Fire On Your Head

by Leonard Ravenhill

Solemnly and slowly, with his index finger extended, Napoleon Bonaparte outlined a great stretch of country on a map of the world. “There,” he growled, “is a sleeping giant. Let him sleep! If he wakes, he will shake the world.” That sleeping giant was China. Today, Bonaparte’s prophecy of some one hundred and fifty years ago makes sense.

Today Lucifer is probably surveying the church just as Bonaparte did China. One can almost behold the fear in his eyes as he thinks of the Church’s unmeasured potential and growls, “Let the Church sleep! If she wakes, she will shake the world.” Is not the Church the sleeping giant of today?

Some years ago the newspaper headlines carried the story of a young Chinese student who “flunked” his exams here in America. So humiliated was he and so withered by anticipated scorn that for three years the youth hid in the belfry of a church and became skin and bones. Because of his shame, he froze in winter and blistered in summer under that church’s thin roof. As today’s Church of Jesus Christ thinks about the day of reckoning that is surely coming, oh that a holy fear would come upon her (even if it drives her to extremes) in order to arouse her from her present paralysis!

Consider Samson’s fall. He didn’t get drunk; he didn’t commit murder; he didn’t steal. Samson fell simply because he succumbed to the natural, and fell asleep.

• • and scattered the forces of the true and living God.

  made a false god popular,

That one small act put him into captivity,

If even yet you feel a hangover of the old interpretation that the Samson of the Bible is a distant relative of Hercules or Atlas (famed in mythology for carrying the world on his back), then think again. Samson was no human monstrosity. He was no super-edition of a Goliath. If Samson had been a colossus, then why did Delilah ask the question, “Wherein lieth thy great strength?”

Let the final word be from the Word of God itself, for in telling the story of men mighty in faith, the writer to the Hebrews says: Time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson,… who through faith … stopped the mouths of lions” (Heb. 11:32-33). Only two men in Scripture stopped the mouths of lions–Daniel and Samson. But no giant could single-handedly, as Samson, “put to flight the armies of the aliens,” or toy with opposing armies.

• • • there, he tears a lion like paper.

    Here, he takes the gates of Gaza for a ride;

  there, he kills another thirty men.

Here, Samson slays a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass;

To add insult to injury, the Spirit’s comment is “he had nothing in his hand.”

Note well, yea, read for yourself the whole story of the secret of this mighty exploiter, this more-than-conquering believer: “The Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon him. ” Everything in the story adds up to this staggering fact: Supernatural power was upon Samson.

Now turn back ten chapters in this wonder book of Judges and have a little peep into the life of Gideon. Surely as a boy, Gideon had heard from his father the hair-raising stories of a mighty Deity. In Judges 6, Gideon is older, and while threshing corn, is fearing an attack of the Midianites. For seven years, the once liberated slaves of Pharaoh had again become captives. Dens and caves were their homes. No longer were they able to sing the Lord’s song.

It must have sounded like a fairy tale when that angel appeared to Gideon and informed him, “God is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” Yet he shot back the answer, “If God be with us, where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of?” This answer makes clear that Gideon was expecting some supernatural evidence. To him, the seal of the Lord’s presence would be something that could not be rationalized.

Alas that today there is more evidence of religious sensation before our eyes than evidence of spiritual regeneration and supernatural phenomenon! Not many Christians today can forget the fact that the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, but we seem to have lost sight of the fact that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has defeated the roaring lion of hell, and therefore every anointed Samson or Gideon or church can also slay the lion of hell. Though wicked men are doing wickedly, God’s promise to us is that “the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32).

This much is sure:

• • • If we could blast the devil from this present world, we would pledge the politicians for an atom bomb.

    If we could buy this elusive revival with the mammon of unrighteousness, we could get a score of what we call Christian millionaires to underwrite the thing for us.

  If we could organize revival, we would pool our thinking to outwit the powers of darkness.

If we could merit revival by fasting, there would be many martyred by starving.

God pity us that after years of writing, using mountains of paper and rivers of ink, exhausting flashy terminology about the biggest revival meetings in history, we are still faced with gross corruption in every nation, as well as with the most prayerless church age since Pentecost.

This is a plea for the return of the supernatural; but I must also give this a word of explanation. For a decade, all over this land there has been a ministry of the miraculous (more or less), and thank God for all who honor Him and remain faithful. But having said that, here is a plea for sane thinking and a spiritual evaluation of the evangelistic field. To a large degree, have we not substituted seeing for hearing? In Acts, Philip the evangelist could have transferred the Ethiopian eunuch to a city seething with revival fever where the eunuch could have seen “the lame leap like an hart and the tongue of the dumb sing.” Instead, he pitched right into the Word of the living God, and beginning at the same Scripture preached unto him Jesus. We need the miraculous but we also need Christ-centered teaching. Our crucified, exalted Christ must have preeminence over all other slants of truth, for while the Church is languishing, the world is perishing. “Awake, awake, put on strength, 0 arm of the Lord…” (Isaiah 51:9)

Again let me say, Samson’s size was not the secret of his strength. The fact that he was the same size after he backslid negates the idea that he was a giant. His only external peculiarity was his long locks, uncut because he was a Nazarite. Nor had his long hair in itself any abnormal power. Samson’s secret was obedience. As long as Samson trod the straight and narrow path of obedience, he was invincible.

Let us remember, too, that Samson, who began in the Spirit, fell into the flesh, and so had a prison term to bring him to his senses. Finally, by one last mighty miracle, he finished in the Spirit. Backslider, this is a word for your recovery, for God can restore the years that the cankerworm and the caterpillar have eaten. He who is able delights in mercy.

Samson’s final act of power was the crowning achievement of a spectacular life’s work. After he had slipped out from under the harness of obedience, he was forced into separation from the world in a prison. Once an army trembled at his very sight; later a single boy came to lead the blinded Samson into the temple of Dragon, the fish-god. How the mighty had fallen! Yet now, God took this “weak thing” into a temple full of lords of the Philistines and set him between the pillars. “Samson took hold of the pillars … the one with his right hand and the other with his left … and he bowed himself with all His might” (judges 16:29-30) Holy jealousy gripped him. Mighty as he had been in other things, Samson now proved mightiest in prayer: “Lord, strengthen me … this once!’ (vs. 28) Would to God that every professed believer in the whole of Christendom would borrow this prayer and mean it. Then with dramatic conclusion, Samson sealed the doom of many more of the enemies of God in his dying than in his living.

Is this the dying hour of this dispensation? Many say it is. Some Christians have already hung their harps on the willows, and yet others seem to delight in speaking of the Church’s present lapse as a proof of divine inspiration. But I myself believe that if the Church will only obey the conditions, she can have a revival any time she wants it. The problem of the Church is the problem in the garden of Gethsemane-sleep! For while men sleep, the enemy, sows his seed through his cults. Lest men sleep the sleep of eternal death, 0h arm of the Lord, 0h Church of the living God, awake!

If the church is going to attain to her potential in this last hour, it is apparent that we are going to have to dust off an old word that many of us have forgotten is in the English language — DISCIPLINE! To some, this word discipline will have a monastic flavor, for it smells of the Middle Ages or throws onto the screen of the mind a picture of an unwashed hermit or a hollow-eyed anchorite. Be not deceived. Every smart “top brass” military expert has arrived there because he wore the harness of discipline. Leonard Bernstein in his music-talks holds his baton like a magic wand over mesmerized million because of discipline. This brings to mind the words of the poet:

The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward through the night!

If any man wants to write a bestseller, let him attempt a book on How to be a Saint in Six Easy Lessons. Such a writer would be fishing with bait that this generation of believers wants; but I, for one, would not swallow it.

In a brilliant sermon called “Discipleship,” G. Cambell Morgan says, “Jesus Christ could speak to the sorrow-burdened heart of humanity words so full of mother-love and father-love as to make men crowd and press round Him. On the other hand, He could suddenly speak words that flashed and scorched and burned until men drew back in astonishment.” Bracketed in the last group would be these two commands: “Take my yoke upon you” and “My disciple, take up your cross and follow me.” Both of these words imply discipline.

When we sing in a sunlit church “Oh to be like Thee; Oh to be like Thee,” we get weepy and feel an emotional lift. But permit this simple challenge:
Do we really mean ‘Oh to be like Thee’ — like the Christ of God, who was a man of discipline?

Do we really mean ‘Oh to be like Thee’ — fasting alone in the desert?

Do we mean ‘Oh to be like Thee’ to touch the depths of prayer that make us cry, ‘All Thy billows are gone over me.’

Do we mean ‘Oh to be like Thee’ — to become habituates of the fastness of the prayer chamber?

Do we mean ‘Oh to be like Thee’ — in a will like His, for He said,

“I always do the will of my Father.” Is that not discipline?

The religious sentimentalist who sings “Just a closer walk with Thee” but walks close to the ungodly and sits with the blasphemers, is not taken seriously in either heaven or hell. Be very sure, friend, that this vile world is not “a friend to grace to help on to God.” We need to pray the Father to put some blood into this “water” that runs through our veins. Our Simon-like natures need the Upper Room fire to clean us out and the discipline of the Spirit to shape us into soldiers.

Twenty-five years of discipline in a crow’s nest of an office up behind his church in Chicago brought about a Dr. A. W. Tozer, who produced a book, The Pursuit of God. This in turn produced on the ocean of spiritual teaching waves that lap their way to the ends of the earth.

After I spoke at a session in the Bible School of Wales, Mrs. Rees Howells called me for a private talk. We stood on the veranda of her home overlooking beautiful Swansea Bay I can see her finger upheld as she said, “Many talk of my husband’s buying this place with a shilling (fourteen cents) in his pocket. What they forget is that he prayed twelve hours a day for eleven months to know the mind of God.” Brethren, that’s discipline!

Today, immediately when one gets out of step with a nearby Christian, he is considered a legalist. Just remember, in “that great day of Judgment” when we must an stand before His throne, no man will be ashamed he was dubbed over-spiritual, though many will weep, groan, and “suffer loss” because of lack of discipline. Discipline is a harness by which we enable the Spirit to get the best out of our frail humanity. The Apostle Paul was a disciplinarian like his Master:

He disciplined his body: “I keep my body under.”

He disciplined himself to loneliness: “All men forsook me.”

He disciplined himself to scorn: “We are fools for Christ’s sake.”

He disciplined himself to poverty: “We suffered need.”

He disciplined himself to rejection: “We are despised.”

He disciplined himself to death: “I die daily.”

He disciplined himself to suffering: “Persecuted, but not forsaken.”

May this be our prayer, “Oh Lord, I bow my neck to Thy yoke!”

Since the hour Adam first rose to his feet, man has not stood, as today, between such potential and such peril. America is still the richest nation in the world. It is a mighty crucible into which refugees of almost all modern nations are poured. It has far more Bible schools than any other nation. In these Bible schools is dedicated manpower. Here, too, is wealth to get this manpower to the ends of the earth, and here is linguistic ability unmatched in the annals of time.

Even the gathering at Pentecost had not the potential, humanly speaking, that this vast nation has. Do you wonder, then, that from every angle, hell has America under cross fire? This mighty land is cursed with blessings . I fear that unless she awakens, repents, and puts on the whole armor, of God, she will be blessed with cursings. Already other nations are in the slavery of oppression. Can America and Britain long remain free? Unless we are to have the war of wars that will usher us into the night Of nights and the judgment of judgments, we must have the revival of revivals. Pale, pathetic, palliating preaching must be driven from the church like the idols it promotes. It is time for the church to cry again, “Where is the God of Elijah?”

Ambrose Fleming called the resurrection of Jesus Christ “the best attested fact in history” Yet at Easter time, vain effort is made to rationalize the stupendous event of the Resurrection in order to try to save face before pseudo-intellectualism, which boggles at the fact that the Lord of glory died and rose again, triumphant over death, over hell, and over the grave. Who, then, can dispute the following biting statements of Murdo MacDonald in his book, The Vitality of Faith: “Ever since the Renaissance, men have been trying to water down the Christian creed. Give us a religion purged of everything that defies logic, a religion stripped of the supernatural and emptied of miracle, a religion that is smooth and palatable and rationally acceptable-this has been the popular cry” Surely the church, weak in heart and courage, has gone out of the way to oblige.

The doom of this decaying civilization is spelled out in our crowded divorce courts, our all-time high of alcoholics and drug addicts, the number of illegitimate births or the number of abortions. A Gallup poll shows that these days most people accept lying as part of everyday business. Virtue is scorned.

Truth lies fallen in the street!

Somewhere in the archives of the British Admiralty at Whitehall, London, they have the record of a fine piece of maritime strategy. Ships of five nations were anchored in a bay in the South Pacific. A fierce storm was gathering offshore. The British captain decided to run, not away from the storm but into it. Everything available was battened down. Out crashed the ship into the boiling seas-pitching, tossing, rolling, and shuddering. Indeed, she did everything but go down. A couple of days later, buffeted but not broken, she returned to the port to find the ships of the other nations piled up on the beach.

The storm of the ages is about to break. Let the church call its crew to a new dedication. Remembering that Christ is at the helm, and with Christ’s Crest as our ensign, let us run into the storm. After the storm, we, too, shall return-to see upon the shores of time the battered, piled, wrecked, hell-inspired ideologies of the hour.

Copyright (C)1996 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas – http://www.ravenhill.org/

“Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:6-10, ESV)

After initially posting my first article on the verses 1-5 of the second chapter of John’s Gospel, where this account is found, I’ve since been reflecting on it and had some things pointed out to me by the same friend who inspired me to write that first post, showing me just how deeply prophetic this action of Christ’s at the wedding truly was.  We simply must reflect some more on it.

When the wine ran out people didn’t go on with the emotional hype as usual.  There was a lack.  There was a need, and Mary was honest about the spiritually poor condition (so to speak) of the fact that the gathering lacked wine.  She doesn’t continue on with the celebration as if nothing is wrong, nor does she make excuses concerning why the wine ran out or why enough may not have been prepared.  She realized the need and goes straight to the source–Jesus Christ, her earthly son.  This took a tremendous amount of confidence and humility of her to ask–because as we learned in the last post on this–providing the wine and any other thing was the groom’s responsibility and not that of any of the guests–of which Jesus was one.

When you come to Jesus with your need not hiding or covering anything up, be ready for Him to speak and do exactly what he says.  Follow His instructions.  He said to get the vessels and fill them with water.  HERE is where the lesson is…

What kind of vessels were they?  They were the ceremonial vessels used in the Jewish synagogue for ritual or ceremonial cleansing, and they were dry, and empty.  The vessels that were designed and used to wash iniquity and impurity lacked water, and thus were not fulfilling their purpose.  The Church and our pulpits today lack a true fresh right now Word from God, and because the pulpit is anorexic the Church is sick because there is no washing with the water of the Word.  The vessels designed to WASH or bring purification themselves lacked the pure water.

Fill your life with the word of God.  Devour the Bible in your personal life, not just for study, blogging or preaching, but just fill up on it.  Then out of that, you will fill your ministry with the Word and fresh revelation.

The wedding lacked wine, but the vessels designed to cleanse from sin lacked water.

When you get filled with the Word, there will be cleansing from sin, and revival can then break out.  But we often times want to go straight to the wine, but first you must ALWAYS be filled with the word, and cleansed.  How can there be joy if there is no cleansing or forgiveness?  How can there be washing or cleansing if there is no water in the very ministries designed to bring cleansing from impurity?  In this account, the vessels, the instruments–representing the ministry or the ministers designed for cleansing–were dry and empty.

Jesus instructed to fill them with water (or fill em with the Word) and draw out of that which it is filled with, and it had now turned into the fresh new thing.  This is what happens when we fill up on the Word of God–joy and anointing of the Holy Spirit will flow from our lives and be manifested.  This is Jesus’ “little secret” for bringing new wine or revival.  I use the term ‘little secret’ kinda loosely when I really mean to say ‘forgotten or neglected truth’ because it’s plain, but many still don’t seem to know it.

Jesus’ solution is that the vessels He desires to use–they can be people, or ministries, etc…be filled with the fresh revelation of the Word.  And only when you draw from that fresh filling–not with a pseudo-superficial emotional filling–but a real genuine soaking in the WORD, then what you draw out will be an aged matured product that produces fruit–fruit matured and pressed, that produces joy, the wine of the Holy Spirit.

Isn’t it interesting that there was no wine, but there was also no water where there should have been water–in the Church, in the pulpit.  Jesus’ first instructions were not immediately wine, it was filling [the Church] with water, or filling those vessels first.

Saving the Best Wine For Last

The master of the feast in this account remarked that the best wine had been saved for last.  I believe personally that this is a picture of the Church, that in the early form as documented in Acts chapter 2, there was an outpouring of the Spirit that birthed and sustained the Church, but that right before The Wedding of the Lamb, the best wine will have been poured out and the Church will have made herself ready.  Revelation 19:6-8 states how the great multitude is gathered and clothed in white linen representing the righteous acts of the saints.  There will be no possible way to be so clothed except for the power of the wine of the Holy Spirit poured out on a people cleansed and washed by the power of the Word of God.  Joel 2:28-32 gives us a glimpse of that:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.” For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”

This account details what those ‘last days’ will look like, however, Peter referenced that in Acts 2:17-21, but refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as being evidence of the last days already being up on us.  It’s been the last days already for almost 2000 years (see Are We Living in The Last Days?).  It’s probably little to no secret to any historian or student of Church history the Church started with an explosion, and then went into a significant spiritual dark age, and for the last few hundred years has been gradually having forgotten truths restored to it ever since the great Reformation.  We are getting nearer and nearer to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, subsequent to the return of Christ the Bridegroom.  He is and has been saving the best wine for last.

If Jesus is going to purify us to present us to Himself ready for that day, then that means in these last days the Lord is going to also confront us more and more because He loves us and longs to be with us.  The purpose of tribulation on the earth will not be specifically to yank His Bride from it to avoid that hour, but to prepare and further purify Her for the Wedding.  This is also how I read the book of Revelation–through the Apostle John’s perspective–the friend of the Bridegroom whom Jesus’ loved.  I read it through a Bridal Paradigm, and see the Bridegroom coming back in full force ready to finally obtain His Bride He longs for.

If we don’t get a good grasp of the dealings of the Lord now we will become offended at Him and His work when He comes with the water of His Word and begins to put us under the microscope and also allow us to go through intense persecution we’ve not previously known because He just wants to be with us, and have us prepared for it.

Are you ready for the fresh outpouring that’s breaking out and coming?

“…. he that has seen Me has seen the Father….” -John 14.9

In the October 30th selection of My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers gives us this awesome thought:

Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction, we cannot have faith in Him; but immediately we hear Jesus say- “he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,” we have something that is real, and faith is boundless. Faith is the whole man rightly related to God by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The darkness that marks ‘god-seeking’ cultures is profounder and more tragic than we know. Even in modern evangelicalism, there is enough of a measure of humanistic thought that in most cases believers remain unbroken over the condition of mankind. If one were to survey the nation of India, for instance, and the number of gods or goddesses men pursue there, it would become clear that the whole of the nation is pursuing “God” as a mere abstraction.

Men will spend weeks standing on one leg, days and sometimes months in fasting, whole nights in meditation and reading of ancient texts, or cut and pierce their bodies in numerous ways, just for the positive sense it gives them in knowing that their souls are bent in a spiritual direction. From one village to the next, their deities change name and form, and most of the time there are multiple gods to worship in each household. There is no spiritual stability, no answer to the problem of sin, no consciousness of God’s holiness and love, but instead the bewildering pursuit of the divine in mere abstractions. Paul did not see these kinds of religious pursuits as valid in any way, stating that they were literally worshipping “demons” whether they knew it or not. (1 Cor. 10.20)

We cannot have faith in God until we have seen His Son for who He is, and believed in Him unto salvation. The nations are groping in darkness, incapable of finding anything but false and fading lights, and not until the Church has penetrated their darkness with the light of truth in Christ will they have any hope at all. The darkness is not bound to idolatry in India, but is the plight of mankind in every culture and in every form of life where Christ has not become the center. Across the board men are seeking their gods in abstraction, be they wooden statues or cars, homes and big screen T.V.’s, and only those who have come into communion with the One true God through the Gospel have the unfading hope of true Light. Only we have stability and certitude about eternity, for it has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and it is founded upon the revelation that God has given in the Scriptures. Do we dare keep this great light to ourselves?

They must know of His great love. They must know of His power to break the stranglehold of sin and shame. They must know that He has come in the flesh, died, raised, and ascended, and that He’s coming again. They are groping about after “mere abstractions,” when the revelation of God the Father has already been given. They must hear of the Man, Christ Jesus!

How can we live so indifferently, so numbly, so stingily. Have we failed to realize that unless the nations see God through the revelation of the Gospel they will only pursue Him through abstractions, and will fall totally short of the glory of grace altogether? Do we really believe that unless they come into the Gospel they will perish, forever?

We need to be freed from humanistic mixtures and hollow hopes for their progressive improvement, and brought onto the grounds of apostolic certitude. Paul shed blood and tears, took stones in the face and lashes on the back, for the singular purpose of setting forth the Man Christ Jesus to those who were seeking God in mere abstractions. We need the same sight, the same courage, the same burden, the same faith, and the same missionary spirit, or else they perish forever. It’s time to wake up, saints. It’s not a dream. It’s not an option. Woe unto us if we preach not the Gospel.

“If sinners be damned at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. Let them go with our arms around their knees. Let no one go there unwarned or unprayed for.” -Charles Spurgeon

There is an alarming reality that is taking place among those who are “called into the ministry” in this hour.

What I mean by this is that many of the modern day ministers of the gospel are not driven by the unction of a prophetic burden from the Lord. Instead, the driving force in their life and ministry is product promotion, which in essence is really self-promotion. Sadly, this ungodly phenomenon is not only permitted but promoted. It is as if many of these individuals are proud of the fact that they have mastered the art of acquiring funds and support from individuals as their personal interests and kingdoms are being built on their ability to market themselves, while using Jesus as their mascot.

As I was doing college work in the process of acquiring a business degree some time ago, I had the opportunity to take various classes that dealt with many different marketing strategies. These concepts were taught in such a way as to teach us how to entice individuals into promotional themes that presented products and or services. I distinctly remember the projects I completed that were intended to instruct us how to psychologically draw people into marketing schemes. Even though much of what I learned was good and profitable when it comes to business, I know with certainty that many today cross a line when it comes to ministry and the concept of peddling the gospel (which often times is no gospel at all). This practice is blatant and practiced by many without shame. My heart is that true prophetic voices will arise in this hour and begin to deal with much of the ungodly practices of those who claim to be called of God to preach the gospel.

Some distinct differences between a prophetic minister and a product driven minister are as follows:

1) Prophetic ministers are committed to the preaching of the cross despite the cost to them personally and even financially. Product driven ministers stick their finger in the air and find out what is currently popular in the Church and adjust accordingly. In other words, if revival is popular they push revival, if prosperity is popular, they push prosperity, if the prophetic is popular, they push the prophetic, etc.

2) Prophetic ministers are not for sale (they have a continual awareness of the fact that they are purchased by the blood of Jesus). Product driven ministers can be bought –if the price is right. Despite the fact that many of them were born again of the Spirit of God and have experienced His divine touch, they are now more concerned with their own popularity and image than they are purity of heart, righteousness and the blood of Jesus that screams out for obedience to the Word of God.

3) Prophetic ministers resist the lime light of this present world and seek to push the image and glory of Jesus at all times. Product driven ministers are infatuated with their own image and identity and love to plaster it wherever and whenever they can so that people will be drawn to them and their position in the business of the Gospel Enterprise, that dethrones Jesus and enthrones themselves.

4) Prophetic ministers are consumed with the divine burden of the Lord and live out that burden. Product driven ministers are motivated by the next project at hand that consumes their energy. They are always thinking of the next promotion and how it can be presented in order to generate the most revenue while pushing self, self and more self.

5) Prophetic ministers walk in brokeness and humility (they realize their need of God’s divine assistance in their lives incessantly). Product driven ministers are consumed with arrogance and pride. They often times get to where they become hardened and demanding on others as they assertively push their own agendas, strategies and ideas. Sadly, they get to a place where their own kingdom building takes precedence over people, and if people get ran over while self and product are being pushed, then so be it. The idol of ministry (self) must stand and all cost!

6) Prophetic ministers embrace and live out the example of Jesus and set an example of complete servant leadership. Product driven ministers demand to be served and create a false world where they actually believe they are to be honored and served in such a way that those who serve them are some how supernaturally blessed just to be in their presence. Don’t get me wrong, I completely believe in serving others and consider it a joy to assist true men and women of God. However, if those men and women of God are not willing to serve others the same way, then in reality they have a spiritual disease that I call “Little Man’s Disease”. This is a condition that is often times rooted in insecurity and comes out with a mask of self-confidence, harshness and arrogance. The only cure is true repentance which alone can lead to true brokeness. This disease has destroyed many (even those mightily used of God) and if it is not dealt with and corrected, often times it leads to a lifestyle of sin and compromise which in turn can and does lead to spiritual paralysis and or death. This can happen despite the fact that the machine of product driven ministry carries on in the eyes of the people.

7) Prophetic ministers naturally reproduce spiritual sons and daughters. Product driven ministers are too driven by self to produce anything but more of self. They might entice individuals into their arena for a season by offering them promises of assistance, mentoring, opportunity, etc. However, most of the time they leave a wake of people in their ministry path who have become wounded, disillusioned, confused and even backslid due to the the example that was set before them. Sadly, the sons and daughters that are created are usually twisted into the same spiritually deformed, product driven, self-promoting individual that set the pattern before them.

I have only touched the surface on this subject and will be writing more in the future. My prayer is that God will grip our hearts in this hour and cause a genuine awakening to take place among His Church. I challenge all of you (as well as myself) to search out the origin of your actions within the House of God. Why do we do what we do? Are our motivations born from the heart of God or are they rooted in the deprivation of self?

We must get honest before the Holiness of Jesus and allow the search light of His glory to reveal anything within us that would hinder the eternal purposes of Jesus in our lives.

All For Jesus,

Keith Collins
Generation Impact Ministries

“…. judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” -James 2.13

At the end of our lives, we will see that the most crucial component of our character in God, is whether or not we have become a people of mercy. When the smoke and fire of Jacob’s trouble has cleared, and judgment has been enacted in an ultimate way, the revelation of God in relation to Israel will be a revelation of indescribable mercy. The revelation of God that comes to us in Hosea and elsewhere in the prophets, is that judgment and wrath are not the end, but rather a means to the end; namely, the disclosure of God’s great character and desire, which is mercy.

Men who use “discernment” as a term for their self-righteous judgments and the spread of gossip have totally lost sight of the Spirit of the Gospel itself. If we look upon others- even those with false doctrine- from a humanly contrived foundation, rather than through the lens of mercy, we have removed ourselves from the wisdom of God. We are all recipients of mercy, and if we have anything at all in God, it’s only because it has been given from above.

One of the clear signs that our “discernment” of others is born from below is that it moves us to expose and insult the ones who we are purportedly examining. If the Lord gives us sight of another brother’s error, it is first for the purpose of intercession, and if we haven’t given ourselves in that place first, it most always becomes sin to speak of that erring brother.

There is a need for examination and discernment in this hour, maybe more than ever. I can’t think of time when there were more false gospels being propounded in the earth and paraded as authentic. I can’t think of time when there were more self-appointed apostles, popularized half-gospels, and strange emphases in the Church. True discernment is of paramount importance in our day. Yet there is no true discernment unless it comes from the Spirit of God, and if it comes from Him it will invariably lead us into humility, brokenness and hope for the ones who are deceived. If it leads to a superiority complex, a release of gossip, or any such thing, it has come from below rather than from above. Hear Wigglesworth on this:

Most people seem to have discernment, or think they have, and if they would turn it on themselves for twelve months they would never want to discern again. The gift of discernment is not criticism. I am satisfied that our paramount need is more perfect love.

Lord, in this hour, when the cross has been neglected, and the need for discernment is so crucial, mark us with the Spirit of Christ Himself. We don’t want to be a gullible people, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, nor do we want to be a people who think themselves superior or correct, and who have lost the primacy of merciful intercession, and love towards the brethren. Increase the reality of truth and love in our lives, Lord. We need You more than ever.

Walking in Wisdom and the Spirit, and The Mystery of Christ and the  Church

II. The Mystery of Christ and the Church

1.   22-24 Wives were created to be subject to their husbands just as the church was created to be subject to Christ. This is not bondage, this is liberty. This is the place where the wife is in her realm. She is free, doing what she was created to do, helping and strengthening her husband.[6]

2.   25; 28, 29 Husbands must not take advantage of this and lord over his wife his position. He must love her and serve her. What wife, who is loved, will not joyfully subject herself to her husband? He must put her first in everything, just as Christ put the His bride (us) first, even in death and life. This is the husband laying his life down for her, daily putting her before him. He must nourish her, giving her all the physical, intimate, mental, and spiritual food that she needs. He must cherish her. She is a gift, not a toy or a slave, etc…

3. 25-32 Christ and the Church

a. Christ treated us like His own wife.   He died in our place, so we could live. He cleansed us of our sin, washing us in His blood, so we would be a virgin on our wedding day. This is also why Paul told us earlier to stay away from things that make us filthy. Jesus does not want a filthy bride. He meets us in that state and removes from us the filthiness and makes us ready in the Spirit for the wedding day. So we must walk this out. We have a wedding to attend and we must be ready for it. When husbands love their wives, they will respect and love him back. She will obey him because she is loved. Christ loves us and gives us life, so we will freely love Him back. We are not forced to obey, He wants lovers, not robots. We are free and compelled to obey all that He commands of us, because we love to be loved by Him.

b. When we are married, we leave our parents to become joined with another. We are joined to that person, and in intimacy[7] there is no distinction. We become one entity-connected.[8] Christ left His Father to be joined with us, His bride. He created a bride for Himself who would love Him because He nourishes and cherishes, and laid His life down for Her. He longs to fill us with Himself, as the marriage illustrates. Remember we are His dwelling, and we are filled with His Spirit.[9]

c. This is supernatural, not natural.[10] Being intimate with God means getting out of bed with the world. We are married and joined to Him and Him alone. This is total freedom. An authentic mature church is one that is married to God and subject to Him in everything. This is a great mystery and I am not attempting to complete an explanation here, just providing revelatory insight into the understanding of the context.

d. 33 We must have properly loving marriages and families that make up the church. They must be string if the church is going to be strong. Paul starts the next chapter with emphasis on this. Only when we understand the relationship between Christ and the church can we properly relate to each other as husband and wife, and as a family.

[2] vv 4:1

[3] vv 4:3

[4] see 39

[5] vv 4:13

[6] With so much feminism and “equality” in today’s western culture, this is being fought and even being taught from an incorrect “Biblical” standpoint. Men and women are equal as far as it comes to their relationship to God. However, they were created to fulfill different roles. These roles may change at different times and vary from person to person, but there is still a divinely created order that they generally operate in. For women to do and be what she was created to be is total freedom for her. If she steps out of these roles and tries to do what a man is created to do, she is actually straying into bondage. (I am speaking of general life and family function of having peace in your place. Yes God can raise up females to do seemingly manly things as He sees fit, and as a need may arise, especially if a man is not present nor able to act in the call. This is a response to a culture that says women have to equalize themselves with men.)

[7] (a reflection of the spirit)

[8] This is why adultery and lust is so bad.  In a sense, we break the connection (and covenant) we have with our lover and join to another.

[9] I am not saying the Holy Spirit is a man’s seed. Earthly marriage according to the text reflects the spiritual between God and men. I am simply expounding on being joined to, and “one” with God (vv31-32).

[10] You must be mature to understand this and not be of a gross mindset.

Ephesians Part 1: Introduction

Ephesians Part 2: Chapter 1

Ephesians Part 3:  Chapter 2

Ephesians Part 4: Chapter 3

Ephesians Part 5: Chapter 4a

Ephesians Part 6: Chapter 4b

Ephesians Part 7: Chapter 5a

Ephesians Part 8: Chapter 5b

Ephesians Part 9: Chapter 6a

Ephesians Part 10: Chapter 6b & Conclusion

Ephesians Part 11: Heavenly Places

“How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!” Song of Solomon 4:10b

“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2

We began in our previous article with this verse from the Song of Solomon to establish our premise for these series of articles on the love of God flowing through the believer.  The context surrounding that verse establishes that the Bridegroom, Christ, is speaking to His Bride, the Church stating we have ‘captivated His heart’ (verse 9).  Our worship and adoration–and just simply our obedience to come follow Him and be in awe and reverent fear of Him–does something in his heart.  He gets some type of satisfaction from our worshipful, fasted lifestyles that He doesn’t get in another way.

We also began in the last post to elaborate on the fact the wine speaks of the best this life has to offer and not sinful or guilty pleasures.   Since most oftentimes wine is associated with the Holy Spirit, we’re then assuming that the Spirit being poured out is a good thing, BUT a foundational starting point for this love walk we’re going on.  So allow me to show you another part of this journey, of just what happens when the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

^“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,  giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:17-21, emphasis mine)

As we established in our previous article by looking at 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 to show that the gifts of the Spirit are foundational–but love is the more excellent, and the greater way–then it makes sense also that one of the evidences of a born again believer truly being filled with the Holy Spirit, is going to be love.  If we are operating in all manner of gifts of the Spirit, but have not love, then it is pointless and we are nothing (see 1 Cor 13:1-2).  If we are constantly, and regularly being filled with the Holy Spirit on an ongoing basis, then it won’t just be evidenced by speaking in tongues, prophecies, psalms, hymns and so on, but we will also be submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Dare I say it: the REAL evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit, is love for one another–not at the expense of the gifts such as tongues, but on top of it, including the gifts.  How do I know this?  Well, I could post too large a list of Scriptures dealing with commandments to love, but let me focus on a few things that tie into our Bridal paradigm specifically, and the direction I’m going in with this series of articles:

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:19-20, emphasis mine)

We must remember a few things about the Apostle John: he had a revelation of the love of God which obviously would affect his perspective.  He referred to himself in his gospel account as the one Jesus loved.  In the end of that Gospel, he said that if all the works Jesus did were recorded, the world would not be able to contain the books (John 21:25).  Therefore, what we have written in our Scripture canon does not contain any wasted pages.  All of it is divinely arranged to be there for a reason.  John lived to be a ripe old age and it’s commonly held by many that he wrote this and his other two epistles towards the very end of his life, even after he wrote The Revelation he received while exiled on the island of Patmos.  It is for this reason then, we can reasonably interpret the book of Revelation through the lens of the LOVE of God he had, and when one does, we see the matter of the coming of the Lord in a whole different light than just stuff that belongs in Left Behind fiction books–but one of a marriage finally coming to realization. The book is a revelation of the Bridegroom–lovesick for His Bride–coming back to finally marry her.  John had that revelation, but I digress a little from where I’m going with this.

If John took the time to write these 5 chapters, then this stuff MUST be some of the most important things he felt worth sharing with the recipient of this letter, and the Church.   Therefore, if at the ripe old age of 90 or maybe even 100 this was what he had to say after decades of intimate relationship with The Bridegroom–after decades of public ministry– then it’s wise of us to take seriously, and meditate and ponder things from his perspective.   We need the perspective of the one who knew his identity in the Bride of Christ, and knew himself as the one Jesus loved.

How do I know this whole “wine of the Spirit and being filled, speaking to one another, and submitting to one another” thing ties into this whole Bridal paradigm?  Because the rest of the chapter goes on to say so:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. (Eph 5:22-24)

Sometimes I really hate the chapter breaks and title headers the publishers of our Bible translations put in there, because the original manuscripts were not broken down into chapters and verses, and certainly didn’t have subject headings like most of our Bibles say.  I’m only mentioning that because even though they’re helpful for finding specific passages and parables, when reading they sometimes inadvertently give the reader the impression new topics are starting.  However, this is a part of the same flow of thought the author had.  Jesus taught in complete subjects, even if the English Standard Version I’m reading this from breaks things down into seemingly different topics, when the apostles and epistle writers wrote in entire concepts.  Let’s keep reading:

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Eph. 5:25-33, emphasis mine)

Remember, we love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and Christ has sought out His Bride since before the foundation of the world.  He is talking here of presenting His Bride to Himself at the marriage of the Lamb.  Christ cherishes the Church.  She’s His own Body.  He nourishes her.  Christ ‘left’ His Father, in the eternal heavenly realm, to come down to our earth that He may gather His Bride to bring her where He Himself is.  He cried out on the cross “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46) as he bore the sin of His Bride so as to make her pure and spotless before God.  As Jesus was feeling that weight of sin, He was experiencing separation from God for the only time in all of eternity. It was at this time that 2 Corinthians 5:21 occurred, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Now, if we have truly been born from above, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we’re going to respect Christ the way the wife is to respect her husband.  So if we respect Christ, out of the response we have towards Him as he loves us, then we will not do anything to hurt His Bride that we’re apart of.  We will lay our life down for one another.  We will speak encouragement, not gossip.  We will submit to one another, preferring the other as better than ourselves.

Let’s submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, for He finds that to be better than wine.

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Seabird is a band from the Cincinnati Ohio (northern Kentucky) area. One of my best friends, Brandon Weaver, is the bassist for the group. I am sharing this with you because I have heard them live and listened to much of their music. They are raw, singing and playing from their hearts, bringing refreshing realism to overproduced music, even in Christian corridors. Their new album Rocks Into Rivers is set to be released on Dec. 15th. This is the follow up to their 1st release, Til We See the Shore. Also, there is a collection of Christmas songs entitled The Silent Night EP. Their music has been featured on several TV shows and is frequently heard on Grey’s Anatomy.

Below is an excerpt from the band’s website, describing their music.

Seabird’s 2008 debut ‘Til We See the Shore turned the piano pop rockers into a national name with the hit single “Rescue,” prominent TV placements and several major coast-to-coast tours. Fans got to hear the band on a PureVolume Session and Paste Magazine sampler, and Amazon.com made the album a “Deal of the Day.” It was such a banner year that they even earned their hometown’s highest music honor, “Artist of the Year,” at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. Most bands would either take a break or keep working the same album, but not Seabird. Just over a year after releasing their breakthrough debut, the piano-pounding rockers march on with their sophomore album Rocks Into Rivers.

The new album features all that Seabird does best – rich melodies, immediate vocal hooks and picturesque narratives – but Rocks Into Rivers propels the band forward with bigger sounds, darker twists and masterfully woven instrumentation. Produced by Paul Moak (Mat Kearney, Sixpence None the Richer) and Aqualung’s Matt Hales at Ocean Studios and The Smoakstack, the album walks the line between earthy and urban, blue collar and big city, with emotionally bare lyrics about running into walls, finding new paths and questioning yourself in the process. It’s an energized blend of sexy Brit-style sonics and the working man’s ethos of ’70s American rock.

“We felt like we were capturing a live performance, which is where we have the most confidence,” says Aaron Morgan, who handles the band’s vocals, keys and songwriting duties. “That’s where we felt we were really landing punches.”

Lead track and single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” sets the tone with clap-happy beats, soaring melodies and scatty vocal flourishes that build toward an unforgettable chorus. The songs travels through peaks and valleys that musically reflect the emotional state of its subject, a girl trying to stand up as her family falls down around her.

“The song is about a girl who carries the weight of her parents’ divorce on her shoulders,” explains Morgan. “She starts to believe lies about herself, like it’s her fault. ‘Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful’ is about wanting her to know the truth and letting her know she has the ability to live beyond this.”

Morgan switches the spotlight to himself with “Believe Me,” an impassioned promise to be the husband and father he knows he should be, set to fast-paced verses, a bold chorus and a touching piano and vocal breakdown. Family is also the focus on “The Good King,” a mid-tempo lullaby about seeing life through his daughter’s eyes, while “Baby I’m in Love” recalls seeing his pregnant wife become an incredible mother even before their daughter was born.

“This album is a lot about becoming a father and a husband,” says the singer. “I was thrown into so many roles and struggled with determining what is a gift and what is burden. It’s about recognizing my own shortcomings and dealing with them.”

The album closes with the title track, “Rocks Into Rivers,” that tells a well-known story veiled in dark, poetic lyrics. The song gets inside the head of a historic figure at his moment of personal failure with colorfully rich lines like “I’ll make you shiver when I turn rocks into rivers.” (Used by permission)

Here are some links for you listen to their music and, if you like, purchase their albums and materials.

To listen click here.

For the Store click here.

YouTube page click here.

Additional Links:

http://www.myspace.com/seabird
http://www.purevolume.com/seabird
http://www.seabird.storenvy.com
http://www.itunes.com/seabird
http://seabird.credentialrecordings.com/
http://www.tangle.com/seabird
http://www.imeem.com/seabirdmusic

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17

This passage of scripture uses strong language. It leaves no room for error. It states its case plainly, pointedly and concisely.

In the Church, we all have three primary enemies: 1). The flesh; 2). The Devil; and 3). The world.

We see this referred to also in the Parable of the Sower: the world is represented as seed sown among thorns. They grow up and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Not that it bears no fruit at all, but that perhaps it bears no lasting fruit. It BECOMES unfruitful.

What do these thorns represent, specifically? The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desire for other things, pleasures of this life, etc… Obviously, the love of the world.

We all naturally gravitate to that which we love most. We enjoy talking of those things that are most dear to us. We crave any new information or available knowledge of our favorite object of affection with great interest and excitement. We never think to complain of any cost or sacrifice that is necessary to pursue this object of our affection, but instead feel that it is well worth it.

Now, please bear with me here while I put some pointed questions to your own conscience, for the purpose of helping you to discover your own true spiritual condition, whether “the love of the Father” is in you or “the love of the world”.

The passage above states that,”if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him…“.

1). Has serving God become a boring routine to you?  Do you find yourself indulging more and more in worldly entertainment–even in some things with questionable content and/or subject matter–without first asking yourself, “will this glorify God? Will this set a good example in favor of holiness and will this be a positive influence to others of godliness? Will doing this demonstrate and exemplify “the love of the Father”, or “the love of the world?”

If these questions are unimportant to you , and instead, you presumptuously indulge your worldly lusts, you can be sure that you love the world and the things in it, and that the love of the Father is not in you.

2). What kind of things do you most enjoy talking about? Do you find your greatest pleasure discussing deeply spiritual subjects such as holiness, self-denial, prevailing prayer, healing the sick, driving our demons, the love of God, etc…? Or do you prefer discussing the latest worldly music, movies, entertainment and amusements? Remember, Jesus Christ Himself laid it down as a rule of our nature, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”.

3). When you do read God’s Word, is it hard to put it down because you are so hungry for God, or do you find its pages uninteresting and even boring? Do you love to spend time in prayer because you enjoy being with the father, or do you avoid prayer or feel inclined to keep it short so that you can get past it and on to something more enjoyable to you?

4). When you perform what you consider to be your Christian duties, do you feel relieved, and free once again to pursue your worldly enjoyments, as though you had fulfilled an obligation, or do you consider yourself a love-slave to Jesus Christ, and that everything you do,–whether you eat or drink or whatever you do–that it should be done for the glory of God?

My beloved brother, sister, whoever you are, remember that while you read these questions, God’s eye is pouring a searching blaze of light into your inmost heart.

Now, I won’t take it upon myself to accuse you or to decide the answer to these questions for you. I encourage you to examine yourself, listen to your conscience and allow the Spirit of God to search you and show you your true character, and show you whether you are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”.

If you no longer find pleasure in serving God or if you find MORE pleasure in worldly amusements, then you have left your first love and are a backslider in heart who is “filled with his own ways”.

If this is the case with you, I urge you, at once, to stop what you are doing, fall on you knees and repent, and do your first works. Your first work is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ. Otherwise, you CANNOT be His disciple.

Perhaps some of you are thinking, “this is legalism! this is bondage!”.
To whom is it legalism? If you PREFERRED God and loved Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you would find your greatest pleasure in pursuing Him, and anything that cooled off your zeal or took up time you could be spending in His fellowship, service or conversation would be repulsive to you. Legalism and bondage is when you perform your Christian duties out of a sense of obligation rather than out of love and because you prefer it. If you loved Him as you ought to, wouldn’t you want to talk of Him, His word and His great love?  Wouldn’t you find your greatest pleasure in pursuing Him and bringing sinners for whom He died into His family, so that “the Lamb that was slain may receive the reward of His suffering?

Remember the sad words of the Apostle Paul, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world”.

Your servant-brother,

Joel Crumpton

http://joelcrumpton.blogspot.com