In a probe, we deal with the hidden motivations in people’s lives, the ulterior purposes that are concealed, sometimes even from their own thinking. The reasons we give for our actions are often quite plausible to others, but God who searches the heart knows how many times they are not true. Paul illustrates this when he writes from prison that some waxed bold because of his imprisonment to speak the word of the Lord, and others preached the gospel insincerely, thinking thereby to add injury to him. He rejoiced in it all, for Christ was being magnified and glorified (Philippians 1:14–20). He would not take it subjectively, although he knew that those who were trying to injure him—while they were supposedly glorifying Christ—had quite an ulterior motive behind their actions. This is always true. Some people do things and then give you seemingly plausible reasons; but when their hearts are searched and deeply discerned, other motivations and other reasons are revealed. They find excuses and reasons for what they do, though not always in a vindictive action; sometimes it is even in the good things they do. We must have that inner honesty, that truth in the inward parts (Psalms 51:6).
We do not know all that lurks under the surface, but many deep problems reveal themselves when the dealings of the Lord are upon us. God “smokes” everything out and deals with it. God is not so much concerned about resolving issues between you and your opponent, deciding who is right; He is only interested in getting down to the truth about each one of you. That should frighten you if there is dishonesty in your heart.
Paul writes in Philippians 3:17–21: Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample. For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.
Paul says, “You walk, imitating me and mark them as you have us for an example.” Then he describes the way many people were walking. They were actually enemies of the cross of Christ, yet they were walking as believers. Their end was perdition, their god was their belly, their glory was in their shame, and they were minding earthly things. And he says, “Our citizenship is in heaven and we’re waiting for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come and fashion anew this body of humiliation like unto His own glorious body, by the same power by which He is able, right at this moment, to subdue everything unto Himself.” The Lord is able to subdue everything in your heart, but only if you are open and honest with Him about it. When you walk away from a wrong and defend yourself, you are in trouble; but when you confess it honestly without defending yourself and look to God to deal with it, that is another thing.
Our walk requires great humility, yet much arrogance appears. When prophecy and revelation and marvelous things are taking place in the church, people tend to become presumptuous, thinking that wrongdoing makes no difference. They sweep the dirt under the rug, as it were, without paying any attention to it. Judgment may linger for a while, but then God will deal with the wrongs and bring them out in the open, uncovering everything that stands in the way. We are being prepared for the judgments of God in the earth, and those judgments are beginning at the house of the Lord. The Lord is going through Zion like a plowed field (Jeremiah 26:18) turning up the furrows and dealing with the hidden weaknesses and faults. We cry to the Lord for many good things, and we are going to get them, but only after God deals with our hearts. If there is a secret sin that we condone or hide, God will uncover it and deal with it. This is a sobering thought.
The dishonesty disturbs me—that which says one thing and acts one thing, but does so with evasiveness. Some people say they are submissive but when you cross them, they do not submit. Instead, they do what they please when they please; no one is going to tell them what to do! You are not merely giving lip service; it is the divine order of authority that you must submit to.
God has raised up elders and you are to be submissive to them. When they give you counsel, obey them. Do as they counsel you. If there is some confusion or misunderstanding, then in humility raise the question and receive confirmation before a body of elders. You have protection in this submission and in the wisdom and authority God has given them to guide you. God takes care of the weaknesses and problems of anyone who moves in submission.
The first step in a probe is to look deep to find the self-assertiveness and vindictiveness of your own nature and put it to the cross. Recognize the tendency you have to set about fulfilling your own will, no matter how deceitful you must be in attempting to present it as the will of God. He knows your heart. We are believing for the circumcision of heart to come, for God to deal deeply with hidden weaknesses.
We could look at the different denominational churches that are trying to move on in the Lord and be somewhat condescending and smug, criticizing them for their problems. We dare not look down on anyone! The problems you have are peculiar to your own level of dedication; the kind of problems that can come from spiritual pride which will cover over and present the situation as being right when you have not done your “homework,” when you have not dealt with the deep things in your heart as you should. They may trouble you for a day or two, but then you push them out of your mind. God is trying to deal with them and He must deal with them.
Do you still wishfully believe that the basic weaknesses in your heart will disappear without being dealt with? Yet the evidence year after year indicates that they have not gone away. You had better work violently at removing them. Let the Lord help you take the steps necessary to change.
Basically, these messages are probing on a measure of the grace of God. They should lead you to search your own heart and ask, “Am I being honest with myself and with the Lord?” If you do not admit the problem to yourself, how then are you going to confess it before anyone else? We must face ourselves honestly and also be honest with the Body. This should be the foulest-smelling army that ever marched, because of the corruption that is continually being thrown out. Let it come out. Do not try to cover it up, for that leaves you without remedy. You cannot go along for the ride and keep the sin, or the desire for it, down in your heart. Anyone should be given an opportunity to get up before the congregation and confess his sin before the Lord and have it prayed for. With such honest humility of heart, God would deal with the dishonesty and hypocrisy which tries to cover over and keep the sin hidden so it can never be dealt with. There comes a time when there is no other way to deal with something down deep in a person’s nature except by that supreme honesty of heart.
Paul spoke of those who were walking as Christians but who were, in reality, enemies of the cross of Christ. This did not mean they were preaching against Christ, but they were living as enemies of Christ. Their god was their belly—referring not only to an appetite for food but to the entire old nature with its emotions and appetites—their glory was in their shame, and they were minding earthly things. The old fleshly nature was dominating their lives. This is typical of people who have something from God, yet have a strong old nature. They will do one of two things: either crucify and mortify it, putting it to death, exposing it for what it is, or they will cover it up with a facade of religiosity. Their end is perdition.
The Lord often puts us in a corner to make us face the dishonesty in our hearts and to help us discover whether we want to use the Lord for our own hidden motives and desires, or whether we really want the will of the Lord. Our walk is to be an expression of the perfect will of God. We must fulfill the will of God and serve the Lord.
The motivating factor in everything God is doing is submission to the Lord. Behind everything Satan is doing is rebellion and perverseness. The spirit of perversion comes against God’s people in a multitude of ways. It will hit one man and cause him to become guilty of homosexuality. That same spirit of perversion may cause another man to become a pharisee. The homosexual and the pharisee have much in common. The homosexuals (for whom I have a deep compassion) become ensnared in their perversity; therefore they often do not have the courage to bring their problem out in the open. There is an evasiveness in their perversion. The pharisee is guilty of spiritual perversion because he covers over an entire nature and perverts it all. He is evasive and deceitful too.
Perversion, deception, and rebellion are the most effective tools of Satan in the end time, as he sets about to deceive the whole world and stir up rebellion. In every country iniquity is abounding. Rebellion against order and authority is very common. The United States leads every other nation of the world in crime on the streets. The first chapter of Romans tells us why. We have held the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). Reading a portion of this chapter will help you to better understand yourself and others.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder (the margin reads “hold”) the truth in unrighteousness; because that which is known of God is manifest in them; …knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man…. Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves. Romans 1:18,19,21–24.
In America we have had more privileges through the gospel and more opportunity to walk in the truth than any other nation. When people hold the truth in unrighteousness, God turns them over to a reprobate mind and they begin to commit acts of perversity. This is what has happened in the United States. There will be more and more crime in the streets and more serious problems of perversion, because people are caught in the tide and spirit of the age.
God is able to deliver us, but the beginning of all deliverance is repentance. Repentance involves an honesty of heart, that you see yourself as a sinner, without covering up to yourself or to God or to anyone else. You just open up and say, “Lord, I have this need; meet my need, Lord. I have this sin in my heart; forgive it.”
Paul continues, Romans 1:28: And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting. Then he mentions the various acts they committed. We are not going to be the victims of this deceptive, perverted age. In some way, perhaps through these probe messages, God will break through upon us, as we discover traits and tendencies about ourselves that we did not realize existed. Although there may be only a little seed present, it will spell future trouble for us unless we get rid of it. God cannot bless us while the deceptive spirit of this age is still within our own spirit, within our mind and our thinking.
The prevalent attitude toward the police is something completely apart from the disrespect for law and order. It goes beyond that because it is a rebellion against anyone in a position of authority. This is the time of the great putdown, directed against any kind of authority and rule.
This message came forth from a serious thought which disturbed me more deeply than I can say: if you were set in the Kingdom the way you are now, many of you would hate it. Only a few of you would love it. It suddenly dawned on me that you will all have to be lovers of the Kingdom. Philippians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. We are under the King, waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to come and set up that Kingdom; but we are already living under it now. We are to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). The time has come to seek the Kingdom and to be a part of it.
We like the idea that in the Kingdom we will beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning-hooks, that we will not study war any more (Isaiah 2:4). We like to visualize every man sitting under his own fig tree (Micah 4:4), the wolf living with the lamb, and the lion eating straw like the ox (Isaiah 11:6,7). We like the promises that they will not hurt nor destroy in all His holy mountain (Isaiah 11:9); but are we as enthused about other prophecies? Micah 4:3 tells us that God will judge nations from afar, indicating the deep psychic and spiritual perception of every man and woman in the world. The man who is not obedient and does not worship the Lord will find that the rain stops at the boundary line of his property. No rain for him! (Zechariah 14:17). The Lord will rule the nations with a rod of iron. The Kingdom begins with the Lord speaking. His Word is like a sharp sword going out of His mouth, slaying the adversary (Revelation 19:15). The population of the world will be decimated in judgments (Revelation 9:15). This concept of God disturbs many people because they refuse to face the coming wrath of God and to recognize that this will require absolute, total submission.
In the parable of the talents, the man who had not used his God-given talent had it taken away from him and given to someone else. He was cast into outer darkness where there was gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:24–30). You will have to produce. Productivity is required.
Judgment in the earth is not a soft thing; it is a harsh reality. The parable of the sheep and the goats reveals the reactions of people to the Lord and to His followers. “Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it not to Me. Depart into outer darkness” (Matthew 25:45,46). The Kingdom rule is total and absolute, a form of government more stringent than the earth has ever known in any human form of government.
We should look for the Lord to restore the New Testament church to some of the original authority and rule it had over its members, or it will be very much out of place when the Kingdom of God comes. We rejoice with you in your freedom after leaving Babylon, but if you have a spirit of anarchy deep in your heart that caused you to run, and think you are now exempt from authority, you are quite mistaken; because “ship Zion” is a tighter ship than you have ever sailed in. Here you will snap to attention with a sharp, “Yes Sir” to the Lord.
There is much need for even greater respect for the authority that God has constituted. One of the reasons the ministry does not penetrate deeper and is not more effective in many lives is because the individuals take what they want to hear and nothing more. When the elders bind oppressions and devils coming against you, their ministry will have as much authority as you will recognize Jesus giving them in that word they speak. You will not receive anything more until you deal with the perversity and rebellion in your heart and submit to the divine order God is bringing to you. We are not playing church. If this is to be an expression of the kingdom, then let us submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord of anything at all. And that means you and I cannot take only the truths we want and become rebellious against the Lord over the rest.
For a number of years I have noticed that when a deliverance message is preached, it works for some people; they are delivered, just like that! And other people are not delivered. Although I know testings can linger on, I have seen that in some cases there was no deliverance because there was a lack of submission in the heart of the individual. He wanted deliverance for selfish reasons, not that he might better obey and serve the Lord. It is one thing to receive healing for a sprained ankle so you can go to the house of the Lord and work; it is another to get it healed so you can go out and dance all night. Someone may pray, “Lord, I want You to heal my leg,” and it surely is His will to do so; but He may delay healing your leg until He heals your heart. Does that make sense? Or are you going to throw bricks at God? You cannot do that. You are going to be submissive to Him, saying, “Yes, Lord. Speak, Your servant heareth. I’ll do Your will, the thing You want me to do.”
But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake (note: exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake). Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all. See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all. I Thessalonians 5:12–15. Very simple rules, aren’t they? Just a basic way of loving one another.
Notice also Hebrews 13:17: Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief; for this were unprofitable for you. Just obey them; it is that simple. They may make mistakes and they have their problems—that is before the Lord—but God set them in authority and you are not to ignore that authority. Obey them and submit to them because they watch over your souls. This is said for your admonition and protection.
We are dealing with the basic rebellion we do not want to face. Wives, is it there in regard to your husbands? The illusive and deceptive tendency of the female nature may make you seem lily-white, so absolutely submissive in your own sight. Be sure that you are! Be sure that you are submissive. You brothers—are you truly submissive to the Lord in the way you take the oversight and the headship of your home? Or do you feel rebellion rising up when some need is presented, without knowing why you feel so upset about it? It could be that you are rebellious against the order and against what God has set you to be. Open your heart to pray, “Lord, teach me to be submissive.”
The screaming eagle is the symbol of our country. An independent and aggressive spirit has been a trait of the American people from the time they were striving for their independence. Consequently, we have strong labor unions, so powerful that they have destroyed big businesses in this country. The contest between labor and management is fantastic. We are a rebellious people. Because of our very way of thinking as Americans, we ought to sort out what we have and stand up for the concepts that are right and true. However, we need also to repent of traits of rebellion that have been bred into us through the American culture.
We are not able to cope with the fact that our crime has increased until our nation leads the world in crime. We have talked ourselves into some false idea of freedom until, in the name of justice, even the highest courts are protecting the criminal from his just punishment. Not a country in the world would defer justice as we are doing.
You and I are going to think differently. We are going to become vicious enemies of the establishment, hating everything that is wrong, every bit of its corruption, everything of perversion and rebellion that comes against the things of God.
Our country will face appalling conditions in the near future, as rebellion and deep-rooted perversity takes hold of the people. We are a nation without leaders. The movie producers turn out movies filled with perversion, murder, and violence, because they are more concerned about making a lot of money than they are in giving people pictures they want to see. Our politicians do not know what the people want. There is not a man on the political scene, either in office or seeking an office, who can give America what she needs. The same thing is true of contemporary literature and music: there are no true leaders. Only a spirit of lawlessness and anarchy exists. If a man with character comes on the scene, attempts are made to discredit him.
The groups that are bombing and protesting and rioting have more privileges and opportunities in this country than anywhere else in the world. No place on earth does a black person have a better chance than in this country. The Mexican in Mexico has a far lower standard of living than the Mexican with the same intelligence and education in this country. They are not justified in the way they protest. If they were honestly protesting for social revolution, I would carry the flag and lead the march. But I do not believe in the spirit behind the rebellion I see.
Satan, the first one to rebel against God, is trying to fill the hearts of men with rebellion, while God is bringing a total absolute submission in the army of the Lord that will bring an end to this age and usher in a new one. We may as well come to grips with it: in our submission to God is where we stand or fall—and that means submitting without the rebelliousness in our spirit as God deals with it down in our hearts.
It is true, you have to rebel against some things, but not against God. Many of you young people are Christians today because you rebelled against your parents and against the modernist church they wanted you to attend. Just be sure that you do not rebel now against the divine order of authority that God has placed over you. At times you may not understand it, or know what to do about it, but do not be rebellious! You may get a word and not even know how to walk in it, but don’t be rebellious! You may have promises from God that you don’t know how to appropriate, but do not be rebellious! In this hour, if you stand as a worshiper and everything within you is in absolute submission to the Lord, you will prosper in your walk with God.
It is not what is wrong with you that we are concerned about—it is whether you are deceptive and rebellious about it, whether you are self-deceived and refusing to face it honestly. Some of the young folks have come into the church with problems that you would not believe, yet no one has blown the whistle on them or criticized them. We believe God and let them struggle along, as they throw off one sin and habit after another. But they dare not have this basic dishonesty that says, “Nobody is going to take over. I am going to run my own life and no one is telling me what to do.” Oh yes, He is! The Lord is going to tell you what to do and you will be submissive to Him.
The one and only doctrine you have to remember as the valid essential truth of this end time is this: God is establishing Jesus Christ as Lord over all things. The Kingdom is coming and it must begin in your heart as you are being established as a bondservant of God. You are under the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. That is what it is all about. For me to live is to be absolutely subservient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Am I? That’s what I must search my heart about in this day. Are you? That’s what you must search your heart about.
Does this message “strike home”? Do you have rebellion in you? Are you going to rebel against your rebellion? Get it out of the way. Probe down deeply. With the help of the Holy Spirit, turn the searchlight on the inner man. Do not rationalize or back away from what you find. Look again at your relationship to your brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Lord Jesus, we come to You with a heaviness of heart because we see again new areas that must be submitted and opened up to You to deal with. We know You can deliver us and bring us blessing and rejoicing of heart. O Lord, You know the very secret thoughts of our hearts. You know all about us. There is nothing that You do not understand. Lord, we pray that You will forgive and cleanse. We pray again, Lord, that we will say a yes to the will of God that will mean a little more than our last yes. As much as we know how, we are saying, “I submit, Lord. I humble myself before You.” Yet we know that tomorrow we may see something more that has been uncovered, and again we will say, “I submit.” We will go on until we have exhausted every area and our dedication to You is unconditionally complete and our surrender to You is perfect. We strive for that absolute surrender to the Lord in every way and You are going to search and cleanse our hearts and help us.
We will have to decide whether we are going to be angry at this message or whether we will open our hearts and say, “Yes, Lord”; whether we are going to be provoked and irritable or whether we’ll humble ourselves before You, ready to receive all You have for us. We know it is not in what we are able to do; it must be in the honesty with which we submit to Your demands and Your claims on us. You have redeemed us and it is Your right to lay claims on us. We belong to You, and to any extent that we are clinging to our own lives and retaining the rule over our own lives, we repent of it, Lord. We want You to be the Lord. We want You on the throne, not as a puppet monarch, but as absolute ruler. We want to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit. We declare war on the old nature. It is going to be crucified.
In my own heart I say, O God, how I must wait before You afresh, anew day by day. It is not enough that I knew Your voice when I was a boy. It is not enough that I have known Your voice through these years. It is only enough when I am hearing Your voice and walking in it today, and I hear Your voice tomorrow, and I walk in it tomorrow. Every day there must be that submission. Lord, there is no such thing as saying, “We have served the Lord; now our life is our own.” It is not our own! We are Yours, Lord.
PROPHETIC EXHORTATION
It is the hour that the Lord hath prepared a people. Behold, how He hath taught them, how He hath dealt with them. And He brings them even now unto the hour of testing. Let every man be quick to search his own heart to see if the way of submission is really in him, or if in the hour of testing he shall rebel against the Lord and against the thing God hath placed him in, the order that God hath created. Behold, the ones who shall fail shall not fail because of their own weakness; they shall fail because they have rebelled against the way of the Lord that bringeth grace to them.
This is the day of release to your hearts. It is the day of great joy and victory that you should worship the Lord and give thanks to Him, bless Him and submit yourselves one to another carefully and fearfully. Deliver one another from the oppression that riseth against any. Believe God to establish you in the ways of grace.