God has a great plan for The Church. Actually it’s The Grand Plan. It has always been the plan. It still is the plan. There’s no Plan-B.
The Church has a very specific destiny according to scripture. I know most would consider that to be the Bride. But then too, the Bride that Jesus is returning for is a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle. A Church that to Himself would make a glorious bride, without blemish or any other defect! That alone should make you sit up and take notice of the state we are in right now.
But I’m talking about a very specific spiritual destiny of the Church that St. Paul talks about:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. Ephesians 3:10 (KJV)
The greatest adversary to the kingdom of the enemy is supposed to be: The Church of the Living God! The Church is the intermediate agency of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Church is the Embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven in a foreign land. We therefore are its Ambassadors who represent our sovereign land. What this means essentially is that the country called Heaven is represented on the planet called Earth by the Church.
As the Church matures into the Imageo Dei (Image of God) our sphere of influence grows to the point that the Kingdom of Heaven invades every aspect of earthly living. And the Kingdom of God advances.
Jesus said, ” And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18 (KJV)
The Church is what God has designed to withstand the very gates of the kingdom of hell! Not only is the Church designed to be the last bastion of defence against the enemy, but as the Church matures into its full stature it is purposed to advance against enemy territory to manifest the manifold wisdom of God on the earth by displaying authority in the heavenly realm!
The Strategy Against Maturity
If the maturity of the Church is what is needed to become an effective Embassy (and the Church can only mature if her Ambassadors do) and represent God’s Authority on the earth, then it stands to reason that the greatest attack the enemy would use to thwart this is to deceive us to stunt and damage our spiritual growth to leave us naked and ashamed.
Satan is not creative. He doesn’t create anything! His strategy has always been the same from the very beginning. Deception.
In the Garden when the serpent came to Eve, his deception was simple. He twisted the truth! It sounded right – right? But it wasn’t truth. The greatest deceptions are those that carry partial truth to conceal the lie. A lie that will ultimately lead to limitation and death.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the path of the soul. Is the soul a bad thing? No! Absolutely not. David loved his soul. He called it his “darling.” God loves your soul and calls it the “apple of His eye.” But the path of the soul is a path easily influenced by spiritual forces – both Good and Evil.
The path of the Soul appeals to human nature not spiritual maturity. Only Deep calls to deep; and Spirit to spirit.
Humanistic philosophies being dressed up as spiritual revelation however, are not easily detected. Paul and John had pretty much the same problem with the Gnostics of their day. It all sounds good. But is it God?
Deception in the Church
The strategy hasn’t changed since the beginning! We allow deception by admitting error into truth!
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” Acts 16:16-17
Were her statements true? Yes! But look at what the word divination means. The Greek word used here is puthón (python) which we read as divination. What’s the big deal you might ask?
If you are tuned into the the wrong tree (or the wrong frequency) you will produce the wrong type of fruit (or the wrong output).
The spirit of pythos is the imitation of the divine! This is the great deception of our age! It seeks to control the narrative and convince you of an illusion until you’re comfortable enough to accept it. And then its too late.
Let me explain. If the source of the supposed revelation is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil then it might all sound good, it might even ring true – but it is not God speaking! So the spirit of pythos, is a spirit that deceives by choking off heavenly, spiritual revelation from the Tree of Life and substituting it with information, clever motivation and other humanistic philosophies. It becomes a death hold that will choke the zoe life out of you! And all the while it will masquerade as truth.
Set Your House in Order
I have a strong desire to experience the corporate outpouring of the Spirit of God upon us as prophesied by the Prophet Joel. Most of us already agree that we are in the last days and that prophecy, dreams, visions, signs and wonders (both authentic and false) will abound. We know that there will arise false teachers and prophets. We know it – but not too many want to question or point a finger and say, “Hey! Hang on. That sounds a bit off!“
It becomes especially difficult and slightly intimidating when the so called “revelation” is coming from some big ticket names with large followings ready to defend their idols at the very slightest hint of scrutiny of their teachings. But c’mon! This is exactly what the Scripture warns us about! Is no one awake? Hello?!
We are witnessing the rise of truth mingled with error – masquerading as revelation – and either we are too scared to point at it or too ignorant to recognise it!
Dreams, visions, visitations, the flow of the gifts of the Spirit, manifestations of the Lord, and signs and wonders – they are all a part of this end time glory that is upon the Church. I believe we do see it from time to time even now – sporadically and localised geographically perhaps – but we will see a far greater outpouring of God’s Glory more frequently and widespread soon. We already accept that prophets, apostles, teachers, pastors and evangelists in the full functionality of their Ascension Gift are amongst us and are bringing us to a unity of faith and spiritual maturity. We already agree that we are in the end-times that Jesus spoke to us about. So if we agree – then surely we should take note of His warnings to guard our hearts and our faith too!
I’ve heard it said that we ought not to concern ourselves with the enemy’s plans and only to concentrate on what God is doing. In part I agree. It is more important, it’s far more beneficial to spiritual growth and it is the directive of Jesus himself that we are to prioritise seeking the Kingdom of God and after righteousness. But Scripture admonishes us to “watch & pray”, to “not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes”, to “not be carried away by strange teachings.”
While I am seeking after the Lord and questing to reach the depth of the Mysteries of God, my eyes must remain open and I must discern the activity of the enemy. This is part of the functionality of a prophet. A prophet has historically always been seen as a Watchman on the Walls of Zion.
Setting the house (corporate body) in order starts with each of us cleaning our own temple! We need to examine, scrutinise, take-stock of what we have allowed into our quest for God that might not actually be spiritually sound. Sure it might sound good! But it might not be God my friends!
Open Your Eye
Scripture warns us of false prophets and the appearance of deceiving signs and wonders being evident in the last days. We must test all spiritual encounters to discern if they’re from God or if they’re sourced from vain imaginations or even demonic influences (Heb. 5:14). Not only must we test spiritual encounters, but we are admonished to cling to the love of the Truth! That means we must be sure that the teachings we are so quick to follow after are really sound or just sound good!
The secret power of lawlessness is already at work! That’s not my opinion – that is according to 2 Thess 2:7. It goes on to describe the works of the devil already set in motion: “He will use all sorts of displays in the sphere of miracles demonstrating power and attesting miracles, and miracles of a startling, imposing, amazement-wakening character which deceive, and whose coming and presence is in the sphere of every kind of wicked deception geared to [the gullibility of] those who are perishing, [this gullibility being] caused by the fact that they did not accept the love for the truth to the end that they might be saved.”
Again – not my opinion. Scripture.
The Coming Glory
What is about to come upon the Church is far greater than anyone has ever conceived or imagined! I know it. I believe it! I’ve seen it! I’ve prophesied it! It is not a past glory that is fading away. It is an eye-witness type of glory that destroys every false image and cunning narrative. It is the Glory of God so sovereign that it cannot be counterfeited!
There is a generation that the Church is not ready for just yet. They might not look or fit the part right now. But I have seen them afar off. They are the misfits as I’ve taken to calling them in the most affectionate way. But they will defy the spirit of Jezebel – that masquerading spirit that seeks to silence the voices of the true prophets. They will defy the religious order of the day. They might be in their caves right now. They’re tired of speaking Christianese and playing revival. They just want the Truth at any costs. They are Remnant. And that generation will usher in the greatest Glory that we have yet seen!
That is the generation I’m fighting for. A generation I’m ready to bleed for. A generation that this prophet is calling to. The Seekers of Truth.
Perhaps you are part of that generation?
