Present Changes
It’s a Time of Healing, and It’s a Time of Change
As the seasons in the natural, there are quite a few changes that take place. There is a change in the elemental spirits; there is a change in a lot of things. And when a season changes spiritually, it is very similar. It’s a time of healing, and it’s a time of change. It’s a time when God extends, as it were, a whole new life to some people. But it is also a time of transition, when some He takes into the cloud of witnesses.
We’re Breaking Through To Walk In Two Different Worlds
The revelation came of the conjunction of two worlds: the spirit world, those on the other side, joining in with those of us who are living still in the flesh. The prophecies were very explicit, and that was almost thirty years ago, that there was going to be a conjunction of those two worlds—that we would hit a time in which the move would be towards seer-prophets who could see into the realm of spirit as well as they could see the natural world. This is the most significant time we have ever been in through the years. The Lord is showing us something; but more than that, He is leading us into it. We are actually breaking through to walk in two different worlds.
When The Shiftings Come, You Know That You’re At A Time Of Dispensational Transition
Do you remember what happened when the Israelites were ready to leave the wilderness and walk into another world, into a whole other realm? Moses went up on the mountain, and they said, “Well, Moses died.” I don’t know whether he ever got buried or not, but the Scriptures speak about Satan disputing with the angel over the body of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:1–6; Jude 9). Moses was not to be a part of entering into Canaan; but you can’t say that was an indication of his worthiness, because he was the one who was standing on the Mount of Transfiguration when Christ was transfigured and the Father attested to the sonship and the glory of Christ that was to come (Matthew 17:1–5). So Moses had something really wonderful going for him.
God is beginning to shift people around to different realms. And some of them seem to come almost to death, only to break into resurrection life. Others go on to the other side, only to come forth in a little season in resurrection life. It just isn’t that complicated. It doesn’t make any difference how the Lord starts shifting it around; but when the shiftings come, you know that indeed you’re at a time of dispensational transition and things are going to happen. I believe there are a lot of people who have been saved alive.
We’re Not Ready To Say, “Let Thy Servant Depart In Peace”
In the days when Christ was to be incarnated in the flesh, there was a transition. And right at that time, old Simeon said, “Now let Thy servant depart in peace; I have lived to see the thing that God said I was going to see” (Luke 2:25–30). Now some can say that; but many of us have been so quickened in anointing and vision that we say, “The visions have come so great, but I haven’t seen what I am to see yet. I’m not ready to say, ‘Let Thy servant depart in peace.’ ” We’re not ready for that. And I think we should very earnestly contend for what has been promised to us.
We Must Be On The Threshold Of Breakthroughs Into Resurrection Life
It is a time of transition. We must be on the threshold of breakthroughs into resurrection life. We must be into breakthroughs into another realm. And it’s easy to doubt that, isn’t it? It’s easy to waver on it. It would be easy because you look around and say, “How can these things be?” (John 3:9.) But some of us have lived most of our lives for this hour.
We Must Believe For This Breakthrough
We are cheated if we believe that the process of death is essential. One of the first things that Christ did was show that He could just speak a Word and a person would come alive. That was the whole story of Lazarus—he was resurrected after being dead and stinking for four days (John 11:39–44). What is the matter with us that we are not in it yet? What is the matter with us that we haven’t broken through? Why have we been so absorbed—how has Satan laid the weight of our flesh, of our circumstances, of our relationships upon us so heavily that it seems like it has been an anchor to hold us out of that realm? We have to believe. We must believe for this breakthrough.
We’re In It Already, We Just Don’t Know How To Move In It
I believe we are in it already. I believe that we are slow to voice what we have already entered into. It’s like we have learned another language and we are slow to open our mouths to speak it. It’s like someone who has had hands laid on him and he is full of the Spirit: all he needs is to just open his mouth and begin to speak another tongue. So we have almost come to the place where we have broken into another realm and we don’t know how to move in it, but we could just open our mouths and begin to speak in a world of authority. Loose it.
It Isn’t What We Get From The Lord; It’s The Way We Present Ourselves To Him
The Lord spoke to me about the priesthood today. All through the Scriptures it is talking about the priesthood. And in the New Testament, it is talking about the Lord’s inheritance in His people (Ephesians 1:18). It isn’t what we get from the Lord that is important; it’s the way that we are trying to present ourselves to Him. And we are going to offer a sacrifice in righteousness (Psalm 51:19; Malachi 3:3). We are going to see it work.
A Spiritual Priest Unto The Great High Priest
To me it seems so great that Christ Himself submitted to the priesthood. After He healed a leper, He said, “Go show yourself to the priest” (Matthew 8:1–4). Why? He didn’t say, “Go show yourself to a prophet,” even though prophets have healed the sick. It’s just that the priest was always involved with the healing and the cleansing of the people of the Lord, with all of the washings and all of the purifications. It suddenly hit me: I am not going to preach to you. I am going to be a spiritual priest unto the great High Priest (Hebrews 2:17). And I’m going to heal you and cleanse you and present you to the Lord as that living sacrifice that He wants. I am not going to preach at you. I am going to teach you with authority.
We Teach With The Idea Of Creating
There is authority behind teaching. In Christ’s day the people did not marvel at Jesus’ preaching. It says that they marveled that He taught them with authority (Matthew 7:28–29). The Pharisees and the scribes did not have that authority. That was the marvel, that He taught with authority. Authority is the answer. God wants that authority in it, where we teach with the idea of creating. I believe that’s possible. I am going to teach you right into being the Lord’s inheritance in the earth.
Education Is Supposed To Lead People Into Becoming Something
Education was never supposed to bombard people with facts. It was supposed to lead them into becoming something.
I don’t want to just deliver you, because that could still leave a vacuum. I want to lead you into something in God. I want to get you going, lead you right into it.
That is what shepherding is. When you teach shepherding like that, we all learn how to be a shepherd.
We Are Deeper Into The Kingdom Than We Know
God bless us that we find out where we are; because we are going to find out that we are deeper into the Kingdom than we know. If we knew, we would be bolder in faith; we would recognize the authority that rests upon us in this level.
God Is Turning Loose The Ministry, But It Is Going To Be Released In Its Time
Our faith is working with a special clock that God has. That special clock is ready for us; when we turn it on, things are going to start. And when we hear it, we can synchronize our watches, because we’re beginning to move on a countdown of a stopwatch. Once we break through on this level—as much as we have talked about destiny, schedules, Bible chronology and so forth—I still believe that something sovereignly will take place when somebody gets that stopwatch pushed and it starts clicking off. Then one thing after another is going to happen in sequence. We’re just waiting for that first breakthrough. It’s going to mean resurrection life; it’s going to mean the judgments of God in the earth. It’s going to mean a lot of things taking place in rapid sequence and some of them simultaneously.
God is turning loose the ministry, and you feel it building up, but it is going to be released in its time. And you begin to see that every time we start to move, we’re not too late. Lazarus was dead four days. “It’s too late; you got here too late.” No sir, we got here right on time, because God works with people’s hearts (John 11:14–15, 21, 32, 40–45). It looks like Peter took a long time getting up to the house of Cornelius. When he got there, they were all sitting, waiting, and they were ready to receive it (Acts 10:17–24). Miracles are coming. It is appropriate now; something is to happen now.
No Question About It—We Are One
There is such a confidence in the level of impartation that is coming now. We are going to be one, no question about it. We are one (Romans 12:5).
Confirmation As We Have Known It Will Be Bypassed Because Of Our Faith In The Word God Speaks
One of the big things that comes is a spontaneous confirmation that does not have to be sought out when we come into this oneness. God will speak a Word, and the processes of confirmation as we have known them will be bypassed, because one by one we will all get a Word from God and say, “This is a Word from the Lord.” Confirmation will be that great, because our faith will be so in it.
Confirmation Brings A Responsibility
Confirmation brings a responsibility. Revelation-confirmation brings a great responsibility. It brings a great blessing. “Who am I?” Jesus said. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Blessed are you, Peter. Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but My Father” (Matthew 16:15–17). God was confirming the witness in the heart of Peter because Peter was going to bear great witness of confirmation to Christ. And that’s why he was tested so hard, even to the point of denying the Lord; he was the instrument God had chosen for confirmation (Matthew 26:33–34).
Confirmation Makes You An Accomplice To One Another’s Faith
Whenever you are chosen for something, you will be tested on that very much. Peter was tested because he was going to be the great confirming voice. That ministry of confirmation is very great. We are going to confirm one another. And when you confirm it, you have a responsibility. If you join in and say, “I confirm this, that that person is to be healed,” then you are responsible to exercise faith with it, too. You have to do it. When somebody comes and gives a Word to you and it’s confirmed, he is as responsible for the fulfillment of that Word as you are. Confirmation makes you an accomplice to one another’s faith. It becomes a matter of two or three agreeing, because confirmation is there (Matthew 18:19).
Now we are in a realm of authority, and you don’t have to pump up or work up or get a certain emotional high to know that you have authority. You just speak the Word, and it is done (Matthew 8:8).
Nobody has to perform. Don’t feel like you have to do anything. You are just here and you’re believing God and God is doing the thing for you. Just be exposed to one another.
Speak The Word Only
I know the atmosphere that we have created for you, John, is to speak the Word only. And it’s like you said: you command your ears to hear and they hear; you command the judgments to happen and they happen. And that’s the breakthrough that we are moving into. You command the blessings and people are blessed. You know that the anointing to move in the authority is yours. Exercise it. Believe it. Move in it. Speak the Word only.
We Are Believing For That Breakthrough In Judgment
We are believing for that breakthrough of judgment. We’re not on the defensive; we’re not passive. But we don’t have a fleshly aggressiveness either. We’re just here.
Awareness of Present Changes
The Avalanche We Have Wanted is on Its Way
Not all of the things we anticipated are taking place in the sequence that we expected, but the stage is being set and things are starting to break. When you see a break in the dam and you know the floodwaters are beginning to leak through, you’ve got the avalanche that you wanted; it’s on its way. All the signs have been pointing toward it for several days, and I think we’re in it.
I Am Concerned About The Diversification
This is not being done with me alone. When I look around, I find that everything happening to me is happening to other people too. You’re getting into it. But I am also concerned about the diversification of it. I see a pattern that has begun. What’s here is going to have to go. Wherever a relationship exists apart from this oneness, there is an inevitable amount of position; and that means intimidation.
We Are Not Threatened By Each Other
God has not given us a spirit of intimidation or fear, but of power and love and sound, disciplined thinking (II Timothy 1:7). That’s where we are. And it’s going to work. I feel it so strongly. You see, we’re not threatened anymore. Before God, we’re not threatened by each other.
There Is No Difference Between Resurrection Life And Judgment
We’re ready for this next step. We’re not going to let this thing stop. It isn’t a revival spirit I’m talking about; it’s the flow of judgment I’m talking about. It’s the breakthrough into resurrection life. And I have come to the conclusion that there is no difference between breaking through to resurrection life and the ministry of judgment.
Vipers Are Going To Fall So That You Can Rise
You say, “I have to enter into the ministry of judgment and that is the same as resurrection life?” Yes, because you don’t realize how many people have been ministering death to you; and God is going to judge them. Those vipers are going to fall off into the fire, so that you can rise into what God has for you (Acts 28:3–9).
They Have Come To Cast Us Out Of Our Inheritance
You see, the greatest miracle of deliverance in the Old Testament, as far as a war was concerned, was in II Chronicles 20, where Jehoshaphat stood and prayed: “We don’t know what to do; they have come to cast us out of our inheritance. We don’t know what to do. They’re going to take away what You gave us to possess. You gave it to us; now it’s being taken away from us” (verses 5–12). I think that we have been in that place for twenty years. We had things that were given to us by God, and the enemy was set to take them away from us.
The Unity Of Satan Has To Be Broken
The thing that we have to do is to bring the ministry of judgment, not that we want to destroy anyone—we want to sing and praise the Lord, worship the Lord—but so that the Lord can set the thing against them that they destroy each other (II Chronicles 20:20–24). The unity of Satan has to be broken so that they become a house divided against themselves and cannot stand (Matthew 12:25–26).
Oneness Is The Key Of Resurrection Life
There is no breaking through to resurrection life until we bring down these spirits, these devils and principalities, nephilim that have come to prevent us. Every step we take forth into that means the doom of Satan; that is why he fights oneness, because oneness is the key of resurrection life. In our oneness we enter into judgment; and entering into judgment, we enter into life.
Nothing Is Going To Work Until The Spiritual Invades These Other Realms
Now, what do we do right now that would be most effective? It isn’t that everything is being done wrong, it’s just that it isn’t being done right. We have to have a divine order. A divine order is coming that doesn’t seem to make sense, because it’s related to the spirit world. You’re tying the business world to the spirit world. The spirit world really is invading the business world.
Nothing is going to work until the spiritual invades these other realms. And that is what is happening. The oneness now becomes the key of it.
The Devastation You Go Through Is Of God—It’s The Chaos That Brings Creation
People who have defected have criticized what we say about devastation. The thing we’re seeing is that the devastation you go through is of God. Devastation is of God. It’s the chaos that brings creation. The Spirit of God has hovered on us, and we don’t realize how this thing explodes out; we’re going to see one thousand falling at our side and ten thousand falling at our right hand, and it will not come nigh us, because we have learned to live with God (Psalm 91).
What’s Being Created Here Is Going To Go Out And Touch The Entire Earth
What’s being created here is going to go out and touch the entire earth. The apostolic overview of what we are doing shows us that it is more than just having breakthroughs and a few blessings; but it is seeing such a pure thing of the Kingdom established, that from it it’s going to be sent out. Let’s keep loosing our faith. Let’s keep having our vision that this thing is going to go out, that our whole lives are consumed to see this pure thing not only completed, but going forth into the entire earth.
We’ve Got A Word; Let’s Go See It Fulfilled
We can’t just sit around and say, “Well, I wonder whether I want to stick with this or not.” We’ve got a Word; let’s go see it fulfilled. And that’s exactly what we’re doing—we’re seeing it fulfilled.
This Is A Principle Of Lead Sheep
This is a principle of lead sheep. You lead out, but it’s not because you’re going to lead the parade. You lead out until everybody is scrambling along, then you just kind of back off and let some others lead. And we have a whole church full of people here that are going to move as an apostolic company. They’re all going to move.
The Maintenance Of It Is That We Stay In Each Other’s Heart
I feel that we started something, and the maintaining of it now is based on our initiative. And now is where it takes effort. But the determination is set in us; it won’t be hard, but we should recognize when we are battled under it and go after it. We’re not going to battle like we did before. The maintenance of it is that we stay in each other’s heart.
What I am most burdened about is that there has to be a lie dispelled that this “in each other’s heart” means that my brother is going to crash down on me. I think the truth of it is that when you minister the Lord, the Lord is sweet, and He does something for you, and it’s not what you think it’s going to be. But when the enemy tells you something, you think something is going to happen and it’s bad; and so we expect it. But if we’re positive, we are going to minister the Lord; and we should be reassured that when somebody is going to confront us or talk to us or relate to us differently, it is going to be a strength and the Lord ministering to us.
There should be an expectancy of faith instead of an expectancy of unbelief. Or catastrophe.
Expect With Faith, Not With Unbelief
We expect with faith; we don’t expect with unbelief. We are changing the negativity of suspicion that comes because of what we see in people. We are going to have to have the positive, aggressive faith because of what the Lord shows us for those people.
As We Live In One Another’s Heart, We Should Believe For Synergistic Sight
As we live in one another’s heart, we should believe for synergistic sight. You say, “Well, I never know what is going on in the realm of the spirit.” Okay, put a little bit of insight together, and suddenly everybody has a thousand times more revelation than they had.
A Faith That Does Not Anticipate Disaster
You are going to live in one another’s hearts with a faith that does not anticipate disaster: “Well, the last time I trusted a guy you should have seen what he did to me.” Well, wipe it off the slate and go ahead. God is with you. And your brother is going to be a blessing to you. Anticipate this, but then come into the next step—that awareness of what is really taking place. I tell you, it’s true in marriage. The best thing to do is not anticipate an exaggeration or development of the other person’s negative qualities, but anticipate what you see in faith for him. And as you do that, you become aware of it growing and developing; and you nurture it. You see, we tend to concentrate on chopping weeds in our brother’s heart instead of cultivating the sprouts of faith and nurturing them. You’re in one another’s hearts for that.
The Oneness Is A Place Of God’s Rest
I feel like we’re in the eye of a hurricane. This oneness is like that. Around us is a lot of chaos, and the enemy tries to keep pulling you back into it daily; but once you recognize what the oneness is, it’s a place of God’s rest. And there is a calmness there.
I feel like there is a judgment that has to come forth that is going to bring the enemy’s strength down and cause the enemy’s camp to be fearful and to be divided. I feel like we should watch out for one another to make sure that the enemy is not pulling one another away from the oneness with lies, and you start to immediately withdraw, you doubt. And that’s not your fault; it’s the way we have been conditioned to this negativity that we’re talking about. We need to encourage one another because each one of us gets assaulted that way.
Just Keep Saying, “We’re One”
Even when there doesn’t seem to be any reason for it, we should say, “You know, we’re one.” Just keep saying it: “We’re one.” It sticks in your mind. It’s what you plant in one another’s mind that rehearses the reality of what God has done, that disarms Satan’s efforts to take it away from you. That oneness we can keep, if we’re diligent. Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). We must do that.
The Ministry Of The Living Word Needs A Living Epistle To Help The People Appropriate It
This is the first time that the ministry of the Living Word is not totally effective just by a tape; it needs a living epistle with it (II Corinthians 3:2–3). The high level of impartation and creating the awareness and helping the people to appropriate the Word comes when you have a human oracle along with a cassette. As soon as God could get it imparted to people, He had channels who could implement and synergize the Words of the tape and make it really come through.
We Have Never Walked In This Realm Before
There is such a level of faith that we’re moving into. And it is because we live in one another’s heart. And as the intimidation is being broken down, we can just enter into one another’s heart.
We have never walked in this realm before. We have never been so much one with one another. We have never loved each other so much.
God Has To Show Us How Much We Are Needed
You need love, but more than love, you need to be needed.
God has to show us how much we are needed. And that is a deliverance to us. It isn’t a bondage to find out how much people need me; it’s a release to me. In a sense, it puts a yoke upon me to produce it. But in another sense, it stabilizes me because it’s what I need to know.
This thing is getting out of a professional level; it’s in one another’s hearts. You’re saying something here that is an expression of being in one another’s heart.
Doers Become Miracles
There is No Exclusiveness
We do not have two companies—those who are in, and those who are trailing along behind. We have had too much of that, and I don’t know how to correct it. We have had it where we get a few in to try to get the thing going by the purity of a little remnant working in unity; but then others feel as if they are second-class, third-class, or fourth-class level, and we don’t intend it to be that way. It is supposed to be something that swings through everybody, but people just can’t help but feel, “Well, I am not in the inner circle.” I don’t know how to tell them that there just is not any inner circle, when it looks like there is an inner circle but there really isn’t. There is no exclusiveness! More and more as we get into the oneness, we are beginning to share everything.
People Will Start Breaking Into Resurrection Life
This thing has to change someplace where people start breaking through into resurrection life. It has to! I am adamant on this point. We must see the breakthrough. The world is going to die, but we are not going to die (John 11:25–26). This is the generation in which millions of us will never die. Do you believe that? I believe that. Hundreds of thousands of people living now will never die. Let’s believe that.
The Ministry Of The Mature Apostle
John 21:18: “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”
The greatest ministry is not when you can go about with your own initiative and perform and do. The greatest ministry—the ministry of the mature apostle—came when he was totally needed. The people had a need for him to need them, and they would never become what they were to become until they broke through a certain level where he ministered to them, and they ministered back to him.
You Have Matured By Ministering To My Need
I have had the need for you to minister to me; and you have matured more, and broken through more, by ministering to my need than you would have if I had been strong and aggressive and had ministered to each one of you every night. You are further ahead with more maturity, more initiative of faith, because you were drawn into a place where you met a need—not to someone under you, but you had to meet the need of those who were in authority over you. As you gave yourself to that, you were blessed. Oh, how do I explain it any other way? This is what made you grow.
Transition Of Authority Never Seems Right
There never is a time when a transition of authority and ministry and the expansion of it seem to be logical and right. Look at the disciples. They get a commission before the Lord ascends, and you think, “These guys will never make it; they’re just forty days away from when they denied the Lord and ran away.” Look at Elisha—his whole apprenticeship is pouring water on the hands of Elijah. Then he is given one request—“What do you want?” And he says, “A double portion.” Elijah tells him, “If you see me when I go, you have it.” So he has to follow the old man. Everybody else tries to stop him (II Kings 2:1–15). You see, God has His men out there, and He has done something in them.
We Are Facing A Lot Of Things, But We Must Learn To Function
We are facing a lot of things. How do we go ahead? What do we do now? We move ahead almost with fear and trembling, and yet we cannot be passive; we cannot hold back. We cannot say, “We don’t know what to do”; and we can’t say, “We’re going to take a six-week vacation because this weight of glory is on us and we just want to give ourselves to that.” It is true that the weight of glory is on us, but we must learn to function.
I Will Teach You How To Live In Both Worlds
Many years ago, after a concentrated time of waiting on the Lord, the Lord came to me and spoke this Word: “From now on while you are in motion doing My will, you will, at the same time, be waiting upon Me. I will teach you how to live in both worlds—the world of service, and the world of worship.” From that time on, I have spent very few hours waiting on the Lord. I do once in a while because it is such a delight; it is such a blessed thing. But when I am waiting on the Lord, most of the time nobody knows that I am doing it. I do not have to go to the mountains; I do not have to go to the desert. You know, you can just walk around the block and have a meeting with the Lord. Anything that takes you away from the routine can put you right in the presence of the Lord.
Learn To Have An Awareness Of The Spirit World
God is trying to adjust us to a way of life. We are going to be ministering judgment; we are going to be under the weight of glory. We will be able to drive nails, saw boards, or do whatever we need to do. We can do all of that, and at the same time we will learn to have an awareness of the spirit world. We will become seer-prophets. We are going to see in the spirit. We will be in this world but not of it (John 17:14–16).
While You Are Filling My Need, Your Need Is Being Filled
You see, God needs us so badly, and we have to function; we have to perform. That is why He is creating now my need for you to fill. And while you are filling my need, your need is being filled, better than I could fill it if you were the focus point. Jesus said to the disciples, “My meat is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:31–34). Later, in John 17:4, He said, “I have finished the work that Thou hast given Me to do.” He was speaking of something important that we should see as a principle. He was fed by doing the will of the Lord.
You Grow By What You Get, And Then You Grow By Giving
You can feed babies and they will grow. A baby can’t do much but cry until it gets attention, and then it is happy. That is the way it grows, and it is a wonderful thing. I think babies are about the best thing that God ever invented. They are just beautiful little things that He made. They have such potential. You just look at them, and see how there could be so much that God could bring forth in this earth, unspoiled, just ready for the blessing, ready for us to love them.
You will grow up to a certain point by what somebody has given you. You listen to tapes; you get help and blessing. But there comes a time when you will not grow that much unless you start giving. You grow by what you get; and then, after a while, all of that within you has to be put into an action. Then you become a living epistle (II Corinthians 3:2–3). You become the one who is giving that out, and you grow by that.
I will impart to you, but each time it is going to be a function to get you to impart!
You are not going to grow until it gets through to you that you are really needed.
Devastation Is The Plow
Sometimes we don’t realize how devastation is the plow that plows up Zion. According to the prophet, Zion has to be like a plowed field (Micah 3:12–4:4), and then it becomes the fruitful vineyard of the Lord. We have been plowed up, and now we are creating one another. We are living in one another’s heart.
The Kingdom Is Going To Be Very Casual—Just A Matter Of Fact
We have had the prophecies that the time would come when we would not just have certain services, but the churches would be open and things would be going on twenty-four hours a day. I think we are in it. The first thing you know, we will find that we will get a lot done in the routine of work, but it won’t be, “This is the work time and this is the service time.” It will all start flowing together.
When you look at the ministry of Christ, He was never too busy to stop and perform a miracle or do something; and that is the way we will be. A lot of this will be so casually done that I think we could almost take it as a principle that the Kingdom is going to be very casual—just a matter of fact, not a great big thing. Just let it happen; flow with it. For the first time in a number of years, I feel as if we are in control of our life, in control of our days. We know what we are doing. We are being less and less apologetic: “Oh, I should be doing this; oh, I should be doing that.” If God is in the middle of it and you are doing what God wants you to do, don’t apologize.
Devastation—The Promise Of Fruitfulness
The Lord gave a parable about a man who had a fig tree. The fig tree did not produce one year, so they got upset about it; but the master who owned the fig tree said, “Let it alone for another year. We’ll dig around it, and dung it, put fertilizer on it; and then if it doesn’t produce, we’ll cut it down” (Luke 13:6–9).
Many people did not understand that we were going through devastation for a couple of years. Then some began to break off, saying, “This isn’t of God.” They did not know that they did not produce, and so the axe was laid to the root (Matthew 3:10). But the rest of you said, “I am under a whole pile of dung in this devastation. I am devastated.” You know, it may not smell so good now; but when blossom time comes, everything smells better. It is the promise of fruitfulness. How many say, “I can take devastation because it has led me to fruitfulness. I won’t be bitter for what I have gone through, because it has brought me to the place where I can love the Lord, and I can do all of this.”
Every time you chomp down on the Communion, think, “I am receiving the life of Jesus Christ my Lord; I become a strength to my brother. And my brother is eating it and is becoming a strength to me.” That is why we are told to eat it together.
An Experience Of Synergistic Impartation
Something is being done here that is a breakthrough. Before God this is a breakthrough that we have never had before. We have got to look at it as something different. I said that when this next experience comes it will be totally different from anything we have ever known, but this next step is going to be involved with this experience. I did not realize how many facets that experience would have. It is an experience of synergistic impartation. We are all getting together and imparting and actually creating. We are just creating. It is a catalyst of creation.
When we say synergistic, it means that we combine the force of impartation. Before, one imparted to another; but now, it is as if we are imparting abilities to each other as we move. Everything that we do is more than just an expression of what we have learned; it is an impartation to the next one. The things we have seen and heard we are committing to others (II Timothy 2:2), and we are doing it with the greatest level of impartation that has ever happened. You don’t know how much you have.
In the final analysis, no bondage is really valid unless it is formed in your own mind. The Lord has been setting us free from the spirit of fear. He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7).
Filled With The Spirit, We Are Ready To Fight
I’m wondering if we haven’t reached the place where we have feasted upon the wine and the bread, and we are beginning to realize, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). We are getting to the place where we are ready to fight and win. And we can. We have dropped the inhibitions, the fears, the intimidation!
This Was Our Judgment Day
The Cross Has to Be Viewed as Judgment
People have never really understood the spiritual significance of the cross. The cross was not only the instrument of Christ’s death, but by the fact that He died for us, it became a judgment. The cross has to be viewed as judgment. Why would a man have to die for our sins? When Christ died on the cross, He was being judged for us; He was judged in our place. The Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5–6).
He Was Judged For Me; Then My Judgment Is Over
He took our place, so that was judgment. I don’t need to fear judgment if I accept that. If I accept that somebody stood in the place for me and was judged for me, then I, in effect, reach back in the Communion to the blood and the body of Jesus Christ and I say, “That was my judgment. That’s where I was judged.” If He was judged for me, and I accept that, then my judgment is over. “But what about all the problems that you have?” There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1–4). The cross has done this.
The Cross Was Not Only My Judgment, But The Judgment Of The Whole World
Paul made it so plain. He said, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14, KJV. This means that when you die to the world, no longer can the world come with all of its demands and its condemnations, all of its controls and its domination over your life. But by the same token, it has to die too. The cross was not only your judgment, but it was the judgment of the whole world.
We Have To Judge And Examine Ourselves
In I Corinthians 11:29–31, Paul said of the Communion, For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.
If we take the Communion in an unworthy manner, we can become sick, even die a premature death—many things can happen. Why? Because we are being so wicked? No, because we don’t rightly judge the Lord’s body. We have to come to judge ourselves and examine ourselves.
“I Judge It On Your Cross”
You say, “Well, then I come and see if there is any wicked way in me and I repent of it.” No, you find out if there is something wrong with you, and you say, “He died for that. That is judged right here.” Have you had a problem in your life—lust, greed, a little bit of timidity—until you reach the place where you are just fearful and unbelieving? Whatever is wrong with you, bring it out and say, “Lord, I lay it out here. I judge it on Your cross. I am going to die to that, and the world is going to die to me.”
It Happened In A Provision And We Make Application
The judgment of the world was embraced in the cross of Christ. Everything happened right there. It happened in provision, and we make application. He did it; and when we come to the body and blood of the Lord, we apply to ourselves what He did.
“I Have To Apply It”
… God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself… II Corinthians 5:19. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. I John 2:2. Potentially, everybody could have been saved through the death of Jesus Christ. Then why do so many wind up without God? It’s very simple—they don’t take advantage of the provision. They don’t say, “This was my judgment; I have to apply it.”
The blessings of God are not going to do you any good—you can sit here and drink the wine and eat the crackers all day, and it isn’t going to do you any good—if you are not applying it as a judgment, as a provision. You are looking to faith, and at that minute condemnation is going to leave.
If You Don’t Take Advantage Of His Judgment, You Will Be Judged
When you take the body and the blood of the Lord, you judge anything wrong in your spirit; you judge anything wrong in your life. If you don’t do this, there is judgment waiting for you, and you will answer for it. If you don’t take advantage of His judgment for you, you will stand in your own shoes at the judgment bar.
Away With This Self-Condemnation!
Away with this self-condemnation! Away with it! We are citizens of the Kingdom. We are sons of God. Someone might say, “Well, I sinned a little and I’m sorry about it.” Okay, just bring it up and say, “God, judge it. And not only that, but also judge the root of it in my heart. Get me free of it. Help me to walk free. I’ll be free of that thing!”
The past is gone. Why? Because way back beyond the time you even thought of sinning, God made the provision for us in His Son going to the cross in judgment. Once and for all, by one sacrifice, He has perfected them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14).
We Are A People Of Destiny
Lord, we are going to receive this because we are set to do Your will. We are Your holy intercessors. We are the people of travail to bring forth a new age. We are a people of destiny. We can’t afford to let some little problems or sins or failures or neglect get ahold of us-or unbelief or just an unawareness of how You love us. We know You love us. We’re going to have this. We’re going to walk in it now!
No Matter How We Failed, We Are His People
We are going to eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood, and we are going to appropriate the fact that He was the Lamb of God, slain, that takes away our sins (John 1:29). He takes away our unworthiness. No matter how we may have failed, we are His people. And if we enter into that judgment, it is all over with. Who is going to condemn you? It is God who justifies you (Romans 8:33–34). He has done all of that.
The Religious World Deals With Guilt And With Religious Pride
Now what does the religious world do? In the first place, they try to put you under condemnation so that you feel a little bit guilty all the time. If you don’t go to church, you feel guilty about it. When you do go to church, they don’t try to help you get rid of your guilt, but they work with the other end of the flesh. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. I John 2:16. They produce a pride: “Oh, I go to church.” They deal with guilt and they deal with religious pride; but they don’t deal with the fact that we enter into a judgment with Jesus Christ our Lord, and we are free! This has to be the end of all the religious tricks that keep Babylon going.
A New Level Of Communion
Can you see why Communion becomes such an important step to get into the Kingdom? Can you see why Jesus said, “I’ll drink no more of this fruit of the vine, until I drink with you new in My Father’s Kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). It is a new level of Communion. This is the Kingdom of God. Some say, “We can’t get into the Kingdom; there will be nothing that defiles that can enter in.” You bet there won’t be, because we judge it out of our hearts. The Kingdom of God is within us, and we appropriate the body and the blood of the Lord that there will be no hindrances.
Don’t let anybody else judge you or you will have self-guilt and self-condemnation that won’t work real repentance. Say, “This is wrong, and I am not going to bow down to somebody else controlling me; but this I am going to do: I am going to be clean. I am going to be righteous. By the blood of Jesus Christ, I’m dumping this load. I’m dumping it right now.”
“My Sin Was Judged; I Humbled Myself Before God”
Let’s face it: if we don’t do this, then we can’t be effective in judgment, because when we are all half-condemned and judging ourselves in a bad way, then we are not free to go with the force to judge the world. The world can come back, the devil can come back and say, “Well, you are just as bad as they are.” And because you are self-condemned you will say, “Yes, I guess we are.” But when you enter into this judgment at the Communion table, you will say, “No, my sin was judged. I humbled myself before God.”
If we can accept this Communion, then the pure judgment can flow forth because Christ already was judged in our place. We accept that and now we can speak forth the judgments without that fear of having the thing still in us and being judged ourselves.
The Fear Of Rejection Is So Much Of The Enemy
The fear of rejection is so much of the enemy. We have that fear that somebody is going to see what is wrong. The Lord is working things out from us and we are determined to have them change; but in the process maybe it shows a little. That fear of rejection that we are aware could happen from somebody else is what we are removing. If we are going to minister the Lord to each other, it means that I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). You know that the Lord saw what you were when you first gave your heart to Him, and you were nothing except material to be changed into His likeness. And as you are making that change, it’s like the Lord within us is going to have to recognize that people go through things, and you will never reject them.
It’s one thing to say, “I don’t ever want to be rejected; I don’t want to be seen.” And it’s another to recognize that you go through it and people are kind. We are going to do the same in our own heart to our brother. We have to get over this hurdle. Nothing will stop us when everyone in the Body realizes: it doesn’t matter what you are; you will never be rejected. No longer will there be that fear of the enemy, that lie that comes and causes you to close off when you have done something that you think isn’t right, where you close off because you are so awed by how exposed it was, or how somebody was hurt, or whatever. It’s different if you take the attitude of repentance, but that fear of rejection is going to end. I claim today that this is going to be the end of us rejecting somebody else, but especially that we are not touched with the lie of the enemy that says, “I did something wrong, and therefore I’m going to be rejected either by the elders, by the pastor, by Brother Stevens, by my brother, by the one I work with, by my mate, by my roommate”—whatever our contacts are that we have in our walk. Never will we be insecure about that.
If God Judged It, Who Is He That Condemneth?
We fear exposure; actually, we fear lies. And some of us are afraid of the truth of what things have been because of the way the enemy twists them. That is part of the fear of rejection, that we come to the place where we say, “I know this happened; but the way they are saying it, it wasn’t that way at all.” We fear even an exposure of the truth because of what Satan tries to do in turning it into a lie. We fear rejection; we fear exposure; we fear exposure of what we have done wrong. But we are going to drink to the fact that if God has judged it and justified us, who is he that condemneth? No man can condemn (Romans 8:33–34).
The Holy Spirit Is Our Advocate
The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, or our attorney (John 14:16–17). Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). He is our Advocate (I John 2:1). Satan comes as the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), but the Heavenly Father has His own Son as one of the defending attorneys and His blessed Spirit as the other. With all the lawyers and the judge on our side, who can be against us? Okay, so we are guilty, but the fine has already been paid. The penalty has already been paid as though we had never done it. We are free.
You Have No Past Because He Took It
You are free, by the blood of Christ, by the body of the Lord. There is no condemnation. You are free—absolutely, totally free! You have no past because He took it.
John, we say that there is no man that condemns you. There is no one that can come against you. We just speak to your spirit that this Communion is for you, and we impart it to you. You know the righteousness that is within your own spirit. We rebuke the ones who try to condemn and to judge. We say that it falls right back upon their heads, and you are set free from it. There is nothing that can prevail against you.
We minister the love of the Body to you; we are one with you. We refuse to have you feel condemned any longer. But you continue to speak the Word of God. You are a vessel of the Word. We say, “Speak the Word only.” We say that it comes forth in a purity that no man can touch. No one can come against the Word of God. We just bless it to your heart right now.
“Each by the Other’s Faith”—Romans 1:12
The Various Branches of Authority Or Executions Of Authority
Our own spiritual world is not prepared for the Kingdom without positions or ranks; but where we live in one another’s hearts, we have various authorities, various branches of authority or executions of authority. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects (the Greek reads “energizings”; “operations” is another word), but the same God who works all things in all persons. I Corinthians 12:4–6.
Position And Rank Always Interfere With The Free Flow And Efficiency In The Kingdom
We submit to one another’s authority, because there is no position. And without position there is a great deal of authority. The less presuming I am, the more assuming I can be of the promises of God working in my life. I can assume that—they will work. Position and rank always interfere with the free flow and efficiency in the Kingdom of God.
The Key Of It
The happy thing would be to find someone who is both an administrator and a minister of the Word. And this is, of course, the thing we have endeavored to do all the way through. We have completely rejected the idea that any ministry can come from anyone with position or just because a person has human ability. They are going to assume it humbly. This is the key of it.
The Lord Is Using Your Obedience To Make You Grow
The Lord is using your obedience to do more than fulfill the job that was given to you. He is using your obedience to make you grow under whatever circumstances you have to grow under. That’s it.
There Is No Answer For You Or Your Brother Apart From The Oneness
To accept oneness is sometimes to crawl into the heart of a wildcat. But you do it because you know that there is no answer for your brother and there is no answer for you apart from that oneness that you reach in to claim in the name of the Lord.
When this oneness really functions as it should, you become the greatest liberating force to one another that there ever was. And there will not be restraint, there will not be bondage, mainly because you don’t accept it.
You Do Not Need To Justify Yourself; You Do Not Need To Condemn Yourself
You do not need to justify yourself, nor do you need to condemn yourself.
Self-condemnation—you begin to weigh something that you did and condemn yourself. Because you have no confidence in the flesh you keep saying, “Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am doing the wrong thing here. Maybe I’ve expressed it wrong.” And probably to some degree you did. So the condemnation sweeps over you, and then there is a corresponding reaction of self-justification. I think self-justification and self-condemnation are twins out of the same womb. They are so much alike.
You Are In My Heart, One With Me In The Lord
You are not in my heart for me to condemn you. You are not in my heart that I make you my footstool. You are not in my heart to build a throne and dominate me. You are in my heart, one with me in the Lord. I am in your heart the same way.
The More Paul Gave, The More He Received
I am not here to dominate you or control you, but I am here to change you, to keep adding to you. The yearning of the Apostle Paul in the purity of his heart was this: “I long to see you to the end that I might impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that we both will be edified and built up together” (Romans 1:11–12). That’s what we are feeling. The people were so much in his heart that the more he gave to them, the more he received back to himself.
Oneness In The Lord Has The Solution
The minute that you try to stand off and look at a problem, you have created a gulf that oneness was supposed to bridge and end. What should you do? Bless. Minister every bit of openness that you can to your brother and sister. Have real faith for them. You say, “But I would like to get things straightened out.” There is no way you can do that, because the problems are not the problem. The questions and feelings are not the true thing. I don’t care what was said; that is not the problem. The real problem is that we must not approach anything without the oneness in the Lord, because it all has its solution there.
You Help, And You Love, And You Minister
If your brother has sinned against you, or he doesn’t understand you, what are you supposed to do—judge him, or love him and create in him the thing that he needs? You have to approach it entirely differently. You do not control one another, but you have the authority and the commission to change one another from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord (II Corinthians 3:18). You can bring the Lord forth in your brother. This is the way you solve everything: you help, and you love, and you minister.
The Climate Of Change Is Oneness
There has to be a confidence that you have, a confidence that says, “I have a ministry.” And that same confidence must be in your brother, that he has a ministry. Then you will find yourselves coming and submitting to one another. You don’t draw back from your brother and say, “I’ve got to correct him.” You crawl into his heart and you stay there, because the climate of change is oneness. That is the way everything changes.
Your Brother Works The Will Of The Lord In You
God does not use the world to circumcise your heart; He uses your brother to do it. You say, “Why would He do that?” Because Christ isn’t in the world out there, but He is in your brother, and it’s a work of Christ being done in you. God works through him sometimes in a way that is completely apart from his own understanding.
Submission To The Work Of The Cross
The effectiveness of your ministering to one another depends upon your submission to the work of the cross in your own life. And that work of the cross is often speeded up and executed by your brother.
Compatibility was never a secret of oneness.
Oneness With One Another Has The Key Of Producing One Another
It is this amazing thing of coming into oneness with one another that has the key of all the spice, the creativity, the life in God, the producing of one another. It is the most productive, creative, fulfilling thing in all the world; and yet it is totally done without personal ambition to dominate and excel, or to have the praise of men. It is the greatest paradox there ever was.
Individuals, But Never Independent
It is going to be difficult because people are very independent. God made them and intended for them to be individuals, but He never intended for them to be independent.
Oneness Is The Goal
Of all the animal kingdom, if you want to call it that, God created the human race to be most dependent upon one another. In the first place, when a person is born, he has a life of helplessness for a longer period than any animal. And it is surprising that with all his thinking ability, he still is not an independent unit standing alone; he can’t. But when he gets older, he goes through a cycle. He abhors the dependence that he is born with and he wants to break it, so he goes through a period of independence. And then he finally matures; he enters into the important phase of his life when he has learned to be interdependent—to accept the dependence of others, and to depend upon them.
In the Kingdom of God it is very much like that. You will always be individuals. Oneness is not a beauty treatment that takes away from the characteristics of an individual as far as his appearance goes or some things of his personality, or the things of his spirit that make him what he is. We are not bringing conformity or compatibility—those are not the things that we are working for. Oneness is the goal.
You don’t want the kind of blending that loses individuality, but you do want to lose your independence and become interdependent as you live in one another’s heart.
Oneness has such a creativity that it overcomes everything of independence. How many have had to swallow a lot of independence? You say, “What happens then? Have I lost my initiative?” No! You’ve finally got it. Now you’re in a position in one another’s hearts where you can work a change, where you can be changed.
We Are In Control
Authority is being loosed from its limitations. I make this prediction: Tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day following, we are going to find an unfolding effectiveness of the authority that Christ has given us. It is going to continue; it is always there.
Do you know what God has done? He has put us in total control of our day. And no matter what comes up, we are in control. We are there.
The Lie Of Satan
With the increase of revelation and awareness of each other that is happening, there probably is no greater lie of Satan than the suspicion, “Well, somebody snitched. Somebody finked on me.” I feel there is probably no greater lie of Satan than his efforts to create a suspicion.
You would be surprised how Satan can put a focus on different things and lie to you. And you have to break through to an awareness of what it really is that God is doing and saying. We are still much too negative. We are much too negative. Negativity is an assumption of the conclusions of unbelief.
Believe The Lord For Positive Things
You are going to believe the Lord for positive things. Don’t just assume that everything is going to be bad. Assume that whatever bad there is is going to be overcome by the good. Christ was the true light who came into the world to enlighten every man. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness and the darkness overwhelmed it not (John 1:4–5, 9). You are creating a light. Be positive about that light. Believe in your light.
Don’t Give Way To Negativity
Don’t give way to negativity. Believe that you are doing something positive. You are a generator of great energy and change and creativity in one another’s hearts. They will change because you are there in their hearts. You will change because your brother is in your heart.
You Are Going To Be Creatures Of Faith
It’s so easy to look at the symptoms and be fearful. Have faith. You don’t know yet what you can do, because you have never really tested your faith that much; you have never expressed your faith that much. You have never gone clear out on thin ice yet. But you are going to go on thin ice, and then you are going to go a little further and start walking on water, because you are going to believe; you are going to be creatures of faith. And you are not going to believe because you have a rational support of facts and resources behind you, and evidence to your conclusion. You are going to come to the place where God gives you a revelation, He gives you a Word, and you believe it. And you stand with such a faith that that Word is going to be fulfilled.
We are not detectives to look for evidence to hang a man; we are people of God looking for the promises and commission that we can create a man.
The Word That I Speak Is Coming Back Alive From Hearts That Are Receiving
I have spoken a Word, and sometimes it hit hard hearts and it bounced back; it was but an echo. But now it is hitting receptive, open hearts, and it is being amplified and returned in power to me. The Word that I speak is coming back alive from the hearts that are really receiving it.
You Could Not Give Without Receiving
It is a form of double portion; it’s an equal flowing. You give, and we give. We live in one another’s hearts so there is a constant portion. But it is not one way; it is two ways.
How could we express it except that the sign kept showing that? The anointing would be on the palm and on the back of the hand, showing that you could not give without receiving. And this oneness has opened up that sign. I think that is going to be one of the important signs of the Kingdom. For thirty years there was an anointing in my hands, and there still is; it will always be there. But the anointing has changed. Now, where there is that oneness and I bless, I can feel it being blessed back. I’m receiving too. That is double portion.
This Is The Way It Happens
For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. Romans 1:11–12, ASV. This is the way it happens.
Your Love Has Appropriated Something Beyond Your Faith
When you come here you are going to minister to me. Forget about yourself. But when you get finished, take a look at yourself and see how much you have changed. Your love has appropriated something beyond your faith. That is what we need. When we get enough of this love and focus, we are going to get more than our faith believes for.
Some day love is going to turn loose more than our faith has anticipated. That is why we should pray for more love. We should really give ourselves to more love.
We Live In Another Realm
The greatest area that the enemy has always preyed on is our unawareness. We have never even thought to ask the Lord if we could walk twenty-four hours a day knowing exactly what we are doing, how we are being hit, what is coming through, how to pray for our brother exactly, with no misunderstandings. We can live in another realm and never be lied to.
There is a Scripture that says, … the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. Luke 16:16, KJV. And now we would add that in these days of the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God is preached and every man presseth his brother into it. That is what you are doing for me. You are pressing me into it. We have to be motivated to motivate our brother. We have to be motivated to believe for our brother’s faith.
If we come to the place of awareness, we come to the place of effectiveness.
Purity is Appropriated
Purification Has to Precede the Judgment
This Word that is coming now is a Word that will keep the judgments from backfiring on you. It is the safest preliminary thing that I can give you: the purification has to precede the judgment.
We are letting the Communion be judgment to the old flesh and a purification of our spirit.
The book of Malachi deals with the corruption and restoration of the priesthood. The priesthood came basically out of the tribe of Levi. They were the ones who officiated; they were the ones whom God chose, although back in the book of Exodus He said that He was going to take the whole people. “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:6a. In the New Testament books of I Peter and Revelation this is repeated: we are a royal priesthood to offer up the sacrifices to the Lord (I Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 5:10).
“And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” Malachi 3:3.
Now understand that this is not a reversal back to the natural tribe of Levi. He is talking about the end-time priesthood—the day when He suddenly comes to His temple.
God Was Exposing You To The Need Of Righteousness
How is He going to purify us? You say, “Well, it’s by what we go through.” I have yet to see our experiences purify us. The Law came in order to convince us that we were sinners (Romans 3:19–20). But under the grace of God, His discipline comes so that we become a partaker of His righteousness (Hebrews 12:10). We are chastened by the Lord until we partake of His righteousness.
That is what we do in the Communion—we partake of His righteousness. All that we have been through—what does it mean? It means that God was exposing you to your need of righteousness without condemning you under the Law. He didn’t condemn you under the Law, but He disciplined you by the grace of God. We have been disciplined through devastation to bring us to the place of appropriation where we say, “We take it, Lord! You’re going to clothe us with righteousness.”
Eat Of His Flesh And Drink Of His Blood
Open your heart. He is going to come in and fellowship with you. You are going to commune with Him. You are going to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. You are going to be clothed with Him. You are going to partake of Him (Revelation 3:18–20).
First The Purification, Then Come The Judgments
After this purification is appropriated, then what happens? Malachi 3:5: “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers (the first thing that gets judged is that witchcraft, that transference) and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.
First comes the purification of the priesthood, then the administration of the judgments. There has to be a warring priesthood, a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). It was once translated, “kings and priests” (Revelation 5:10, KJV), because there is a sense in which they sit to judge, though the judgment was never given to them to sit like a king. Kings reserve that and God gave them that, but the priests had it in this sense: they came to teach the people, and their very teachings became a judgment if the people would not listen to them. The cry of the Old Testament in II Chronicles 15:3 was that there was no teaching priest.
The Voice Of The Kingdom Will Be The Teaching Priest
The voice of the Kingdom will be the teaching priest. It will bring a purification, because a priest ministers and imparts. The teaching priest ministers to the people. When he speaks a Word, it is because he is making alive the sacrifice of the people. The incense of worship is coming up to the Lord; through his faith it breaks through. The sacrifice of Christ is reviewed and made applicable to every one of those people who come and are the communicants at the altar where he ministers. He is ministering righteousness. He is imparting. It is there. He is forgiving sins and he is retaining sins (John 20:23). He has an anointing in God to do this.
Present Your Body As A Living Sacrifice
You are those priests, that holy priesthood to offer up sacrifices acceptable to God in the Spirit. What is the first thing you do? You come as a priest and you present your body as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). You start giving yourself to God. That is what we are doing. We are coming to God and saying, “We’re going to be purified. We’re going to be the priests of God and His instruments in judgment, but it begins with that judgment of ourselves.”
Four Steps
When we know the Lord and we have a revelation of the Living Word, then we go through four steps. The first is that we begin to find out who we are and what we are to be. Second, we find out His will—we know His will in our life and in the earth. Third, we come to know the enemy and his devices. And finally, we come into the faculties by which we know what we are doing. Paul saw that. He said, “I don’t want to run uncertainly. I don’t want a blindfold on me while I’m running this race. I don’t want to fight as one who is just beating the air. I want to know where the enemy is and I want to stick him!” (I Corinthians 9:26–27.) That is what we are praying for, because until we go through these processes, we are not going to be the seer-prophets who see it and smite it down and bring it, in the name of the Lord; we will still be intimidated by circumstances.
Diakrisis—“A Thorough, Deep Judging”
The Greek word diakrisis means “a thorough, deep judging of a situation.” It occurs in I Corinthians 12:10, where Paul talks about the discerning of spirits; and it is used several times in I Corinthians 11, in the passage about Communion. Since the purification precedes the judgment, we are going to see that the Communion is God’s means of purifying us and of enabling us to thoroughly judge ourselves.
Righteous—By The Body And The Blood Of The Lord
How are we going to become righteous? We are going to appropriate it by the body and blood of the Lord. We are going to have that thorough purification. Our old nature is going to be judged and we will partake of the righteousness of God. As our old nature is judged by the cross, so the cross opens up the door for us to be a partaker of His nature.
We are going to have the visitation of righteousness. First is our judgment; then will come the judgment of the wicked.
Devastation Puts You In A Position Where God Can Do Everything For You
Devastation was never designed as an instrument of perfection. It was to be an exposure of unbelief and a stirring up of faith in your heart in the Word that had been committed to you—in order that now you can appropriate it. I don’t think devastation does much for you except put you in a place where God can do everything for you. It is the chastening that leads you to become a partaker of His holiness (Hebrews 12:10). It is an appropriation of another nature, of an attribute of God. His righteousness becomes ours. Purity is appropriated!
The Memory That Brings What He Did Alive To You
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” I Corinthians 11:23–25.
It is the memory that brings what He did alive to you. It brings to the present moment His great sacrifice, His judging of your sin as He was crucified for your transgressions; it brings it all right up to the present moment as though you were sitting right under the cross and His blood was dripping down upon your body. That is how real it is. You do it in a remembrance that brings forth what has been accomplished for almost two millenniums, and it makes it real to you, right now in the present.
You Are Going To Be Pure Because You Appropriate It
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. I Corinthians 11:26–28.
Here you begin to judge yourself, to examine yourself. Why? It is this purification that we appropriate. We appropriate purification. You are going to be pure because you appropriate it. You are going to be pure because He is going to give it to you. Come alive to this! You say, “Well, I’ve failed.” That self-condemnation has to go. You are going to be purified by appropriation. That is what you are going to do with the Communion.
You Have To Have Faith
For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. I Corinthians 11:29–30.
Why? First of all, if you don’t judge the body rightly, you are guilty of going through the motions without faith. And if you want to work the works of God, you do it with faith (John 6:28–29). You have to have faith in His body and blood. If you don’t do that then you have no means of healing, no means of appropriation.
Judgment Will Follow The Purification Of The Priesthood
I have felt for a long time that longevity and even the entrance into resurrection life will have to be closely associated with the Communion ministry. There will be no resurrection life without judgment; there will be no judgment without resurrection life. We are not going to break through to the great blessings without also breaking through to the judgments of God in the earth. Then the Lord will draw near as a swift witness against the sorcerers (Malachi 3:5). Judgment will follow the purification of the priesthood. And we are the priesthood ready to be purified by appropriation today.
Appropriation That Will Enable Us To Miss The Judgment
But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world. I Corinthians 11:31–32. This word diakrisis is here—the thorough judging. We thoroughly judge ourselves to appropriate. Even when we don’t know what is wrong, we still appropriate completely the answers.
Maybe that was the reason some of the discipline came, some of the devastation—to bring you to the place where you would see your need and appropriate the answer. He is not going to go back and repeat the Law. There will be no more Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments. Then how is He going to make you aware of your need of His righteousness unless He disciplines you to make you become a partaker of His holiness? That gives a real, full meaning of what we have gone through: We are disciplined by the Lord so that we will see our need and appropriate it, and we will not be judged with the world. We are not interested in hellfire; but we do say, “Lord, if we are not going to discern ourselves, we can see that You are going to discipline us until we enter into the kind of appropriation that will still enable us to miss the judgment that is going to hit the world.” We are not to be condemned along with the world.
Examine Yourself
Don’t worry about the exposure of your need before the Lord. Be worried if you don’t have it. Be concerned if you don’t feel an exposure of it in your own heart. Say, “Lord, I am going to examine myself with real faith.”
Examine yourself. Do it. Reach up to God and say, “Whatever He has been dealing with me about, I believe God to purify me like gold and silver is refined in the fire. Then I’m going to offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness (Malachi 3:3), because I appropriate that righteousness. I let the iniquity be judged.”
The purification has to be largely appropriation. The only thing is that you have to voice it with faith. Appropriate it!
A Do-It-Yourself Ministry—Create Yourself By Faith In God
In the Old Testament, the priesthood made offerings continuously for the transgressors because there never was a change of nature (Hebrews 10:1–2). But in the New Testament, in a real sense this is sort of a do-it-yourself ministry. You have the bread—eat it. You have the body and the blood of the Lord—partake of it. Do it! Create yourself by faith in God. You say, “Well, maybe God doesn’t want it.” If He didn’t want it, He wouldn’t have given it. He made it a blanket provision for every man in Christ Jesus the Lord. You can have it.
Purification is not a positive feeling, but you do eliminate the awareness of defilement. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:7).
Eat And Drink Your Way Into The Presence Of God
You eat your way and drink your way into the presence of the holy place of God. And you stand before Him perfect, complete, entire, wanting nothing. He gave Himself for His Church that He might present her to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish before God (Ephesians 5:25–27). That is where we are.
It is an amazing thing; it is so simple. The Lord comes and makes one statement. He says, “Flesh and blood will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 15:50). “I will never make it then.” Yes, you can—through His flesh and blood. Did you ever hear anything more profound and so simple?
The Body’s Oneness Is Perfecting You
The most exciting thing is that the Body’s oneness is perfecting you. It is so real to me that you have ministered the Word. The Word has gone out and recreated—almost in a sterile-type feeling, like it is not working. But all those who had faith plugged away at it and hung in there and hung in there and took it and took it. And during this time we were changed, devastated, whatever; you explained it earlier. We came into this oneness; and every time you spoke a Word, the ears heard it, but it took a while. Now they hear it the minute you speak it. And never again do you walk out of a service but what you have given the Word, it is heard, and it changes us. We are one, and you will never leave a service but what it comes back on you and you are fed instead of starved. And it flows back because of us.
No More Delay
There’s something very, very dispensational about what we are in. There is not going to be any more delay (Revelation 10:5–6). We are going to hear it and we are going to walk in it. In fact, if we have to create the thing then we will, because by faith the ages are created by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3).
We are not arrogant as though we were the only people on earth who ever thought of this, and we are “the people.” That isn’t the idea. But somebody has to do it! God set it before us and told us to do it. And we are going to do it.
Enter Into His Presence Forgiving Everybody Of Everything
If you are going to enter into the ministry of judgment, then you must first enter into the ministry and appropriation of purification. If you are going to be purified, then you have to enter into His presence, absolutely forgiving everybody of everything, or the Heavenly Father will not forgive you (Matthew 6:14–15). There must be absolutely no vindictiveness, no grudges, no resentment, nothing. If you have perfectly forgiven, you will be perfectly forgiven. Then God can use you to be a perfect channel of judgment, because you are totally objective without personal feelings. Then God can speak through your mouth. It is not you who judges at all; it is the Lord who does it, and you are just a channel of it.