Quote:

 

Chapter Seven
THE LESSONS WE MUST LEARN



Some people believe that the coming move of God will be so powerful and so awesome that it will be almost impossible for the ministries involved in it to fall into error or into sin. I simply cannot go along with this. History clearly demonstrates that the greater the power, the greater the potential for subtle pride and error to enter in. This is why God has taken so long in preparing His future (now hidden) ministries for the coming move. Please remember that Satan himself was once one of the most splendid and powerful creatures in all of Heaven - an 'anointed Cherubim' of the highest order, who walked in the very presence of God. The Creator Himself said of him: "You were the ANOINTED CHERUB who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were PERFECT in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you" (Ez 28:14-15). "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" (Is 14:12). If such a creature as this - walking in the very presence of God - can fall from grace, then so can we, even at the height of a powerful God-given ministry.

It is important also to realize the strength and the cunning of our adversary. The devil has had literally thousands of years to study mankind, and to learn how to manipulate human beings in the most effective way. He has seen Revivals come and Revivals go. He has caused great men of God to fall, and others to stumble or to not fulfill their potential. He is a past master at the arts of spiritual war, and he plays HARD, with no conscience and no mercy. He has had thousands of years to perfect his techniques for causing good men to fall, of setting snares that sometimes take months and years to bear fruit, but eventually lure men to the demise of their lives or their ministries. He has seen it all. And yet, by the power of God it is still possible to beat him, and to beat him well. But we must not be ignorant of his wiles or devices to trap us. And we must learn well the lessons that history has to teach us.


SPIRITUAL PRIDE

Spiritual pride is the major, but often very subtle underlying root of much deception, and the fall of many once-promising ministries. A friend from America who has studied this subject recently told me that over the past 21 years, he has personally known of at least a dozen anointed men of God who have lost their anointings and ministries. He says that a number have even ended up dead or in prison. "To whom much is given, much is expected." To repeat Paul Billheimer's words: "THE SANDS OF TIME ARE STREWN WITH THE WRECKS OF THE BROKEN LIVES OF MANY, WHO WERE ONCE MIGHTILY USED OF GOD, BUT WHO SUFFERED SHIPWRECK UPON THE ROCKS OF SPIRITUAL PRIDE." As the Scriptures declare, "PRIDE goeth before the downfall" (Prov 16:18). If Satan cannot destroy us from without, then he will destroy us from within.

It is usually through our THOUGHTS - through our MIND - that such attacks come, with temptations to pride disguised as our own thoughts and feelings, etc. The devil will happily take a long-term approach with such attacks, slowly building on what he has been feeding into our mind until he can sway us into making bad decisions and judgements - blinded by subtle pride in that one crucial area. His object is to get us to 'BELIEVE THE LIE', and in that process this prideful deception travels from our mind down into our heart, where it is much harder to dislodge. Like a seed, it will then grow, and begin to manifest itself in our lives, until eventually, if it has not been dealt with, God may be forced to remove us from the ministry He has called us into. We are told in the Bible that we are to have the "mind of Christ", and that we are to bring "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5).

We are to be full of His Spirit, so that we may have A MIND CONTROLLED, a MIND DIRECTED, and a MIND FIXED ON GOD. I have found personally that such 'roots' or strongholds of pride, or anything else in our lives, can be dealt with very effectively by RENOUNCING them, from the very depths of our heart and soul, in Jesus' name, and casting them away from ourselves as hated things. (This applies to bad habits and any other form of 'stronghold' also). "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Cor 10:4). We do not have to let the devil dominate any area of our lives in this way.

Obviously, those who are involved in powerful ministries are particularly susceptible to pride entering in, because of the amazing things that they see happening every day in their ministries, and the temptation to begin taking some of the glory for themselves, or to start to think that they are something 'special' - forgetting that every gift they have is from God. Such pride can be incredibly subtle, and the devil delights in placing such ministries under as much 'pressure' of this kind as he possibly can. However, it is important to remember that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear. (1 Cor 10:13).

It is significant to note that William Branham was apparently still a truly humble man in many ways right up until the time of his death, and yet the devil managed to introduce subtle pride into his mind and heart in a couple of crucial areas. He presumed to become a teacher when this was obviously not his calling, and he eventually came to believe inflated "Elijah"-type revelations about himself and his 'special' position, proclaiming these to his followers. As the apostle Paul wrote, we are not to think of ourselves "more highly than we ought to think" (Rom 12:3). Speaking of the fall of Lucifer, God said, "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour." (Ez 28:17).

It is also important to remember that it is often when we have won our greatest victories in God, that we are most susceptible to attacks from the enemy. As Paul wrote, "let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor 10:12). We see this particularly in the life of John Alexander Dowie. It was when he had won through into a period of comparitive success and prosperity in his ministry that he apparently relaxed his guard, and became deceived into "BELIEVING THE LIE" that the devil was trying to sell him.

It is clear from the Scriptures that in the Last Days, there ARE to be ministries who will go forth in the 'spirit and power of Elijah'. However, as Gordon Lindsay wrote in his biography of Dowie, "HAD HE BEEN THE VERY ELIJAH, WHAT AN UNFORTUNATE MISTAKE WAS MADE, IN PROCLAIMING HIMSELF AS SUCH! John the Baptist was satisfied in declaring himself 'a voice crying in the wilderness'. When they asked John if he were Elijah, he said he was not. Yet Christ later said that he was! (Matt. 11:14) Jesus commended the humility of John who said, 'He must increase, but I must decrease', and declared that none born of women was greater than he." (G. Lindsay, 'John Alexander Dowie', pg 190). It is often when such DECLARATIONS of being a 'last-days apostle' or an Elijah are made, that things begin to go off the rails. The devil's first priority is to get us to 'BELIEVE A LIE' (usually some inflated or prideful view of ourselves, or some excuse why a certain sin is 'OK for me') or even to publicly declare an EXAGGERATED TRUTH, and then to ACT ON IT. After this, as the deception grows and our blindness in that area deepens, surely only disaster can result.

However, one of the alarming things about such deception is that THE GIFTS, THE POWER AND THE CALLING OF GOD already operating in one's ministry up to that point will usually continue to operate just as powerfully, often right until death. "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:29). In other words, God will usually not take away such giftings, even if a ministry falls into deception. And so, they will continue to exercise such power, often thinking that "all is well" and ignoring all warnings, until it is too late. A fatal, but oh- so-common mistake. And history is littered with with the shattered remains of such ministries, who refused to heed God's writing on the wall until it was too late.


FINANCES

You will notice that with both Dowie and Branham, errors of judgement in the financial area certainly helped to precipitate their downfall. With Dowie, his problem was becoming too caught up in financial dealings and the 'cares of this world' (almost certainly as a result of his "Elijah the Restorer" revelation). And there can be no doubt today, that God will deal harshly with anyone who uses their anointing and giftings as a means to wealth and luxury living. As G.H. Montgomery wrote of the decline of the Healing Revival, and of a number of evangelists at that time: "Men who preach the meek and lowly Nazarene to a lost and dying world, and yet live in palatial homes built on money contributed by God's poor people, cannot call themselves followers of Jesus."

With Branham, it was the opposite problem, as he obviously couldn't care less about his finances, and perhaps presumed that "God will take care of it - I don't need to arrange or give heed to anything". Again, a fatal form of presumption. I have no doubt that God quietly warned Branham many times about his finances and lack of accounting or basic organization, but in the end it took a disaster to make him sit up and take notice - and by then it was too late, and his ministry was deeply mired in a financial pit from which it never truly recovered.

I have met a number of men and women of God in recent years who are also "anti-organization" to the point where if they were in a Revival ministry, they could very easily suffer the same financial fate as that of Branham. Their theory is that essentially, "God will do it all", and many of them see any form of organization almost as a sin. But my question is this: If God doesn't want humans involved in such ministry-related organization, then why did he invent the giftings of 'HELPERS' and "ADMINISTRATORS"? (1 Cor 12:28, RSV. The King James refers to these as 'helps' and "governments", and they are found in every translation in the list of spiritual giftings for the church). It is also important to remember that the Early Church appointed seven men to administrate the funds collected by the apostles for use amongst the poor, etc. (Acts 6:1-7).

Obviously, such organization does not have to be too similar to today's churches, but it does need to be streamlined, efficient, and above all - transparently honest, open and above-board. The last thing we need is shifty financial dealings bringing reproach upon God's people. The early Salvation Army, which was a true Revival movement for at least it's first 40 years, had just such an operation. Obviously, the whole move- ment was modelled on a mobilized army, with a central command post in London (from whence General William Booth ruled with a rod of iron!), and supply lines reaching out into every corner of the world. Like the early church, these people cared for the poor, as well as for God's ministries, and thousands of people were clothed, fed and housed (as well as thousands more saved) right around the world. The early Salvation Army was one of the most long-lived anointed Revival movements that the church has ever seen, and there can be no doubt that this was greatly helped by the effectiveness and godliness of their organization. Revival literally followed them wherever they went. It is very clear then, from this and other examples, that ORGANIZATION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE OUR ENEMY. In fact, under God, it can become one of our most helpful friends.


MARRIAGE

We have already mentioned how that in Dowie's latter years, when he was in desperate need of some balanced spiritual input into his life from people who were close to him, it seems that his wife was of little help (in fact, probably quite the reverse). This illustrates just how important a strong and godly marriage is for God's servants, especially those who are being continually bombarded by the devil because their ministry against him is so effective. Those who are married, and who underestimate the importance of their marriage to their ministry are extremely unwise. The devil will be searching for any chink in their armour, and if there are weaknesses in their marriage, he will exploit these to the full. It is interesting to note that in a survey of the reasons why many divorced women in the U.S. left their husbands, a large proportion of them answered that it was because of "NEGLECT". Their husbands had got so busy with their work, etc, that they had neglected their wives. And sadly, this is true of many Christian ministries also. A tragic and fateful state of affairs.

More than ever, I believe that in these Last Days, God desires to employ ministries in which there is a deep love and an obvious spiritual partnership between husband and wife. And this gives those of us who are married the added advantage of having someone to "watch our back". Remember, Paul wrote concerning the qualifications for eldership or leadership in the church, that a man must be "the husband of one wife... He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way; for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's church?" (1 Tim 3:2-5). Our family life is far more important to God than many of us realize, and it gives real insight into whether or not we are truly suited to being in ministry at all.


DELUDED INTO SIN

As stated earlier, spiritual pride has been the underlying root cause of the fall of many ministries. The fatal presumption that "all must be well" (despite whatever sin or deception they're involved in) just because the anointing is still there, and the miracles are still happening, is oh-so-common. And it is clearly this subtle pride which gives the devil a 'legal doorway' through which he can begin to deceive them in other areas also. You would be amazed at the excuses that such deceived individuals come up with as to why a certain sin is "OK for them", even though it is certainly NOT OK for everyone else. The devil managed to delude and defeat a number of prominent ministries involved in the American Healing Revival. He got to some of them with love of money, ease and comfort, others through selfish ambition and envy, and some even became drunkards. And yet many of them were still performing miracles right to the end. But eventually, they lost everything. Speaking of the decline of the Healing Revival, Gordon Lindsay observed that many ministers had stopped "fasting and waiting before God." He said that many of the ministries had declined, "largely because of a lack of humility and because of a tendency to self-exaltation." He was reportedly sickened by the increasing emphasis on money. "Lindsay later concluded that even at the height of the revival many of the evangelists 'hadn't prayed through, they hadn't touched God for their ministry, they just put up their banner.'" (D. Harrell Jr, 'ALL Things are Possible',pg 139).

One of the most common of the devil's lures down through history, of course, has been sexual sin (sometimes of a perverted nature, but usually simple adultery). Please remember that the devil will be literally throwing everything at such ministries (though usually in a disguised or subtle way). They are hurting him, and he will not just stand idly by. He will search and probe for that one chink in their armour. This is why in the past God has often spent years training and preparing such ministries in obscurity, before giving them their anointing and their commission. He had to test them - to see whether or not they could survive the attacks of the enemy, and the temptations to pride, etc. He had to feel confident that He could entrust them with His anointing. And even then, He knew that some of them would let Him down.

In his book, "Set the Trumpet to thy Mouth", David Wilkerson uncovered some very interesting facts about the reasons why pastors and other ministries in America were falling into adultery. A survey had been done, and it became obvious what the number one strategy of the devil was. In the vast majority of cases, these men had developed a close 'spiritual' relationship with a woman other than their wife, and this is who they ended up committing adultery with. They would often pray or discuss the Bible with this spiritual woman, until eventually they became close and intimate, and would be sharing things with her that they should have been sharing with their wife. How 'spiritual' it all was! Wouldn't it be wonderful to be married to a woman like this! (Not that they ever tried to share with their own wife in this way). What subtle and cunning deception. And Satan has had vast success in 'taking out' many promising ministries just through this one technique alone. Then there's the old, "I'm allowed more than one wife at a time" deception. (Despite what the Bible says in 1 Tim 3:2, etc). Or, "God has shown me that my wife may die, so I need another companion." As I said before, it's amazing what the devil can get us humans to believe at times.

Almost every deception plays on secret desires or strongholds deep within us. Part of us wants to believe that the deception is true. This is why we must be so searingly and brutally honest with ourselves in RENOUNCING such deceptions and strongholds, if we are ever going to be truly free of them. ('Self-pity' is another subtle yet deadly one - the true cause of much depression. Many people quite enjoy having the 'blues' or feeling sorry for themselves, and this can be a most debilitating stronghold in one's life. Don't make a "pet" of it - RENOUNCE IT!)

Another thing I also want to briefly touch on here is the danger of "ENVY" entering into one's ministry. This too can be a very subtle yet immensely destructive evil. (The Pharisees had Jesus killed due to 'envy', after all - Mk 15:10). If you ever find yourself feeling like attacking or murmuring against a leader who operates in more power or is better-known than you, just check your motives very carefully to see that envy or selfish ambition is not one of the causes of your antagonism. You would be amazed at the number of team ministries, etc, that have been destroyed through this kind of envy of the leadership (whether coming from without, or even worse - from within the group). Who knows what motivated Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus? (Remembering that Judas was one of the Twelve HAND-PICKED disciples). For some time now, I have wondered whether or not the Antichrist that is to arise at the very end of the age could be one of God's genuine end-time apostles - gone astray. Does not the Bible call him the 'son of perdition', just like Judas? And will he not move in powerful signs, wonders and miracles, just like the genuine Last Days apostles? A frightening thought! (However, God's people will discern the truth when the time comes). The pattern of the devil's own fall seemed to be: Spiritual Pride, Envy (& selfish ambition), then Rebellion. And of course, this same pattern is now constantly found amongst fallen humans also (even Christian ones, sadly).

For God's true ministries, the secret to surviving the coming Last Days period is basically the same as it's ever been. They must have a deep hatred of sin, a genuine fear of God, a searing honesty with themselves, and a heart after God's own heart - just as His servant David did. Only then can they truly be sure of "enduring to the end". This is why God has spent so long preparing and 'breaking' these ministries, before sending them forth to lead His people out of bondage and into His glorious light once again.


GOD NEEDS LEADERS!

While I have no doubt that the coming move of God will be even more incredible than the great Healing Revival, and that the outpouring of His Spirit will be far greater than anything that has ever been seen before, I do believe that many of the same dangers and the same principles will apply, just as they always have. We must learn the lessons from history, or we are bound to repeat them.

One thing I do want to emphasise here, is that just like every previous move of God, this one will need LEADERS anointed and raised up by God, to advance and establish His Revival. Some people believe in a kind of "leaderless" Revival, where God "does everything" and human leadership is almost obselete. But from everything God has been saying about the coming move, I would have to be frank and say that such people are deluding themselves. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN, AND THERE NEVER WILL BE A "LEADERLESS" REFORMATION-REVIVAL. Tell me this: Would there have ever been a Book-of-Acts Revival without anointed apostles to lead it? And would the Jews have escaped Egypt without an anointed Moses to lead them? Would they have ever taken the promised land without a Joshua? And could they have defeated the Philistines without an anointed David or a Gideon? The answer is: NO - NEVER! God has always been, and still is, utterly committed to USING MANKIND as His instruments and leaders of Reformation and Revival in the earth. In fact, it would be fair to say that for God NOT to use such human leadership, would be to GO AGAINST THE ENTIRE BASIC NATURE OF HIS DEALINGS WITH MANKIND. As with every Reformation-Revival, God simply must have His leaders.

I can well understand why a number of Christians today have become disillusioned and disenchanted with much of today's church leadership. But I cannot understand why they would want to do away with the whole concept of "leadership" altogether. The fact is, God may very well want to use THEM as leaders in the coming Revival. But I have found that a number of them hate the idea of leadership and authority so much that it is doubtful if they would ever heed God's call. (I have to ask:- Couldn't this just be a form of subtle 'Rebellion'? What is the true motivation behind such a dislike of godly authority?) This whole thing has been of great concern to me for a number of years now. It is my belief (backed by much that God has been saying right around the world) that He has been secretly preparing a company of future Revival leaders for many years now (hidden, as always) - the Joshuas and Davids who will suddenly arise in God's perfect timing to lead His people into Revival. If some of these men and women do not heed God's call, then we are in big trouble, surely? But on the other hand, perhaps this is just another example of the truth of the old saying, "Many are called, but few are chosen"? (I urge you to pray and think about these things).

What God has clearly spoken to me is:- "NO LEADERS - NO REVIVAL". And He has also said that "WHEN THE NEW APOSTLES ARISE, REVIVAL WILL BEGIN." Just like the early church, it will be the new apostles who will carry the genuine Revival anointing in these Last Days, and it will be when they arise that Revival will truly start. (This has been so with every true Reformation-Revival). These will be men of enormous godly authority and power. They will certainly not abuse such authority, but neither will they be afraid to "reprove, rebuke and exhort" where necessary. And these powerful ministries, along with the many prophets and evangelists who are also about to arise, will go forth under a mighty anointing - an army 'terrible, with banners' - "destroying the works of the devil" in Jesus' name. Many of these leaders may seem rather 'rough' by outward appearance (just like the ex-fishermen and tax collectors of the Book of Acts), but they will walk in total heart-purity before God. And I also believe that though they may not be 'apostles' as such, God is going to use CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS in a tremendous way in the coming Revival as well (often in a way that may even put the adults to shame). What glorious days these will be.