The church service on 11 Dec was a replay of Pastor's sermon preached on 30 Nov 2014. It was weird that I didn't have much recollection of what he said in the sermon. It seemed to be like a new sermon to me. But what he said was still a now word for this season. In fact there were three parts to his sermon.
The first part talked about Elijah's ministry. How John the Baptist was like him. He majored in the miraculous but his focus was on the signs and wonders. His ministry pronounced judgment more than grace. Elisha on the other hand was like Jesus. A prophet of grace. He lived amongst men and was accessible to men. His ministry extended more grace than judgement.
Pastor said Elijah's ministry was cut short because he complained to God about Israel sinning. He said they killed all the prophets and he was the only one living. But God said he has reserved 7000 in Israel who has not bowed down to Baal. Whenever someone thinks he is indispensable and complains to God or other people then it is a form of self righteousness. Whether it was out of pride or burnt out God would cut short our ministry if that happens. God will then give our office to another to take our place. How sad right?
This word is a now word because the prophetic voices are talking about the Elisha mantle coming on the hidden ones who are coming into position. Many of the old prophets are like Elijah and they have gone back to heaven. Their double portion anointing is coming upon the Elisha. These two years we have seen more great men of the Lord pass on than we ever did. We really felt that it was the time of the changing of guards.
The second part of his sermon was about holy communion and tithing. Pastor preached about holy communion the week before this and he experienced counter attacks. His son never had such high fever before. The devil came to him and asked 'what happened to your teachings on holy communion? ' He was wondering if he should bring his son to the hospital if not it would be his responsibility should anything happen to his son. Despite this Pastor took the holy communion and gave it to his son the next day. Slowly he felt the fever subsiding and it broke that very day.
Pastor said when you take holy communion there will be counterattack. The enemy doesn't want the word to take root in your heart so he causes trials and tribulations to come your way to make you give up on God's word. So if you give up, if you become fearful of his attacks then you had already lost. At times you faced difficulties not because you had wrong believing or you did wrong but precisely because of something right you did. The persecution came.
Many pastors are afraid to preach on healing because of the attacks on their congregation. They were concerned that members would fall away or stumble in the trials or storms. However you have already lost the battle when you are afraid of the enemy. The key is to continue preaching holy communion and persevere for the healing will eventually manifest.
There was a third part to his sermon. It was about Peter's testing. The devil had asked to sift Peter like wheat and Jesus allowed it. Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail and when he was restored he was supposed to strengthen his brethren. Now Peter had a self righteousness streak that had to be addressed and removed. And the only way to remove it was to let Peter go through the sifting. Let him be disappointed in himself and come to the end. Then look to Jesus.
Similarly this was what the Lord had been doing in my life. Removing the dross and impurities from my character. I still have self righteousness and roots of bitterness in me. Unless God removed those if not it would pose a problem for my future ministry. I cannot be of use to God if these dross are not removed. So the only way for God to burn away these impurities was to allow His fire to come into my life.
But this fire wouldn't destroy me. In fact I would come out of it without the smell of smoke on me. And when my faith is restored, after I come out of the fire, I am to strengthen my brothers and sisters. This is the plan of God. Now more so than ever I am convinced that the storm is over and I have come out of the fire a better person. The dross like self righteousness, self consciousness, pride, tendency to compare, impatience and bitterness had been removed. What remains is more Christlike. Praise the Lord!
Pastor said before the devil attacks us, he had to count the cost. Because if he attacked us and we stayed in faith, then he got to pay back sevenfold what he attacked. In every battle there are spoils. If God allowed you to go through that war then there would be spoils after it. We are in a war whether we like it or not. So whether we fight back or not the enemy is still going to come after us. He won't let us off. So it's better to persevere in God's word and determine to come out of that narrow place.Because what awaits us is the abundance of spoils and a broad place of fulfilment. All glory to Jesus!
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