God wants to give us an immunity for the days ahead, and He wants us to understand the nature of that immunity. It is not an immunity from the battle or from assault, but from the vulnerable position that we normally are in. God does not want us to be vulnerable, but He does not prevent the attack against us. He only sees to it that we are not wounded or cast down. We are to be immune from everything that Satan brings against us in this hour.
More than ever before, Romans 8:28 is to apply in the days just ahead of us. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. We are called according to the purposes of God for this generation. We are a unique instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring forth His Kingdom in the earth. We are to speak as the oracles of God. In what generation has the believer been called upon to rise to such a high spiritual level as God is calling us to fulfill? Because of this, we must understand that we are not going to be without satanic assault. But I believe that we will be in a position that I John 5:18 talks about when it says, “The wicked one touches him not.” This I believe will be our portion. It is necessary that we go through things; but it must also be true that only good comes out of it, that there is not the harassment, that we are not vulnerable, that we are not placed in jeopardy or in any real danger.
When we read Luke 10, we see a prelude of this in the immunity that was visited upon the seventy who went forth to preach in the days of Christ’s ministry. They were told that nothing could harm them. They were told that they would be released even from economic necessity. They were not to take along any extra paraphernalia, clothes, or money. They were to trust God with all their heart. And as they went forth, they walked in authority over all the power of the enemy; nothing hurt them. This was very significant. Of course, it was based upon the fact that they were going to do the will of the Lord. Our immunity stands until moments of rebellion or disobedience. Then we become vulnerable. Once we give in to Satan, we throw down the walls of protection to some degree, and the enemy is quick to take advantage of it.
At this time the world is facing a perilous hour which is described in James 5:1–8. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. This speaks of a situation that we see today, where people are making millions of dollars through war. The American economy has prospered for a long time only because we have been repeatedly thrown into wars. Politicians realize that many jobs are available and money will be pumped into the economy by a war. There have been wars without cause, started deliberately, probably more for economic reasons than any other.
You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you. Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Just as soon as the Lord gets what He is after with us, then the coming of the Lord and of the Kingdom will proceed at a rapid rate. It is the preparation, the gathering of the precious fruit of the earth, that is holding up the whole process.
We know that we are going through a very difficult time. Two things are happening: the first is that the world is being prepared for many judgments, and these coming judgments have already cast their shadows before them and are already upon the earth. The earth is dark with the clouds of pending judgments. These clouds are freighted with all the plagues and disasters that are outlined in the book of Revelation, and more besides. The earth is going to see many things happen to it. The Lord describes it as a time of trouble such as there has not been since the world began (Matthew 24). With these judgments pending, we might question what future there is for the believer. The Lord is urging His people, trying to do a quick work within their hearts to bring them forth into what He wants. He is waiting for the precious fruit of the earth. He has long patience for it. He is waiting until we reach in to all of the Kingdom provisions that God is looking for us to walk in. He is looking for a people. This is the second thing that God is doing. And we have been called to be that people.
Do not be afraid; but also, do not bury your head in the sand. Be open in your heart for God to lead His people right through the time of judgment. Men’s hearts will be failing them for fear as they look after those things which shall come to pass upon the earth because the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Luke 21:26–28). What are you to do? You are to lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh. This is not a time to be fearful. It is a time to rejoice. It is necessary that you go through this period of travail as clearly described in I Thessalonians 5:3b. It shall come upon all of the earth as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. Although travail may be the most intense pain that a human being endures, it is not the pain of disaster. No matter how intense it is, travail is not disastrous. It comes because there is no other way to see life removed from one particular realm into another.
A little baby, living within the womb of its mother, completely submerged in the fluid in which it is sustained, is fed, nourished, and grows in a fantastic way which is entirely different from the way it will live later. When that little life is to be projected into another realm, then the pains begin. No longer will it be sustained in the fluid. Now that child will begin to breathe. It has already had a strong heartbeat for several months, but now it will actually begin to live and survive apart from the mother. The cord is to be severed, and that child is to live in another realm.
God is saying that something else is going to happen in this world. He is bringing His sons to birth. They are going to be brought to maturity. They are going to be thrust into another realm. Satan, the old dragon, is right at the womb, ready to devour the manchild as soon as it is born. Satan desires to hold us back because the people of God are coming to birth. This new age that is being born is bringing to a conclusion another way of life. The establishment, as we have known it, must come down. It must be brought to an end. Everything will have to change. Everything that is wrong at the present time in the economy, in government, in laws and their enforcement, in the attitudes of people, has to change completely. The kingdoms of this world are to become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. He shall reign. He shall be Lord of lords. He shall be the King of kings. These lords and kings must be brought into their place.
That is why you are being tested on your faithfulness. God is not concerned much about the little things you are being faithful in now; He is concerned about the preparation of your heart to be a king and a lord under the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is not so much concerned about your immunity from an occasional devil attack; He is concerned about bringing you forth into the immunity that belongs to sons so that you can lead your family in a great exodus out of a period of relative slavery, bondage, and harassment into the freedom of God’s dear sons. To see this take place is not easy. It is true that in this walk with God you have been subjected to some very intense dealings. What is the objective? Why is God putting you through it? It is not just to see what your tolerance level is or to see how much you can endure, but it is to take you way beyond that and bring you into a new age, to help you to be the sons of the Kingdom who shall live in triumph.
Do not complain about being harassed, saying that you cannot endure it. You will have to. You will have to learn. You will have to develop immunity to that harassment. You will have to rise up to a new level and determine that you are going to do the will of God. There is no other way for you to go. You are going to be the expression of His will in this generation.
We are studying about the immunity because we do not want to become the victims. We want to be the instrument of change. Some people will become victims because they are old wineskins. I believe that the bulk of the Christian churches and movements are going to be plowed under because they are already old wineskins. If they cannot adjust themselves with a flexibility to receive new truth and light as God is bringing it forth now, they will not be able to adapt themselves to the difficulties of the day ahead. Many a person today realizes that he is completely incapable of change. I often meet fundamental Christians who are more than a generation behind the times. They are living in another world, a kind of dream world. They put on blinders, figuring that if they do not look at it, this whole scene is going to disappear and go away. It will not go away! Their refusal to adapt themselves to a new age is indicative of the fact that they will also not be able to adapt themselves to the things that are just ahead. If they cannot run with the footmen, how will they contend with the horsemen (Jeremiah 12:5)?
That is why it is very difficult to introduce this walk in the Spirit to some good established church. It is like asking a group of Pharisees to start a New Testament Church. The whole idea is incomprehensible to them. They are not able to adapt themselves. They cannot think that way. They cannot relate to it and therefore they do not want it.
As new wineskins, many have learned the flexibility. They have learned to hunger after the truth and to walk in it. They are learning to adjust to all the changes that are taking place round about them. They feel as if they have been stretched out of shape, but it is only helping them to be new wineskins, capable of receiving the wine of the Kingdom and having the wine generate within them a whole new day. The Kingdom of God is coming forth within a remnant first. It is not coming by observation. It is coming within a people and it is preparing them (Luke 17:20, 21). The Kingdom of God is flexible and expandable, and it is going to grow until it fills the whole earth. Like a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, it is going to smite the nations and grind them to powder. Then it will expand until it fills the whole earth. The prophecy of Daniel indicates it.
God is preparing you to walk victoriously with every need supplied. When this world can no longer touch you, you will be surprised how immune you are to its assaults and to its necessities. It is a good time to be right on the ball as far as God is concerned. It is a good time to be eager to serve Him with all your heart. If things have been terrible for you lately, that is a good indication that we need not worry about you; you are a part of the walk with God. Anyone who is walking with God now is walking through days of preparation for the future. The immunity is coming by a process similar to a vaccination or immunization. You are going through a little of the tribulation period now, but just enough that you can develop an immunity. When the rest of the world is coming down with it, you will be loosed from it.
When the United States was being settled and the white settlers wanted to kill the Indians, they would give them blankets that had been used by white children with measles. When the white people had the measles, it was not deadly. But they knew that the Indians had not been exposed to measles, and consequently, they had no resistance built up against the disease. Therefore when the Indians became infected with the measles, whole villages were destroyed.
You have been exposed to many things, and in the days that are coming, you will walk right through those situations without them bothering you. But the world does not have the immunity, and their hearts are actually going to fail them for fear. There will be days when the wicked will cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them. It is a great day to walk with God. Do not be concerned about how you will be able to stand. You can endure much more than you think you can. God will bring you to the end of your limitations and you will stretch a little more, again and again.
When you came into a walk with God, you could probably hold a half-pint of blessing. Then the old wineskin stretched and stretched until now you are able to hold a barrelful. The Lord is expanding your capacity for Him. He is expanding your faith. He is developing an immunity within you so that you can walk with Him. If you want to be discouraged about that, you are deceived as to what is really important. God is preparing you for His best. It may seem as if He has given you nothing, but if God is preparing you for His best, you accept that fact and walk with Him in the days ahead. Perhaps you want to be a prophet, but all that you see happening is that you are getting stomped on. This is a good indication that you are being prepared for a prophet’s ministry.
Psalm 57: Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in Thee; and in the shadow of Thy wings I will take refuge, until destruction passes by. I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth. My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let Thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they dug a pit before me; they themselves have fallen into the midst of it. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory; awake, harp and lyre, I will awaken the dawn!
If I were to select a motto to use on letterheads or business cards, it would be a phrase from this psalm: “I will awaken the dawn.” Someone must get out there like Orpheus in Greek mythology, who arose and played his lyre until the sun came up. We can begin to prophesy and sing and see the dawning of a new day. God wants us to be like a spiritual Orpheus and awaken the dawn. When all of the other events are taking place, we are believing for the new day to come forth.
I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to Thee among the nations. For Thy lovingkindness is great to the heavens, and Thy truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let Thy glory be above all the earth.
In spite of the heaviness of the day and the hour, be encouraged. Believe that we are getting dominion over the principalities and powers. Be ready for another battle and another step. If your hands are hanging down and your knees are feeble, this is a good time to take your strength from the Lord and press on. Satan tries to hinder and slow down the things that God has set before us. Satan tries to put the believer in a position where he is utterly crushing him, but by this word a man can look to the Lord and take new courage.
One of these days we will learn to trust Him. One of these days we will learn to lie down and rest because there is one who is watching. He never slumbers nor sleeps. We can cast our cares upon Him and let Him worry about them. One of these days we will learn to walk with the Lord. He is trying to teach us not to be moved by circumstances or events, not to carry a bitterness in our spirits. The deeper limits of faith are only attained by pressures that are almost unendurable.
Many of us have been almost bent out of shape in the dealings of the Lord. He wants us to submit to what He is putting us through. He wants us to voice the faith, that in the dealing His purpose will be done. This does not mean that we must submit in any way to the situation; we submit to His putting us through it. Daniel did not submit to the lions; he submitted to God putting him with the lions. The three Hebrew children did not submit to the fire; they submitted to God putting them through the fire. We do not have to submit to Satan or what he is bringing against us, but we must submit to God who is allowing it in order that greater immunities can come forth. If He turns loose a devil on us that is bigger than we have ever handled, we do not submit to the devil, but we submit to the fact that God wants us to overcome that devil. We go into the battle with faith, and we resist that devil with everything that is within us. Because of such resistance, we will learn to be greater men of faith. We must submit to the fact that God is putting you through it, but we do not submit to Satan or to the world. We do not become passive in this attitude of being an overcomer.