Years ago as a new Christian, preachers often told us the church had lost its power. Unbelief or lack of faith was the suggested problem back then. Today as I look at the Western church, it seems that lots of people within don’t know there is such a power to lose! To me that suggests ignorance is the problem today. Ignorance of God, ignorance of Jesus Christ, ignorance of the Holy Spirit, ignorance of who we are and ought to be in Christ … all as a result of ignorance of the Bible. Think of it; we have Bibles, plus their associated helps and studies coming out our ears; yet the ignorance of all is worse than what it was before Martin Luther smashed Romanism’s stronghold 500 years ago!
Such ignorance is costly. It destroyed God’s people, Israel Isaiah 5:13 and Hosea 4:6 and it’s destroying God’s people, the church. Two meanings of destroyed are: ‘be brought to silence’ and ‘bring undone’. In a practical sense today, that’s exactly what enemies of the true Jesus Christ and the true gospel are accomplishing. For example, we have devils in the pulpit telling us we are all children of God. Not true! Only those who are blood-washed in Jesus Christ are children of God, the rest are creations of God. Those devils need to be reminded of John 1:11-13, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (power) to become children of God……..
The word power here means: ‘authority’ ‘jurisdiction’ ‘liberty’ ‘freedom’ ‘right’ ‘strength’ – all of it Holy Spirit-given. Devils in pulpits don’t legitimately possess any of that! They know it too. That’s why they’ll not hesitate to silence and bring undone any in their midst who do. Be that as it is, the purpose of this post is to encourage all who know their sins have been washed in the blood of Jesus but are not fully aware of what that means for them. If you’ve received the Lord, you’ve received the power. Take another look at what that means for you. It means God is greatly concerned for your spiritual well-being and He has made every provision for you to live in the best of it moment by moment through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
As a redeemed child of God you are a new creature/creation 2 Corinthians 5:17. You must reflect or meditate on that reality and allow the Holy Spirit to settle it in your heart that you are nothing remotely like a pulpit devil and he or she is nothing remotely like you. Don’t allow yourself to be dragged down to their level. They’re dwelling in a spiritual gutter. Get away from them. All their dishonoring, foolish and emotional talk about tolerance, same sex practice, man-made climate change, interfaith relationships – none of that comes from the mouth of God. It’s from the mouth of the devil and all of it is designed to keep you from experiencing the power. If Satan can’t kill you physically, he’ll do it spiritually and mentally if you don’t act John 10:10.
In most churches today there are more creations of God in attendance than there are children of God. That’s a harsh reality for children of God to come to terms with. For example, if there are fifty or sixty people in regular attendance, there might only be fifteen or twenty who are born again, the rest are simply religious practitioners. The fact that they speak the language and look the part means nothing. True, it’s not for us to make judgments on who is and who isn’t a child of God, but the ones who don’t freely talk about Jesus and the Scriptures probably can’t talk about them and have no desire to begin talking about them. They can talk the leg off an iron pot about anyone or anything else, but not Jesus and the Scriptures.
As nice as some of them can be, you don’t want to hang around people like that; they’re not good for your spiritual well-being. For some months a church member regularly visited me at home and every time I mentioned Jesus and the Scriptures he did not! It gradually dawned on me that our time together was non-redemptive and unproductive. He became a spiritual hindrance so I told the Lord exactly that and asked Him to stop the man from visiting in the future. My prayer was answered from that moment. That man didn’t have the power, he didn’t want the power; therefore we had nothing in common. Don’t be afraid to pray people out of your life when you know they’re a spiritual hindrance to you.
A devil in the pulpit is a definite spiritual hindrance to you. Therefore, unless you can find enough like-minded children of God willing to join you in prayer for his or her removal, you will need to remove yourself. Remember what the apostle Paul told us, A little leaven leavens the whole lump Galatians 5:9. Or, as John Wesley put it, “One troubler troubles all.” Usually there’s more than “one troubler” though when you take into account elders, deacons and denominational big-wigs of such a church. If they were truly children of God there would be no devil in that pulpit! Can you see how it works? They’re not in possession of the power either. They believe they are in possession but Satan knows different and he laughs!
So where do children of God go once they remove themselves from such a place? They go to the Scriptures. They go to the Gospels. They go to the Epistles. They go to the Psalms. They go to the Proverbs. They go to the Prophets. They read them as God’s word, they believe them as God’s word, they study them as God’s word, they honor them as God’s word, they obey them as God’s word, they live them as God’s word and they proclaim them as God’s word. In return, God teaches them, He establishes them, He honors them, He blesses them, He comforts them, He empowers them, He encourages them, He challenges them, He tests them, He stretches them, He gifts them, He upholds them and He stands with them – always. He’s on their side!
Children of God in possession of the power make it their business to go to the Scriptures daily. But they don’t do so out of duty, they do it out of desire. They know there’s no other place whereby they can constantly be in touch with the mind and the will of The Power that possesses them – the Trinity of God. Creations of God sitting in churches can never tell you what’s truly on God’s heart. Children of God can always tell you, sitting in churches or not. Creations of God will say, “I think……..” Children of God will say, “I know……..” That’s why the latter are despised. Children of God know they are objects of contempt, but even more so by religious creations of God. It all began with Cain Genesis 4:3-8, and it will continue until the Lord returns.
These days it is increasingly difficult for children of God to find a church where Jesus Christ is Lord, even thought that might be written up in big red letters on the wall. The only way to know for sure if He is Lord of that place is by way of the Scriptures. Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by the devil’s ditties regards ‘the perfect church’. Perfection, in the sense that intimidators use it, is not the issue; reality is the issue. People who intimidate hide from reality. We see the perfect example of both in the Pharisees and Jesus. Besides, daily dwelling in and upon the Scriptures keeps you real, the Holy Spirit makes sure of that. Something else: When severe persecution sweeps across the Western church, you will stand, intimidators will fall.
If you can’t find a church where Jesus Christ is Lord, avoid settling for second best; avoid temptations to compromise your convictions. Remember the principle of the leaven and trust in God’s promise, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye Psalm 32:8. There are holy, anointed men who place their sermons and teaching on the Internet and if you ask the Lord sincerely He will guide you to them. Too, don’t hesitate to ask Him to put you in company with a like-minded child of God if you don’t have one. Jesus has always done far more with two who have the power than with twenty or two-hundred who don’t. Let the church-growth gurus have their numbers, Jesus will settle for two – or three!
Dwelling in and upon the Scriptures not only delivers from ignorance, it qualifies children of God to teach creations of God. Jesus’ church hasn’t lost its power! There will always be some who will humble themselves, acknowledge their ignorance and become children of God even if you are only used as a link in the chain and don’t get to witness the end result. Godless humanism says ‘authority’ ‘jurisdiction’ ‘liberty’ ‘freedom’ ‘right’ and ‘strength’ is the right of all but that’s a lie. Godless humanism, just like Godless religion can only deliver ignorance. What does it mean for you to be blood-washed in Jesus? It means you have the power. “God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God” Psalm 62:11. “He said to him, “Follow Me” John 21:19.