Archive for August, 2019
Posted by appolus on August 31, 2019
The wounds of the prophet’s heart are too numerous to count. A man or woman who has stood in the throne-room of the living God, who has cried out ” I am undone,’ who has been penetrated to his or her very core can never walk the world as they once did. Everything illuminated by the light of God is a terrible weight on the soul.
A mountain of magnificent Truth ever lies before such a saint and everything that assaults that Truth is felt in the inner man like the blow of a blunt instrument. It wounds, it breaks it pains the heightened awareness of the awakened soul. Truth courses through the veins like molten rock, a fire that consumes the bones. Will he or she speak? Can it remain in the heart? It can only guarantee more blows, yet this fire cannot be contained. It seeks relief.
The Lord shakes the earth, but not just the earth, He shakes the very heavens.Shall we resist the shaking, shall we refuse the voice that speaks in the midst of the shaking? What now is the Spirit saying to His Church? He is removing all things from His Church that can be shaken, only that which cannot be shaken shall remain. Our God is a consuming Fire.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, prophet, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 5 Comments »
Posted by appolus on August 29, 2019
I want to contrast two men from the Scriptures. First, the Roman centurion from Matthew chapter eight and secondly, Diotrephes whom John speaks of in 3 John verse nine. Look and see the Roman centurion. We are told that Jesus marveled at his faith, in fact we are told that according to Jesus there was no greater faith in all of Israel. Imagine that, God Himself marvels at your faith. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? The centurion gets it, he understand what authority is. He himself is under authority, but in the presence of God he knows that Jesus has all authority, whether it is over the wind or the rain or storms or even life or death, the centurion gets that and bows to that. He acknowledges that he is not worthy, and specifically not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof. He knows that the one to whom he is speaking to is preeminent and with just a word Jesus can heal his servant. Jesus is blown away with this man who is humble and contrite. The centurion will be known for all time because he is memorialized by Jesus Himself in the Word of God. What a beautiful thing.
Now, contrast that with Diotrephes. John the beloved writes of him as one who loves the preeminence. This could very well be the start of the one man system. A man elevates himself in importance and refuses to entertain the apostle John. Imagine telling John that he was not welcome among them because he wanted the limelight for himself, he wanted the preeminence. In this letter John starts out referring to himself as an elder. He does not elevate his status. True men of God do not elevate their status, they never seek the preeminence. Men who seek to build their own kingdoms are enemies to any man who would humble themselves before men and who elevate Jesus. The centurion remains nameless to men but known of God as one who has possibly the greatest faith in all of Israel. The centurion’s reward would come by the fact that his servant was healed, but his reward would also come in the world to come. Diotrephes undoubtedly wanted to make a name for himself, he wanted to be known by men. Well, he certainly got that wish just not in the way that he imagined. For sure God knows the heart of men. Jesus says that many who are first shall be last and again a few paragraphs later the Lord repeats Himself in order to show the importance of what He is saying “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” Mat 20:16 Many are called brothers and sisters, but few are the remnant saints of God. When a man’s name is elevated, he surely8 finds himself on dangerous grounds for the Lord our God is a jealous God and He will have no other before Him.
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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on August 27, 2019
When the spiritual stands to confront the merely formal, traditional, nominal and “natural,” then there is going to be trouble. This is not now merely the reaction from the world: it is the reaction from religion. I would go further, and say it may be the reaction from Christianity. There is a very great difference between formal, traditional, nominal, “natural” Christianity, on the one side, and spiritual Christianity, on the other; a great deal of difference. So much so, that this also becomes a battlefield – the battlefield of a lot of trouble.
Leave formalism alone, and everything will go on quite quietly. Leave traditionalism alone – that is, the set order of things as it has always been; that framework of things as it has been constituted and set up and established by man; that Christianity which is the fixed, accepted system of things – and you will escape a great deal of trouble. But seek to bring in a truly spiritual order of things, and trouble arises at once. And YOU are the trouble maker! The truth is that the trouble lies in the existing condition, the situation, the state; but it is only brought out by your action.
And so spiritual men and women, and spiritual ministry, are called “trouble makers,” because the two things cannot go on together. That is where Israel was. They had the traditions, they had the oracles, they had the ordinances, they had the testimonies; they had the forms, they had the system – they had it all; but, in the days of the prophets, there was ever this vast gap between the “externals” and “internals” of life in relation with God. The heart is far removed from the lips. The spiritual reality is not found in the formal. You may have it all – but then bring in the truly spiritual meaning of things, and trouble begins in that very realm. It is the trouble which arises when what is external and traditional comes into conflict with something which is truly spiritual……T.A.Sparks
Brother Sparks has identified an eternal truth. There is enmity between the flesh and the spirit. Can the two co-exist? No, one must die. It is often a slow tortured death, but death nonetheless. We cannot serve two masters, Jesus identified this truth for us. We are told that we shall love the one and hate the other. This word hate is the Biblical word for prefer. People take comfort in the fact that they do not hate “the other.” No, but they prefer the formal, the traditional, the nominal. In the end, we can only worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Take away Spirit and Truth and you are left with an argument about where you should worship. It is not where we should worship, it is how we should worship. In Spirit and in Truth. The flesh, represented by the formal, the traditional the nominal and the natural is the deadliest enemy of the Spirit and the Truth.
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 | 3 Comments »
Posted by appolus on August 24, 2019
When the branch is cut from the world, it must then be grafted to the vine. To cut the branch it must be wounded, to receive the branch the vine must be wounded. For the branch to be successfully grafted in, it must enter into the wound of the vine, and then stay there, abide there. We enter into His sufferings. We cannot run from the sufferings of the Lord, we have to be a part of it, enter in to be vitally connected to the Lord.
In the parable of the ten virgins all were virgins. All had lamps. All had oil, to one degree or another. All gave of light. Yet when the gross darkness came, when the Lord’s trumpet sounded to signify His return, only the virgins that had oil in their vessels were ready. To have oil in our vessels we, like the lamp-stand, must be vitally connected to the olive tree. Oil must pour directly from Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, into the deep vessels of our heart.
So why do we suffer as Christians? It strengthens the vital connection between our Lord and ourselves. Only by abiding in Him and His word can we have the strength to overcome and endure. Weightlifters lift weights and by overcoming resistance they become strong. If they stop lifting weights they quickly lose that strength and the muscle can become fat and they become weak.
When we resist the enemy by the power of the Spirit we become strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Our strength and the ability to shine our light in the darkness, not just for a moment but unto death if need be, is directly related to the oil in our vessels. Are you vitally connected to the Lord Jesus and His Holy Spirit? Is He your life, your beating heart, the reason that you get up in the morning?
Those who run from trouble, who actively avoid the entering into His sufferings, disconnect themselves from the vine. It is not always readily apparent who has done this. For the light can still shine, even if it is just for a period of time. Yet in a sustained period of suffering or trial or storm, then we see who is vitally connected, whose light will go on shining even when it seems the darkness will never end. Many of those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus, who initially heard the word with gladness will be consumed by the darkness as their light fails in the coming prolonged period of darkness. They draw back into perdition. Their shallow root shrivels up in the heat of affliction. The few will continue to shine their light as a witness to their vital connection with the Lord our God through the power of the Holy Spirit.
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 | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on August 21, 2019
2Ch 9:16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon
Can there be any doubt that King Solomon was the richest man in the world? Lets consider the shields that are spoken of here in Scripture. In today’s market, if a shekel represents 17 grams of 24k gold at $47 a gram for a swiss ingot, then one shekel of gold would be worth $800. If there was 300 shekels of gold in a shield, then each shield would be worth $240,000. And since there was 300 shields, that is $72,000,000 in gold . This was a tiny part of the treasures of Solomon.
The glory of Solomon’s kingdom was known throughout the earth. He was courted by kings and queens from all over the world. They came to see his glory and to hear of his famed wisdom. Oh the beauty and the splendor of a man who displays the treasures of heaven. Are men not drawn to those who have treasures even greater than the treasures of Solomon? For some perspective from God we can see in Matt 6 that we are to consider the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed in such splendor. Can I suggest that God’s children are more glorious that the lilies of the field. It’s not in our toiling nor in our spinning that makes us glorious, its in the treasures that lie within us. Its in the fact that we are a light in the great darkness of the world because it is no longer we that live but it is Christ who lives in us. We contain these treasures in earthen vessels.
The treasure that lies within us is the treasure of Christ Himself. He alone is our exceeding great reward. His presence is more glorious than all the shields of Solomon. We can imagine these shimmering shields of gold. Along with these in the throne-room of Solomon was a throne made of ivory overlaid with the purest of gold. There was six steps up to the throne and there beneath the throne sat a footstool of solid gold. All the drinking vessels were gold, there was no silver to be found. There was nothing like this in all the earth. No king was more arrayed in splendor than Solomon. The glory of this place took the breath away of all who entered.
What are the riches of our dwelling place with the Lord. Out of the beauty of dwelling with Him, do we have the finest gold of unconditional love? Are the walls of our dwelling place encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy? Are the windows of our dwelling places draped with meekness and humility? Do trophies of grace hang on every wall? Are they framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness? Do we pursue the riches and the glories of heaven with the same vigor and single-mindedness that men here on earth pursue gold and silver? And the treasures that we have attained in Christ, do we protect them with all the resources that we have? Do we value the treasures of our heart in the same way men value their wealth? There is a direct correlation between how much we value something to the lengths we will go to protect it.
And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD (2Ch 12:1-2)
So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house.(2Ch 12:9-10)
Rehoboam brought about the division of Israel. In its divided state, the Egyptian king, Shishak came against Jerusalem and stole the treasure of the temple. The world invaded the weakened kingdom and took away all of its treasures. Can I suggest this is what has happened to Christendom? The world invaded it and took its treasures for itself. Now, look at what they replaced those 300 shields of gold with. Brass! Pure gold replaced by brass at the entrance to the kings house. What a disaster, pure gold replaced by a pale imitation. In a place where there was once so much gold that the Scriptures said “it made the silver in Jerusalem as plentiful as the stones,” now it had to replace the gold shields with brass.
The tragedy for much of Christendom is that the pure gold of the Lord’s presence has been replaced with the pale imitation of brass. Where once we stood in an atmosphere oh holiness surrounded by the glory of God, now we stand and watch smoke machines pathetically try and recreate this. Dimmed lights and loud drums and noisy electric guitars add to the “atmosphere.” One can try with all the skill they possess and alchemists toiled for centuries in this pursuit, but one cannot recreate gold. One cannot recreate the presence of God. The burning bush and the Holy ground only exists in the presence of God. Take God away and all you are left with is a common bush and some sand. How terribly tragic to see modern Christendom worshiping a bush and some sand and a handful of brass shields. God help us. Lord we need the gold of your presence. We need to stand in a unity that stops the world from invading the Church. Forgive us for our divided hearts.
Only the shield of faith can stop the fiery darts darts of the enemy. It must be real faith. The kind of faith that trusts God above all else no matter what our circumstances are is the faith of pure gold. This pale imitation that can only trust God for worldly treasure and ambition is but common brass and is the currency of the world. What kind of faith do you have?
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 August 17, 2019
There is the presence of God to be found in enthusiastic and energetic worship, the kind of worship that lifts your spirit. It can lift up the head that hangs low and invigorate the heart and fill you full of joy and leave you strengthened. This is good worship. Yet there is another kind of worship that seems to have fled the land. A worship where we breath in rarified air. Oh how desperate is our need for this kind of encounter in our day.
The first kind of presence lifts your heart to gaze upon the Master, the second kind of presence invades every part of who you are. It falls from heaven like a heavy dew, heads are lowered and hands are raised. All becomes quiet, one barely dares to breathe as the Spirit of God slowly descends down through our out-strecthed hands and our hearts and minds and down to the very soles of our feet, and the ground upon which we stand becomes Holy ground. The first kind of presence uplifts us, the second changes us fundamentally. As living waters pour into us then it rises up like a great river that is so full that it overflows its banks.
The banks themselves begin to crumble and fall into this river of pure life as it swells up and floods through every part of who we are. The landscape is being changed by this flood, the very topography of our lives is being flattened by its powers and everything that is not securely rooted to its foundations is simply swept away. Changed forever. And when the flood recedes we are left with a glorious afterglow. As the deer pants for the waterbrooks, I wonder, do our hearts pant after this kind of encounter.
The Lord Himself does not need professional worship teams. He does not need people to encourage us to stand and jump up and down and raise our hands. In the Welsh revival two young women singing either acapella or simply backed by a piano typically sang “Here is love, vast as the ocean.” And there was Love, in the very midst of them, vast as the ocean, flooding the hearts and minds of all who attended.
Brothers and sisters, in all our modernity, what have we lost? In the programs of our churches and the professional class of worship leaders and pastors have we lost the simplicity of it all? And in the losing of it we now have to entertain the people. Spirit led worship is exactly that, it is Spirit led. In work we have a routine. In life we have a routine. Prisoners in prison have a routine. Oftentimes we are slaves to the routine, it is what gets us through life.
Yet, there is nothing routine about the Holy Spirit of the Living God. He is dynamic and you can never know what way the wind will blow next. Have we sold out our souls to the routine? Routine in the home, routine at work, routine at church. Routine people do not change the world. Routine people do not do wage war on the battle-fields of life. Saints, you are extraordinary because of the great treasure that lies within you. Extraordinary people change everything by the overflowing power of God that flows through every part of who they are.
The Spirit of God is dynamic and those filled with His “dynamis,” change the environment around them because of the environment inside of them. Their spirits have been filled to capacity and is overflowing their banks. And all who come near are caught up in the flooding overflow of a mighty all consuming God. Lord fill us again to overflowing with the kind of presence that invades every part of who we are and may all that we encounter be caught up in the flood that overflows our spirit.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, praise, praise and worship, 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, worship, worship music | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on August 16, 2019
The things that we complain about are an affront to the cross of Christ. This dying to the flesh and taking up the cross is so foreign to an emotional based faith. So much of the mega church and movements like Hillsong are almost exclusively based on emotions. This is where the danger lies when your music ministry is the heart and soul of your church or movement. Young people especially are swept up in a tide of feelings, their foundations of why they worship based on how they feel. Watch a secular concert and see the secularist worship in much the same way. Worshiping God begins and ends at the cross. We worship a God who died for us, who shed His blood for us. The love we discovered at the cross is all consuming. It is life and death. It transcends feelings, it is so much deeper than that. It hurtles past the outer limits of our soul and penetrates deep into our spirits.
Our love for our Lord is based on the firm foundation that He first loved us and that He died for us! When that is the basis of your salvation then you shall not be easily shaken. God Himself will be your life and wild horses shall not drag you out of His hand. He is your reason for living, He is the very air that you breath, He is your very sanity, In short, you know you exist solely because of Him. These little men who are “walking away,” from their faith are crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh and putting Him to an open shame before a mocking world. There are no grandchildren in the Kingdom of God only sons and daughters. Beware everyone of you that was raised in a Christian household and raised up in a church. Shine a spotlight on your faith and examine yourself to see whether indeed you “know,” Jesus. See whether indeed you are a son or a daughter of the Kingdom. Do you love the God of all creation above all things? Does He rule and reign in your heart or does He merely exist in your head? Eternity rises or falls based on these questions.
If you are merely a grandchild you cannot stand, you will fall. You may have walked an aisle when you were four or five and have been told all of your life that you are a Christian, but the cross will tell the story. Unless the cross has penetrated and transformed your spirit, you dwell in the dim recesses of your soul. A place where shades of gray dominate. To dwell there is to have become accustomed to the darkness and perceive it to be light. The eyes are very clever and soon master the grey dimness. Yet, if you were to walk out of the dimness, out of the shades of grey and into His marvelous light you would fall back and scream as the light tears through your eyes and explodes into your heart and mind and soul and spirit. The cross tears away a mans soul. It penetrates every part of him, nothing is left un-examined, nothing is ever the same. Now this new creature takes up his cross, in the shadow of Calvary, “knowing,’ not in the head, but in the deepest recesses of his heart, that His lord suffered more than he ever could and it is an enormous privilege to follow in His footsteps. This is salvation.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on August 16, 2019
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
I watched a movie one time. In the movie there was a man who had been falsely accused of a crime and, bayed on by the angry townsfolk, three men stepped forward and took this man and stripped him and began to whip him. The crowd cheered as the man was punished and the men ferociously whipped him. At first he screamed and tried to get away, and the crowd cheered as he was pulled back and the whipping continued. Then he fell silent but the three men were in a frenzy. Now the crowd grows silent as the men continue to whip their victim, even although all resistance is gone and he lies face down motionless. One by one the crowd disappears and the man is whipped to death, unrecognizable. His tormentors are unrepentant as they finish their work, feeling nothing as they eventually kill the man. This is a graphic illustration of what Satan and his workers do to their victims. They whip their victims with the cords of un-forgiveness, bitterness, anger, hatred and murder in the heart and they will flog their victims until there is nothing left and all is lost in their soul.
I talked to a woman one time. She was caught up in a storm of bitterness, anger and un-forgiveness for her husband for what seemed like a small and reasonably insignificant incident. What I saw in the Spirit was a woman enslaved to fear and insecurity and past hurts. Each of these elements fueled the others. The original tormentors name was “past hurts.” He went out and had insecurity and fear join him and then let anger have the mastery of them as they mercilessly whipped this woman. If you find yourself today with even the slightest of these feelings, or perhaps you are caught up in a violent storm of hatred and bitterness and un-forgiveness, you must look to the anchor of your soul. He has gone ahead of you and just beyond your temper, just beyond your un-forgiveness, just beyond the outer edges of your despair, there lies the safe harbor of peace. The entrance to the harbor is forgiveness and obedience. We can find this entrance to peace in Jesus. He has come to set the captives free. Will you not be free today? Do you desire to be right with God above all things?
Take the whip out of the hands of your oppressors today as you honor God with your forgiveness. If you have made a rod for your own back then you shall suffer terribly. No saint walks in un-forgiveness without losing his or her peace. The above scripture indeed confirms that you will fall short of the grace of God. You may think you can get away with it, bury it in a compartment in your soul and forget about it. It will not work. Like a planted seed, it may seem buried and gone and day after day nothing, but then suddenly the root grows and springs up through the surface for all to see. Rip out out by the roots saints. It may seem lie an unpleasant thought to forgive someone you believe may have wronged you, but it pales in comparison to falling short of the grace of God in our lives. Father, in the name of Jesus, will you today open up the hearts of any who have fallen afoul of unforgiveness. Before the sun sets on the day of them reading this, may they decide to lay it down before your feet and walk on in peace and love and forgiveness and revel once more in your grace.
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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on August 15, 2019
So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.(1Sa 4:4-5)
This is a truly horrifying scene. The ark of the covenant was in the hands of Hophni and Phinehas, two very evil men. In the beginning of Chapter three of 1 Samuel we see that “the word of the Lord was rare in those days, there was no widespread revelation.” So, when the people were facing a great calamity they could not turn to the Lord, they did not even know why they had been defeated that day because the Lord was silent to them. They had to rely on their leaders who could not or would not see their present state. We can be sure that when men have turned from God they are left to their own devices and their own solutions.
Perhaps today we see that in the form of dimmed lighting in the sanctuary which is very ironic when we consider that it is the light of glory they are seeking. Or perhaps a smoke machine that would conjure up an “atmosphere,” of holiness? What about a worship team that could create a great noise, much like the noise that was heard in the camp of the Lord that day in the scripture above? So, when is a noise, just a noise? When the presence of the Lord has departed. Even if it is a beautiful noise, we know that the world creates beautiful noises as well. That very day the Irsaelites were slaughtered in a great slaughter and “every man fled to his tent.”
We live in an age where the word of the Lord is very rare and there is no widespread revelation. Do not be mistaken, we are not talking about the Scriptures here. This is not the word Logos nor the rhema word, this is the word debar. This word means to answer, to appoint, to bid, to command, to commune, to declare to promise or pronounce. Can you see what is missing in times of God’s presence being withheld? Men seek answers to specific problems and they get no reply. In the absence of God’s presence they appoint men like Hophni and Phinehas.
They lose their ability to commune with God, to be able to make any declarations or pronouncements. Into this vacuum comes the false prophets. Yet in the midst of all of that, God speaks a “word,” to Samuel. It is a hard word, a very hard word indeed, especially when you consider its his first word from God. The word is judgement upon the leaders of a corrupt system. Samuel was compelled to give it to Eli. God is raising up a generation of Samuels who speak a hard word of judgment to those of our own household so to speak just as Samuel was compelled to do. Time and again we see God raise up His anointed to replace the established.
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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on August 13, 2019
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?(Jer 23:28-29) We live in a day when the chaff is in the wind. Everywhere we look there is chaff. Every other day we hear of some “Christian leader,” or other, publicly forsaking the Lord Jesus and refuting their “faith.” False prophets have dreams from their own vain imaginations while pursuing their worldly ambitions, growing fat by living of the fat of the land that calls itself Christendom. Ultimately chaff will blow away in the wind. God Himself says “what is chaff to the wheat?” Why should the wheat take notice of the chaff? It is the wheat that feeds the soul, it is the wheat that makes the bread that feeds the saints. In the beginning of this chapter of Jeremiah he says “thus says the God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people;you have scattered my flock, driven them away and not attended to them, behold I will attend to you for the evil of your doings.” Is it just me or should that terrify a man when God says I will attend to you for the evil of your doings? What was their great evil? They fed the sheep chaff and not wheat. The chaff is nothing, the wheat, the true word of God is a consuming fire, it is a hammer that breaks the rocks of opposition to pieces.
Jesus asks Peter three times in John 21 if Peter loved Him. This of course grieved the heart of Peter. Each time He asks the question and Peter answers Jesus says “feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.” The evidence that a shepherd loves the Lord His God above all else is that he feeds God’s sheep. The evidence of a shepherd or a minister who loves something more than God, is that he feeds himself. He promotes himself. His works, his ways, his words and the name of the Lord is forgotten as they elevate their own name, their own words, their own ways and grow fat from the offerings of the sheep. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal Jer (23:26) Anything that elevates itself above the person of Jesus is chaff which shall be blown away in the wind.
In the beginning of 1 Sam we are introduced to Hophni and Phinehas, the two wicked priests who were the sons of Eli. Huge enormous fat men who engorged themselves with the food the people brought as a sacrifice and who slept with the women who gathered at the door of the tabernacle. Total degradation. Now, Eli, who should have known better, allows all of that to take place. He does rebuke his sons in 1 Sam 2:22 but at best, it is a half-hearted rebuke and they keep right on sinning. Now we see in verse 26 of the same chapter that “a man of God,” comes and severely rebukes Eli. God says to Eli in verse 29- “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?” You see, although Eli lightly rebukes his sons, we see why it went no further than that, he himself was hugely fat by the overindulgence of the sacrifices given to God by His people. Now, at the very same time, God is raising up a His own man, Samuel.
So, what is the sin of those who lead the flocks today, those who call themselves shepherds and pastors? It is the same sin as the sin of Eli. Even although some may rebuke the sins of the Hophni and Phineahs’s of our day, they still participate is a system that promotes and allows this to continue. Why? Well, by that very system they get fat themselves. For Eli to fully rebuke his son’s in a proper manner, by removing them, he would have to repent of his own participation and step down himself. This is a bridge too far for Eli and also a bridge too far our present generation of shepherds and pastors. And so, Samuel continues to grow in the shadow of great wickedness and corruption. And we see that the very first thing God says to Samuel, his very first prophecy which will be as a fire and a hammer that shatters the rock is this in chapter 3 of 1 Sam ……………
And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.(1Sa 3:11-14)
Eli’s sin? He refused to restrain them, even although he knew. When a man who represents God refuses to speak, refuses to do the hard thing, refuses to take himself out of that which he knows to be corrupt,so that he might still gain the fat of the land, whether that be food or money or reputation or standing, he will find himself judged as harshly as the wicked sons of Eli and indeed Eli himself. When there is a refusal to restrain and a continued participation in what you know to be corrupt, then what happens next? In 1 Sam 4 we see that the Ark of the Covenant is captured. Israel has suffered defeat and in their panic and desire for God to move on their behalf, they bring out the Ark of the Covenant, as if the presence of God could be uses and manipulated like a genie in a bottle. The Israelites were defeated and the sons of Eli were killed. God had withdrawn His presence and allowed the symbol of His presence to fall into the enemies hands. Eli hears the news, falls over backwards and breaks his neck, being that he was so heavy. His indulgence over all the years that he did not retrain wickedness and was in fact a participator in it, finally catches up with him and kills him. Ichabod is born to Phinehas’s wife and she pronounces “The glory of God has departed from Israel.”
I would like to suggest, that for the most part today, the glory of God has departed from a system that is corrupt. Yes they try and use the symbols and traditions of God but He will not hear them. Yet just as David was being established in the time of Saul, and Samuel was being raised in the time of Eli and his sons and Jesus was being raised in the time of the Pharisees, God always has a witness and is raising up a remnant people who will be led by shepherds who love Jesus above everything and whose one desire is to serve Him and feed His sheep. God says in Jeremiah 23 that “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.(Jer 23:3-4)
That word countries can also be translated “wilderness.” And the word “fold,” can be translated “pleasant place,” or “home.” So the Lord promises to gather the remnant from the wilderness places and bring them back to a pleasant place or home. And He also promises to raise up shepherds which shall feed His lambs and feed His His sheep. All over the world the Lord is raising up such shepherds for such a time as this. A time of Ichabod all across Christendom, but His presence is secure in the hearts of His children. He assured us that He would never leave us nor forsake us and our God is a God who never lies. Lift up your eyes brothers and sisters, for while there is great darkness and corruption in the land and persecution is riding towards us as hard and as fast as it can, and fat and unholy hirelings increase their judgments, Christ is coming. And even although the judgements will be severe the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
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 | 8 Comments »
Posted by appolus on August 7, 2019
Tozer writes…………….. In every Christian’s heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility. (Tozer)
The simple fact is that spiritual dying is brutal. Crucifixion was the most brutal death that the Romans, with all their ingenuity and brilliance, could come up with. It often took several days to die and every single breath was an agony. Are you dying? Is there a cross on your back? I often think of the agonizing walk that took the Lord from a place of torment and scourging, to the agonizing death of the cross. Can you honestly say that you have even submitted to the process? Have you had your Gethsemane moment? There will be no death for the Christian, no dethroning of the flesh, until we have our own Gethsemane. The will, my will, your will, has to come into the shadow of the cross. It has to look at the cross and all that would entail and it then has to shrink back in horror, struggle, agonize, then submit. All of us know in our hearts what holds us back from this. What part of your life keeps you on the throne of your heart?
The special forces in America are volunteers drawn from the ranks of servicemen. Their training is brutal. They are ” broken down and rebuilt.” Their brutal training ends in what is known as ” hell week.” They have a failure rate that averages about 80%. Those who fail, return to their units. They are still soldiers. The special forces soldier will be involved in combat in the most dangerous of situations, typically behind enemy lines. They will never be publicly recognized. There will be no parade ground and applause. No medal pinning ceremonies.
What kind of Christian life do you want to lead? Are you living in ” shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility?” Are you waiting for the Lord to wave a magic wand over your life so that you can become a spiritual giant? There is no such wand and all waiting of that ilk is futile. In order to serve the Lord with your whole heart you must be dead to this world but your heart must be open to this world. It will not be good enough to forgive your enemies. There will be no virtue in this, you will be called to love your enemies. You may complain ” I am simply being sanctified.” I believe in the sanctification process, but not as an excuse for sin. The truth is , one is fully sanctified the moment one is genuinely saved.
The process is reckoning that to be so. The process is reaching out and taking a hold of God’s promises for our lives. He has called us, He has equipped us. We have everything that we need to live a Godly and Holy life. Now it’s not a simple thing. Is there anything worth having that is simple and easy? Was it simple and easy in the garden of Gethsemane for our Lord? If it was difficult for Jesus, then do you suppose it will be easy for you? When you survey your life, when in the deepest parts of you, you know what has to die, will you bend the knee knowing that when you bend the knee that this will lead to the brutal death of the cross? Victory comes in bending the knee, the decision is made, but then the death will come.
The genuine Christian life is no mere cliché. How many times in Christendom do we hear the phrase ” oh, you have to pick up your cross.” “Lord, bend me.” These are mere words. If the words are uttered with a genuine heart there is a brutal reality that lies behind them. Your life will be totally dismantled, piece by piece. Everything that you hold dear, everything, will pass through the fires, everything brothers and sister. It is a terrifying prospect. Reject any notion that the Christian life is a play-ground, it’s not a play ground, it’s a battle-field. Yet, it is a choice. You can choose the play-ground so to speak. That’s not to say that you will not suffer hard times in the play-ground, for all men suffer hard times if they live long enough.
This is not the cross, this is the shadows and the weakness and the sterility of the regular life. If you choose the battle-field, if you ask to be broken, to die, to go deeper, then you will have what you ask for. Jesus knew what lay ahead when he sweated great drops of blood. Paul knew what lay ahead as he started out in his ministry. Knowing that every part of you, every part that you hold dear will be dismantled and passed through the fire, will you still cry out to the Lord ” Here I am Lord, send me?” ” Break me Lord.” I pray that you will. If you do, then you will dethrone your flesh. The shadow that you will stand in will be the shadow of the cross. The weakness that you have will be for Gods glory and you will not be sterile but give birth to hope and joy, living waters will be poured through you and everywhere the waters go, there will be healing.
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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on August 7, 2019
If you do not enter into His sufferings you will not be caught up into the glory. (1 Pet4:13, Ph 3:10,Luke 9:23, 2 Tim:2:12) It is in the garden where your will is submitted to His. It is there that the decisions are made in the lives of the saints. There will be many of these moments in your lives brothers and sisters, some smaller, some more overarching, but all are important in our walk with the Lord and all follow the same pattern. For us mere mortals, time and again we shall be faced with the decision to bow the knee to God. To count the cost and then to cry out “not my will but thine be done.” After every garden encounter comes the cross. The cross is where we put flesh on the bones of what we have agreed upon with God. The cross is a place of great suffering, yet without that suffering for the cause of Christ we can never be caught up into the glory. In order for life to arise in victory then first comes the humiliation. It takes humility to draw close to God, it is a part of the pathway to glory. God says that He dwells with the broken and the contrite. He loves a humble spirit, He revives the humble spirit and gives life to the hearts of the broken ones (Isa 57:15)
We are not without the power of God when we walk out of the garden. Once we have made the decision to follow Him to Calvary and beyond, incredibly, in spite of what lies ahead for us or even in the midst of it, we are empowered by Joy. We are told that Jesus, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame and was then sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2) We know that the joy of the Lord is our strength. We are strengthened and enabled to endure all things for His sake. We are not like the Israelites who stood before a mountain that could be touched, something external and dark and frightening such was their experience at Mount Sinai. We saints ascend the spiritual mountain of Zion to draw near to God. It is altogether wonderful and marvelous and this my soul knows well. It is impenetrable light invading every part of my being, filling me with a light that dispels the darkness that has come to peer at this oddity full of joy. In that presence there is fullness of joy, we do not draw back from it, we press on in (Heb 12:18-22)
Can you see beyond your sufferings dear saint? Can you see the glory? Can you see the throne-room of His majesty? This is the garden, the Cross and the glory. Can you say with Paul that you consider the loss of all things as nothing in comparison to the excellence of the knowledge of God? To be found in Him.To know God and Him crucified and Him glorified. The man or the woman who comes out of the garden, humbled and obedient to the calling of the cross, is the man or the woman who can and will revel in the glory of God and endure the cross that is set before Him with joy. A place where the darkness of mourning should reign supreme, but is conquered by the glorious light of majesty. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. (Psalm 30:11-12)
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, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on August 6, 2019
Years ago I saw a documentary on a certain part of Africa. For 10 long months it sees no rain. First the mighty river dries up and then it becomes pools.Then the pools slowly shrink until they are nothing more than mud-holes. In this particular documentary, it showed a giant crocodile that had taken up residence right in the middle of a mud-hole. Despite its presence, deer and other animals risked their very lives in order to partake in the last of the water. A small number of animals undertook a long migration in search of water, some died on the journey, many found the water that they were looking for. Yet almost all the animals that were indigenous to this geographic location, died before the rains came. Animals that in normal circumstances would never come within 100 yards of a crocodile, came right up beside him in a desperate attempt to get some satisfaction, relief, from this drying mud-hole. When God withdraws the rain of His presence from His church we see many strange things. Let us pray to our faithful Lord that the He will send the rain to a people who have learned not to take for granted His presence, and are focused on nothing else. What was very clear from the documentary was that the animals knew that this was life or death. The tragedy for many in the church is that they can live a life, devoid of His presence, and not even know that they are dying. Imagine that this ten months without rain is a season or seasons in Christendom. Generation after generation sucking on mud, barely surviving on the moisture that remains in the mud hole. Getting down and dirty in the mud, and being dangerously close to the world as they try to survive in the dry season. Never having known or experienced the flowing river of God that brings life and healing to all who are carried by its current.
To try and operate in this world as a church without the Holy Spirit and the presence of the living God is to be reliant upon a mud-hole. Some vestige of some by- gone days where once the river flowed. Talk of past victories but no present life. Living on memories and manna from a bygone age. A Spirit filled sister in Scotland wrote to me many years ago about this very subject and what she was seeing in Spirit……………….
“It seems that wherever we live in the Western world there is a dearth in our churches..a dearth of the reality of God`s holy presence. But we must get our eyes off the impotence of our church organizations and gatherings and turn our eyes upon the One Who alone can, and will, make ALL the difference in response to EACH one of us seeking Him with ALL of our heart. Yes, the Giver and not the gifts. Are we truly able to cry, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” God says “Men ought always to pray and not to cave in” – We must cry to God FOR prevailing prayer, so that we are able to pray WITH prevailing prayer. That prayer that persists and will not give in UNTIL the Lord comes and sends floods upon our dry and thirsty land. Has He said and shall He not do it? “He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings..”
Throughout the whole earth there is a thirsty cry…it may begin as a selfish whimper but as thirst increases it becomes a desperation – our hands must be emptied of everything as we lay hold of Him. Then our hearts will burn within us as we steadfastly keep our gaze on Him Who said, “Call unto Me… and I WILL answer thee ”If we are discouraged by outcomes of our genuine efforts..if the ground remains cracked and parched..we must stop digging in the dry river beds..and look up, for He WILL send rain upon our barren land and cause His floods to lift His people from our own good intentions into His abundance. Upon every one blade of grass He WILL send His refreshing..His restoration upon our withered land…wherever we are. We will see a cloud the size of a man`s hand, that will become a deluge. Remember dry cracked land does not appear to soak up the first showers (look past appearances or feelings), then it drinks freely..and new life will spring forth! Let each one of us begin the cry for the `dry land` of our own heart”
That was a good word from a dear sister in Christ. I believe that saturation is what it is going to take because the ground is so very dry. There has been much breaking down of the clods and ploughing ( prevailing prayer) and yet, that work only makes sense if it will indeed rain. One would be very foolish to partake of such ploughing if one did not believe that there is a rain coming, a soaking rain, a saturating rain, that will penetrate the deep dryness. As someone who now lives in Kansas, a place that only gets about 33 inches of rain a year, I know how dry the ground can become and how deep that dryness is. At first when it rains the rain merely flows over the top surface. The ground is so hard it does not penetrate. Then it rains for several days and the ground becomes saturated, thoroughly penetrated, indeed to such an extent that it takes days or weeks to dry out. Flash floods come and go very quickly and when it is gone, it is like it has never rained because it never penetrated. Yet, when it rains consistently for several days, the effects are deep and lasting.
After the drought comes the rain. Perhaps you feel like your in a drought? Perhaps its been a long time since you encountered the presence of God? For those who believe and prevail and overcome, can I tell you that there is a cloud , the size of a hand, on the horizon. There is a deep penetrating rain coming for Gods people. He has taken His people into the wilderness, the valley of death, the valley of decision. Because of the intensity of the battle that lies just ahead, it was and is necessary for the Lord to take His people into the desert of testing, a place of scourging and stripping away of every single thing that we have relied upon that is outside of Him. A place where survival depends not on tradition or past victories or heritage, a place where we once again cry out to the Living God for Him and Him alone. Only those who truly desire Him will stay in this place of testing. Many will return to Egypt, many will look back to where they came from and be turned into pillars of salt. Yet, the Remnant of Gods people will prevail. And our God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Yes there is an intensity of persecution for Gods people just appearing on the horizon. There are storm clouds gathering even as you read this. There is coming a time such as has never been seen before for Gods people. Yet with storm clouds come great rain falls. God will pour out His Spirit in a such a way that His children will stand in the pouring saturating rain of His presence. And despite the intense persecution and all out war that the old serpent will wage on us, we will rejoice and glorify and lift our hands on high. We will praise God for the rain that falls. The persecution will seem light in comparison to the eternal weight of glory that is to be experienced in His presence. God will inhabit the praises of His people who worship Him with their whole hearts. Gods people will only care that His presence is with them. As long as He goes before them, they will follow. They will follow Him right into the valley of the shadow of death. They will allow nothing to separate them from their God. Stay the course brothers and sisters, the rain is coming, and then comes the King.
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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on August 4, 2019
Two great tragedies overtook America yesterday. Twenty nine people dead in two shootings. May the God of all mercies comfort their friends and loved ones. Sadly I already know the response from politicians and TV pundits. The very people who stoke the fires of hatred will blame each other in an effort to further their own causes.
There is an open wound on the southern border of America. I am not a medical person but I believe that if an open wound is not treated and closed, then without a doubt it will get poisoned and fester. Then gangrene will set it, then amputation is required or the patient will die.
The politicians have not fixed this problem over decades for two main reasons.
1. It serves the purpose of both sides. When I first came to America in the 90s it was the Democrats who were totally against an open border. They were trying to protect union workers from a flood of cheap labor which lowers labor costs. The Republicans could care less at that time since they tended to represent corporate entities and small business owners who welcomed the cheap labor. In classic political style and further proof of the absolute hypocrisy of politicians, the wind changed direction and so did they. Now it is the Democrats who desire open borders and the Republicans who do not.
2. No side wants to give a victory to whoever is in power. They would rather have the chaos at the border remain if it furthers their own desires for power and control. This is the reason this has went on for decades and why even this tragedy will not produce a deal that would fix the problem. It will not be fixed, there is too much to be gained by not fixing it.
Right now in America there is an atmosphere of hatred. In classic political style one side will blame the other, first to avoid any culpability and secondly to further their own causes. All this will do is add to an already toxic atmosphere. Twenty four hours a day, cable news pours out gasoline onto a burning fire. They sanctimoniously refuse to accept any blame for the atmosphere that produces incidents like what occurred yesterday.
What should we expect next? The assassination of the President? When there is such a level of hatred, spewed out day after day, on any subject, a rising tide if you like, that rising tide raises up the crazies. The soul of this nation is being ripped out and the next two years of political hatred will be horrific. I call on my Christian brothers and sisters not to get caught up in the madness. To even get close to it will be extremely dangerous. There is an enormous vortex that is is spinning faster and faster each day and the faster it spins the the more powerful its pull becomes.
As Christians we have been called to be a counter-culture, not a sub-culture. As the darkness increases and the divide becomes greater and greater, it is very important that we not be found on one side or the other, but let us be found on higher ground. Let us be a city set on a hill that beckons to both sides of a conflict. Let our light shine in the darkness so that both sides of a conflict, caught up in a a great storm of darkness, have as place where they may find peace for their weary souls.
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 »
A Call To The Remnant 