant
attitudes of those who would dare to impersonate Him.

The Written Word of God in Scripture

God created everything by speaking His word. The Bible is a record of His words
which are both Spirit and life! All the majesty and power of God Himself is invested in
the authority of His name. And yet, the written Word of God is exalted even above the
name of the Lord! So great is the authority and power of God's Word that the Bible says,
"For You have magnified Your Word above all Your name” (Psalm 138:2). The same
verse in the Amplified Version reads as follows: "For You have exalted above all else
Your name and Your Word, and You have magnified Your Word above all Your name.”
Think of that! His Word is actually of greater value than the majesty, integrity, and
honor of His own name.
Of all the prophetic words ever given, the most powerful, secure, and one that will
never fail is the written Word of God. Whatever revelations the Holy Spirit may give
through prophetic words, they will never violate nor supersede the written Word of God.
It has been my personal experience that when the Holy Spirit gives a prophetic word, He
is more than happy to authenticate that word by giving supporting Scripture that confirms

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what has just been said.
One of the great concerns in this hour is that in many segments of the Church, the
spoken prophetic word has now eclipsed the written Word of God. Many Christians
today are building their theologies upon a foundation of what the most recent conference
speakers have said more than what the Bible says. This is a sure pathway to deception
and error. The prophetic word must align itself with the written Word, or else it needs to
be discarded. If people do not study and know the written Word of God, they have no
framework for correctly judging the accuracy of the prophetic word. We must hunger
more for the written Word, and as we do, we will find that the flow of the prophetic will
take on a new dimension of authority and accuracy.

Where Are the Jeremiah’s, Ezekiel’s, and Isaiah’s of Today?

The theme that runs throughout this entire book is a burning passion to see
Almighty God reverenced, honored, and feared (obeyed) with a holy respect by His
people and in the earth. It is about the pursuit of true revival glory in the Church, and an
awakening in the earth, to such a measure that entire nations are touched and changed by
the power of God. The Church has been sustained for the past two thousand years by
visitations of the Spirit of God in revival. There has never been a time in history when
we have needed the heavens to open and the power of God to be released as much as we
need it at present, for all the reasons presented in other chapters of this book.
But for revival to come, we must humble ourselves before God and seek His face
anew. We must confess the grievous sins we have committed against Him, and that have
even been done in His own name. We must put away the carnality, foolishness, and the
resulting error caused by men’s agendas which oppose the true purposes of God. We
have abused the use of His name in the words that we have said. We must sincerely
repent for much of what has been done in this regard. One of the promises of the last days
is that the prophetic ministry of the Holy Spirit will be restored in the earth. It will not be
man’s words that flow from the soul realm, intended for the entertainment of Christians,
but true words sent from Heaven that are filled with the life and power of God. At this
critical moment in the Church’s existence, we must be able to accurately “hear what the
Spirit is saying to the churches” without the foolish, manipulative, and proud voices of
people who are impersonating the Holy Spirit for their own personal benefit. We must
hear and say what the Spirit is saying and add absolutely nothing more to it. Jesus isn’t
looking for a perfect Church. He is however looking for an honest Church that walks in
humility, integrity, and truth.

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 Chapter Ten

Deception in the “Last Days” -- Even in the Church!

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn
away!”
2 Timothy 3:1-5

We are living in a moment in history like no other generation. There is every

reason to believe that we may be living in the days immediately preceding the coming of
the Lord Jesus. We are now watching the unfolding of a time that prophets saw and
wrote about thousands of years ago. The Old Testament, Jesus, and the New Testament
all refer to the time in which our generation is very likely living.
There is an urgency around us in the realm of the Spirit. This book is not about
Bible prophecy or eschatology. But it does include some of the conditions that the Bible
clearly describes as being present in the days right before Jesus returns. When the Bible
speaks of those days, it does so with two purposes in mind. First, God wants for His
people to live with great encouragement, hope, and anticipation of the return of His Son.
He wants for His people to anxiously await the return of Jesus and the completing of the
establishment of His Kingdom in the earth. Second and more importantly, He wants His
people to be ready for the coming of Jesus, and not to be caught unaware. Though there
are many varied interpretations about the chronology of end-time events, there should be
little question about the conditions that will be present right before the Lord returns.
In this chapter, we want to focus on one of the most disturbing, yet little
understood phenomenon that will take place during the final countdown before the
coming of the Lord. Just as the last days before the return of Jesus will be filled with an
ever increasing measure of revelation of God’s presence and power in the earth, the last
days will also be days of increasing error and deception for many who do not have a love
for the truth of God’s Word. These people, though very interested in supernatural signs
and wonders, will place very little value on such things as holiness, repentance, and the
fear and respect of the Lord. As the light of His glory gets brighter in the Church, the
darkness of deception and error is also going to be increased. Sadly, those who refuse to
walk in the fear and respect of the Lord are going to be seduced and drawn away. Paul
spoke of this tragedy when he wrote that:

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 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the
faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in
hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

The people the Holy Spirit described in this passage were not people living in the
world who had heard and then rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These people were
those who would “depart from the faith.” In other words, they would have at one time
been followers of Jesus and a part of the Church, but in the last days they would be
deceived by demon spirits and then embrace demonic teachings filled with error and
heresy. The tragic part of it all is that they won’t even realize what they are doing until it
is too late! The problem with deception is always that people in deception do not know
that they are deceived! Paul continued addressing this issue.

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the
living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in
season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their
own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2
Timothy 4:1-4).

Most people would agree that we are living in days of great change. But change
in the Church can become a dangerous thing if it is motivated by the things which are
fashionable and not by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures cited above describe the last days,
and were inspired almost two thousand years ago by the Holy Spirit and were intended as
a warning to true believers. We are seeing in our generation the fulfillment of much of
what those verses prophesied. The warnings that the Holy Spirit was referring to
concerned a substitution of the ways and truths of God for things that people wanted and
liked better.
One young pastor was so excited to have one of his former professors from the
Bible school he had attended come and preach in his church. This school was born in a
great revival in the 1990’s. He introduced him to the congregation and told of the great
influence this man had had on his life. This young man passionately longed for revival,
and attributed much of his hunger to his three years spent in school with professors such
as the one who was to speak that day.
The man stood up and began to talk. He told this young man’s church of how, as
he had gotten older, he had discovered many things about God he had thought in the past,
weren’t true. He claimed the Holy Spirit had brought him a greater revelation of the
Father heart of God and the great love that He has for people. He had also discovered
that because God is so filled with grace, mercy, and love that the account of Noah, the
ark, and the great flood couldn’t be true because God wouldn’t do such a thing. Neither
would He have destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And the Biblical accounts of judgment
were merely the inaccurate accounts of the beliefs of men with only a limited
understanding of who God really was. The next week, the former student had to address
his congregation to correct the teachings of his teacher!

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 The “New Theology” in the 21st Century Church
In light of the preceding Scriptures, there is reason to have significant concern
with some of the teaching now being heard in the Church. I recently heard a statement
made in a conference by a popular teacher in the renewal movement. His comments were
consistent with other speakers at the same conference and it reflects a trend that is
growing in popularity. His words are not being taken out of context. He continued to
expound upon the essence of the teaching that is included next.
“God only created man for fellowship and intimacy. He wanted man to
passionately know and enjoy His presence. But across the generations that followed,
mankind fell deeper and deeper into a dead religious system that was hung up on trying
to keep rules and regulations. There was no intimacy with God. It was replaced by rules
and religion. This is what God seeks to free man from so that man can return to the
place of just enjoying intimacy and fellowship with Him in His presence.”

The crowd cheered wildly in approval to what he said. His comment is fairly
reflective of the opinion held by many others in the Church today. This type of teaching
is taking us to conclusions that are not truth at all! Let’s examine this teacher’s
comments further.
First, it was God, not man-made religion, who made the rules. The dead religious
system with all of its rules and regulations being referred to by this speaker, was called
the Old Testament Law. It was the “Word of God” to His people, and was delivered in
His glory by prophets who were powerfully anointed with the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t
some arbitrary list of religious rules and regulations designed by a committee from a
denomination. The greatest manifestation of the glory of God recorded in the entire Old
Testament accompanied the giving of these rules and regulations. Mountains shook and
people trembled in fear because of the awesome glory demonstrated on that day (See
Exodus 19). Moses went up into that glory, and later discovered that it was of such
intensity, it took him forty days to recover enough that he could return to the people and
tell them what God had said: things that He expected from His people (See Exodus 32-
34).
I have always told my children as they were growing up, “All of my rules are
because I love you!” I have never put a restriction on any of my children that wasn’t
intended to be a blessing to them. Every time I have said “No,” it was because I wanted
to keep them from potential harm. I never said “No” because I wanted to spoil their fun
or prevent them from enjoying themselves. Every “No” was motivated by my deep love
and the desire to see them blessed and not harmed. All of God’s rules were intended as
the same. They are given with the express purpose of producing safety and blessing: not
guilt, control, and shame.
The second issue with this leader’s statement is about rules and regulations which
produced a dead religious system. That reflects the opinions of many others who also
believe that rules invariably replace intimacy and fellowship with God. But that isn’t
true at all! There was a man named Enoch who was only six generations down from
Adam and Eve who walked in such intimacy and fellowship with God that God took him
directly to Heaven without ever dying (Genesis 5:18-24). Noah was a preacher of

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righteousness and was spared from the great flood because he knew God and trusted God
enough to build a boat almost as large as a present day aircraft carrier, and all with hand
tools. That had to be a love-based relationship for Noah to do that in the midst of the
ridicule he surely endured. Abraham was called a friend of God. And look at the passion
of Moses. He wanted the presence of God more than he wanted to enter the Promised
Land. He was willing to live the rest of his life in the wilderness with nothing but God’s
glory, than to live in Canaan with all of its blessings, and God’s glory not be there in their
midst (Exodus 33:15-16). Read the stories of the lives of men like Joshua who was
present when God gave the rules, yet who lived in the Tent of Meeting so he could be
near the glory! Consider the two million people who came out of the slavery of Egypt,
and dwelt under a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of cloud by night for forty years!
They lived before the visible Shekinah glory of God 24/7. They drank water that flowed
from a rock that followed them (which was Jesus, according to 1 Corinthians 10:4), and
ate manna from Heaven everyday. What about the Ark of the Covenant and the glory
that was upon it? What about the passion of David and his addiction to the glory of
God's presence? Space will not permit the listing of all in the Old Testament who are
listed in the Bible who knew God, loved God, and walked before Him in His glory. The
list goes all the way down to Anna and Simeon who lived in the temple praying, fasting,
worshipping until the eight-day-old baby Jesus was brought there for dedication. They
rejoiced and worshipped, because the One they had loved and hungered decades for was
now before their eyes as an infant in Mary’s arms.
Consider what Jesus was referring to when He said in John 14:21, “He who has
My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be
loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

It is impossible for anyone to really know and love Jesus, and desire to have
fellowship with Him, and yet feel that His commandments impinge upon our freedoms.
A strong marriage is a covenant based upon love and trust, and demands that the couple
be faithful to each other. There is no such thing as having a strong marriage when the
man and woman are breaking their covenant to each other by committing adultery. God
has made covenant with His people. He will be faithful to all that He has promised, but
He expects His people to do likewise. Just as in a marriage, a relationship built on trust
and faithfulness, that is demonstrated by consistent integrity, is the only way to true
intimacy.
The reason people do not experience true intimacy with God is because of
lawlessness or rebellion concerning God’s rules. These were intended for our good and
to lead us to blessing. Every one of the people who walked in intimacy with God in the
Old Testament were men and women who feared (respected and obeyed) God. They
honored His presence and glory, and lived their lives before Him obeying His
commandments. They weren’t living lawless lifestyles, but rather were living their lives
in repentance, holiness, surrender, and obedience to God. True intimacy can only be
achieved by living in right covenant relationship with God. Psalm 25:14 says, "The
secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him….”

Amazingly, many Christians believe that the blessings of God come solely to
people by His unmerited grace. They think that the Father’s love and mercy brings His

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favor and provision. It’s wonderful and it's true that God’s grace is extended to all.
God’s mercy and His Father-heart of love overflows to people without limitation. It is
extended today to every person on this planet regardless of whether they love Him back
or not. But these things alone do not bring the blessings of God to a person’s life. If they
did, there would be no such thing as poverty, suffering, and starvation in the world. What
brings the abundant blessings of God to people or even nations is when we walk in faith
and obedience to God’s commandments. The commandments of God represent spiritual
principles as real as the laws of gravity. When we violate those laws, we suffer and miss
blessings that would have otherwise enjoyed. His Word does not fail. When we believe
it and obey it, the blessings of God come into our lives. If we don’t, we miss what God
wanted to give us.
There is much these days about the Holy Spirit giving new revelation in the earth,
but that is only a partial understanding. There is actually no such thing as new revelation.
What we usually refer to as being new is actually just a greater, fuller understanding of
things already revealed in the past, of which we have had only a partial view. This could
be likened to looking at a mountain range from five hundred miles away, versus looking
at it from two hundred fifty miles away. Then imagine viewing the same mountain from
one hundred miles away, and then fifty miles or five miles away. The mountain range
never changed, but our impressions did. All new technology is nothing more than
discovering things that have always been in existence, and then using those discoveries as
pathways to blessing, which we call new. The closer we come to the return of the Lord
Jesus the greater our understanding of Him and His ways is going to become.
In western thought, all time is linear. The Greeks and Romans saw time as being
linear. But the Hebrews understood time differently, and the Bible reflects this truth.
While the earth rotates on its axis every twenty-four hours, it also continues its progress
of rotating around the sun, which takes 365 days. The Hebrews saw time as being
progressive, always moving forward, a series of cycles much the same as seasons.
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall come and go every year as time marches forward.
Time is therefore a progressive series of repeating cycles. There are seasons in God that
function in much the same fashion, yet always moving forward toward the day that Jesus
returns.
For example, we would not think of Summer being a new thing. We would
consider it as Summer in a new year, but not a new thing that had never been before.
God does essentially the same things in His dealing with the world. We have entered a
new season in the things of God. It is bringing about a new dimension of understanding
and revelation about things that have always been, but were not discerned as they may be
discerned now. The revelation of God’s glory in the earth is always increasing with
every passing generation. But it is an increase of revelation of the same glory that has
always been, even from the very beginning.

The “New” Church of the 21st Century

There has been a great transition taking place in recent years regarding the look of
the Church as well as membership in local churches. This trend has been away from the
traditional model of church in the past. There are even estimates that reach into the tens

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of millions of people, who say they are born again, who do not attend any church.
To counter this growing trend, churches are seeking to become more
contemporary in their approach and in their style. One local church even advertises itself
as “The church for people who hate to go to church.” There is a billboard near my home
which advertises a local church and says, “Our Church is not your Grandmother’s
Church!” The goal behind many new churches can be summed up in the statement of
one of the leaders of the seeker sensitive movement when he said, “Do nothing in church
that needs an explanation to anyone. Make people as comfortable and entertained as
possible.” The relaxed mindset of blue jeans and sandals is required, almost like a new
dress code has been instituted for church attendance. A Bible will usually not be needed.
Coffee will be served. There will be no preaching, but rather a dialogue between the
facilitator and the people. One pastor recently stated that he no longer saw a need for the
pastor to feel pressured to bring any message at all on Sunday mornings. And many even
promise to get people in and out, in one hour or less. Online churches are growing in
popularity for those who don’t have time to travel to a church service. People can “go to
church” without ever leaving home. They can baptize themselves in their own bathtubs
and take communion by purchasing their own crackers and juice--But please mail your
offering check to the church address. Many of these churches are growing exponentially,
because their goal is to give people a connection to Christianity, without asking very
much in return, like commitment and change.
I listened intently to the preaching of a young revivalist recently who said, “God
is doing a totally new thing in the Church now, and it is going to require that His people
be totally led by the voice of the Holy Spirit. We’re not to do things like we did in the
past. We must hear and be led exclusively by each one of us listening to the voice of the
Holy Spirit in our hearts.”

What he was saying was true to a measure, except he left out one very large
component! In his entire sermon, he never once mentioned the reading of the Word of
God and using it as a measurement of what God was saying! If every person is led by
hearing what they believe to be the Holy Spirit, without a firm grounding in Scripture,
they’re headed for some big trouble.
I have literally heard what seemed to me to be the audible voice of the Holy Spirit
in my heart on a significant number of occasions in my life. And when I heard it, I
instantly recognized it as being the Lord. But I will never forget another single
experience many years ago that stunned me. I heard what seemed audible to me, the
voice of the devil speaking to me as well. The thing that was so frightening is that the
two sounded amazingly similar! But in that moment, I instantly knew the difference,
because I knew the Word of God! I shudder to think of how easily people can be led
astray by the enemy, who have no foundation in Scripture. God has not given us His
Word to use as a coaster on the coffee table. He gave it to us to read and allow it to speak
to our hearts as well.

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 Are These REALLY Days of “Unlimited Grace”?
In chapter six we read a quote from a popular teacher who is respected for his
emphasis and teaching on both God's Father-heart toward His children, as well as the
great grace that God extends to His people. We will look at it again later in this chapter.
The quotation is a very interesting concept that is gaining popularity in the Church. Of
course, God wants intimacy with His children. Yes, it is true that His love is
unconditional. His grace and mercy are sufficient for all. These are some of the supreme
truths of God’s Word. But compare the no-rules idea with what the Bible says.
Following are a few of the very many verses telling us what God expects of us.

John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves
Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest
Myself to him.”

John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep
My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home
with him.’”

John 15:10, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I
have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

1 John 2:3, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His
commandments. He who says that ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is
perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.”

1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the
world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God
abides forever.”

1 John 2:29, "If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who
practices righteousness is born of Him.”

1 John 3:3-10, “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as
He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And
you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known
Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous
just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the

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works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in
him; and he cannot [continue to] sin, because he has been born of God. In this the
children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice
righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”

1 John 5:3-4, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes
the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.”

1 John 5:17-18, “All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God
keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”

Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all
men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He
might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people,
zealous for good works.”

Titus 3:8, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm
constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good
works.”

Titus 1:15-16, “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and
unbelieving nothing is pure ... They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him,
being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.”

Colossians 1:10, “…that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him,
being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Romans 8:13-14, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Romans 6:1-4, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you
not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His
death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life.”

Romans 6:19, “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.
For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness…so
now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”

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 Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not
of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.”

Look at the commandments given to Israel in Deuteronomy 28:1-2, "Now it shall

come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully
all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you
high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and
overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God….”

For the next twelve verses in this chapter, Deuteronomy 28, God lists promise
after promise that He would fulfill to those who simply obeyed His voice and walked
according to His commandments. These promises include every dimension of a person’s
life, and insure they would be powerfully blessed in every way.
But let’s continue on with verse 15 in which God said, “But it shall come to pass,
if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His
commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will
come upon you and overtake you….”

You can see that there was a shift where God began to outline what would happen
to His people if they chose to disobey the commandments He had given! For the next
approximately fifty-four verses, God lists the curses and judgments that will come upon
those who choose to live in disobedience to His word and commandments.
Now, let’s continue to Deuteronomy 30 and read verses 15 to 20. “See, I have set
before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the
Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and
His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in
the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear,
and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today
that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross
over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call Heaven and earth as witnesses today against
you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life,
that both you and your descendents may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that
you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length
of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Let's objectively measure what we quoted earlier, in light of what these Scriptures
say about what God expects from His people. These Scriptures are only the tip of the
iceberg of a theme that runs throughout all the Word of God. We've read only a
minuscule portion of God's expectations, wanting us to live within the boundaries of His
Word. Please carefully read again the words which were spoken by a contemporary
leader in the Church, a great proponent of the Father-heart of God and His loving grace
which has now given us liberty:

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 “There are absolutely no rules for Christians. We are living in the days of God’s
unconditional and unlimited grace. The Father’s love abounds and His mercy is
sufficient for all. If you still live your life based on perceived rules and regulations that
you believe must be followed for you to remain a good Christian, you are still living
under the dark cloud of the spirit of religion. God wants our love and nothing more”
(Quoted from a CD series of a popular teacher).

One of the most marvelous attributes of God is His loving kindness and grace.
Grace actually means, “To extend to another unmerited, unearned favor and blessing.”
It is a gift motivated by love, and cannot be earned or purchased. Ephesians 2:8-9 says,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Thank God for His great grace and favor which is extended to us through nothing
we have ever done, or ever can do, to deserve it! But grace is the free gift given by God
to us, that becomes the foundation on which a lifestyle is to be built of love, worship,
reverence, and obedience. We really need to have a better understanding of just what
grace is and what grace is not.
In another generation, one of the most famous Christian hymns ever written was
one entitled “Amazing Grace.” One of the more famous lyrics said, “Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found,
was blind but now I see.”

“Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton, who had lived a wild lifestyle
when he was a young man. He ultimately became an English sea captain who made a
small fortune transporting slaves from Africa. He was known by all to be extremely
callous and very cruel to his human cargo of slaves whom he had purchased in Africa.
But one day he met Jesus and was profoundly saved. John Newton was not only saved,
he was changed by the power of God. He truly repented and turned in another direction.
He left his life as a sea captain and became a preacher of the Gospel. He also became an
abolitionist who worked tirelessly in an effort to abolish the slave trade! When John
Newton wrote “Amazing Grace,” he was reflecting back with great sorrow on the years
he lived as a slave ship captain, and He referred to himself as a “wretch,” one who was
“lost.” But with joy in his heart because of what God had done, he could now say that
“Once I was lost, but now I am found; was blind but now I see” because of the amazing
grace that God had extended to him! He could never be the same man again.
Imagine this scenario. A person has committed a crime and has been arrested by
the police. He is put in jail without bond to await his trial. When the date of the trial
comes, he appears in an attempt to defend himself before the judge. The prosecutor
presents his case with all the supporting evidence against him. In the end, there is really
no way to defend himself against any of it. It is perfectly clear to everyone, including the
judge, that the defendant is guilty of all crimes as charged. The state rests its case and the
defense offers nothing to refute any of the evidence presented. The judge looks at the
defendant and says, “Based upon the evidence presented against you, I find you guilty of
all crimes as charged, and do hereby sentence you to life in prison without parole. The
court is now dismissed.”

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 But then another person steps forward and says, “Your honor, this person is guilty
as charged, and your rendering of justice is true. But, Your Honor, I have already made
provision for this crime. I have already taken his punishment, and have already served
the full sentence on his behalf. I now ask the court to rule again, that though this person
is, in fact, guilty as charged, justice has already been served, and the penalty has been
paid in full, for the crimes for which he has been found guilty.”

Imagine the courtroom’s reaction when the judge turned to the defendant and
said, “Though you are guilty of all crimes and deserve a sentence of life in prison without
parole, I now find you free from all charges against you, for another has paid the penalty
for you concerning the crimes you have committed. You are now free to go. Case
dismissed.”
That is exactly what Jesus has done for us through His great grace! We were
guilty as charged. Justice had to be served. We deserved hell for our sins. But Jesus has
paid the full price for our sins through His substitutionary death on the cross so that we
might go free. Because of what He has done for us, we owe Him everything; for without
Him, we would have to serve our entire sentence forever in hell.
What is the difference here? It is simply this. The grace of God does not cover
everyone indefinitely when those people insist upon living in rebellion against God,
while still expecting to enjoy His blessings. The grace of God is extended to those who
come to Jesus recognizing their hopeless plight because of sin. They surrender their lives
and wills, asking for mercy and forgiveness. Then they receive the free gift given by
grace, which is the unmerited benefit of the work that was done for us on the cross. Those
who have been found guilty are then able to go free.
There is also a teaching today called universal salvation which says that when
Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, he died for the sins of the whole world and
therefore everyone is now saved. No one is going to go to hell. Everyone is going to go to
Heaven when they die. The preaching of the Gospel, repentance, living in the fear of the
Lord, holiness, and obedience are no longer issues, since everyone is already saved and is
going to Heaven. This teaching originates all the way back to the 1730’s and is on the
upsurge again in the 21st century. It is just one more part of what Paul was referring to
about how in the last days, doctrines of devils and seducing spirits would bring great
influence to the Church.
The point being made here is that we must never treat lightly the awesome thing
that God has done for us through grace--totally undeserved. He owes us absolutely
nothing. We owe Him everything. As we enjoy being “covered by His grace and love,”
let us also remember the terrible plight we were in before He pardoned us. Freedom in
Christ does not give us license for lawlessness in our lives or in our hearts.

Some “Rules And Boundaries” Aren’t a Bad Thing At All!

One of the most remarkable studies ever done by child psychologists was an
experiment done at an elementary school many years ago. It eventually became a
landmark in child development. In this study, children were repeatedly filmed by the

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researchers as they played in the well-fenced and secure school playground during their
daily recess times. Their patterns of play and behavior were carefully documented and
analyzed by these scientists. But during spring break, the researchers removed the safety
fence that surrounded the playground. Children were not told to be careful because the
fence was gone. No mention was made by their teachers of any differences to the
playground, or restrictions upon their activities during recess. Everything remained
exactly the same as before, only now the fence was missing and no longer separated the
children from the traffic. Secretly, the children continued to be videoed while playing at
recess over a period of weeks. But something had changed. The children were playing in
a much more reserved manner. They seemed to want to remain in closer proximity to the
group. Laughing and running was at a greatly reduced level as compared to what it had
been before the fence was removed. The children seemed to be eager and happy to return
to the classroom when recess was over. After several weeks of study, the safety fence
was reinstalled over a weekend. Once again, no mention was made by anyone to the
children concerning the presence or absence of the fence. When it was replaced, the
behavior of the children returned to normal, as it had been before. They ran and laughed
and played again, because they sensed there was a boundary, a limitation that defined
where they could play, and still be safe.
The conclusion of this research was startling to many who had originally taught
that children just need to be free to express themselves without any limitations. In
reality, children are born into this life with the need for someone to draw some lines,
restrictions that communicate to them where they can safely play. A fence that defines
the playground is not a bad thing, but rather something that produces freedom and joy,
because it brings a sense of security and well being.
God is a loving Father filled with mercy and grace. But He is also a God with
certain limitations and boundaries that He expects His children to live within. Have you
ever noticed the little bumps in the highway pavement that mark the roadside of some
expressways? They are there to alert a driver that he is moving out of the safety of the
roadway toward the edge of the highway, and to potential danger. They are put there to
create a warning sound to the driver in order for him to make a correction, back to the
place of safety! These little bumps are harmless. They only make a sound and vibration
in the car. They don't force the driver to do anything. But the driver would do well to
heed the warning sounds of these roadside bumps. They are a warning against the big
concrete wall that will mean certain death if the car collides with the wall! Limitations
and restrictions are not bad things. They are there for our protection.
When we put limitations and restrictions on ourselves out of respect and honor to
God, we remove all the barriers that have limited to our lives, the flow of His revelation,
His glory and power, and His blessings. Lawlessness is the no-rules mindset which we
are increasingly hearing and seeing in the Church. It is not going to produce freedom.
Many churches today boldly proclaim themselves to be churches for people who don’t
want religion. It’s one thing to reject dead religious orthodoxy. It is an altogether
different thing to promote the Have-it-your-way culture in the Church, which sounds
more like the way to create a Whopper at Burger King! Church is not about doing it our
way. It is about doing it His way through yieldedness, obedience, honor, and holiness.
All of God’s rules and limitations are there for our benefit and safety. When we violate
them, it is always to our detriment.

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 There was a philosophy of education and childrearing in the 1960’s that
essentially said, “Let children be themselves. Let them play. Let them try new things.
Eat dirt if they like it! Let them discover their individualities on their own without so
many restraints being put upon them. Teach them to think for themselves and develop
their own identities, and learn to make their own choices. Let them learn in school at
their own pace by discovering the joy of learning and getting an education by themselves.
Get rid of the structure and the boundaries. Let them find the things they like to do, and
then encourage them in that. Affirm and support them as they discover and learn.”

This philosophy of parenting and education was a total disaster! It produced

illiterate rebels, addicted to drugs and immorality! It doesn’t work in our families and it
doesn’t work in the Church. God has never advocated lawlessness in the Old Testament,
the Gospels, or the New Testament. He is a Father who believes in tough love, because
of His desire to see His kids make it and be blessed.
One of the more interesting ways that Jesus described His people is that He called
them sheep. He referred to Himself as being the Shepherd of His people. And He
referred to leaders that He called and anointed in the Church as being shepherds as well.
Calling us sheep is not a compliment! Sheep are some of the dumbest, most easily led,
vulnerable, and totally dependent animals that God ever created. Left to their own
ingenuity and devices, they will invariably get lost, get hurt, be eaten by predators, or all
of the above. They are good for wool to wear, and food to eat, but nothing else. Yet the
Bible refers to us as being sheep, because from God’s perspective, that is exactly what we
are. Sheep are totally helpless on their own. They must have a shepherd who carries a
staff to guide and a rod to correct! They must remain corralled by fences--boundaries--
because without oversight and boundaries, they would be destroyed.
There must be a balance between rules that represent boundaries, and hyper-grace
that produces lawlessness. In West Palm Beach, Florida, twenty-one expensive
racehorses died because of the food they had been fed. Their owner had given them a
vitamin supplement intended to increase their stamina. But the ingredients within the
vitamins had been mixed incorrectly by the manufacturer. He used the wrong
proportions of certain chemicals. Too much of one ingredient had been added, which
was actually good for the horses. But when the horses ate too much of this good thing,
they started collapsing. The veterinarians were helpless in their efforts to save them.
They all died because of wrong proportions of things that were supposed to be good for
them. We must have a right and healthy mixture of the love, mercy, and grace of God in
the proper proportion to repentance, holiness, and the reverence for God!

Compare the Revival Messages of the Past to the Present

Consider the messages being preached in the days of other great spiritual
awakenings, and compare them to what we hear today. Read the sermons of the men that
God used in the First and Second Great Awakenings. These changed the spiritual,
political, and social complexions of entire nations. Read the sermons of Jonathan
Edwards, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, Charles Haddon Spurgeon
and so many others whom God used to turn the tide of history. What did they preach and

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how did they preach it? What was the message that God used to bring transformation of
societies that lasted for generations? What about men like Dwight L. Moody and Billy
Graham and the effect that their preaching has had on multitudes? They preached on the
need for repentance. They preached on the deadly nature of sin. They preached on the
holiness of God. The message preached by Evan Roberts, the man God used to ignite the
Welsh Revival was, “Bend the Church and save the world.” John Wesley’s doctrine of
entire sanctification was reflected throughout both his preaching and his writing. Read
the messages of Duncan Campbell, the man whom God used to ignite the Hebrides
Islands Revival in 1948. His passion was holiness and repentance. And out of that
message came atmospheric revival by which the tangible presence of God filled entire
towns and cities.
While it is certainly true that times change, people change, and that there are
many sermons which require adaptable methods for different cultures, yet the message
must remain the same if we hope to see a similar transformation in our generation.
These men all preached Jesus and His great love and power to seek, save, and transform
the lost from their sins! They preached about the holiness of God and the offensiveness
of sin. They preached about His mercy and love. And they preached about His
willingness to forgive sin and change lives for eternity for all who would repent. Those
themes collectively are the common denominator among all the great revivalists of the
past. Those were the Holy Spirit anointed messages that burned with the fire of God in
every great revival in the past four hundred years. For that reason, God used them to
change hearts, lives, and the directions of entire nations.
Now think about the popular messages that we hear in our day. They are
deliberately designed to be non-offensive to anyone. Make everyone feel comfortable
and happy. I challenge anyone reading this book to go through any secular or Christian
bookstore and take inventory of the best-selling Christian books. The overwhelming
majority are based on the themes of personal success, happiness, how God wants to make
us rich, and on how we can live our lives to our fullest potential. The common thread
throughout them all is how we can become better, happier, more successful, and richer
people with God’s help. It's hard to find books that include the truths God used in past
generations to change nations through atmospheric revival. Why is this the case?
Because books on how to be happy, successful, fulfilled, and blessed will sell; and books
that require commitment to following Jesus even when it’s difficult, don’t sell. It’s just
that simple.
There are some wonderful television ministries that bring the blessings of God’s
Word to multitudes around the globe. But much of the content of Christian television is
devoted solely to religious entertainment. Having a Christian television ministry is
viewed by many as representing God’s ultimate seal of approval. Some Christian
television ministers have superstar status in the eyes of their audiences.
Many Christian conferences, hosted by those who are promoting revival, promise
to teach people how to have great spiritual experiences anytime they choose, with little or
no sacrifice or effort. Their goal is to help us develop our spiritual gifts, or how to grow
in the prophetic. Much teaching is devoted to how to get more of the anointing, and
eventually the unlimited anointing with all the power to heal the sick, prophesy, do signs
and wonders, and demonstrate supernatural exploits. People register for these
conferences, pay their money, and buy all the books, CD’s, and DVD’s they can afford,

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in order to achieve their goals.
Many of these probably can be good things that edify believers, but they will not
take us to the place of seeing nations transformed by the power of God. What brings
transformation in societies is the transformation of people’s hearts! Hearts are only
transformed when the things that separate people from God are removed--such as sin,
rebellion, lawlessness, pride, and the lack of respect for God! And that only happens
when we daily read in the Bible, and decide that we will obey whatever direction we
find there.
This book may appear to be harsh at times but that is not the motivation or spirit
behind it. It is written out of a great love for God, His precious people, and the Church of
Jesus Christ in our generation. But we must understand that these are serious issues.
Liberty in Christ does not equal a license to do what we want and then say it is all
OKAY with the Lord because of His grace. Leaders must realize that God will hold us all
accountable one day for what we teach others. The state of the Church today is to a large
degree just reflective of what it has been taught by its leadership. Leaders have made it
what it is at present because of what we, as shepherds, have taught as fact to the sheep.
Whether it was done innocently and with good intentions is not the point. The end result
has been the same. We must repent and return to the proper care and feeding of God’s
children and leave other agenda’s aside before it is too late. Jesus, speaking of those who
would cause others to stumble said, “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung
around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of
these little ones” (Luke 17:2). We MUST take what we teach God’s people seriously for
God will certainly hold us all accountable!

This “New Theology” was Prophesied Thousands of

Years Ago
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the
faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains
will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the
brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of
Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception
among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should
believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had
pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).

One of the characteristics of the last days will be people “giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of demons.” This is just another way of saying that truth, holiness,
repentance, and the fear and respect for God will be replaced by demonic influences that
are filled with rebellion and disrespect for the holy things of God.

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 “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because
lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end
shall be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a
witness to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:11-14).

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, prophesied near the end of his
life that a day would come that churches would preach a Gospel of, “Salvation without
repentance, conversion without regeneration, and Heaven without a hell.” His
prophecy seems to be very relevant to the hour in which we live. It is becoming more
difficult with every passing year to find churches that will honor, reverence, and
passionately hunger for the presence of the Holy Spirit and, at the same time, preach
God’s Word to lead the hearers to a conscious decision to repent of sin, ask God for
forgiveness, and then receive the touch of God upon their hearts. This is what changes
lives. It seems that having a dramatic moment that people can point back to where Jesus
came into their hearts is no longer as important as it used to be. It seems like we just talk
about God, worship, prophecy, the glory, the anointing, getting in the ministry line; and
somehow people will become followers of Jesus by osmosis! Sin is never mentioned.
Judgment doesn’t exist because of the Father-heart of God and lavish grace. The fear and
respect of God is considered old-fashioned, out-dated, religious tradition. And the
messages of absolute surrender, death to self, and taking on the cross of Christ are topics
that are not going to sell many CD’s at the conference! It's exactly as William Booth
prophesied! “Salvation without repentance, conversion without regeneration, and a
Gospel that teaches only about Heaven without a hell.”

Our Generation MUST Stand Strong Upon the Word of God!

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the
grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who
trouble you and want to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from
Heaven, preach any other Gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other
gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1: 6-9).

There is only one Gospel found in the Bible. It's all right to have many
interpretations about certain things and their applications to life. But God is not
schizophrenic. He doesn't change from one personality to another. He has a clearly
defined purpose in His desires and expectations for His people. Amazingly, it really isn’t
that complicated to understand, if we will simply submit our lives to Him, and come as
little children in search of truth from our Father! One of the biggest threats to the Church
in this crucial moment in history is the willingness of Christians to believe everything
anyone says, without first filtering it through the truth of God’s written Word, and the
witness of God’s Holy Spirit, who has been given to us to be our teacher! The Bible tells
us to be wary of people, and to judge teachings and teachers!

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 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from
thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad
tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good
fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in
heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then
I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:15-23).

If we are indeed living in the last days before the return of Jesus, and everything
gives evidence that we are, we must approach life with a confident yet holy soberness.
We must awaken ourselves from spiritual slumber and lethargy. We must have hearts
with keen spiritual discernment. Our lives must be lived in holiness and a reverent fear
of the Lord. Peter spoke to the urgency of the hour in this next verse.

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon
the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient
children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He
who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be
holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges
according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here
in fear…” (1 Peter 1:13-17).

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the
earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will
be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in
which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be
diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless…” (2 Peter 3:10-14).

There is a definite reason for using the many citations of Scripture that are found
throughout this book. They are here in order that you, the reader be able to see for
yourself what the Bible really says, and then use that as a comparison to judge many of
the popular teachings we hear in church. Compare it all for yourself, and then you decide
what is true and what is deception and error. It's important to ask ourselves, where is the
body of Scriptural evidence that supports the popular teachings we are hearing these
days? What someone said at a conference or wrote in a book about, has no validity
whatsoever unless they can bring the Word of God taken in its full context to support
their words. It doesn’t matter what a prophetic word said, if it doesn’t line up with God’s
written Word. The Church must employ more of an inductive kind of reasoning in which
we take all the evidence from Scripture, compare it, and then draw our own conclusions.

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Today we draw our conclusions of “what God is saying and revealing” first by
deduction, and then go in search of some Scripture verse taken out of context that we can
use to support the conclusions we have already drawn! That is like a small child who on
Christmas morning uses the “fact” that the milk and cookies are missing, that were left
for Santa Claus, as proof positive that their home was visited by a happy little fat man
with gifts he had brought from the North Pole! Some of the things being taught today are
almost as absurd!
We should never build our theologies on the new revelations that come from the
most recent angelic visitation at the prophetic encounter! We shouldn’t sit in awe and
amazement, and listen to teachers, pastors, prophets, or anyone else who is teaching
things as fact if they cannot support it in Scripture! Why? Because, the Holy Spirit has
already warned the Church against this approximately two thousand years ago.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according
to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to
fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

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 Chapter Eleven

Hunger For the Supernatural Without the “Fear of the Lord”

I had gone to minister in London, England. The church where I was to minister
had booked a room for me at a very nice hotel downtown. Before I checked in, the host
pastor warned me of some very strange phenomenon that had been taking place recently
in this hotel. The manager had shared them in the hope that he could do something about
it. It seems that a ghost had moved in and was regularly making appearances in the
hallways to guests! Some people had been terrified and immediately checked out. Yet
the reports of these sightings were actually causing many other people to make a
reservation to stay there in the hope of seeing him! This hotel was becoming quite a
popular tourist destination in London because of the new resident who had checked in!
Fascination with the supernatural has dramatically increased in popularity. We are
living in an ever increasingly super-charged world. From the earliest stages of
childhood, children are captivated by toys representing supernatural action figures that
are able to do great exploits using supernatural power. As they grow older, video games
with supernatural flavor take the place of toys. An entire generation has now grown up
with intense fascination in the Harry Potter books. Television promotes the occult in
many of their programs. Movies are increasingly including the supernatural into their
content. Astrology is still gaining in popularity with an ever-increasing audience. New
Age has become the fashionable religion of the 21st century. Witchcraft and Satanism are
growing exponentially. Psychics and spiritualism are thriving. Psychic healings, mixed
with a wide variety of other mystical supernatural practices, are on the rise. In one city in
America where we were having meetings, someone showed me sixteen pages of Internet
websites where spiritualist meetings where being conducted within a five-mile radius of
where we were meeting! There were virtually no dynamic churches where the presence
and power of God could be experienced within that same radius. The Internet
increasingly is overflowing with information for those who are interested in the occult.
Why is there such a dramatic increase in interest in occult-related practices, and
on a worldwide basis? The answer is that mankind was created in the image of God. Like
the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; man was created as
a trinity as well. People are spirit people (eternal and created in the image of God) who
have a soul (mind, will, and emotions) who live (temporarily in this world) in a physical
body. Because the spirit of man is eternal, man has an inherent attraction and ability to
relate to the spirit world. Not only is there that ability, there is a hunger to do so as well!
This attraction was originally intended to enable man to relate to God, but because of sin,
this ability has now been perverted to relate to the realms of darkness dominated by
Satan. There is a deep and abiding hunger in every person to experience God, and it is
that hunger which propels people to seek God in either the realms of darkness or light.

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 One of the promises of Scripture concerning the last days is found in Joel 2:28-29
which says, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I shall pour out My Spirit on all
flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams and
your young men shall see visions, and also on My menservants and on My maidservants I
will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

The Bible tells us in Habakkuk 2:14, “The knowledge of the glory of the Lord
shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”

There are other Scriptures which indicate that the days before the coming of the
Lord Jesus are going to be days of unprecedented revelation of the presence and power of
the Holy Spirit. The greatest revival ever looms on the horizon and it shall surely come!
The New Testament Church which was birthed in atmospheric revival and the
demonstration of the supernatural power of God, is going to have the vibrancy it once
enjoyed. Before the Lord Jesus returns for His Bride, the Church is going to not only be
restored to its original state, but transformed to a place where the supernatural power of
the Holy Spirit will be seen in an ever increasing measure!
Because of the days in which we presently live, there is an ever- increasing
hunger in the Church for ministry in the supernatural. People want to see the power of
God being demonstrated. That is a wonderful goal if the motivation is right.
I have recently returned from some awesome meetings in the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan. Because of terrorism, it was necessary for us to have armed security people
with us at all times, and the places where we were to minister were swept for explosives
before the meetings began. In spite of everything happening around us in the political
realm, God poured out His Spirit in mighty ways! Many hundreds of Muslim people
were saved. Miracles of healing happened in every meeting. Screaming, demon-
possessed people writhed on the ground like snakes before being set free by the power of
God in Jesus name.
Why did all these wonderful things happen? The answer is really simple. They
happened because the Gospel was preached, and the Holy Spirit was allowed to confirm
God’s Word with power! Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes….” When the Gospel
is preached of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit is honored, the
supernatural power of God will be released, and the life of God will flow to people! It’s
really not that hard to understand! Jesus never came to establish a movement or a
ministry. He came to establish His Father’s Kingdom in the earth. He came to destroy
the power of darkness and its deadly control over people! He came and did that during
the three years He ministered on the earth by preaching the Gospel, and the power of the
Holy Spirit confirmed the words He preached! When Jesus returned to Heaven, the same
Holy Spirit was given to the Church to continue the work, doing exactly the same things
He did!
It is in God’s heart to send a great global outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will
bring multitudes into the kingdom. But He will do that by the confirmation of His Word,
which has been given to the Church. If we will simply preach and teach the Gospel of
the Bible, and honor and respect the Holy Spirit as Jesus did, we will see the same works,
and even greater works, than Jesus performed! It is the preaching of the same Gospel of

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Jesus Christ that the Bible teaches which brings the revelation of the power of God in the
earth. God desires that the Gospel of the kingdom be preached in all nations, and once
that has happened, Jesus will return! Notice that we are differentiating between the
preaching of the Gospel and the preaching of the Gospel that is revealed in the
Scriptures. There seems to be many gospels these days that do not have a firm
foundation of solid Bible theology.
But there will be opposition to the preaching of the Gospel that Paul was referring
to in the passage cited above from Romans. Satan knows that he is no match for the
power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He knows that Jesus destroyed his power on the
cross and that his kingdom cannot stand in the way of its progress. The “gates of hell
shall not prevail” against the Church of Jesus Christ. Because he knows very well that
he cannot stop it by direct opposition, his only option is to sidetrack the purposes of God
by bringing confusion, error, and deception into the Church. As the presence and power
of the Holy Spirit shall be poured out in great measure in the last days, so shall the
presence and power of the demonic be released in an effort to deceive. Satan has never
been a creator, but he is a very good counterfeiter and a polluter of the holy things that
God does. He continually seeks to inject himself into what God does to sway vulnerable
people into cooperating with him in his efforts to defile or deceive.
Please understand that we must never casually attribute things that the Holy Spirit
is doing to the demonic. Jesus confronted this problem in Matthew twelve when the
Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out devils by the power of the devil. This is the most
serious of all sins, for it is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, for which there is no
forgiveness!
At the same time, we must remember that as Christians, God has given us His
Spirit to help us discern what's of Him, and to know the difference from those things that
aren’t. Sometimes it is hard to know the difference, particularly when questionable
things are present in the lives of Christians, churches, or ministries. The hard truth is that
the anointing of God does not equal the blanket approval of God upon that life, ministry,
or teaching. One of the great deceptions of the enemy is that those who have been
anointed by God somehow minister with the blank check approval of God--and with
infallibility! A person can be greatly anointed by the Holy Spirit, and still be dead wrong
at the same time! It is a very difficult truth to face, but there are actually going to be
many people in hell who lived and ministered under great anointings of the Holy Spirit!
Chapter eight of this book is devoted to this study.

We Must Hear the Spirit of Truth--Not People

I recently listened to a series of CD’s by a respected leader in a wide segment of
the Church. He has a notable ministry and has been used by God to encourage many.
But I was deeply troubled by the flavor of much of what he was saying. I had been
anxious to listen to these CD’s, anticipating a blessing from the Lord, but in the end I had
a very unsettled sense based on several things he said during the hours of teaching that I
heard. Something about it all just wasn’t right. One of the many things he said was this:

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“We don’t need to read about revivals of the past because God is not going to do those
things in that same way again. We don’t need to study the Book of Acts because God is
going to do greater things than those in the Book of Acts in the future. Those things were
for another time. This is a new day. God is going to do so many things in so many other
ways that aren’t even in the Bible. Religious people will oppose the new things God
wants to do. They always have in the past. Settlers will always persecute those of us who
are the pioneers and are going to places others in the past have not gone.”

What this particular teacher was saying is now being reflected in the beliefs of
many others. There seems to be an ever increasing emphasis upon the new things that
God is doing and will do, to the neglect of the old things He has done in the past, even
relegating them to a place of inferiority and unimportance. What this leader said, taken
in the full context with other statements he made in that same teaching, left the very
distinct impression on me and probably the hearers about three things:

1. We can discard what God has done in the past because the “new” is going to be
superior to the “old.” If this is true, does this mean that we just discount the
ministry and revivals of John Wesley? Or Jonathan Edwards? Or George
Whitefield? Or Charles Finney? Or Spurgeon? Or Evan Roberts? Or D. L.
Moody? Or Duncan Campbell? These men were used by God to change the
moral and spiritual course of entire nations which lasted for generations! What
did they preach that brought such profound results? These turned nations to Jesus
and brought reformations to entire societies! Do these no longer apply today?

2. We don't need the Biblical accounts of how God did things in the past, because
He is not going to do those things that way again. How do we know this to be a
fact? If the record of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts isn’t important,
why did the Holy Spirit include it within the canon of Scripture that we read
today?

3. To say that “God is going to do so many things that aren’t even in the Bible” in
the days ahead is to open the door to any experience, revelation, or prophetic
word that someone wants to claim was from God. And for someone to question
their validity based upon Scripture seems to imply that they must be a settler of
the old things and not a pioneer of the new things that God is doing! Because
they are considered to be a settler, they are dismissed as “just being religious.”
Just because something is new doesn’t necessarily mean it is from God! Pioneers
become great heroes if they know where they are going!

A careful balance must be found in these days between resisting the genuine
things that the Holy Spirit wants to do and simply embracing everything that comes along
simply because people claim, “It is a new thing that God is doing.” It would appear that
the exciting new things are increasingly being used to plot the course of the Church’s
forward progress. These include testimonies of angelic appearances, the greater intensity
of revelatory dreams and visions, and the most recent prophetic words. While we
certainly believe in these; care must be given that they do not become the tail that wags
the dog. Let's not neglect the preaching of the Gospel of the Bible, and the record of

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what God has done in the past! If there has ever been a time that we have desperately
needed to have a genuine and true revelation of the prophetic word of the Lord, it is
now! Just because something is new and appears to be exciting does not mean that God
has anything to do with it at all! God wants to bring us into greater levels of revelation of
Himself and His power. But the same thing can be said of Satan and his realm of
darkness and deception! We must have Holy Spirit discernment and a deep
understanding of God’s written Word, or else we will not be able to know the difference!
People are desperately hungry for the presence and power of God in the Church.
That’s wonderful! The problem is NOT about what the Holy Spirit is doing in these
days, but rather what people (carnal people) are doing on their own that can distort and
pollute the wonderful things that God is doing!
I have also recently returned from our sixth mass evangelistic meeting in India.
Tens of thousands of people came, and thousands were touched powerfully by the Spirit
of God. The Gospel of Jesus as recorded in the Bible was preached, the Holy Spirit was
honored, and as a result, God did great things. But while I was there, I was reminded
again of the dire circumstances of poverty and suffering in which many people live.
Drinking water is the most serious health threat there, and in other places around the
globe. It is said that someone dies every eight seconds because of sickness caused by
drinking polluted water. Why would anyone ever drink filthy water filled with bacteria
and disease? They drink it because they are desperately thirsty, and have no other place
to get water! They drink it to live! But unfortunately, many die because other things
were in the life-giving water which they so desperately needed. That illustrates a
spiritual truth.
In our desperate search for more of the living water of His presence, unfortunately
it has now become necessary for each of us, with the Holy Spirit’s help, to put some
filters on some of the water being served, because it has become polluted with potentially
dangerous errors. Many of those errors have been caused by a departure from the written
Word of God. He has promised to confirm His Word, but people instead prefer the
spoken word of God. Some Christians can readily explain and quote what popular
prophets have said, but if you ask them to quote and explain some of the most
fundamental truths of God’s written Word, they don’t have a clue where to even begin!
Other sources of spiritual pollution come from an over emphasis on the
experiential and emotional ways of encountering God. These have little to do with the
genuine touch of the Holy Spirit. Do the claims being made by many have precedent in
the Bible? Dreams and visions can come from the Holy Spirit, or they can come from the
soul-realm of people. And some of what we hear today about dreams and visions is
simply made up in an effort to attract attention, or to manipulate people. A minister
friend of mine had a woman come and tell him how the Lord showed her in a dream that
he was to divorce his wife, marry her, and how that if he would be obedient, the two of
them would be launched into a world-wide healing ministry that would touch entire
nations. It all sounded pretty good except for one minor problem: To do that would be
adultery, according to the words of Jesus! When my friend told her just exactly that, she
was greatly incensed that he would dare question the validity of her revelation! There
has to be a balance in all things, lest weirdness, the bizarre, and the demonic, come in and
replace the genuine work of the Holy Spirit. We must judge every spiritual claim and
experience by what God has clearly and already stated in His written Word!

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 Is God REALLY Giving “New Revelations”?
Let’s take a look at Mormonism, and compare it with some of the things we hear
today about God bringing change to the Church through a greater revelation of Himself.
Beginning in 1800, the fires of revival began to burn again in America. In the years that
followed, America was powerfully shaken by what came to be known as the “Second
Great Awakening.” One of the areas of this nation that was powerfully touched was the
entire central New York area. So great was the revival that it eventually became known
as the “burned over region;” a reference to the fact that revival fire had burned
throughout this area so powerfully and for so long, there was hardly anyone left to be
saved in that entire region! Evangelists had to move on to other areas in order to find
people who weren’t already Christians.
And yet it was in this same burned over region of great revival that Mormonism
was born. It began in 1820 with Joseph Smith of Elmira, New York. It was in that year
that he received a “prophet’s call” and a “visitation of the Father and the Son.” It was in
a vision as he was praying in the woods. This account is recorded in his book, “Pearl of
Great Price” where he reveals that the two “personages” who took a rather dim view of
the Christian Church and for that matter, the world at large. They announced that “a
restoration of true Christianity was needed” and that he, Joseph Smith, had been chosen
by God to launch the new dispensation. He claimed that this heavenly vision singled him
out as the “Lord’s anointed prophet for this dispensation.”36 But it was three years later
before the visions of the angel Moroni with the “Golden Plates” stood before an
awestruck and shaking Joseph Smith.37 This represented the beginnings of the
“theology” of Mormonism. It was a demonic counterfeit to the genuine move of God in
the Second Great Awakening! It soon became a cult, based on teachings that opposed the
Word of God, replacing it with higher levels of revelation and truth--or so they claimed.
I am frightened to think that Joseph Smith’s testimony would have probably
earned him celebrity status among many Christians today! He was saying many things
almost two hundred years ago that sound strangely similar to some of the things we hear
now concerning the dismal state of the Church, new truth and revelation, and the
restoration to true Christianity! But none of it was of God, and Mormonism is now a
worldwide movement involving many good people doing good things. Their emphasis
on such Biblical principles as tithing and the importance of family has brought blessing
upon them. But their theology is not based upon the truth of God’s written Word, but
rather on misconstrued and partial truths which have ultimately produced serious and
fatal theological error!
What about the theology of Christian Science? It was all originally rooted in
Scripture but eventually arrived at a totally different conclusion than the truths of the
Bible. What about Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watch Tower? The exact same thing is true
for them as well. Cults today are springing up like mushrooms, and attracting the
attention of multitudes. Scientology, which was the creation of L. Ron Hubbard, was
merely the creation of a science fiction writer who decided to fabricate his own religion
and declare himself as its head! Yet it attracts some of the most popular and influential
members of our culture, primarily from famous Hollywood celebrities. What about the
New Age Movement of today? There’s really very little new about any of it!
Unfortunately, it all sounds remarkably similar to some of the teachings and claims of

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21st Century Christianity, but minus Jesus, the blood that He shed on the cross for sin,
and mankind’s need to repent and be saved! Many Christians now see themselves as
being “little treasure chests that simply open up and let God out.” Amazingly, there is a
measure of truth to their teachings. But they are half-truths. A half-truth is just another
word for a lie. The secret to greater levels of revelation and glory always begins with
lower depths of humility, repentance, hunger and thirst for God’s written Word, and a
greater yieldedness and surrender to Him!
If one carefully examines the nature of cults, you will find that they all started out
with a measure of Biblical truth. But if you add a never seen before experience, it then
becomes a foundation for new revelation. Many cults actually started as an opposition to
old Christianity, that God (actually a demon) wanted to replace with something new.
And if you study the birthdates of these movements, most correspond with times of
genuine revival in the earth! It has been found that 99.5% of the ingredients in rat poison
are actually nutritious for the rat to eat! It is the half of one percent that kills the rat!
Satan always strives to introduce the five-tenths percent error and demonic deception into
that which is genuine, in order to kill what God is doing,
This book is not intended to sound like an attack on any person or ministry but
rather, a warning that we, the Church need to allow in order for the Holy Spirit to keep us
on course in all that He is doing! It is a passionate call to the Body of Christ to learn to
trust the anointing of the Holy Spirit within, along with the written Word of God as a
measuring stick, and we carefully and prayerfully evaluate “what the Spirit is saying unto
the Church.” Then we'll know when it's just people saying something to the church. It is
a call for the Church to return to a place of holy reverence and respect for the revelation
of the things of God, and the abandonment and repentance of things we have done that
are delving into the supernatural without the fear of the Lord! We simply cannot move
forward when our faith and theology is based upon what the last conference speaker said,
the last prophetic word given, the last supposed angelic visitation, or the last dream or
vision someone claimed to have had. The great concern here is the apparent lack of
many Christians to discern what is actually from God and what comes from other sources
that may or may not have any basis in truth!
John Wesley was one of the greatest revivalists ever. He was the man God used
to ignite the “First Great Awakening” in England which ultimately transformed the early
colonies in America. His ministry, and those who followed in his steps, impacted the
entire world for many generations to come. His was a true cutting edge ministry that God
used in a profound way. Yet when John Wesley ordained young men into the ministry,
they took a vow before God to evaluate everything based upon the following four
measurements:
1. The Scriptures. The Bible was to be viewed as the final authority for all things.
2. Reason. Did something seem to be reasonable or bizarre?
3. Tradition. How has God related to mankind in the past?
4. Experience. Does the experience produce good fruit in people?

We are living increasingly with less emphasis on the written Word of God in
meetings than ever before. I was in a meeting recently when the leader told everyone
there to begin to prophesy over each other. Everyone there turned to those standing

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around them and began delivering the word of the Lord. The woman standing next to me
began to give me a word from the Lord. I was polite and kind, as she was only doing
what she had been taught by others. But what she said had absolutely nothing to do with
God. It was sad and embarrassing for me as I kindly and patiently listened to her attempt
to bring a word from God, when God was not speaking! I felt grieved for this dear lady
who loved Jesus and whose heart was so sincere. But what she said was totally a
concoction of her own mind, and had nothing to do with anything the Holy Spirit wanted
to say. I felt anger at the leader of the meeting who had done this to her, and felt sorry
for her that she didn’t know any better. I just didn’t have the heart to tell her.

Has Anyone Read Their Bible Lately?

There are actually Christians today who honestly believe that we no longer need
the written Word of God because it is outdated and was only intended for the people alive
in the day that it was written. They believe that we can now receive fresh manna, the
Word of the Lord, from Heaven everyday. That’s not too far away from Joseph Smith
and the special glasses that the angel Moroni gave him in order to read the golden tablets.
This mindset is a true recipe for spiritual disaster!
A young conference speaker recently was heard to say to his audience, “You
need to just put away your Bibles for the next thirty days. Don’t read anything in there
for a season. You just need to soak in the presence of the Lord, and enjoy intimacy with
Him. That intimacy with Him is all any of us really need. Everything that we need to
know can be found in just enjoying a good soaking in the Father’s love.”

People who have studied the Word of God for many years and have it deeply
embedded in their hearts might consider such a thing--maybe! But to just make a blanket
statement like that to a conference full of people at varying levels of growth and maturity,
is wrong, and it casts a stumbling block capable of causing people to fall! It is
wonderful to soak in God’s manifested presence, but the Word of God must have a place
of prominence in our lives, if we are going to remain healthy and strong spiritually. How
do we separate God from His Word? To say that we just need to soak in our personal
experiences, without having any connection to God’s Word, is hardly different than the
practice of yoga or meditation or things even worse! Buddhist monks soak. Hindus
soak. The New Age Movement has created a lifestyle of soaking. Christians are on very
dangerous ground who have plenty of time to soak, but no time to spend immersed and
soaked in God’s Word and taught by the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit is the breath of the Word which brings life and revelation to our
hearts! God and His Word are one, and cannot be separated. The more time I spend
soaking in the Word of God, the greater the sense of His wonderful presence and glory in
my life becomes! This exposes the increasing emphasis these days on the experiential
and emotional, to the neglect of the rock solid stability of God’s Word! It keeps us clean
and straight on our journey from glory to glory! A person who runs only on the
experiential with no time for the Word is a person on their way to disaster and defeat!
There is such a great hunger for the supernatural in many segments of the Church,
that the Word of God has been dismissed as not being as important as it used to be. A

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young prophetic revivalist with a solid ministry that is touching the world shared the
same concern in a recent newsletter. He wrote about a woman who came to him at the
end of one of his meetings. This is what he wrote:

She said, “You know, when you started preaching, I thought, I have heard all this
before. I really came looking to hear something different that I had never heard before.
But the presence of God in the meeting did have a profound impact upon me, and I am
not the same.”

"I rejoiced over what the Lord had done for her, but at the same time I felt
grieved. That same week I was having lunch with a pastor, and he shared with me his
thoughts concerning the meetings we were holding. We had only finished one day of
meetings. The night before, I had preached a word the Holy Spirit had placed on my
heart. I left the meeting rejoicing.”

"The pastor didn’t quite feel the same. He said to me, 'You know, if the preaching
of the Gospel could have gotten the job done, it would have been done a long time ago.
What we need are the signs. I just want to see the stuff. I don’t want you preaching.
Preach just a few minutes. We want the miracles.’ Only once before have I had such
pressure to perform. It became apparent very quickly that what they really wanted was a
charismatic show. They wanted the signs following, with little or no preaching of the
Word.”

“I see an alarming trend in the prophetic movement. It seems that we may be

unintentionally cultivating a mindset where the truth of the power of the cross, and the
blood of Jesus, are no longer good enough. We want signs, signs, and more signs. A life
transformed by God’s amazing Word is no longer good enough. 'Let me hear and see
something new; something I have never heard or seen before, something that will wow
me.’ So we have hundreds of hungry believers fascinated by and following stories of
supernatural encounters that have been at times stretched and exaggerated by
charismatic personalities. Trust me when I say that I have seen stories exaggerated to
become something they never originally were. And I have seen people eat it up like
popcorn and cotton candy.”

As this revivalist related, there is a growing fascination with the supernatural, and
an ever-increasing decline in interest in the preaching of the Word of God--as though it is
not enough by itself. This is very dangerous, as the next story will show.
A friend of mine was recently invited to minister at a great conference in Korea.
Thousands of people were expected to be there. He was honored to be invited to
participate in such a wonderful gathering. But when he arrived, he was stunned to learn
the subject of the other speaker who would be ministering. That speaker had come to
share the exciting testimonies of the hundreds of people his church had raised from the
dead in Africa. Many of these people had supposedly been in hell for many years, and
this church was claiming to have brought them back from hell, preached the Gospel to
them, and had gotten them saved! He claimed that this was the "new thing that God was
going to do in the last days.” They claimed to be taking new clothes to the cemetery for

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the dead people to wear when they came out of the graves. Churches from across Korea
were flocking to hear this man speak. One leader was already preparing to move his
family and ministry to this man’s church in Africa to be a part of "all that God was doing
there.”

My friend was in a great dilemma. What would he do? Should he just remain
silent and preach his messages, or should he confront what was obviously a deception.
He finally decided to just hit this thing head-on. He preached a powerful message using
the truth of the Scriptures to confront the error of this entire teaching, in the full
knowledge that he would probably be run out of the conference! But he did it anyway.
When he was finished, he took his seat not knowing what to expect next. Some of the
leaders of the conference huddled for a quick discussion, and then one came to the
platform, renounced this damnable teaching as a lie, told the man who had come all the
way from Africa to preach that he wouldn’t be preaching at all, and then asked my friend
if he would preach in each of the meetings at the conference. He did, and God moved
powerfully upon many people for His glory!
When my friend shared this story with me, I was not surprised that a preacher
from Tanzania would be making such claims. African witchdoctors have been claiming
to be able to bring people back from the dead for years. He had just adapted their story a
bit in an effort to make a big splash among people that are so ignorant of God’s Word,
they’ll buy anything that comes along. He saw an opportunity to make a lot of money in
a short period of time, before anyone discovered that he was lying about the whole thing.
The distressing thing about this testimony is that the leaders of churches in South Korea
were either so totally ignorant of the Word of God about such things, or they simply
departed from the Word they knew, to embrace something for the sake of sensationalism!
For whatever reason, these leaders certainly bought into this lie. They were competing
for his attention and available dates on his schedule when he could come to minister in
their churches! What a terrible, terrible tragedy such things as this really are!
Thank God we do live in a day of new things, new wine, and new wineskins.
Thank God He is revealing Himself in new and greater ways than ever before. Thank
God that we are experiencing more of His presence, power, glory, and anointing than any
other generation has ever experienced. That’s not the problem in the Church. The
problem is that we must realize that truth does not change. God’s Word never changes,
and it needs to be the final authority for absolutely everything that the Church does.
And God doesn’t change either! Any new revelation the Holy Spirit gives of Him and
His ways always builds upon the past revelation of God in His written Word, the Bible,
and produces a greater awareness of how big He is, and how small we are by
comparison! And the Holy Spirit never violates or negates what He has said in the
Word, and what He has done in other generations. Never! God never gives us
revelations that are intended to puff up our egos and increase confidence in our own
abilities, but rather to increase our dependence and faith in His greatness and power!
Any miracles, healings, manifestations, signs and wonders, and prophecies that are
contrary to the teachings of God’s Word, have nothing whatsoever to do with God. They
are fabrications by people who are seeking attention and money, or they are of the devil.
But they are not from God in either case.
People in the Church increasingly want to be entertained by stories of

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supernatural exploits and experiences with supernatural power! They “want to see and
experience the stuff,” and not hear the same old truths from God’s Word, the Bible.
Many claim to want to “have a now word from the Lord.” This roughly translated is
code that they want a fresh prophetic word from whoever will give it because the Bible is
seen as being “a then word for another time.” Those who think in these ways have
already embarked upon a slippery slide that is going to lead them into deception and
ultimately, to destruction.
I find the same mindset in many places I go. Many churches simply do not want
to hear the Word of God preached in a significant and meaningful way under the
anointing of the Holy Spirit. Research has shown that the average American spends four
and one half hours per day watching television, with the average American household
watching eight hours and fifteen minutes. The average American also spends slightly
more than one hour per day on the Internet. Cell phone usage equals an average of seven
hours per month for every person living in the continental United States!
We can spend on average 31.5 hours a week watching television programs such as
American Idol, Survivor, The Bachelor, and Dr. Phil. We can spend over eight hours a
week on the Internet. But Christians in the American church can’t sit down to listen to
the Word of God being taught more than a few minutes, or they’re heading out the church
doors. People want to be entertained, not taught, in church and out of church. They will
follow the flashiest show in town that gives them what they want. Paul warns Timothy of
this very time in the next verse.

“For the time will come that they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to
their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables”
(2 Timothy 4:3-4).

People who continuously contend for greater and greater levels of revelation
experiences would do well to study the life of the Apostle Paul and how he endured a
“thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan sent to buffet me” in order that he not be exalted
above measure because of the abundance of the revelations he experienced! Greater
revelations always come with a greater price tag of consecration, obedience, faith, and
yieldedness to the Holy Spirit. Would you like to have the same type of revelation
experiences of Paul? Then maybe you need to ask God to let you receive 195 bloody
lashes on your back with a cat of nine tails whip like Paul received. Or be beaten almost
to death on two different occasions with rods? Imprisoned? Shipwrecked? Buffeted
daily by a “messenger of Satan?” Lose everything in your life? And eventually become
a martyr for the sake of Jesus and His revelation in your life? Not many people would
pay their money to go to that conference to get the unlimited anointing for those things!
Chicken is a delicious food in nearly any manner it is cooked. But chicken is best
when we eat the chicken and discard the bones! Some people today because of their
ravenous appetite for the chicken that God wants to give are in great danger of choking to
death on the bones that are just below the surface! Every demon-inspired cult is designed
to drag mankind into confusion and deception, and ultimately into death. They begin
with a foundation of truth, most of which is taken from Scripture! It is the deadly bone
hidden below the surface of the chicken that brings death if it is not recognized. In this

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great hour, the enemy is striving to inject deadly bones into the chicken that God is
beginning to serve in the Church! And unfortunately he is succeeding in many cases.

While I was ministering in Alaska, a pastor friend shared with me that one of his
biggest challenges in pastoring was the occult influence on many of his people from the
Native American culture. He said that these people were raised where the shamans and
their spiritual powers caused supernatural manifestations. When people came to Jesus,
they came with a long history of spiritualism attached, and many had a hard time
differentiating between what was of God and what was from the demonic cultures of their
past. These were constantly trying to bring deception to these new believers. He told me
the only thing that kept his people straight was the power of the written Word of God
and the emphasis on the blood of Jesus that had been shed on the cross for the sins of
the world. Whenever people got away from the Word of God and the blood, spiritualism
and supernatural manifestations from the devil began to plague their lives. The problem
was that they couldn’t tell the difference between what was God and what wasn’t! This
is the same problem that we face today in the 21st Century Church! When we depart
from the written Word of God and the emphasis on the blood of Jesus and repentance, the
world of the supernatural can open to people and they never understand the difference
between what is God and what is of the devil! You may wonder why I added repentance
to his list. Because without that, we open ourselves to the demonic (Ephesians 4:27).

What About Angels and Heavenly Visitations?

The wonderful ministry of angels is seen through the entire Bible. It is seen on
numerous occasions in the Old Testament. They were a part of the ministry of Jesus
when He was on the earth. They were very evident in the Book of Acts. And the Book
of Revelation is filled with references to their work.
I have been greatly blessed on several occasions to have heard the sound of
Heavenly choirs singing in worship. In 1995, I was in a service with approximately
seven thousand other people, and during the meeting choirs of angels were heard
worshipping in the building. A video of that meeting has gone all over the world and has
brought great blessing and encouragement to all who have not only seen it but
experienced it as well. On another occasion, I actually saw two angels standing with me
in a certain potentially dangerous situation. I have had several very significant
encounters over the years that I attribute to angelic presence, and for it all I am most
thankful. And I am humbled at the realization that I have been visited by those who
literally dwell before the Throne of God!
Angels have always had large roles during times of revival. The sound of their
worship was experienced during many meetings in the Welsh Revival of 1904, even over
entire regions! There are many other accounts across history of angelic appearances and
activity during times of revival. The closer we get to the coming global awakening, the
greater their activity is going to be! To God be the glory!
But some of the emphasis these days on angels has become unbalanced. It now
seems that the more unusual or dramatic a revelation or experience is, the more attractive
it is to many Christians. The wilder the testimony or experience, the more people want to

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hear. A friend of mine preaches to tens of millions of people across the world every year
in mass evangelistic meetings with hundreds of thousands in attendance. He told me
recently of being invited to appear on a popular Christian television talk-show. Millions
of people have been saved, healed, and delivered by the power of the Gospel in this
man’s meetings. But to his amazement, the first question that the talk-show producer
asked was this, “Please tell me about your most recent angelic visitation. Our television
audience will really want to hear about it!” My friend replied, “I have many sermons
but only one message, and that message is Jesus.” The producer was disappointed in his
answer because he wasn’t going to appear on the program and tell stories about angelic
visitations. Ultimately, my friend was not invited to appear on this program at all, even
though God is using him to touch millions of people around the globe every year! This
illustrates the fact that Jesus doesn’t seem to be enough anymore, in this day of renewal.
People want more of the angels, and the dreams and visions, and all the prophetic words
that flow in such abundance, and a bigger anointing to minister it all to others. More
experiences. More encounters. More power. More miracle testimonies. More
revelation. That’s what people really want!
Consider the ministry practice of one leader who regularly tells his audiences to
bow their heads and close their eyes, so “the angels will come.” With worship music
softly playing, he calls forth the angels. People then report feeling a swish as the angels
pass through the crowd. Where do we get these kinds of practices? Where does the
Bible teach us that we should close our eyes and pray that we might get swished by
angels? Where? Where does the Bible teach that we can call in angels anytime we
desire, so we can just be entertained by their presence? But more importantly why do
we now engage in such practices? Do we understand that seeking these kinds of spiritual
experiences, whether real or imagined, can become an attraction to demonic
manifestations that people can fall into, who have little discernment and a shallow
relationship with God’s Word? Some ministries are beginning to behave more like they
are involved with séances and spiritualist conventions, than meetings for Christians to
come together to worship Jesus!
People have told me their testimonies about the angels that live in their homes and
how they appear to them on an almost daily basis. That’s wonderful if it’s true and what
they are seeing really is angelic. God has graciously allowed me to see angels on several
occasions. No one is questioning the reality of “angels sent to minister for those who are
heirs of salvation.” The Bible tells us to be careful in how we treat strangers because
some people have entertained angels without ever even knowing it. But God never sent
angels anywhere unless something very significant was happening! When angels came to
people in the Old Testament and in the New, they were there on a divine assignment by
Almighty God to accomplish something that God wanted to do. Every time I have
experienced angelic visitations, I was busy doing the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
preaching the Gospel, doing all I could do to minister to people. Angels came and
brought the breakthrough by doing great works in order that Jesus would be glorified! I
was not sitting around the house waiting for an angel to show up and help me eat a pizza,
or lead a meeting of Christians who had gathered to get swished! Those who believe
such things should be very careful lest they get swished by something akin to the ghost
who was entertaining the tourists in the London hotel, than an angel sent by God from
Heaven!

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 Read what Paul said regarding this phenomenon: “Let no one defraud you by
acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize,
insisting on self abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions (he
claims) he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his
unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit, and not holding fast to the Head, from Whom
the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of joints and ligaments, grows with
a growth that is from God” (Colossians 2:18-19, Amplified).

This Scripture is a warning to us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus,
and not to be caught up in the pursuit of angelic experiences. We are living in days of a
great harvest of precious souls that God loves and wants to save from their sins so that
they live forever in Heaven with Him. The fields are ripe. The time is now! We must go
and preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that is found in the Bible. We must tell
the world of His great love. We must tell them of all that He did for us on the cross
where He died for our sins, and how He arose on the third day! We must tell them about
His great power to save, heal, and deliver those who believe. The world must hear about
this wonderful Gospel that releases the power of God in the earth. And we must preach it
quickly as if Jesus might come at any moment, because we may very well be living in the
last days before His glorious return!
We are living in ever increasingly exciting days for those who will be faithful to
the Gospel of the Bible, but increasingly dangerous days for those who do not love the
truth of God’s Word, and for people who just hunger to have spiritual encounters. It is
the day of dangerous deception for those who believe and teach a hyper-grace message
that is contrary to Scripture, and prefer lawlessness rather than holiness and the fear of
the Lord! These people are going to be deceived, and never even know it until it is too
late!

The Realms of Glory and the Occult Are Very Similar!

One of the interesting things that I have heard over the years from friends who
walk in the prophetic anointing is just how close what they do is to the realm of the
occult. One person told of when she was a little girl and before she was saved, she “just
knew things” about people and events that she had no natural way of knowing. Others
have made similar observations. It seems that they have a spiritual sensitivity or an
antenna that is capable of bringing in things from the spirit world that others fail to
discern. Being touched and anointed by God, this gift can become the conveyance
through which the Holy Spirit brings revelation and truth from Heaven. But the same gift
can be exploited by the powers of the devil. One of the greatest challenges the Church
will increasingly face in the days ahead is being able to discern the difference!
When I was a teenager, Jean Dixon made an appearance in our city in Florida. I
had recently read her book entitled, The Gift of Prophecy, so when I saw the
advertisements in the newspaper announcing that she would be speaking at a banquet, I
bought a ticket to attend the meeting. It was held at a very nice restaurant known for
hosting the most prestigious events. All of the local city officials and politicians were
there to welcome her to our city. It was a lovely meal and everyone was very excited to

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be there for such a grand occasion as having Jean Dixon, “a prophet of God” come to our
city to tell us about events that were going to be happening in America and around the
world. There were even local church leaders, including the Bishop of the Catholic
Church, who were seated at the head table with Jean Dixon.
After the meal and all the formal introductions, she began to speak. She told how
as a young girl, God had given her an ability to foretell future events. She made a career
of being a spiritual advisor to heads of state and leaders of businesses. She was respected
by many around the world for her “prophetic gift.” She wrote a daily column for
hundreds of newspapers across the country that included horoscopes and astrology. She
was very charming, and spoke often and affectionately of her relationship with God. She
also made many predictions of future political and international events, most of which, in
reflection, never came to pass. But she certainly charmed everyone there that evening, as
most people genuinely believed they had been in the presence of someone with very
special, God-given abilities to foretell the future.
As I sat there that evening as a sixteen-year-old “baby Christian” in the presence
of the political and religious leaders in our city, there was something inside my heart that
just wasn’t comfortable with all she was saying. I couldn’t say exactly what it was. I just
knew that something about it was somehow “off.” With my having very little knowledge
of the Word of God and absolutely no teaching on such things, I felt very uneasy even
being there! Why? The problem was that Jean Dixon was not a chosen vessel of God
who had been endowed with a wonderful spiritual gift from Heaven. She was just a
wealthy, famous, fortune teller and astrologer, who was operating by demonic powers,
doing things that the Bible strictly forbids! Because of her charm and sophistication, and
the people's lack of knowledge and spiritual discernment, she was successfully passing
off what she did by demonic powers as being from God. But the Holy Spirit of God
dwelling in the heart of even a teenage “baby Christian” caused me to know there was a
difference between what God did and what this woman was claiming as truth from God!
We can always trust the Holy Spirit if we will only listen! He will guide clean hearts.
One of the most brilliant Bible teachers I have ever known told me an intriguing
story from early in his life as a preacher. He and several friends had prayed and fasted
and planned to go to Los Angeles to cast the demons out of a famed spiritualist and then
get her saved. They were filled with passion, faith, and zeal, and were totally confident
that the powers of evil at work in this famous woman’s life would be no match for these
young preachers who were filled with the fire of God!
They made their appointment and went anxiously awaiting the collision of light
and darkness and the wonderful testimony they would surely have! They fully expected
that this world-renowned woman spiritualist would be conquered by the power of God.
They were ushered in and sat down before her, ready to do battle with the devil himself!
But there was no battle. The woman was so charming and disarming. They really liked
her! She was kind and loving. She praised them, and then proceeded to prophesy to
them about their futures in the ministry. She even told them the names of the women
they would one day marry. My friend told me, “She played with us just like a cat plays
with a mouse.” They sat and listened to her at length. When their session ended, they
simply went away happy. They knew that they had been totally run over by the power of
the devil himself, but didn't have a clue what they could have done differently! The
power they went to challenge had merely disarmed them, toyed with them, and then sent

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them on their way! They knew it was the devil. But other unsuspecting Christians could
have well believed that this woman was a servant of God who was operating by the
revelation of the Holy Spirit!

The Difference Between Magic and Religion

As we have already discussed, there is a God-created vacuum in the heart of every
person that longs to know and experience God. Its evidence can be seen in the study of
every civilization from ancient times to the present. Anthropologists have studied this
extensively for many years, and recognize it as one of the main components common to
people everywhere. Anthropologists differentiate between magic and religion thusly: In
magic, the motivation is to tap into or acquire supernatural power that can be used at will
to accomplish things that the people possessing the power decide. It is the use of
supernatural power in a very self-serving manner. Superstition is used to help create an
atmosphere. Those who claim to have supernatural power can use it to manipulate or
exploit people for their own purposes.
Religion, on the other hand, is a belief system whereby people develop a certain
set of beliefs about a deity larger than themselves. Then they seek to find ways whereby
this deity can be appeased or caused to bring favor, protection, and blessing on their lives
while defending them against things that are evil or threatening harm. It is a recognition
of a power far greater than themselves, and the desire to connect with that power to bring
about a better state of being.
Magic seeks to own and use the power of a deity or force for it’s purposes.
Religion seeks to personally know or at least elicit favor from a power or deity that is
bigger than man. Magic seeks to get power and then use it. Religion seeks to have a
higher power demonstrate it’s power on the person’s behalf--a result of prayer,
obediently following a code prescribed by the deity, or by the offering of some kind of
sacrifice deemed pleasing to the deity. The big difference between the two is based upon
either developing the ability to use supernatural power (magic) versus becoming the
recipient of supernatural power given as a gift or reward (religion).
The key to knowing the difference between magic and Christianity is to ask and
then answer two very simple questions. One, “Does the teaching that I am hearing make
Jesus bigger and me smaller?” Or, “Does the teaching that I am hearing make me
bigger and Jesus smaller?” When we can answer those two questions, we will be able
to know the difference between supernatural power that comes from God, and
supernatural power that comes from other sources.

“I Want More Power! Give Me More Power!”

In Acts 8, we find the story of a man named Simon who was hungry for more
supernatural power. He had been deeply involved with the occult and had a reputation as
a man of great spiritual power. But Simon had recently become a believer. He was what
we might consider to be a cutting edge New Ager who had found a certain attraction to
Christianity. Let’s read about him.

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 “There was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the
city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom
they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, 'This man is the great power of
God.’ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long
time” (Acts 8:9-11).

“And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy
Spirit was given, he offered them money saying, 'Give me this power also, that anyone on
whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, 'Your money
perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!
You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of
God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of
your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound
by iniquity.’ Then Simon answered and said, 'Pray to the Lord for me, that none of things
you have spoken may come upon me.'” (Acts 8:18-24).

Simon the sorcerer eagerly wanted to add another ability to his supernatural
arsenal. He offered Peter money to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, so he could use it as
he liked. He wanted to see an impartation of the Holy Spirit given to people through the
laying on of his hands. But Peter sternly rebuked him, because it was clear that Simon
wanted to use the power of God to further his own agenda and reputation, and was also
bound by sin and bitterness. Peter told him to repent and pray that God perhaps would
forgive him for his sin. Then the fear of the Lord was stirred in his heart, and Simon
petitioned Peter to pray that the words he had spoken over him not come to pass.
Why is this study of the attitude of Simon important? Using the preceding
comparison between magic and religion, carefully consider the following titles of CD
series’ and some popular recent conference teachings:

Learning How to Activate the Ministry of Angels in Your Life

Learning How to Access the Heavenly Realms
Learning to Have Dreams and Visions
Developing Your Gift to See into the Future
Growing into the Mysteries of the Spirit Realm
Spiritual Portals

These teachings would be appealing more to the interests of people like Simon,
than to those who are passionately pursuing God’s glory that they might be used by God
to bring glory to Jesus! That’s the problem with some of the things that are becoming
popular in the Church. And God’s opinion about these attitudes has not changed! It is
offensive to Him because many of His people now seem to be more fascinated with
manifestations than they are with Him.
What about the current emphases on helping people learn to develop supernatural
ministry? Do we believe in supernatural ministry? Absolutely! Anything that is a true
ministry is supernatural! Thank God we are living in a time that God desires to send
workers into the fields of harvest to be used as vessels of the Holy Spirit! But where is

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the emphasis these days on yielding to the Holy Spirit? Where is the emphasis on prayer
and fasting as was practiced by the Lord Jesus Himself, the disciples, the early Church,
and great men and women of God in past generations? What about developing faith that
is based upon believing God’s Word more than releasing the anointing within? Where is
the emphasis on being proven faithful and consistent in our pursuit of God? Where is the
emphasis on living a lifestyle before God that He can trust us with an anointing of His
power? To hear some teachers today, it sounds as though miracles and healing can be
taught to anyone who wants it, just as they could be taught to play golf or learn to play
the piano! Is that the way Kathryn Kuhlman received her anointing for miracles and
healing? What about Maria Woodsworth-Etter? What about Smith Wigglesworth or
John G. Lake? No! They got their anointing the old fashioned way, by faith and
faithfulness, obedience, perseverance, sacrifice, prayer, and fasting.

Christianity and “New Age” Teaching

One of the more troubling aspects of some of the teaching in the present day Church
is the drift toward mysticism. It is portrayed as accessing the spiritual realms,
discovering the God who lives within, and a host of other similar themes that basically
draw upon deep introspection and experience. Much of it is taken from very old writings
about monastery living and the experiences of monks and nuns who had set themselves
apart for years at a time to meditate. Much of it now involves the use of visualization
techniques that are being called prophetic revelation.

There is a “secret place” of God’s presence (Psalm 91), and God does want His
children to know Him and fellowship with Him in the realms of His glory. But the
bizarre nature that accompanies much of today’s teaching has nothing to do with Psalm
91. It is more closely aligned with the teachings of the New Age Movement. The
similarities are astounding between the claims of those who teach about the glory realm,
and those who practice yoga, meditation, and New Age practices. We must passionately
love the glory realm, because Jesus is there! We don’t seek the glory realm because of
feelings, manifestations, spiritual experiences, angelic visitations, and revelations. We
should desire that secret place of His presence because if we draw near to Him, He will
draw near to us (James 4:8)! The way into the glory realm is not found through conjuring
up something, but rather by surrendering everything we are to His Lordship. It is found
through repentance and sincere, heartfelt worship. It comes through obedience that, at
times, will be difficult. It comes as a result of paying the price of the death of our wills,
in exchange for finding more of Him! Becoming a new wineskin capable of carrying new
wine requires something to give up its life and die first!
The argument most often heard to support these new teachings is that the devil
has never invented anything, but only counterfeits what God has intended for His people.
Therefore what Christians are doing when we practice these things is the real, and what
the New Age teachers are doing is the counterfeit. The question is, if two things are so
similar that they cannot really be distinguished from each other, why are they not
essentially the same thing? More on this issue is found at the end of this chapter.
Have a conversation with New Age people, and you will be amazed to learn that

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they even claim to love Jesus with all of their hearts! They believe Jesus is wonderful!
They want to be in His presence! Ask them about the Bible, and they will tell you that it
holds many wonderful truths, and that everyone should read it. Many will testify that
Jesus is a way to having peace. Ask them about angels, and they will tell you that they
are everywhere. Inquire about healing and they will be all for it, and believe it is
available to everyone.
But then ask them what they believe about the cross of Jesus. He shed His blood
as a sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of the world, died, and then rose again that
whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. They won’t
be very happy with you any longer. Ask them these questions and you will find your
friends in the New Age are ready to talk about something else. They will not want to
discuss any of these things, even though they claim to love Jesus and believe the Bible!
The 21st Century New Age movement is hardly anything more than 21st Century
Charismatic Christian experiences minus the cross of Jesus, and the blood that He shed to
purchase salvation for all who would come to Him in repentance!
One large church with over four thousand members recently voted to remove the
cross from the top of their building as well as the cross from inside their sanctuary. They
felt that it might be offensive to some people who would potentially attend their church.
Rather than offend those people, they removed the crosses from their church.
Why is this important here? It is because we are hearing more and more in
Christian conferences about angelic visitations, engaging the Heavenly realms, prophetic
revelations, and dreams and visions than we hear about the cross where Jesus shed His
blood for the sins of the world! Why has this now become a day of new revelation and
greater glory where we no longer need to hear about the past glory? That one was
centered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and how salvation from sin has been
made possible through faith in His blood. It is no accident. New Age teaching and
practices are leaking into the Church at a frightening rate, and virtually no one even
notices! As long as it appears to be spiritual, it seems to have passed the entrance
requirements, because we no longer use the written Word of God as a measurement for
what we accept or reject.
Those men and women in the Bible and in Church history who had supernatural
experiences in the glory realms of God were men and women who knew how to prevail
in prayer. They also lived a lifestyle of fasting. They were men and women of integrity
and holiness. They were passionate in their desire that God be honored. They were
persecuted, and many even killed, because of their passionate love for Jesus. The
teachings today reflect a mindset that seems to communicate, “If you come to my
conference and buy my CD’s, you can learn to be supernatural just like me!”

The following is an advertisement that appeared recently concerning a conference that

illustrates this point:

Supernatural Living Encounter

“Our goal is to release teaching of the supernatural to you so that a supernatural
way of life can be obtained! It is natural for God to be supernatural. This meeting will
be an encounter with the living, supernatural God. Experience what it is like to be in an

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encounter with the angelic and heavenly realms of God. Access Heaven in a way that
will change your life. Ezekiel 1 verse 1, “While I was among the exiles by the Kebar
River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” Jesus moved in supernatural
power everywhere He went. He has called us to do that very thing. Let us make a change
in our own lives at this encounter!”

Another conference advertised itself as an offering to train young children to “operate

in the supernatural ministries of the prophetic and signs and wonders.” Do we believe
children can minister supernaturally? Yes. Do we believe that children can be used
prophetically? Absolutely because the Bible says that, “Your sons and daughters shall
prophesy” (Joel 2:28). But before children are trained to “operate in the supernatural
ministries of the prophetic and signs and wonders,” we need to be sure they know and
love Jesus! We need to be sure they know and are memorizing their Bibles. We need to
be sure they know how to pray. And how to worship! Otherwise, we are doing little more
than opening up children to the spirit world in much the same way as Harry Potter! Is
knowing and loving Jesus no longer enough in the Church?
These conferences may give honor to God, and be a blessing to some people, but
probably not! Their advertisements can be interpreted in two entirely different ways,
depending upon the perspective of the reader. They might be interpreted by a Christian
as one that could help people grow in their walk with God in intimacy with the Holy
Spirit, and thus receive a greater anointing for ministry. They could also be interpreted as
an invitation to attend just one more New Age conference that opens people to the world
of spiritualism! Or worse still is the possibility that they may be a blending of the two!
One conference advertised they would be conducting spiritual “experiments” which mix
the Spirit with prophetic teaching, revival winds, and physics. This all sounds
remarkably similar to elements of the New Age.
Another recent advertisement offers teaching on how to develop a “supernatural
life.” It promises to teach attendees how to “encounter angelic and heavenly realms.”
Doesn’t spiritualist teaching do much of the same thing? Jesus moved in supernatural
power by yielding to His Father's will, and doing only those things which the Father led
Him to do. He did not just go about doing whatever He wanted to do, even though He
was the Son of God! The last statement in that ad is the most telling where it says, “Let
us make a change in our own lives at this encounter.”
What about the yielding of our wills to follow His will like the Lord Jesus did?
What about the death to self that the Bible teaches as a requirement for those who desire
to follow Jesus? That is bearing our crosses in surrender to follow Him, even when it is
difficult and requires great sacrifice, or even death. In some parts of the world, to
become a Christian is the same as receiving a death sentence, and yet people still abandon
all to serve Him as their Lord and Savior! What about prayer? What about fasting and
seeking the face of God for a greater anointing? These are issues covered in other parts
of this book. They are raised here to illustrate once again that the anointing and ability to
meet with God are not things that are easily acquired--like fast food at a drive-through
window! Let me repeat: The most telling statement in the preceding ad was the grand
finale which said, “Let us make a change in our own lives at this encounter.” Are they
speaking about repentance and surrender here, or is this a reference to personal
development and growth, by using the supernatural? There is a world of difference

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between the two! That difference is the Kingdom of God versus the kingdom of
darkness! A crystal clear distinction needs to be made between them. But in our day, the
lines between the two have become blurred. Christians who think they are doing things
in the Holy Spirit may really be involved with other spirits!

Carefully consider the following advertisement from a ministry that seeks to train
people in how to interpret dreams,

“Imagine that God has written you hundreds of letters about how He loves you, His plans
for you, and issues for you to pray about. But each of them is written in a mysterious
metaphorical language. Wouldn’t you want to learn that language? [This Video Series]
was created to help train the Church to understand this wonderful and mystifying form of
communication from God.”

The advertisement continues with a testimonial from one of its excited customers who
said,

“I have found there is no more consistent way of hearing from God than dream
interpretation. [This Video Series] is far and away the best place for training and
community.”

Can God speak to people through dreams? Absolutely! That is not the question here.
When Christians begin to receive their “mail from God” by dreams rather than by the
study of the Word of God revealed by the Person of the Holy Spirit who has been given
to the Church to be our teacher, they are bordering on the occult. It is so dangerous for
someone to begin delving into these things without the firm foundation of consistent
study of Scripture, prayer, worship, holiness, and a lifestyle based on reverential fear and
respect for the Lord. The possibilities for demonic deception and error are virtually
limitless when people begin to believe that dreams are the “most consistent way to hear
from God.” Are we really going to believe that unless we purchase CD’s and video’s
from people that hundreds of messages “written in a mysterious and metaphorical
language” from God are going to be missed? Do we now believe that God is incapable of
revealing Himself to His people unless they join a group, purchase products, and “be
trained” in dream interpretation?
The problem with much of what is being taught today is that it has been
influenced to some degree by New Age teachings. Many people don’t even realize it! It
has become a blending of the supernatural worlds of both darkness and light and many of
God’s people cannot differentiate between the two because they do not have a solid
spiritual foundation in their lives. They define their faith and walk with God by their own
personal experiences and the experiences of others. When they do that, they open
themselves up to the influences and deceptions of demonic powers. God commanded the
Israelites to either kill or drive out the inhabitants of the lands that He wanted His people
to possess! Why? The reason was that He wanted to rid the land of the demonic
influences that filled the religions of the inhabitants in order that these not infect the faith
of His people! These same influences are at work today and many in the Church don’t
even have a clue what they are involved in.

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 Look at the following Scriptures which are only a small sampling of what God
had to say about His people seeking after supernatural experiences that were not
grounded in His Word and orchestrated by the Holy Spirit.

“Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be
defiled by them: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:31).

“And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself
with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from His people.
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus
20:6-7).

“A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be
put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them”
(Leviticus 20:27).

“And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who
whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on
behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:19-20).

“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter
pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist,
or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination unto the
Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before
you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will
dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not
appointed such for you” (Deuteronomy 18:10-14).

“They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord!’
But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. Have you
not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The Lord
says,’ but I have not spoken. Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have
spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,’ says the Lord
God. My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they
shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of
Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the
Lord God” (Ezekiel 13: 6-10).

God wants to reveal Himself to His people. He wants to be the originator of

revelation. That is the reason why He has given His Holy Spirit to live in us, and His
Word for us to hide in our hearts. The Holy Spirit comes to take that Word and make it
live inside the people of God. The problem is that many Christians are not patient
enough to receive their revelation from the Holy Spirit by studying the Word of God,

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praying, fasting, obeying, and waiting for God to reveal Himself in their lives. They
want everything fast! They want it all right now! Therefore they go shopping for anyone
who claims to have a word for them! They want mystical experiences. They want to be
trained so that they can understand the “mysterious and metaphorical language” of God
and be equipped to receive the “hundreds of letters” God has been unsuccessfully
attempting to deliver to them! And this is very dangerous! People open themselves up to
the occult and a spirit of divination, and don't even realize it! God does reveal Himself to
people naturally and supernaturally. That is not the issue. The issue is concerning people
who go about seeking revelation through any means they can find it. Their zealousness
will ultimately lead to their destruction if they refuse to repent of their error.
According to the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, divination is
defined as follows: “Divination is the practice of consulting beings (divine, human, or
departed) or things (by observing objects or actions) in the attempt to gain information
about the future and such other matters as are removed from normal knowledge. The
above definition suggests the need for distinguishing between what might be termed
personal or intuitive, and impersonal methods. The term divination indicates that a
divine Being provides the information. Divination is related to magic, but is distinct from
it mainly in that the latter attempts to produce certain effects while the former seeks
knowledge.”38
Some people today cannot recognize the difference between the voice of the Lord
and another voice from a spirit of divination. Some would quote Jesus’ words from John
10:4-5, which says, “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and
the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a
stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The reason sheep do not follow the voice of strangers is that they have spent time
with the shepherd and know the difference! They know His voice because they have
heard the Holy Spirit revealing in their hearts as they spent time in His presence and in
His written Word! Some people today are hearing the voices of strangers and don’t
know the difference. And some teachers and prophets are giving people words because
people demand that they perform prophetically. Because they are under pressure from
people to perform, some give words that are not words from Heaven at all!
I heard the recent testimony of a successful pastor who claimed that a dead former
pastor of their church came and ministered to him one evening, and taught him some
things that would help him in pastoring that church. Where does the Bible say that God
is going to send dead pastors back to the earth to mentor the pastors that have come after
them? I recently listened to a CD series by a popular prophetic speaker about Christian
leaders from other generations who are now coming back from Heaven to help teach us.
I was under the impression because of what Jesus said in John 14-16 that this was going
to be the Holy Spirit’s job when He came to take over what Jesus had begun! They are
said to be a part of “the great cloud of witnesses.” The teacher claimed that Kathryn
Kuhlman, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Maria Woodsworh-Etter were visiting a young
girl, teaching her how to become a great healing evangelist when she grew up. From the
sound of the background noise on the CD’s, the audience loved everything that this
person was saying. But are these things true?
These kinds of things may get an excited reaction from the crowds, but what does

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God’s written Word have to say about these things? Doesn’t the Bible teach that
communicating with the dead is necromancy and is forbidden? When people start
seeking to have dead Christians come back to the earth from Heaven to bring them
revelation about spiritual things, they are very, very close to the occult, if they haven't
crossed over already! I walked into a hotel room in Santa Fe, New Mexico years ago.
Standing in the corner of the room was a tall, very thin, old and frail apparition of a man.
He would have been considered a ghost by some people, but looked like a devil to me,
and I told him just that! I spoke of the blood of Jesus, commanded him to get out of that
room and not return, in the name of Jesus! And instantly he vanished. I can only
imagine what the reaction might have been by many Christians in this hour! Some
people today would have probably thought that he was Smith Wigglesworth, invited him
to peach the following Sunday at their church, and then asked him to pray for them to
have his anointing!
Someone told me recently about two members of a Charismatic church near
where they lived that had begun visiting a psychic, seeking advice on decisions they
would be making in the future. When their friend challenged them on this, they replied
that the “Lord had shown them” that psychics are just like prophets, and get their insights
from the same source. They just aren’t saved yet, but their psychic abilities are from
God, and are more accurate than most prophecy in churches. We are truly living in
dangerous times of deception.

The Ministry of William Branham is Here, Again?

There is a great fascination today in the ministry of William Branham because of
the reports that followed his life, of angels, and the miracles of healing. People today
who are seeking spiritual power and healing ministries view Branham as being the
example to follow! He was a prophet of God and was used in phenomenal ways during
the Healing Revival of the 1940’s and 1950’s, and we seem to be hearing more about his
ministry all the time. Some people are actually praying that the same angel that
accompanied Branham will come and use them in like manner. Some prophets were
making this claim at the Lakeland Outpouring that happened in Florida during the
summer of 2008. One popular author and teacher recently wrote this about William
Branham:
“I believe he (Branham) was a token or prototype of an entire body of people who
will emerge as Jesus’ bridal company. By his own acknowledgment, Branham was a
harbinger of something new and fresh the Lord planned for the last days. This
supernatural dimension will be commonplace in end-time life and ministry.”

But are we sure that we want to use William Branham as a model for ministry?
He was greatly used by God in the early years of his ministry in healing and miracles.
However, his theology went from very shallow in the beginning days, to very dangerous
heresy before he left this life prematurely. William Branham taught such things as there
is no such thing as an eternal hell.39 He also taught that women were not a created
product of God, but rather just a by-product of man. He even suggested that women were
a lower rank of species than animals because they were created from nothing. He

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claimed that Eve had had sexual relations with the serpent in the Garden of Eden and
produced Cain. He said that God’s original intention for mankind’s multiplication was to
come from the dust of the earth like Adam. But Eve’s encounter with the serpent and her
resulting pregnancy with Cain had altered God’s plan. According to Branham, every
woman literally carries the seed of the devil. He believed that Cain built great cities
where scientists and intellectuals were born.
William Branham taught that since women introduced men to sex, polygamy was
brought about. Men could have many wives and could get a divorce anytime they chose.
They were free to marry again as long as it was to a virgin. He also taught that
denominationalism was the “mark of the Beast,” that Protestants were harlots, and
Catholics were the Beast. He predicted the destruction of the United States would begin
in 1977. He claimed that the day would come that a word from his mouth would change
people’s bodies into glorified bodies in order that they be ready for the Rapture of the
Church. He believed only in the Oneness doctrine of Jesus, and that those who believed
in the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were all from the
devil! All of these statements were truths he had received through divine revelation from
an angel who had come to bring him Heaven’s instructions.40
I was given a copy of a tract written by William Branham several years ago. As I
read it, I almost wanted to weep. Those teachings could have been refuted by any ten-
year-old child who had grown up attending Sunday School! This man had walked in
such a great anointing and seen God do so many marvelous things. It was so sad that he
could then find himself in such a state of total ignorance of the written Word of God. He
relied on his visitations of angels and their revelations to give him everything he had; and
because of that, Branham became what he did.
A man of God that I have known as a man of integrity for many years, and one
who has had a seasoned ministry all over the globe, told of being with William Branham
as he shared in a pastor’s meeting. Branham told of how the Lord had warned him
against ever giving himself over to a spirit of divination, which is a demonic copy of the
word of knowledge. When God gives a person a word like that, it is intended as a stern
warning of something that can and will happen if they aren’t extremely vigilant.
Branham’s mother was from Native American descent and a long line of witch doctors
who practiced divination. They had been in his mother’s side of the family for many
generations. William Branham came from a direct lineage going back several
generations that had carried the mantle of a shaman.
After about ten years of awesome ministry under the genuine anointing of the
Holy Spirit, Branham’s prophetic mantle began to lift. He increasingly found it difficult
to operate in the word of knowledge that he had become so accustomed to in the past. In
spite of this, the invitations to minister continued to come, and people expected him to be
able to minister as before. The man I know who was in Branham’s meetings and heard
his testimony about the warning from the Lord, said that it appears that over time, the
seer anointing which operated through Branham waned, and a spirit of divination took its
place. When this happened, William Branham’s life and ministry became open to
deception and error from the devil, and the dangerous heresy began.
Men of God such as Gordon Lindsay and Kenneth Hagin went to their friend,
William Branham, and warned him of his errors; but Branham would not hear them. God
spoke to Kenneth Hagin two years before Branham died. He prophesied that God was

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going “to remove the prophet from the scene” if he didn’t repent of the errors he was
teaching that were beginning to do great harm to the Body of Christ. Kenneth Hagin was
ministering when he heard that Branham had been critically injured in an automobile
accident. He called the people to the front of the church that they might pray. As he
knelt down, the Lord spoke to him saying, “What are you praying for? I’ve told you that
I am taking him.” Hagin got up, unable to pray any further.41

William Branham was finally buried on April 11, 1966 after his untimely death in
an automobile accident on December 29, 1965. Many people expected him to be
resurrected from the dead. Rumors of his returning to life continued to circulate even
through the 1980’s. His followers today refer to themselves as “Branhamites.” Churches
with large pictures of Branham hanging behind their pulpits are some of the largest in
Africa. I have personally seen them there, and they appeared to be flourishing. His
followers have never really accepted his death, and hold out the hope that William
Branham will return from the dead. Apparently he has, through the abundance of
teaching that predominates these days concerning the miracles in his life.
Maybe one of William Branham’s contemporaries such as Oral Roberts, who
ministered miracles and healing in those same days, would be a better role model for the
Church to emulate. What about Lester Sumrall and the wonderful work he did for Jesus
around the globe that continues on today through the ministry he left behind? What
about Kenneth Hagin who also ministered healing in that same time period? Hagin was
used by God to touch the world because of his revelations on healing and faith that were
firmly grounded in the Word of God! He lived well and was a blessing to multitudes
right up until the day he went to Heaven. The impact of his life and teaching continues
today. We need to pattern our lives and ministries after those who not only started the
race, but finished; leaving behind a legacy of integrity, truth, and blessing that can be
passed on to future generations. William Branham was not one of those people, and
teachers today need to stop representing him in the false claim that he was.
We honor the work that God did early in William Branham’s life, but we must
also learn from the mistakes that he made that were so damaging. We must not deny the
error as though it never happened. There is no reason to fear knowing the whole truth in
a matter. He gave in to the pressure to perform to people’s expectations. When the
anointing of the Holy Spirit was not there to do the work, he yielded to a demonic spirit,
and his ministry began its fateful decline into error, and ultimately his own death.
According to some today, the ministry of William Branham has almost become
the gold standard that the Church should be striving to attain. Why is Branham’s name
being used so often? Do the miracles and healings that accompanied his ministry early
on, supersede the fact that this man taught dangerous doctrinal error that opposed the
written Word of God? His “revelations from God” weren’t from God at all. They
opposed some of the most fundamental teachings from the Scriptures. Why can’t we just
be honest and tell the entire story of Branham’s life? No effort is being made here to
discard the entire ministry of William Branham. There is much we can learn from the
good, but we need to be forewarned about the error and mistakes he made, that we might
avoid doing the same things.

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 The True Price and Purpose of Spiritual Power
God wants to make us vessels of His power and glory. He wants to heal the sick
and do many mighty acts using ordinary people. That is sure. But the question is, “How
to we get to that place of being used?” And more importantly, “Why do we seek to have
the power of God in our lives?”
The answers to these questions are really quite simple. These things are found
only in a place of death to self--absolute surrender of our lives, our wills, our agendas,
our pride, and all that we hold dear. It is taking up our own personal cross to follow
Jesus with abandonment! Being used by God is not something bought and paid for like
piano lessons. One of the greatest ministries of the 20th century was that of Kathryn
Kuhlman. Millions of people were touched by the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit
that was felt in her meetings. Miracles of healing flowed through the crowds of people
that came, without her ever having to pray for people. They were miraculously healed
just being there! I have personally heard Kathryn Kuhlman say time and again, “This
ministry has cost me everything. Absolutely everything! No one but Jesus will ever
know. I have died a thousand deaths in order to follow the One that I love.” She also
said, “The secret to the anointing is death to self.”

Smith Wigglesworth had one of the most remarkable healing ministries since the
Book of Acts. He operated in an incredible measure of faith and anointing. But Smith
Wigglesworth was a man of prayer. A newspaper reporter was traveling with him in a
carriage when suddenly, Wigglesworth ordered the driver to stop. He jumped out and
knelt down to pray. He asked the Lord for forgiveness because he realized that he had
gone 30 minutes without praying or mentioning the name of Jesus. He was a man of the
Word of God as well. At the conclusion of every meal, he would take out his Bible and
before reading, tell the guests, “We’ve just enjoyed a meal for the feeding of our bodies.
Now it’s time to enjoy a meal that feeds our spirits.”
Charles Finney was one of the greatest revivalists ever. But he was also a man of
passionate prayer. He interceded for many hours before the meetings that souls would be
saved. His main intercessor, Father Nash, went to towns several days in advance of
Finney just to pray for the town before the meetings began. He locked himself away in a
hotel for many hours of intercession for the meetings before Finney ever arrived. Study
the lives of all those who have been used by God in great ways, and you’ll discover they
were all people of prayer who had a passion for the written Word of God.
There are no shortcuts to receiving an anointing of the Holy Spirit for
supernatural ministry. People who seek God’s power without having a passionate love
for His presence in prayer and the Word are in a dangerous place! Those who only
seek the power of God so they can use it for their own purposes, without learning to yield
their lives to God in holiness and repentance, are on a fast track to disaster. The
anointing of the Holy Spirit for supernatural ministry is absolutely free. But just because
it is free, don’t make the mistake of thinking that it is cheap. It’s not. Actually, it will
eventually cost us everything. But even so, it is still the best bargain around! This
anointing of the Holy Spirit can only be purchased through death to ourselves, and
passionate reverence for God.

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 The Fear and Reverence of God Is the Firewall of Protection
Chapter two of this book is devoted solely to understanding the fear of the Lord,
so it isn’t necessary to repeat those things here. God wants to increasingly use His people
in supernatural ministry in the days ahead. The question is not whether we can faithfully
trust God for these things. The real question is whether or not God can trust us to be
faithful in what He gives us to use! The power of God without a holy respect and the
reverential fear of God will bring about our own destruction. There are ministries today
that can demonstrate the gifts and power of God, but have no love, honor, respect, and
reverential fear of the presence of God. Invariably they crash, and take many
disillusioned Christian sheep with them. The history of the Church is littered with the
wreckage of those who knew the supernatural power of God, but had no fear of the Lord,
and they all ended up the same way!
Imagine a person who makes his living as an electrician. He is thoroughly trained
and has learned his profession under the careful supervision of others. Every day he
works, installing and repairing wiring and equipment that transports the power of
electricity. He probably enjoys his work. But he should never forget the great power of
the electricity that he works with every day. It is an invisible force that, if treated with
respect, is capable of opening a world of conveniences that run off that power. But if
electricity is treated in a careless or disrespectful manner, it can become a frightening
force capable of producing serious injury and death. Electricians work with electricity
every day; but they understand that its laws must not be violated, nor its power treated in
a casual or haphazard manner. To do so can be deadly.
A pilot may enjoy the thrill of flying, but must never lose respect for it. Every
moment at the controls has inherent within it the danger of death, if carelessness is
present. Nothing must be taken for granted. Everything that can be done must be done to
insure safety. I remember the words of a seasoned airline pilot two days before he was
scheduled to retire. He said, “At the end of my flying career, hopefully I will have
achieved my number-one goal in aviation. My goal has always been to see my number of
successful takeoffs equal my number of successful landings.” Well spoken.
I once heard a famous NASCAR driver say, “If you ever lose the fear of the race;
that is the day you need to retire, because fear is the race car driver’s best friend because
it is fear that keeps him alive.” He understood so well that traveling at almost two
hundred miles per hour, separated from the other cars by a matter of feet, meant
catastrophe was always only a heartbeat away. There is never a time in the race when a
driver can become casual about what he is doing.
A great preacher whom I greatly respect once told me that after seventy years of
full-time ministry, there was never a time that he stepped into the pulpit to preach that he
didn’t have a sense of anxiety and fear that what he was about to do, be done right and in
a manner that was pleasing to God. He understood that the hearts of God’s people were
open to hear what God wanted to say to them, and he felt a great load of responsibility to
insure that he did it right. He knew that one day he would give an account to God for
what he did or didn’t do in that place! And after seventy years and many thousands of
sermons, he still felt the awesome responsibility before God for what he was about to do.
One of the greatest dangers of ministering in the anointing of the Holy Spirit is

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that it can have an intoxicating effect. It is very easy to believe that we really are the
person doing it! Who we are under His anointing, and who we are in reality, are two
entirely different people. That can be very dangerous if we aren’t very, very careful.
More ministries that had great anointing have gone down in flames than those who had
no anointing.

When Moses stood before the burning bush in Exodus 3, God spoke to him and
told him to take off his shoes, for the ground on which he stood was holy. It was then
that Moses really understood what was happening to him. He was actually having a
meeting with God! And the Bible said that he hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon
God.
Those who desire to minister in the supernatural power of God would do well to
develop a great fear of the Lord! It is the fear of the Lord that becomes the firewall that
helps keep people from drifting over into the realm of the occult! It is the fear of the
Lord that prevents people from abusing the anointing of God. It is the fear of the Lord
that keeps people from being included in this group: “Many shall say unto Me in that
day; ‘Lord, Lord. Have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name,
and done many mighty works in Your name? And I will say unto them, ‘Depart from Me
for I never knew you.’” You may be interested to know that people who have been raised
by strict parents find it easiest to fear God.

We Are Called to Walk by Faith and Obedience

God has given us the wonderful Person of the Holy Spirit to be our teacher and
guide. He has come to reveal the great truth of the Word of God in our hearts. It is a
process of unfolding revelation. As we respond in obedience, He gives us more
revelation. Or put another way, why would God give me more truth if I haven't started
walking in the truth He's already given me?
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared on several occasions to His disciples. In
John 20:24, Jesus appeared but Thomas was not present. When the others told him that
Jesus was risen and had appeared to them, he replied, “Unless I see in His hands the
print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His
side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, Jesus appeared to them all and He turned to Thomas and said,
“‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it
into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to
Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen me,
you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John
20:27-29).

Jesus actually said that those who believe and obey, having not seen, shall have a
greater blessing than those who have seen. Why? The answer is that God has always
demanded that those who are His followers “walk by faith and not by sight.” But those
who claim to be having continual angelic appearances, prophetic encounters, and Third

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Heaven visitations need to examine their motives. Are they preoccupied with only
having more experiences for the sake of having experiences? Or are they out preaching
the Gospel, calling people to repentance and change, thus destroying the devil’s kingdom
in the earth? For those who say that they have had these experiences with God, having
faith to see God do great things for other people should come easily. There must be a
balance here. Because of the revelations and experiences that we have had, we need to be
striving to walk at a higher level of faith, obedience, consecration, and holiness; because
to whom much is given by God, more is going to be expected in return.

The Great Simplicity That is In Christ

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your
minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes
preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit
which you have not received, or a different Gospel which you have not accepted - you
may well put up with it” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

It has been my privilege to have been allowed to preach the Gospel of Jesus
Christ around the globe. I watched as multitudes have rushed to the platform in Third
World countries, desperate to accept Jesus as their Lord after having just heard the
Gospel. I have stood in amazement as I watched God heal people of physical diseases
before my eyes. I have witnessed demon-possessed people as they fell to the ground
under the power of God, screaming and struggling to cover their ears so they will not
hear the name of Jesus. And I’ve seen those same people set totally free and returned to
sanity at the sound of the mighty name of Jesus and the power of the blood He shed on
the cross!
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God released in the earth.
I’ve seen it flow, and I’ve seen the wonderful, life-giving, transforming fruit left behind
in the changed lives of people who have received it and made it their own. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ changes individuals, changes families, and changes nations!
Many Christians today appear to want to be like super-heroes who go streaking
through the stratosphere at Mach 4 with their hair on fire, on some kind of a mission from
God! They make great claims of regular third Heaven visits, daily angelic encounters,
and glory realm exploits. They run from conference to conference in search of their
double anointing, triple anointing, and the ultimate unlimited anointing. They claim to
have regular smack-downs with the principalities and powers who rule over nations.
They consider themselves to be a part of an elite group of “Charismatic special op’s” who
parachute into the devil’s kingdom in the dark of night performing great exploits in the
supernatural realms. But at the end of the day, when the dust has settled and the smoke
has cleared, what is the fruit that they have to show in their lives?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. And that Gospel works! It’s not
complicated. It’s not written in some secret code that people must have a seer anointing
to decipher. The Gospel is remarkably simple, and it works when people will receive it in
child-like faith, believe it to be true, and then obey it! As I have traveled across the Body
of Christ, I have seen and heard many things. Sometimes, I have gone away thinking to

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myself, “If what I am hearing and seeing is really God, it is a God I don’t think I even
know.” The problem is that I simply cannot find anywhere in the Bible so many of the
things that people teach, yet Christians are accepting these things as fact! It’s simply not
there. And if it’s not there, why do we continue to pursue these things? I think one of the
reasons these things sound so exciting, is that people like to be entertained.
Many people in the Church today would be so blessed if they would spend a year
reading only the four Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus is not
complicated! The Gospel is not difficult to understand. This was what Paul was
referring to when he wrote to the Corinthian Church in the Scripture cited previously.
People have a tendency to want to complicate things that really aren’t that difficult. The
reason they go in search of new truths is usually that they are unhappy with the truths
God has already revealed, and would prefer something else. Is Jesus no longer enough
for the Church that we now need all these new supernatural exploits, which may sound
intriguing but accomplish nothing? Many people today seem to think that ministry looks
more like a computer game being played out on Xbox! That isn’t the way God ever
intended things to be. We need to read the red portions of the four Gospels, pray for the
same power the disciples had, and then just obey the Father like Jesus did!
Everything written in this chapter and in this book has been written with a heart of
love for people, and a passionate love for Jesus’ Church. No names of individuals or
ministries still living are mentioned, because what is written here is not intended to be an
attack on anyone personally; It is intended to be a challenge to certain teachings and
practices which are growing in popularity that a sense of balance can return to the Body
of Christ. We all desperately want more of God. We just need to be sure that in our
desperation we get the real thing. Sergio Scataglini once asked this question, “If your
drinking water was 99% pure and 1% sewage, would you still drink it?” Some of the
teachings that are now seeping into the Church would be a fair comparison to this
question.
The reader is encouraged to simply do two things: First, Examine the evidence to
see if the things being heard today agree with God’s written Word. Second, simply
compare the teachings, the testimonies, and the lives of leaders today--with the teachings,
the testimonies, and the lives of other men and women of God from past revivals. They
produced lasting and eternal fruit that has stood the test of time. This is the reason so
many Scriptures and historical references are made in this book. Do your own research
from Scripture and history, and then compare what you find with much of what we hear
today. Then you decide for yourself what the truth is about these issues.

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 Chapter Twelve

The Five Righteous Judgments of God

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it
begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?
Now ‘if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner
appear?’”
1 Peter 4:17-18

The Bible teaches that there are five types of judgments in which God examines
and then judges people. These are based upon the decisions they have made that have
governed their actions while they lived in the earth. The word judgment is not
necessarily a negative thing! Some of the judgments of God open the floodgates to great
blessing and unimaginable rewards, while others lead to correction intended as loving
discipline. Sadly, some of the judgments of God lead to punishment for all of eternity.
Some of the judgments of God take place while people are still alive in this life, while
others take place after they have died, and appear before the Lord. For those who have
loved and respected God, the judgment of God is something to look forward to with the
highest sense of expectancy, for it shall be a moment of great blessing and reward. For
those who have lived their lives in varying degrees of rebellion or lawlessness, however,
the judgment of God should be feared!
The theme that runs throughout this book concerns the present-day attitude that
exists in many places throughout the Body of Christ. It essentially says that God can be
treated in a casual manner, and is not to be respected or feared. Some Christians believe
that because of His great love, mercy, and grace, people have little need to be concerned
about such things as reverence, the fear of the Lord, repentance, or holiness. Many now
believe that church is intended to be more for the entertainment of people than the
entertainment of the holy presence of God. They believe that Church should be casual,
contemporary, entertaining, and non-offensive in all that it does. The gospel of unlimited
grace and no rules Christianity is lawlessness, and is actually “a different Gospel” (Read
Galatians 1:6-10). This is not the Gospel portrayed in the Bible. And it is rapidly leading
many people into deception. This new Gospel is one that excludes any reference to the
fear of the Lord, because according to today’s mindset, there is nothing about the Lord
that people need to fear! This chapter is dedicated to showing through the Scriptures that
the immeasurable love, abundant mercy, and bountiful grace of God must be balanced
with a healthy and holy fear. This kind of fear comes from understanding that God is
also holy, powerful, and just; and that as part of His nature, He will in fact bring
judgment on individuals, churches, and nations both in this life as well as throughout

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eternity. There is much emphasis in this book on the fear and reverence of God.
Hopefully this chapter will be an encouragement to the reader by giving more
understanding into why our Heavenly Father should be respected by His people, realizing
that we will one day give an account to Him for our actions.
This pattern of the righteous and holy justice of God being weighed with His
desire to extend love, mercy and grace, runs throughout the entirety of Scripture! I began
with Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. They sinned and betrayed God. They
immediately understood the severity of what they did, and sought to hide from His
presence. Yet it was God who came seeking them, calling out, “Adam, where are you?”
(Genesis 3:9). Even though they had just sinned against Him, and were deserving of
immediate and total destruction, He was the One who found them and then made “tunics
of skin” (Genesis 3:21) which was a forerunner of the first blood covering atonement for
sin! Even though their sin demanded justice and judgment, God was seeking a way to
provide atonement and escape, because of His love, mercy, and grace! He has not
changed, and does the same today!

The First Judgment of God:

The Loving But Corrective Judgment by God of His People
Now
God is a loving Father. Because of His great love for His people, He reserves the
right to bring discipline and correction to His people when they engage in attitudes and
actions that are displeasing to Him. His motivation in His displeasure is that He
understands us far better than we can even begin to understand ourselves. He knows that
our sinful ways, if allowed to go unchecked, will ultimately bring us to destruction and
hell. Because of His love for us, He always seeks to keep us from anything that does
harm, leading us instead into the ways of blessing and safety. His motivation in
discipline is always for our good, and never for the harm of His people. He is always a
good and loving Father!

Why God Says “No” to His People

One of the most often misunderstood aspects of God’s nature is His motivation
for saying “No” to His people. Some have referred to this as legalism. Others probably
think it is because God wants to take away His people’s fun. But in reality, the only
reason God says “No” to us about anything is because He loves us and seeks to keep us
from harm!
My son and I were out for a late afternoon walk in our neighborhood which has an
abundance of water surrounding it. We were walking on an asphalt path by a small lake.
Suddenly, my son put out his arm in front of me and shouted, “No!” Right in front of us
on this walking path was a water moccasin, a very poisonous snake, coiled and ready to
strike. Had my son not stopped me, I would have stepped right on it and surely have
been bitten. We backed up and the snake slithered into the grass and back into the water.

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 Whenever God says, “No” it is always because there is a deadly snake of sin
which is about to strike if we continue on our present course. His “No!” of conviction is
His loving attempt to keep us from walking right into a harmful or even deadly situation!
An earthly Father who never gives discipline to his children destroys them. A
father who loves his children is one who makes rules, and issues punishment to them for
violating his instructions. Because he loves them, he doesn’t hesitate to say, “No!” His
punishment is not intended as retaliation or abuse. It is fair, and intended to insure his
children’s blessing and safety! The following Scripture illustrates this truth about God:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you
are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son
whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what
son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which
all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have
had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more
readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days
chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of
His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have
been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:4-11).

Jesus issued a harsh rebuke to the Church of Laodicea concerning their

“lukewarm” commitment to Him in Revelation 3:14-18. They believed themselves to be
“rich and have become wealthy” but He called them “wretched, miserable, poor, blind,
and naked” and threatened that He would vomit them out of His mouth if they did not
repent and change! A rebuke like that against a church could not be much stronger! And
yet in verse 19 He said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous
and repent.” So even though He found their spiritual condition nauseating, His harsh
words came from the great love He still had for them, and His wanting them to repent so
He could bless them once more.
In John 15, Jesus spoke of Himself being the vine and His people being the
branches, and the importance of branches staying connected to the vine from which life
flowed. But He also described the Father as being the “vinedresser.” Speaking of His
role as the One who prunes and cuts away all that is dead, Jesus said, “Every branch in
Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch in Me that bears fruit He
prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2).

God is a good and wonderful Father, even though sometimes it doesn’t seem so!
Because of His love, He will bring correction and rebuke to His people over sin in their
lives in order that He can release greater blessing and intimacy! That comes only
through holiness and repentance. This is not a popular teaching in the church world
today, but it is true nonetheless. Intimacy and fellowship with God are impossible
outside of the understanding that He is holy, and that He intends to recreate His nature
and character in the lives of those who spend time with Him. Many today consider an
idea such as this as being religion and tradition. In a sense they are right. It has been a
tradition with God that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when God first
began the process of undoing the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin in order to create

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His holiness in their lives once more. Those who would reject the notion that God seeks
to perfect holiness in the lives of His people would do well to read 1 Thessalonians 4:7,
which says, “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who
rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

God does bring judgment, discipline, and correction to His people because of His
great love for them, and His desire to separate them from the pollution of sin and
rebellion. Those will keep people from knowing true fellowship with Him, and enjoying
His blessings and protections in their lives.
For anyone who has ever been in the United States Marine Corps, their first true
impression of the Marines was formed while they were in boot camp. Boot camp was
never intended to be a place of blessing or a time of refreshing. The drill sergeant was
not always in a good mood. In fact, the drill sergeant was never in a good mood! It was
a place of soaking; soaking sweat, soaking rain, soaking mud, and soaking sore bodies.
Boot camp was a place of screaming, yelling, pain, and insults that were done in an
attempt to break down all rebellion in the new recruits. Rebellion is replaced with
unwavering discipline and commitment to being the best soldier someone could be.
Why? Because boot camp was designed to begin the process of building Marines that
could defeat an enemy in the day of battle. The discipline, pain, and struggle of that
training would be necessary and invaluable in a time of war.

A young boy stood watching a wood sculptor as he carved a beautiful eagle out of
a large tree trunk. The boy asked the man how he did that. The man wisely replied,
“Son, it’s really quite easy. I just take my tools and begin to carve away everything in
this big block of wood that doesn’t look like an eagle.” That is exactly what the
discipline and correction of God does in His people. He takes us through the sometimes
painful process of cutting away everything that doesn’t look like Jesus! His purpose is
always to build, and never tear down. His desire is always motivated by love and
blessing. But God is willing to bring what may seem as harsh judgment to His people at
times with the intention of producing blessing in the end.

The Second Judgment of God:

When God Executes Judgment For Sin Resulting in Death
There are times when God sends judgment as punishment for repeated refusal to
obey His voice. This judgment is one of the hardest for us to face, but it is a reality.
There are times when God chooses to execute immediate judgment on a person or even a
nation which results in their destruction. Many today would say that God doesn’t do
these kinds of things anymore. They say that all of His wrath was poured out upon Jesus
at the cross, and now we are living in days where we enjoy the overflowing love and
grace of God. But does the Bible really teach this? What about history? Let’s look at
some examples that seem to indicate a pattern in God’s dealings with mankind. This is
much different from what is fashionably taught in many places today.
There are many accounts in Scripture which illustrate the judgment of God on

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people who have offended Him. The account beginning in Genesis 6 of the great flood
which destroyed all of mankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, is the most
glaring example of God’s willingness to execute final judgment for sin.
“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was
sorry that He made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord
said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and
beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:5-8).

In Numbers 16, we find the story of Korah, a gifted leader with a charismatic
personality who attracted the loyalty of other influential people. They sought to lead a
rebellion against the leadership of Moses. He felt that he and these other men were just
as capable as Moses was, and accused Moses of taking on too much responsibility and
using it to exalt himself. The anger of the Lord was quickly kindled against these rebels
who were challenging the man whom God had called and anointed. Moses and Korah,
with his followers, all came to a place for confrontation. Read what happened next. It
reveals what God can do when He decides to execute immediate and final judgment.

“Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground
split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their
households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with
them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from
among the assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they
said, ‘Lest the earth swallow us up also!’ And a fire came out from the Lord and
consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense” (Numbers 16:31-
34).

In chapter two, you read of Uzzah's disrespectful attitude about the Ark where
God's glory rested. And remember God's judgment? “Then the anger of the Lord was
aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the
ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:7).

But some people will immediately say that those accounts are things that God did
in the Old Testament, and He would not do those things today because now we live under
a new covenant of grace and mercy. They would prefer to believe that those kinds of
harsh and immediate judgments ended with the coming of Jesus and the institution of the
new covenant. But is that true? What about the account in Acts 5 regarding Ananias and
his wife Sapphira? They sinned by deliberately lying in the manifested presence of God
that was being poured out in Peter’s meetings. And when they did, the Bible says that
they both died instantly and were buried that same day (Read Acts 5:3-10).
What about the sorcerer Elymas who confronted Paul in Acts 13? Paul spoke the
harsh judgment of God on this evil man saying, “‘Oh full of all deceit and all fraud, you
son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight
ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be
blind, not seeing the sun for a time.’ And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he

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went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand” (Acts 13:10-11).

To those who would continue to believe that God no longer does those kinds of
things in the New Testament, or now in this period of grace, would do well to read about
what happened to Herod in Acts 12.
“So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an
oration to them. And the people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’
Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God.
And he was eaten by worms and died” (Acts 12:21-23).

Remember that these events took place after the cross and resurrection in the early
days of the new covenant which was based upon the love and grace of God. These
accounts are included here to illustrate the simple truth that God never changes. In the
Old Testament, He was a God of lavish grace, love, kindness, and mercy; as well as being
willing to execute immediate judgment for sin if He chose to do so. In the New
Testament, He is still the same as He was in the Old Testament! He remains full of
grace, and mercy, and abundant love; but He is still more than prepared to execute
judgment when He deems it necessary. This is the reason Christians must love and
worship Him with respect and honor, and not abuse His love and grace by lawlessness
and rebellion.

The Third Judgment of God:

When God Brings His Judgment on Entire Nations
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs
14:34).

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His
own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12).

It is difficult for many Christians to understand that God brings judgment on

entire nations when their sin becomes intolerable to Him. Sodom and Gomorrah are
examples of God’s judgment being executed. He completely destroyed two entire cities
with fire and brimstone because of their perversion and homosexuality (Genesis 18 and
19). But look at the conversation He had with Abraham before the judgment actually
came! God would have spared these cities from destruction if only fifty righteous people
who feared Him could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah. When fifty people could not
be found, God agreed to spare these cities if only forty-five could be found. And then the
number needed to escape the coming holocaust decreased again to forty. Then the price
of receiving mercy dropped to only thirty people, which could not be found. And then
Abraham requested a lower number, only 20 people who honored God. They could not
be found either. The number needed for God to withhold judgment was lowered once
more. Abraham could not find ten people who feared the Lord and thus would prevent
Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction. So he stopped the negotiation with God. And the
destruction of these cities was sealed, and everyone within their borders. God was

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looking for a way to extend mercy and grace, and preserve even the wicked cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah, if only ten people could be found that honored and served Him in
that place. Because ten didn’t exist, the awful and fiery judgment of God came, and
Sodom and Gomorrah and everyone in them were completely destroyed.
Read the story of the prophet Jonah. He was sent by God to Nineveh to declare
that judgment and total destruction would come to them in forty days, if they didn't
repent of their sin. When Nineveh finally heard the prophetic word delivered by Jonah,
they repented in sackcloth and ashes with fasting. Because of the genuine sorrow in their
hearts, the severe judgment and total destruction was withheld. God’s mercy replaced
His justice. God will always extend mercy if people are genuinely sorry for their sins and
will repent!
There were many occasions in Israel’s history when God brought judgment upon
His people as a nation. They were conquered and taken into captivity by other nations,
all because of their sin, rebellion, and their refusal to obey His Word and repent (Read
Jeremiah 20:4).
In Luke 19, we read the story of Jesus weeping as He entered Jerusalem for the
last time. He saw in the Spirit the destruction that was going to come upon Jerusalem and
the Jewish people. This was fulfilled by the Romans in 70 AD, and God’s people were
scattered across the earth. Yet it all came on them because, as Jesus said, “You did not
know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44).
One of the most famous promises of God’s willingness to send revival and
restoration to a nation is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. But let’s read verse 13 first.

“When I shut up the heavens that there be no rain, or command locusts to devour
the land, or send pestilence among My people; if My people who are called by My name
shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from Heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:13-
14).

This Scripture does not fit with the modern day theology that God is always in a
good mood and is not capable of sending anything but lavish blessings to His people.
This Scripture clearly states that He is not only capable of sending judgment, but will in
fact do it because He used the words, “When I shut up the heavens….” And then He
gave the remedy that would turn everything around, which is humility, prayer, seeking
His face, and repentance! Those things always bring change and healing, sparing people
from the judgments of God in whatever form they may come! This is the reason that we,
as God’s people, always hold the destiny of nations in our hands. When we serve and
honor Him, living lives before Him in reverence and respect, our nations will be blessed.
When we depart from Him and live in lawlessness and rebellion, judgment always comes
to the entire nation!
In the introduction of this book, a story was shared about the father who sacrificed
his only son to save the lives of hundreds of people who he didn’t even know. It was a
heart-breaking event, and one which undoubtedly haunted the father for the rest of his
life. That father did something that day which was the right thing to do, under those
circumstances. But when the God of all creation willingly gave His only Son, our Lord
Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins, He owed us absolutely nothing. The right thing to

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do in this case was to simply let mankind perish as punishment for their sinful ways! But
because of His great love for mankind, He was compelled to find another way! So He
allowed Jesus to pay the full and complete price for justice to be served, and still keep
mankind for Himself. It is a mystery that we will only fully understand in the ages to
come in eternity.
There must be a balance in our hearts between the great love, mercy, and grace of
God, while at the same time recognizing that God is holy and, because of His very nature,
He is a God of justice.

The Fourth Judgment of God:

The Final Judgments of God at the End of the Age
“As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews
9:27).

There are very few certainties in this world; but one of the things we can be
absolutely confident about is that everyone is going to die one day. Unless Jesus comes
and catches people away, everyone will die at some point in time. For some, such as the
elderly or terminally ill, their approaching death will be anticipated. For others, it can
come suddenly and with no warning through a variety of ways. But by whatever means,
death eventually comes to everyone. And depending upon the person's life and
relationship with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, everyone ultimately arrives
at one of two final destinations where they will spend eternity. Those who have received
salvation by faith in the blood that Jesus shed on the cross will spend eternity in Heaven.
Everyone else will be lost forever in a place of torment called Hell. It’s really that
simple. The most important decision a person will ever make in this life is to accept the
Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Their eternal destination depends
upon that one factor.
A recent random survey revealed that 85% of the participants believe there really
is a place called Heaven. Interestingly, 87% of those reported that they believed they
were going to go there when they died. When asked why they believed that, the majority
gave answers which said that if people live good lives and treat others well, they can be
pretty assured of going to Heaven when they die. The question that should be asked is,
“Am I positive about this, or do I just hope it is true?” After all, probably close to 100%
of those same people who were interviewed once believed in Santa Claus, the Easter
Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy! It would seem that one of the most important things we
would want to be absolutely sure of in this life is where we will spend eternity!
Some people want to delay the consideration of such a thought. Many would
prefer to deny that hell even exists. But are those people really sure they want to wager
the destination of their eternal souls on such a bet? We know the Bible is true, but for
those who aren’t, I would like to pose a question. Imagine yourself going to the airport to
catch a plane, and the airline representative who was checking you in said something like
this:
“Good morning and welcome to “Take Your Chance Airlines.” There is a 90%
probability that your flight will not crash today, and that you will arrive safely at your

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destination. There is, however, always a 10% chance it will crash … but we seem to be
doing somewhat better than that lately.”

Are you going to get a boarding pass and be encouraged in the fact that 90% of
the time the passengers live to tell about their flight? A 90% success rate versus a 10%
failure rate may be pretty good for some things, but not an airline flight!
Would someone who is 90% convinced that the Bible is error and doesn’t contain
the truth, but allows for a 10% chance that it is truth, still be willing to take those same
odds about dying and going to hell? Is there at least a 10% chance that the Bible is true
and hell does exist? That question is food for some serious thought! If there is only a
10% chance that the Bible is true and there really is a place called hell, it would seem that
people would be doing everything they could to insure themselves against the 10%
probability of going there! But the world has been blinded by sin, and people simply
don’t consider such things.

The Day of Rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ

In today’s Church, one of the least taught truths from God’s Word is the fact that
Christians will one day stand before God to give an account for the lives they have lived,
and be judged by God. That may come as a shock to even the readers of this book! But
it is true nonetheless. For those who have passionately lived their lives in love and
obedience to Jesus, this will be a day of indescribable joy and blessing. They will
personally receive from Jesus their eternal reward for their obedience and faithfulness.
For those who have lived their lives foolishly, splitting loyalty between themselves and
Jesus, it will be a day of great disappointment and regret. They will go to Heaven, but
will suffer great regret over the rewards and blessings that could have belonged to them
had they only been 100% sold out to Jesus while they lived upon the earth. Let’s
examine the following Scriptures:

“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your
brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, ‘As
I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10-12).

This judgment will not determine whether or not a person goes to Heaven or hell.
That issue was settled when the person received Jesus into his heart by faith, had his past
sins forgiven, and the Holy Spirit came to live in his heart. Only those people who are
saved will stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Consider the following
Scriptures from Paul to the Church at Corinth:
“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to
Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or
bad” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

“But let each one take heed how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can

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anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this
foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will
become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire
will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he built on it
endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he
himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

The greatest day that a faithful Christian will ever know will be that Day when
they stand before the Lord Jesus and hear Him say, “Well done My good and faithful
servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord and all that I have prepared for you because of
your faithfulness in serving Me while you lived upon the earth” (Author’s paraphrase of
Matthew 25:21) It will be a day of great joy when Christians receive recognition, honor,
and eternal reward for being faithful to Jesus while they lived upon the earth.
The Judgment Seat of Christ is not about accountability and sentencing for sins
committed against God. When people receive Jesus as both their Lord and Savior, their
sins are completely forgiven; so much so that it is as if the sins had never even been
committed in the first place! The love and grace of God covers it all. His mercy is
complete in the forgiving of all the sentence of death. This was so deserved because of
the offenses against Him. That is the reason that Paul wrote to the Church at Rome
saying, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who
do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).

But there will be an accounting to be made for the lives we have lived in the earth.
Speaking of this great truth Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but
also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

"Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both
bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then
each one's praise will come from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

Let’s look at some of the things that deserve rewards on that great Day. Those
who have endured persecution because of their testimony of Jesus will be rewarded
greatly. Speaking of this fact, Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile and
persecute you, and say kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be
exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets
who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

Jesus also commented about our attitudes toward our enemies: “But love your
enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great,
and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil” (Luke
6:35).
For those Christians who gave their lives as martyrs for Jesus, there will be a
place of great honor. This is of the highest value to those who are in Heaven.
Doing charitable deeds without receiving the acclaim of people will be rewarded

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by God in that Day, as well. Jesus spoke of this when He said, “Take heed that you do
not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no
reward from your Father in Heaven… and your Father who sees in secret will Himself
reward you openly” (Matthew 6:1,4).

Some of the great heroes in Heaven will be those people who have prayed and
fasted for the things to come forth that God wanted to do in the earth. Perhaps no one
ever knew what these people were doing. Perhaps no one ever thanked them for their
faithfulness as intercessors. But God saw it all, and in that great Day He will reward
them for everything they did--that no one else ever noticed.

“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not
appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:17-18).

How we treat God’s servants is of great value in God’s eyes. When we bless men
and women of God, there is a blessing that returns to us from the Lord. The opposite is
true as well. When we mistreat or speak negatively about God’s servants, there are
consequences in this life, and we will give an account for our actions and words when we
stand before Him on that Day. Jesus spoke of the reward we can potentially receive
when He said, “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a
prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man
shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a
cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means
lose his reward” (Matthew 10:41-42).

At the same time, those who are leaders are going to give an account for the
people they ministered to. Those who preach and teach would do well to consider the
serious responsibility this is, because they will one day answer to Jesus for the way they
have treated His Church. “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing
that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (James 3:1).

Those who ministered to please people, knowing that they were displeasing God,
would do well to repent now and seek to correct their errors before they stand before
Jesus on that Day. It’s one thing when we do things that affect only ourselves. It is
altogether different when our actions impact the eternal destinies of innocent people.
They have based their beliefs on their trust in our spiritual guidance. We will stand
before Jesus and answer for both our actions and for those who followed us.
Being a leader in the Body of Christ is a very important position of honor, respect,
and great responsibility. That is the reason why those of us who are in ministry should do
everything with diligence and excellence. Ministry is worthy of doing our very best, for
we are the face, the voice, and the Body of Jesus in the earth today. Being in ministry is
a position that carries more importance than being a President, a congressman, a senator,
a Supreme Court judge, or a leader of business, law, or finance. The reason for my belief
is simple. If any one of the above is found guilty of a failure in honesty and integrity, has

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a moral failure, or financial misappropriation; people may lose respect for the person, but
that is where the blame stops. When someone in ministry is found guilty of the above,
people blame their disappointment on the hypocrisy of the leader, but ultimately they
begin to distrust the Church, Christianity, and even God! Many people have left the
Church and their faith in Jesus because of the failure of leaders whom they respected and
depended upon. Those leaders will undoubtedly be asked some very painful questions by
the Lord in that Day. We are ambassadors of Christ in this world. We need to treat what
we do in the ministry with great respect, obedience, diligence, and perseverance;
realizing that we are doing this as unto the Lord Jesus Himself, and that one day we will
give an account to Him for how we represented Him in the earth.
Leaders in the church really will be judged by a much stricter standard when
they appear before the Lord. Leaders who have abused the people, whom God entrusted
to them, will have to answer to the Lord for their words, attitudes, and actions. Those
who taught the people of God things that violated or were contrary to God’s Word will
answer for it one day. Some of these are being removed from their pulpits even now.
James 3:1 warns those who teach that they will be judged by a higher standard because of
the spiritual influence they have exerted on people, for good or evil. The present state of
the Church in America is directly tied to the leaders who have brought us to this place.
When the plane crashes, everyone looks to the pilot to determine what went wrong, not
the flight attendants. When there is a train wreck, the first person to be examined is the
engineer who was at the controls, not the conductor in the back. When a car crashes, the
person who is cited by the police is the driver, not the passengers. The same applies in
the Church of the 21st century. When the leaders whom God has called and anointed are
faithful and remain true to Jesus and His Word, the Church thrives in blessings. On the
other hand, when the Church is in a low or dry state, the blame can be directly traced to
its leadership. I am a part of the leadership group, and I assume my role of responsibility
as well. Those of us in leadership will be judged by a much higher standard for what we
have done, or not done. The reason this is so important is that whatever is happening at
the leadership level always flows down to the people on every other level in that same
ministry. Whatever is going on in the lives of leaders is always reflected in the lives of
the people who are beneath them. Just plan on it! It is a spiritual principle as old as the
Old Testament. This includes such things as family issues, marriage problems, debt,
poverty mindsets, anger, fear, and a host of other issues.
What does this mean? According to an article by Patrick Craine, studies have
shown that fifty-four percent of pastors have viewed Internet pornography in the past
twelve months, and thirty percent have done it at least once in the past thirty days. This
same article stated that fifty percent of Christian men regularly viewed pornography, as
do twenty percent of Christian women.42 Why? Everything at the top always flows
down to the bottom. The Church will always reflect what is going on in the lives of its
leaders. This is a fearful thought to consider. Those leaders who sin and have caused
people to stumble in their faith will give an account for the souls who were damaged or
lost.
Those leaders who have sheared the sheep financially, for their own personal
gain, should dread that day of accounting! Our ministry has had a partnership with
another ministry in India for many years. We have been able to help provide the
financial resources for some orphanages there. I go to India regularly and have seen their

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marvelous work. My friend and partner who heads that ministry has told me stories that I
find astounding. They are about pastors of churches who have stolen finances for
themselves that people had given to India. He told me of going to one very large and
popular church, ministering in the Sunday morning service. He told about the work they
are doing in India, and how they are caring for over one thousand homeless children.
When he was finished preaching and sharing about the work, he sat down. Then the
pastor took fifteen additional minutes teaching and encouraging the people to have a
vision for the homeless, widows, and orphans. The pastor prayed for the people that the
Holy Spirit would give them instruction in what He would have them to do. When the
offering was received, the crowds of people gave generously. At the close of the service,
the pastor took my friend out for lunch; and while there, the church treasurer brought an
offering envelope to give to my friend. When he arrived back where he was staying, he
opened the envelope in anticipation of a check that would help him in the work in India.
But when he looked at the check, it was for only fifty dollars. He shared with me other
similar stories where these kinds of things had happened. I asked him if he ever
confronted the thieves who stole from him in these horrendous ways. And he said, “I
never say anything to anyone but God about our needs. God will supply for us.” God did
supply their need, but the pastor and treasurer stole it!

I was personally acquainted with a church that had received many tens of
thousands of dollars in recent years, which was designated for another mission
organization that cares for orphans in India. The money was collected both from within
and outside the church, and people were told that all the money was given to the
orphanage. The problem was that the money never reached India. The money never
arrived to help orphan children. It was squandered for projects within the local church,
while the people were led to believe that it was all going to the homeless children they
had sponsored! God will supply for His work using other means, but the thieves who
steal offerings will stand before the Lord on that day and answer for this great sin.

Christians Who Surrender Everything to Jesus Will Be Glad

When we surrender our wills to seek first the Kingdom of God, fully yielding
ourselves to Him, and releasing our lives to pursue the life and will He has set before us,
great blessing will be released on our behalf, both in this life and in the one to come.
God is pleased when we voluntarily choose to give up the things we can’t keep in order
to gain the things that we can never lose! Look what Jesus said concerning this truth:

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for My sake will find it.” “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with
His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works” (Matthew 16:24-25,
27).

Jesus was saying that if we decide to hold onto our lives, live for ourselves, and
control things ourselves, we will lose the very thing that we thought we were going to

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keep. But if we will lay down our lives in surrender, follow Him in His ways, even not
knowing where He would lead, He will give us back a life in this world that is far greater
than anything that we would have had on our own, with us in control!
Whatever we do for Jesus in this life will be rewarded on that great Day! Some
feel that their efforts in the Kingdom are so small and insignificant that no one, including
God, will ever know. There are pastors, evangelists, and missionaries who have
faithfully served the Lord for many years while enduring hardship, discouragement,
betrayal, and misunderstanding; and they have never seen very much success that can be
measured numerically or financially. Yet they remained faithful. They are going to be
astounded in that Day when they learn that Jesus was watching, and was using them in
ways they never knew. Paul wrote of this truth in his own ministry when he said, “I
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is
anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he
who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own
labor” (1 Corinthians 3:6-8).

Jesus was referring to this same truth when He said, “And he who reaps receives
wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may
rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you
to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered
into their labors” (John 4:36-38).

What few Christians understand is that our financial giving unto the Lord through
tithes, offerings, and giving to the poor, is not a financial diminishment, but rather is
making a deposit into the banks of Heaven from which there shall come some type of
benefit now and throughout eternity. This is what Paul was referring to in his letter to the
Philippian Church regarding their giving.

“Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I
departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving
but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.
Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have
all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a
sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:15-
18). And in verse 19, Paul assures them that because they gave, God will supply all their
need!

The Bible also teaches that we will give an account for every word we have ever
spoken on that Day when we stand before Him. This includes words of condemnation
and criticism of others, and the attitudes behind them. This is what Jesus was referring to
in this next verse. “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall
not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).

It also includes oaths we have foolishly made to the Lord that we never kept.
Jesus spoke of the danger of careless words when He said, “But I say to you that for
every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For
by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew
12:36-37).

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 Read the following Scriptures for yourself and make your own determination
about the blessings that await us when we are faithful to Jesus in this life.

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he
will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him”
(James 1:12).

“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that
does not fade away” (1 Peter 5:4).

“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is
about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have
tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life”
(Revelation 2:10).

“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take
your crown” (Revelation 3:11).

The reason for including this chapter in the book is to highlight the truth that we
really are going to be held accountable before God for the lives we have lived--even as
Christians who are saved and on our way to Heaven. What we plant in this life is going
to be the harvest we gather now and when we stand before the Lord. We will stand
before Jesus one day to explain to Him about the lives we lived under greasy grace and
sloppy agape, of careless behavior, and questionable integrity. Many today consider
themselves to be holy rollers who are going to just roll through this life, hanging out with
God, and doing "the stuff" like Jesus did. We need to live before the Lord, realizing we
are going to give an account to Him one day, because that is exactly what is going to
happen.

The Fifth and Final Judgment of God:

The Great White Throne Judgment for Those Who Reject the
Gospel
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the
dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book
was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their
works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were
in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were
judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake
of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was
cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

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 The Scripture above refers to the final judgment of God in which all the lost who
have died will stand before the Lord. (Those who have made Jesus the Lord of their lives
will not stand in this place. Their names are written in the Book of Life. They will stand
before the Judgment Seat of Christ which we have already looked at. That judgment does
not involve eternal punishment. Those who are there in that judgment are all going to go
to Heaven.) But those who have died without Jesus are being held in Hades, just as a
person is arrested is kept in jail before his trial and sentencing. Only the verdict is
already determined. They have rejected Jesus and the Gospel, their only hope for
eternity. They are guilty as charged. This final judgment is when they receive their final
sentence to the second death, which is eternal hell.
Those who stand before this great white throne judgment of God are going to be
judged and sentenced according to the records of their lives and actions while they lived
in the earth. The measure of justice, and the corresponding eternal punishment, will be
dealt out accordingly. An Adolph Hitler will have a different measure of punishment in
eternity than a person who attempted to live responsibly but refused to accept the
Lordship of Jesus in his life. They both go to hell, but with differing measures of
punishment. But this is really immaterial. Hell is hell and no one wants to be there!
This is also why Jesus told the cities of Bethsaida, Capernaum, and Chorazin, where most
of His mighty works had been done, that it would be more tolerable for Sodom and
Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than it will be for them. Why? Because if Sodom and
Gomorrah had seen and experienced all that these three cities had, they would have
repented and been saved. These three cities saw Jesus’ greatest meetings and didn’t
repent. Their level of accountability will be greater, as will their level of punishment
throughout eternity (Read Matthew 11:20-24).
God is a just and holy God. He has made provision for all to be saved because of
His great love, mercy, and grace. He is so wonderful and kind! He has made the way for
every sin to be forgiven and forgotten. That is through repentance and the blood of His
only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, which He shed on the cross. He has made the way for all
who want to live with Him in Heaven forever. It is through no works we’ve ever done,
nor goodness we’ve ever achieved, that can make us deserving of such an indescribable
blessing. All of salvation, and its benefits now and throughout eternity, come as a result
of His offer of grace and mercy to everyone. But as Hebrews 2 says, “For if the word
spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at
the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard
Him” (Hebrews 2:2-3).

There Really is a Place Called Hell

I was driving down a busy expressway in Tampa recently when an aggressive
driver raced by me weaving his way through busy traffic. He passed me and began
swerving around the cars in front of me. We were all traveling at seventy miles per hour
or more. Suddenly a car swerved and the driver lost control. In a couple of seconds, I
watched in horror as that car raced off the roadway and collided head-on with a large sign
pole. It literally exploded before my eyes. I quickly pulled off the expressway, dialed

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911, and began to pray. Other cars stopped and people began running to help. I went as
well. Thankfully, there was only one man inside. He had been killed instantly by the
impact. He had no visible marks on his body above the chest area. His eyes were wide
open, and I will never forget the look of sheer horror that was on his face. He looked like
a photograph on an advertisement for a horror movie. I have seen the faces of Christians
at the time of their deaths, and they each looked very peaceful. Some even have died
with smiles on their faces. But I have never seen anything like the expression that was on
this dead man’s face. He saw something in that last moment of life that was so horrible,
it literally terrified him. Was it the imminent impact with the pole, or did he see
something else awaiting him beyond death?
Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) was one of the most brutal dictators in the history of
known civilization. Under his leadership in Russia, untold millions of people were killed.
He imprisoned and murdered anyone whom he considered an enemy of the state. He
feared no man, no army, nor any government. He had no sense of compassion for anyone
who stood in his way.
I was ministering in Norway several years ago, and two of his grandchildren were
in the meeting. They were both born again Christians who loved the Lord. They had an
amazing yet frightening testimony about their grandfather. They said that Stalin had
slipped into a coma about two weeks before he died. He was at home where doctors and
nurses tended to him around the clock. Everyone clearly understood that he was dying.
His family said that one day without any warning, Stalin suddenly sat straight up
in bed. His face was contorted and his eyes were wide open and filled with intense terror.
He began to flail with his arms as if he was trying to grab hold of something as he was
being pulled away by an unseen force. He was absolutely terrified. His only words were
faint screams of horror as he repeatedly said the Russian equivalent of, “No! No! No!”
He was obviously fighting something or someone for his life. But in a matter of thirty
seconds or less, Joseph Stalin fell back upon his pillow and died. This was a man who
had never feared anything or anyone, but was terrified in the last moments of his life. His
family was sure that he was seeing something that others could not see. But what was it
that this man was seeing, as his life on earth ended and another life was about to begin?
A woman who was in charge of security at a large city hospital told me that she
was the person who had to verify and sign for the release of the bodies of people who had
died in the hospital, and give it to the Medical Examiner’s office in her city. She told of
the families of Christians who had told her of the deceased person’s love for Jesus,
people whom she had released over the years. She said every one of them had
expressions of peace, joy, and serenity on their faces when they died. She also told of the
expressions on the faces of people who had died violent deaths in shootings, murders, and
of drug-related causes. These had expressions of horror on their faces, when they passed
from this life to the next!
I heard the testimony of a highway patrolman who became a Christian as a result
of his experiences with dead and dying victims of car crashes. He told of one man who
had been critically injured in a collision who was attempting to communicate to the first
responders at the scene right before he died from his injuries that he felt as if he was
falling into a fire. The patrolman also told of others who had expressions of great fear on
their faces right before death. He also had seen faces of people who were in great peace
when they died. He became convinced that there really was an afterlife, and that some

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people saw it right before death. He wanted to find out where he would go one day when
he died. He ultimately found Jesus, was saved from sin, and is now living for the Lord.
It seems from these accounts that people actually can have glimpses of their eternal
destinations, right before they depart this world!
There is an excellent book on hell written by Bill Wiese titled, “23 Minutes In
Hell.” It was a New York Times Bestseller. It is his personal testimony of how in 1998
he actually spent 23 minutes in hell. He did not die, but God gave him this experience
because He wants people to know! So God has used this testimony around the globe to
bring a new awareness to Christians and non-Christians alike, of the reality of a place too
horrible to imagine! But God willingly gave Jesus to die on the cross so that people
would not have to go there because of their sins!43
Our God is a God of immeasurable love, infinite mercy, and boundless grace to
those who honor Him and give Him the respect He deserves. He is kind to the just and
the unjust, but because He is also a God of extreme holiness, purity, and justice,
mankind’s actions have consequences that are not voided out. He is kind to the just and
the unjust, but both will one day give an account to Him for their actions. For those who
have received Jesus, their accounting will be just that, and rewards will be given for their
faithfulness before they begin spending eternity in Heaven with Jesus. To those who
reject the Gospel of the Bible, their appearance before the bar of a just and holy God will
be sentencing to punishment in hell for eternity.
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once said that the best
preparation for the work of the ministry is not more education and theological study. He
believed that the best preparation would be for every potential minister to spend five
minutes in the worst part of hell and then spend five minutes in the most beautiful and
glorious part of Heaven! I believe he was right! When we really understand the power
of the Gospel, and what is ours when we receive it, and what happens to those who
refuse; everything in life and ministry will be viewed from an entirely different
perspective. There really is a place called hell, and those who reject the Gospel and
chose lawlessness and rebellion toward God, will go there for eternity. We need to make
that truth known to people just as passionately as we seek to make the love, kindness,
mercy, and grace of God known to the world.
The theme found throughout this book concerns the Church’s need for reverence,
respect, and the fear of the Lord in this present hour. We cannot afford to do our own
thing any longer! The time has come for radical change, repentance, and atmospheric
revival that will bring transformation of churches, cities, regions, and nations. And this
can only come by the Church revisiting the truths of the Bible in a new way, such as the
Scripture that follows:

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near
to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned
to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He
will lift you up” (James 4:7-10).

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 Living in Hell With Memories and Regrets for Eternity
In the late 1960’s, a Boeing 727 airliner with sixty-seven people onboard was on
final approach before landing. It was nighttime and the weather was very bad. Clouds
and rain had restricted the visibility to less than a mile. The wind was pushing the plane
from side to side as the crew continued their descent through the darkness. Suddenly, the
passengers felt the plane begin to vibrate and suddenly drop. It was what is known as
wind shear. They heard the engines begin to roar back to life from the relative quietness
of the descent. Something was very wrong. The plane’s altitude was much too low for a
safe approach to landing, and it was instantly apparent to the pilots that a crash was
imminent. The landing gear, flaps, and leading edge slats were all down and ready for
landing. The airspeed and altitude were both at dangerous levels. Now the plane was
struggling to accelerate again with everything configured for landing. The continued
buffeting winds only complicated an already rapidly deteriorating situation. In a matter
of seconds, the 727 crashed into a field less than one mile short of the runaway, killing
the crew and all but thirteen of the passengers who were seated in the rear of the plane.
From their hospital rooms, the survivors told an amazing yet horrifying story of
the final seconds before impact. They knew something was very wrong, and felt the
aircraft struggling to regain altitude against gravity and winds. They said in the last
moments, they heard the voice of the captain speaking calmly over the intercom system.
He realized the hopelessness of the situation, and addressed his passengers one last time.
He said, “I’m so sorry. I’m very, very sorry.” And moments later, the plane slammed
into the ground and many lives were suddenly lost in the terrible crash.
The pilot of the doomed airliner did not understand how critical the situation that
night really was until it was too late. He probably thought to himself, “We’ve
successfully landed through rough weather many times before and it all worked out well.
This is no different.” But in the last moments before impact, he realized that this night,
things were not going to work out as they had so many times before! His last words
before impact were, “I’m sorry. I’m very, very sorry.”

There are people in hell now, probably still saying to themselves, “I’m sorry. I’m
very, very sorry” as if their regret over things done in this life would now somehow be
enough to change their present situation. As if hell would not be horrible enough in its
own right, many there will live forever in a place of incomprehensible hopelessness and
despair, with the memories of just how close they came to receiving Jesus in this life, and
how they could have been saved and live for eternity in Heaven instead. There are
people there today who were actually in Jesus’ meetings when He ministered on the
earth, and yet they never repented of their sins. There will be people living in hell who
spent their lives in service in the Church, some who were even in the ministry, but they
never made Jesus their Lord. Or maybe they heard the Gospel, but thought they would
receive Jesus later. It is impossible for our minds to even fathom the depth of their
sorrow and regret at this very moment. But they are there, and their stay in that place of
torment is without end.
The short days we have on this earth are days filled with opportunity to live our
lives for Jesus, be blessed as a result in this life now, and then be rewarded and blessed
for all of eternity. Or they can be days wasted on living for ourselves and building our

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lives on a useless foundation made of wood, hay and stubble. We must live for the Lord
Jesus--lives of love, worship, honor, respect, obedience, repentance, and holiness; for
anything less than that will be a source of deep regret in our hearts.
Our only way forward is for the Church of Jesus Christ to return to its first love,
surrender unconditionally to our Heavenly Father who is a God of holiness and power,
and ask Him to send revival to us again. We must take Him seriously. We must honor
His Name. We must reverence His presence. We must fear and show respect for His
awesome power once again. We cannot continue to play games in church, and do our
own thing as it seems good to us.
Let me repeat here the verse with which we began this chapter. The Apostle Peter
wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit saying, “For the time has come for
judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end
of those who do not obey the Gospel of God? Now if the righteous one is scarcely saved,
where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:17-18).

As we get closer to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus, the level of the
revelation of His glory is going to increase in the earth. But with that ever-increasing
revelation, there is going to come a higher and higher level of accountability, with a
higher expectation of holiness and obedience in the hearts and lives of God’s people. The
days of greasy grace and sloppy agape where Christians live casual lifestyles, and then
expect His blessings to be upon their lives, are coming to a close in the very near future--
if they haven’t already!

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 Chapter Thirteen

Why We MUST Have Revival Glory Once Again

“Will You not Revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation.”
Psalm 85:6-7

“O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it
known; in wrath remember mercy.”
Habakkuk 3:2
Some people who read this book may make the mistake of thinking that it is intended
to be a “doom and gloom” book. That isn’t true at all! It is a realistic book that faces
critically important issues written to inspire faith and hope for a solution. It is written
with the intent of addressing things that presently threaten the Church and nation that can
be changed! Imagine a 55-year-old man who goes to see his doctor. He is 100 pounds
overweight, a heavy smoker, and eats nothing unless it has been fried first. He has high
blood pressure, borderline diabetes, and high cholesterol. His doctor’s medical
assessment is very simple. He says, “If you continue to live the lifestyle you are presently
living, you are going to die.” It’s that simple. The doctor is not being an alarmist or a
“doom and gloom” doctor. He is simply stating the obvious medical facts. The doctor
could continue by saying to the patient, “But If you will immediately quit smoking,
completely change your diet, go to a gym 5 times a week and workout with a trainer who
will help you lose 100 pounds and then purpose to live a lifestyle of proper diet and
exercise in the future, you will live. The choice of what lies ahead in your future whether
death or life is yours to decide!

This book and the issues it addresses is intended to be a similar challenge to the
Church! What lies ahead in our future is ours to decide. If we keep doing what we have
been doing, our future is bleak. But if we will change course, Heaven’s great blessings
will come and all will be the beneficiaries of the goodness of God!
The first sermon I ever preached was in a preaching class while I was a student at
Asbury Theological Seminary in 1977. I preached on 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says:

“If My people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and
seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, forgive
their sin, and heal their land.”

I really don’t remember what I received in comments from the preaching

professor, or the grade I made for the course. But I clearly remember preaching that

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sermon.
The first sermon I ever preached in a real church service was in October of 1977
at Eminence United Methodist Church near Louisville, Kentucky. It was also a sermon
based upon 2 Chronicles 7:14, and it was entitled, “If My People….” And once again, it
was about America’s need to repent if we expected to see the blessings of God remain
upon our nation.

The first sermon I preached when I became pastor of my first church, College Hill
United Methodist Church in 1979 was, you guessed it, 2 Chronicles 7:14. And eight
years later when I founded a non-denominational church in Florida, the first Sunday’s
sermon in a church being born was based upon 2 Chronicles 7:14.
In 1994 after God had commissioned us to travel across America and beyond, my
first sermon on the first Sunday morning of meetings in Winchester, Tennessee was
based upon 2 Chronicles 7:14. The message of that powerful promise from God’s Word
is literally a part of the DNA of the message and ministry that God entrusted to us over
thirty years ago, and remains so today. I have preached or referred to it hundreds of
times while preaching in this nation and around the world. It remains today a sure
promise that God has the power and the willingness to save and heal nations, if His
people in those nations will simply cooperate with Him by meeting His requirements!
Here is the reality of our present position. Things have radically changed in
America since the first time I preached on 2 Chronicles 7:14 in 1977, and the change has
not been for the good. Financially, our once strong economy is hemorrhaging, and no
one seems to really know exactly what to do. As a nation, we have become debtors who
owe trillions of dollars to the rest of the world. Educationally, we are falling further and
further behind other nations. Socially, our nation is declining at an unprecedented rate.
The moral fabric of our land is being shredded on a daily basis by all that we are
confronted with--in the media, the entertainment industry, and the Internet. Being active
sexually is the norm for most teenagers. Pregnancy and STD rates among our young
people reflect that fact. Approximately 3,600 babies are aborted every day as a matter of
convenience. Drugs and alcohol abuse are a national tragedy. Marriage is no longer
viewed as the staple for raising a family. Most people just live together as long as it is
convenient, and then they move on to someone else. Of those who do commit to each
other in marriage, one out of two end in divorce. Abuse is rampant. Most children being
born in this generation are growing up in single parent homes with no idea of what a
family should be, as God originally designed it. Millions of children are being sexually
molested and abused from the earliest ages. Homosexuality is now considered to be
normal, and those who do not accept it, are considered to be abnormal. Gay marriage and
civil unions are now accepted, and even legal in an increasing number of states.
Pornography has now become a way of life for millions of people in our society today.
Children are not safe any longer, for fear of abduction and molestation. Our land has lost
its moral compass, and no one seems to know what to do.
By virtually every measurement, America is presently in a state of decline. At the
present rate, this nation, like other great civilizations before it, is in the sunset of its
existence, unless something very significant happens. The churches of this land are
hardly any different. The spiritual temperature of this nation and its churches has been in
a sustained decline for a long time, with only brief and momentary infusions of life.
Some even refer to America as now being a post-Christian society.

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 This is not intended to be a doom and gloom death sentence assessment of things.
It is simply a realistic view of the current state of affairs in our nation and others. Only a
person who is in complete denial of reality would differ with it. The signs of this decline
contribute to a mountain of evidence that can lead us to no other conclusion. We must be
honest enough with ourselves and with each other to face the truth and recognize what is
happening in our generation.

When God Views a Nation, He Always Looks at the Church

What God does or doesn’t do in a nation is always in response to the spiritual

state of His people, the Church. Whether we like it or not, the content of the hearts of
God’s people is always the deciding factor in the ways that God deals with the nations.
Put another way, the degree of passion for the things of God by the Church, is always the
thermostat that determines the spiritual temperature in a nation. Apathy, indifference,
sin, or rebellion in God’s people will always result in judgment coming upon an entire
land. At the same time, when God’s people will follow the prescription of 2 Chronicles
7:14 and humble ourselves, praying to God for mercy while seeking His face; and then
turn or repent from our wicked ways, God has promised to bring healing, deliverance,
and blessing to any nation that is facing--or is already under judgment! The attitudes and
actions of the Church in any nation literally determine that nation’s destiny.

Dr. David Ryser recounted a question asked that ultimately changed his life.
This is his story:

“A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry. My

students were hungry for God, and I was constantly searching for ways to challenge them
to fall more in love with Jesus and become voices for revival in the Church. I came
across a quote from Reverend Sam Pascoe. It is a short version of Christianity, and it
goes like this:

Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a

philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became
a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise. Some of the students were only
18 or 19 years old, barely out of diapers, and I wanted them to understand and
appreciate the importance of the last line, so I clarified it by adding, ‘An enterprise.
That’s a business.’

After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I
could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-
explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged
Martha’s raised hand, ‘Yes, Martha.’ She asked such a simple question, ‘A Business?
But isn’t it supposed to be a body?’ I could not envision where this line of questioning
was going, and the only response I could think of was, ‘Yes.’ She continued saying, ‘But
when a body becomes a business, isn’t that the same as being a prostitute?’

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 The room went silent. For several seconds no one moved or spoke. We were stunned,
afraid to make a sound because the presence of God had flooded the room, and we knew
we were on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was, ‘Wow, I wish I
had thought of that.’ I didn’t dare express that thought aloud. God had taken over the
class.

Martha’s question changed my life. For six months, I thought about her question at
least once every day. ‘When a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?’ There
is only one answer to her question. The answer is ‘Yes’. The American Church,
tragically, is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we love Him?
We don’t even know Him; and I mean really know Him.

I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not know God, much less
love Him. The root of this condition originates in how we came to God. Most of us came
to Him because of what we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He
would bless us in this life, and take us to Heaven after death. We married Him for His
money, and we don’t care if He lives or dies as long as we get His stuff. We have made
the Kingdom of God into a business, merchandising His anointing. This should not be.
We are commanded to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ. That’s pretty
intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can love someone we don’t even
know? And even if we do know someone, is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are
we lovers or prostitutes?

I was pondering Martha’s question again one day, and considered the question,
‘What’s the difference between a lover and a prostitute?’ I realized that both do many of
the same things, but a lover does what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends
to love, but only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, ‘What would happen if
God stopped paying for me?’ For the next several months, I allowed God to search me
and uncover my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of God?
What would happen if He stopped blessing me? Would I still love Him? Please
understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The issue is not whether God
blesses His children; the issue is the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His
blessings in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they the wage that I have earned,
or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without conditions? It took several
months to work through these questions. Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is
matched by my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed with God
and angry that He has not met some perceived need in my life. I suspect this is something
which is never fully resolved, but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of
God.

So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute? There are no prostitutes
in Heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for that matter, but there are many former
prostitutes in both places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no
substitute for unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I mean there is no
palatable substitute available to us (take another look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We
must choose”

Quoted from Dr. David Ryser

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 Dr. Ryser is right in his assessments. Church in our nation by and large has
become little more than a business. The motivation behind much of what goes on in
church is geared more toward making sales which represents the number of people who
decide to attend our churches and profitability which roughly translated means how much
money they give when they come. More numbers in both categories is interpreted as
meaning that God’s blessing is upon what we are doing. Less of those two items is
interpreted as being just the opposite. Therefore the goal is to provide a product that
attracts people. The presence of ever-growing numbers of people translates into meaning
that we have the approval of God on what we are doing.
But the problem with this mindset is that being the Church with this mentality
simply isn’t working any longer! It’s not changing this nation for the better in any
measurable way. It isn’t really even making a dent in the rate of decline. The moral,
social, financial, and cultural hemorrhage continues at an alarming rate while churches
try to figure out more creative ways to attract people who will help them build their
business. There are many wonderful churches and ministries that are doing an
outstanding job as they seek to establish Jesus’ kingdom in the earth. But by comparison,
their numbers are very few and their impact on the moral temperature of the nation is
minimal at best. Many are having greater impact overseas than they are in this country!
If we compare the numbers of how many churches close every year versus the number of
new churches that are started every year, there is a negative difference of approximately
eight thousand churches. With all the creative, imaginative, and innovative things we are
now doing to build and promote churches in America, there is an approximate net loss of
eight thousand churches per year in this nation! And that number does not include the
thousands more that are on life support, nor does it include those who are bearing no
lasting fruit for the Kingdom. The desperate spiritual needs of this nation are not being
addressed by the vast majority of churches. And America, the greatest nation ever
because of the blessings of God that have been upon it since its inception, is slowly
slipping away into obscurity.
Some Christians have been seduced into believing that our nation can be
resurrected and transformed through the election of certain political parties; either
conservative or liberal, Republican, Democrat, or Independent. But this thinking is only
a fallacy. With very few exceptions, political parties and the politicians who run them
are only interested in getting themselves continually re-elected to office. They will do
and say virtually anything in order to make that happen. Many conservative candidates
have campaigned on platforms that passionately appealed to Christians by espousing
Christian family values, only to be discovered having adulterous relationships with the
opposite or even their same sex.
The answer to our nation’s problems will not be found in electing more people of
our personal political persuasions, who promise us things they invariably fail to deliver.
The great awakenings of the past have changed the moral, social, political, and economic
environments of entire nations. Yet they were never a result of a political party which
was in office at the time! Politics doesn’t bring or hinder revival, but revival will change
a nation's politics. If revival comes to America, it won’t matter what party is in office.

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And if revival doesn't come to America, it won't matter what party is in office! No
politician or political persuasion is going to change the course of our nation in this hour.
The only answer to this or any nation’s decline is atmospheric revival. That is
when the Holy Spirit moves upon a society producing an acute awareness of sin in the
eyes of a holy and just God, thus causing people to have an intense desire to repent and
change. There is no substitute for this kind of revival. And at this present moment in
history, it is our last and only hope for the future of this nation.

So What Are We To Do Now?

The answer to this question is not really as complicated as some might believe. It
begins with the Church having an understanding of 2 Chronicles 7:14. But for that to
happen, we must understand the Scripture before that, verse 13. Many Christians like to
quote verse 14 without recognizing that it is only a continuation of the sentence before it.
Here are both verses together:

“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour
the land, or send pestilence among My people, if my people who are called by My name
will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2
Chronicles 7:13-14).

Something that the Western Church has never really accepted is the idea that God
should be feared (respected and obeyed), lest He send correction or judgment. We have
been taught a message of intimacy with God without commitment to Him, enjoying His
glory without respecting its power, and the adoption of a form of godliness while denying
(or allowing) its power to change us into His image. A large part of the message of this
book is a challenge to some of these current Church teachings:

1. “God is always in a good mood.”

2. “There is no such thing as the ‘fear of the Lord’ because perfect love casts out all
fear.”

3. “God wants me to be happy, blessed, successful, rich, overflowing with prosperity, the
envy of all my neighbors; and there is no effort, sacrifice, or responsibility required on
my part.”

4. “I am a little treasure chest that can just open myself up anytime I like and engage the
heavenly realms, and be filled with supernatural gifts and powers.”

5. “God’s love, grace, and mercy is so big that I can live however I want to live, and He
will be okay with that because He loves me so much.”

6. “Love means you never have to say you’re sorry; so repentance is just another code

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word for tradition, guilt, shame, condemnation, and religion.”

The contemporary attitudes listed above are some of the very reasons we find
ourselves in the place we are at in the church and in our nation. These and others
discussed throughout this book are some of the things that must change if we are going to
see a transformation in our land! It is true that abortion is an abomination in the eyes of
the Lord, but the perversion of the Gospel by the Church is far worse! The immorality,
adultery, pornography, and homosexuality in our nation are grievous sins in the eyes of
the Lord. But the lawlessness and rebellion in the hearts of people who say they love
Jesus, causes far more pain to the heart of God!
The Church must awaken from its slumber and understand where we now find
ourselves. Everything is not just going to be okay if we continue down the same road. It
is a form of insanity to continue to do the same things we have been doing and expect to
see a different result. What we’ve been doing is simply not working. It is as plain and
simple as that. But there is an answer!
The most powerful relational commitment portrayed in scripture is a covenant
relationship. It is an unbreakable oath and commitment sealed with blood that only ends
with the death of one of the subscribing parties. God has established a covenant
relationship with His people which is backed up with all the honor, power, majesty,
holiness, and integrity of Who He is. And He will never breach a covenant He has made,
Never! People may break covenants with Him or with each other, but God will never go
back on His word and not fulfill absolutely every promise He has ever made in covenant
relationship with His people when His conditions have been met.
This is why we have every reason to be excited in these days no matter how evil or
difficult the world may seem to be at this moment. God has made an unbreakable
covenant with us in which He promises that if we, the Church, will do certain things, He
will send revival once more and heal our land! He gave us the remedy and this is a
promise more sure than the law of gravity. He has clearly stated that,

“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek
My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive
their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

We must now realize that in our generation, the heavens are no longer giving their
rain, the locusts are devouring our land, and there is pestilence among the people. But
God has given us a covenant promise. And the only way forward from this point on is
found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. There is an answer and a way to return to a place of blessing
once more! It is a solution that God has already prescribed. Let's look at the points
individually:

“If My people who are called by My name will…”

1. “Humble themselves:” This means that the Church must surrender and yield
itself to God, instead of attempting to make Him surrender and yield Himself to
us and our wishes. God has never changed. He has always remained the same.
His Word is eternal and will never pass away. His principles have more
longevity than the laws of physics. He desires that we become conformed to His

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 image. He will not be conformed to ours. It is to acknowledge that He is God,
and we are His creation; He is bigger, and a lot smarter than we are! His will is
bigger and better than our own, and He owes us nothing while we owe Him
absolutely everything! We must understand that He is the potter, and we are the
clay. He is the Shepherd, and we are His sheep. We are dependent while He is
independent, for He is God. But He has chosen to love us and has given us the
choice of whether or not we would love Him in return.

Some people believe that for revival to come, we must battle against the
principalities and powers of evil and cast them out. They blow shofars and dance
about swinging swords in prophetic worship. They speak to the heavenlies and bind
the powers of darkness. They cast down the demonic powers of evil rulers, and
declare revival to come forth. Many behave as though they were super-hero warriors
streaking through the stratosphere at mach-4 doing battle with the evil rulers of
darkness. Some believe that for revival to come, the Church must get “the breaker
anointing” which enables people to break open the heavenlies, allowing revival to
come.
But do these things really bring about revival? Of course we believe in
intercession, and spiritual warfare. We know that we must use the authority of prayer
through Jesus name against the powers of darkness that attempt to abort the work of
God. We must also recognize that Jesus said the “gates of hell shall not prevail
against the Church.” Spiritual powers will never abort true revival by standing in the
way between God and His people. Revival is always delayed or aborted by human
wills, not the will of demonic spirits. We can take authority over demonic spirits but
we cannot cast out human spirits. The Church does not need an additional “breaker
anointing.” What we really need is a “broken anointing!” We must understand that
the only thing that can bind and cast down the HUMAN spirit, and thus bring forth
revival, is humility and brokenness before God where we acknowledge our utter
dependence upon Him, and surrender to Him accordingly. Casting out devils and
binding strong principalities will not be sufficient in itself to bring an outpouring of
the Holy Spirit. Casting our lives, our wills, and our desires before Him in surrender
and humility is what is going to be necessary before nations can be transformed by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s just be honest with ourselves and with God. Let’s quit playing Christian
games whose purpose is motivated by soul issues more than spiritual revelation given
by the Holy Spirit. We’re not fooling God, though we may be fooling ourselves to our
own detriment. Let’s be genuine and real with each other and with Him. This book
may appear to some people as being harsh at times. It is not intended to be so. The
hour is late. The need for revival is very real. There really are no other options left
that can bring about the change that is so needed today. Our present course is
unsustainable. This book is intended to stir the hearts of God’s people to return to our
first love for Jesus and to just walk in His love with integrity, truth, and humility of
heart. We need to get over ourselves and recognize that Church is not about us--it is
all about Him. We must humble ourselves before Him and ask Him to do for us that
which we are obviously unable to do for ourselves.

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“If My people who are called by My name will…”
2. “Pray:” This kind of prayer is not the typical American prayer which in essence
is roughly translated, “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, My name is Jimmy, and I’ll take
all you can gimme.” It is not a prayer for more things, more blessings, more
happiness, and more things we think we want for our own personal enjoyment.
The type of prayer that's needed is about what Jesus wants, more than what we
want. It is a prayer of fellowship, worship, yieldedness, surrender, and a
passionate cry from the depths of the human heart to be changed and transformed
by the Holy Spirit into His image.

But this prayer is also the united voice of the Church petitioning God to
intervene in human affairs once more! It is a passionate cry for revival, not a revival of
programs and promotion of personalities and agendas. It is a prayer of desperation that
comes from the hearts of God’s people when they realize that only a Heaven-sent revival
can bring true change and transformation, and that the Church’s efforts alone will not be
sufficient.
The great revivalist Charles Finney once said, “If Christians begin to feel that
they have no hope but in God, and if they have enough feeling left to care for the honor of
God and the salvation of the unrepentant, there will be revival. Let hell boil over and
spew out as many demons as there are stones in the pavement. If it causes Christians to
draw close to God in prayer, the demons can’t hinder the revival. Let Satan brawl and
sound his horn as loud as he wants, if Christians are just humbled and pray, they will
soon see God’s naked arm in a revival of true Christianity.”44

“If My people who are called by My name will…”

3. “Seek My face:” Seeking His face is closely connected to the above. To seek the
face of God is far different than seeking the hand of God in order to get His
blessings. Dr. David Ryser’s questions seem appropriate at this point.

"What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute?” I realized that both do
many of the same things, but a lover doeswhat she does because she loves. A prostitute
pretends to love, but only as long as you pay. Then I asked myself the question, “What
would happen if God stopped “paying for me?” For the next several months, I allowed
God to search me to uncover my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true
lover of God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He never did
another thing for me? Would I still love Him?”

Would we “seek His face” if we knew that when we found it, there would be no
tangible benefit for us other than just the indescribable blessing of meeting with Him?
God is tired of paying for the love of people who continue to also be friends and lovers of
the things of the world. That is the reason that James 4:4 says. “Adulterers and
adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

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God is finished with paying for the love of those who just use Him for a good time.

“If My people who are called by My name will…”

4. “…Turn from their wicked ways…” Chapter eight of this book was devoted to a
theme that runs throughout Scripture; a somewhat unpopular subject in the
church called repentance. To repent literally means to turn. What God promised
in 2 Chronicles 7:14 was that if His people would turn (better translated as
repent, go in a different direction, and toward a different destination) from their
wicked ways, He would send revival and restoration. God is so holy, yet the
Church has acted and even treated Him in many very unholy ways. Because of
His grace and mercy, He has allowed much of this in the past. But we’ve
mistaken the absence of His judgment as being His silent approval. But that is
changing. When God has said “No” in the past, it has been thought by many
segments of the Church to mean “maybe” or worse yet, "I can probably get away
with this if I’ll just beg and say, 'Please?’ or 'Pretty please?’” But God has
never changed in the slightest, and what He didn’t like in the past, He doesn’t like
today!
Lawlessness and rebellion will not be tolerated any longer. Building
things after our own designs, or doing things on our own and attributing it all to
God must come to an end. Lusting after or playing with supernatural power that
is removed from the Holy Spirit is extremely dangerous. It is witchcraft and the
occult, and it has caused great offense to Him. Jesus may consider us to be His
friends, but we mustn’t consider Him to be ours in the same way we would treat a
next door neighbor. We can love Him with intimacy and worship Him with
abandonment but, while we are doing so, we need to remember that He is still
God! We must treat Him with the honor and respect that He so deserves!
Obedience to the leading of His Spirit is not optional. It is mandatory. Some
people recoil when they hear those words, and react by calling that religion. To
those who think in such ways, I would like to suggest they go to the Bible and see
how many Scriptures can be found which tell us that disobedience in God’s
people is not an issue with Him.
Every revival that has ever changed the course of nations has been based
upon the Biblical message of repentance and holiness that came about as a result
of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit concerning sin and rebellion. If
healing is to come to our nation, it will only come by the same means.

But There is Good News!

God has sent atmospheric revival before that has brought transformations to
nations, and now He wants to do it again! There is an old saying that seems to apply at
this point in the book. That is, “It is always darkest before dawn.” The world has
always been at a very dark place right before God showed His great love and mercy and
sent revival! The social and economic conditions of entire nations, and the spiritual
conditions in the Church, have always seemed to be at their lowest ebb right before
global atmospheric revivals take place.

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 I recently visited three important locations that have impacted our nation and the
world, each located in lower Manhattan in downtown New York. One is the former site
of the World Trade Center which was destroyed on September 11, 2001 by homicide
bombers in two hijacked airliners. The other location nearby is the New York Stock
Exchange building on Wall Street which has been the epicenter of the world’s economy.
But there’s a third place which very few people know about that is in the shadow of those
two places. It is the First Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street. That place has
changed the destiny of this nation in much the same profound ways as the other two. Let
me explain.
There was a financial crisis that hit America in September of 1857 which had a
ripple effect around the globe. One of the largest insurance companies in America had
collapsed. There was also a problem with some trade tariffs with Europe. It had a
domino effect that swept throughout the economy, and everything in the financial world
began to unravel. It was all remarkably similar to the events in the financial world in
September and October of 2008. A Christian businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier,
who worked on Wall Street, felt led by God to organize a noontime prayer meeting. It
was to be at this church, and people could come and pray for the nation and the lost. That
simple noontime prayer meeting began with only four people. But what God did there in
the weeks following ignited into what is now known as the “Prayer Revival of 1857.”
Through those, God brought atmospheric revival to America, and over ten percent of the
entire population of America found Jesus in a matter of a few months! Its effects
impacted this nation for generations to come. What God has done before, He can do
again, if His people who are called by His name will conform to His ways and abandon
their own.
It is very important that the reader understand the following truth: The only
reason that the people of God have survived for thousands of years, and that the Church
of the 21st century exists at all, is because of one factor. God has faithfully sent His Holy
Spirit and ignited great revivals, always just before the Church became extinct! The
Church has never survived because of the talents and abilities of people. It hasn’t
survived because of the planning, wisdom, and education of men and women. It doesn’t
exist today because of excellent programs, entertaining religious activities, or gifted
orators or leaders. It exists today for only one reason. God has graciously chosen to send
great outpourings of His glory and power at strategic times in history. These have
resulted in revivals that have changed hearts, lives, families, churches, cities, nations, and
the course of human destiny! That’s the only reason there is still a Church in the earth
today. What He has always done in the past, He will continue to do, until Jesus returns
for His Bride.
In Isaiah 64, we find one of the most passionate prayers for revival anywhere in
the Bible. The prophet literally cries out to God saying, “Oh, that You would rend the
heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your
presence. As fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil, to make Your Name
known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence! For when
You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, the mountains shook
at Your presence. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor
perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You who acts for the one who
waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You

239
in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned. In these ways we continue;
and we need to be saved” (Isaiah 64:1-5).

Just before the First Great Awakening in England, the spiritual, moral, and social
conditions couldn't have been worse. Crime was rampant. The Church was virtually
dead. The once great nation of England was crumbling, and there was nothing that
anyone could do to prevent it. Wesley Duewell describes it all this way:

“The eighteenth century was a time of great moral and spiritual darkness, with
political restlessness and social need in many parts of the world. In England, deism had
delivered a devastating effect, and the authority of the Bible was shaken. Spiritual
indifference and skepticism abounded, and liberty degenerated into license. Religion was
emptied of its spirituality and power. Viewed with contempt, it became at most a code of
ethics. The masses were largely untouched by the church. There were godly, faithful
ministers here and there, but many clergy were mere figureheads who did not teach and
actually opposed the doctrine of salvation by faith. Many were known by their drinking
habits. At times, some of them even lead riots against revivalists.

In higher circles of society, people laughed at the mention of religion. Most

prominent statesmen were unbelievers and known for grossly immoral lives, drunkenness,
and foul language. Marriage was sneered at. Lord Chesterfield’s letters to his son
instructed him how to seduce.

The common people in pre-revival England were, for the most part, ignorant and
amazingly brutal. There were schools only for the elite. Few towns had any kind of
police force; mobs ransacked and pillaged in London and Birmingham, burning houses,
flinging open prisons, and terrorizing people.

The criminal classes became bold in intimidating the populace. Every third house
in London sold liquor, and ‘gin shops’ invited the people to ‘get drunk for a penny’ or
dead drunk for two pense and straw to lie on till the drunken stupor was gone.”45

Does any or all of this sound strangely familiar? And yet it was into these
conditions that God sovereignly and graciously sent His glory and power. It brought
about such transformation, that even the laws of England were ultimately changed by the
British Parliament! Multitudes were radically saved during the Great Awakening.
Churches overflowed with people repenting and being changed by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Crime rates plummeted. Alcoholism dramatically declined. The messages of
John Wesley and George Whitefield that shook the land were messages of repentance
that God used to help bring forth the transformation.
This has been the pattern of the social and spiritual conditions throughout human
history, right before entire nations were swept with His power and revival glory, and
transformation came. It always seemed that things could not get any worse. Human
efforts being expended by the Church were always insufficient to do anything to stem the
tide of ever-increasing decline. But then God intervened by opening the heavens (the
barrier that separates the heavenly realms from the earthly realms), and revealed Himself

240
once more! And as a result, everything was changed in a relatively short period of time,
and its effects lasted for generations to come!
The promise of Isaiah 60 has never been more relevant than at this present
moment in history. “Arise, shine; for your light has come! The glory of the Lord is risen
upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the
people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory shall be seen upon you” (Isaiah
60:1-2).
This reference was certainly intended for a time such as this!

“Is Revival a Sovereign Work, or Does the Church Have a

Role?”
Revival is always a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be started by the
plans and efforts of people, although those can certainly stop revival once it has begun!
God is always the instigator of true atmospheric revival. But the Church participates in
this process by cooperating with Him. The message of 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 is very clear
on that issue. The healing of the land was all predicated on the heart attitudes and the
deliberate actions of God’s people. The Church needs God’s efforts to see revival fires
ignited. But God needs the Church’s efforts and cooperation for the conditions to be
right for revival fire to ignite. When God’s efforts and the Church’s efforts become one,
revival fires will ignite and entire nations will be swept by His power and glory. The
only questions that remain to be answered are, “How long does the Church wait, and how
much must we endure before we understand the urgency of this hour, and cooperate with
Him in what He seeks to do in the earth?”

The Church does play a role in the ignition of atmospheric revival. That role is
not “if revival will come,” but rather “when revival will come.” God has always sent
revivals because had He not done so, the Church would have disappeared completely
centuries if not millenniums ago! But God’s people and the hunger that they have in their
hearts is a deciding factor in the timing of what God does concerning revival. Look at the
following statements that illustrate this truth.

“Any church or any community can have a revival at any time, if it wants to pay the
price” (Oswald J. Smith).

“I believe that we can have revival anytime we meet God’s conditions” (Billy Graham).

“He has put the quickening of the Church in our hands…” (Andrew Murray).

“We must not believe in any conception of God’s sovereignty that nullifies man’s
responsibility. We are the human agents through whom revival is possible” (Duncan
Campbell).

“There never will be a revival 'till somebody makes particular efforts for this end”
(Charles G. Finney).

241
“Our part in revival is to adjust the sails of our spiritual life to catch the breeze that
comes from heaven. Such adjustment involves preparation, supplication and
expectation” (Stephen Olford).

Remarkably, it doesn’t require the entire Church to understand these truths. It

only requires a small but dedicated segment to understand and pursue Him with great
diligence and passion until the awakening begins. That’s where we are at the time of this
writing. We have traveled throughout this land and many others. And everywhere we’ve
gone, we’ve found small pockets of people who passionately long for revival and
transformation. Many have dedicated their lives and ministries to the pursuit of
something they’ve never seen before, but know that it is very real nonetheless! And it is
that remnant that God is going to use to bring about an outpouring that will ultimately
bring multitudes into the Kingdom.
God keeps His covenants and He has clearly promised in His Word that He would
surely send revival if the Church would pray! Isaiah 44:3 says,
“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on dry ground; I will pour My
Spirit on your descendents, and My blessing on your offspring.”

This is a promise that will never be withdrawn for God is honest! He can not lie!
The Bible says in Numbers 23:19 that, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of
man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and
will He not make it good?”

As the Church, we must believe these promises and meet the conditions He has
established in the firm and confident belief that if we will, the revival that must come,
will come!

God is Going to do it Again! Only Bigger Than Ever Before!

This book is not intended as a stinging indictment of all that is wrong and the
resulting threat of impending inescapable doom. Its intent is to provide a realistic
assessment of our current state and then give a clear plan of action. Its purpose is similar
to the doctor who tells his overweight, chain-smoking cheeseburger addict patient that if
he continues to live this way he will surely die. But if he changes his lifestyle, stops
smoking, and loses the weight, he will live! The patient is the one who must make the
deliberate decision to change!
This book has been dedicated to addressing the absolute necessity for the Church
to show honor and respect for God through repentance, the fear of the Lord, and holiness.
It is about the desperate need for repentance in the Church so that God can do what He
has promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14 when He said that He would forgive our sin and bring
healing to our land. The problem is very real and the need very great. The Church is
always either part of the problem or part of the answer!
God will always have a people for Himself who walk in His ways, and bring
honor to His name. Let the reader understand that God is God, and He ALWAYS

242
accomplishes what He wants to do! He has never been defeated on a single count!
Never! When Adam and Eve sinned and brought all of sin’s horrible consequences into
the world, God had already made a plan for the redemption of mankind. When sin
overwhelmed the earth and all appeared lost, a man named Noah and his family were
saved from the flood because God had a plan for mankind’s blessing. God found a man
named Abraham, and the Bible called him God’s friend. Out of that relationship came a
people of promise created by God for fellowship, relationship, and blessing. When they
were being enslaved for four hundred years in Egypt, God was actively at work preparing
Canaan as their inheritance. In the fullness of His timing, He brought them forth as free,
healed, and rich. His glory abided with them by day and by night. Water for them to
drink flowed from a rock, and manna came every day for them to eat. Even when they
sinned and rebelled, a people prepared for His purposes emerged and inhabited the land
He had been preparing for them for over seven hundred years. His faithfulness to His
people and the furtherance of His purposes was never thwarted.
When He sent His Son to the people whom He had prepared for Himself, they
rejected Him and ultimately killed Him. But once again, it was all working out to the
fulfillment of a bigger vision. On the third day, the Son they had killed and buried was
raised from the dead! And soon afterward, God sent His Holy Spirit to pick up and
exponentially accelerate the work Jesus had begun while He was here physically. The
Church was born and its impact began to touch the entire known world.
In the centuries that followed, the Church went through cycles of increase and
decrease. But all the while it grew bigger, and the revelation of God’s truth, power, and
glory has increased! Today, for all of its faults and failures, the Church is greater in the
earth than it has ever been. In fact, the number of Christians alive is larger now than all
the Christians who have lived in every generation before us, combined. And it is
growing everyday! No matter how great the darkness may appear to be, the light of His
glory will always be greater in the future than it was in the past! Circumstances never
matter. He always wins no matter how it may seem in any given moment. His purposes
are going to be fulfilled. The revelation of His glory is going to continually increase until
the time of the fulfillment of all things as described in His Word.
The point being made is this. In the end, Almighty God always gets what He
wants. He will have a people who will believe and obey! He will have a Church that
meets His conditions. His plans will never be aborted! He always finishes everything
that He starts! At the end of the day, He ALWAYS receives glory unto Himself! And that
process will NEVER change!
I heard the story of a revivalist who was recently flying home from a series of
meetings. It was late on a Sunday night. He was discouraged, as his ministry had not been
received very well. The church had been very apathetic and the passion he had for revival
was not shared by very many people in that place. He was praying, asking God to speak
to his heart some kind of word of encouragement. God said nothing to his request. He felt
alone and uncertain of even the value of the message he had preached. Would revival
ever even come at all? He pondered on that thought. He had prayed, yet God was silent.
Frustrated, he decided to play a game of chess on the computer in the airplane seatback in
front of him. It was a long flight, and the game seemed to go on and on. Finally, it
appeared the game was near its end and that he was going to win. But then something
happened. The computer in front of him sent this message, “The King has one more

243
move.” What? “The King has “ONE MORE MOVE?” In that moment, the King in an
airplane seatback computer game made his final move…AND WON THE GAME! The
revivalist was stunned and amazed that God would choose to answer his prayer for
encouragement using a computerized chess game on an airplane to bring revelation! That
was his answer. “The King has ONE MORE MOVE.” And then the King won a game
that up until that moment had seemed to reflect nothing but certain defeat. As we look at
the world about us we can rest assured today that our King has one more move, and that
He is ready to take it.
In the end, Jesus always wins every battle with a decisive victory! The greatest
revival the earth has ever witnessed is on the horizon. It’s coming and no man, no
woman, no group, nor any devil is going to prevent it. Jesus is coming soon, but He is
not coming back for a broken, empty, defeated Church that is the laughingstock of the
world. He is going to return for a glorious Church that is without spot or blemish. But
before the Lord returns, He is going to take away the excuses of every person who would
stand before Him and claim ignorance of the reality of His presence and power. He is
going to show Himself in the earth in such awesome ways that no one will be left with an
excuse. He shall surely redeem His reputation and the honor of His name before the eyes
of an unbelieving world before Jesus returns. And He desires to use ordinary people;
those who have surrendered the entirety of their lives and wills to Him in order that He
might show His glory and power through them. These will be people who have
surrendered themselves to be used by Him, and not those who seek to use Him for the
advancing of their own personal agendas.

Will You Be One of Those People?

The Church MUST face some very important questions in this hour. If we don’t
passionately pursue true revival, what do we propose to do that will be a substitute that
can change and transform nations? If we don’t do it in this generation, who do we believe
will take our place? If we don’t do this now, when do we believe would be a good time?
In other words,

“If not revival… then what? If not us… then who?

If not now… then when?”
God is looking for a people who will arise in passion and faith and contend for revival
and transformation in our generation. Will you be one of those people?

Are you willing to become one of those who God can trust with His power?
Are you willing to surrender your life to Him in absolute obedience, in order to be used
by Him for His glory?
Are you willing to live a lifestyle of humility, holiness, repentance, and to seek only those
things that you know are pleasing to Him?
Are you willing to earnestly contend for revival in our generation without wavering until
it comes?
Will you live in the fear of the Lord, giving Him all the honor, glory, and respect that

244
only He deserves?
If something down deep in your heart is stirred as you read this list, that stirring is
the Holy Spirit who desires to use you in what He is about to do! If your answer to each
of these questions is “Yes,” pray this prayer out-loud:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I surrender my life, my will, my past, my present, and my future to you without
reservation. Have mercy upon me and forgive me for anything that I have done that has
offended you. I’m sorry. Cleanse me now by the precious blood that Jesus shed on the
cross for my sins. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit and fire. Open the heavens and come
down; show Your glory in my life and in our nation once more. We are helpless in our
own abilities, and recognize that only You can help us now. Do for us what we are
clearly unable to do for ourselves. We have sinned and rebelled against You, and
deserve harsh judgment. But we call upon Your great love and kindness and mercy, and
ask you to send another great awakening, revival, restoration, and transformation to us
instead. Please send it now, for if You don’t, we and our nation as we have known it in
the past, will surely perish. We believe Your Word and know that our prayers for
awakening shall be answered. Our hope is in You. We thank you for the revival that is
coming! I make myself available to you to be used to that end. And I promise to always
give You, and You alone, all the glory, honor, and praise.
In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!

245
 End Notes

1
W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vines Complete
Expository Dictionary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996).
2
Space.com
3
Garth M. Rosell and Richard Dupuis, eds. The Original Memoirs of
Charles G. Finney (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1989).
4
Charles G. Finney, Lectures On Revival (Minneapolis: Bethany House
Publishers, 1988).
5
Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
House, 1995).
6
Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
House, 1995).
7
Owen Murphy and John Wesley Adams, The Fire of God’s Presence
(Kansas City, MO.: Ambassador’s Press, 2003).
8
John Bevere, The Fear of the Lord (Orlando: Creation House, 1997).
9
Merrill C. Tenney, ed. The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967).

W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vines Complete

10

Expository Dictionary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996).

W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vines Complete

11

Expository Dictionary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996).

Merrill C. Tenney, ed. The Zondervan Pictorial Encylopedia of the Bible

12

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1980).

246
 Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
13

House, 1995).

W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vines Complete

14

Expository Dictionary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996).

Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Oak Park, Washington: Logos Research

15

Systems, 1995).
Scott Holtz, The Mystery of Lawlessness (Alpharetta, GA.: Flashfloods
16

Publishing, 2002).).
James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville,
17

TN: Royal Publishers, 1947).

W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vines Complete

18

Expository Dictionary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996).

James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville,

19

TN: Royal Publishers, 1947).

Herbert Lockyer, ed. Nelson’s Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible (New

20

York: Guideposts, 1986).

Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing

21

House, 1995).
Michael McClymond, ed. Encyclopedia Of Religious Revivals In America-
22

Volume 1 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2007).

Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
23

House, 1995).
Michael McClymond, ed. Encyclopedia Of Religious Revivals In America-
24

Volume 1 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2007).

Michael McClymond, ed. Encyclopedia Of Religious Revivals In America-
25

Volume 1 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2007).

Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
26

House, 1995).

247
27
Albert D. Belden, George Whitefield, the Awakener: A Modern Study of
the Evangelical Revival (London: Rockliffe Publishing, 1953).
Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
28

House, 1995).
Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
29

House, 1995).
Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
30

House, 1995).
Elmer Towns and Thomas Porter, The Ten Greatest Revivals Ever
31

(Virginia Beach: Academx Publishing Services, 2005).

Andrew Woolsey, Duncan Campbell (London: Hodder and Stoughton
32

Publishing, 1974).
Michael McClymond, ed. Encyclopedia Of Religious Revivals In America-
33

Volume 1 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2007).

E. E. Ham, 50 Years On The Battlefield With Christ (Oklahoma City, OK:
34

Heart of God Ministries, Number 47, 1956).

Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany
35

Fellowship Publishers, 1965).

Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany
36

Fellowship Publishers, 1965).

Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany
37

Fellowship Publishers, 1965).

Merrill C. Tenney, ed. The Zondervan Pictorial Encylopedia of the Bible
38

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1980).

39
Roberts Liardon, God’s Generals (Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1996).
40
Roberts Liardon, God’s Generals (Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1996).
41
Roberts Liardon, God’s Generals (Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1996).

248
42
Patrick Craine, Life Site News, Lifesitenews.com, June 25, 2009.
Bill Wiese, 23 Minutes in Hell, (Orlando: Charisma House Publishing,
43

2006).
Charles G. Finney, Lectures On Revival (Minneapolis: Bethany House
44

Publishers, 1988).
Wesley Duewell, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
45

House, 1995).

249
The Person of the Holy Spirit
The greatest discovery a Christian can make, second
only to salvation itself, is the discovery of fellowship
with the Person of the Holy Spirit. He has been given to
the Church and to every believer to be and to do
everything that Jesus would do if He were still in the
earth physically. The only difference is that the Holy
Spirit is here to do more!

$15.00 USD plus $3.00 shipping

Revival Glory
Revival Glory is when the Holy Spirit’s manifested
presence invades cities, regions, and even nations
resulting in a great transformation of lives and even
cultures! This book examines the nature and dynamics
of revival in order that we might be better prepared to
cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the great invasion of
Heaven that is soon going to be revealed in the earth!

$15.00 USD + $3.00 shipping

Discoveries in Ministry
Are you ready to be used by God in the coming revival?
Do you want to be part of the reformation God is
sending to the 21st century church? Discoveries In
Ministry is an anointed tool for every person who desires
a practical, down-to-earth approach to the many
challenges that ministers face--issues most Bible
schools and seminaries don't talk about. (667 pages)

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What leaders are saying about this book:

“…a wealth of exhaustive revival material that needs to be in every

minister’s library.”
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“Those of us who will take the time to read and listen to John’s heart may
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minister for God in this tremendous day of opportunity and blessing.”
Pastor Tommy Reid, The Tabernacle, Buffalo, New York

“Seldom can one find such a complete manual on pastoral procedures,

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The Glory of His Presence

Do you want to experience more of God's manifest
presence is you life? Today God wants to reveal Himself
in an increasing measure and bring you to a place of
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Chapters include:

• “What Is The Glory Of God?”

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• “Revival Glory”
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• “Becoming A Carrier Of His Glory”
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 Contact Information For John Shiver Ministries

John Shiver Ministries

P.O. Box 7696

Wesley Chapel, Florida 33544

Please visit our website at www.johnshiverministries.org for more

information about our ministry as well as other books and products.