“That’s one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus

In the First Church, whole cities were healed. Even as the Saints walked past the sick, Scripture says that all the sick were healed as the Saints would minister (Acts 5:16, James 5:13-16). In the days of the First Church, there was no sickness that was exempt from complete eradication. While it is true that today, there are occasional healings and rare manifestations of Revival, we know historically that by 325-400AD, these Church-wide manifestations of the Holy Spirit had all but disappeared. From those days until today, this powerless condition of God’s Church remains. Why?

If today we reside in a Church different than what Jesus outlined through the Apostle Paul, or if we reside in a different dispensation from the First Church, then it might be understood why the supernatural of God has disappeared. But Scripture says that God is neither a liar (Numbers 23:19) nor does He ever change (Malachi 3:6). When God makes a promise, He keeps it! Also refer to (Mathew 12:15, Luke 4:40, Luke 6:19 and compare these scriptures to John 14:12-14). Such notions therefore, are quickly debunked.

Could it mean that Jesus blood sacrifice was suddenly insufficient? Could it mean that the power of Jesus blood sacrifice waned over time (Read Hebrews 10:1-18)? Or, could it mean that God simply withdrew His healing power from the Church for some unknown reason (Hebrews 13:8). All of which are ridiculous and elementarily false theological notions. In a word, such arguments are absurd. Volumes of Scripture refute such notions.

So we can rule out that the loss of power in today’s Church is by God’s surprise intent.

This must mean that WE are the problem. Therefore, one of two conditions must exist in today’s Church. Either all of today’s current day Saints lack in sufficient faith (Mathew 13:58), or today’s Western Church is out of alignment with the Holy Spirit.

As it is impossible for ALL of today’s believers to be walking in an insufficient level of faith, (as such a lack of faith must be the case if no one is seeing 100% healing in this day), that leaves only one remaining problem. The Western Church, as it exists today, is severely out of alignment with the Holy Spirit.

We must now, in totally honesty and with an open heart, realize how far off we are from God’s design for Church. If we compare what happened in the First Church of Paul’s day to today’s Western Church, there is precious little resemblance. Either in leadership, the way of worship, or in the way we release ministry, today’s Western Church looks nothing like the First Church. Why is this so? (Consider 2 John 1:4-11) I’m stirred by the author’s exhortation, “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for…” And… “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him…” What was “this” teaching? Everything brought by the Apostles to the First Church, to include the Gospel message and the ways and means to bring it!

We have departed from the teachings of Paul as received through the Holy Spirit from Christ Himself. We have departed from God’s outline for Church. And we have burned in that error generation by generation, handing down error upon error. That departure is, today, so severe as to result in but little to no manifest power of the Holy Spirit in our meetings.

Some might argue that “salvations are happening and joy is in the house! Is that not the Holy Spirit amongst us?” And my answer, by direct experience, is a resounding NO! Indeed, the Holy Spirit is there in small measure. All who are saved have the Holy Spirit within. But such manifestations are nothing like they would be when the Church is aligned to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

I am convinced that the establishment of “One Man Rule” by the Roman Emperor Constantine within the “Holy” Roman Empire in the era of 313-325AD, which manifested at the very same time that the power of the Holy Spirit began to depart the First Church, is the reason for the departure of the Holy Spirit. And this very same “One Man Rule” leadership style remains in the vast majority of today’s Church.

The First Church was not lead, it was facilitated. No man or woman was the authoritarian of the meetings, the Holy Spirit was! Everyone had a ministry to release within the meetings, as Paul directed, “do everything in order”. (Read very carefully 1 Corinthians 14:26-32, 36-40)

Bread was broken. Praise began until worship fell upon them, and worship continued until the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Only then did they resided in the Presence, doing whatever and only what the Spirit lead them to do. No one prepared a message or entered the meeting with a preset agenda. They continued in the Spirit by the unction of the Spirit until the Spirit lifted. Then they went home. Meetings started on time, but never had a set ending. And the Spirit moved amongst them in power. It was out of meetings like this that the Church grew in power across modern day Europe. That is, until there arose the edicts of Constantine; “do what we demand or die”.

“One Man Rule” was enforced upon the Church by the Roman Emperor Constantine. When “One Man Rule” began, everyone else was forced to sit down and be quiet. What was a group ministry to all became a “One Man” ministry from the “top down.” What had been supernatural manifestations by the many turned into powerless theatrical shows of natural ability by the most capable and talented few.

Suddenly there was no place for the many to release the Holy Spirit within and upon them. Suddenly, what was an unlimited release of the Spirit to do whatever HE wanted in all and through all, the “One Man” stepped up and did whatever the he saw fit to do mostly apart from the Spirit’s leadership. The Holy Spirit was, at best, given second spot through only one person while he did what was presumed to be right.

I am convinced, and by direct experience and testimony within the Chinese Church to whom I directly ministered, that when a “leader” so refuses to take control of a meeting from the leadership of the Holy Spirit, becomes a facilitator for the Holy Spirit to do whatever the Holy Spirit choses to do in the meetings, allowing anyone in the meeting to release what the Holy Spirit might bring, trusting fully that the Holy Spirit is the One who “tests and approves”; we WILL quickly return to the manifestations of the First Church. In that day, when the Holy Spirit is given all our reins of control, we will see all in a city healed and thousands of souls saved in one day.

I have heard “Reformation” and “Renewal” shouted from many pulpits in the last 20 years. I have heard it sung time and again, “The Spirit is here!” And… “Lord we seek your Presence!” Yet, no such thing has yet to happen in my witness save for but very rare places of Revival. In short, we’ve seen nothing yet. But it IS short at hand. However, only so when today’s Church leadership choses to give up the reins of control into the hands of the Holy Spirit, walk in faith for Him, and trust! THIS is what Yeshua died for. THIS is why He went to the Father with His blood sacrifice. THIS is why the Holy Spirit was given. THIS is what today’s Church is supposed to look like.

Thus, our prayer is this:

Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored… Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.2 Corinthians 13:7-11

T. Scott Morton

I’ve heard it said, “The depth of our repentance will determine the depth of our revival.” This implies the depth of repentance within our Churches. 

And that is a terribly wrong theology. 

Actually it’s the other way around. The heights of any real Revival will RESULT in deep repentance poured out throughout our cities. 

For if just three that walk by faith, who lock themselves in worship and prayer, can start a Revival that shakes a nation, how is it that Revival depends of the amount or depth of corporate repentance we do? And how much repentance will be enough to convince God to come? 

It’s not about striving! Rather it’s about intimacy and a spiritual hunger that is based within the knowledge of our New Man identity in Christ Jesus. 

It’s time for the Church to break from sin consciousness and the law, and STAND in the consciousness of faith through Grace (our real identity). THEN, from THAT place, seek Revival. Perhaps the reason why Revival tarries is because we, the Church, do not know, do not agree with, or do not live like who we are in Christ Jesus? Think about it! 

There is only one reason that a Christian would need to repent of sin. Because by being in sin, such a Christian does NOT know who he or she is in Christ Jesus. 

Being fully dead to my old man self and fully alive to my New Man recreated self through Christ Jesus is NOT “positional” alone. It is both positional AND EXPERIENTIAL! Anything less than that, and Christ died for nothing! If it’s only a positional thing, we remain under the law! But if it’s by Grace that we can experientially live sinless… that is LIVING in Grace! Jesus didn’t just position me as a New Man Creation, He also gave me the power to BE that New Man Creation in the here and now, the power that comes only by faith through Grace! 

Good or bad, right or wrong, whatever we believe we empower. If I don’t believe by faith that I am a New Man Creation, and if I don’t live it, I AM NOT! But if I believe it, then comes the Power of the Spirit called Grace to empower me to be and remain sinless as the New Man Creation I now am! This is the renewing of the mind day by day! Day by day, I stand in agreement AND live who Jesus says I am. That is the beginning of Revival! That’s exactly what the first nine chapters of Romans are all about. 

I KNOW. That was me! The Christian who I used to be. In and out of sin. In and out of repentance. And all but ineffective for Jesus in this life. But when I realized that my New Man self was a gift to be received by faith through Grace… when I believed that I am a New Man Creation… sin fully DIED in me. Sin no longer remains my identity. I no longer identify with Adam, I’m now identified by, in and through Jesus Christ! Sin no longer has any hold on me. 

Through the one man Adam, I died, but through the One Man Christ, I have become a New Man Creation! My DNA was changed when I first believed that I AM a New Man Creation. I went from being daily in need of repentance to it being a rarity in an instant. 

Simply put, the Church in need of “depths of repentance” is the Church that knows NOT who they are.

In reality, Revival is for the cities and the nations, not for the church. If God’s Church is in need of Revival, something is wrong with the Church! Revival then becomes God’s mercy upon His wayward Church. 

In true Revival, the Church light shines OUTWARD into the city. It is in the city where repentance and deliverance happens. And we Christians, in love with our cities, are the light that leads them into that place of deliverance and liberty, ourselves having already been made righteous in Christ! We give them what we have, Christ manifesting Himself through us. 

Repentance is the result of Revival and which is brought about through the Spirit’s supernatural revelation power. And when the Holy Spirit comes, the lost will come running to the alter to confess and repent! Repentance is not the way to Revival, Revival is the way to repentance. 

Though it might be that when a church enters into repentance for walking by sight rather than by faith, Revival might come. But far greater is the manifestation of Revival that will come when we walk like the Church whom Christ died for, in the knowledge of our true righteous identity, reaching out into the city and giving love! Then comes the Revival without end! 

Many have been discussing the issue of sin amongst believers. Indeed, many denominations even make it a declaration of error when the idea of sin in a Christian is broached. And there is good reason for so much theological error on this issue. For if Satan can convince the Church that Christians are still sinners, the result is a dead and ineffective church that has no power to stop sin from within and around its surroundings.

I maintain that the scripture is as clear as a bell on the issues of the new identity of the believer in Christ Jesus. We, who have accepted Christ Jesus must also believe:

1. We have been (past tense) crucified with Christ. Who we used to be no longer lives.
2. We have been (past tense) risen with Christ Jesus a New Man Creation where our entire identity has now been changed.
3. We no longer live for sin, who believe in Christ Jesus. Sin no longer has a hold on us who believe in Christ Jesus.
4. We live not by the ways of this world. Rather IN ALL THINGS, we live by Grace through faith. We are given a choice, (which God NEVER violates), to believe or to not believe in what the Bible says about our New Man Creation self, our new identity in Christ Jesus.

All these truths are indisputable truths clearly outlined in Scripture.

So then why is it that so many Christians argue the reverse of these things?

I love discussions like this because we are just now going beyond the baby’s bottle and into the zone of RICH MEAT! This is EXACTLY what Jesus is calling for the church to do. The foundation of the truth of our identity in Christ Jesus is being restored and we are now realizing the very great depth of what it means to LIVE by faith, walking in the power of Grace. That is the key of this discussion.

I have been crucified with Christ… BY FAITH. I am a new man creation… BY FAITH. I am no longer identified as a sinner… BY FAITH. Sin no longer controls my life… BY FAITH. I am risen with Christ a totally new man creation… BY FAITH.

There is POWER in what we believe. Error or truth, whatever we believe, we empower that to be so in our lives. Where my identity in Christ is concerned, whatever I believe BY FAITH, God gives me the power of the Holy Spirit called Grace to make what I believe SO in my life. I therefore live by the power of the Spirit of Grace through what I believe… by my faith.

If I don’t believe I am a new man creation, I remain under the law and then only by the works of my own effort can I ever “get better” or “stop sinning.” But, if I believe in what Christ died that I be, then by faith through Grace… as HE IS, I AM! By faith, sin no longer has any hold on me. By Grace (POWER of the Spirit) I no longer sin. Once I got this revelation, I have had very little to repent for. Besetting sin was gone entirely from my life. I testify this all to be the truth!

But, what is sin? What sin are we talking about here? There is sin that leads to death. There is sin that does not. Many have asked the question, what is the difference?

To answer this question, here’s a good way to measure it: Do you go to bed thinking of ways to sin the next day, knowing full well that what you are considering to do is sin? Do you wake up in the morning with the intention of doing a thing which you know is sin? Do you consider ways of how to do this sin, even though you know it is wrong? Is what you are doing a thing that you KNOW is sin, yet you willfully do it anyway? This is besetting sin, which if not dealt with through repentance will in time result in sickness and death.

Now then, let’s say that you wake up in the morning, and you walk into a wall and stub your toe. Even before you think, out from your mouth comes a curse word in momentary anger. You knew that response was anger but you immediately took it to the Father with an apology and a repentant heart. This is not besetting sin! It does not change the New Man Creation that you have become. In fact, your New Man identity supersedes momentary error. Even so, as quick as can be comes the accusations of guilt from the enemy. But we have overcome Him with the Blood of the Lamb. We silence every argument that comes against the truth of WHO WE ARE.

But willful sin leads to death. How then do we overcome willful sin? How do we overcome strongholds in our lives? We start it with open confession. But we don’t stop there. We finish it with an agreement of who we now have become through Christ Jesus!

Read this scripture carefully: “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” Luke 11:24-26

Repentance cleans the house and devils must depart. But that’s not all that must be understood! The doorway into my newly cleaned house must be closed off to the “seven worse than the first”! How do I do that? I LIVE BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH in what Christ made me to be.

We therefore must agree that we HAVE BEEN crucified with Christ. We agree that we HAVE BEEN made a New Man Creation. We agree that “sin no longer has a hold on me.” We agree that our identity has COMPLETELY changed. We agree that we have been restored into the Garden as Adam used to be, no longer in need of love, but now BEING love.

And Who is the guard at my door that stops Satan cold from coming back into my house with “seven worse than the first?” The HOLY SPIRIT’S POWER OF GRACE! Not only the Power of the Holy Spirit, but also well positioned highly empowered angels around me.

THIS IS WHO I AM. My house was cleaned through repentance, and set totally in order by what I believe of myself by faith through Grace! There’s POWER in what you believe!

I am no longer sin… Sin no longer has a hold on me… And because HE IS, I AM. Now I AM for those around me.

Grace is not God’s mercy given to us when we fail. Nor is it God’s mercy by which we overcome sin. In fact Grace has nothing to do with mercy.

Mercy is God withholding from us what we deserve. Grace is God giving you “a thing” which you don’t deserve. What is that “thing?” POWER!

Mercy is forgiveness. Grace is empowerment.

Grace is quite the opposite in that mercy is God’s way out of sin while Grace is God’s power to remain out of sin! Grace, amongst so many other purposes, is power that enables us to remain sinless. The Grace that Jesus died for us to walk in is Christ’s power that we receive by faith in who He is and by faith in who we have now become. Grace, therefore is faith dependent. His Grace protects me and prevents me from sinning, by faith.

I’m not motivated by mercy. I am empowered by Grace!

We are not forgiven by Grace. We are forgiven in mercy and by His loving kindness. But, we are EMPOWERED and made righteous and justified by Grace. The result is a certain power to no longer sin.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7

Grace is the result of faith. And faith is the result of believing. Realizing God’s mercy draws me to Him. But I was not saved by that realization. I was saved by Grace through faith.

We must delineate and realize the difference between Grace and mercy.

Mercy, though a key element which intertwines both faith and Grace, stands apart from faith and Grace. In mercy, Christ died for me. But in faith, I accept His kindness towards me. Thereafter, by Grace I was saved.

God had mercy. Christ died for me. I believed it. Then came the power by which I was saved. Yes Grace is undeserved. But the truth remains! We who have been saved through Christ Jesus, were saved in His supernatural power. I am a New Man Creation in power, the power of the Cross, the power of His blood, the power which is His Grace!

When we see that Grace is God’s power manifested in us, upon us and through us by faith, then we begin to understand that this entire life walk as a ‘Christ’-ian is walked out successfully not by our own effort, but in the power of Christ’s Cross, who IS the Holy Spirit.

Then is when I realize that I am sinless and can remain sinless all the rest of my days. Because I believe it, God empowers me to LIVE IT!

I am what I believe. Good or bad, right or wrong, what I believe I empower.

The greatest error in today’s worldwide church is man made theology that causes the lack of the manifestation of the Presence of the Holy Spirit.

How can anyone say that we have no authority to minister exactly what Jesus ministered in the world? Whenever the scripture makes a clear and unmistakable declaration, the issue is certain. But when Jesus Himself makes the declaration, it is folly to think contrary to the word. Consider the following:

Jn 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Since I have faith in Jesus, I am to do what Jesus did and more. To do any less is to cheapen the cross. To do any less is to reject His word. And what did Jesus do? Jesus, taught Kingdom wisdom and Kingdom knowledge from a place of total brokenness of self. He operated in complete and perfect humility. He was submitted to His Father in all things. He then proceeded to cast out demons, heal the sick and raise the dead. Thereafter saying… “and so shall YOU!”

How is it that today’s church should think that we have no authority to do these very same things? I would say that in such places leadership lacks the first evidence of Christ which is total brokenness of self. To move into the miraculous, the prerequisite to such authority and power is a revelation of, agreement with and then living out the giving up of self.

Churches that do not believe in, nor those that do not experience the power moves of Christ manifesting in the churches today do not have eyes to see nor ears to hear. They are locked in the lesser life of worldly religious thinking, believing in only what the senses can discern. The root issue is pride and an unwillingness to die to self-defined cranial theologies. Jesus lived otherwise on earth. He spoke nothing of His own, only that which he heard from the Father trough the Holy Spirit. He was our mentor of selflessness.

Before Jesus ever did one thing in His three years of recorded teachings and miracles, the Spirit came down upon Him and filled Him. The Father affirmed Him by saying, “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” This affirmation was a declaration based in the truth that the Son was in full submission to the Father. Then Jesus said:

“I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.  So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” John 8:26-29

For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.  I know that his command leads to eternal life. So, whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” John 12:49-50

If Jesus does nothing but what the Father says, and we are to do everything as Jesus did, who is any leadership or person of spiritual responsibility to do anything outside this same state of selfless submission? The fact is that in today’s church, the clear majority of church leadership operates in the pride of their own ministry. The evidence and subsequent result is a powerless ministry, devoid of the manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit. Such ministries are then justified from pulpits or offices with harsh words of accusation against so called “Spirit filled churches.” Based in false theologies they decry against Spirit filled power moves such as of healing, deliverance and the raising of the dead.

Thank God though that there is rising today a remnant of believers who are breaking from the heavy yokes of today’s religion. They sense the Spirit leading them out of such places of spiritual bondage into places of liberty in the Holy Spirit. Then in such places of liberty, the Spirit is manifesting these healings and deliverances and restorations all around the world.

There is a crossroad that all churches are coming up against. They are being forced to decide. To the left is a wide-open highway and to the right, “the road less travelled.” We are being given the choice to go down the highway of ineffectiveness devoid of power and the Holy Spirit, or to go down the narrow road of humility, submission, power, true authority and great exploits in the Holy Spirit. Guaranteed, the wide road leads to destruction!

Jesus very first teaching was on humility and submission. All else stems from this understanding. Lest I die to myself to find life, lest I lose my life to find it, I have nothing to give into or out of the church. Only in such a way of self-death can I move into spiritual maturity. Only in such a way can I graduate from baby’s milk. Only is such a way can I exercise right authority in the church.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Notice that before I gain any truth and freedom, it is prerequisite that I first hold to His teachings.

Christ likeness is the first over all teachings. Therefore, lest I become like Christ, I am unable to receive the full measure of spiritual truth. Though I might be certain I have right answers, those answers are of the mind and of the world, and not of the Spirit of truth. If I hold to His teachings, then I will gain His truth, then His truth will set me free.

This, therefore is the progression of effectiveness in the church, and it starts with love:

True love

leads to faith and hope,

leads to humility,

leads to brokenness and selflessness,

leads to praise,

leads to worship,

leads to intimacy,

leads to the Spirit’s Presence,

leads to Jesus Face,

leads to a flow of anointing,

leads to knowledge, understanding, wisdom and strategies,

leads to effectiveness,

leads to healing, deliverance and the raising of the dead,

leads to volumes of souls won from the harvest fields.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Cor 13:1 

We need a “rhema” or “revelation” understanding of love. To walk as Christ did, I must not just say that I love, or even enact displays of love, I must truly love from the depths of my selfless servant heart. Otherwise whatever I do will amount to very little. Humility and brokenness starts with love.

All these manifestations and progressions are for the here and now. They are not for our times in heaven; they are for NOW! And they are all based upon our loving will to die to all we call “self.”

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Gal 5:1

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 1 Cor 3:17 

The Spirit of the Lord is God’s power Who manifests at the evidence of selflessness. Selflessness is the primary sign of brokenness and dependency. When I totally depend on the Father for all that I need, I must then go to Him to receive it. When I go to Him, I am maintaining relationship with Him. Relationship leads to intimacy. Intimacy leads to the outpouring of all we need to reap this harvest.

Yes, we have all of Christ in us who believe in Him from the heart. But there is an ongoing manifestation of the Holy Spirit that results in a very necessary flow of anointing, the very supernatural equipping required to succeed in our mandate. Yes, the Holy Spirit is “in” us. But, He is also “with us”. We need to understand both manifestations, and walk in both manifestations.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18

Father is calling us, Jesus is wooing us, the Holy Spirit is longing to come into our meetings! The Holy Spirit is longing for leadership in all ministries to come to the end of themselves. He is longing for leadership of all ministries to give Him their meetings. When I, as a leader of people, choose as an act of my own will to give God my meeting, regardless of what happens in the meeting, it is then when the Spirit manifests. If God is God, then what of the devil have I to fear in the meetings? If the Holy Spirit oversees the meeting, will He not identify what clearly is not of God?

Reader, the choice is yours. No longer allow yourself to get bogged down by the willfully dry. The key word is “willful”. Lest church and ministry leaderships so absolutely die to the will, they will not even be able to see what the Spirit of the Lord says to the churches. This same pride that ushered Lucifer out of Heaven is the very same pride responsible for lifeless church today. It’s indeed a Pharisaical thing. Have nothing to do with it.

I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.  I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.” John 8:37-38

There are some who are saying that we are moving into a new time in the Spirit where we will be able and required to “stand” in the Presence. Indeed, the Glory of God, when He manifests, is for the advancement of HIS Kingdom on Earth. So indeed, there are times that we will be standing and ministering in the Presence of the Spirit in the days ahead. But there will be times when we cannot stand in His Presence, and those are times far more important and invaluable than the latter!

We must be forever mindful that when the Spirit manifests himself upon a people, this is a very Holy thing. God will not allow man to rend control of His move out of His hands for man to be in religious control once again. That will never be allowed in this end time Revival. As such comes this word of warning as we proceed in the works of the Holy Spirit and in Revival as He manifests Himself unto the restoration and reformation of today’s church.

As a personal and direct witness to Revivals in many places, and having had many events of being “slain in the Spirit”. After witnessing the Glory fall upon our dear Chinese brothers and sisters here in Shanghai time and time again, and witnessing the transforming fruits of His Spirit with healing power, the joy, the restoration, the setting up and the sending out that has emanated from these events of Glory manifestations, I have a very important concern regarding any notion of ministry within the manifesting Presence of the Holy Spirit.

Please read my heartfelt thoughts and know they come from a heart of love rather than any form of judgement.

What occurred in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 occurred on the day of Pentecost, as it has through hundreds of years and countless manifestations of Revivals throughout world history since Christ’s cross. Along with 2 Chronicles 5, we have the promise of the coming restoration of the Tabernacle of David within which we will see these very same manifestations happen yet again.

Throughout the history of Revivals, these manifestations have always been the same, RADICAL, UNDEFINABLE, WEIRD, OUT OF CONTROL, STRANGE… and with the very same unusual yet immutable manifestations which are as much a principle for us today as they were in 2 Chronicles 5:14 and in the First Church… they all had a powerful transformational purpose. They all bore fruit that literally changed nations. The church was both at times slain AND ministering out of the Glory.

I have been a personal witness to Revivals in Toronto (TACF), in Texas, in California, in Florida, in the Ukraine, in Mexico and here in China where we are currently ministering in the power of the Spirit and with volumes of current supernatural fruit in every meeting… Countless times and in so many places it is always the same manifestation of Glory. Man out of control, God IN control. God taking control of man, rendering man out of control of self. The results of which are the advancement of the Kingdom of God on Earth, by way of radically touching and transforming the one. How has this immutable principle ever changed?

As a student of Revival for many years, I’ve witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit render countless people “out of control.” As Peter said to the crowd at Pentecost: “These people are not drunk as you suppose, it’s only (nine o’clock in the morning).” They were speaking in every language in the world, but they were acting drunk and out of control, exactly like this 2 Chronicles 5:14 event…

With hundreds of years of many Revivals throughout world history showing these exact same manifestations time and again, has God suddenly decided that starting now, such manifestations are to be no longer?

There is something so very precious about our times on the floor, both in the private place and in the corporate place. And they are immutable.

What I have found, time and time again is that whenever the manifestations of the Holy Spirit move in such power as to render those in residence “out of control”, man makes every effort to step in to regain control of the meeting. How many times have I heard leaders say, “We need to Pastor this!” What they really mean, 99.9% of the time is, “We need to control this.”

Pastor it, lead it, define it, “facilitate it”, all means mostly the same thing. “This is out of hand and we need to regain control it.” Though even if it is from a right heart, to declare the need to “facilitate it” is like producing food for the wolves! Hence my concern!

What the Lord said to me was this, “I have never desired that any Revival come to an end.”

He showed me clearly that every Revival throughout history was ended because of a man or woman getting in the way of God. Someone in leadership would be the “roof of the church” or the “coverage” over the church, rather than the foundation of the church, step in between the people and God and say, “Stop that shaking! Stop your uncontrollable laughter, you’re interrupting what I am supposed to be doing here. You’re scaring the people! You’re embarrassing us with all that noise and weird stuff. This is out of control!”

Most certainly, there is a new wave of Glory coming from the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth as it is in Heaven. But what happens when the Holy Spirit shows up is immutable. He doesn’t change at the whim of man’s thinking nor upon the tide of the times. His manifestations are immutable.

What was in 2 Chronicles 5:14 was the Holy Holy Holy Presence of God. So it was at Pentecost. So it is in Toronto. So it is here in China. Immutable. Who can stand in that when the Holy Spirit comes in power? Unless, of course, we choose not to. God never violates our free will.

Of course, there are times within the Presence that we stand up and minister into that Glory, and we do this here in China regularly… but ONLY when so led by the Holy Spirit. And even then, ONLY after the Spirit has been given full charge of the meeting and the first fruits of our love… almost always in times on the floor!

I love the word “facilitator”. That really is the very best word to rightly describe church leadership that should be in today’s church. But the moment that this word connotes control is when God departs the building. Herein lies my most serious concern.

The Lord told me that He is rebuilding His church upon the RESTORED ORIGINAL FOUNDATION of His Apostles and Prophets…a restoration of the five-fold ministry, and upon the original foundational principles such as in Hebrews 6:1-3.

God is calling upon all leadership in this hour to change away from religious, even pagan mindsets, where the leadership would relinquish their stronghold of control over the church, stop being the roof over the church and take their God directed place of servant UNDERNEATH the church as part of the foundation of the church. In so doing, they lift the church up to God and say, “THIS IS YOUR MEETING GOD, NOT MINE. DO WHATEVER YOU DESIRE WITH THESE DEAR PEOPLE AND I WILL STAY OUT OF YOUR WAY. BECAUSE YOU ARE IN CONTROL HERE, NOT ME. I KNOW THAT YOU WILL CONFRONT ALL EVIL IN THIS ROOM BECAUSE YOU ARE GOD IN THIS ROOM, NOT ME. MY EARS ARE OPEN, HOW THEN SHALL I SERVE YOUR PEOPLE?”

No persons have better exemplified this way of leadership better than John and Carol Arnott from the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. I would honor them with all my heart. It’s why Revival remains there today. And the worldwide fruit from that place with the sick made well, the dead raised back to life, with tens of thousands of church plants and countless millions of souls saved is undeniable.

My concern about such a word of control is what I’ve always been concerned about where the manifestations of God’s Revival Glory are concerned. How quickly we develop good sounding ideas that get in the way of God. How quickly we fear a tiny devil when a great big God shows up in our meetings. How quickly the mentality of “Pastoring a thing” or “facilitating a thing” becomes CONTROL of the thing. And when that happens, God departs from the room. It’s exactly why and how every Revival in world history had come to an end.

There is no new Glory. There are only new manifestations of His Glory. God never changes. But WHO CAN DEFINE HIS GLORY? Those who try to rarely succeed. And when He comes, we who lead get out of His way in faith and trust… we let God lead. If God says lie down, we lie down. If God says minister, we minister. We don’t have to define it. We just take note of the fruits that validate His coming. In my witness, and in my study of Revival for years, I have found that volumes more Kingdom works were done in times on our faces than in times in which we lead. Yet both are required.

We abide in Him, we wait for Him… we live these truths in both our private and the corporate place. Yet, how many times does that result in a manifestation of the Presence within which we cannot stand? And how is it that such a manifestation is no longer valid?

I certainly agree, a new wave of Glory is coming. And how invaluable is this truth of “personal Revival” through abiding in the private place! But that does not mean to throw away the immutable for the “new thing” we sense.

I’m confident that there will be times of His Glory where we will be used within it to advance Him. But how quickly we throw the baby out with the bath water for forms of control and say, “Well then, this new way means that now it is wrong to be slain in the Spirit, it is wrong to be laid out in His Presence.” That is the fastest way to end Revival, man once again grappling for the reins of control.

But the Lord says this:

“I’m rebuilding my Church upon My firm foundation by first restoring that firm foundation. The days of Constantine style ‘One man rulership’ are over. I’m restoring identities in power. I’m restoring the five-fold ministry in power. Then I’m placing upon this firm foundation the End Time Church. THE CHURCH WITH NO ROOF!” “And as man lets my Holy Spirit lead in all things and as my church foundation is restored, only then will I bring My Glory WITH NO END. For no longer will I allow man to get in the way of My people.”

What will this look like? Radical! Undefinable! But one thing is for absolute certainty. It will not look like church as we know it today. And most certainly as the Presence manifests upon us, and from time to time, both in the private place and in the corporate place, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO STAND. Such is immutable.

For what am I doing if I’m trying to stand when the Lord says, “Lie down,” but getting in the way of God? 

Please consider these thoughts carefully in light of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit that are to come. Like a precious priceless jewel is this Holy Holy Holy Manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst! Far be it from me to EVER infuse a mentality of self or religious control when in such times as these. For, how quickly people grasp a new good sounding idea and then turn away from that which they cannot define.

“The church is a lifeboat, not a pleasure boat, to bring the news of salvation to the lost.”

Reinhard Bonke

Our mortal life and the security of this world can be compared to the Titanic.

Cruising along, fat on the excesses and sins of this world. Our futures end up in a shocking, bitter and unbenounced end; all the wealth and prosperity in the world amounting to nothing, in an instant.

I envision Christ rowing up in a lifeboat. He cups His nail punctured hands together and yells to the ship, “Your ship is going to sink! Do you have ears to hear? This ship is going to sink!”

“YOUR… SHIP… IS… GOING… TO… SINK!”

“Here, get into my lifeboat. I will save you. I am the only way out for all of you!”

I wonder how many people would have actually heeded His warning had this actually happened the night of April 14, 1912. But then I consider, had He already spoken to most, if not all those whose lives that came to an earthly end that night? In encounters, in dreams and visions, in the former days of their lives. How many knew Him? How many had actually discerned the spiritual message of love and salvation? How many chose wisely, to their great gain?

Today, we are riding on our Titanic. Today, Christ has come up to the side of our big flawless and beautiful liner and He calls forth to all who have ears to hear, “This ship is going to sink!”

He will not lift us up from our place of comfort. He will not pick us up and move us over against our will. We have to choose. We must get into the lifeboat willingly and of our own volition. His is the only way to safety and security.

To leave our Titanic means to leave our bondages and our comforts behind, handing them to Christ as we step into the lifeboat. It is a step of faith. A choice everyone must make before their ship sinks.

His lifeboat leads to an unimaginable place of eternal great joy and love. Our Titanic leads to a place of unspeakable sorrow and death.

Today, He calls. Tomorrow, He will call. And every day, He will call until the day of the end.

Matt 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Prov 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Make no mistake, you are on that boat, and it is going to sink. Christ is calling to you from His lifeboat with a choice that you must make. What then shall your choice be?

God does not owe us a thing. Because Jesus paid our price in full, down to the very last penny, at the cross.

We have been given the “Access All Areas” card, the “Get Out of Jail Free” card. We have been totally justified in His death. We have been made fully righteous in the power of His resurrection. We have been given full access to the supernatural power of God that raised Christ from the dead by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, so that we can raise others from the dead.

We have it all.

Jesus did everything for everyone all in one glorious moment in time, for all time. Nothing else need be done. Therefore everything we need has already been provided for us.

So what’s missing, when we face trials and difficulties of all kinds that bring us down? What’s missing when what we hope for has not happened?

When we don’t see or understand why things are not happening the way we desire, there is but one reason. Lack of faith in the fullness of Christ’s finished work.

If I don’t believe in the power, I cannot operate in the power. If I do not believe I am righteous, I remain under the law. If I do not believe in Christ’s saving power, I miss His salvation. Everything comes by faith.

In whatever I doubt or disbelieve, regardless of the experiences I have witnessed for however long I have witnessed them, regardless of however long I have suffered, I will not see it.

Doubt or disbelief is the essence of the leaven that works its way throughout the dough.

Some part of us does not agree in the fullness of Christ’s sacrifice. Some part of us doubts the full power of the cross. Hence what we hope for is deferred.

He did everything! Nothing else need be done. We already have it all fully available to us.

All that remains is to reach out and take it, by grace through faith.

Here’s my homework assignment for you!

Open up YouTub and watch this from Dan Mohler. On the search line ype in “Dan Mohler – Faith is a Perspective – 2 January 2016”

Watch Dan Mohler and you will be SO blessed!

The Apostle never looks to be honored. He looks to honor. He does not care about a title yet walks firmly in his call.

The Apostle never seeks to be served. He serves always.

The Apostle leads by himself first being led by the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle spreads Revival by walking in Revival. He is a Presence seeker always.

The Apostle is a representative of the Holy Spirit. He is a messenger.

The Apostle leads by having relationship with those whom he leads. He loves in all things.

The Apostle restores that which is broken with truth.

The Apostle is a peacemaker who shuns divisions be speaking against that which divides.

The Apostle spreads Gospel truth by walking in the Word of truth, not by good sounding arguments.

The Apostle is an advocate. He is chosen by the Holy Spirit, not by any person.

The Apostle is a missionary. He has a mission. But missionaries are not always apostles.

The Apostle is one who is sent out. But “sent out” has many meanings.

The Apostle is a warrior. Because the Apostle is constantly confronted. He wars with the weapons of the Spirit.

The Apostle is fearless. Because he faces accusations time and again.

The Apostle walks as Christ, so that all who do accuse would be revealed to truth.

The Apostle fathers by himself being fathered by the Spirit. There are no earthly fathers but apostles.

The Apostle walks in the fruits of the Spirit, so that souls might witness true love.

The Apostle always seeks the next leader to minister in to. Because many who would lead have many doors in front of them to choose from. He guides them through the right doors.

The Apostle is a pioneer. He is always on the edge of the unknown, always leading the church into the spiritual by faith.

The Apostle leads the church off the map of what is known into spiritual realities that are formerly unknown, now revealed, yet always aligned with the Word of God.

The Apostle is just as invaluable to today’s church as they were in the first church. It started with 12, the 72, then the generations to follow.

This is who we are. This is where we are going. Step by step.

Footnote: As to gender, there are female apostles as well as male. This call is not gender specific.
Scriptural references: 1 Cor 12:11,28-30, John 15:16, Acts 20:28, 2 Tim 1:11. Eph 2:20, Acts 11:28, 21:10-11, Eph 3:5, 2 Cor 12:12, Acts 8:6-7, Heb 2:3-4. Heb 3:1, Acts 1:26, Gal 1:15-17, 1 Cor 15:7-9, 2 Cor 11:5, Rom 1:1, 2 Cor 8:23, 2 Cor 12:12, Luke 10:1-3.

Biblical examples of Apostles included primarily Paul, Barnabas (Acts 14:4), Silas (1 Thes 2:6), Timothy (1 Thes 2:6) and Titus (Book of Titus). There were first the 12, then the 72, and then generations of apostles that would follow.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Luke 10:1-3

False Apostles: 2 Cor 11:13, speak to the importance of right apostleship.

Respectfully but very directly, whomever says that that the office of Apostle does not exist today is absolutely in Biblical error. Such is a Pharisaical argument devoid of the Holy Spirit. Do not align with such a demonic argument.