Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Posted by appolus on June 19, 2020
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
I have a GPS system in my car. I simply put in the address and follow the blue line and I inevitably end up at my destination. Yet even with this system in place you can take wrong turns and the system will automatically “recalculate,” and give you new directions to get you back on track. This almost always involves “taking the next exit,” or doing a “legal u-turn when possible.” Sometimes when you take the wrong road but it runs near to or initially parallel with the correct road, the system still believes you to be on the right road.
As the wrong road slowly veers away from the correct road, the system at some point finally figures it out and re-directs you. Much of Christendom has taken the wrong road. Initially it runs almost parallel to the correct road and, without discernment it is almost impossible to know that you are on the wrong path. Most will simply plow ahead down the road they are directed and it’s at a point of getting lost that the person realizes that they have went astray.
When Amelia Earhart attempted her epic flight, it is reckoned that she only had to be a tiny fraction off in her calculations to miss the Island that was in the middle of the vast Pacific ocean, by hundreds of miles. To continue flying and being slightly of course, would take her ever further away from her destination. Today, Christendom is moving further and further away from its destination.
When the destination ceases to be God Himself, and the destination becomes something other than His presence, His Tabernacle, His alter, His throne room, then we simply get further and further away from Him and the narrow path that leads to Him. Only by getting off at the “next exit,” or doing a “legal u-turn” can we get back on the narrow path. The address, the destination itself must always be God Himself. Are you headed in that direction, is that what is plugged into your spirit, is He alone your destination?
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Posted by appolus on June 15, 2020
Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
There may be many Christians alone in this world or feeling isolated. Yet, there is coming a day when all brothers and sisters, as children of the living God, will gather around the throne. There will be millions, perhaps tens of millions from every tribe and every tongue and every nation on earth. As far as the eye can see they will stretch out and with one voice they will sing of the glories of their God. And if we could shut our eyes and imagine the wheat fields of Kansas that stretch for endless miles in every direction, then one can begin to imagine that day when we gather around the throne, swaying as the wind of the Holy Spirit moves through us, individual yet as one. One Body, enraptured in the unadulterated presence of the Living God and continually praising Him. The trials and tribulations of this world at an end.
Every tear wiped away. No more sin, no more death, no more separation, only the glorious light that emanates from the throne itself.Yes, even in the very depths of our trials, we can call upon that name, the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name. The name by which everything must bow. Darkness becomes light in the name of Jesus. Hopelessness becomes hope in the presence of the Lord. Bitterness becomes forgiveness, strife becomes peace, captivity becomes freedom…..2Co 3:17 And the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Freedom to praise Him. And all of this because of Calvary. The way has been made. The gulf has been spanned. Our vision is ultimately an eternal vision. Look again, the endless miles of wheat, each stock moving and swaying in the wind like billows on the sea, are actually saints around the throne. Moving as one as the wind of the Spirit moves in and through us. One in mind and spirit praising the Living God with all the host of heaven. They cried “Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”
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Posted by appolus on June 12, 2020
Psa 97:5-6 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.
No one stands in the presence of God, all are silent before His majesty, all are hushed as awe descends like a blanket upon the heads of His people and their heads are bowed and their hands raised up and trembling. Not because they were instructed to bow their heads or raise their hands , sit , stand , 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. No instructions are required as one is prostrate in His holiness. Every part of who you are is penetrated by 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?” Yet we are not walking now, we are in the throne room itself, God has come down. Our whole body burns with a beautiful warmth. All things are possible, eternity stretches out before us and we never want to leave this place, we never want to leave this place. The candlestick burns. God speaks, sin melts like wax, refining, yes refining. We offer ourselves and the dross that lies within and the Lord says “Come.”
What we have today bears no resemblance whatsoever to what God initiated. We have man centered church. Programs of men. Teachings of men. Musical programs. None are bad in and of themselves, they are just not God ordained. Religious social clubs. I believe that shortly, God’s people will come out of the social clubs because they will be desperate to rediscover the glory and the majesty of God and they will seek Him where He can be found.
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Posted by appolus on June 5, 2020
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
King David is in a very bad situation. He has committed adultery with Bathsheba, he tried to cover his tracks when she got pregnant, but a foreign convert , Uriah the Hittite , the husband of Bathsheba was more honorable that David. Therefore David’s attempts to cover up his adultery was foiled so David had him killed. This is such a low state for the man after God’s own heart. And after Nathan the prophet comes to David and exposes him, God speaks. God speaks brothers and sisters, one should be very afraid when God speaks, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. And here is the charge that God levels against David, His beloved. ” You have despised me.”
Now this word despised in the Greek is ” baw-zaw,” meaning to disesteem, to think lightly off. It is the same word used in Gen 25:34 to describe Esau’s selling of his birthright for some bread and some soup. Can you imagine selling your birthright just simply to satisfy your immediate needs? Can you imagine that food on the table would be thought more highly of than the Living God and the birthright that He has given to us? And yet, do we not live in a day and age where our immediate needs, meaning the basic needs of this world and our day-to-day living are thought more highly of than God?
Are we not encouraged to live our best lives now? Have we not allowed our desires and hungers to be elevated above our love and desire for God? And are we not blind to it, so terribly blind to it? If David needed a prophet to reveal his wickedness, and this a man after God’s own heart, beloved of God, are we so proud as to think that we would not need this level of rebuke?
Christendom today has despised God in the fullest sense of that word. They are as blind to their sin as David was to his. And unless they hear God directly and acknowledge and repent of their sin as David did, they will be hopelessly lost to, and be entangled by the cares of this world. I praise God that He never leaves us without a witness, whether it is one crying in the wilderness or a remnant that refuses to bow the knee to the gods of this world. God will have a spotless bride, He will raise up a generation that will follow Him and Him alone.
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Posted by appolus on June 4, 2020
The radical new creature in Christ gives up his former identity and is now immersed in the identity of the Lord Jesus. Where once he would have resisted in righteous anger to go one mile, now he goes two. He disarms the flesh and in doing so disarms his enemies. Jesus advice to the oppressed is rejected by a dying sin sick world. They want no part of what He has to say. They rise up in revolution but not the revolution of the heart and mind and soul.
In this world we have two basic choices. We can choose Barabbas or we can choose Jesus. Who do you choose? Don’t rush to answer that or you may get it wrong. The saint chooses the way of Jesus and it leads to eternal life. The world chooses the way of Barabbas and it leads to eternal death. Now, for a while you may gain the world, maybe even the whole world but what profit to your soul? The way of Barabbas is political intrigue and violence and a striving for your rights. He was a revolutionary and his answer was a violent overthrow of Rome. This pleased the mob. They detested the heel of the Roman boot upon them. It burned into them. How much you ask? “Let His blood be upon our heads and the heads of our children and our children’s children.”
They were willing to reject the living God and His ways in order to have their own way. Now what happened to the revolutionaries who followed the way of Barabbas? They would all die a few decades later when Rome tired of their constant insurrection. The blood of their children and their children’s children was indeed spilt. Over a million slaughtered in Jerusalem, the nation of Israel ceased to be and the temple was torn down stone by stone.
Rebellion and insurrection leads to destruction. It is the way of the world and the world loves it. It is not the way of God. Jesus gave us instructions on how to behave when occupied and terrorized and killed by our enemies. They do not line up with those of the world, they run counter to the world. The world detests the notion of loving our enemies and doing good to those who persecute us. Why is this important today? The saints of this earth are soon to be tested and tried in such a manner, in fact they will be tested and tried by a fire seven times hotter than any fire ever known to man because they shall refuse to bow down to the gods of this world. Jesus is our example. He willingly gave up His life. He was dumb before His accusers. He cries out in the midst of it all to His Father to forgive those who crucified Him.
We follow Him brothers and sisters and His ways because we were the ones who nailed Him to the cross. Our sins were the cause of Calvary. And if He forgave us for crucifying Him, then we are called to forgive those who will crucify us. This is the dying to the world, not just the death of this world but the death of the cross. Many will die for a cause, few will die for a cross. We are the ones who are called to die for the cross and by the cross. Stand strong brothers and sisters, the days are dark and getting darker, but the light of Christ in us is growing stronger. The enemy has come in like a flood and the Lord is raising up a standard.
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Posted by appolus on June 3, 2020
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
In this particular case we see that Abraham and his wife are well beyond the age of bearing a child. Sarah’s womb was dead, it could carry no life. And so in life we oftentimes run into situations that defies hope, that stands diametrically opposed to hope. All the evidence of the rational world and the finest expert opinions dash any worldly hope upon the rocks of hopelessness and despair. Yet brothers and sisters, it is a glorious thing to remember that our hope is not the hope of the world. Our hope is founded upon our God and His word, His promises. His word is not broken, His promises cannot be broken. And it is this hope that is a wellspring of joy and peace and love and a sound mind.
Abraham, the father of faith believed God and life sprang forth from death. Now from the first promise until the fulfillment it took 25 years. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 when Issac was conceived. This defied all the evidence of the rational world. In the world Abraham would have had no hope, in the world we too would have no hope, yet praise God we may be in the world but not off it. We walk according to the Spirit of God, we stand upon the Word of God, we believe in the promises of God and we walk in the Kingdom of God. This kingdom is and always has been a place of miracles and a wellspring of hope.
The birth of Issac is the birth of a nation. It is this line that would bring forth Jesus, the seed that would bless all the nations of the world. It sprang forth from the impossible which is the realm of the miraculous. This realm has a throne and upon that throne sits our heavenly Father. Can hope come forth from hopelessness? Yes indeed, just as Jesus came forth from His heavenly realm and stepped into our world, then sight can come forth from blindness, joy can come forth from despair and Lazarus can come forth from the grave. He is my blessed hope, all other ground in sinking sand.
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Posted by appolus on June 1, 2020
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
It’s a terrible thing to be held captive by our own thoughts. How exhausting it can be when we allow them to consume and overwhelm us? They can begin to eat away at us. They can even rob us of sleep and leave us tired and weary and walking the floor at night. I thank the Lord that He freed us and gave us the ability to take every thought into captivity and focus on Him. If a specific situation or trial has taken hold of your mind today, know that there is a way of escape, you are no longer slaves to the flesh but bond-servants, willing servants to the Lord of power.
If you have been set free by the Lord then you are free indeed. You now have the power to take those thoughts captive, they must bow to the Spirit of God in you. By an act of your will, take your eyes off of that situation today and turn them to Jesus and draw close to Him and peace will flood your soul. “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
Commit your heart to trust in Him today. Determine in your heart that you will no longer walk in fear. Give it to the Lord of hosts, let Him take the burden. He will take it if you will give it to Him. Your situation may not change but your attitude in the midst of it will. It will give you clarity of thought and the ability to focus and speak to the Lord. As your mind is drawn away from the pressing situation and the darkness of it, and you are drawn to the light of your Lord who loves you so much and is jealous for your thoughts, His light will begin to fill you. God bless you this day as you begin the task of taking your thoughts captive.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, 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 May 29, 2020
Are you weary of externalism, and do you long after God? I long after God. This is not old age talking, and this is not the results of anything I have been reading, except the Bible. This has been growing in me through the years. The only gratifying thing I have apart from my communion with God is the knowledge that I am not alone in my journey. God has His people everywhere who are in revolt against pretense, textualism, externalism and tradition. They want to seek God for Himself, as He is in the Scriptures, as revealed by the Holy Spirit. God has His people, but there are not many of them. Are you one? ( Tozer)
The question is, are you weary of trying to change from the outside in? It is simply not possible to change from the outside in. All spiritual change comes from the inside out. It has to begin in the deepest parts of who we are. To be changed from the inside out requires an encounter with the Living God. Only this can change you. You cannot turn over a new leaf, try harder, read the Bible more, follow the traditions of your church, you have to encounter Him. This encounter takes place in the realms of the heart and soul, not in the head. It is the most dangerous thing in the world to encounter God. Why is it dangerous? Because your life will never be the same.
Your desire will be for Him and no matter what other interests you have, they will give place to Him. He consumes the soul. He fills us in ways that nothing else that exists can. Are you ready for that kind of mad passion? A passion with such intensity that it relegates all other things to second place and beyond. This kind of passion is dangerous to normal natural living. When that which is supernatural invades that which is natural then it overflows the soul. The soul is huge and not able to filled with anything that exists. Yet God is vast beyond our ability to understand. It was once said that if everything that exists, this universe and all universes beyond with all of its trillions of planets could be placed in a five gallon bucket, and we compared a five gallon bucket to the Indian ocean the Indian ocean would be God.
This of course is a limited analogy because God is more vast than that. Yet here is a thing…….That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Eph 3:17-19)
You see that brothers and sisters, we might be filled with all the fullness of God!!! The fullness of God. Somehow in our spirits we might comprehend the breadth and the length and the depth and the height of the fullness of God who is vast beyond our ability to comprehend in our heads. But the Spirit of God communicates the fullness of God to the spirit of man and that man is captivated and forever ruined for the things of this life and his drive is to continually seek out this God and know Him in His manifest presence. You will be like the deer who pants for the waterbooks but you can never be like this deer unless you encounter the reality of God in the depths of your spirit. This is where the fire is set, this is the fire that spreads to the bones and possesses all of who we are.
It is from this place that we are changed. This fire that He ignites through His Holy Spirit, this baptism of fire makes us lovers of God. It makes us avid readers of His personal diary, His word. It makes us lovers of men and women for we love what He loves for He has melded our hearts with His in the fire that He ignited at the center of who we are and that fire radiates out in every direction and changes everything and it changes those around us. It may drive people from us or it may draw people to us but it is not passive for it is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself burning in the center of who we are. He has lit up His saints so that they would be a light that shines in the darkness. And the greater the darkness the greater the light shines.
As Tozer says, God has His people and it is true that there are not many of them. The reason that many are called but few are chosen is that there is a price that comes with such an encounter. Is there something in you that is willing to forsake all? Very few saints ever have to pay that kind of price but in the depths of who they are God knows they are willing. Just like Abraham on his way up the hill with his son and the means of sacrifice. Willing to sacrifice all of his ambitions, all of his dreams, all of his future just for the sound of the voice of God speaking directly into his life. Encountering God and continually seeking after Him is grand adventure and motivator of the saints. Stand fast saints, this hard journey that you are on, this narrow path leads eventually to the glories of heaven and along the way God gives us glimpses of that glory and fills us to beyond capacity. He fills us to overflowing and sustains us on our journey.
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Posted by appolus on May 22, 2020
America is a country that struggles with the notion of being Christian. But in truth, there are no, nor ever have been, Christians nations. In the end all nations are secular. Yet nations can be influenced by the majority culture. This influence can be for good or for ill. If the culture is predominantly Christian in nature even if not in actuality, it will still be a force for good in the world.
It will still be a secular entity but will be somewhat restrained by its Christian influence. As that influence wains, then so does the actions that are taken simply because it is ” the right thing to do.” In the last administration we saw a radical departure from the Christian influence. So many of the tenets of our faith were challenged and undermined. We saw the establishment of gay marriage and the rise of transgenderism. We also saw the undermining of institutions and an attempt at something akin to a coup. We were always very proud of our peaceful transfer of power after an election. We looked down our noses at “banana republics,” and how they would seek to undermine anyone who beat them at the ballot box. In the last election we saw the audacity of power shine through. An unwillingness to relinquish power. A desire to destroy and undermine democracy in an act of self-righteousness.
The world has taken for granted the goodness of a superpower that is influenced by a majority Christian culture. As the Christian influence wains in the highest corridors of power in America then the world becomes a darker place. For in the end the true Christian will do what is right and not what is expedient. When that aspect of influence is lost to America then the world will slide more rapidly into darkness. In the last unholy administration that was an enemy to all things Christian, we saw how that darkness effected the world.
I am not arguing for more Christian leadership in politics. My observations are of a Christian culture in decline and what effects that has on a secular world. As the world seems intent on ridding itself of any vestige of Christian influence, it cannot at the very same time mourn the coming darkness of mankind. Only in Christ is there light, all other roads lead to darkness. Only in Christ is there hope, all other roads lead to disappointment. I am writing this piece this morning because we have an upcoming election.
I want to remind the saint to trust only in Jesus. Do what you must at the ballot box and follow your conscience. I have no doubt if a certain party wins then the world will hurtle all the more rapidly into the abyss. More babies will die, Christians will come under severe attack and the corruption of the children will accelerate. I have no doubt about any of that. I also have no doubt that this is, no matter when it happens, the fate of every true saint in the world. You will be hated by all nations for His sake. They will despise you. And the reason for this is that we are not part of this world. No matter how “good,” or how evil it is, we are not part of this world. We are pilgrims traveling along a narrow road fraught with dangers, distractions and dilemma.
The answer, as always. Keep your eyes upon Jesus. Look full into His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. Beautiful old chorus that captures, with simplicity, the profound nature and power of keeping our gaze firmly fixed on Jesus and all the more as the storm rages. I sense in my spirit that the narrow road ahead for us is getting more narrow. And as traumatic as that will be, the by-product of that is that we, the saints, will become closer. Like the animals that came from all over the world, heading towards the ark, as they get closer to the ark they will begin to encounter each other in ever increasing numbers. Christ is our ark and the rain is coming. Let His Holy Spirit lead you to places you have never been as that day approaches. Stand fast in the faith and know that the Bridegroom cometh.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on May 22, 2020
Luk 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
A minister friend of my parents back in Scotland was Pastor of a church in a small Scottish town. One of the “characters,’ of this town was “Dundee Annie.” No one really knew how she got her name, but everyone knew she must be avoided at all costs. She was always drunk and cursed and abused anyone that happened to come into her path.
The townspeople knew to avoid her and keep their heads down as they passed her on the other side of the street. The Pastor friend had learned to cross to the other side of the street well in advance of passing her and to keep his head down, thus avoiding a verbal onslaught.
The Pastor received news that he was to have a young minister in training from Australia come and stay with him for about a year. He was glad to have the company and on his arrival he made him very welcome. The day after his arrival the young minister said he would like to walk into town and perhaps meet some of the townspeople. The Pastor said he would accompany him but the young minister asked if he would mind if he went alone. Several hours passed and there was no sign of the young minister. It was only a couple of miles into town and he should have been back long ago.
So the Pastor, slightly irked for it was raining hard, got his raincoat on and headed into town to find the young minister. He arrived in town, and walking down the main road, saw in the distance two figures sitting on the sidewalk, or the gutter as it is called in Scotland. As he got closer he realized that it was his young minister with his arm around the shoulder of Dundee Annie. When he got there she was weeping. She was weeping, it turns out, because the young man had shared with her that Jesus loved her very much and that He had come to earth to save her. She looked up at the Pastor and then back to the minister and said “nobody has ever told me that before.”
In a famous parable, the Lord tells us of the good Samaritan. We all know that the religious men hurry on by and it is the “Samaritan,” that aids and comforts the unfortunate man that lay bleeding and beaten and robbed beside the highway.
Who is your “Dundee Annie,”? Who do you go out of your way to avoid because they are nasty or unapproachable? It is a spiritual fact that we are surrounded by those who are bleeding, beaten, dying, victims of this world. Seriously wounded men and woman are all around us, in the world and in the church. What spirit do you have?
Is yours the spirit of the religious men? Do you hurry on by, not wanting to get involved? We are here on this earth, to aid and comfort those who need it. In the darkness of a wounded world, we are the light which brings comfort and healing to those who are wounded.
Perhaps you walk on by because you are wounded yourself. To touch the pain of others is to touch your own pain. If you seek to save your life, Jesus says, you will lose it. If you lose your life you will gain eternal life. The word life here in the Greek is not “bios,” meaning our actual life, but rather it is ,”psyche,” which is referring to the soul or our very heart.
If we are to be people of God, we must let go, let die, the image that we have created for the world, and discover ourselves at the very heart of our being. Our own wounds will be exposed in the process, but as we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to Him, then He will change us from the inside out. Next time your tempted to walk on by the guy nobody likes in the office, die to yourself and be bold in your love and just see what unfolds. This will require His wisdom and love. It will carry with it risk, but everything worth fighting for carries danger, go on, take a chance today and in doing so, your own healing will begin to take place.
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Posted by appolus on May 20, 2020
1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be astonished at the fiery trial which is to try you, as though a strange thing happened to you, but rejoice according as you are partakers of Christ’s suffering, so that when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of God and of glory rests on you. Truly according to them, He is blasphemed, but according to you He is glorified.
God is raising up, making ready a people on whom the “Spirit of God and of glory rests,” on. This is a people who have learned to rejoice that they too were counted worthy to be “partakers of Christ’s sufferings.” Oh how this flies in the face of today’s heresies. And the purpose of it all? That God might be glorified on the earth. Do you want the Spirit of glory to rest upon you? Do you want to ready yourselves brothers and sisters? Then reject all self-serving religion. Reject every voice that would tell you that there is no need to ready yourself, no need to humble yourself, no need to repent and ask for forgiveness.
Reject every voice that would encourage you to live your best life now, who would encourage you that God wants to enrich you with the treasures of this world, that you do not have to suffer, reject them all for in doing so you will counter the enemy who is disarming the people. You will stand strong in the armor of the Lord so that you may stand in that evil day. God is arraying His people for battle, He is calling and He is equipping. The time is drawing close brothers and sisters, be vigilant and do not be deceived.
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send My messenger, and He will clear the way before Me. And Jehovah, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the Covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He comes, says Jehovah of Hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap. And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may be offerers of a food offering in righteousness to Jehovah.
He is building a temple, not by human hands, we, His called out children are that temple, who can endure the day of His coming? Those whom He has readied.
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Posted by appolus on May 18, 2020
The Christian minister, as someone has pointed out, is a descendant not of the Greek orator, but of the Hebrew prophet. The differences between the orator and the prophet are many and radical, the chief being that the orator speaks for himself while the prophet speaks for God. The orator originates his message and is responsible to himself for its content. The prophet originates nothing but delivers the message he has received from God who alone is responsible for it, the prophet being responsible to God for its delivery only. The prophet must hear the message clearly and deliver it faithfully, and that is indeed a grave responsibility, but it is to God alone, not to men. (A.W.Tozer)
Can you see what Tozer is saying here? God does not speak through the orator. The orator has skills and he employs them. We in Christendom are awash with orators in the pulpit. So many would not miss a beat if they were not ministers, they would be motivational speakers. Their sermons, as good as they can be, would not be out of place at any time through the last 2000 years. Take a good preacher today, and let him go back in time a thousand years, and he would still be a good preacher and almost all of his sermons would be appropriate for the most part. Yet the prophet does not deliver a sermon, he delivers a message. I know that these two words have been used interchangeably, message-sermon. But they are not the same. Can a sermon speak to someone and therefore be a message? Yes. But a prophet does not deliver sermons he delivers messages which are appropriate to the time in which we live and the state in which we find ourselves. Now can these messages have application to a future generation? Of course. Broad and general applications, yet God speaks to each generation individually and He does so through prophets.
Is God speaking to us today? He is indeed. Is He giving us warnings from prophets from all over the world? He is indeed. Will we listen to the prophet? If history is anything to go by, we would have to say that the ears of the people will be closed to God and they will hate his messengers, it has always been so. Yet, as always, God has a remnant and they hear their Lord’s voice. If He tells them to flee to the hills, they will flee. If He instructs them to stand up and be heard they will stand up. If He says draw a line and hold it, they will hold the line. There is a fire in their bones and a sword in their hands. Through their veins runs molten truth and it melts everything else as it courses through their body and is the very beat of their heart.
I want to encourage you today oh remnant saint. You may live in a day and age of darkness but you walk in the light. You may be surrounded by lies and error but you are guided by the truth. You may be hated by the world and all those around you but you are loved by God. You may believe that all have forsaken God but God has a remnant who have not nor will bow the knee to the gods of this world. You may think you are all alone but you are not. God has His children everywhere, in every tribe and every tongue and every nation. And He speaks to them and they speak as they hear Him. They do not speak as an orator but a prophet and the word originates with God. Stand fast saint, the Bridegroom cometh.
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Posted by appolus on May 18, 2020
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:17-19)
There is 250,000 miles to the moon and 93 million miles to the sun. There is just under 6 trillion miles in a light year. Apparently the nearest star in our solar system is Proxima Centuri at just over 4 light years away, which would make it 24 trillion miles away. The furthest known galaxy from here is 14 billion light years away, that’s 14 billion times 6 trillion. That number boggles the mind. Despite the immensity of that scale, none of that contains God, He contains all of that and holds it in the psalm of His hand . And the amazing thing is that this immense God has deemed to make Himself known to us. When the Scripture says that eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor has it entered into the hearts of man what God has prepared for those who know Him, then this is totally mind blowing.
Brothers and sisters, we can know that which surpasses knowledge and be filled with the fullness of a God who is immense beyond our capability to even imagine. This is no mere theology, no wistful dreamings, this is the reality of the saints. Men have stood on the top of Everest and saw the curvature of the earth and gasped. Men have stood on the moon, looked back at the beauty of the earth and gasped. But the man who has stood upon the horizon of eternity and glimpsed the majesty and immensity of God, his gasp is the sound of him being ruined for this life.
There has been a fragrant army which has walked the earth in the last 2000 years, and everyone of them has stood upon the horizon of eternity and gazed with wide open spiritual eyes at the glory and the majesty of a God that has filled them. They long, with the Apostle Paul, to be with their Lord. It burns at the center of who they are, it consumes them and drives them on down the narrow path of life. Even when they walk through the darkest valleys, even when they are beset with trials and tribulations, even with the weight of their cross bearing down on them, they remember that horizon, that glory, that majesty that immensity, that place where words have no meaning. They lift their eyes to the glory of the Living God and cry out that they are coming home soon, that every trial is another step closer to home.
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Posted by appolus on May 13, 2020
Isa 57:15 For so says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity; whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, even with the contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Shall we cast our eyes upwards? Shall we lift our eyes and holy hands to the Lord our God who is high and lifted up? Who dwells in a high and holy place? Brothers and sisters, Christendom has lost its reverence and awe of its most Holy God. We have striven so hard to make known a personal God who has called us friend that we have lost the awe-full majesty and glory that is He. In the above Scripture we see the correct balance. Yes He is high and lifted up, yes He is majestic and glorious and awesome.
I use that word in its proper sense, not the modern word which could apply to a hamburger, I mean ” full of awe,” yet here He dwells with the contrite and the humble heart. And those who dwell there, those who enter into this magnificent court, this throne-room, they are revived. Is there any other way to be revived? And by revived I mean able to run and not grow weary, able to walk and not faint, able to rise up with wings as an eagle in the updrafts of His presence which carries us higher and higher into the lofty place of eternity.
Who else could “inhabit eternity?” Think about that phrase. Just stop for a moment and think and ponder what it means. It is a place that is outside of time and space. This is where God “dwells.” We dwell in house that can accommodate us, a place where we can live and lay down to rest. Sometimes we dwell in small houses where we are cramped, other times we dwell in larger houses where we have our own space, but God, He dwells in eternity. Where else could God dwell but in a place that has no beginning neither has it end, it simply is perpetuity.
And it is into this place He bids us join Him. Not after we die, now. Jesus says that those who drink of the waters of life shall never die, and so the life that we now live, albeit in this body, shall never end. What life is this? It is the abundant life of the kingdom of God that already dwells in us. You see the above scripture talks about the humble and the contrite spirit. And we know that the spirit within us is eternal and its proper place is dwelling with God in eternity, His dwelling place, a place where He inhabits, just as He inhabits the praises of His people.
Brothers and sisters, there are two competing realities that we struggle with in the flesh. One is the true reality which is the kingdom of God, the eternal, that dwells in us. And the other is the reality of this world and it’s very physical and emotional demands upon us, bolstered by our senses. It takes a very deliberate act to bind the reality of this world, to set it aside, and to allow the reality of the eternal world, the place that God dwells, to come forth. It takes a deliberate focus where we must take our eyes of the things of this world and cast our eyes upon the kingdom of God.
What we see with our eyes floods our souls. What do you see? What is your soul flooded with? The cares of this world? Circumstances? Or, in your situation do you see God, high and lifted up? This is spirit and flesh. This is our path of sanctification, taking up our cross, walking the narrow path. To humble ourselves in the sight of God, to have a contrite heart which the Lord loves, so that we may dwell and walk in a high and holy place. Come brothers and sisters, He bids you come.
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Posted by appolus on May 11, 2020
The Lord gave me this word, a hard word to be sure. My only charge is to deliver it. –
In Lamentations chapter four we see a very different Jerusalem. That once tremendous city, shining like gold above all other cities, is now tarnished and under siege. It is slowly starving and its once proud stones that made up the temple now lay scattered in the streets like common rubble. Zion was about to fall. Impregnable Zion, on the verge of utter ruin. They were surrounded by the world outside in a siege that would only end in its utter ruin. And in the greatest horror of all, the women would cook and eat their own children. There is no lower state in all the world. This was worse than Sodom for Sodom fell in one day, there would be no such luxury for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The symbols of their God lay ruined and they were about to be devoured by the world. Matthew Henry asks this question of the women in Jerusalem who cooked and ate their own children. This act, was it “the power of necessity, or the power of iniquity.” Such a powerful question, ponder on it for a moment reader.
In a secular sense America was the shining light for the nations. It shone like gold in comparison to old Europe that had grown tired and dim. It took the world’s huddles masses. It gave hope to people from all around the world, like a city set on a hill, it drew them to herself. In two word wars she fought and in the second war she saved civilization itself and the name of God was never far from the lips of her citizens. Now look at America if you dare. Her institutions have been corrupted. Over ninety percent of all the porn in the world spew forth from her bowels. Her merchants and statesmen sold her out to the highest bidders and she became the whore of the world whereby many became rich by her. Yet her greatest iniquity lay with her mothers. Now the question Matthew Henry raised about the mothers of Jerusalem. Was their horrendous act born out of necessity or iniquity? Can I argue that a righteous woman would never cook and eat her own child. Only the hardest iniquitous hearts would ever contemplate such an act never-mind carry it out.
I asked a question recently, a rhetorical one. What is more horrendous, to slaughter an infant in the gas chambers or in their mothers womb? What human being would allow their wombs to be so violated and their child to be so mutilated? A woman, a generation, ripe for judgement. Ripe to be surrounded by the world and put under siege. Ripe to have the stones of their temples torn down and scattered in the streets like rubble only fit to be buried. Sixty five million babies slaughtered and dedicated to the world. A world that would consume them, darken them and ultimately destroy them. Zion was impregnable, yet it fell. America the proud, you will fall. Not like Sodom, not like Gomoragh but you will slowly starve to death. Most definately spiritually, but perhaps even physically. In the history of the world, no nation has sinned to this extent. God has sent His warnings. The towers fell and the cry was not one of repentance, but “we will rebuild.” The whole world has come to a standill and the cry is not one of repentance. From their ministers it is ” soon it will be business as usual for we have not missed a beat.”
The real tragedy we are facing right now in Christendom is a blindness to the need for repentance. The virus that causes this blindness is wilfull ignorance. They choose not to see. Not only no repentance, but a doubling down on wickedness, and most of the world cheers, or peeks out from behind the curtain and says nothing. Our silence is our guilt. The cheers from the world we should expect, the silence from Christendom is a deafening roar. We stay behind our curtains, our walls, as the world spirals downwards. Our highest ambition is to get back to “normal.” God help us. So saints, if you abide in such a place, can you stay there? It is time for the saints of God to step out of the boat, step into the storm, lift your eyes and fix them on Jesus, our soon coming King. Where will He find you when He comes? Behind the walls? Hanging onto the boat for dear life? Shall you not walk upon the water? It is there that you shall find Him, we must go to where He is and leave behind where He is not.
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Posted by appolus on May 6, 2020
One the clergy/laity distinction is removed the concept of ministry changes. It ceases to be the proprietary right of the few and becomes the privilege of all. ( Arthur Wallis.)
This point made by Wallis is the beating heart of religion. The clergy/laity system is a perpetuation of the ancient religions and is a death blow to a royal priesthood. Imagine a system where is everyone is a priest in a spiritual priesthood set up by Jesus Himself. It is a shame that for the most part we have to imagine that. One thing is for sure, where this clergy/laity system exists, there is no functioning priesthood. One may say there is and fool oneself, but where the clergy/laity exists then the royal priesthood has been reduced to a mere mental assent to an abstract truth.
It is one or the other for it cannot be both. Men want to lead or be led, most want to be led. They want a mediator between them and God and there are plenty of men willing to play that role. The rewards of the role is status and power. There is hierarchy and talk of authority and submission. Yet the leadership model of the priesthood is a bottom up servant leadership where one washes the feet of the others.
Diotrephes rejected the Apostle John. Think about that. The Apostle that Jesus loved was rejected by a “leader,” and why? He loved the preeminence. He wanted to be the leader, he was jealous of any other voice. This is absolute evidence that Jesus was not preeminent in the church that Diotrephes “ran.” How often we ask the question “who runs your church.” If the answer is anything other than Jesus, if 95% of the time only one man speaks, you can be sure the spirit of Diotrephes roams the corridors of power in that place. Jesus has been dethroned and is now as unwanted as the Apostle John was. The question is, how welcome would the Apostle John be in your gathering?
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Posted by appolus on May 4, 2020
Psa 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High
There is much noise in the land brothers and sisters. There is much professional worship that makes a great noise. In the world’s eyes it sounds great and is somewhat familiar to their ears because much of it is fashioned after the music of the world. It is designed to entertain. Yet can I suggest, that if the Lord does not inhabit it then it is merely noise and it actually drowns out the still small voice that would whisper to us “He is beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words, to wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard, who could grasp His infinite wisdom, who could fathom the depths of His love. He is beautiful beyond description, majesty enthrones above.”
As God gathers His people together, a hush will fall upon their hearts. They will catch their breath as the King of glory comes in, comes in in all of His fullness. As He begins to flood the dry creek beds with a mighty rushing river then the saints will begin to rise up and minister in the overflow of His presence. There is a fresh wind beginning to blow in the hearts of Gods saints. There is a fountain rising in their hearts. And the source of this fountain is God Himself in all of His majestic glory. And out of this river flows an everlasting abundant love. It fills us with light and this light is the life of men. Look unto God and see what it truly means to live an abundant life in Christ.
Perhaps you can relate to the dry river bed? Perhaps it has been a long time since you have experienced the river of God that makes glad the hearts of men? Is the Lord calling you today in that still small voice? Will you call down the weight of His glory on your life today? Can you seek Him out in the silence? Remove all of the distractions of life, the noise and the clamor and the demands. In the end, without His presence, what does any of it mean? Outside of Jesus and His presence all we are doing is marking time until our final day. The Kingdom of God is found when we seek it first above all things. Seek it out today brothers and sisters. The horse must go before the cart, God must be first and when He is then everything that we do finds purpose. Make Him first today.
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Posted by appolus on May 1, 2020
As I was walking today and praying, the Lord laid spoke to me “batten down the hatches.” Usually when you hear that phrase it is a warning to do just that, but the Spirit of the Lord was showing me something altogether different. It was particularly directed to men. I have watched a lot of National Geographic programs, especially on disasters, like plane crashes and so on. The last series that I watched was about disasters at sea. I watched the whole season. Each show was about a particular sinking. As you watch the whole season you see one reason for sinking coming up time and time again. In a storm, the hatches were not battened down properly. Often a water tight door was not shut correctly. So in huge storms, the water comes over the deck and instead of just washing of as it is designed to, if a hatch is open the water pours in there. Millions of gallons of sea water pouring through and it often led to the boat becoming unstable and then sinking.
There is something in all of us, especially men, that instinctively knows how to batten down the hatches of our hearts when we face our own disasters in life. When assaulted from every side we retreat into ourselves and close the doors and the hatches behind us. It is a survival instinct. Yet what would happen on a ship if we did indeed batten down the hatches and close all the air tight doors. Initially it would save us. Yet, when the storm was over, if we kept the doors closed and never reopened the hatches, then the air inside, the atmosphere would begin to become stale, maybe even toxic. We would not be able to got out on the deck and feel the wind on our faces. Stuck inside we would not be able to see the ocean or the sky above or the brilliant night stars that illuminate the heavens.
In Britain, where I was born, it may be called the stiff upper lip. In other places the word stoic may be used. Yet in both cases the missing ingredient would be feelings and the ability to be intimate. The man or the woman who has closed down, who has battened down the hatches of his or her soul, breathes stale toxic air. They cannot feel the magnificent wind of the Spirit on their faces. They may long to breath pure fresh air, but that would involve opening up. And tragically for many, they keep the hatches battened down and they have tightly sealed their heart.
An open heart is the answer to the storms. It defies common sense, it is not natural. It is supernatural. To remain open, open-hearted, when all around you is in chaos and you are surrounded by trouble on every side is supernatural. When we have learned to rely upon Jesus and not upon ourselves then our hearts can remain open because He elevates us above the storms, above the waves. In this higher place above the waves, there is no need to shut everything up. Have you ever noticed the saint who while going through some great trial, is actually ministering to others? You go round to comfort them and they end up comforting you. This is the power of God in the saint above the waves whose eyes are fixed on Jesus. Opening up to Jesus means to open up the windows of your soul and the door of your heart. The only thing that comes flooding in is His love and grace and mercy and power. And this flood does not sink you, it elevates you.
Are you in a dark place saint? Are you tempted to close down? In 2Cor 4:6 we see that God has “commanded the light to shine out of darkness.” It is the light of heaven and it is the knowledge and the glory of God reflected in the face of Jesus our Lord. Look into His face in your darkness and you will see the glory of God and in this knowing, the darkness is dispelled. This light is the treasure of heaven and He has seen fit to fill our broken vessels with it. No vessel filled with the glory of God can ever sink. You will not sink and you will not founder. Lift up your eyes today and look into the face of our Lord and He will bid you come.
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Posted by appolus on May 1, 2020
1 Sam 16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.
It is interesting to note that Saul and all of Israel were afraid of the giant, Goliath. He was allowed to stand, established in the battle-field, unchallenged. This was not the first time the Israelites were afraid of giants. When the spies were sent in to spy out the land by Moses, the report of ten out of the twelve spies was one of fear, fear of the giants. What is the difference between those who are powerless over giants and those who would run towards them? In Saul and David’s case, we see that one had the position and the other had the anointing. What would you have in this life brothers and sisters? Now the one with the position is initially pleased with the outcome of the fight between David and Goliath.
Was he pleased because the arrogant mouth of the enemy who blasphemed our God was shut? Or was he pleased that his own self-serving purposes had been achieved? We see that one has a distressing spirit. Saul had already proved that he was a law unto himself and now had to walk this world himself, without God. Yet, when he heard the people praising David above him, pride and envy and hatred began to build in his heart. When David began to worship God and come into His presence, it merely highlighted to Saul what he did not have and with spear in hand, he said in his heart “I will pin David to the wall!” ‘Now Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.” (1 Sam 18:12)
There is a difference between the religious man and the man of God. One has position and the other has anointing. What would you have in this life brothers and sisters? These two entities have existed side by side since Cain and Abel. One has an acceptable sacrifice, a broken and a contrite heart, the other has his works. The fire of God falls on one and not the other. Whether it is Cain and Abel, or Saul and David or Jesus and the Pharisees, there is one thing for sure in these cases, one had the position in this life and the other had the anointing. What would you have in this life brothers and sisters? This state of affairs has and will exist until the Lord returns.
The one with the position will persecute the one with the anointing. In fact, we are moving into times where we will see this “Saul spirit,” arise to unseen heights. And directly proportional to the anointing is the level of the persecution. Yet be of good cheer brothers and sisters, for “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. (Psalm 34:17-19)
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Posted by appolus on April 27, 2020
When the world shakes and everything that can be shaken staggers, who will you rely upon? In my experience men put a great amount of trust in other men. We like to call them leaders, doctors, generals and scientists and so on. What does the word of God say on this matter?…..
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:(Psa 146:3-6)
We are constantly being told in these days that we must rely upon doctors and scientists. For several years I was under a heart specialist for a heart disorder. I dutifully took my pills and it kept the condition at bay. Then it got worse and it required me to have what is known as an oblation. It was only partially successful and on a follow up visit the specialist told me that I also had Afib. This increases your risk of heart attack and stroke, so he put me on blood thinners. He also suggested that I have an implant which would monitor my heart condition. Several months after having this implant he told me I needed another oblation to fix both the condition and the Afib. Instead of a three hour procedure, this one would take about six hours and carried some not insignificant risks. I decided to get a second opinion from a hospital that had a very good reputation for their heart team.
This specialist there, after checking me out and reviewing the data from the implant came in and told me that I did not have Afib. I told him that the other doctor wanted to do the surgery. He said with a sarcastic tone and smile “he would have healed you then.” He told me that I could come of the blood thinners right away. I then had a dilemma. Two specialist who came highly recommended and were no novices had given me two completely opposing diagnosis. The decision was mine. The thing was, he was only really confirming what I already “knew.” I had no hesitation coming of the blood thinners.
As we move forward in a world that is being turned upside down, it is vital that we have our trust in God. Experts will tell us many different things but in the end our trust must be in the Lord. Our discernment must be in Him. Our wisdom must be in Him. Our peace must be in Him. He must be our source of joy and gladness. If we rely upon the experts of this world to lead us then we shall be like the blind being led by the blind. It is amazing how much the world trusts their own. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.(Pro 3:5-6)
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A Call To The Remnant 