The Myth of Spiritual Covering (Part 2) ©

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in MY WORD, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will make you FREE." (John 8:31,32; NASB)

It was for FREEDOM that Christ set us FREE; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a YOKE OF SLAVERY. (Gal. 5:1; NASB)

[Editor's note: This article is adapted from the book, CHARISMATIC CAPTIVATION. The book exposes the widespread problem of authoritarian abuse in Neo-Pentecostal church-groups, and explains how it became infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of the Neo-Pentecostal church arising out of a false movement known as the Discipleship/Shepherding Movement (1970-77). References to "Discipleship" or "Shepherding" (and variables) doctrines, teachings, proponents and participants, and so forth, allude to those pertinences that arose out of that "movement." The content of this article is contextual to the entirety of the book, and is best understood by reading the book. A small portion of the book's content is published in the posted articles listed and linked at the end of this article.]

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that COVER with A COVERING, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into EGYPT [symbol of captivity in Scripture], and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh [symbol of Satan and autocratic dictators in Scripture], and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your CONFUSION. For his princes were at Zoan [aka, Goshen, where Pharaoh met with Moses and Aaron; Easton's Bible Dictionary], and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people that could not PROFIT them, nor be an help nor PROFIT, but a shame, and also a reproach. (Isaiah 30:1-5; KJV; emphases and parentheses added)

Before I begin this article, let me emphasize that it is vital that you first read Part 1 of this series which is its foundation.

Albeit, as a preface to this part, I will summarize some of what I stated at the outset of Part 1. To begin with, "Spiritual covering" as theorized by proponents, propagators, and practitioners of these hyper-authoritarian teachings is an absolute MYTH and outright deception! No semblance of the teachings concerning "spiritual covering" exists anywhere within the pages of Scripture. It is a complete fabrication concocted by the originators of these fallacious doctrines as a pretext for facilitation of entirely self-aggrandizing objectives of subjugation, domination, and control.

[For a detailed history of the Shepherding Movement and the genesis of these false doctrines, READ THIS ARTICLE.]

Indeed, what the Discipleship proponents refer to as "spiritual covering" is really "spiritual control." However, even the use of the word "spiritual" in this connection requires some qualification, because the only thing "spiritual" about this unauthorized control is that it is inspired by demon-spirits of deception and error. As I explain in detail in Charismatic Captivation, what the Discipleship version of "spiritual covering" really is, is nothing less than witchcraft or sorcery. When the myth has been thoroughly debunked, as it will be within these pages, it will be clear that this doctrine of "spiritual covering," like all the other aspects of the Shepherdship heresy, is a patently false "doctrine of demons" being manifested in these last days precisely in accordance with Holy Prophecy of Scripture which foretells of deception such as this being promulgated by demons in the last days, leading to many falling away from the Lord into apostasy:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of LIARS seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. (1 Tim. 4:1,2)

Spiritual Mediators
One of the foundational tenets of these fallacious hyper-authoritarian teachings is the matter of "absolute submission." Today, some thirty years after the Shepherding Movement teachings were soundly debunked and their originators publicly discredited, Neo-Pentecostal preachers and teachers for the most part are careful not to use that specific terminology. However, in the case of the majority of their audiences and adherents it is not necessary to expressly allude to the matter anyway, because the essence of the concept, as I repeatedly indicate throughout my writings on the topic, has been infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of the entire Neo-Pentecostal Movement. Not to say that the tentacles of these deceptive teachings have not reached into Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal sects and denominations as well, for they certainly have. Even Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, and other denominations have been polluted by the poisoned waters of the Shepherding doctrines in the form of the widely proliferated "Alpha Course," over several decades now.

The premise of "absolute submission" is predicated on the hypothesis that the spiritual leaders are in effect (though most Discipleship teaching adherents would emphatically deny the attribution) "spiritual mediators" between God and their followers, who assume the role of hearing from God on the behalf of their followers. According to the theory, the followers are spiritually deficient and inferior to the chain of leaders who are over them, and thus basically incapable of seeking and hearing from God for themselves and cultivating on-going communion and fellowship with God, so they need a human "mediator"—someone who supposedly has a more elite status and standing with God—to be a priestly "go-between" between "the stupid sheep" and God. The hypothesis is that the leaders are much more spiritual than the people, and therefore more capable of hearing from God what is best for their followers. By the way, if that premise sounds familiar to you, you are right, because in essence it is virtually identical to the theories upon which the surrogate priesthood and papal system of Catholicism were based, which, totally supplanted and negated the personal priesthood of believers in the Medieval Church. [Read Chapter 3 of Charismatic Captivation, for a revealing dissertation concerning the Nicolaitans and that sects' connection with the genesis of the "Universal (Catholic) Church."]

This whole matter of "spiritual mediators" is so totally ludicrous and such a complete affront to the truth of the personal priesthood of believers that every knowledgeable believer should be thoroughly disgusted and totally outraged at such an idiotic, outlandish, and even blasphemous notion. The Bible explicitly says: "There is one God, and ONE mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all...." (1 Tim. 2:5). There is never, ever to be any "spiritual mediators" between God and men, except the Christ—Jesus Himself. The Man with the nail-prints in His wrists is the only true spiritual mediator between God and Man. All the rest are pretentious impostors! Jesus is the only Man (human) who ever lived a perfectly sinless life, which was the requisite enabling Him to become the Spotless Lamb of God, the propitiatory sacrifice, typified by the oblational sacrificial lambs, which the Jewish high priests offered up for the sins of the people century after century.

So also was Jesus the true Spiritual High Priest, who those centuries of natural high priests who offered up the sacrificial lambs year after year represented. Those that came before Him were the types and the shadows, the mere "eikons" (Gr.) (reflections) of the real. Jesus was the real, the source of the reflection. He was the Image that the types and shadows reflected. He was the true Sacrificial Lamb who took away the sins of the world. And, He was the true Spiritual High Priest (Heb. 3:1), who offered up the true Sacrificial Lamb—His own sinless life—as a ransom for all, once and for all.

And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, but He (Christ Jesus), on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a High Priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those (O.T. Jewish) high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did ONCE FOR ALL when He offered HIMSELF. (Heb. 7:23-28)

...we have such a High Priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. (Heb. 8:1,2)

But when CHRIST appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Heb. 9:11,12)

The point is that the true High Priest (i.e., Christ) has now entered into the true Holy of Holies into the actual presence of God as the ultimate and only effectual Mediator on our behalf (Heb. 9:23,24). He lives evermore in the presence of God as our Intercessor (Heb. 7:25), having appeased His righteous wrath, having taken upon Himself the punishment due us, and having canceled out our debt of transgressions which separated and disfellowshipped us from God. Hence, since Christ Jesus has accomplished the ultimate on our behalf before God, and perpetually lives in the presence of God as our spiritual High Priest and Intercessor, and since He has made peace for us between ourselves and God forevermore (Rom. 5:1), we hardly need human mediators between us and God.

His once-and-for-all sacrifice and entrance into the true Holy of Holies has granted us all equal access, free access, bold and confident access (Eph. 3:12), not only into the Holy Place, but also even behind the veil into the Holy of Holies, for each of us, even unto the very Throne of Grace itself, that is to say, the very Throne of "the God of all Grace" (1 Pet. 5:10). Of this access we are invited to avail ourselves freely, not coweringly but boldly, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16, KJV).

To suggest that any human could do this for us as a mediator between us and God is not only preposterous and absurd, but also an affront to Jesus Himself. It is blasphemy! Those who pose and interpose themselves as mediators between believers and God are fortunate that God has not struck them down dead! Indeed, I believe this very thing will happen in the days ahead. God is now issuing fair warning! If Uzza, the loyal friend and servant of David was struck dead by God for merely touching the religious icon of God's presence, and if Ananias and Sapphira were struck down dead by God for having lied to the Holy Spirit, how much severer punishment would one deserve who is so blatantly blasphemous as to purport to be the spiritual mediator between God and men?

[To read how this matter of "absolute authority" and "spiritual covering" has been used as a premise for sexual authoritarian abuse by unscrupulous Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal church leaders, in particular, read the full article.]

Ultimate Accountability
You see, when taken to their fullest extent, what these false teachings culminate in, is an infringement upon the Biblical fact of ultimate accountability to God, which is to say that in the end everyone is accountable to God, and to God alone, for his/her conduct and for the substance of the life he/she lived. Ultimately, it is to an Almighty and All-Knowing God that we must give account for the totality of our lives. Ultimately, each believer is accountable only to the authority of God Himself, and not to any supposed "spiritual authority" of men, whether it be an individual or a humanly-constructed hierarchy.

This Truth and its veracity is unequivocally and wholly supported by the preponderance of Scripture, and proof-texts corroborating this absolute fact are so numerous that to quote them all would require a separate volume of its own. But, there is one passage that states it about as directly and succinctly as it can be stated, which is, Romans 14:12: "So then EACH OF US shall GIVE ACCOUNT of HIMSELF to GOD."

Moreover, the verses that precede this particular passage are also extremely enlightening and germane to this point regarding ultimate accountability unto God. In verse four, Paul poses the consummate question to which every believer would be well-advised to give careful heed: "Who are you to judge the servant of another?"

To judge someone else, it is imperative to understand, by its very nature, means that the person who is sitting in the seat of the judge is of a greater status, standing, authority, and behavioral stature, than the one who is being judged. Yet, clearly an overwhelming preponderance of Scripture teaches that as Jesus stated, "You (all believers) are all on the same level as brothers" (Mat. 23:8; L.B.; parenthesis added by author). As established repeatedly throughout this book, in the Kingdom of God there is absolute parity among believers. There is no such a thing as "big me, little you" in the Kingdom of God. Oh, to be sure, in real life, demonstration of carnal attitudes of ascendancy and arrogance over fellows is just as common among purporting believers as it is in the world. But, that is not the way it really is in the Kingdom of God and from God's perspective. Such fleshly attitudes are of the category of the "evil passions and desires" which every believer must crucify if he is going to show forth evidence or fruit that he has been genuinely Born Again and been made a bona fide partaker of the attributes of the Divine Nature (Gal. 5:24; 2 Pet. 2:4).

Notice also in the verse cited (Rom. 14:4) the phrase "servant of another." This makes it abundantly clear that every believer is a bond-servant of God, not of any man. Even when of our own volition we lay down our lives to serve others, we do so because in so doing the Person we are ultimately serving is God, not even the people we are serving, though they are the ostensible recipients of our service. The verse continues by saying: "To HIS OWN MASTER he stands or falls; and stand he will, for THE LORD is able to make him stand." In saying, " THE LORD is able to make him stand," the passage identifies the "master" of the believer as being the Lord Jesus Himself, and not any human.

Verses seven through nine of the same chapter in Romans go on to clearly indicate that every believer "belongs" ultimately to the Lord, and thus is not the subject of any human being in terms of ultimate accountability for his or her life:

For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live FOR THE LORD, or if we die, we die FOR THE LORD; therefore whether we live or die, WE ARE THE LORD'S. For to this end Christ died and lived, that HE might be LORD both of the dead and of the living.

But, the next verse, verse ten, really puts it all into proper perspective by reminding us that none of us have the right to take unto ourselves the status of judge over our fellows with regard to the final analysis, assessment, and adjudication of their lives, as well as the fact that none of us have attained unto the transcendent or elite status required to grant us the right to regard a fellow believer with contempt or condescension, or regard any fellow believer, who is also a joint-heir, that is, equal-heir, with Christ, as in any way inferior or "subjectable" to us so as to be their judges, because we are not the judges; rather, we all are the "judgees," ourselves who will be judged by "the righteous Judge" (2 Tim. 4:8):

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? FOR WE SHALL ALL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF GOD. (Rom. 14:10)

Hebrews 12:23 refers to "THE Judge of ALL," which is none other than God Himself. Hebrews 10:30 plainly tells us: "THE LORD will judge His people," which means that ultimate accounting and the final adjudication of our lives is relegated to the Lord alone. The reason for this is simple: perfect and perfectly righteous and just judgment requires omniscience and infinite knowledge and wisdom, which we, in our human estate of extremely finite knowledge, do not possess. Only God is capable of judging "the thoughts and intentions of the heart" with perfect knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, for it is to His eyes, the manifold eyes of the Spirit, alone that all that we are is "open and laid bare" (Heb. 4:12,13). He who knows us most is the one who can judge us best. No one knows us—who we really are, the totality of our constitution and the reasons behind it all, good or bad—like God knows us. Amazingly, God is the one who KNOWS us BEST and yet LOVES us the MOST.

Thus, we see the incontrovertible and unequivocal truth that ultimately every believer is accountable to God and not to any mere mortal. As I have said elsewhere in this volume, only the one with the nail prints in His hands is the one who has been found worthy to be our Lord, Master, and Savior. This is precisely the import of James' statement wherein speaking of Jesus He says: "There is ONLY ONE Lawgiver and Judge, THE ONE WHO IS ABLE TO SAVE and to destroy, but who are you to judge your neighbor?" (Jas. 4:12).

So, dear saint of God, the next time someone tries to "pull rank" on you, intimidate, or subjugate you with some humanly contrived, imaginary, unauthorized, invalid, Scripturally-prohibited, and non-existent, claim of pseudo-authority, ask that person to stretch forth his or her hands, and look to see if there are nail-holes in those hands. If not, just have a good chuckle, turn, walk away, and simply forget it! Because that person is not YOUR Lord or YOUR Master! He's just another pretender and imposter—false Christ—motivated by an antichrist spirit! Then PRAISE JESUS—the One who is able to save and destroy to the uttermost—FOREVER! HE ALONE is Lord!

[For more on the detrimental effects of submitting yourself under the spiritual coverings of men, I urge you to read The Curses of Unauthorized Covenants.]

[To read this article in its entirety, click on the title above. There are links on that page to other related articles.]

Counting The Cost

The following is an excerpt of my book, The Mystery of the Kingdom, which is an exposition of what Jesus indicated was "The Paramount Parable"—The Parable of the Sower—meaning it was the most important of all His parables, in that it revealed the keys to the "mystery of the kingdom" of God. The excerpt is taken from a chapter in which I examine the second category of hearers in the parable who Jesus described as being "like rocky ground." He went on to reveal that this category of hearers of the Word are only "temporary believers," who "have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary" (Mk. 4:17).

Luke’s account of this part of Jesus’ parable aptly describes their walk this way: "they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away" (Lk. 8:13). This is an extremely crucial statement in that Jesus Himself explicitly and definitively indicates that these people were indeed bona fide "believers" rather than bogus believers as proponents of "once saved always saved" Eternal Security doctrine allege. Jesus said, "they believe for a while," which inherently means there came a time when they ceased being and living like a true believer, or saint. To argue otherwise is to call Jesus a liar. Likewise, to say these once bona fide believers did not subsequently fall away after having truly believed is to call Jesus a liar as well, for Jesus explicitly stated, "and in time of temptation (they) fall away."

Unfortunately, there are many people today who are of this category of only temporary believers. There was a point at which they truly believed in and accepted the Gospel of Christ, and were thereby Born Again and saved. At first, they are willing to follow Jesus and obey His Word. But, later, when they began to meet with temptation (Lk. 8:13), afflictions, and persecutions (Mk. 4:17), these temporary believers fall away in their relationship with God.

The Mystery of the Kingdom book was first published in 1984, yet its message is perhaps even more applicable now in this hour than ever before. Through the Spirit, the Apostle Paul looked two-thousand years ahead into these end-times and predicted with amazing precision the prevailing spiritual atmosphere and resultant apostasy:

2 Timothy 3:1-5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

1 Timothy 4:1-2
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron....

Some theologians postulate this last passage refers to and was fulfilled in the 1,200-year period known as "The Dark Ages" that culminated with the Protestant Reformation. Personally I am among those who believe that period was indeed a corporate apostasy of the Church but that another fulfillment of that prophecy is being fulfilled in these end-times in which we are living now.

Then there are the multitudes of professing Christians, Protestant and non, today who align with myriad others of the previous four centuries and subscribe to the Calvinistic "Eternal Security" doctrine, also known as "once-saved-always-saved," that posits that no matter what one does or how he/she lives after "confessing Christ," it is impossible for them to fall away and "lose" their salvation. The debate juxtaposing Calvinism (Eternal Security) to Arminianism (apostasy is possible), as theologians refer to these disparate doctrines, has existed since the 16th Century and continues to be a point of contention and divisiveness yet today. But, it is far more than just another abstract theological controversy studied by erudite seminarians preparing for assimilation into the ranks of the professional clergy. The matter of whether or not a bona fide believer can become so apostate so as to forfeit his/her spiritual birthright is the core issue of these end-times as well as the entire specter of so-called "revival" that so many profess to believe is coming.

Will real "revival," as the prominent principals of the past, albeit temporary, revivals passionately insisted and with whom many modern prophetic revival prognosticators adamantly agree, be contingent entirely upon the depth of personal repentance—i.e., real mindset and lifestyle changes—of those claiming to belong to Christ? Or, will end-time "revival," as some neo-prophets purport, consist merely of a global upsurge in signs and wonders and displays of supernatural power that God initiates for "evangelism" sake without respect or relation to the personal spiritual condition of those comprising the Church and therefore the Church itself? Will the now popular refrain by neo-prophets concerning the last days that "the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the seas," have any correlation to the Betrothed of Christ and her reflection of the Glory of the Bridegroom, or just be something God does separately from her?

I don’t know what you believe to be the answer to this crucial question, but as you read this excerpt of The Mystery of the Kingdom, what I believe the answer to be will be abundantly clear. Indeed, if you are interested, this section coupled with the succeeding two chapters of the book make my beliefs on the matter unequivocally clear. Moreover, I believe…no, let me rephrase that…I KNOW—from personal experience—there is a personal COST to serving Christ all the way to the end. Some of that cost I have paid already, but I fully anticipate that there shall yet be more to be paid, which I am determined to pay…no matter what and no matter how dear. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!"

Now, my question to you is: Are YOU willing to pay the price…no matter what and how dear it may be? Or, will you in the end prove to be one of those Jesus called, "temporary believers," whose fate, according to Jesus Himself, will be eternal separation from God rather than eternal salvation for which He paid the full price?

Counting the Cost
Will it cost you something to serve Jesus?

You better believe it will! You must surrender your entire being—spirit, soul, and body—over to Jesus. You must die to every form of sin and unrighteousness (Rom. 6:1-11). You must put to death the sinful deeds of the fleshly body (Gal. 5:24). And, you must submit your mind, will, and emotions to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Jesus in no way preached an "easy gospel," as some allege today. He never used euphemistic persuasion to call people to Himself. He never expected people to come to Him unadvisedly. Quite to the contrary, He taught that people should first "count the cost" before they make a decision to follow after Him, because every true disciple, then and now, is required to carry his own personal cross of affliction and persecution:

Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (margin-note: i.e., by comparison of his love for Me) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate (count) the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?" (Lk. 14:28)

Nothing could be more apropos in the case of these hearers of the Word who Jesus said are like "rocky ground." They did not first sit down and calculate the cost of discipleship, and realistically calculate what following Jesus was going to cost them. They did not foresee that there was going to be crosses to bear, that they were going to have to endure against many tribulations, temptations, tests, and trials. So, "in time of temptation (they) fall away," Luke’s synopsis quotes Jesus as saying. Mark’s account says, "when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away" (Mk. 4:17).

These people indeed are only temporary believers. They are willing to respond affirmatively to the Gospel in order to be saved and to escape Hell. But, they are not willing to effect a complete surrender and repentance. Nor are they willing to die totally to self and sin, and relinquish lordship over their own lives. Some are willing to effect a superficial repentance of surface sins, but not a complete repentance of the evil motivations which pervade the unredeemed soul. Much less are they willing to offensively resist the enemy on the battlefield of temptation, affliction, and persecution, in order to follow after Jesus.

Temporary believers, unfortunately, are only willing to stay married to Jesus and live the Christian life as long as life is easy and convenient and doesn’t cost them anything, as long as life is full of nothing but "showers of blessings." But, when the showers of blessings start to become mixed with intermittent droughts of even only relatively minor affliction and persecution, that is, when the sun arises, as Jesus put it in the parable, and "the heat is on," and their commitment is tested a little, temporary believers immediately want to dissolve the relationship, with a quick and easy, no-muss, no-fuss, no-fault divorce after the manner of the divorces meted out by our courts today.

But, that is not the way it is with true believers. True believers are in this thing forever. When they make their commitment to Jesus, they do it knowing full well it is Eternal Life, an everlasting life of never-ending fellowship with God, they’ve bought into, and they are eternally committed to Him through thick and thin, and no matter what may come, hell or high water. Indeed, if you have the great honor and privilege of living for Jesus in this world before being united with Him in the Spirit, it is guaranteed you will indeed experience both—hell and high water. True believers forsake all else in order to obtain the "costly pearl" (Mat. 13:45,46) of Eternal Life, and Eternal Life is what they will indeed be rewarded with in the end.

Indeed, this commitment to follow after Jesus has been known to cost some people literally everything. The Apostle Peter, after less than three years of following after Jesus, speaking apparently on behalf of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, railed at Jesus, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You" (Mk. 10:28). Overlooking Peter’s obvious rancor, Jesus in essence replied that such may indeed be the cost for earnest followers:

And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, Eternal Life." (Lk. 18:29,30)

Indeed, there has been more than one resolute believer down through the ages who has had to give up houses, wives, brothers, parents, children, friends, colleagues, business and vocational pursuits, and the like, in order to follow after Jesus and the revealed Will of God. It is terribly unfortunate and painful, but sometimes friends, relatives, and loved ones simply refuse to follow along with you when you make the decision to follow Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus said anyone who is not willing to bear that cross of persecution and to follow after Him, is not worthy of Him. There is a chorus we sing that talks about all this, which says:

I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, yet I will follow.
Though none go with me, yet I will follow.
Though none go with me, yet I will follow.
No turning back, No turning back.

I have personally known people who have had to quite literally "give up" friends and loved ones, in order to follow Jesus; some for only a while, some forever. It didn’t have to be that way, and the believer certainly did not want it to be that way, but that is the way it happened nonetheless, because those friends and loved ones simply refused to accompany them on the path they had chosen to follow, the path of Eternal Life and fellowship with God.

I have personal knowledge of men called to the ministry who had no choice but to "give up" loved ones, in order to follow and obey Jesus and His revealed Will for their lives, and in order to pursue the call of God upon them. There were certain ministers of the past who were greatly used of God who experienced such heart-rending dilemmas with regard to family members, who, as they went on to be faithful to God, received an eternal, unfathomable reward that made it all worth it. So also are there contemporary ministers with a great call upon their life who shall be likewise rewarded for their undeterred faithfulness.

We must be willing to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. Otherwise, we will not be worthy of Him (Mat. 10:37,38). In fact, Jesus once even went so far as to declare, "No one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions" (Lk. 14:33). Spiritually speaking, every true saint of God does indeed eventually "give up" everything he is and has; that is to say, he or she surrenders any claim of personal ownership and lordship of everything unto the Lord.

But, praise God, God is not a "taker," despite the wholly erroneous statement of Job: "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away" (Job 1:21), which misstatement he later retracted in dust and ashes, and utter shame and chagrin (42:1-6). Rather, God is only a Giver. "God so loved the world that He gave..." (Jn. 3:16). God gave even His only begotten Son, because He is a Giver by Nature. He gives because He cannot help Himself. As someone has so aptly said, "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."

And so, God, who IS Love and from whom Agape-Love emanates (1 Jn. 4:7,8), is absolutely compelled by His overwhelming Love-Nature to give. He has absolutely no desire or interest in taking things away from people He has bestowed to them, especially not because of any need of His own. How ludicrous and even blasphemous the notion! That would make Him a selfish thief, which He is not. Satan is the thief, who steals, kills, and destroys (Jn. 10:10). Besides, God doesn’t need anything we have:

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since He Himself gives... (Acts 17:24,25)

No, God is not a taker, but a Giver. It’s just that He insists on being Lord over everything, as He indeed is. He requires that we abdicate lordship and rights of ownership of everything we have and are, and give it to Him, in order that Jesus may indeed be Lord of All that pertains to us. And, praise God when we do relinquish the "things" pertaining to this world in order to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, He actually returns all those "things" we need for life, because He well knows that we need all these "things" (Mat. 6:32,33).

Moreover, He even returns them to us in multiplied measure, "a hundred times as much," and not "when we all get to Heaven," or "in the sweet by and by," but in the sweet here and "now in the present age" (Mk. 10:30). For you see, we won’t need those things in Heaven; we only need them now in this life here on planet Earth.

Indeed, there is a cost for discipleship, but true believers are willing to pay the price, whatever it may be. Temporary believers, however, are not. When things begin to get difficult, and they meet with a little trouble, tribulation, and hardship, temporary believers start to wither.[end excerpt]

To read more about The Mystery of the Kingdom, go to: http://www.slm.org/pubs/mkbook.html.

Idolatry of Trusting in Riches

Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion. (Prv. 30:8)

As I have been indicating in some previous posts, in many Kingdom-related matters, the difference between truth and error is excesses and extremes. Those excesses extremes can be at either end of the spectrum.

Such is the case with the real truth regarding the matter of prosperity and success versus whatever is the diametric opposite of that, which I suppose is poverty and failure. The real truth, that is, the Truth of the mind of God that is both concealed and revealed in Christ through the Spirit of Truth, lies somewhere between these opposing messages. The extremes on both sides are error and deception. We must be careful not to swerve too far to either side so as to fall into a spiritual ditch of error. There are a great number of passages of Scripture telling us how much God indeed does want us to "prosper and be in (good) health even as our soul prospers" (3 Jn. 2). But, the last part of that Scripture is the weightier and balancing part. From God's perspective, true prosperity is commensurate with soul-prosperity, and not defined by the amount of mammon, or material things, we possess. Prosperity and success, and divine healing and health, taken to extremes and taken out of context of the rest of Scripture that speaks of counterbalancing matters can become an abomination to God: "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is His delight" (Prv. 11:1).

(Please read the preface on the previous post for more on this aspect.)

Before I get to the topic of this post, I feel compelled to say I truly believe that this whole matter I am discussing in these posts are far from being a mere side-bar. I feel what I am about to say is of a prophetic nature. I believe it is a critical Kingdom Matter that the Church must turn its attention to in order to be delivered from the dastardly and destructive spirit of mammon that now pervades the Church. Many individuals in the Church are obsessed with the spirit of materialism, and if they continue in their ways and in giving place to the devil, what is an obsession now, will continue to escalate and take more and more ground in their heart until materialism, the love of money, will totally possess them. Some who were once bona fide believers and members of the Body of Christ, have become apostate in their heart having yielded to the allure of purely material "wealth," and as a result are already possessed by the spirit of mammon. I believe the judgment that MUST begin with the household of God has begun, and will continue in the form of the economic collapse America and the nations of the world are facing. But, as I have written in so many words in so many of my writings, this judgment that God is bringing upon the Church precedent to the judgment He shall bring upon the world is a judgment of purification and refinement. It is a corrective and reproving judgment to purify the Lamb's Wife for the imminent return of Christ to claim His Betrothed as His Eternal Bride and Helpmate suitable to partner with Him in the judgment of the nations in the Day of His Fierce Wrath.

What I see is that there is two sides of this coin regarding this matter of God's provision for us. The focus of the previous post was what the Word of God tells us about God's desire to prosper and abundantly bless His people. Like Abraham, he has promised to not only bless us, but also make us a blessing. In this and the next post, my focus will be the abundance of Scripture that counterbalance the "prosperity" side of the same coin.

The Parable of the Sower (see, Mark 4:1-20), according to what Jesus Himself said about it, could be aptly called "The Paramount Parable." When His disciples asked Him to explain it to them, He responded, as He did on several other occasions, with seeming frustration at their spiritual dullness, saying, "Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?" Jesus also indicated that this parable contained the key to understanding the "Mystery of the Kingdom." That is the title of a book I wrote and published in 1984 in which I explained what the Lord showed me concerning the meaning of this Paramount Parable and the "secrets" it unveils of how to bear Kingdom Fruit as well as "hidden" principles of how the Kingdom of God operates here on Earth. The rest of this post is taken from that book. Click here to read more about the book, which is available in both e-book and print versions.

Mark 4:7,18,19
7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
19 and the worries of the word, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Jesus identified in the Parable of the Sower four different categories of hearers, all of whom heard the Word, though only one responded properly and became doers of the Word, thereby producing Kingdom Fruit in their lives. As Jesus said, the Seed of the Word of God was sown on this category of hearers, which means they heard the Word, but there were also thorns growing in their lives along with the Word that eventually choked out the Seed, and thus it "yielded no crop" -- that is, it produced no Kingdom Fruit in the lives of these hearers. In His explanation to the disciples, Jesus indicated these thorns were "thorns of worldliness," and identified them as being, 1) the worries of the world, 2) the deceitfulness of riches, and 3) the desires for other things. He said these thorns of worldliness entered into these believers' lives, and choked out the Seed which was sown into their lives by the Sower (Fivefold Ministers) as the two grew together in the soil of their hearts, and prevented the Word from becoming fruitful. In the previous post we began examining one of those thorns of worldliness -- "the deceitfulness of riches." I continue that discussion by addressing the Idolatry of Trusting in Riches, taken from the book, The Mystery of the Kingdom.

Idolatry of Trusting in Riches
God says He is a "jealous God," and that we are to have no other gods before Him, and that we are not to make or serve any idols (Ex. 20:1-5). An idol, or false god, is something you attribute undue homage and affection to, or something you trust in and place your faith in and look to, to deliver you, and to help you overcome the adversities of life, and to attain unto personal desires, ambitions, and aspirations.

By that definition, money is the false god of multitudes of people in this world. This has always been true, but never more so than it is in this last day in which we live, something which was explicitly prophesied by the Spirit, "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, LOVERS OF MONEY..." (2 Tim. 3:1,2). Money, however, is such a vain thing in which to trust. God says, "He who trusts in riches will fall" (Pr. 11:28). Riches are only temporal, they do not last forever. They can be here one day and gone the next, as the following scriptures indicate:

For riches are not forever. (Pr. 27:24);

Do not worry yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth surely makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. (Pr. 23:4,5);

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to...fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God. (1 Tim. 6:17);

Let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass, and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. (Jas. 1:10,11);

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. (Jas. 5:1-3);

But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into this world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. (1 Tim. 6:6,7);

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (Mat. 6:19)

Without realizing it, multitudes in the world today have made money their god. They trust in it to deliver them from every adversity of life, for personal validation and to give them a sense of dignity and rightness, to afford them prestige and preeminence, to garner for themselves the favor and deference society bestows upon the wealthy, and to provide them with a sense of security, satisfaction, and fulfillment. In a nutshell, people look to money and riches to give them the peace, happiness, contentment, and sense of general well-being to which people commonly aspire. It is in looking to money to supply all this, that people unconsciously make money their god, notwithstanding the adamant denials of most that they have done so in their own case.

But, it is Jehovah God who is the true Supplier of all these things, and He desires that people recognize Him as such. In fact, all these things can only be realized in their truest form through fellowship with God. To seek any other object or entity as a source of these things is idolatry, and is making a false god of that object or entity.

The love of money, or covetousness, which is idolatry, is a natural motivation of the carnal nature which is inherent within us all, however (Eph. 5:5; Gal. 5:19,20). In varying degrees, before we were saved and began renewing our minds according to the Word of God, we all trusted in money for all the things we are supposed to trust God to accomplish in our lives. Thus, most people commit their entire lives and energies in the quest to acquire more and more money, the more the better. They seem to think that the more diligent they are in the pursuit of it, the more favorable the false god of money will be to them. The more they have of it, the more it will deliver them from the adversities and tribulations of life, and fulfill the various yearnings of their heart. So they think.

How often have we all thought at one time or another in our lives, "If I can just get this one bill paid off, then I just know everything will be alright." Or, "If I can just get that new car," or "that new house," or whatever, "I just know everything will be fine, then." Or, "If I can just save up $10,000 in my savings account," or "make this one great stock purchase," or "buy this new business," or "get that new job," or "that promotion," or "that raise," -- "well, everything will be great then!"

That, my friend, like it or not, is IDOLATRY. It is placing a false trust in money. It is making money your god. It is trusting in riches, and in your own power to make wealth. But, even more than all that, such reasoning indicates you have been deceived by "the deceitfulness of riches!" The truth of the matter is that once you do get that one bill paid off, you only get more and even larger bills to contend with, and everything is still not "alright." Or, have you ever noticed, after you buy that new house or car, everything is still not "fine?" Or you save up that $10,000, or purchase those stocks, or buy that new business, or you land that new job, or get that promotion or raise in pay, and then everything is still far from being "great?" Instead you have even more problems. That’s the deceitfulness of riches; he who trusts in them is heading for a fall (Pr. 11:28).

You see, God does not want everything to be "alright" merely through the means of monetary gain and because of financial wealth. He does not want you to be trusting in money as your savior and deliverer. If you do, money is your master and god, not Him. God delights in the prosperity of His servants, but therein is the key: He wants our lives to be prosperous in every way, not through the self-glorifying means of self-achievement, but through serving Him, whereby all the glory for our prosperity is attributable to Him alone. He wants to be our total Source, our only Savior and Deliverer, our Master, and our very present Help in the time of trouble. He wants to be the object of our affection and trust.

The Deceitfulness of Riches

This is the third part of message related to the previous few posts regarding issues raised by the Grassley Investigation, in particular, the "Prosperity Gospel" as it is preached by the ministries cited in that congressional probe. If you did not read, the previous posts, please do, in order to have the proper backdrop and foundation for the message in this post. Otherwise, you may draw erroneous conclusions from reading this post as a stand-alone article.

Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion. (Prv. 30:8)

As I have been indicating in some previous posts, in many Kingdom-related matters, the difference between truth and error is excesses and extremes. Those excesses and extremes can be at either end of the spectrum. Or, if you prefer, the allegory of "the road of Truth" could be used, with the Truth represented by the road, and the ditches along either side of the road representing the excesses and extremes of error.

Such is the case with the real truth regarding the matter of prosperity and success versus whatever is the diametric opposite of that, which I suppose is poverty and failure. The real truth, that is, the Truth of the mind of God that is both concealed and revealed in Christ through the Spirit of Truth, lies somewhere between these opposing messages. The extremes on both sides are error and deception. We must be careful not to swerve too far to either side so as to fall into a spiritual ditch of error. There are a great number of passages of Scripture telling us how much God indeed does want us to "prosper and be in (good) health even as our soul prospers" (3 Jn. 2). But, the last part of that Scripture is the weightier and balancing part. From God's perspective, true prosperity is commensurate with soul-prosperity, and not defined by the amount of mammon, or material things, we possess. Prosperity and success, and divine healing and health, taken to extremes and taken out of context of the rest of Scripture that speaks of counterbalancing matters can become an abomination to God: "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is His delight" (Prv. 11:1).

Truth, in terms of human teaching, (please understand I'm not talking here about Truth itself that emanates from the Spirit of Truth), is virtually always found between opposing extremes, allegorically speaking. It's the extremes that are an abomination to God. From the beginning of time, humans have taken truth and twisted, distorted, and perverted it to make it say whatever they need it to say as support and justification for their evil desires and deeds.

What I see is that there is two sides of this coin regarding this matter of God's provision for us. The focus of the previous post was what the Word of God tells us about God's desire to prosper and abundantly bless His people. Like Abraham, he has promised to not only bless us, but also make us a blessing. In this and the next post, my focus will be the abundance of Scripture that counterbalance the "prosperity" side of the same coin.

The Parable of the Sower (see, Mark 4:1-20), according to what Jesus Himself said about it, could be aptly called "The Paramount Parable." When His disciples asked Him to explain it to them, He responded, as He did on several other occasions, with seeming frustration at their spiritual dullness, saying, "Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?" Jesus also indicated that this parable contained the key to understanding the "Mystery of the Kingdom." That is the title of a book I wrote and published in 1984 in which I explained what the Lord showed me concerning the meaning of this Paramount Parable and the "secrets" it unveils of how to bear Kingdom Fruit as well as "hidden" principles of how the Kingdom of God operates here on Earth. The rest of this post is taken from that book. Click here to read more about the book, which is available in both e-book and print versions.

Mark 4:7,18,19
7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
19 and the worries of the word, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Jesus identified in the Parable of the Sower four different categories of hearers, all of whom heard the Word, though only one responded properly and became doers of the Word, thereby producing Kingdom Fruit in their lives. As Jesus said, the Seed of the Word of God was sown on this category of hearers, which means they heard the Word, but there were also thorns growing in their lives along with the Word that eventually choked out the Seed, and thus it "yielded no crop" -- that is, it produced no Kingdom Fruit in the lives of these hearers. In His explanation to the disciples, Jesus indicated these thorns were "thorns of worldliness," and identified them as being, 1) the worries of the world, 2) the deceitfulness of riches, and 3) the desires for other things. He said these thorns of worldliness entered into these believers' lives, and choked out the Seed which was sown into their lives by the Sower (Fivefold Ministers) as the two grew together in the soil of their hearts, and prevented the Word from becoming fruitful. We examine here one of those thorns of worldliness -- "the deceitfulness of riches."

Deceitful Characteristic of Riches
Even the small sampling of passages I have mentioned here, well establishes the foundation that God does not require or even desire that believers live in poverty or financial lack, and provides us with more than ample Scriptural evidence to conclude without equivocation that it is not riches or wealth themselves that will prevent the Word of God from bearing fruit in a person’s life. Rather, as Jesus indicated in the Parable of the Sower, it is the deceptive characteristic of riches that can cause tremendous spiritual problems and prevent the bringing forth of Godly fruit in a person’s life, even those who have heard the Word of God. It is trusting in and coveting the riches that will choke the Word of God and prevent it from bearing the fruit it is intended to produce. As God says it,

the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Tim. 6:10, KJV)

Riches can be so deceiving. Many a person has been deceived by riches. One of the worst parts of the deceptive nature of riches is a false sense of superiority. There is an arrogant and haughty spirit that can invade and pervade a person when wealth and the trappings of wealth are his quest and, in effect, his god. That haughty spirit is one of seven things that God absolutely loathes and considers abominations (Pr. 6:16,17); in fact, it is at the top of the list. Yet, sadly, many people are consumed with such a false sense of superiority predicated on their wealth.

Beyond that, many wealthy people are under the delusion they are somehow right with God simply because they are rich. The power, prestige, prominence, preeminence, and preferential treatment afforded the affluent in the world’s system often produces a blind self-righteousness and elitism which leads to the wholly false assumption that they must also be right with God.

However, monetary worth certainly does not impress God in the slightest, nor can it buy rightstanding with Him. Rightstanding with God can be gained by no other means than on the basis of grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-24). High-standing in the Kingdom of God is not based upon monetary worth, but on servitude to others: "whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be the slave of all" (Mk. 10:43,44). There is no partiality with God, for He is no respecter of persons. It is for certain that one’s financial status will be of no consequence on the Day of Judgment and one’s wealth will produce no advantage, for: "Riches do not profit in the day of wrath" (Pr. 11:4).

"How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God," Jesus said (Mk. 10:23). He did not say it would be impossible, but that it would be hard, or difficult, for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of God. He did not say that it would be hard for true believers who have riches or who are wealthy to enter, because all true believers enter into the Kingdom by grace through faith in Christ, regardless of their wealth or lack thereof. Jesus is not talking here about believers having money, rather He is talking about unbelievers who have not yet entered the Kingdom of God, and how hard it will be for them to do so.

The reason it will be difficult for them to enter the Kingdom of God is this arrogance and pride to which I have already alluded. There is only one way for anyone, whether rich or poor, to enter the Kingdom of God—by recognizing your utter spiritual poverty, that you are a totally lost and condemned sinner, and that you desperately need the saving of the Savior. Coming to that realization is often the stumbling block for the rich of the world, however. Pride prevents them from ever admitting the fact that, though they may have financial wealth and prestige in this world, when it comes to their spiritual condition, they are bankrupt and destitute. That is the essence of "the deceitfulness of riches," and many of the rich, unfortunately, have been deceived by it.

Jesus went on to say, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mk. 10:25). Now Jesus’ allegory here really was not of a camel passing through the eye of a literal needle, for that in reality would not be merely difficult, as Jesus said it would be for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God, but rather that would be altogether impossible.

Very familiar to His listeners, was something known as "the eye of the needle," which was a very short and narrow passageway in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was the only way into the city at night when the main gates were closed as a deterrent against enemy attack. Merchants returning home at night from their business forays usually did not arrive back at Jerusalem until long after the main gates had been closed. When they did finally return, the only entrance into the city was through "the eye of the needle," through which both the merchant and his camels had to pass.

Now the passageway by design was only large enough to allow a man to barely make it through down on his hand and knees, which design precluded en masse attacks by marauders. It was difficult enough for a man to negotiate the entryway, but the merchant’s camels also had to pass through the same portal. In order for the camels to be able to pass through "the eye of the needle," they would first have to be stripped bare of their cargo of wares which they had been carrying. Then, one at a time, with some firm prodding the merchant would coax the unwilling camels to bend down on their knees and to slowly crawl through the ever so short and narrow entrance.

Jesus said it was easier for those camels to pass through that tiny passageway, aptly dubbed "the eye of the needle," than for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God. For, you see, everyone must enter the Kingdom of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, in the same manner the camel entered the Earthly Jerusalem, allegorically speaking, that is, stripped totally bare of all worldly possessions and merit, down on your knees in true humility, realizing you possess nothing with which to commend yourself to God and that you are entering only through the wholly unmerited acceptance afforded you only through faith in Jesus Christ, and with profuse, heartfelt, and eternal gratitude and thanksgiving.

Everyone must repent of their pride and false sense of superiority in order to enter the Kingdom of God, no longer glorifying and exalting their self, but glorifying and exalting the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. As James said, "Let the rich man glory in his humiliation" (Jas. 1:10). How fitting also is the admonition in this passage directed to those who have attained unto wealth in this life:

Beware lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and is ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; lest when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them...then your heart becomes PROUD, and you forget the Lord your God....Otherwise, you may say in your heart, "My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth." But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers as it is this day. (Deut. 8:11-18)

Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lust; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. (1 Jn. 2:15-17)

The church needs an en masse deliverance from the spirit of the world that has marched in through the open door of the love of the world. The number one leaven that is defiling the church today is not Islam, Hinduism, counterfeit sects and cults claiming to be a form of Christianity, New Age, or any of the many false religions we identify as such, but rather the false religion of materialism. And the number one idol to whom the church pays homage is the god of mammon. Both John in the above cited passage and Jesus in the below cited passage made it clear that doublemindedness or spiritual schizophrenia, wherein one is deceived by the belief that they have both the love of the world in them and the love of God at the same time, cannot be reconciled and will result in damnation of one's soul:

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Lk. 16:13)

Poverty vs. Prosperity Gospel (Part 2)

Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion. (Prv. 30:8)

This is the second of a three-part message related to the last few posts regarding issues raised by the Grassley Investigation. As I have been indicating in some previous messages, in many Kingdom-related matters, the difference between truth and error is extremes. Those extremes can be at either end of the spectrum. Satan is a master at taking truth and misapplying it or taking it to extremes and thereby transforming truth into error. We see that in Jesus' temptation in the wilderness after being baptized in the Spirit when the Holy Spirit rested upon Him in the form of a dove. Immediately thereafter, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Mat. 3,4). Each of the three temptations Satan tempted Jesus with were perversions of Truth. In each of them, the devil quoted Scripture, but his application of the Scriptures were an extremism. In each case, Jesus responded with other Scripture that countervailed the Scripture Satan quoted and misapplied.

The Word of God says, "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is His delight" (Prv. 11:1). The Bible is full of countervailing concepts and paradoxes. Critics and cynics, atheists and agnostics, often seize upon these seemingly contradictory or antithetical statements, principles, and axioms in their attempt to refute and discredit Scripture. But, that is as much folly as are the thoughts of the agnostic or atheist who says in his heart, "There is no God" (Ps. 14:1). Truth is always found between opposing extremes. It's the extremes that are an abomination to God. From the beginning of time, humans have taken truth and twisted, distorted, and perverted it to make it say whatever they need it to say as support and justification for their evil desires and deeds. There is nothing new about that.

Such is the case with the real truth regarding the matter of prosperity and success versus whatever is the diametric opposite of that, which I suppose is poverty and failure. The real truth, that is, the truth in the mind of God, lies somewhere between these opposing messages.

In regard to the matter of God's provision for believers in particular, we must be careful not to swerve too far to either side so as to fall into a spiritual ditch of error. We must not "throw out the baby with the bathwater." There are a great number of passages of Scripture telling us how much God indeed does want us to "prosper and be in (good) health even as our soul prospers" (3 Jn. 2). But, the last part of that Scripture is the weightier and balancing part. Prosperity, success, and divine healing and health taken out of context of the rest of Scripture that speaks of seemingly antithetical and counterbalancing matters can become an abomination to God because that is precisely what God calls "a false balance."

What I see is that there is two sides of this coin regarding this matter of God's provision for us. In this and the next post, my intent is to bring a balanced message regarding this matter, and show both sides of the same coin, because there is indeed two sides to every coin, as the old saying goes.

The Parable of the Sower (see, Mark 4:1-20), according to what Jesus Himself said about it, could be aptly called "The Paramount Parable." When His disciples asked Him to explain it to them, He seemed to respond, as He did on several other occasions, with frustration at their spiritual dullness, saying, "Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all parables?" Jesus also indicated that this parable contained the key to understanding the "Mystery of the Kingdom." That is the title of a book I wrote and published in 1984 in which I explained what the Lord showed me concerning the meaning of this Paramount Parable and the "secrets" it unveils of how to bear Kingdom Fruit as well as "hidden" principles of how the Kingdom of God operates here on Earth.

(Click here, for more about the "Mystery of the Kingdom" book.)

In a nutshell, Jesus taught through this remarkable parable that there are four types of hearers of the Word of God, and each of them chooses his/her "quality of life" on the earth as well as his/her eternal destiny and even destination by which kind of hearer they elect to be. Each category of hearer heard the Word, but only one of the four bears forth Kingdom Fruit in their lives. The other three did not bear forth Kingdom Fruit because of something they failed to do in the process of gaining and maintaining rightstanding (relationship) with God.

The third category of hearer are "those with thorns" in their lives. They heard the word, Jesus explained, but they failed to remove the "thorns of worldliness" from their lives, which grew up along with the Word and eventually choked it out, and therefore they were "unfruitful" or barren.

The second "thorn of worldliness" which Jesus said would choke the Word of God and prevent it from bearing fruit in the life of its hearers is "the deceitfulness of riches." Of paramount importance, however, as we discuss this matter, is the fact that He did not say riches themselves were a thorn that would choke the Word of God and prevent it from bearing fruit, but rather "the DECEITFULNESS of riches." Indeed, before we delve into the deceitful characteristic of riches and how it will choke the Word, it is somewhat vital that we lay to rest a fairly common misconception among uninformed or misinformed religious people. The essence of this rather widespread myth is that God is somehow opposed to the idea of Christians having money, at least in any significant amount, that God does not want believers to prosper, and that somehow to be truly spiritual one must be poor or at least only barely have his needs met.

We hear of the requirement of ministers in some denominations to take "a vow of poverty." Moreover, the preaching of some ostensibly pious people makes it sound as if God wants to take everyone's money away from them, leaving them poor and destitute. As a result, some people, ignorant of what the Word of God really says regarding the matter of money and other practical matters, have been led to believe that in order to become a Christian they would have to sell their possessions and give all their money away to the poor. Erroneous teaching based on half truths has caused multitudes of sincere Christians to believe God wanted them to live in near abject poverty, and to fear ever having any money, "because, you know, money is the root of all evil."

Well, nothing could be further from the Truth. First of all, the Bible does not say money is the root of all evil. It says, "the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10). God is by no means opposed to Christians having money, but He is totally opposed to covetousness. To put it another way, God is not opposed to believers possessing possessions, but He is entirely opposed to possessions possessing believers. The love of money and the pursuit of riches will prevent a person from loving and serving God, for:

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Lk. 16:13)

The Word of God is full of passages telling us just how much God desires for His children to prosper. In 3 John 2, He says, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper, and be in health even as thy soul prospers" (KJV). What an amazing statement this is! Think on that for a moment and allow it to sink in. God is saying that above everything else He desires for us, and the Bible is replete with all the wonderful things He desires for us and our well being, above all those things God wishes that we prosper financially.

Now the surpassing wisdom of God is demonstrated in this statement, which is that it is absolutely essential that we prosper financially in order to prosper physically in our body (i.e., health wise) and spiritually in our soul (i.e., psychologically and emotionally). In other words, to be able to truly prosper in all the other aspects of our lives -- spiritual, psychological, emotional, and social -- it is imperative that we prosper financially. I do not mean we all must be wealthy to live happily, but what is inherent in this morsel of Divine Truth is the unequivocal fact that financial prosperity is a requisite for real happiness. Continuous financial lack is a severely oppressing force that absolutely precludes us from living full, fulfilled, and truly happy lives, not only because of the lack of "things" that without question do make life more pleasant, but also because of the lack of capacity to do the things, such as helping others who are in need, which bring us pleasure.

The inexorable oppression of never ending poverty has no rival, and to many is unbearable. Long term, enduring financial lack in the case of untold multitudes has led to extreme physiological, psychological, and emotional problems, as well as ultimately to premature death either by means of physical disorders or, in the case of those whose pain was overwhelming, even suicide. God knows all this concerning the importance of financial wellness to our overall well being, so it is His desire that we prosper financially, incredibly, "above all things."

Psalm 35:27 tells us to "CONTINUALLY" say, "The Lord be magnified, who DELIGHTS IN THE PROSPERITY OF HIS SERVANT," which is a far cry from what some people continually say. The truth is that God takes great delight in the prosperity of those who truly are His servants. When believers prosper through serving the Lord, God is glorified.

Another enlightening scripture says, "The Lord delighted over you to prosper you" (Deut. 28:63). Moreover, in this same chapter God repeatedly indicates that poverty is a part of the curse of disobedience, and that prosperity, not poverty, is a part of the blessings of obedience, which stands in stark contrast to the postulations of some pseudo spiritual people who preach just the opposite -- that prosperity is a curse and poverty is a blessing. Poverty is in no way a "blessing," as anyone who has suffered it can tell you, if they are honest about it and don't come up with some super-pseudo spiritual hogwash about how it "helped their faith" or something. According to the Word of God (and His Word is far more trustworthy than that of people like that), faith does not come by poverty, it comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Anything to the contrary is poppycock. Poverty, when a person gets tired enough of it, may motivate him to do a little more hearing of the Word, which in turn will produce more faith, but poverty itself is not going to help, increase, or activate your faith one iota; never has, never will. Rather, unabated poverty will ultimately produce precisely the opposite of faith.

God says if we will obey His voice and commandments, He will elevate us "above all the nations of the earth. And all these BLESSINGS shall come upon you and overtake you...the Lord will make you abound in PROSPERITY" (Deut. 28:11). Again, we see here that prosperity is a blessing of obedience to God.

In the infamous case of Job, he started out very rich, and after a period of reproof from God with respect to his blatant fear and lack of faith and trust in God, God made Him even richer, twice as rich as a matter of fact. Careful and unbiased study of his story will prove that contrary to his now infamous exclamation, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away," it was not God who took away all his possessions and children, but rather Satan, who was able to do so because fear of loss had pervaded his life and eroded the protective hedge of faith in God (read Job 2). In retrospect, Job admitted, "For the thing which I greatly FEARED is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me."

But, after being reproved by God through a face to face encounter with His Majesty Himself, a chastened Job exulted, "I know thou canst do all things...I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees Thee; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes." The result was that "the Lord restored the fortunes of Job...twofold."

We can see from the story of Job that God is not in the business of chastening those who are serving Him by stripping them of their possessions and relegating them to poverty, as some people ignorantly allege. Rather, as Elihu, the only one of Job's counselors to speak truth to Job, declared, "If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity" (Job 36:11).

Psalm 37:11 says, "The humble (obedient) will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity." And, verse nineteen essentially promises that even in famine conditions and economic chaos, the righteous "will have an abundance"(italics added by author).

The bottom-line is that God does not want His children to be in want of anything that is a legitimate need. One passage so much as says that: "O fear the Lord, you His saints; for to those who fear Him, there is no want...they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing" (Ps. 34:9,10). Another favorite passage tells us because the Lord is our Shepherd, we "shall not want" (Ps. 23:1).

What kind of a father would take pleasure in seeing his children in constant want and need, especially of the essentials of life? Certainly our Heavenly Father does not want us to be in want. Jesus revealed the attitude of our Heavenly Father: "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give what is good to those who ask Him" (Mat. 7:11).

The Apostle Paul succinctly summed up the whole matter in this one passage: "And my God shall supply ALL your NEEDS according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Plp. 4:19). God promises in this verse to provide ALL of our needs, not necessarily our greeds, but all our needs, and in so doing will not limit Himself to our puny Earthly resources, but will draw from His own limitless wealth of riches in glory. Wow! What a promise!

In the next post I will show the other sides of the same coin, for we need both sides of the coin, with neither side being defaced, for it to be legitimate tender, allegorically speaking, that is, Truth!

Fiery Trials -- Why They Come!

The original post in this series posed the question, Grassley Investigation -- Demonic or Divine? (If you have not read the first two posts, I urge you to do so.) In the course of the two previous posts I have been indicating what I believe is the answer to that question, which is -- both. The Spirit made it clear who our adversary is, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. YOUR ADVERSARY, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8).

In order to be able to understand many of the questions of life with definitiveness and complete confidence, a believer must settle the issue once and at the very core of their spirit. God is NOT the believer's adversary. The adversary is the one who authors and brings forth adversity. This is a huge question in life as we experience the many forms of adversity of which life consists. As long as you are alive on this planet, you will experience adversity. I know that is not a very comforting word, especially if you are going through some adversity right now, but it is nonetheless the truth.

No one is impervious to adversity--believer or unbeliever. It is unfortunate that sometimes in altar calls preachers seem to paint a picture that when you surrender your heart to Jesus, then all your troubles and life's difficulties will be over and you will experience heaven on earth. Lay-believers often follow that example and paint the same picture to people they are encouraging to give their life to the Lord, as well. But, that simply is not the true Gospel. The Bible never says that. It just is not in the contract, not even the fine print, though we may all wish it was.

In the previous post, on the backdrop of the Grassley Investigation wherein six major Charismatic ministries have come under scrutiny regarding questionable spending of donated funds, I talked about "fiery trials" authored by our adversary, Satan, that believers go through. The question is why do these trials, troubles, and tribulations come in to believer's lives?

Well, actually there are definitive answers in the Bible to that question, and I will be offering some of those answers in forthcoming posts. But, if you want, or more accurately need, to know those answers now, I would highly recommend you get your copy of my book, Mystery of the Kingdom, which is available both in print form and e-book form for immediate download to your computer or other reading device. Some of what I will be writing in the next few posts are excerpts from that book. In fact, there is one whole chapter dealing with the answers to that question. Now, I will say, though the critics and cynics won't believe anything I say, my reference to that book is really not at all a promo for my book. Rather, I know there are people reading these posts who really do desperately need answers to the burning questions of life such as this, many of whom are going through some sort of fiery trial right now. And, I know that what I wrote in that book can be extremely helpful in times of turmoil and tribulation such as that.

But, I will offer here the short answer to this crucial question as to why trials, troubles, and tribulations sometimes come in to believer's lives? In fact, Peter himself wrote succinct answer to that question in his first epistle:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, WHICH COMES UPON YOU FOR YOUR TESTING, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

I highly recommend that readers read the immediate context of this verse, i.e., verses 12 to 19. Then read the expanded context, which is the entire chapter four. Then, the full extent of what Peter is talking about is even better understood when connected with the full context of the entire epistle, especially the chapters that precede the cited verse.

Indeed, the entire epistle is addressed to believers who have been scattered abroad following what historians refer to as the Diaspora or Dispersion who are suffering greatly in the Great Persecution that drove most of the early church members out of Israel into the surrounding regions and countries. Peter wrote the letter to encourage the scattered and severely persecuted believers to remain faithful to God and Christ during this time of great persecution and distress they were going through. Masses of these early believers were facing death and extreme social oppression if they were able to escape death as a result of being a follower of Christ. By inspiration of the Spirit, Peter wrote to encourage the faithful to focus on the surpassing hope of the "inheritance" they would receive in heaven rather than the agonizing sufferings they were being made to endure on earth. What these believers suffered makes our present "sufferings" pale into virtual nothingness. Myriads of these ordinary humans just like you and me were martyred by unspeakable manners of death, yet remained faithful to the name of Christ to their last breath, refusing to recant their trust in that Name. In the opening portion of his letter Peter writes:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various TRIALS, THAT THE PROOF OF YOUR FAITH, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though TESTED BY FIRE, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and even though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS.

This last part is what God is after through the "fiery trials" he allows Satan to bring into our lives--"the salvation of your souls." When a believer is born again through genuine repentance and faith in Christ and the salvation He purchased on the Cross of Calvary, his/her spirit is instantaneously regenerated and restored to the condition in which the human spirit existed before Adam sinned. That transpires through the spiritual transaction of the Holy Spirit coming to take up residence in that person's human spirit. Jesus made this clear when He said, "that which is born of the [Holy] Spirit is [the human] spirit" (Jn. 3:6; bracketed explanation added). The human spirit is redeemed, restored, and regenerated at the rebirth or new birth experience. But, the soul, comprised of our mind, will, and emotions, is not automatically, instantaneously, and fully "saved" or restored at the rebirth, but is in the process of being saved or sanctified throughout our life after we are Born Again (c.f., Jas. 1:21). The Word of God is implanted in our heart as the Seed (lit., "sperma"; Gr.) of God, in our human spirits, which is "ABLE" to "save" or "sanctify" our soul, but it is not automatic or instantaneous. Rather that sanctifying process occurs gradually as we yield ourselves to the sanctifying working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Thus, when we are Born Again, our spirit is saved, but our soul is not, completely, instantaneously, but it is in the process of being saved throughout our life on earth. The trials that come in our lives, come to test and therefore prove, refine, and purify our faith and in turn us; i.e., our soul. That's the "tested by fire" part Peter referenced. Satan is the adversary of believers, but it is critical to understand that he cannot do anything that God disallows for him to do, because God is still sovereign. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Satan cannot do anything God does not permit him to do. The "fiery trials" come to test or purify our faith, and thereby purge us of ungodly elements in our lives that defile us. The value of silver and gold increases as it is tested in the refining fiery furnace and purified of it's impurities. God allows those who are part of the remnant church to be taken through the fire in order to "Refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested" (Zec. 13:9), which is by a refining process that consists of "six, yea, seven times through the fire" (Ps. 12:6). So, it is likely that true believers will go through multiple refining fires in their lives, the result of each is more purity.

There is a great example of how this all works in the incident not long before Jesus' crucifixion when Jesus prophesied to Peter about impending testing in his life. Jesus warned Peter, "Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission (from God) to sift you like wheat" (Lk. 22:31). I'm sure Peter had the same thought occur to him that does to us when we find ourselves in a "fiery trial" authored by the adversary--why didn't Jesus merely pray for him and foil the plot of Satan that He foresaw in the Spirit. But, the truth was that He couldn't, because as He stated to Peter, Satan had "demanded permission" from God to sift him. God's prosecuting attorney demanded to try Peter because there were some defiling sinfulness concealed in Peter's "hidden parts" or "innermost being" that gave "the accuser of the brethren" legal right to bring him up on charges and sift like wheat. Sifting is a purging process to separate the grain (the usable part) from the chaff (the unusable part). What Jesus foresaw was a "fiery trial" that was necessary for Peter's purging of the fear of man, faithlessness, treachery, and self-centeredness that lay hidden in his heart and was spiritually defiling him. But, Satan and all the fiery trials he authors in our lives, are only a tool in the hands of God. If we will respond properly to the purging process of the Spirit, which is by humbling ourselves, admitting our faults, and allowing godly sorrow to produce genuine repentance in us (1 Cor. 7:11), then we, like Peter, receive genuine pardon and exoneration of the Spirit.

Instead of praying to remove the trial that was coming, which would have only foiled the purposes of God, Jesus told Peter, "but I have prayed for you, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Instead of praying for removal of the fiery trial that was coming for Peter's purging and purification, Jesus prayed for and prophesied something of far greater value--Peter's repentance--and then charged him to strengthen his fellows with the spiritual empowerment he attained as a result of the purging process. And, in the end, Peter did precisely what Jesus prayed and prophesied, for that very reason--because He prayed and prophesied it--which is precisely what especially prophetic believers must learn to do in their relationships with and attitudes toward their fellows. The Apostle Paul described what Jesus did and what we are supposed to do in following His example this way:

Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one shall bear his own load. (Gal. 6:1-5)

God is saying here that it is not spiritual to judge and condemn believers who trespass against God's Word, even when they are CAUGHT in their trespasses, but rather true spirituality is demonstrated in attitudes and deeds reflective of premise of restoration in which the manner of approach is a spirit of gentleness or meekness accompanied by self-examination and circumspection. Otherwise, we open ourselves up to likewise be tempted by Satan with the SAME sin, or another sin.

Years ago, I was sitting in a cafeteria that was in a mall, eating dinner with my wife and another Christian brother who was part of our ministry. Though the cafeteria was entirely inside the mall, it had several windows to the mall corridor leading to the outside exit/entrance to the mall. As I was eating and talking, the Spirit had me to focus on couple in their late forties who were standing out in the mall corridor by the exit, as if they were waiting on someone. I had never seen them in my life, but they were all dressed up in formal attire as if they were going to a special banquet or something. Suddenly the Spirit said to me, "That couple are both believers, but they are in sin right now. He is a well-known piano player, but he is married to someone else, and has children, who have not heard from him in months. This woman is an adulteress who has seduced him into leaving his wife and family and they have been living together here in (the small town I was living in at the time). They are both being controlled by deceiving spirits. They are not supposed to be together. The woman has visions of grandeur of a life married to this man through his musical talents. Tell those with you what I just told you." I said to the Lord in my spirit, "Well, that's pretty fantastical. How am I supposed to know if what I believe you just told me is so?" He replied, "I will confirm it to you."

I did tell them. I showed them the couple, and told them what the Lord told me about them. Of course, they were stunned, and almost in unison asked, "Well, what did the Lord tell you to do?" To which I replied, "Nothing; he didn't tell me to do anything. Hallelujah!" We all laughed rather awkwardly but were pretty shaken in our spirits by the event.

I tried to just forget about the situation, for fear the Lord would put me to the test and tell me to go talk to the couple and tell them what the Lord showed me. I was hugely relieved when we left the cafeteria to discover that the couple were not longer standing there where I had seen them. So, I said to my wife, "Let's walk around a bit to walk off this dinner." I thought I was just walking randomly through the mall, but the first turn we made was in the direction of a piano and organ store that was in the mall. As we approached closer to the store, I suddenly began to hear someone absolutely "tearing up" some ivories, and I thought, "Wow, they've got a salesperson in that store that can really play the piano...WELL!" Which usually is not the case. But, then as I walked closer I realized it was Gospel music that was being played, and with that unmistakable Gospel music style, with grace notes and all. Whoever was playing was really GOOD! Then, it dawned on me....no, that can't be...not that guy the Lord spoke to me about. Sure enough, when I gingerly peered into the store to see who was playing, it WAS THE GUY! Oh My God! Now what? What the Lord said is really true...He DID just confirm what He told me. Quickly I grabbed my wife's hand and turned her around and said, "We have to get away from here," and started walking in the other direction. We eventually left the mall and returned home, and I tried to just forget about the incident.

That was on Sunday night. On Wednesday of that week, I was scheduled to take part in a television telethon at a Christian station, I had been helping with for a number of years. I was one of the first singers/speakers during the first part of the telethon as it went on air. While I was on camera singing my first song, the studio doors opened and in walked....yep, you guessed it...that couple...while I was singing my song. I almost messed up the next few lines of the song I was singing as I watched them walk into the studio and stand in the back of the standing room only crowd. When I finished the song, I made a beeline to the opposite side of the studio and propped myself up against a wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this guy motion to the woman to stay there, and watched as he began walking in my direction. "Oh no! Surely he's not coming to talk to me, is he?" Sure enough, he came right over to me, and whispered, "Sir, I heard you singing that song when I was out in the lobby; there's was such a power anointing hit when you first started singing that I just had to come in to see who was singing." I thanked him in a whisper. Then he said, "I am here tonight to play the piano and sing with my wife, also, but God just told me that I need to speak to you, and you are going to minister to me." I gulped and almost choked, but gathered myself to respond in the calmest and most pleasant manner I could muster up, "Oh, okay, we can talk later then." Of course, he had just lied in identifying the woman who was his singing partner as his wife. The whole rest of the segment of the telethon I was scheduled for I was trying to figure out what the Lord wanted me to do and/or say. After it was over the guy came back over to talk to me again, and said, "Please forgive me for being so forward, but I believe the Lord told me that I am suppose to ask you if we can come to your house and have dinner with you and your wife Friday night." "Oh," I replied as cheerfully as I could sound, "then, I guess I'll see you Friday night; ya'll like spaghetti?" We both laughed; he said yes; and I gave him directions to our house.

When they came that Friday night, after some small talk, and while we were eating, he began to tell me the story of his life, and what brought him to the town we were in. He was a child prodigy musically and as a pianist, and began playing at the age of 14 for a number of well-known gospel music groups, first as a fill-in, then later full-time with various groups over the years. Over the current and previous week, he was away on a furlough or mini-vacation from traveling with a famous pentecostal evangelist as his pianist, though the evangelist fronted his own meetings singing and playing the piano as well in a self-taught Gospel-style. But, this man was the "real" piano-player in the background. He said he would be returning to the tour the next week. After telling his story, he then began asking me about my ministry, because he said he had discerned that I had some special anointing in some areas that he was not knowledgeable in and that was very different than all the ministries he had worked with over more than forty years in traveling music ministry, as well as the churches ministries in his denomination. I tried to explain as best I could about my prophetic and deliverance anointing and ministry. What made it even more difficult to explain was that this was back in the early 1980s when these types of ministry were virtually unheard of in most church circles, and anyone who did speak about them were considered heretics or lunatics or both. But, I was shocked when he started zeroing in on the deliverance part in particular, and asking me question after question. And, all during the meal, the woman kept kicking the guy under the table, trying to get him to stop talking about this deliverance stuff and to finish eating so they could leave.

One of the poignant moments in the conversation was when he told me that just before he left the tour, he asked the evangelist for some time to talk to him. During that conversation, he shared with the evangelist some personal battles he was having and actually had struggled with his entire life, though he had been saved when he was 13 years old. He told the evangelist that he felt God had been revealing to him recently that it was demons that were driving him to the compulsions he was experiencing and seemed to have little control over even thought he had confessed and repented over and over again, and was greatly convicted about and remorseful for his behavior. The evangelist replied in anger, and told him there was no way a Christian could possibly have a demon, and that if he had these problems, he would just have to either get help and get rid of the problem, or the evangelist would have to fire him. The evangelist told him to take a couple weeks off, and return to the tour, if he had dealt with the problem and essentially "fixed" it.

After we ate and retreated to the living room to talk a little more, he stayed on the subject, asking questions, until finally the woman said, "Well, honey, we need to be going, because we have to get up early in the morning." Finally, he acquiesed and they excused themselves politely, and left.

Over the next month, I received a number of phone calls from this man on my answering machine, but every time he called I wasn't there to receive the call, and he would never leave a number for me to call back (this was before caller ID). Then, one day, I was in prayer in my study in my home, when I thought I heard a car pull into the driveway, and then heard a car-door shut. Then, my doorbell rang. When I opened the door, this man was standing on the doorstep with his baggage and I saw a taxicab driving off. He said, Pastor Steven, I just got fired last night, and God told me to fly here today, and stay here until I am delivered. You are the only person I know who can help me. Will you?" Of course, I said I would and invited him in. After putting his things away in a guest room, we began talking. I told him the story of when I first saw him in the mall through the cafeteria window, and he verified that he was there that day and playing the piano in the store. Then I proceeded to tell his "real" story and what God had showed me about him, past, present, and future, and that God only reveals in order to heal, and that the only way he could be healed was through deliverance. The long and the short of it is that the guy stayed with us for the next three weeks while God miraculously and dramatically delivered him from the demons that were controlling him. Three weeks later, on Saturday morning, the first thing he said to me when I saw him in the morning was, "I have to call my wife and kids, and tell them where I am, where I've been, and hope that they still want me, so that God can restore our family." I told him, now I knew he was totally delivered. He called that morning and that family was powerfully reunited. I've seen him a number of times since over the years on various television programs...along with his wife. Praise the Lord! God is good!

But, my point in telling this story is that the man who camped out on my doorstep and repented, and cried out to God for deliverance, God delivered. But, the famous evangelist who was enraged by his piano-player's belief that God had showed him there were demons at work in his life, and fired him, was himself publicly exposed in a very publicized sin scandal as being demonized by the same kinds of demons the piano-player was troubled with and controlled by the SAME kind of sin. I've heard that evangelist's theology regarding demons and Christian's being troubled by them has drastically changed, indeed, reversed. I believe this public exposure happened because the evangelist did not treat the trespasser with a spirit of meekness, looking also to himself in self-examination, and that gave the evil spirits he had also been troubled with since childhood legal right to ramp up their activity in the evangelist's life until his sin could no longer be concealed. Sadly, the evangelist's ministry has never been the same. I venture to say that few people, if anyone, knows the real cause of his precipitous and unfortunate fall from grace.

Self-examination, godly sorrow, repentance of revealed sinful attitudes, and graciousness toward our human accusers is the only right response to accusations of wrongdoing that have some basis of truth to them at some level, whatever that level may be. On a personal basis, as long as we are trying to resist the accusations of the accuser of the brethren by defending ourselves and declaring our goodness, he has legal right to continue to accuse, prosecute, and judge us. Jesus admonished, "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison" (Mat. 5:25). Peter made it clear our ultimate adversary is the devil, Satan (1 Pet. 5:8). As long as we are denying the charges Satan makes against us, we are in a prison of one sort or another. If we agree with the charges of the adversary QUICKLY, confess our sins, seek forgiveness, and repent, then we will receive the full pardon Christ provided through His sacrifice and be released from the prison cell in which we've been confined.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9). The only kind of sin or wrongdoing that can be forgiven and pardoned is CONFESSED sin or wrongdoing. I would urge every minister and ministry in the days of Spirit-compelled circumspection that are now upon us, in which God is purifying the sons of Levi [church leaders] (Mal. 3:1-3) and testing the building materials of every ministry (1 Cor. 3:10-15), not to be so quick to resist and deny the accusations of the enemy out-of-hand without sincere self-examination to determine if there is any semblance of truth in the spirit realm to the prosecuting attorney's charges. If there is, consider it a merciful and gracious purging by the Spirit. If not, no harm, no foul.

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God. (1 Cor. 4:1-5)

In the next posts, I will be addressing what I see as being the real causes and spiritual context behind such matters as the Grassley Investigation, and convey some prophetic revelations about other workings of the Spirit in the purification and perfecting of the Church.