Volume 22 Issue 2
The church today faces the wind of revolution and it does so in both strength and weakness. We are strong because we know we have been born again of the Holy Ghost, we know the power of Gods anointing and have embraced the revelation of His kingdom. This rebirth is our authority (1 John 5:19). However, we are weak because we are not sure what the next step should be.
For our strength to prevail we must exercise confidence in that strength by walking in the authority of truth and the word of God. Gods power is not the issue. Our belief and faith are the issues. This crossroads is exampled for us in Israels faithless reaction to their situation after crossing the Red Sea: and anger also came up against Israel; Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven (Psalms 78). This spells it out clearly – they failed God even while the supernatural provision for their physical survival was yet in their mouths (v. 30). They backslid while eating manna: an ugly and unnecessary tragedy.
Ye shall receive power (Acts 1:8) must be the everlasting anthem of the true church. Nothing must ever be allowed to take us even one inch from a passionate dependency on and acknowledgement of the Pentecostal outpouring upon our lives. Every voice of contention, however subtle, clever, bold, boastful, arrogant, impressive or commanding, that is ever spoken against the Apostles doctrine in any way, at anytime, must be resisted, privately and publicly. Other than the Holy Ghost baptism, there is no other source of overcoming power against the inherent struggles of this world. By ourselves, we do not have solutions to the moral and spiritual needs of mankind. Our money, our education, our political connections – these are no match for the needs of this world.
This modern world, as did the ancient worlds, has failed. It is lost. Its projects and institutions have disappointed and need to be reinvented. Democracy has forsaken its ethical and moral foundation, socialism is a fraud, liberalism masks the elitists desire for power, Christianity has been hijacked by post-modernism and intellectualism, Judaism barely breathes under the smoldering debris of tradition, and a good percentage of the people in western civilizations are clamoring after the romantic notion that they are themselves Gods as they pursue their notions of physical and mental utopianism. We ourselves must awaken lest we forget that anyone of us can be quickly dragged back into worldliness, profane pursuits and outright paganism through our lust. Godliness and faith in the supernatural can be lost in one generation…but it does not have to happen.
Although our authority is intact if we submit to Gods will, we nevertheless have a weakness: uncertainty. What do we do next? What are the issues? Who cares about what? What really matters? Can we relate to the world with holiness values? And we need to ask these questions, I believe, in the context of our childrens future. How convinced are we that the Cross of Christ is the absolute answer for our children going forward? Are we prepared to insist that the Apostles doctrine be passed on to the next generation? Or will we succumb to the temptation of compromise?
God trusted Abraham because he knew that Abraham would command his children and their children (Genesis 18:19). In other words, God chose Abraham because his faith in Jehovah was such that he could see the future for his children as servants of that same Jehovah. He could dream a spiritual future for his children. His convictions were so rooted and honest and real that God knew he would command his children to walk in righteousness. And the fact of his integrity meant he could command them, guide and instruct them. Because he lived righteously he commanded righteousness. This was not the command of an immoral despot but the command of a fathers example: principled, revelatory, overwhelming.
Abraham could be counted on not to enable his children to sabotage the future. He would shape them and command them, not coddle them. This is the area of our weakness. The future is forever about the children. If we walk away from the truth, the message, the values and principles that have marked the path of all Godly people for centuries, then we will be defeated by this world, and the next generation, our children, will be disconnected from the upper Jerusalem and modern Azusa street revival that will sweep the world. Hallowed buildings, massive sums of finance, mature congregations, worldwide missions programs, and hundreds of Bible schools should not be surrendered to those who do not honor the faith and the biblical convictions of those who dug out wells in dry deserts, and who provided the faith and sweat and the sacrifice of their very lives to position an Apostolic church ready for an end-time battle against false doctrine and gross darkness. The future should be commanded and fought for; not surrendered to unbelievers and deconstructionists.
Two elements are in play: strength and weakness. It is the strongest of times and the weakest of times.