Table Of ContentTable of Contents
Introduction
Charity With Wisdom
Spiritual Socialism
An Impending Catastrophe
The Trap Can Be a Door
Part I
The Highest Caling
CHAPTER ONE
The Majesty Of The Call
The Greatest Gift
CHAPTER TWO
The Crown of Glory
The Glory of Preaching
Only One Yoke
True and False Ministry
Start at the Beginning
CHAPTER THREE
The Seven Basic Truths
Foundations Are Critical
The Shackles of Sin
Pain Is a Friend
The Seven Basic Truths
A Barometer of Our Condition
Building on the Foundation
CHAPTER FOUR
Resurrection Life
The Forge of Faith
Faith Makes the Way
False Faith
Faith Is Power
The Test of Faith
The Father of Faith
CHAPTER FIVE
God's Ultimate Plan
The New Creation
The Nature of Leaders
God's Primary Business
The Highest Calling
Restoration Is Not Optional
The Reward
CHAPTER SIX
The Message
The False Hope
The Proceeding Word
Signs Are Messages
New Covenant Prophecy and Teaching
The Source of False Ministry
Motives and Spiritual Gifts
CHAPTER SEVEN
Words of Life
Words Are Treasures
Christ In You
The Power of Truth
Only Patience Bears Lasting Fruit
We Have a Higher Power
The Greater Wisdom
CHAPTER EIGHT
Our Ministry as Priests
The Foundation of All Ministry
The Foundation of the Priestly Ministry
The Altar of Incense
The Place of Sacrifice
Love, The Foundation of Authority
A Costly Presumption
The Main Thing
CHAPTER NINE
Wisdom for Building
The Honor of His Presence
Part II
Spiritual Authority
CHAPTER TEN
Kingdom Authority
Men Were Created to Walk In the Supernatural
Kingdom Authority
The Test
The Gifts Are God's Love
True Maturity Is Love
Authority for Healing
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Counterfeit Spiritual Authority
Our Advantage In the Battle
What Is Witchcraft?
The True Seat of Authority
The Gift of Discernment
Spiritual Maturity
Self-Promotion Leads to Divination
The Fear of Man Leads to Witchcraft
Crossing the Line
The Responsibility of True Authority
The Safety Net
CHAPTER TWELVE
Our Shield Against Witchcraft
Flattery Will Get You Nowhere
Resisting Witchcraft
Understanding New Age Witchcraft
Seeking Rightly
Discerning Counterfeits
The Power of Cowards—Black Magic
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Systematic Attacks of Witchcraft
Blind-siding Yourself
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Jezebel Spirit
Deliverance from Jezebel
Hope for Jezebel
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Control Spirit and Legalism
The Nature of Obedience
Worship from the Heart
His Sheep Know His Voice
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Modern Pharisees
False Brethren
Each Must Gather His Own Manna
Hermeneutical Problems
The Highest Form of Unity
Summary
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Our Greatest Power and Our Greatest Enemy
The Spirit of Poverty
Truth Can Kill
Love Covers
Part III
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Quest
The Plan
God's Second Book
The New Covenant
The Unholy War
Is There Nothing New?
Satan's Cord of Three Strands
Resisting Religious Socialism
Living in the NEW Creation
The Boast of Satan
Born for Greatness
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Catching the Wave
Looking Back to Look Ahead
Paddling with the Wave
Wait for the Big One
A Higher Way
Obedience, Not Sacrifice
Summary
Introduction
This is the most extraordinary time ever to be alive. To know the Lord and serve
Him in these times is possibly the greatest privilege that has ever been offered to
any man or woman, and it has been offered to you. However, with this great
privilege comes great responsibility, and with the great opportunities have come
great difficulties. In fact, it is probable that it has never been more difficult to be
in the ministry. This book was written to help illuminate the honors and
responsibilities, the difficulties and the opportunities facing those in ministries
today.
Change is now coming upon the world so fast that the only thing we can now
count on is change. The foundations of every religion, philosophy and system of
government are being shaken. Should we resist change, or help set its course?
The answer is both.
If we do not resist the changes that we should resist, we will become subject to
changes that we do not want. As the old proverb goes, "The ship in the water is
okay, but water in the ship is not!" Much of the church has been sinking under
the influence of the humanistic forces she tried to influence when she should
have taken a bold stand against them. Very soon the church will be faced with
possibly her greatest test in how she relates to the world. Those who do not
understand the changes that are coming will be swept away by them. Those who
do understand them will be in a position to help direct them. The need for
prophetic clarity has never been greater.
Charity With Wisdom
It may be hard to understand now, but one of the greatest attacks coming upon
the church will gain entry through her compassion. I must emphasize
"her" compassion and not God's compassion. One of the enemy's primary
strategies is to wear out the saints. He is doing this by releasing a horde of "false
brethren" to steal the children's bread. He will use these false brethren to absorb
most of the time, attention and energy of the leadership of the church, so that
they will not have anything left for God's people.
These people will be the first in your prayer lines, and try to consume so much
of your time and energy that you will not have anything to give to the others.
These will crowd around the pastor after every service so that he does not have
time to talk with anyone else. They will call you and demand attention at the
most inappropriate times, and no amount of attention will ever be enough for
them.
These people are not consciously evil, and probably have no idea that they are
doing this. Many are just wounded people who need constant affirmation and
attention. There is a great danger that once we see this, we will allow ourselves
to become hardened to the genuine needs of people. We must walk in
discernment or we will constantly be distracted from the ministry God has called
us to. Beware of those who are taking most of your time, attention and strength,
but are not really changing.
Spiritual Socialism
The above briefly describes Satan's strategy against individual ministers. The
following describes a major strategy by which he will seek to entrap the entire
church.
The whole world is now beginning to understand that socialism does not work.
Socialism conditions people to depend on the government to meet their needs.
This can be tolerable at first, but as the people gradually lose their sense of
personal responsibility (which inevitably happens under socialism), the
government starts to get blamed for every problem, and demands are put upon it
to meet every need and want of the people. Soon even hideous crimes are
blamed on the social environment, which, of course, is the government's
responsibility. It is impossible for any government to sustain these pressures, so
it will ultimately collapse.
Possibly the last major institution to understand that socialism will not work is
the church. In one sense this is understandable, because we know that God
supplies all of our needs. The error is that many have interpreted this as the
church supplies all of our needs. This delusion will cause the collapse of those
who succumb to it. The church is here to help men restore their relationship with
God, not take the place of that relationship. The church is not here to meet the
needs of the people, but to connect them to the only One who can.
This does not negate acts of charity, which are indeed fundamental to
Christianity. However, there is a line that we can easily cross that will actually
kill the power of true charity, as well as the church or ministry which crosses it.
Homeless people have recently started coming into our meetings. They are
wonderful people, some of whom are really seeking the Lord. Immediately some
of our members approached me and asked what the church was going to do for
them. "Nothing," was my reply. Because the church as an institution was not
going to respond to them, individuals did. True charity must be personal; it must
be relational.
When we put the responsibility for charity on the institution of the church, we
deprive individuals of some of their greatest opportunities to love others. The
power of God to meet needs is released through love, not programs.
This is not to imply that there are not some acts of charity that we should do
together as a congregation, but we must be careful to only do what we are called
to do.
Jesus never responded to human need; He only did what He saw the Father
doing. We must walk in the same kind of obedience or we will fall into a deadly
trap that is set for those who walk in human compassion rather than God's
compassion. That trap is a form of socialism that will ultimately separate us from
our true Source. It will also wear us out by compelling us to carry the people's
yoke instead of the Lord's.
Having said all of this, I know that one of the greatest problems in the church
today is not trying to do too much, but not doing enough. We are confronting a
great
"Laodicean lukewarmness." However, the main reason for this apathy is rooted
in the weariness that comes from trying to minister in human compassion rather
than by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The church is worn out from all of the
projects and programs forced upon her. The way out of the apathy is not to get
the church moving again, but to see her empowered by the presence of the Lord.
When she is thus empowered she will see real and lasting fruit from her ministry.
She will also walk in the joy of the Lord that is the source of her strength.
An Impending Catastrophe
The Savings & Loan debacle in the U.S. was blamed on crooks and
irresponsibility within the industry. These may have contributed to the weakness
of the S&Ls, but they were not the reason for the collapse. The collapse was
caused by the Reagan Tax Reform Bill. This tax reform was badly needed, and
long overdue, but it was implemented in such a way that it devastated
commercial real estate values, for which the S&Ls were holding most of the
mortgages.
The value of real estate had been wrongly propped up by tax loop holes which
needed to be closed. However, changing tax laws in the way that our government
has often done it has business caught in something like trying to play a game
when the rules are constantly being changed. One minute a move causes you to
score, and the next time you move you lose. It is not only frustrating, it prohibits
the kind of long term planning that true economic health requires.
If the Reagan Tax Reforms had been phased in over a few years it would have
saved us all hundreds of billions of dollars. It was a case of doing the right thing
in the wrong way. Now we desperately need to have radical changes made in our
welfare system. If we make them too fast the cost will be far more than we will
ever save on the budget.
As bad as the present rules are, they are the rules that many people have built
their lives on.
They will not be able to change their lives as fast as the government will
probably require them to. Multitudes of people are about to be devastated. The
ultimate losses in both people and property promises to be much greater than we
experienced with the S&L collapse. The church and Islam will compete to fill
this vacuum. The church is presently not well positioned to engage in one of the
greatest battles for the soul of America that has ever been waged.
The Trap Can Be a Door
The church has the power to turn this great impending catastrophe into one of
the greatest opportunities for the gospel she has ever had. The enemy's strategy
will be to try to get the church to respond to the collapse of socialism with her
own form of socialism. This will only result in the church being pulled into the
quicksand. If we are going tobe able to pull anyone out of the quicksand, we
must first be standing on solid ground ourselves. That is the purpose of this book
—to return the ministry of the church to solid ground. If she does return, she will
be the greatest force for change the world has ever known, and they will be
changes that we can all live with.
Part I
The Highest Caling
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height
and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you
may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19).
