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...so we have a natural type of this, that to be coping in this world, to be victorious over this world, we need a physical maturity, and the strength that goes with it, and we need a spiritual and emotional, and an intellectual maturity that will let us cope with this world, that will equip us to cope with this world, physical maturity enables us to labor, so that we might earn our bread, emotional maturity, equips us to deal with the wickedness that rages through people in this world, spiritual maturity equips us to deal with the spiritual principalities that would destroy us if they could, and that is why we have people in this world, that we have a variation, a gradation of people in this world that go from being on top of their life, they proceed with their life, they attain their education, they make marriages, their families are sound, and then we have people that just cannot make it.
They go to school, and they cannot concentrate, they go for vocational training, and they cannot submit to the teacher. We have adults in this country that cannot read. Somehow they have lost their education. They went through all of the grades, through high school, and they cannot read. They sat in the classroom, they did not develop intellectually.
We see the same thing in the spirit, we had a physically, well I do not think the word was physical, the creation was not physical at the time, but we had a visible creation that was in an adult form, it was visibly mature, but that ram never experienced everything that he would have experienced if he had been born of a mother and grown up. When the harlot came to him and seduced him, he did not have the instruction over a period of years with the experiences that go with the instruction to withstand the seduction, and we fell down, on the tape THE SEDUCTION OF EVE, that the living soul did not recognize that the spirit who was approaching her as a lover was not the Father. She did not understand that it was another entity, she thought it was the Father.
In this hour we see a manifestation of Christ that is a spirit of adoption, and that means that the Lord is bringing up children, and we are His children, and that is why the word to the church today is the anointing that was on Adam at the beginning of time, and the anointing that was upon Israel, is passing away with the gifts. If you have had a relationship with the Lord for twenty or more years or for however long, more or less, and that relationship has been based on Him telling you everything that you must do, without you exercising your own ability to function in the crisis, I am declaring to you today that your relationship with the Father is passing away.
You must grow up from seed, you must start to stretch your legs, you must flap your wings and you must start to exercise the anointing that has been given to you, because pretty soon that is the only anointing that is going to be available in the earth. Christ is being born a lambkin, a lamb less than one year old, the anointing that was upon Israel, the anointing that existed at the beginning of time woven together with your experiences, with your decisions, with your mistakes, with your victories, with your hurts and with your joys, and the result of it is, that you shall be a living walking thinking breathing expression of Christ, God in the flesh. That is what is happening in this hour and it is expressed in verse 30 and 31 of Ephesians 5, as well as in Genesis, by saying;
Ephesians 5:30-31
Verse 30. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.
Verse 31. For this cause, shall a man leave his father, whatever spirit that might be, Satan or God, and his mother, the living soul, Eve, she is the mother of all living, and shall be joined unto his wife, they two shall be one flesh. KJV
When Christ appears in your mind, He will at the end of the three stages of resurrection, He will be so completely joined with the soul man, that you will be spiritually married and that will be the salvation of your soul. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the human spirit shall no longer exist, but Christ shall be filling you unto the fullness of the stature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Does anybody not understand this, any questions on this issue? Glory to God. Hallelujah.
EPHESIANS, CHAPTER 6:1-24
Verse 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. KJV
Brethren, this Scripture is not speaking about chronological children, it is speaking about the children of the kingdom, how do I know that, because it is speaking about parents in the Lord. It is not speaking about your natural parents. I remind you back in Ephesians 5, we saw that the Lord had instructions for your marital relationship, for your carnal lifestyle, and He said, that if you are a woman, your head is your husband, but in your spiritual life, you head is Christ, and I declare to you that in the same manner, if you are physical children, you must obey your parents in the home and with regard to physical matters, and with regard to many matters, if you are a physical child, but you can be a physical adult and a spiritual child, and if you are a spiritual child, the Lord will provide parents in the Lord for you, so number 1, if you think that the Lord has not provided parents in the Lord for you, then you may be dealing with pride and rebellion, if you cannot identify parents in the Lord, you really have to get before God on that.
If you do not need any teaching, if you do not need anything that a parent would give, if you do not need nurturing, if you do not need encouragement, if you do not need strengthening, you should be in the ministry, and I am going to go out on a limb and I am going to make a dogmatic statement to you, that either you need parents in the Lord, or you are a parent in the Lord.
There is a lot of work to be done brethren, and if you are a child of the kingdom, you must be one or the other. Either you are being trained or you are training. If you are sitting home on a bump on a log because you think five years ago God told you to come out of the carnal church, I declare to you and I say dogmatically, you are deceived. And if by some miracle the person that I am talking about here says, Yes I am talking about you, you are deceived, it is a lie.
Verse 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. KJV
Now you do not obey your parents if they tell you to enter into adultery, or some ungodliness, if that happens, get out of the church, run! But if your parent asks you to do something that is not unreasonable, then you should do it, and you should show them all due respect, because Paul says, This is the right thing to do. Brethren, you know there is only one sin worse than rebellion, and it is pride, but both sins are grievous to the Lord, why? Because rebellion as well as pride will destroy you, it will destroy you.
You know, when you respect an elder, it is not for the elder's sake, it is for your sake, when you respect someone that has authority over you, in any area, we will get down to the next verse, your employer, anybody, rebellion will bring down a nation, and it starts in the home, and it starts in the church, it is a spirit that is contagious that is raging across this nation today, and it leans to other sins.
In this nation is leading severely to sexual sin. It leads to our children being raised up without an internalized ability to discipline themselves. If you cannot discipline yourselves, you are utterly subjugated to the forces of darkness that are raging through this world system. Paul warns you that you can be a child in the Lord. You know this is a big problem in the church, we go into church and we see adults, sometimes very financially successful and worldly, successful in a worldly way, and a lot of members of the church, they cannot comprehend that what you are in this world has nothing to do with your spiritual age, whatsoever.
We have some carnal churches where the pastor will appoint a board, and he will choose, instead of mature spiritual people, he will choose the financially successful people in the church who frequently are as carnal as carnal as carnal could be. As strange as it may sound, frequently the more spiritual people in the church, the people that really hear from God, they are frequently, I do not know about Nigeria, but here they are frequently socially unacceptable, can anyone not say amen to this who is from the United States? It is very, very common, and they are frequently rejected by the ministry, because they do not, the job that they have is not acceptable, and sometimes they are strange, and sometimes they have come out of drug addiction and they have had all kinds of problems, but they really hear from God.
What does that mean? It means their spirit has been quickened, and Christ is strong in their spirit, but He has not yet straightened their soul out. They still have problems in their soul life. When it comes to hearing from God, they hear from God. On the other hand, I have been in at least two services where the Lord has spoken to the pastor, and the pastor has related to the congregation and said, The Lord told me to let the children pray. Then they called up all of the little physical children, and had them pray for the people.
Brethren, the children of the kingdom are spiritual, the children of the kingdom are the manifestations of Christ Jesus that are coming forth in human beings, rarely in physical children, sometimes in physical adults, forty, fifty, and sixty years old. We must know this, it is very important, and again, I am not criticizing anybody, we must hear this, these men that call the children up to pray, they are faithful to God to the fullest extent that they are able. They do not know. Brethren, God is reproducing Himself, He is bringing forth children, if Christ is not being formed in you, you are not a child of the kingdom, you are not a son. Christ must be formed in you for you to be, in the process of being formed in you, to be a son. I hear them screaming in the realm of the spirit, you are trying to set yourself up above the rest of the church. No I am not, God wants you to be a son also, humble yourself and ask Him to impregnate you. It is for whosoever will, come and drink of the fountain of life, He wants you, He wants you, and He is no respecter of persons. I hope I have established clearly, that the children that Paul is talking about are the spiritual children manifestations of Christ Jesus, it has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with what kind of a body these children are being formed in. Glory to God. Those of you who are sons, those of you in whom Christ is being formed, obey the elders that God has placed you under until you become an elder, for this is right.
Verse 2. Honor thy father and mother which is the first commandment with promise. KJV
This can apply to both the natural and the spiritual. Brethren I want to tell you, despising your parents will bring premature death upon you and upon your descendants. It is a reality. Rebellion against parents is a serious crime, it will destroy your life. The crime is not, this law is not to preserve the parents, this law is to preserve the children and all future generations. God has brought down nations because of rebellion.
Natural children, obey your parents, be not deceived, God is not mocked, you shall surely reap what you have sown, and parents, let me remind you, that if you want help from the Lord in raising your children, you must do everything necessary and possible that you could do before the Lord kicks in supernaturally. If you do not exercise a godly restraint over your children, in your household, do not expect the Lord to take care of them when they walk out the door. If you are doing everything you can do, not what you think you can do, but what the Bible says you should do, to train your children up in a godly way, you better believe that when they walk out the door that the Holy Spirit goes with them. I declare to you, it is the same thing in a ministry, it is the same thing in a ministry, if you want to see growth in a ministry, and you are a minister, you must be doing everything you can do to promote spiritual growth in your congregation, and if you are not doing it, because you are afraid they are going to leave, or you are not doing it because you are afraid they are going to hold back their tithe, or any such ungodly reason, you have turned the people that God has placed under you, over to Satan.
Scattered through the congregations are a handful of people, that have a high calling on their life that go straight to Jesus and ascend beyond the pastor, and in that case, he will usually move you out of the church, but the church is filled with sheep that cannot tell the difference between their left hand and their right, and if you are not teaching them and showing them when they are wrong, you have turned them over to the devourer.
That Scripture in Malachi that is used to encourage people or frighten people into to tithing, it does not mean that at all, it is an indictment of the pastors, that says, You have not produced the life of my Spirit in these people, you have taken their money, and you have taken their fleece, and you have made yourself fat, and there is no spiritual growth. The Lord says, Do what I am telling you to do, stop worrying about your own hide, and I shall surely open the windows of heaven and you shall see spiritual growth in your people that will boggle your mind.
Verse 3. That it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth. KJV
This is both nature and spiritual, we just talked about being natural, it is also spiritual, taking this verse spiritually, when the Scripture says that you may live long on the earth, the earth brethren is your soul, the earth is your soul. That your soul shall live long, why? Because Christ is appearing in you, and He is giving life to your soul. It is on two levels.
Verse 4. And ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. KJV
Again, this is natural and spiritual, natural fathers you must discipline your children, but do not torment them, do not abuse them, do not put restrictions upon them that are too grievous for them to bear, because if you do, the result of it is, that they will be provoked unto wrath, and when they are provoked unto wrath, the judgments will fall on them. Wrath includes murder, rebellion, murder and hatred, it is very serious. When your child rebels against you, and God curses him with a curse of premature death, you can have a responsibility in that but you should know that the judgment is falling on your own child, that you are not just provoking them, that you are not just abusing them, that you are not just being insincere with them, you are turning them over.
Let me back up a little, you should know that your behavior is going to produce a result that this child has no power over, and when this result is birthed in them, this wrath is going to bring down curses and premature death upon them. You, who provoked them to do it outside of repentance in Christ, have no authority to save them from their death. You must repent of any abuse that you have done to your children to save their life.
Again, in the church, it is the same thing, do not provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them and bring them up in the admonition of the Lord. That means discipline with love, and encouragement, and if you make a mistake, you apologize, there is nothing wrong with a parent apologizing if they have been genuinely wrong, because it shows your children that you are a human being and fallible. A lot of parents that are rigid, and would never admit that they made a mistake or something that they do not know, frequently produce children that think their parents are God and they grow up with, their soul is corrupted, they think there is no way they could ever achieve or attain, and they are damaged.
Your children need to know that you are human, that God has granted you authority, but that you are human, and that you do not have authority over them because you are perfect, but you have authority over them because God has given it to you. I tell you that about myself all of the time, I am anything but perfect, but God has given me authority, whether there are some people who like it or not, He has done it, I am sorry if it offends you.
Children must know that we are human and that we can make mistakes, and that there is a mechanism that is available to correct mistakes which have been made, mistakes are not forever, they can be turned around, children must know that, both at home and in the church.
Verse 5. Servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, this is speaking about your employers, ...with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto Christ. KJV
We have rebellion all through the work place in this country today. Brethren it does not glorify God. Hold your peace, do as you are told, if you are being abused, deal with the matter in prayer. This is a misunderstanding in the church, I will frequently have somebody say to me about an incident for example, that is between two equals, Well just go in your prayer closet, do not say anything, do not talk about it, do not communicate, pray in the closet. No brethren, go to your brethren, and tell them his fault, and if you will not listen, take someone else with you, and if you still will not listen, take it before the church, and if he listens brethren, you have gained a brother, but if he does not, the man is a heathen.
The only time you pray in your prayer closet, instead of confronting someone in a godly manner, well there are two instances, if the person is an equal or not an authority, or even if he is an authority, you should pray and ask the Lord what He wants you to do, you should pray and ask for wisdom, for godly timing, and for instruction. God will send you in a right spirit, with a right heart, He will tell you what to say, He will tell you how to present your case.
The only time He moves supernaturally in my opinion, I cannot tell you that He has never done it, I do not know everything that He has done, but from everything that He has shown me in all of these years that I am ministering, the only time He moves supernaturally, is when it is impossible to do it naturally. He wants communication in the church! This is not nonsense that we do not talk to each other, that we go home and pray psychic prayers. That is the not the thing to do brethren, you must learn to talk without raising your voice, you must learn to communicate in calm and in the spirit of love, you must learn to listen as well as talk, you must learn to submit and to compromise as long as it is not a question of righteousness. You must learn to work things out.
Of course if he is your master, you submit with fear and trembling, and I would not go speak to an employer unless I felt God told me to go. If it is your brother in Christ, most likely the Lord will send you to talk to him, if it is an employer, you really have to pray about this, and there are many instances with an employer, where you just have to yield, where it is not godly to talk to him about it, because it is his business and he is going to do it his way and unless he is actually abusing you, you really are just going to have to live with it, because he is the boss and you are not.
We have a lot of people in this country that want to be the boss, and they are not the boss. We have a lot of people that have trouble holding a job because they want to tell the boss how to run the show. Maybe it is not the most efficient way that he is doing it, but that is how he is doing it, and he did not hire you to tell him how to run the business, he hired you to mop the floors or whatever he hired you to do, do it! Mind your business, mind your business. Glory to God, mind your business, do your job, the do the job that you are hired for, keep your eyes off of the other employees, keep your eyes off of your employer, do your job, work humbly with your hands, labor quietly and the Lord will bless you.
If you are distressed in your emotions you do have recourse, go to the Lord in prayer. You do not have to walk around with this distress in your soul, it can be discharged in prayer. I want to tell you something and this is a hard word brethren, I remember when God gave it to me, I screamed, and I am going to tell you the truth, it is not such a bad thing to have to humble yourself before an employer, it will build humility in you, it will crush your pride, it will teach you that you do not always have to be right, that you do not always have to have your way, that you do not always have to be exalted, it will teach you to submit, it is not such a bad thing.
I remember when I was being abused by my employer and I cried out to God and he took me into Peter where it says, Well it is better to be buffeted for something you did not do then for something that you did. I said, No, but that was His answer to me, Just do what the man tells you to do, and be quiet. Hallelujah. Your masters according to the flesh, he is not talking about spiritual masters here, we are not to be obedient to the demons brethren, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ.
That word singleness refers to the fact that we have two hearts, Christ and the carnal mind. He is saying, Do not be double minded, do not be two faced, do not submit to your employers in the flesh, and hate them in your heart. He says, Submit to them with fear and trembling. Why would you be filled with fear and trembling? Because if you rebel, God is going to judge you.
If you are doing what your employer asks you to do, and your heart if filled with rebellion, and you are complaining and cursing them with your mouth to everyone who will listen, brethren God is not please with you, He is not pleased with you. Be obedient with fear and trembling. That sounds familiar, is there not another Scripture, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, do not be double minded and do not be two faced, deal and relate to your employers as you would to Christ.
What does that mean? Maybe your employer will discern what is in your heart and fire you, but maybe he will not, but Christ will discern what is in your heart. If you do not have a single heart, if Christ is not covering over the sin of your carnal mind, if you are yielding your carnal mind, and hating that man, Christ will know, and you will have reason to fear and tremble, because judgment is already upon you, if you are a son, if you are a bastard you are home free. I tell you the truth, glory to God.
Verse 6. Do not be obedient with eye service as men pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. KJV
Do it from the heart of Christ, because you know that God is glorified in you, He is glorified in the humility that is being built in you when you submit to heathen employers that possibly are not even reasonable, and again of course there is a line, but when it goes over that line, you seek the Lord in prayer. I know that when I was still in a secular job, I do not if anyone else, how many people would have my experience, I do not wish it on anybody, but I had some terrible experiences with employers, and the Lord brought me to the point where I knew that there was no way I could quit a job, I was not allowed to quit, no matter what these men did to me, when God said it is enough, they fired me. I have been abused by employers, and it did wonderful things in me, it did wonderful things. The fruit of it that you see here preaching today is one of the things that resulted from it, but it was terrible.
I have been insulted, I have been humiliated, fired when I was innocent, accused of all kinds of wickedness, I really would not want to go through it again, I have to say that, glory to God, but it did produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness, amen. Do not be double minded, do not be obedient with eye service, do not let it be just on the surface as men pleasers, but really obey them and love them and pray for them, that you should be a witness to them, that Christ is dwelling in your members. Why? Because you will be doing the will of God from the heart of Christ.
Verse 7. With good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men. KJV
Everything we do brethren, should be unto the Lord, because it will be judged by the Lord. Everything, every thought that we think and every thing that we do, is unto the Lord. If it is godly, He will bless it, and if it is not godly, He will bring a correction. You are never out from under the eyes of God. He knows everything you do and everything you say, and everything that you think, and if any of those things are not out of Christ, judgment is already upon you, why? Because He fully intends to bring you forth in the image of the Father.
That is why you are a bastard He does not correct you, He does not care that you are in the image of Satan, but if His son is in you, He will not tolerate a carnal thought, act, or deed flowing through you. Everything will be judged in its season, in accordance with His choice, will, and purposes.
Verse 8. Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. KJV
It means you are going to reap what you sow, it says every good thing that any man doeth, the same he shall receive of the Lord, whether he be a slave, or a free man. This is a big mystery brethren, it really does not concern the Lord whether you are wealthy or whether you are not, it really does not concern the Lord whether you are a servant or a free man, He is trying your behavior, in whatever station in life you find yourself. Brethren the world is filled with Christians that are in poverty, I do not see the Lord descending from heaven, and making them wealthy overnight. It is not happening. You can seek the Lord for an education or whatever health you need, He might help you, but by in large, He is not raising up the poverty stricken masses into high society. He is not doing it. He is meeting their needs, He is feeding them, He is giving them food and clothing, and He is saying, Be glorified where you are, because the only thing that matters is that I am bringing forth my son in you, and when Christ appears in you, you will be royalty, and your every need will be met, so for the season, for this season, for the time being, do not scramble for riches, do not make riches or a desire for riches an idolatry unto you. Pursue your life with meekness and humility, asking Me to meet your needs, and I will do it, but the only thing that really matters, is that you live a lifestyle that will bring forth my Son in you, and every good thing that you do will be rewarded, Christ will increase in you. That is what He is saying.
Be content with what you have. I do not want anyone to misunderstand me, I am not saying that you should not improve yourself, I am not saying that if you have opportunity you should not go to school, and get an education, and be all that you could be in Christ, I am not saying that. If God opens the door for any kind of lifestyle, well definitely enter in, but if you have prayed and the doors are not opening, maybe the Lord is directing you in another direction.
You have to follow God. Hallelujah, maybe He is calling you to not make money the number 1 thing in your life. Maybe He is going to let you be a big success so that you could have money to give to the church. I do not know, but if you are laboring and you are praying and the doors are not opening, maybe you are not going in the right direction. Maybe the Lord has called you to be a servant in the kingdom. Tell them what you would like, petition Him, if He gives it to you praise the Lord. Do not push against the pricks brethren, you will never win, you will never win.
Verse 8. Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, and what is a good thing? It is an obedience to the instruction of the Lord, ...the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be a servant or a slave or a free man. KJV
Verse 9. And ye masters do the same things unto them, unto who? Unto your servants, forbearing threatening, do not threaten them, ...knowing that your master also is in heaven... KJV
Brethren, a threat is something that you do not intend to follow through on, a threat is something that would be used to intimidate a person. If an employee is not doing his job, and you call him in and say, Look, you have got to straighten up your act, this behavior is not acceptable, if you make this correction, we will be glad to keep you on as an employee, that is not a threat. If the employer intends to follow through, if the correction is not made, he intends to fire the man, that is not a threat, that is a warning, an honest warning. It is a threat when you harass somebody, when you bully somebody, when you make them afraid on a daily basis of losing their job. This is not acceptable to God brethren. Those of you in the church who have money, those of you in the church who have businesses who employ people, your money does not mean anything to the Lord, He is not impressed, He is not impressed brethren.
Treat your employees well, or His wrath is already upon you, abuse of power is a very serious thing, whether that power be in an employee, in an employer, in an elder, in a parent, or in a government official, abuse of someone that you have authority over, is a very serious thing, God does not like it brethren. The Levitical law says, if you oppress a widow, and she cries out to God, who knows what the judgment is, anybody? Death brethren, death. If you take advantage of a woman that does not have a protector, the judgment is death under the Levitical law, God does not like it brethren.
Having authority is a very serious business. You could make a mistake, I am talking about knowingly, knowingly, trying to take advantage of someone who is vulnerable because of their relationship to you, walk very carefully. Thank you Jesus. Forbear threatening them, do not threaten them brethren, knowing that your master is also in heaven, that you have a master too, there is not a man in the earth that does not have a head, even Jesus Christ of Nazareth had one greater than Him.
There is nobody in the earth that answers to nobody. You will surely reap what you have sown.
Verse 9. ...neither is there respect of persons with God. KJV
Brethren, He does not care that you are rich, He does not care that you are educated, He does not care that you have political power, He does not care that you have body guards or henchmen, or physical power or muscles or Karate or witchcraft or voodoo, He does not care, He is not afraid of you, and every sin shall have its just recompense.
Verse 10. Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. KJV
Be strong in Christ, your strength should not be in your education, in your muscles, in your money, in your businessman's authority, but be strong in Christ brethren. Any of these other things can be lost, any of these worldly strengths can be lost, but strength in Christ brethren, can never be lost so long as you cleave unto your God. Develop your strength in Christ, and in the power of His might. When we did a study on the seven spirits of God, I am pretty sure it is on the #35 series, we found out that the spirit of might is Christ, the spirit of might is Christ. If I am not mistaken, the first three spirits of the seven spirits of God are spirits that are found in the imputed anointing and the imputed anointing produces Christ in you, the spirit of might, and then the last three spirits of the seven spirits of God, are spirits or spiritual expression that is found in the person with the imparted anointing.
The first three spirits of the seven spirits of God, produce Christ, the last three spirits of the seven spirits of God, are spiritual authority which are resident in the Christ which has been produced in you. Does anybody not understand that? What He is saying to you is be strong in the Lord, and in the power of Christ, when He comes forth in you. Be strong in the Lord, Holy Spirit, and be strong in Christ, double portion brethren, get the double portion brethren, do not be satisfied with the single portion, get the double portion.
Verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. KJV
Brethren the armor of God is Christ. He just told you to be strong in the Lord, and in Christ, the armor of God is Christ. Brethren, we have got to come out of this carnality, I am not knocking anybody, but I have to tell you this, I have known people who wake up in the morning, and go through some fantasy ritual where they put on the shoes and they put on the breastplate, and they put on the helmet, and they think that, that is the armor of God, brethren that is not the armor of God, that is a fantasy.
You do not have the strength to put on the armor of God, it is being built in you, first by the Father and then by Christ Himself. You are the woman, you are the child, you are dependent. Stop thinking that you are something that you are not, why? Because it blocks off the move of the spirit that wants to make you something. I hear all of the carnal minds yelling, you are putting down your people, I am not putting down anybody, I am telling you that if you exalt yourself, God is not going to be able to exalt you. The Scripture clearly states, do not put yourself in the front row of the church, because when someone that looks better than you comes in, the pastor is going to send to the back, do not do it yourself.
Put on the whole armor of God, and how do you do that brethren? You do whatever you have to do to encourage the Lord to build Christ in you. You submit yourself to spiritual ministry and spiritual teaching, and pray continuously that Christ be formed in you. That is how you put on the whole armor of God. You pray it in the earth, and then Jesus does it in the heaven of your mind. Brethren, when Christ is your mind, nothing will be able to damage your soul or your body. All of the problems that we have in this world are a result of our spiritual weakness of our mind being the carnal mind. If Christ is being formed in you, He starts as a mustard seed, so if you still have problems even though Christ is being formed in you, it is because the Christ in you is a very small child.
I hear all of the Pharisees screaming, I tell you the truth, I tell you the truth, you do not have any power that the Lord has not demonstrated to you that you have. When I first came into the church there were people telling people to throw their medications away, people going into diabetic comas. You do not have all power, you have the power that Jesus imparts to you at the moment in any specific instance. If He is giving you the power to heal, that diabetic, they are healed, if they are not healed, it is not a lack of faith, you did not have the power. Your power is limited. You are children, you must know who you are.
As we said earlier, there are natural examples, we have people in this world who have trouble holding jobs because they think they should be the boss. You are not the boss, you are under governors and tutors! If you have authority in a particular area, God has witnessed it to you, how? When you have ministered in this area, fruit has been produced. You should know what you can do and what you cannot do. If you are so young and strong headed in the Lord, that you do not know what you can do and what you cannot do, and you are a son and Christ is being formed in you, correction is already headed in your direction, if you will not receive the correction from a human person, spiritual correction is coming. The rod is already on your back.
Put on the whole armor of God, do everything you can do, to be fully encompassed in Christ, why? So that you will be able to stand against the cunning devices of the devil. Two minds brethren, the carnal mind in you is in full stature, the carnal mind in you is in full stature, let Christ stand up in you in full stature, so that you will be able to overcome Satan when the temptation comes upon you. That is what happened to Jesus in the temptation, He put on the full armor of God, Christ stood up in full stature, and He overcame the wiles of the devil in the temptation, and Satan departed from Him.
Satan could not deceive Jesus of Nazareth, as he deceived Adam at the beginning of time, why? Because Jesus of Nazareth was born of the seed, the incorruptible seed of the Father. He grew up through many experiences, and He had been warned of His Father, and He overcame. He recognized Satan when he came to Him.
I remind you that in the Seduction of Eve, she really did not recognize, we found out, I know it is not obvious in Genesis, but we found it in the Song of Solomon, she did not recognize that it was Satan who was seducing her, and Adam her protector, did not protect her. Glory to God.
Verse 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. KJV
Brethren, I did a word study on these words once, and they all reduce down to the same thing. This is talking about the carnal minds of men. We know that there are three parts to the carnal mind, anybody want to tell me what the three parts to the carnal mind is? Anybody? And the carnal mind, yeah, the name of the mind that the fallen man has is the carnal mind, it takes the name of the carnal mind which is the offspring of Satan and Eve, and the third element is the carnal mind.
These are the powers and principalities, these are the spiritual wickedness in high places. It is the minds of men brethren. They are not free floating spirits, it is the mind of fallen man, which is desperately wicked, who could know it. It is the minds of fallen man that birth the demons, and all of the evil that you see in this world system. I would like to touch on an issue here that is very common in the church, the church, religious spirits in the church, religious people in the church love to say, Well that is not your brother who has sinned you, that person who did that terrible thing to you, we do not pray against people, we just pray against powers and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places, he is okay.
Let me tell you something brethren, if that man that tried to destroy you is not repentant over what he did, the spiritual wickedness in high places is in total agreement and one with his mind, it is him. Let us get out of this religious spirit brethren, if someone has hurt you because they have lost control, because they have had a manifestation, they have been trying to live for Christ day and night, but they have lost control, and they had a bad moment, then it is the powers and principalities, but a wicked man in the church or out of the church who is in full agreement with the wickedness that is reigning through his mind that is totally unrepentant, do not tell me this is the powers and principalities that he is okay, because you are deceived, and you are manifesting a religious spirit that does not glorify God.
God is glorified in the truth brethren, without condemnation, without condemnation. You have done wickedness and you are unrepentant, and if you are in Christ, the judgments of God are already dispatched towards you, and that is a good thing, the judgments of God are merciful, they produce repentance, get off of your religious horse. Let us get this thing straight man! Glory to God.
Verse 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. KJV
Well we do not wrestle with flesh, we are not going to go over and beat somebody up, but we are wrestling with high minds in this hour, that are frequently in full agreement with the conscious personality.
If that man has allowed these principalities to reign through him, yes you are dealing with spiritual wickedness, but do not say the man is innocent, because he is not innocent, he did it, he did it, without condemnation, he did it, and you are accountable, you are accountable for everything that you do, and if you have a bad moment, you repent and there is no condemnation, but you are accountable. You cannot say, So what, you cannot say, It is okay, it is not okay, and this is not condemnation, does anybody not understand that this is not condemnation? I do not condemn you, but I speak the truth, if you did it, you did it, now deal with it.
If you say, Well I did it so what? You are not dealing with it, and it is bringing condemnation in your own soul, you could produce a demon, and the person that you did the evil to is under a affliction, it is not being dealt with, if you did it, deal with it, God will make it right, He will bring healing, He will bring deliverance, He will bring reconciliation, deal with it, good will come out of it when you deal with it, nothing is so terrible that you should not deal with it or look at it, God is faithful, He is powerful, He is merciful, deal with it, you are much better off dealing with it, then pushing it under the rug, deal with it, for your sake, for your own sake, and for the sake of the other party, and for the sake of your children, and everyone else involved, do not push these things back under the rug or in the back of your mind, because they do not go away, they get buried, and when bury an ungodly seed brethren, sooner or later, it is going to sprout, and it could sprout in future generations, or it could sprout in your life, it could be ten or twenty years down the line, and that wicked fruit can appear in your life. Deal with it in Christ.
Of course this phrase, high places in the margin it says, places of high authority, and in case you are not aware of it, the carnal mind brethren has a high level of authority in this world, and all you people and all you preachers that are saying that Satan is ashes under your feet, and grinding your heel into the carpet in the church on Sunday morning, I want to tell you it has not happened to you yet, and until he is genuinely ashes under your feet, which means that you have attained to full stature, until he is put under Christ in you, he has high spiritual authority over your life, and he can give you cancer, yes God can heal you, but the fact that God heals your cancer does not disannul the fact that he gave you the cancer.
Does anybody not understand this? He has got a high spiritual authority over everybody that has sin in their life. The way you get away from the carnal mind whose god is Satan is to get delivered out of all of your sin, and the only way you could do that is to enter into Christ. He will, who? Satan through his carnal mind, will rule and reign over this world system known as hell, so long as sin exists. Do not tell me he is ashes under your feet when your mind is filled with sin because you are deceived.
Who is glorified in your lies and your denial? He is powerful, and you need the protection of the Lord Jesus Christ, you need His mercy, because you are not mature enough in Christ yet to defend yourself, you are a small child under tutors and governors, and you need your father standing there in the background with a big stick. I knew a man once, he had a business, he had a gas station, I do not think you will know who he is, he owned a gas station, and he was counting his money that he took in during the day, and there was I think $2000 there, and he got a phone call, and all of the money was spread out on the desk in the back of the gas station and he looked at all of the bills and he said, I cover you with the blood of Jesus, and he went out and took his phone call, can anybody guess the end to this story?
Someone took his money. Come on brethren, give up this fantasy, how many times can you lose $2000. (Chuckles), help us Lord, help us!
Verse 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. KJV
Brethren, this is the evil day, this is the evil age, it is the age of death, and it is ruled by Satan through his carnal mind, and Paul is saying, Take on the full armor of God, let Christ be built in you unto full maturity, so that you can stand on your feet, and confront eye to eye the god of this world, as Jesus did in the temptation, and we will each have a temptation, we are in the temptation now. Every time we have a choice between the carnal mind and Christ, we are in the temptation now.
Put on Christ through exposing yourself to spiritual ministry and prayer and supplication, so that you can be down in this world system and this realm of hell and take Satan on nose to nose and defeat him. He says, Do everything that you can to stand, and when having done all stand. In the Greek these are two different Greek words, and having done all to stand, that is one Greek word, in verse 14 it says;
Verse 14. Stand therefore... KJV
That is a different Greek word, and the Greek word translated stand in verse 14 means to stand up in full stature. Do everything you can do to stand against Satan, and then when you overcome him, stand up in full stature. That is what he has been saying, it is what I have been preaching here for the last couple of weeks. God really just gave it to me, to be honest with you, that the standing up in full stature is an overcoming, and that Christians who have been thinking that this standing up in full stature, that they were going to wake up one morning and be in full stature, that is a rapture mentality, it is not happening that way, it is happening a child at a time. Every time you overcome, you stand up more and more, we are arising, we have been in a prone position and we are starting to rise. Let me show it to you on the board.
We were lying down on a bed the Scripture says, and we are starting to rise, every time we overcome, we are arising, so he is saying, Do everything you can to stand, fight every battle, overcome every battle, and you will stand. That is what He is saying, it is not a rapture, it is an overcoming a day at a time, an hour at a time, a crisis at a time. Take that victory, press in, in Christ, He will bring you through. When you have done everything you can to stand against this evil age, known as the carnal mind ruled by Satan, and having done all you can to stand, then stand up in full stature brethren, and when you stand up in full stature, you will have your loins gird about with truth. Your loins I remind you are your reproductive parts.
Brethren, your reproductive parts are those spiritual parts which commit adultery with Satan and the carnal mind. He says, Have your loins gird about with truth. Who is truth? Christ, Christ is truth. When your reproductive parts are gird about by Christ, you are not going to commit spiritual adultery anymore, it is going to be a chastity belt, He is going to be your chastity belt. Brethren, we are, the living soul is a harlot, our human spirit cannot stop fornication or committing adultery, she commits adultery with any spirit that approaches her. She cannot say no.
When her husband wraps around her loins, he will say no for her. Jesus.
Verse 14. ...Having your loins gird about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. KJV
The breastplate covers your heart, brethren the heart of Christ must cover over your fallen heart which is your carnal mind. Love covers a multitude of sins. When Christ in full stature covers over your wicked heart, it is going to be a weapon against the enemy. What does that mean? Your fallen heart which is underneath Christ will not be able to get out, will not be able to do anything, will not be able to move, he is going to be paralyzed, if you recall the teaching.
Verse 15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. KJV
Your feet brethren are that part of you which walks upon the earth, our spiritual feet are these bodies. You all should have an exhibit with a picture of the spiritual man walking on the earth on it, if you do not have it, see Xxxx or Xxxx, and they will get you a copy of it. This is a man, and this is his feet, I really cannot draw, I am not the artist in this ministry, but this is his feet, he is at your center. The spiritual man is lying on his side. This is the realm of appearance, this is your body out here. Can you see what I am talking about? There is one spiritual man and he is walking on the circle of the earth and he is appearing in many human bodies. Our body is the foot speaking spiritually, that which appears on the earth.
Verse 15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. KJV
For the man who is out here in the realm of appearance, we should be covered over with the gospel of peace, and what is the gospel of peace, gospel meaning good news, the good news that is proclaiming peace. Brethren, peace is with God, the peace that the gospel speaks about, is the peace between God and man, because fallen man is reprobate, we are at enmity with God in our minds, filled with wrath and rage and rebellion and shaking our fists at Him.
The peace is between God and man, and brethren I want to tell you there is only one way that God makes peace, He destroys His enemies, every man, woman, child, and cattle, and sheep and goat, he destroys it, that is how He makes peace. Brethren, your carnal mind must go down, every manifestation of your carnal mind, male, female, or animal must die. What does that mean. Any manifestation of your carnal mind that has been exercising spiritual authority in this world, must die. Any manifestation of your carnal mind that has been showing weakness and vulnerability in this world. Every manifestation of your encouraged you and caused you to engage in any form of animalistic behavior, physical or in your mind must die, and then God shall have peace with you, you shall have peace, because you are going to be dead.
Brethren, all of your problems in life are in your mind. God is a God of peace, He only wages war with His enemies. What does the Scripture say, When you are at peace with God, even your enemies will be at peace with you. Your problem is your relationship with Christ, there is something wrong with the way you think, all of us, all of us, all of us.
Cover yourself in this outer realm with the gospel of peace, understand this, understand this that your problem is your mind, our fallen carnal mind, that is what our problem is, it must die. Why are you grinning? Someone give that woman a microphone please. Make sure it is on.
COMMENT: I saw an article in Newsday, The Enemy Within, so it was very interesting, I mean big bold letters you know. I mean you know it is coming out.
PASTOR VITALE: It is coming out on all levels, yes, our only true enemy is our own wicked heart, there is nothing out there that can destroy us or defeat us, when our heart is Christ, nobody destroyed Jesus, they could not defeat Him, and if you are defeated on any realm in any area, it is because your heart is not Christ in that area. Ask God to make your heart Christ, we are to be overcomers and utterly victorious, but to be victorious, we must do it God's way, we must love our enemies brethren, we must forgive those that despise us and hate us, and would kill us if they could, we must pray for their salvation. We must pray that the love of God encompasses them. Verse 16;
Verse 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked. KJV
Brethren, this is a big misunderstanding, brethren, the faith that we have in our fallen humanity is not going to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. The faith of the son of God, which is in Christ, will quench the fiery darts of the wicked, we must have Christ, the faith, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Brethren, I am sorry if I am hurting you feelings but it is not your measly little faith that is coming out of your corrupted carnal mind, it is not! I believe that Jesus died on the cross and raised from dead. No your not. Your carnal mind believing anything is not going to get you anything but death.
But the faith of the son of God that died for you, what does that mean? He died so that He could pour out of His spirit and be in your heart to cover over your wicked heart. That is the victory that overcometh the world which is what? Your fallen heart. Your carnal mind must die, it must bend its knee to Christ, it must cease to be, it must be paralyzed, it must be penetrated, it must be pierced, it must be destroyed, that we might live by the faith of the son of God, not the faith that comes out of your carnal mind brethren, it cannot do you anything, and it is not going to get you into the kingdom.
You cannot do anything, of ourselves we cannot do anything brethren, this pride must be purged out of the church.
You cannot go on into the kingdom if you do not lay down this pride, of yourself you can do nothing, and power in Christ is imparted through the laying down of our life, for the laying down of our will, for the laying down of our soul, to giving it all to Christ, is power imparted unto us, and we have a whole church world out there of carnal Christians doing it themselves. You can only go so far doing it yourself, and you will reach the ceiling, if you die to self and let Christ be your enablement, there is no limit to what you can attain, and do not think it is going to happen overnight, it comes slowly brethren, this kind of reaping and sowing, what am I talking about?
This kind of sowing the laying down of your life and reaping power in the spirit, comes slowly, maybe you will have a different experience than I have, it is coming so slowly in my life, it is like pulling teeth, but it is coming, it is coming. I would have never believed how long it could have taken, it takes a long time.
Galatians 6:9: And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. KJV
I use to read that Scripture and say, What is He talking about? Now I know, do not weary of well doing, you shall surely reap in due season, if you do not faint. That not only means a long duration, but it is talking about all of the trials that you will experience as you go through your long duration, but it is worth it. Glory to God.
Above all, taking up the shield of the faith of the son of God which is Christ, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked, and who is the wicked? The carnal mind ruled by Satan which has spiritual weapons to wound you, if not destroy you. Verse 17;
Verse 17. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. KJV
The helmet of salvation, that is talking about your mind, helmet covers your head, take on the mind which produces salvation, again the mind of Christ. What Paul is saying is, put on Christ. ...and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Brethren, the word of God, the sword of the Spirit is not this book, this book is just a carnal book this is print on a page. Paul is talking about the very logos of God which must be in your heart. This book is point of contact for the Holy Spirit to bring forth Christ in you. We need it, do not let anyone misunderstand me, we need it, God only knows we need it, but the sword of the Spirit is not this book, it is the Christ that is inside of you. If Christ is not inside of you, this book, well even now the book is a great blessing, I hope I am not being misunderstood, and a lot of people will teach you, Well, find a Scripture that applies to your crisis, and keep repeating it and stand on that Scripture. Well brethren, that only works so far.
If you are in a crisis and you have done everything you can to seek God, and you are trying to stand until the Spirit brings deliverance, well that is fine. Brethren, I have heard Christians go around quoting, Sin shall not have dominion over me, as they go down the tubes. Then they do one of two things, they become bitter towards God, or they hate themselves thinking that they are not worthy. Brethren, when Christ is standing in you, sin shall not have dominion over you. Salvation is not in an intellectual understanding of this word. Salvation is in the son, who is dwelling in your mind. You must have the baby, you are saved in childbearing, you must produce the child!
Sin shall have dominion over you when you are just quoting an intellectual Scripture, it very well might have dominion over you.
Put on the helmet brethren, of salvation, put on this understanding that it is a new mind that you must have, and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, take it up brethren, put on the new garment of Christ, start living out of Christ, reject your carnal mind. Glory to God. Verse 18;
Verse 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit... KJV
Pray in the spirit brethren, you must pray in the spirit brethren, the only prayers that are answered are the prayers that Christ in you prays, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Brethren if that is all you know, you do it, but you need more than that. You need a prayer that is coming out from the depths of your belly, you need a prayer that is coming out of the realm of the spirit. Brethren, the true praying always is only the prayer that comes out of the Spirit, how can I say this, no human being could pray always, only the supernatural Christ within you can pray always. His mind, that glorified mind of our Lord Jesus Christ does not have carnal pursuits, all He does is pray and intercede on our behalf, unto the Father, and who is the Father? The Father is God in the realm of the spirit, Christ in us is continuously tapping into the realm of the spirit so that power, the power of God can be imparted into our life here in the earth, or here down in hell if you will.
Verse 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit... KJV
Now some people think that to pray in the spirit means to pray in tongues. Brethren, I am sorry if I am causing you distress, but anyone that knows me, knows that I am committed to tell you the truth here. There are tongues that can come out of your carnal mind, the spirit in you can stir up Christ to pray in the spirit, and your carnal mind, your old man can also pray in the spirit. How can this be? Brethren, tongues are gift that is given without repentance, it is the gift of God to the unrepentant carnal man. I hear all of the voices screaming in the spirit, so let me review for you what it means for you to be an unrepentant Christian. Brethren, when you come to the Lord, and you say, I repent Father, receive me into your kingdom, that is a general repentance, but when the Lord speaks, it is good enough to get you the gifts and the move of the spirit upon your life, but for you to start to move into the kingdom, into the imparted anointing, which requires repentance, specific repentance of specific sin is required.
It is required by God for you to confess the operation of sin in your mind on a day to day basis. When you begin to enter into this process which will reveal that sin which is called the tribulation, that is when the very Christ in you will come forth with the Spirit of God. You know praying in the spirit, it does not necessarily mean praying in tongues, although the Christ in you does pray in tongues. Let me try this one more time brethren, the unregenerate carnal Christian prays in tongues and he thinks that this Scripture where it says to pray in the spirit, that it means to pray in tongues. Let me point out to you, the Scripture does not say pray in tongues, it says, pray in the spirit, and that the gift of tongues is a gift that comes without repentance that the carnal Christian has access to and that is not what this Scripture is talking about.
When we see the Scriptures say, in Ephesians 6:18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, I suggest to you, the Scripture is talking about praying prayers that come out of Christ. They can be in tongues, but these prayers can be in tongues, but they do not have to be in tongues. Brethren, as Christ begins to appear in your personality, He will both speak in tongues and speak in your native language, and this is why, Christ, God in the flesh is a manifestation of the mind of Christ woven together with the carnal mind of a man. It is the mind of God being revealed through an individual's personality, and the only way this could happen is when that individual has come to an understanding of the situation that the Christ is speaking about. The true prophecy brethren is not the gift of prophecy, but the true prophecy is the oracle of God coming through the mind of a man. The will of God, the word of God with regard to any specific situation.
We have two manifestations of prophecy, true prophecy. We have the prophecy that appeared in the Old Testament which came forth by the spirit of heaven, whereby the prophets did not make one mistake, why? Because the spirit of heaven completely controlled their carnal mind, but nevertheless the prophet had no understanding whatsoever of what he was saying, that we see in the Old Testament prophets. What is happening today where the spirit of prophecy has ascended or matured to a greater degree, today we find the spirit of prophecy which is the Lord Jesus Christ, amen? The spirit of prophecy is the Lord Jesus Christ, what does that mean? It means the resurrected glorified Christ in you, speaking through you, having been woven together with your carnal mind, speaking together through your mouth, with your understanding, it is a greater and a higher manifestation than the prophecy of the Old Testament. It is the ministry of the son, whose mind has been interwoven with the mind of God to speak the word of God with understanding, but if you are a son in the making, if you are not yet in full stature brethren, sometimes you really do not understand what the mind of God wants spoken through you.
The more you understand of the things of God, the more you understand of the message He is desiring to bring to your fellow man through you, the more you will speak under the anointing, which is the true prophecy about things that you have a first hand knowledge of, how will you have a first hand knowledge of it? The Father will have given you experiences in Christ, so when the Father has a message for the people you are ministering to, about something you have experienced or studied with Him, He will speak it through your mouth and through your individual personality in a way that will give you the opportunity to make this word of the Lord a personal expression of Christ Jesus in you.
If the Lord has something to say to the people that you are ministering to about which you have not had an experience, about which you have not been instructed, yet it is the will of the Lord to speak, either to the people, or to pray on behalf of somebody, He will bring that utterance through you in tongues. This is not the gift of tongues, this is Christ in you praying in the spirit in tongues because your particular personality has not yet experienced what is necessary for you to bring this prayer forth in a language that you understand. I hope everybody understands what I am talking about, this is really important. I heard a preacher once call tongues baby talk. The mature Christ in you speaks in the languages of men. Hallelujah, and that is how when you come to kingdom churches, you see the gifts being expressed less and less.
Do not panic brethren, the gifts are passing away, as Christ appears more and more in a mature manifestation of Himself, expressed in unison of the personality of the minister, the gifts will begin to disappear, so pray always brethren, in the spirit, not necessary in man made tongues. I have heard ministers, very well meaning ministers give instructions, now you pray in tongues, now pray in tongues, when I hit the bell, you pray in tongues. Brethren, this is a work of the flesh, and I warn you in all humility that you should not start out in the spirit and end up in the flesh, but that you should dwell in the Spirit of God continuously, for that will glorify Him.
That is a teaching of the Pentecostal church. When I say go, you pray in the spirit. It is fine in the Pentecostal church, and if you have not outgrown it yet, well then you stay with it, but bear in mind that it is something to be outgrown. In old order Christianity, in the imputed anointing, unregenerate man makes the decisions, as to how, when, where and who you, and what form you will pray, and as you enter into the realm of the spirit, as you enter into the imparted anointing, Christ in you makes all of these decisions, so if Christ is being formed in you, and in some areas you are already living your life in a response to His control and instruction, for you to come to the Lord, and say, Now I am going to pray in tongues, it is an abomination unto the Christ that is being formed in you. You must let go of the old so that you can continue to enter into the new, and if you are not at least willing to let go, you must ask the Lord if this is not a desire on your part to control the spiritual life that is being revealed through you. If you cannot pray about it, if you cannot say, Father if what she is saying is true, I will let go, if you cannot pray that prayer, then you need to ask the Lord why. Hallelujah.
Verse 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. KJV
Perseverance, diligence, supplication, meaning to intercede and submit on their behalf. Brethren we are to watch on behalf of all saints. That does not mean and ungodly spirit of criticism, that means we must be open in the spirit of God, and that we must be open in Christ, for any occasion of God, please make sure it is God, showing us the sin or a pitfall in our brother, and when we see it, we must diligently intercede on their behalf, Do not get into witchcraft, that the Lord might help them, that the Lord might bless them, that the Lord might deliver them, that God should be glorified in this problem, and then I always pray, Father I present myself for service, send me and I will go, put words in my mouth and I will speak, but do not take control of the ministry. Remember, the mature Christian is the one who is sent, the immature Christian sends himself and the letter of the ministry will kill the person you are trying to help. Hallelujah. Let me also point out to you in verse 18, this is to be done for all saints, it is not to be avoided for those you do not like, or for those who believe differently than you, or even for those who are persecuting you. We are to watch and pray for all saints, for all of the holy ones of God, for all who have received the promise of God. Hallelujah, Jesus. Verse 19;
Verse 19. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, this is Paul speaking, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. KJV
Now listen to this, Paul will never open up his own mouth boldly. He says, Pray for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that the Lord may permit him to speak. We find in one of the early chapters of the book of Ezekiel, I am not sure whether it is 2 or 3, where Ezekiel is saying, or the Lord is saying to Ezekiel. His tongue shall be cleave unto the roof of his mouth, he shall not talk, but if God speaks through him, then he shall talk. That is what Paul saying here, and this is what I just spent ten minutes talking about. We are not to do things in the flesh any longer brethren, but we are to pray, that utterance may be given to us, that we may open out mouth boldly to make known the hidden truth of the gospel to those to whom God sends us. A lot of carnal Christians are saying, there is no mystery in Christ, there is no deep truth. Where here it is right here brethren in Ephesians 6, there are mysteries in the gospel, and Paul will not speak these hidden mysteries unless God opens his mouth and gives him utterance. I believe the same instruction is for us today. Verse 20;
Verse 20. For which I am an ambassador... KJV
What? The mystery of the gospel, Paul is an ambassador in bonds. Brethren, what kind of bonds is Paul in. He is in bondage to the Lord Jesus Christ. In another Scripture, he talks about this chain that I bear, his chain is the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, no man is his own man, either we serve Satan or we serve God, either we serve the carnal mind or we serve Christ. If you think you serve no spiritual being, you are deceived, you are serving your carnal mind, and the one who you serve, the one you are in bondage to.
Paul clearly states here that he is in bondage to the Lord Jesus Christ, making it clear to all who have ears to hear and eyes to see, that he no longer serves Satan.
Verse 20. For which I am an ambassador, for the mystery of the gospel, in bonds... KJV
That means his carnal mind is not preaching this message. If there is an ambassador in bonds, that means there must be ambassadors who are not in bondage to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I have been telling you here for a while, this message is going out with a great degree of maturity, in the church world today, but it is not being preached from the Christ in the man, it is coming forth from Adam, and the way to tell is the fruit. If this message is being preached by Adam, the fruit of Christ is not appearing. If there is no tribulation, if there is no trials, if there is no judgment of your soul, the chances that it is being preached by Christ are very small, because when Christ preaches this message, it kills your adamic soul and brings forth Christ in you.
We have ambassadors preachers of this gospel of God, of this great mystery of God, some of them are preaching it from their carnal mind, and some of them are preaching it from Christ, and the ones who are preaching it from their carnal mind are false prophets. Hallelujah.
I know, I just heard it in the spirit, Paul said, Let the gospel be preached even if it be preached in contention. Yes, that is true, let the word go out, but we are talking about Christians of all different measures of maturity, by the time you get to the stage of maturity that we are preaching here, if you have not entered into a relationship with Christ, whereby He is being formed in you, from this point forward, it is being preached today. Brethren, if Christ be not raised from the dead, we preach to you in vain.
If I preach to you and I preach to you and I preach to you and I preach to you, and Christ in you is not raised from the dead, I preach to you in vain.
An intellectual preaching of this message will not cause Christ in you to be raised from the dead. Those who preach it in contention, that is the beginning of the process, just to get you going, to wet your appetite, to draw you unto God, so that you could enter into the path, which will bring you to this place here. Young Christians could not bear the preaching that is going on here, they flee from it. If I preach to you brethren, and Christ in me has not been raised from the dead, I preach in vain.
Let me start at the beginning, if the Lord Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, I preach to you in vain, why? Because if He has not been raised from the dead, then I am not in the process of being raised from the dead, I have no life to give to you. If the Lord Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and He is out there is somebody else or He is out there in spirit form, if He is not in the process of being raised from the dead in me, if there is no life of Christ in me, then I preach to you in vain, because if I do not have His life in me, how can I give it to you.
Did not Paul say he was a father, did not Paul say, he wanted to have fruit amongst the people that he preaches to? If I do not have Christ in me, I am not in full stature, but if I do not have enough strength in me to impart his life to you, I preach to you in vain. If I have no strength to cause you to be raised from the dead, I am wasting both of our time. I will put it on this tape, I have been preaching for a while now, there is a two witness company which is the sons of God that are not yet in full stature, when they stand up in full stature, their names change to the sons of God, and this two witness company has a little strength we are told in the book of Revelation, a little strength, and if you are moving in the company, Christ is in the process of being raised from the dead in you, and you have some strength to impregnate others.
The ministry of the greater works has begun, but when we stand up in full stature, we will have much more strength, it will go much more quickly, and we will be able to touch many people that we are failing to touch in this hour. As I see it brethren, only those who are very strong people are standing in this hour, and from what I can see, they need to be strong in Christ, and they need to strong in their carnal personalities, who could bear the rejection of this word, who could bear the persecution that comes for this word? The deeper you go the deeper the persecution. If you are into sonship, it is not that bad, there is a lot of people that believe in sonship, you can just stay in sonship circles, go to Bill Britton's convention and maybe you will be fine.
Try preaching what we are preaching here, even if you believe in ultimate reconciliation which I use to preach which I do not preach anymore, I believe in the reconciliation of the all, but not the way the ultimate reconciliationists are preaching it, God has shown me something different, so even if you are into ultimate reconciliation, there are many ultimate reconciliationists, you can stay among your own kind and be pretty safe from persecution if that is what you desire, but try going on brethren, try preaching a message that the carnal church hates, because you do not believe in the rapture, and even the sonship church does not like it because you do not believe in hell and damnation or the rapture, and now the ultimate reconciliation camp does not like what you are preaching because you found an error in that doctrine and you are letting everyone that will hear your words know. It is awesome!
Besides all of the anti-Christs out there that do not know Christ at all, the whole world is coming against people that are standing for the cutting edge of God, for those who are standing in a place where the latest thing He is doing in the church world is coming forth, all hell is against you! There are very few to hide behind, because the people cannot pay the price, some of them will not pay the price and some of them cannot pay the price, who could stand against the whole church world? You need to be a person who has a strong personality in the world. I have seen people pass through here who are strong in Christ, I do not know if strong in Christ is the right word, but I see Christ in them, and they respond to the message, but they cannot bear the persecution, and does not Jesus speak about this in the parable of the soils, they cannot bear the persecution.
First we need to have a strong human personality, and then we need to have a strong relationship with Christ, and when the two come together, and we know that we have heard from our God, we will stand against all persecution and press through into what God has called us to, but they are falling like flies over this doctrine brethren. Only the strong are standing in this hour. I believe when the first fruits company stand up in full stature, this word and this message and this anointing will go to many, to many that are very weak, that are too weak to bear the persecution today.
What am I saying? We who are in the two witness company, we who have a little strength, we are only strong enough to do a good work for those that are strong enough to hold on to what we give them. From what I can see, we do not have the strength to impart to them, that will enable them to hold on to that seed. Glory to God. In many instances the seed is going in, and it is lying their dormant, in the proper moment, God will quicken it, but they go out from us brethren, they cannot remain amongst us, they cannot bear it, there is not enough strength for them to stand in this hour, except for a very few.
Verse 20. For which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
Verse 21. But that ye also may know my affairs..., well these last few verses he is just speaking about a man that he is recommending to them, and he is saying he sent a man for the same purpose, so Paul has sent out other preachers, and in verse 23 he says;
Verse 23. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. KJV
He is pronouncing the peace which comes from peace with God upon them, and the agape love that comes faith in God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is blessing them with grace in verse 24;
Verse 24. And all of these things should be with them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. KJV
Brethren, if it is possible to love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, it must be possible, or their must be those who do not love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, or who love our Lord Jesus Christ insincerely. Brethren, do not be deceived by the words people speak to you, do not be deceived because they are walking around with a Bible, do not be deceived. Only God knows the intents of a man's heart, and if you have a close enough relationship with the Lord, that He will tell you about His opinion of man, well then you will know what is in that man's heart, otherwise you do not know, and at least two years ago I stopped saying that people were nice.
If I meet someone, I will say to you, they are pleasant, they are pleasant, I had a pleasant evening with them, but let us wait and see what is really in their heart. I am waiting for God to reveal to me what is in this man's heart. Is he living out of Christ, or is he yielding to his carnal mind. Is he a friend of Christ? If he is a true friend of Christ, even in persecution, he is a friend of mine, but I do not know who is a friend of Christ until persecution arises. Again in accordance with the parable of the soils, when persecution arose, the seed was destroyed, or the seedling was destroyed. God bless you, brethren, amen and amen.
10/18/08rr