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Archive for May, 2019

Familiarity breeds contempt

Posted by appolus on May 31, 2019

And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. (2Sa 6:6-7)

I think that when most Christians read this scripture, at least for the first time, they are astonished that Uzzah is killed on the spot for touching the Ark. Now if we look a little closer we can see just what a debacle this is. First a little background. The Ark had been kept, for a long time, in the house of Abinadab. Uzzah and his brother Ahio were the sons of Abinadab. Living in the same house as the Ark they were truly familiar with the Ark. It was a common thing for them to see it every day of their life. So, when the time came to bring it to Jerusalem we see that it is placed on a cart with Uzzah at its side and Ahio out in front clearing the path ahead. Now consider this. “And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.” (Num 4:15)

Now Uzzah was a Levite, he was not a priest. And even if he was a priest, if was still forbidden to touch the ark, rather “And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.(Exo 25:14) You see, there were poles wrapped in gold that would be used to carry the Ark aloft by the priests without touching it. Yet here we have the Ark, not on the shoulders of the priest being held aloft above the people, but rather it is riding just a few feet above the ground on a cart being moved by common beasts. The glory of God was being obscured by blatant disobedience to the written word.

Can I suggest that in almost every church up and down the land we have grown familiar with the things of God and therefore we have grown disobedient to His instructions. We have contempt for the way the Lord laid out for us to gather as a congregation and because of this we have lost the glory of God. Ask yourself this pastor or congregant, do you see the glory of God and His majesty manifested by His presence when you gather on a Sunday morning? Does the manifest presence of God come down? Is it possible now that there is more than one generation that has never experienced the glory of God? His majesty, His glory, where we tremble in His presence. Where holy hands are lifted up to God and heads are bowed down low by an unseen holy heaviness. Where every part of you is penetrated by the unadulterated light of God. Where tears run down the faces like the oil that flowed down the beard of Aaron. Where suddenly how good and how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity. Where new life emanates from deep within. Where the secrets of men’s hearts are revealed so much so that they cry out “surely God is in this place.” A place where one saint stands up, heart racing out of his chest at the unction of the Holy Spirit, and begins to sing a song that one second before he had not been thinking about and suddenly a new wave of God’s presence flows down like a mighty river of gold.

A place where a royal priest, following the same unction from the same Holy Spirit stands up and begins to read a scripture in a way that is like being penetrated by a fiery sword and that sword begins to do its work in the hearts of men and women. A place where a saint stands up and cries out aloud “Glory to God in the highest,” and everyone else shouts out in agreement “glory to God in the highest. And another wave of glory rolls over them. A place where something truly remarkable is taking place. The Holy Spirit Himself is orchestrating, quite untouched by human hands, a service that is glorifying and magnifying God. A place where the name of Jesus is being magnified and the people cannot remain silent in the glory. They must stand and testify, they must stand and give thanks, they must shout out with a voice of triumph that our God reigns!!! This is what it means saints to be unfamiliar with the things of God. Our familiarity and the contempt that it inevitably breeds comes from the fact that it is we ourselves, in our own power, that orchestrate what happens on a Sunday morning. We know fine well that it is not by might or power but it is by His Spirit alone, yet for some remarkable reason, we as Christendom have lost the glory. Oh what a tragedy has overtaken us. How can we ever recover the glory of God and His presence among us again?

When David gets over his anger at the death of Uzzah and with the passage of some time, David comes to his senses. Now he will recover the Ark only this time he will do it right. The glory pf God represented by the Ark would be elevated above men in the fashion prescribed by God Himself. Great sacrifices would be made, indeed every six paces sacrifices would be made of oxen, perhaps beginning with the very oxen that had been used to move the Ark in the first place. We dont know how many but we might presume tens of thousands of beasts were sacrificed just as Solomon would later do. No longer was King David taking anything for granted. And so sacrifice was very important and it will take much sacrifice from us if we are to recover the glory of God. It seems that one of the first things that was sacrificed on this journey was David’s dignity. He stripped down to his underwear and leapt and danced before the Ark. His wife was horrified at this, such was her pride. Here was a King, one of the most powerful men in the world with all the pomp and circumstance that goes along with it, stripped down to his underwear with his only concern being glorifying God. From that day forth his wife would be barren. Pride brings death.

How much of the tragedy that we have seen unfold in the congregations all throughout Christendom is due to pride and traditions and the fear of man? How simple the instructions laid out to carry the Ark, how simple the instructions laid out in 1 Cor 14 but they are not carried out and somehow we expect that despite that, God will still come down in all of His glory. He will not. Not while men handle the glory, not while me usurp the Holy Spirit and His instructions to us. We can expect nothing less that Ichabod to be pronounced over the lintels of our doors.

1Co 14:27  If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.

1Co 14:29  Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. 

1Co 14:31  For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 

1Co 14:39  Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 

1Co 14:25  And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. 

When the glory of God comes down the secrets of the hearts are revealed and men fall down on their faces and worship a Holy and a mighty and glorious God. Does not your heart burn within you as you read these words? Is this not the longing of your heart to see God move in such a fashion once again? That a new generation would discover the majesty and the glory of a God that is High and lifted up yet deems to fall down upon a humbled, broken and contrite people who have realized that they have offended a Holy God by their familiarity. Would to God that this kind of move would break out all across Christendom and that His name, the name of Jesus our Lord would be lifted up above us, glorified and magnified and reverenced and when that name above all names finds its proper resting place, on the thrones of the hearts of men then all men will be drawn unto Him.

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 church, theology, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Up from the pit!

Posted by appolus on May 24, 2019

Anyone who has ever found themselves at the bottom of the bottomless pit can relate to a special kind of darkness that eats the soul alive. And then comes the light of Christ who lifts us ever upward out of the pit and onto that solid level ground. We know all too well that the light of Christ is life itself. Even when we made our bed in hell, He came to us, He plunged Himself into the darkness and took a hold of me, lying broken and dying in the kind of thick darkness that drowns you. Those of us who have been rescued from the pit will forever find ourselves at the feet of Jesus our Lord holding onto the hem of His garment being restored by His power and His light and His love. One repentant, broken contrite cry from the soul in darkness, brings the light.

Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, testimony, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 1 Comment »

Who will stand in that day?

Posted by appolus on May 23, 2019

If they go ahead an impeach President Trump, they have set the bar so low that it will be a fatal blow to this Republic. This once proud country will be reduced to a mere banana republic where political opponents are pursued and imprisoned rather than voted out of office. I might remind the Democrats that almost 50% of the voting public voted for President Trump.

There is a tinderbox situation in the States right now. A country fractured along lines that cannot be repaired. People who want to be allowed to kill babies up to and even after birth, now call those who would like to ban all abortions “extremists.” Imagine, those who are drenched in the blood of the innocents calling those who would save the innocents lives extreme.

I believe the lines have been drawn, the hearts are set and nothing outside of God could ever bring them together. This has all the makings of a civil war. The only difference being that rather than the lower classes rising up and taking on their oppressors , it is the elite that are mobilizing their forces to crush their foes and enforce their agenda.

Now where does that leave genuine Christians? What is your role in all of this? Beware saints. This war of words and political battles are the strongholds of Satan. He desires to embroil every saint to darken their hearts and corrupt their souls. The subject matter is irrelevant to him. It is your heart and your testimony he is after.

We, as a Body, have been called to be a counter-culture, not a sub-culture. We battle not against flesh or blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. This spiritual wickedness knows that it’s time is short. This is why we see hundreds of millions of babies slaughtered in the wombs of their mothers across the world and our children being corrupted in the classrooms of the world.

The war is coming, the saints and their children are the targets of the darkness. This is the strategy of the wicked one despite it being masterfully cloaked in wars and culture wars. He is building an army to come against the saints in one last push. Think of Hitler and his wars. Yes they were political and the fall out of the first world war, but the real beating heart of Hitler was his maniacal and demonic hatred of the Jewish people.

In that time period, the very atmosphere was charged with pure evil as tens of millions of people were slaughtered all over the world. This blood-lust, this shedding of human blood was like gasoline on the fires of hell and intensified it to a degree never seen in the annals of human history.

Saint, the atmosphere we are now living in is once again being charged. Only this time it is the blood sacrifice, on a scale never even imagined in the times of Moloch, of innocent babes in the womb that is fueling this. There is a time coming soon that will be so evil that it will make the men and woman of this world long for the “quaint times” of the second world war.

The culture of death is all around us no matter where you live in this world. It is an ever growing darkness, gross darkness, and it is enveloping the world. It is so important for the saint to know that there can be no reconciling this. There can be no political victory that can save this world from impending disaster. There comes a time when we have to face up to the reality of the times in which we live.

Thinking we can somehow save the world and ourselves from this darkness is actually part of the darkness. It is the prophetic calendar that determines the outcome of all things. The Lord has given us insight through His Word what will happen in these days. His instructions to us is to put o the whole armor of God so that we may stand in the evil day.

And so that is what we have been called to for such a time as this. To stand. Stand for the truth is the day of lies. Stand for light in the day of darkness. Stand for purity when all around have been given over to a perverse mind. Stand for righteousness when wickedness abounds. Stand upon the Lord and His word when the world has gone after the devil and his lies.

None of this is for the saving of the world. We are the conscience of the world and for what is about to come upon this world , the conscience must be seared. The world will sear its conscience and we as the saints are the physical manifestation of the Lord himself and His word. So brothers and sisters, stand now, in the armor of the Lord and having done all, stand. Many who are called after His name will fall, but you stand. You will lose everything in this world for your stand in the coming days but the Lord Himself is your exceeding great reward.

God bless you my brothers and sisters for what you are about to face in the coming days and years. Stand now and you will stand for all eternity in the presence of the Living God. Fall away now and you will fall into eternal darkness forever separated from the Lord our God. The promises are to him who overcomes, to him who endures to the end.

Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 8 Comments »

His name is Remnant

Posted by appolus on May 22, 2019

And all of Christendom did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them over to the world. And they made their homes in the world and dwelt in a great darkness. No matter what Christendom did, the world stole away their former glory. Christendom had allowed the world into their midst and the world continually stole from them everything that they had until they were greatly impoverished.

Christendom did not realize what had came upon them until it was too late, they had lost all that was precious. They cried out to God because of the world’s hatred for them. Then the Lord sent them a prophet. And the prophet said “Thus says the Lord, I brought you out of bondage by sending my precious Son to bleed and die for you. His blood conquered hell and death and delivered you all from the darkness of bondage to the light of freedom. I told you not to fear the gods of this world nor bow down youR head to them, but you have not obeyed my voice.”

Then an angel came and he observed a man that represented the few among the many, his name was Remnant. He toiled away and barely scratched out a living. Even among impoverished Christendom, he was the weakest man from the weakest clan. And the angel said unto him, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. And Remnant said “Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the world.

And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt they who shall humble themselves and turn from the gods of this world: have not I sent thee? And Remnant said to the Lord, Lord how can we speak to those in Christendom, are we not the weakest men from the weakest clans? And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt come against all the powers of darkness.

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 | 2 Comments »

He is with you

Posted by appolus on May 19, 2019

I wrote this word today at the prompting of the Holy Spirit for someone. May that someone be blessed today, the Lord your God is still with you..

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.(1Ki 19:11-12)

When we are in the midst of the storms in our lives, the mighty winds that buffet us, the earthquake that shakes the very ground we stand upon and the fires that threaten to consume our very lives and all that we have worked for, we very often have to endure that without hearing a single word from God. In fact, we can sometimes think that we have been either forgotten by God or abandoned by Him. We remember well the most anguished cry the world has ever head “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me.” No encouraging word, no glimpse of His presence, nothing at all. We are stripped bare of everything and are left standing with nothing more than our trust in God. Or will we abandon God because we believe that He has abandoned us thus proving the accuser correct?

For those who continue to stand when everything and everyone around them is falling, when they least suspect it, suddenly the still small voice of God speaks. Light breaks in upon the gross darkness. They realize that God had never left them. Even in the midst of a storm that was tearing down mountains, they stood. Even in the midst of a mighty earthquake that shook loose everything that could be shaken, they stood. Even in the very midst of a fire so fierce that it consumed everyone around them, they discovered there was another in the fire with them and they stood. And when it was all over, and they had endured and they had overcome for no other reason than their decision to put their trust in God, stand upon their faith in Jesus, then comes the still small voice of God Himself. The Lord our God is a rewarder of those diligently seek Him. Do not underestimate that world “diligently.” This narrow path is not for the faint of hear, it is for the warriors of Christ. The battle rages but in Him we stand.

If today you find you find yourself in the storm. If the ground beneath you is shaking violently and all around you things are falling. If there is a fire raging and consuming everything in its path, know this dear saint, you are walking through the narrowest parts of the path. They will cease, you will hear the still small voice of God, only stand and do not fall, stand upon your faith in God. Trust God and lean not upon your own understanding, that still voice will speak to those who endure. The very essence of a man or a woman’s faith is displayed when everything seems to be lost. Think of our brother Job ” even if He slays me, yet will I trust Him.” When he spoke those words, Satan was proven to be wrong. We do not love our Lord because of the circumstances of our lives, or because of the abundance of our possession, we love Him because He is worthy to be loved. He is high and lifted up even if we find ourselves in the gutter.

After the valley of the shadow of death comes the green pastures. He will lead you there saint. He will make you lie down in those pastures and rest. He will sit you down beside the still waters and speak to you in a still small voice. He will prepare a table before you and feed your hungry soul. He will anoint your head with oil, baptize you afresh in His Holy Spirit and your cup will overflow. For those who stand upon the Word of God, goodness and mercy shall follow them all the days of their lives, even if it seems that sometimes they are following you at a distance, they are following you, He is with you even now.

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 church, theology | 6 Comments »

Taking full possession

Posted by appolus on May 17, 2019

We love and hold up the self made man or woman. We exalt confidence and find it very attractive. Yet, there is nothing more attractive than vulnerability on a spiritual level. It is the door to the inner chambers of our hearts. So many of us have erected high towers in the very center of our hearts. The foundations of those towers are begun usually when we are very young, and each blow in life can just be another stone in the tower, another brick in the wall. Yet if we truly want to be “known,” then the tower must come down. By the power of the Holy Spirit the walls of Jericho fell. The Israelites had to conquer this stronghold if they were ever to possess the promised land. It was not good enough to simply cross the Jordan. If God is to have all of us, if we are to have true and genuine relationships with our spouse and our children and our brothers and sisters in Christ, if they are to truly know us then the walls must come down. Then, and only then can we take full possession of everything that God has for us.

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 »

No order of service

Posted by appolus on May 9, 2019

There is no order of service, no set choir, only bursts of wonderful Welsh melody, no hymn books, the words are written in the hearts of the worshipers. The little whitewashed chapels resound with song, song exquisite in its harmony, solemn as death, and yet jubilant as a choir of angels. Then stillness, prayers, soft sobbing from broken hearts, confession, profession, all the wonderful gamut of the soul’s experience, but all spontaneous, with no settled effect, only the greatest effect of all, the reality of human need and divine power (Lady Henry Somerset, speaking of what she witnessed at a Welsh revival meeting)

This is just one description of one of the greatest outpourings of God’s Spirit the world has ever witnessed and it began in a small unknown village in Wales. In the following decades it is estimated that somewhere between 600 and 800 million souls were saved. Let that just settle in your mind for a moment. No programs, no order of service, no set choirs, only the prayers and the praises and the tears of the saints orchestrated by the Almighty Himself. Imagine just for a moment that you were in a service where the Holy Spirit Himself is the worship leader, is the teacher, is the wellspring of a river of tears and is the Surgeon who is simultaneously working on every heart.

If you read 1 Cor 14 you will see that this is exactly how the Spirit was moving in the gathering. So very simple, so outlandishly profound. What holds us back from such meetings? Fear? Insecurity? Traditions? Spiritual warfare? Ambitions of men? Gatekeepers of personal kingdoms? I would say all of the above. I believe God would move again in such a way described above if men would lay down all of their fears and insecurities and come before Him with all the desperation of their human need and there they would encounter true, divine, life altering world shaping power.

Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 8 Comments »

The mighty flowing power of God.

Posted by appolus on May 7, 2019

A few years ago I was injured in a car accident. I injured my ulnar nerve. It runs all the way from my little finger and the one beside it, right up my arm into my neck and then into the brain. The surgeon called it the “beast” of all the nerves. It is not good do to awaken this beast. Well mine was truly “woke,” and despite two surgeries or maybe partially because of them, it was determined to punish me for taking it out of its long hibernation.

One of the major problems for recovery is that over time, neural pathways are formed. This enables a portion of my brain to send pain signals down my arm. Over and over again with one of the way stations my elbow, where the nerve had been knocked out of its groove. Once these pain pathways are firmly established, it can go on tormenting you long after it heals because it has established a pattern. Like a covered wagon stuck in deep ruts, the path is determined. Unless you can break away from the ruts, then down comes the signal on its well worn path.

I thought about this the other morning as I was considering my life. My father was an alcoholic, as was my grandfather and undoubtedly one could find the same pattern over and over again looking back back in time and find the journey had always followed the well established deep ruts. One generation after another, going down that well worn path that was laid out for them. Each life being a wagon set on the course that the previous wagons had established. Your life laid out for you from the very moment of birth, being shaped by the same forces that had shaped the parents that had given life to the child.

Not far from my house there is a trail and it runs for many miles, almost forty miles. It follows a creek. This creek, for the most part has very little water flowing through it for the majority of the year. It trickles and meanders in between well worn out banks. Over the centuries the banks have become deep, carved out by the slow moving waters, determined by the lay of the land. It is the topography of the land that determines every twist and turn and with each year and the passage of time the course of this creek is more established. Deeper and more entrenched. The more time that passes, the more established the path becomes.

One day a few years ago after countless days of rain I put my rain gear on and decided to go on my walk despite the heavy rain. As I approached the trail from the elevated road, I looked down and the paved path that was several feet below was engulfed.The water had risen several feet and instead of creek contained between deep banks maybe several feet across, it was now about one hundred feet wide. There had been so much rain and the ground was so saturated that this little creek was up and out of its banks. It was no longer meandering or contained by its long established banks, it was now a raging river plotting the straightest course through a landscape that yielded to its enormous power. Everything without deep roots was simply swept away. Small bridges and structures not anchored on deep foundations, washed away. This would change the course and the direction of this creek, as banks, long established, crumbled and fell away.

For centuries now the church has laid somewhat dormant. There was the enormous flood of the reformation that changed everything. A great beast had been awakened and raged with fury, perhaps with a single nail hammered into it’s door. It took a long time to calm down and the torment of its injury would be felt for many centuries. Yet inevitably the floods receded and although new paths had been formed, new ruts set down in a saturated landscape, the earth began to dry up, and the newly formed ruts were set. The new paths for the creeks and the rivers that were formed, settled into its place and time began to deepen the new pathways that had been formed. Once again the water was contained, shaped by the deepening banks, a new topography, until it was no longer new.

Brothers and sisters can I suggest that we desperately need a flood? A lengthy period of constant rain that saturates a ground that is dry and dusty and weary. Now I believe that there is a flood coming. Nothing creates a flood better than a storm or a series of storms. Violent thunderstorms releases a huge deluge of rain that is unmatched. Sometimes these storms can produce as much rain in a couple of nights than would typically fall in a whole year. There is violent change associated with it. One thing is certain, when the storm is over nothing is the same. Now I want to stop there and emphasize a point lest you misunderstand me. The rains I am talking about is not some scenario where the Lord rends the heavens and comes down and the church is swept up in a beautiful revival. No, it is an actual storm that comes against the saints. Even now it is darkening. Yes it comes with rain, but it also comes with violence. The Body of Christ will be violently shaken and unless one has oil in their vessel, unless one has deep roots in the Lord, unless one is anchored to the foundation which is Christ Himself, that one shall be swept away by this great storm.

Yet the saints of God will rejoice. The established banks that for so long contained the direction of the flow will have crumbled. The power of God flowing through His saints will take a straight path and will devastate the order of things. There has never been a flood like the flood that is coming. There has never been a storm, that produces the flood, like the storm that is coming. It is indeed the storm to end all storms and the enemy, for a time, will prevail against the saints. Many know this Scripture well “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” This is from Isa 59:19. Now, as some of you may know, there was no punctuation in the Hebrew or Greek, this would come several centuries after Jesus. Now, go back and look at the Scripture I just gave you. Now look at this when I move the comma “When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”

Do you see that brothers and sisters? Like a flood God will raise up a standard. The Lord Himself will rend the heavens and pour out life giving water on a dry and thirsty people. Spiritual drought is a judgement from God. Yet when the enemy comes in, and in our day and our age we see him coming in like we have never seen before, God Himself will release a flood of His Holy Spirit the likes of which we have never seen before. In the very midst of the enemy who seems to be prevailing against the Lords people, the Lord shall set before us a great spiritual banquet. We shall eat and drink of Spiritual food and Water. This standard He raises will be like a mighty flag that represents victory. Jesus is that victory. That banner over us will draw all like-minded men and women under it and God’s people shall stand united, ready to be martyred for the cause of Christ. This will be a witness to a dying world and His glory will cover the earth in a mighty flood as the waters cover the sea. Just when all seems lost Christ will redeem His people and those who endure to the end, those who overcome by the power of the Spirit will witness all our enemies being set to flight and finally destroyed. Stand strong brothers and sisters, the God who has delivered, does deliver will still deliver and He shall be glorified in all the earth.

Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »