Denied - Part 5

 The ministry of the prophet to Israel was God's way of verbal communication. He did not talk to their king or to the people except through His prophets. David the king was one of the exceptions because he was king, prophet, priest and warrior. A man after God's own heart. (Acts 13:22) Almost all of the Old Testament books were written by the prophets and it was the prophets that predicted and prepared the way for the Messiah. God reveals His secrets to His servants, the prophets through the Holy Spirit. The ministry of prophet has been God's voice not only to Israel but also to the church (Luke 7:28; Acts 15:32, 21:10)

John the Baptist was the greatest sign ever given that the Messiah was at hand. His coming was prophesied by the Prophet Malachi, “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me..." (Malachi 3:1) "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Malachi 4:5) Jesus considered him to be the greatest prophet born (Luke 7:28), and even confirmed him as Elijah (Matthew 11:14). John  himself also gave witness to the religious leaders of his day. "Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” "Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord," as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:19-23) 

We note, that there is no contradiction between what Jesus said about John and what John said to the priests and Levites concerning who he was. The Jews expected that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came, but they supposed that it would be the real Elijah returning from heaven. In this sense John denied that he was Elijah, but he did not deny that he was the Elijah which Malachi prophesied of, for he immediately states that he was sent, as it was predicted that Elijah would be, the one who would prepare the way of the Lord. John corrected their false notions about Elijah, as well as clearly stating to them his true character, that they might understand that he was really the one predicted as Elijah.

However, the religious leaders, the theologians of those days could not discern God's greatest sign of the time. Likewise, the majority of denominational ministers will not recognize the greatest sign of our times, the company of prophets like Elijah and or John the Baptist, that the Holy Spirit is raising up to make the proper preparation for the second coming of King Jesus and His dominion over all the earth. I say company of prophets like Elijah and or John the Baptist simply because of what took place and who prepared the way of His first coming, that is, the power and spirit of Elijah filling a company of people, as it with John the Baptist, to usher in again, the coming of the Lord. Even during the great tribulation we see God raising up prophets who will prepare the way for the second coming of Christ by bringing revelation knowledge of the Scriptures that must be fulfilled before Christ can return. The Church prophets have been commissioned with that anointing and responsibility. "but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets." (Revelation 10:7) Nothing will take the church by surprise as long as God's prophets are alive and active in the church. "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals his secret to His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)  

On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter quotes what the Prophet Joel had prophesied concerning the events that were taking place, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18) There are some things that we note. First, "...in the last days..." the day of Pentecost was only the beginning of the last days. Secondly, "...I (God)will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;" God poured out His Spirit and is still pouring out His Spirit on those who repent, confess the Lordship of Christ and receive Him as Savior for a purpose. To live and be motivated by the divine influence of the Holy Spirit. Third, "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy....My menservants and on My maidservants...shall prophesy."   

This is only one of the divine influences of the Holy Spirit upon a believer. Putting this into perspective, we notice that there is no dispensation of time placed upon the Holy Spirit using the church to prophecy, except the last days. Let's be honest, the church is still in the last days, so how can church leaders deny the Word of God concerning this gift, ministry that Jesus gave to the church. (Ephesians 4:8) The fact is, the Holy Spirit, has been and is still using believers in the prophetic. The gift, ministry of prophet has not left the church in the mind of God. It has only left the congregations and denominations whose leaders refuse to accept the reality of this highly important and valuable gift, ministry. 

The apostles and prophets along with the other three ascension gift ministries to the church were given to bring spiritual maturity, the fullness of Christ, to the entire church. (Ephesians 4:11-16) Acts 3:19-25 reveals, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 

Jesus cannot return until all that the prophetic scriptures declare are obtained and fulfilled.  This does not only refer to the evangelizing all humanity, which so many in the church have been led to believe, but also the restoration of all the gifts, ministers, ministries and functions that Jesus gave to His church which is all a part of the restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began, to prepare the church for His return. Let us also notice the premium that the Lord places upon the apostle and prophet (as well as other gifts to the church that many have and are denying to function today). "And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues." (1 Corinthians 12:28) 

Notice three things here. First, God Himself has appointed these gift and ministries in the church. Second, notice the order of importance, first apostles, second prophets, the two gift, ministries that most deny for today. Third, notice it does not mention evangelist or pastor in this list. Two of the gift, ministries that most of the church will accept as valid for today. (This is not to mention why so many believers are sick and diseased. Once again, most in the church also reject the gift, ministries of miracles and gifts of healings as a viable part of the church). Although religious leaders and the theologians of today deny and reject the things of God and deny them to function or operate in the church, the Lord will restore all things before His return; Praise Him!  

The fact is, the Lord Jesus is not returning to fix a disjointed church, but to receive the church, His bride "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but a holy church without blemish." (Ephesians 5:27) As Paul said, a church where every part has "...come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." (Ephesians 4:13-16)  

I believe that as the Lord restores the church with all of its gifts, ministries and functions, that He has given to her, (especially the gift ministry of apostles and prophets), we who remain to see this, will experience the greatest move of God upon earth that the world has ever seen. The restoration of the church will usher in a great harvest of souls, miracles, signs, wonders and the return to the pureness and power of God's Word. The Father will be glorified, the Name of Jesus will be magnified and the Word of God will prevail mightily as the Holy Spirit once again is given control over the church. Basically, we will see Jesus the Master builder do what He said He would do, "...I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) I pray that this series has challenged your faith and that you allow the Word of God to rule and reign in your heart. I also pray that the Lord close your ears to the wisdom of man and poor interpretations of God's Word so that we all may "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen." (2 Peter 3:18)   

Denied - Part 1

Ice hockey is a fast paced contact sport that was developed in Canada in the 19th century. In short, ice hockey has two teams of six skaters, who attempt to drive a small solid rubber disk (the puck) into the opposing goal with a stick that has a hooked or angled end used to move the puck along the ice and for making goals. The sport has not changed much except today it is played in an ice rink. One of the things that I remember when at a ice hockey rink watching a game, was when the goalie, (a player who guards his teams net to prevent the opposing team from scoring a goal) would block a shot from an opposing team player from entering the goal net. When this happened, the screen on the score board which hung from the ceiling of the rink above the players in the center of the rink would have big flashing letters that said, "DENIED."

In my travels in ministry, as well as reading various media by Christian authors and viewing online videos of various ministries concerning the church today, has cause me to grieve at what is going on in the church, what the church has accepted as truth (which isn't), the twisting of God's Word with liberal New Age influence interpretations of scripture and what it refuses to do concerning building the church up spiritually. I not only believe, but I also see the very thing that General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army said over 100 years in full swing today in the church. I quote, “I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century (meaning the 20th century, we are now in the 21st century) will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” Let's not be naive. This statement is true in most sectors of the church whether Catholic or Protestant. This should grieve every believer and should move us to change.  

The fact is, we are being "denied" or actually denying ourselves of the wonderful blessings, gifts and callings that the Lord has given to the church. Let us not be deceived with large numbers in congregation thinking that God is somehow blessing us when the spiritual maturity of the church is that of carnal Christianity. (1 Corinthians 3:1-4) Let us not be taken by our large congregations when we are not building according to God's Word and being led by the Holy Spirit. There are numerous organizations with large numbers of people who are anti-Christ and anti-church.

One of the things that should grieve us most is our lack of love for one another especially when Jesus, our LORD, commanded us to "love one another." In reality, the early church also had its share of problems, but it had leaders that were willing to confront the issues with God's Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit, not the opinions, thoughts and intellect of man. For instance, Acts 15 reveals a situation between the Jew and Gentile believers that arose and could have split the church completely apart. The issue was over the necessity of the Gentile believers as to whether they should be circumcised or not. However, the outcome came down to who had the preeminence in the church, the apostles and elders or the Holy Spirit? In making this crucial decision we need to notice the order of things, "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us..." (Acts 15:28) It seemed good to the Holy Spirit above the opinions, thoughts and intellect of these mighty men of God. They submitted to the Apostle James' answer because they recognized the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through him. If it was only James' word, they would not have been in agreement. But they submitted to the Holy Spirit speaking through James and submitted to one another.

Let's be honest, if church leaders are truly being led by the Word of God and what the Holy Spirit is speaking, there will be no division in the church, only submission to one another in the Lord, as it should be. However, this will not be accomplished without "...Faith working through love." (Galatians 5:6) which begs another question. Are church leaders truly letting faith work through love? Without faith working through love the church will be denying itself of all the blessings that are for her through Jesus Christ.  

I believe one of the reasons why the church has lost much of its glory, power and influence which we have not experienced as a whole for nearly 1700 years is due to its lack of dependency on God's Word and the Holy Spirit. This has led the church into the "Dark Ages" for 1000 years which brought on what is called the "Protestant Reformation." Though the protestant reformation which started in 1571 by Martin Luther with his work entitled, "The Ninety-Five Theses" was meant to bring reformation and restoration to the church, it also caused division and disunity from those who refused to return to the Word of God and the voice of the Holy Spirit. But even now, especially among the Protestant churches the division and disunity continues to spread. I am not trying to paint an ugly picture of the Body of Christ, but to bring us to the reality of where we are. Until we are able to admit our faults to one another and turn away from them, have a true love for Christ, His church (all believers), God's Word and to be led by the Holy Spirit we will not bring hope to a lost world. 

As I progress through this series, I will address what I believe is the major cause of our falling away from true Christianity as we see recorded in the scriptures, into a religion that blends with the other world religions. We will also look at the reformation and restoration that is going on in the church today, that is bringing the glory and power of Lord back to His church. I believe that the Body of Christ in many sectors will begin experience incredible things that have not been seen since the inception of the church. PTL