Last week we discussed the increasing shaking and change that will ultimately climax in the greatest time of trouble the world has ever known, but it will also be the greatest glory. We are called to not only endure these changes, but learn to thrive on them, seizing the great spiritual opportunities that they present. The primary way we do this is by having rock solid consistency in our own hearts which can only come from a life that is built upon the kingdom of God–-living under the authority of the King of kings.
As we read in Daniel 11, even when the devil is setting up his great abomination, those “who know their God will display strength and take action” (Daniel 11:32). The key words here are “know their God.” This is the most important thing that we can do to be prepared for the times that are now coming upon us. Knowing Him is far more important than knowing the signs of the times or the schemes of the devil. We do need to know these, because they were written for our preparation, but they should never eclipse knowing the Lord Himself as our highest priority.
We are seeking to know the Lord also so that we can become like Him, and do the works that He did. One of the most concise prophesies of our times is in Isaiah 60:1-3:
For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.
And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
Here we are commanded to both “arise,” and “shine.” This is not the time to lay down or hide. The darkness is coming, but the glory coming to God’s people will prevail over it so that the nations which have been deceived will eventually come to the brightness of that which is appearing on the Lord’s people. So, regardless of how dark it gets, we must keep the end of the matter in mind, and resolve to stand and reveal the light that we have been given.
The primary way we have been given to know the Lord is His Holy Spirit which He gave to us for that purpose. Many would exalt the written Word over the Spirit, but the Lord Himself did not do that. He did not say, “I must go away, but I am going to give you this Book to lead you into all truth...” No, He said when He left He would send His Spirit to lead us into all truth (see John 16:7). This is not to in any way to belittle the place of the Scriptures, but without the Holy Spirit we cannot understand the Scriptures.
Therefore, our great ambition should be to know the Holy Spirit, to obey Him, and to be the most hospitable temple for Him that we can possibly be. As we discussed many weeks ago, if we knew the President was coming to spend a week with us in our home, the very least we would probably do is clean our house like never before. Many would probably even paint, maybe even remodel, and some would probably go so far as to buy a new home. We would find out the food he likes and dislikes, and maybe even hire a chef to prepare the meals. How much more should we give ourselves to preparing for the Holy Spirit to come to us, not just to visit, but to live in us?
In Ephesians 4:30-32, the apostle Paul tells us how to not offend the Holy Spirit:
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
The primary way we grieve the Holy Spirit is by allowing bitterness to take root in us, which causes wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. Now, would you have a big argument in your house if the President were staying with you? We probably would not have one if any guests were staying with us. How much more should we be sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit?
The primary way we are going to be prepared for the times that are coming is to abide in the Lord, which is to abide in the Holy Spirit. If we are abiding in Him, we will be manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, not bitterness, anger, wrath, slander, or malice. We will have peace in our hearts which is stronger than all of the discord and troubles that are surrounding us. We will not be overcome by those troubles, but we will overcome them by the Spirit of the One who lives in us.
Daily we should prepare for this by learning to resist the temptation of succumbing to that which grieves the Holy Spirit. Instead, we should use every trial to grow in the fruit of the Spirit. When we face unnecessary delays, we should rejoice in the opportunity to grow in patience. When we are slandered or mistreated, we should rejoice in the opportunity to grow in forgiveness and love. When problems arise, we should seize the opportunity to grow in the peace of God, always believing that “...God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Today we are being prepared for the last days. If our hearts are filled with bitterness, fears, or evil desires, we will not be able to stand against what is coming. Every day we need to view our own hearts as fortresses of truth and righteousness that we are building, which will be strong enough to withstand any assault. The walls of this fortress are salvation, and its gates are praise (see Isaiah 60:18). Inside of our fortress we have the most powerful force there is—the Holy Spirit.
As I was shown many years ago, and wrote about in The Call, the Lord is building fortresses of truth and righteousness in these times, which will stand against all unrighteousness and evil. These are churches which take spiritual dominion over regions, and do not let the plagues that are sweeping the rest of the world come near the domain that they have been given authority over.
If you attended our New Year’s Conference, you witnessed a great miracle and may not even be aware of it. Flu was ravaging the country. Many were dying, especially young children, and it was forecasted to get much worse. Bob Jones received a word from the Lord that we did not have to accept this. He came to me and said we needed to pray and stop this plague immediately. We did that together in the next meeting, and from that very night it seemed the flu vanished from the news, and we have not heard of another death from it.
If you have regularly attended our conferences, you know that things like this happen at almost every one of them. We do not often see the results of these prayers until later, as we did this time. As we say frequently at our conferences, the reason we have them is to stir up the gifts and authority that the Lord has given to His people so we will go home and use them. It is not what happens at the conferences, but what happens in the lives of those who attended after they return home which determines whether they were a success or not.
In Numbers 16, a great plague swept through the camp of Israel. Moses told Aaron to take a censor of incense from the altar, run into the camp, and to take his stand between the dead and the living. When he did this, the plague was checked. Because incense represents prayer and intercession, this was an example of how these can turn back plagues. It is imperative that we come to understand, and walk in this authority.
We only have true spiritual authority to the degree that we are abiding in the King and Him in us, which He does by His Holy Spirit. If we are abiding in Him, as He promised, we can ask for what we need and He will do it. What do we have to do that is more important than this? The plagues that are coming upon the world do not have to come near us or our families. We can stop the plagues, and now is the time for us to learn to exercise that authority.
Our first priority should be to become a proper host for the Holy Spirit. Then we must strengthen the walls of salvation. We must fortify the gates of praise. When we have done this in our own hearts, we will then be able to grow, taking authority over the things that attack our families. Then we need to secure our congregations, so that the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit is apparent to all. From such fortresses, which are the domain of the kingdom of God, the gospel of the kingdom is going to go forth.
