We are coming to trust the Lord for every breath we breathe. I don’t think we’ve ever approached a time more soberly and with such utter dependence upon Him. There’s a renewal and a refreshing coming from the Lord. As much as we loathe the battle, we know we have to get through it, and we do, eager to enter into the victory. I think it’s the anticipation of the victory that makes the time of battle endurable. Remember how the Lord said that He endured the cross, despising the shame for the joy that was set before Him.
You can go through almost anything as long as you realize that it’s God’s good pleasure to bruise Satan under your feet shortly. I tell you, I don’t know of anything that I dislike as much as that old rascal—whatever his name is. Do you feel the same way about it? There are many Christians in the fundamental world who would never breathe a statement like that. The reason they don’t have the same downright hatred toward Satan and his activities and are not so anxious to see him disappear from the scene is that he doesn’t really disturb them too much. He doesn’t have to. He has them in various degrees of frost and he holds them in a state of spiritual suspension so they’re not able to move ahead. But those of us who have a Living Word from the Lord and a directive from God are moving right into the battle.
I think that God sees (just as Uncle Sam has seen), that after a man has been in the battle just so long, he needs a period of rest and recuperation, a spiritual R and R. We feel as if a little R & R would help right now. For just a short time we will linger in this battle and breathe the smoke of battle and then we’re going to be into the most fantastic thing that has ever happened. The enemy is trying to slow things down. He is furious because he knows he has only a short time to get at us before the immunity of the remnant is established—the immunity from demonic assault and the beginnings of that penetration into all the blessings of the Lord.
The reason I believe that is because it already seems to be taking place. We have noticed, that though the enemy is battling us harder, there are fewer areas where he can touch us. In more and more of the areas where he used to bother you, he can no longer reach you. This means that though he’s furious, he can’t really do very much that is effective any more. He has no real place where he can grapple with you.
I think the Lord visualized this. Just before the cross, He made a significant statement when He announced to His disciples that Satan was coming. Of course, Satan and the human beings involved with him could do only what the Father had beforehand determined they could do. No one could touch Christ; that was established. Jesus said, “When the prince of this world cometh, he shall find nothing in Me. There’s not a thing in Me that he can get a hold of” (John 14:30).
Now, with some of you, that is not true. Maybe your temper is the little button. At a time when you’re just doing fine—in fact, you’re doing a little too fine—Satan pushes the button to make you blow up and flip out. You all seem to have (or you have had) a certain point where the enemy knows exactly how to “get your goat.”
Just think of what it was to be with the Lord when He said, “When the enemy cometh, he shall find nothing in Me.” When Satan and the mob came against Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked, “Whom seek ye?” They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” When He said, “I am He,” they all fell backward to the ground. They could have done nothing to Him if He had not allowed it. He said, “I lay My life down. No man taketh it from Me” (John 10:18). That was an established fact. There was not a single thing in the human nature of Christ that was full of sin or iniquity and therefore no one could touch Him. In fact, there were more than twelve legions of angels at His beck and call. When they scoffed at the foot of the cross, “Save yourself,” He could easily have done it and wiped them out with just one word. But He didn’t because He wanted to die for our sins. He wanted to die. It was not that the enemy could come and get hold of Him in any area or sieze upon Him to create any kind of havoc. I like that. I’d like to get to that place, so that when the enemy came against me, there would be no place at all that he could touch me.
I John 5:18 says of those who are born of God, that the wicked one toucheth them not. This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t try; it means that the sons of God will soon reach the place of immunity, that as mature sons the wicked one will not be able to touch them. I’m welcoming that. There’s going to be an end to the day in which afflictions and accidents, the spoiling of your funds and the taking away of your health, the harassment that comes in circumstances, and other situations, find you the victim instead of the one controlling the situation. That is going to end. Praise the Lord! I like the idea that the wicked one will not be able to get a hold of us any longer, that he’ll find nothing in us.
To illustrate this, I like to use the example of the greased pig, which is one of the exciting events at the county fairs throughout the farm states. A lively young pig is completely covered with axle grease and turned loose in a large pen. The man who can catch and hang onto him and carry him out of the pen is entitled to keep him. A good pig is worth quite a bit and is a prize worth catching. And so all of the contestants come in, trying to catch the pig. When they grab a hold of him, he lets out a squeal, gives a kick, and flips right out of their hands. I tell you, it’s hard to hang onto a greased pig. The prince of this world cometh, and when he cometh, may he find me like a greased pig.
I don’t want anything in my spirit or in my nature that the enemy can get a hold of. I don’t want any area of repeated defeat where he can press the button and get to me. That’s why the Lord keeps putting His finger on all the sore spots. He finds the tender areas and then He keeps working on them. He wants to remove them from you so that you come to the place where there is nothing in you of the old nature that responds to the antagonism and the assault of Satan. Believe me, in his devious way, old Splithoof knows just how to come at you. He knows just what to do. But the areas in which he’s able to penetrate your defenses and reach you are becoming fewer and fewer all the time.
If you think the Lord has not allowed many of the things you’ve gone through, you’re mistaken. He’s allowed them because only in that way, through conflict, has your strength been developed and your ability to appropriate the fullness of the Lord come to pass. You can worship and lay hold upon His fullness because you were put in a position where harassment was constantly coming against you. You needed it very much.
I really believe that the Lord is giving us a time of refreshing, and never again will we see the days in which we’re susceptible to satanic attack as we are now. We’re rapidly entering into days of immunity. I believe that is already taking place, for I know that in the spiritual warfare a year ago, I was being assaulted by Satan in may areas where today he can’t touch me at all. We are narrowing down the areas of conflict, and more and more Satan cannot touch us, unless he confronts us directly when we are doing the will of God. More and more we are choosing the place, the time, and the area in which the conflict takes place. This means that Satan is on his way out as the accuser of the brethren, and we are becoming the accuser of Satan. We are entering into the judgment of him, rather than having him oppress and harass us. This reversal of position is taking place very rapidly.
Most of the battle you are in is the result of the fact that you made a significant advance in God, you heard a word and positioned yourself in some significant step that you had never taken before. Then the battle started, which means that you asked for it, really. You had already won victory in the area in which you were, and you could have stayed there and been relatively free; but you kept forging ahead into new levels, and with every new level, the assault and the harassment came because Satan had to back off of areas that he had usurped in the spirit realm. You were taking over. You’re the ones who will be seated in the heavenly places. He is the one that is cast down. He is the one that is raging because he knows his time is short. He is the one of whom we read that there was found no place for him in heaven, so now he is down on the earth raging. And we’re busy crowding him out here, changing the whole scene. Soon there will be only one place for him to go. There’s no place in heaven and no place on earth. And you know where he’s going to go—down into that bottomless pit.
Don’t be discouraged because of the battle you’ve been in. Not too long ago a prophecy came, stating that before very long there would be significant evidence of the first phases of the manifestation of the sons of God. That prophecy seemed to be confirmed to all of our hearts, and if it was a true word from the Lord, there will soon be significant little evidences of the first phase of the manifestation of the sons of God. That sounds bold, yet the prophecies before us have been very audacious, and the Word of God has been emphasizing that we should lay a foundation for this. If we’re that close to it, come on, let’s take courage. Let’s lift our hearts to the Lord and rejoice in Him. Let’s not be discouraged. The enemy may have known just where to push the button, he may have known the weak point where he could get at us and we may really have reacted to it, but soon we’ll be immune to it.
In the early thirties, I was an avid fan of Bernard McFadden who published a health magazine in which Charles Atlas advertised his dynamic-tension program, a concept that eventually was perfected in isometric exercise, that is, exercise without movement. I sent for the lessons and after I had studied them all I had to write in and ask, “Where are my muscles?” They sent everything, but they forgot to send the muscles. One of the last exercises was designed to teach you what to do when somebody down at the beach kicks sand in your face. I was interested in that lesson, because a lot of people were kicking sand in my face. This last lesson was a combination of a little karate, jujitsu, and judo, and it showed where all the pressure points were located on the human body. By hitting a person or by applying pressure on these points, you can affect the nervous system in a very real way.
I remember that at this time I was just beginning to preach the Word a little. A friend of mine played the harmonica and I played the guitar and sometimes I took him along on the youth campaigns. At one town in Iowa we stayed with the pastor. His wife was gone and we started roughhousing, and before long this kid was getting a little too rough, so I started hitting him on the pressure points. Soon he gave up, but the amazing thing was the fact that he didn’t sleep all night. He kept jumping and squirming all night long. I had known where to hit him and how to hit him.
Some people need to recognize that the reason they are jerking all the time is because the devil has known where to hit them, where their vulnerable points were. He’s known how to get at the areas in their old nature that have habitually defeated them. Repeatedly he comes back. He doesn’t have to use any new tricks; he has plenty of good old ones that work all the time.
Now God is bringing that situation to an end. Through the work of the cross, you have come to the place where he can hit you and you don’t jerk any more. You don’t respond any more. An immunity is being built up, and soon they will say of the sons that the wicked one toucheth them not. You will come into that place of complete defenses, complete immunity against everything the enemy would bring against you. You will know that you are the conqueror. Then the situation will be reversed.
The enemy has few pressure points too. Here’s one of them: the devil has power, but he has no authority. All authority was taken away from him. All authority in heaven and earth was given to us, through Jesus Christ who inherited it. As we begin to use the authority and the power of His name, and we come relentlessly in the will of God, proclaiming the Word of God, and begin to bind the strong man and plunder his house, it won’t be long until that satanic camouflage of deceit that has rested over Christianity will be ripped off. Then they will hear the voice of God saying, “Come out of her, My people. Come out of her. Be not a partaker of her sins.”
As we move into this place of victory, we’re getting ready to see the greatest exodus out of Babylon that has ever taken place. What a tremendous release is going to come! And that’s the reason God is preparing you. Every little church that is coming up is being rooted and grounded in the essentials because they will serve as receiving stations. When the people come out of Babylon and look around asking, “Where do we go?” someone will say to them, “This way, son. God has an order for your life.” We’ll bring them out of Babylon.
God gives us a promise in Psalm 68:9: Thou didst shed abroad a plentiful rain, O God; thou didst confirm Thine inheritance, when it was weary. The Lord is going to confirm us because we’re weary, a little battle-weary. I know that we need this spiritual R & R. We’re the Lord’s people and He’s going to give us the rest and the refreshing, in the name of the Lord.
Hath not the Lord made thee able soldiers? Hath He not equipped thee with His armor? Hath He not given thee thine orders? And hath He not said, “Lo, I lead thee. I am the Captain of your salvation.” Ye shall not turn to the right nor to the left. Ye shall not fear the host against which thou art pitted, but ye shall believe in the Lord that giveth thee the victory. Ye shall enter into the things that are set before thee. Thou art not as new cubs in the battle. Behold, thou art veterans who have born the heat of the day, and ye know how the enemy has come against thee.
Rejoice, because the Kingdom is closer than ye know. Behold, we are already far into the days of the Parousia. The preliminary events are already the history of the remnant. Already hath the Lord brought the pure Word. Already hath the Lord laid before thee amazing things of divine order that were not even realized by the early churches in the early centuries. Already the Lord hath brought to thee the principles of the Kingdom, and hath taught thee to live and abide by the principles of the Kingdom.
Dost thou not know how far thou hast penetrated into a new age? Therefore rejoice! Be not dismayed in your heart. Be not discouraged. If the host cometh against thee, the Lord will make thee to stand. When the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. Be not dismayed nor downhearted, but prepare your heart for that which the Lord hath ordained for thee to inherit. Prepare they heart in expectation. Great things doth He set before thee. Amen.
Hearken and let thy hearts perceive and bear witness that this is the Word of the Lord. This shall be a year like unto which thou hast never known before—a year in which thou shalt no longer be the thirsty that drink, but thou shalt become the fountains, rivers of living water. Thou shalt not be those that are on the defensive, but thou shalt be entirely on the aggressive. Thou shalt literally possess the place of rule and authority. No longer shalt thou cry out for deliverance, but thou shalt smite and none shall deliver from thy hand. Behold, the enemy that would come against thee shall flee from thee seven ways. The Lord hath said, “Behold, I will make thee the head and not the tail. I shall make thee that one that shall penetrate into a new age and others shall follow thee. Thou shalt not be those that follow after man, but thou shalt be those that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
Instead of thirsting from season to season, thou shalt be satisfied and not thirst. Thou shalt become the source of living waters unto those that are thirsty, for the Living Word that hath been thy satisfying portion shall in turn become, within thy mouth, a sword that shall smite, a fountain that shall quench the thirst of the multitudes. It shall be a living fire that shall burn up chaff. It shall bring judgment and blessing. It shall tear down and build up. It shall create within the Body of Christ the mighty Body that shall move in power and authority. And it shall bring confusion unto the enemy until they are utterly divided and there is none to help. They shall find no release and they shall find no help as the enemy is cast at thy feet. Behold, the days are upon thee in which a mighty army shall be resurrected out of bones, and yet the slain at the feet of the Lord shall be multitudes. Amen.
I’ve been in a wilderness. The Lord just gave a word, “Come up out of the wilderness.” I felt it so real. “Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness leaning on the arm of her beloved?” I honestly believe that’s what has happened. The dealings of the Lord during the past few weeks have been like a wilderness unbelievable. I know what’s happening. I’m coming out of it, but there’s less reliance upon the ministry and the gifts, and there’s more of a crippled walk, of just leaning on Him. You cannot know how weak I’ve been, how close to collapse after a service. I was in a wilderness. Sitting on a rock. Waiting for God to meet my heart. I think that something has happened. I can’t understand it. There was no great experience, but something happened to me.
I come with a leaning on the Lord that is more total than I was capable of before. As much as I tried to trust Him and lean upon Him, there is now a greater dependence upon the Lord. I feel no less the authority of the ministry, no less the wonder of the Word as it comes, but more than ever I recognize the weakness of the vessel out of which God is pouring it. I can feel the humbling—but a humbling without degradation, a beautiful humbling. And I hear His voice saying, “Come up out of the wilderness.” I’m leaning upon my Beloved. I’m leaning upon Him—leaning as I’ve never leaned before.
We’re all coming out of a wilderness. It was divinely imposed, and just as real as Christ’s experience before He entered into three and one-half years of ministry. Filled with the Spirit at the time of His baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist, immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness, after which He accomplished three and one-half years of ministry.
For longer than we were aware, we have been in a wilderness. Now Christ is moving, not in one Man’s flesh, but incarnate in a many-membered Body, preparatory to the fullfilling of the seven-year cycle of perfect ministry of the Messiah’s deliverance. Now another three and one-half years of ministry must begin—three and one-half years in which judgments will fill the earth, in which many things will take place. Isn’t it only fitting then, that we experience deeply the wilderness experience? that we are driven by the Spirit of the Lord into it, sometimes despairing and not understanding what is happening to us, as Peter describes it, “Thinking some strange thing has come upon you” (I Peter 4:12). And hasn’t it been like that? Now it’s not a strange thing that’s happening to us, but we perceive it, we’re coming up out of the wilderness. We’re preparing ourselves for the greater works, for the manifestation of the sons of God in the earth!
Oh, let there be no more heaviness voiced. Let there be no more defeat voiced. Let there be no more of the mourning and the moaning of the wilderness. Let there be everlasting joy upon your heads. Let there be a rejoicing of your heart for the Lord bringeth thee out of the wilderness. Instead of thirsting and being tempted to perform a miracle to satisfy our own thirst, we become living miracles that shall satisfy the thirst of the earth. Hallelujah!
When the Jews left Babylon after the exile, they did not all return at once, but there were successive groups that came. This, too, was in the will of the Lord. Of the first ones that came, Isaiah prophesies: “Before Zion travailed, she brought forth.” Then the travail starts. “But shall I bring forth and close up the womb? saith my God” (Isaiah 66:7, 9). Others were to follow. God has a whole host that He is going to bring forth. We were born without much travail, but the others that come forth are born with a lot of travail on our part. If you haven’t been touched by this message so far, you may continue, still in your wilderness, I don’t believe that’s really significant, because we’re not at all destined to come out at the same moment. But I think that I have come out now. And some of you began to come out. But don’t mistake this—we were all in it together, the whole Body. Everyone was aware that we were in something. And of course, if we had been able to define it, it wouldn’t have been as effective. The Lord does not allow you to know fully what He is doing, for that would take away from its effectiveness. It must appear like a strange thing is happening. You have to wonder what it’s all about. The fact that revelation ceases and you walk by pure faith, faith without sight, through the wilderness—that very fact makes it a wilderness. And you go through it.
I believe that the tide has definitely changed. I’m voicing complete victory—for you too, every one of you. This is a turning point! We are the witnesses of the beginning of a whole new thing that God is doing, a completely new level that He is bringing us into. This was very definitely the announcement of an entirely new period of this age, a whole new phase. I believe it is dispensational in its aspect. I feel the release has come. “The Lord hath torn, and He will heal us. He has smitten, and He will bring us up. After two days He will revive us, and the third day we shall live in His sight” (Hosea 6:1, 2). Amen.