Archive for April, 2019
Posted by appolus on April 30, 2019
The way of the cross is supernatural and the fruit of this is the joy and peace that is exhibited by those who travel along the deepest valleys and in the shadow of death. The world understands peace and joy when circumstances are correct and pleasant, the world does not understand joy in the midst of trial. The closest the world has come to this is stoicism and I have witnessed much stoicism in Christendom, but stoicism is not joy and peace.
Stoicism is the endurance of pain or hardship without a display of feelings and without complaint. The English might call it the stiff upper lip. Yet the way of the cross is entirely different. It elevates the spirit above the storm. It produces peace and joy and even epiphany. Think of Stephen as he was stoned as an extreme example of moving in the supernatural. He had his vision and cried out that those who stoned him would not be held guilty for their crimes.
Yet no saint can ever say that he is content in every situation unless he has been broken. There is no shortcut to the deep things of God. The man who has known the depths of despair is the man who can know the heights of victory. The woman who has suffered great loss is the woman who knows how to walk in abundance. We who have wept until there are no tears left to weep are the ones who have arisen from the ashes of shattered circumstances and realized that the God of all mercy still reigns on the throne. He is indeed who He says He is.
The lowliest saint who walks the way of the cross is more noble than any nobleman that has graced the pages of our history books. The saints who walks in the way of the cross walks in the shadow of the Almighty and casts the shadow of the almighty on the earth because the Lord Himself dwells within them.This is our calling saints, it always has been. This calling has to be understood in the depths of the saints soul and when it is then that saint is prepared for their own bloody Via Dolorosa.
The Body of Christ is soon to walk this path corporately. What a glorious triumph of the Spirit this will be. Evil shall be overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimonies and the world will witness that the Body of Christ loved not their own lives unto death.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 29, 2019
These are some of the lyrics from “The sound of silence,” A famous song by Simon and Garfunkel.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared,disturb the sound of silence
As Jesus faced down Satan in the desert he told that old liar that “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Every word brothers and sisters that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. Man needs bread to live, he has to eat otherwise he will slowly starve to death. What a ghastly sight it is to see someone in the latter stages of starvation. They lose all of their characteristics and begin to resemble one another as they waste away and gauntness takes over.
As we sit in our pews week after week, no one dares disturb the sound of silence. Despite the richness of our gifts and our callings, despite our ability to give and receive words of knowledge, to hear heavenly songs sung in a heavenly language, to hear prophecy’s and exhortations that can speak directly into the heart of what we are going through in the moment, we dare not disturb this established silence.
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
Have we made a neon god? Do we sit in pews and worship a god of our own making? A god that has to dim the lights and break out the ice making machine to create an “atmosphere,” that was long ago lost to slick professional worship teams and men with programs.
Listen brothers and sisters, if entertainment brought them in, only entertainment will keep them. Yet how long before they grow weary of the entertainment? Where do they go after the dimmed lights and the religious concerts fail to move them and the smoke dissipates?
My wife works at a bank and they are so dependent upon technology now that if the power is cut for any reason they just have to go home, there is nothing they can do without the power. Is that how our churches have become? If they had a power-cut there would be no lights to dim, no machine to create the smoke, no power to play their instruments. Would they just have to go home? Where is the true power?
If we could see with spiritual eyes as we sat in our pews and looked around, would we see well fed people living on the fat of a land flowing with milk and honey, living abundantly in the life of Christ, edified and well fed? Or rather would we see a people gaunt with hunger, starving for the Spiritual edification that the Lord Himself provided for us. He promised us that He would not leave us as orphans but send the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide us. What happens when the Holy Spirit is silenced and men have decided that they no best?
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Is this what we have done brothers and sisters? No longer can we have the Lord speak to us how He pleases in the midst of the congregation for we have rejected these gifts that the traditions of men may be kept and we now must not disturb the sound of silence, that silence being the words and the wisdom of man. And in the midst of that darkness we sit, only ever wondering what the power of God truly looks like, and the smoke drifts away.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 7 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 28, 2019
The living Jesus empowers us to die and His cross is the symbol of sacrifice and death. To live for Him is to die to ourselves and the world. As we move forward in our lives and become more like Jesus, we have to continually die to ourselves, in other words if we want to live an abundant life in the Lord we must abide in the cross. And so there is an important intertwining of dying to ourselves and living the resurrected life. It is the heads and the tails of the same coin. If we focus on just one aspect to the detriment of the other, we will become imbalanced in our walk. We surely must pick up our cross daily it is important to realize that this will produce an abundant spiritual life in Christ. And while you may die to the flesh internally, the world should see your joy expressed externally and wonder and marvel how such a thing could be. This is pleasing to God.
The proof of our new life, our resurrection from the dead, our authentic faith is not found in the abundance of our possessions as some would have us believe. The proof of our faith is how we react to carrying our cross. In the midst of this death to ourselves does the love of Jesus pour forth from us? Do we minister to others when we ourselves are in the midst of trial and testings? Have we found the secret of being content in every situation? The cross does not lie. There is no hypocrisy on the cross.The cross signifies death to self and death to the world. It’s only by taking up our cross that we can crucify the flesh. The flesh wars against the Spirit. The flesh must die, it dies only upon the cross, it thrives upon indulgence and self-pity and self.
The walk of the cross can be a lonely walk. Yet in every generation, across denominational lines, brothers and sisters are called out. They know each other when they meet. They are people who have rejected the “norm.” They are a people who seek a deeper walk with Jesus. While the crowd run after the latest craze and those that tickle their ears, these people find themselves on an ancient narrow path. This path begins at Calvary and ends at the throne. It is a very difficult and lonely path but all the saints who have come before you have walked this very path. Be encouraged today saints, God sees the afflictions of His people. He has not left us as orphans. We have the Holy Spirit who can take us to a place that Jesus has prepared for us. He is our high tower and the righteous run into it and they are safe. There is a place beneath His wings that is ours. He has given us wings in the Spiritual so that we can fly to this place. And in this prepared place we discover joy where there should be no joy. We discover peace where there should be no peace. We discover love where hate should consume us. We are be fed although a famine has overtaken the land. He is our fountain in a land that is dry and dusty, in a land where there is no water.
As the spiritual famine deepens, as the drought begins to change the landscape, as the counterfeit increases daily, the Lord knows how to feed His children. As the storm rages all around us the Lord says to His children “I am the eye of the storm, do not be afraid of it, walk into the heart of it and find peace. I am the Lord of all storms and I stand in the midst of them and beckon unto my own to come unto me and take my hand and I will lead you through and you will not be overcome nor destroyed.” We praise the Lord today that He sees all things and He knows all things and to those who have taken up their cross and walk the narrow path He is your strength and your comfort and He sustains you.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 5 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 26, 2019
In the Spirit there is liberty, by the letter there’s captivity.
The Holy Spirit laid that on my heart around midnight after reading 2 Cor chapter 3. There are men who stick to the letter of the law, without understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit. So many times I have been grieved when listening to brothers and sisters pray for repentance, typically when looking for revival. This grieving was for a long time confusing to me, what could be wrong with a focus on repentance? The Lord Himself directs many of the churches in Revelation to cry out in repentance, He was looking for them to return to their first love, to focus again on where they had come from and how they had begun. Paul is in anguish with our Galatian brothers and sisters. Right out of the gate he marvels that they are so soon removed from the beauty and simplicity of the Lord and he is so bold as to call it another gospel. Can you imagine opening a letter from one of the most prominent Apostles and this is his charge against you? It does not get any better in the second chapter, Peter and Barnabas are accused of hypocrisy. Then again in the third chapter he continues his boldness and calls them foolish and wants to know who has bewitched them. Not many men I know, or churches today could or would take that kind of criticism on the chin. Pride would rise up and the messenger would be shot down.
So, back to me being grieved. What was it? It was the focus on sin. Time after time, again and again, lifting up sin. This is the letter that kills and brings captivity. When Jesus tells us how to pray He begins with telling us to be anxious for nothing but our prayers and supplications must be framed with thanksgiving. Sin cannot be the focus, Jesus must be lifted up. It is not about not confessing sin, for sin must be repented of, but Jesus must be lifted up. He must be glorified. Our eyes must rise to the heavens and focus on Him. Inward looking self obsessed repenting only highlights ourselves and our sins and brings condemnation and actually empowers sin, there can be no victory in this. This is the ministry of Moses.
Unless Jesus be lifted up, unless the Lord is the primary focus in everything that we do and say, there will be no breakthrough, there will be no rending of the heavens. It is so subtle and it has the look of something spiritual but it is flesh. Moses and the law and the OT all points us towards Jesus, Jesus is the fulfillment of all things. Jesus in Revelations is urging His people to return to the beauty and simplicity that was found in their first love, the Lord Himself. In this there is liberty. Not only liberty, for in the 4th chapter of Revelation John writes “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven:………And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” Can you see what just happened brothers and sisters? Returning to our first love in genuine repentance and simplicity where Jesus is the focus opens a door, which no man can open or shut, only the Holy Spirit, and now we are in the throne room of God Himself, just like the prophet Isaiah. And there the cry goes up, night and day “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.” In this place we are changed forever brothers and sisters. Think about the boldness that the prophet had after his own encounter. Fire from the altar, fire on our lips, fire in our bones, burning in the glory and the majesty of God and His manifest presence. This is life, this is what we have been called to, this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the Spirit there is liberty, dont you want this brothers and sisters?
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 24, 2019
Php 3:18-19 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
It is so important to note that these men Paul talks about are not enemies of Jesus per se, indeed they walk under the banner of Christianity. No, these men are enemies of the cross of Christ. They have no desire to pick up their cross daily, they simply just want to be blessed and live their best lives now. They want to live with position and respect and have the best seats at the table, they love the applause of men. This is why Paul says they mind earthly things. Paul here writes that he spoke often of these men, this was a subject that caused Paul great distress. Consider the politically correct men and woman of our day who despise any correction and would label any correction as heresy and a tearing down of the Body. What would they make of Paul who spoke often of these men? Typically men in power will create an environment whereby all criticism is labeled, the great weapon of our day, as rebellion.
Paul not only spoke often of these men, he wept while speaking of them. Can you imagine the depths of Pauls distress over this that caused him to weep over and over again? We see his same troubled spirit in Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. You see, again Paul is weeping over false teachers whom he calls grievous wolves. Strange word is it not to go along with wolf, grievous? It is from the Greek word “barus,” meaning burdensome and the word grave. You see, these wolves were coming in to lay burdens on the freed men and women of Christ which would lead to death. Theirs would be a ministry of condemnation. They spy out the freedom of the liberated saint and they hate it. The Jewish priest, the Sadducee and the Pharisee would be replaced by another class of priest . They would set up their own hierarchical priesthood and men would have to bow to them. What a tragedy, no wonder the Apostle wept.
Today we have, in every corner of Christendom, the hierarchies of men. How far we have fallen from the book of Acts. Whether it is the Roman church or the Protestant denominations, we see these grievous systems of men which have suppressed the Royal priesthood. We see also in so many non denominational churches the one man system which usurps the Royal Priesthood. The enemy of our souls has spent most of his time promoting and abetting the grievous wolves over the centuries. They are, and always will be the enemies of the cross of Christ. For the cross denotes death to self, and the systems of man is the promotion of self. The cross denotes deep humility and the systems of men promotes pride and arrogance. The cross denotes forgiveness and love for your enemies and the systems of men seek out and destroy those whom they consider their enemies. I am so glad for the Word of God, for it is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It never changes and is the foundation of all truth and the North star to those who are mere sojourners and pilgrims traveling through this dark world on our way home.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 18, 2019
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Saints, we are living in these times. No matter which way you turn in this world today, say the wrong thing and it can mean you job, your reputation and your place in society. The young Australian rugby player who was recently dismissed because he quoted a scripture that dared to challenge the great golden calf of our day, homosexuality, is a good example. Not just homosexuality, but transgenderism and other forms of mental illness. I would love to tell you that things are going to get better but they are not. As Daniel says above, the powers that be are changing the times and the laws and the saints indeed are being worn down by this. Daniel also says that we shall we shall be given over to this for a time. Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. You see there that John in the book of Revelation is confirming what Daniel wrote. Given that truth saints, it is vital that we stand firm.
Daniel speaks of a time when the saints will be worn down. I believe the process of the saints being worn down has already begun. Times have been changed and wrong has become right and truth, at best, is relative. This is wearing the saints out as they struggle to come to terms with these fast changing circumstances. There has been a blitzkrieg so to speak in the realms of the spirit. Compromise and unrighteousness has surrounded the saints. We are an obstacle that at some point will have to be removed if the enemy is to have total dominance. More laws will be changed and we will witness more compromise by Christendom
These are the days where it is vital that we find our strength in Jesus. We must press into Him, we must abide under the shadow of the almighty. It is time to be unashamed of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. Yes you will lose friends, even Christian friends. Co-workers and family will find you unacceptable as they are drawn ever deeper into the sea of compromise and corruption. But listen brothers and sisters, if we lose our saltiness, then what good are we? If we allow the light that is in us to become dim and we cover it, then what is our purpose on earth? If the light in the lighthouse is turned of then what good is the lighthouse? It would be a structure without a purpose and countless people would drown in the storm as they are crushed upon the rocks.
It is life itself to know the King of Kings who sits upon the throne and the train of His robe fills the temple. He also is the Shepherd who takes us in His arms and carries us when we are wearied. He never sleeps and is never wearied and I love Him. And when I wait on Him I can find the strength to run and the weariness is left below as I am caught up in the updrafts of His presence and I am carried up into His arms. Wait upon Him saints , we shall find our strength in Him. Do not be tempted to remain silent, speak the truth in love. The whole world is headed directly onto the rocks and its only hope is the light in the lighthouses. We are that light and now more than ever we must allow that light to shine forth into a dark world being consumed in a storm of confusion and rebellion.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 17, 2019
Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.
As the deer panteth for the waterbrooks so my soul longeth after thee oh Lord. It cries out in a dry and thirsty land. Revive me oh Lord. Feed my soul that hungers after heavens food, refresh my spirit that longs for waters that flow from heavens throne. I have tasted this food, I have drank of this water. I am ruined for all of life’s food and all other waters are foul tasting to my spirit. Lord Jesus, you are beautiful beyond description, to marvelous indeed for words. The moments I have spent in your sanctuary rob me of all of my words and render them all perfectly meaningless. I feel heavenly words running through me, it’s in my very essence. When I am in your presence you penetrate my very DNA. I know that I cannot dwell there for I would that I would never leave that place. And so that I can go on living I must only dwell there for a moment, but oh what a glorious moment. It is these moments that help strengthen me to endure all things for I know that there will come a day when it will not just be moments anymore. Eternity will stretch out its arms and usher me in and there will be the eternal moment, the eternal now, the eternal Lord my God. And it makes me tremble all the more when I realize that this place of eternity, this uninterrupted unadulterated presence of the living God has not even entered into the hearts of man.
No eye has seen nor ear heard nor spirit experienced the full measure of our God. It is above and beyond human description or even imagination. I come to the end of myself and it thrills my soul to know that at the very end of everything that ever was, everything that has ever been or ever will be experienced by man is the very beginning of you. My soul’s journey into eternity renders all mere trials momentary and light, I shall count them all as rubbish for the goal that is set before me. to be found in you. Oh the glorious wonder of a world that cannot be imagined. You tell me oh Lord that it has not even entered into the hearts of man what you have prepared for us and I compare that with the moments I have spent in your presence and based on this alone my mind is staggered to a point that I cannot even comprehend the beginning of what you have said. Today brothers and sisters, God is ready to be encountered by the man or woman who has readied themselves, who has a desperate thirst for Him, who would draw near to Him. Do you hunger and thirst after the Glory of God? This great treasure is found by those who diligently seek Him, pray today to God to give you such a hunger and a thirst.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 16, 2019
The inability of Brian Houston, the leader of Hillsong to defend the young rugby player in Australia who was fired and career ruined because he quoted a scripture to a lesbian woman who asked what would happen to her when she died is indicative of what we are seeing nowadays from so-called Christian leaders.
We will see this more and more while men are afraid of the world and seek to protect their own kingdoms. In many ways this is the Lord shining His light, separating those who are willing to stand in the evil day. It is when the storm comes that we can figure out which house has the foundation and which does not. The Lord says when the storm comes and beats upon the houses, come the morning only one will be left standing. Our foundation that we stand upon is Truth.
Jesus is the way the Truth and the life. Each of these aspects of Jesus make the whole and His saints are composed of all three. If a person does not love the Truth,that person will run when it is challenged and he is challenged in the process. If a hireling is confronted by a wolf, he flees because the sheep are not his, it’s the same principle. Inside every genuine saint is a love of the Truth, it burns like a fire in his bones. He will suffer the loss of all things for its sake, even his life. This is the measure of the saints down through the ages.
Our problem is that we have been living in a day and age of lukewarmness and shallow faith that has never truly been challenged to any great degree, especially in the west. Consider the first couple of hundred years of our faith. Coming to Jesus could very well have meant not only your own death but the death of all of your family. And yet they came, and yet they stood and yet they died. And we have men who cannot even answer the most basic questions of the faith less they lose their jobs or their reputations, and not just any men, leaders, so-called, of the sheep. With much responsibility comes much accountability.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-message-to-folau-the-world-doesn-t-need-more-judgmental-christians-20190414-p51e0o.html?fbclid=IwAR03JZZLxHuM2je7R4Mgr51PX8LJC5xM_TFxA7YAuU6YuzIOe-_vWcJzl8k
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 5 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 12, 2019
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
God has called His children out of darkness into His marvelous light, the light of freedom. Religion is the deadliest enemy of Gods freed children. It spies out their liberty and seeks, with much patience, to again enslave and control them. In these days God is releasing a generation to come forth and live in the freedom that He has called them too. The shackles of the old religious systems are being exposed and broken down. It can be scary to begin to think for oneself and to walk into open fields of freedom having been so restrained for so long. So confined by that pew that you sit on, year after year nothing but a spectator. Brothers and sisters you were called into a royal Priesthood. He who the Son has set free is free indeed. Free to walk with Him, free to be taught by Him, free to hear Him, free to be directed by Him. Our call is a radical one and it is to Jesus and Jesus alone. This is where freedom begins.
Many years ago I was walking in the suburbs of Kansas where I live. Walking through a wealthy neighborhood I saw gardens with meticulously planted flowers. A lot of work had obviously went into them. They had a design and had undoubtedly been measured exactly, every flower planted the exact distance from each other. Each home-owner knew what they wanted and it had been achieved. There was a regimentation in these gardens and they certainly had some kind of beauty. Then I heard the Holy Spirit telling me to look across the street. There was a large playing field. At the far end of the field was an open drainage system for water run-off and a large culvert. All around this area was full of wild flowers of all kinds. No hand had placed them where they were. They were wherever the wind had blown their seed. It was truly a magnificent sight and had a beauty that was unmatched by the little regimented soldiers all standing to attention, watching from across the street, now seemingly entrapped and longing to breathe free.
Brothers and sisters, where are you? Did the wind of the Spirit blow in your life? Did He lead and guide you to where you are now? To be where the Lord wants you to be and to be part of a garden that the Lord Himself planted is to have ridden the winds of the Holy Spirit. Can you just stand and let go? Can you let the updrafts of His presence and Spirit carry you? Can you breathe free today? It is your birthright and that freedom from a crushing religious system of control and man centered activity was wrought for you on the bloody battle field of Calvary. To live in anything less than that freedom is a tragedy.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 11, 2019
We in the West have spent so much time telling people that all you have to do is come to Jesus and all your problems will be solved. From the beginning this was never who Jesus was or is. He is the one who stands in the fire with us. He is the one that sustains us in the floods. Floods of life, floods of tears, floods of fears, He is the one who stands. People need a Saviour. Jesus is not an addition to an otherwise perfect life. He is life itself. To know Jesus is life and all else is death. To know Jesus is light and all else is darkness. The perfect life in this world without Him is perfect darkness, it’s a shroud that covers our death. Yet a call from the depths of our hearts, darkened and broken by life, dismantled by sin, brings Him near. What will you do darkness when my Lord comes? Death, where is your sting and where is your victory when Life itself comes walking by? You are all swallowed up in Christ my Lord.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 6, 2019
As a Scotsman by birth, with notions and myths of freedom rooted deeply into my soul and having met the Lord Jesus Christ I know the difference between imagined freedom and true freedom. There is nothing about my identity that is Scottish. I enjoy the people from the land of my birth, I love the humor and their tenacity but in every way I am Jesus first and last.My identity is fully wrapped up in who I am in Him. Everything else is theft. I will not allow this world or the ruler of this world to rob me of my identity. In this day and age of identity politics you can be assured that the enemy of our souls is at the very center of it all. My identity is fully immersed in Jesus.
I do not have black brothers and white sisters, I only have family and it is my family and it is all Jesus. I am not a white man or a black man I am a free man in Christ and in Christ there is color blindness. In the next couple of years there is coming a vicious storm and the enemy, the divider of the people, the one who sets us against each other will be fully engaged in his vicious work. Oily politicians are his foot soldiers. The army of God marches on its knees and is one in Christ. You cannot be in Christ and hate another man because of His color, it is an impossibility. You will know them by their love for one another. The world world will know us, the servants of Jesus by our love for one another. In a world totally fractured and divided for political and financial gain, we who are truly in Christ are the antidote.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 6 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 5, 2019
Heb 9:3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place.
For anyone who has experienced the presence of God everything else will inevitably fall short. In many ways it is a double edged sword. It’s not good enough to stand outside the door, it’s not good enough to remain in the courtyard, one must enter in. And the only way to enter in is to pass the altar, the brazen alter. What will we bring as a sacrifice? How will we humble ourselves? What state are we in? Are we able to look at ourselves? We expect to see the power of God without the sacrifice. We expect that God will come down and pour fire on our ministries, He will not. God will come down for His own glory and for the love of His people. He will hear the cries of the broken heart. He does see their afflictions. He will see a people ready to glorify Him for no other purpose than to glorify Him. I fear that for most of us in the west, only severe persecution will bring us to this point.
He will not honor nor will He manifest Himself to those who seek to honor themselves. He will honor the genuine worship of His people. He is not conjured up by louder music nor by a heavier drum beat. There is not a lot of noise before the presence of God, before His majesty. All are hushed and awe descends like a blanket upon the hearts of His people, a holy heaviness. Their heads are bowed and their hands are raised up and trembling. Not because they were instructed to bow their heads or raise their hands or sit or stand or jump . No, no, not in the presence of God. One assumes a position before the living and the mighty God just as a natural instinct, for in the end we are spiritual creatures and in the genesis of our souls we were made for communion with our God.
No instructions are required as one is prostrate in His holiness. Every part of who you are is penetrated by His light. It is glorious and traumatic all at the same time. And the oil that dwells within your chest is set aflame by this light, this fire from the throne itself. “Did not our hearts burn within us as we walked with Him?” All things are possible, eternity stretches out before us and we never want to leave that place. The candlestick burns. God speaks, sin melts like wax, refining, yes refining. We offer ourselves and the dross that lies within us and the Lord says “Come.” So what will bring this presence down? An awareness of the time? Death to business as usual? Genuine desire? A return to the biblical example of church? All of these things brothers and sisters, but most of all, when we give Him our whole hearts. When all the things of the world grow strangely dim. Today we have many men centered churches, programs of men, teachings of men, musical programs. None are bad in and of themselves, they are just not God ordained, God centered. Outside of His presence and a desperate desire to be in His presence, all we have is religious social clubs.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 4, 2019
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do-He reveals to you who He is-Oswald Chambers. A good brother quoted that tonight and it was timely for me because I have been thinking about that very subject. If we truly accepted that and surrendered to that and yielded our all to that, there would be many so called prophets ( small p deliberately) out of business.
It would mean that we would not need to know what is around the next bend, we would just need to know Jesus. If we were to truly live out our lives as the Lord commanded us to, to live one day at a time and take no concern for tomorrow, if we actually lived that way it would revolutionize everything. All of our fears would be driven out as we simply walked with Him. Every situation would be one more masterclass in who He is in our lives.
If the truth be told, our desire to know what is coming is based entirely on fear and insecurity. It is why witch doctors are still in business. The same for mediums and horoscopes and fortune tellers. If you closed your eyes right now and imagined living one day at a time and never being overcome by fear again, can you imagine what that would even look like?
This is a foundational part of walking in the Kingdom. Sanctification sets us apart and separates us. Not just from the things of the world but from fears and anxiety. While we still fear and worry about the things that the gentiles fear we still have one foot in the world. The Lord calls us to enter into a place where we have ceased from our works.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 3, 2019
2Ch 5:14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.
The world has such a low view of God. Some kindly grandfather? A benevolent Santa Claus? A buddy? Of course He is none of these things. For the most part Christendom also has a low view of God. Can I ask you a genuine question? When you go to church next Sunday, are you actually expecting to encounter the Living God? I am not talking about singing loud and jumping up and down. I am not talking about being really interested in a sermon and taking notes. I am talking about meeting God almighty. The God that is high and lifted up and the train of His robe fills the temple. The God that is majestic in holiness. The God that is full of awe and marvelous. The God that is so overwhelming that He floods our spirits with His glory and those around His throne can only cry out Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Is that what you are expecting? If not why not? Unless the people have an encounter with such a God, they will continue to have a low view of Him and worship some weak anemic cultural god of their own making. What cannot be learned by a thousand excellent sermons can be learned in the genuine presence of God. Just one moment in His presence is better than a thousand elsewhere. If all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.” (1 Cor 14 24-25)
The church in the west is starving to death and they are dying of thirst. The tragedy is, that for the most part, the majority that are called after His name do not even know that they are in the midst of a famine and a drought. I thank God for His remnant people who do know. Who agonize over the state of the church. Who cry out to God and who want nothing less than for the multitude of people to experience the majesty and the glory and the anguish and the joy of falling down before the throne. Who desire all men to be ruined for this life and to walk with the grand obsession of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is coming a time, and we may be there already, when God is calling His people, His remnant people who have experienced the presence of God, to rise up and testify to it. To testify of what they know of Him. Of how they come into the presence of a Holy and majestic God. Of how it ruins them and changes them. Of how they tremble before the throne of the almighty God. This is what the people are starved of, this is what they are dying from. There is a famine of the Word of God in the land, not the Word preached, but the Word preached with the power and the presence of God. The crisis of the age is a lack of God’s empowering presence in our assemblies. May the glory of the Lord fill His house.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 1, 2019
So many of us experience the depths of darkness in our lives. It is not really a popular subject in Christianity, especially western Christianity with its upbeat positive feel good message. “Come to Jesus and everything will be fine.” “Jesus will solve all of your problems.” It has to be an ever ascending message of light and positivity or we will chase people away. Yet the reality for most of us is something quite different. You just need to live this life and get a little older and your trial will come. One minute the road ahead is clear and suddenly the weather comes down from no-where like the grey misty clouds on a bleak Scottish moor and your visibility is just mere feet ahead. It has been called many things. One of its favorite titles is “The dark night of the soul,” made famous by a sixteenth century Spanish poet known as St John of the Cross. Now the reason I don’t really care for that title is that it gives the wrong impression that this dark experience lasts for a night, at least the title does. Now, if that was indeed the case, and it lasted only a night, then I can safely say it would not be the darkness I am speaking of. This experience, at the very least will last for a season, it may even last years. And over the span of your life in Christ it may occur many times. Some of our most dynamic Biblical writers and heroes of the faith, men of great strength and courage have walked through this darkness time and time again and wrote about it and it has encouraged countless millions over the millennia.
To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.(Psa 69:1-2) Could there be a more descriptive verse of what it means to be in anguish? I believe David is speaking of a time when he was a stranger from Israel, Saul was out to kill him, he ran with renegades and even the Philistines did not want him for they did not trust him. He returns to the town where he is staying and discovers it had been ransacked and has been put to the torch and all the wives, women and the children and their wealth had been taken. In that event we see even those renegade men turn on David and David is totally alone. He has no one left to turn to and the Scriptures tell us that he cried until there was no more tears left to cry. Have you been there brothers and sisters? Have the deep waters of tragedy and grief and turmoil poured into your soul so that you feel like you are drowning from within? Floods of darkness consuming you not only from the inside but outwardly as well. When these two darknesses meet, then you will know you have arrived at the dark place of the soul. How you move on from here will determine your fate. If this was a positive upbeat message then I would take the edge of it and tell you that everything is going to be okay. I will not tell you that. That is between you and the Lord and the decisions that you make.
Paul knew this place as well as anyone. He writes in 2 Cor 4 that he was troubled on every side. That he was perplexed. Persecuted and in a constant state of death. He writes in Philippians 4 that he was abased and hungry and suffered need. In 2 Cor 7 we see that he had no rest at all, surrounding by outward violence and inside he was full of fears. We do not hear this being preached very much. If we do, we rush on to the solution. Yet the truth is this place of fire and testing, this place of darkness and flood is oftentimes the refining fire of God Himself and we shall not pass from that place until God Himself has completed the work He wants to do in us. It is in these places that we learn the deepest lessons and experience the most radical encounters with God Himself even although for most of the time there it will seem that He has vanished. Men go down into the bowels of the earth seeking treasure. Down into the deep darkness where time and pressures have created something that is worth finding. Under the duress of approximately 725,000 pounds per square inch, and at temperatures of 2000 – 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, a diamond will begin to form.
God uses pressures and circumstances and situations to shape His children. I would love to say to you brothers and sisters that once you commit your life to Jesus then all of your problems will be taken in hand and solved. I would like to say that to you but it would not be true. When we commit our lives to Jesus we begin a process that will be tumultuous. It is a radical journey and it is not for the faint of heart and the Lord Himself will shape us by many forces. Our singular purpose is to submit to those forces and our sanctification process will lead us down that path of surrender. In the end there shall be ultimate victory, and along the way many smaller victories but all of it happens as we engage and overcome the darkness by the power of God and His Word and His Spirit. I do want to leave you with this. Paul learned many things through the process. Even although he was surrounded at times he was not overtaken. Neither was he destroyed by distress or despair even although they had come flooding in on him threatened to overcome him. Neither shall you be overcome. Even although he was persecuted he was not forsaken. You will never be forsaken. Even although his soul was cast down to the ground he was not destroyed. You will not be destroyed. You will stand, you will overcome, you will be victorious in Jesus. David got up after such great loss, having cried until there was no tears left to cry and he encouraged himself in the Lord. He pursued what he had lost and he gained it all back. Time and again Paul walked through this valley, the valley of the shadow of death and came out the other side. You will too brothers and sisters. You may have many troubles in this world but you belong to the next and it awaits the end of your journey. Journey on my brothers and sisters, this path that you are on has been trodden before by men like David and Paul and now you. The same God that saw them through will see you through. Believe and trust in Him and we will worship Him here in the midst of it all and on the other side at journey’s end.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
A Call To The Remnant 