There Ought To Be A Righteous Revolt!

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There Ought To Be A

Righteous Revolt!

Awake! Awake! Put on your strength,

O Zion; put on your beautiful garments,

O Jerusalem, the holy city!

For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you.

Shake yourself from the dust, arise;

sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! (Is 52:1-2, NKJV).

By Malcolm B Heap, Midnight Ministries

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I hope you realise that God reveals things to prophets in dreams (Num 12:6); and that He is warning the Church through prophetic input.

Prophets are integral to the five-fold ministry (Eph 4:11), but they are the most downplayed component, usually rejected and reviled (compare 2 Chron 20:20).

Few people accept true prophets, but if you do, you can benefit from what God gives them. It’s for you.

What follows contains revelation from God. It is a cogent reminder of what is vital to you at this late hour, shortly before Jesus’ coming.

I hope you will take heed and ACT on it.

A Stern Dream From God

When I receive a revelation in a dream, I write it down. Helena writes hers down. We keep a diary of ‘our’ dreams. If we didn’t, we would forget most of what God gives. He has given us hundreds, if not thousands, of dreams over the years.

On the morning of 30th August 2007, God gave me the following dream, and then added the title. Obviously, He meant the dream to be more than recorded. He wanted it elaborated upon, and so I shall attempt to do that in this article.

30th August 2007. M. A righteous revolt!

I was wanting to attend the church organisation’s FoT (Feast of Tabernacles)[1] celebrations. (I was put in the position of a member of a church organisation.)

I needed the minister’s approval. The minister told me to take all my clothes off, and he would come back later. He went off. I stripped naked, as he commanded, but he didn’t come back. I felt vulnerable, but fortunately there didn’t seem to be any other people around, so I got used to it.

In this far from ideal state I walked along the road. It went downhill, and then gently up again. I walked to the end of the road. It didn’t go anywhere, so I went back again. Still, the minister didn’t come.

A car came along this road. The road was rough and there was a rock protruding about nine inches above the surface. The car got snagged on this rock (it would probably hit its sump, containing all the oil, which could be disastrous).

All this time I was waiting for the minister’s approval or okay. But he didn’t show up. I realised then that he didn’t care about me. His command was merely a test of loyalty to him, and to humiliate me, to make me feel small and vulnerable compared with him, so that he had power OVER me! It was a totally wrong approach.

A friend had decided not to go to the organised church Feast. I was surprised, but felt that he had made the right decision. "Good for him!" He was making a stand; making a statement of faith and independent trust in God.

As I awoke, God put this title in my mind: RIGHTEOUS REVOLT! There Ought To Be A Righteous Revolt!

Comment: The dream is a parody of what takes place in most churches. The minister in charge is no longer a caring overseer, watching over his flock with true spiritual concern and loving service. He has become a perverse overlord. Members are in bondage to him. He has enslaved them, and they are expected to comply with his commands, no matter how unreasonable.

This is spiritual abomination!

In the dream I was portrayed as a humble, obedient church member – willing to go along with his unreasonable demands, because I didn’t know any better. But as soon as I learned from the example of others, such as the friend who was withdrawing from attending, I realised what was right and that the minister’s expectation was wrong.

Members are not members of churches, but members of the body of Christ. Jesus is their Head, not any minister. Churches have lost the meaning of what it means to be a minister. Minister = servant. Today minister = overlord. It’s a disgrace, a sham, a Babylonian masquerade and perversion of ministry.

Nimrod was the first human despot to take advantage of his leadership position to oppress people and bring them into subservience and worship of him. And there are many little Nimrods today, especially in the black churches where it seems to be a particular penchant of black ministers to want to rule over others, to exert power and control.

Of course, it is not unique to the black race. There are many white ministers who are equally culpable. It is a trait of a false minister to want to dominate, and to expect people to obey his commands.

In the dream, his behaviour causes members to go naked. He doesn’t want them spiritually clothed, because he would lose control over them. So he keeps them helpless, like children, vulnerable and looking to him.

God means us to be clothed with humility (1 Pet 5:5), and with spiritual virtues that develop from that basis (2 Pet 1:5-8). He wants us to be clothed with power from on High, so that we can be independently led by His Spirit.

But in most churches, especially the cults, members are denuded of this spiritual help. Worse still, they have got used to being kept this way!

There needs to be a righteous revolt!

That’s what I wrote at the time, but there is more to say.

THE BIGGEST SINGLE ABOMINATION IN THE CHURCH IS THE DOMINATION OF MINISTRY OVER MEMBERSHIP!

"Not So With You!"

When you receive the Spirit of Christ, you are Christ’s, NOT any church’s, NOT any pastor’s, NOT any denomination’s. You don’t belong to anyone other than the One who paid with His life for you. HE is your Head (Eph 1:22), your Lord (2 Tim 1:2), your Master (Matt 23:8).

But, many ‘ministers’ behave as if they own you, or have a right to rule over you. Jesus said it was not to be so amongst His brethren. If you are so steeped in hand-me-down traditions from Roman Catholicism that you think you are reading outrageous heresy – some believers are that deceived! – read His words for yourself. Jesus said:

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you! Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave (Matt 20:25-27).

A minister who expects you to obey him is not a slave to you. He expects you to be his slave! And you are, if you obey him:

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey... (Rom 6:16).

And if you are his slave, you are NOT Christ’s slave. Your loyalty has become compromised. It’s a very subtle, unrecognised deception!

Yet, in just about every church in the land, you come up against this ABUSE of true authority! The terms ‘minister’ and ‘ministry’ have been turned on their heads.

Note:

"If any true ministers are that arrogant to assume authority to rule over others, they have forgotten that they are only there to serve (Luke 22:26-27).

"Christ does not consider they should ever exercise authority over the membership for any reasons of superiority or lordship. The authority Christ has vested in the ministry is over demons, to cast them out, to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God, to uplift God’s people, and to heal the sick! (Luke 9:1.) That is the authority which comes through the love of God. There is precious little of THAT authority being exerted in some churches today!" (God’s Church – Whose Authority? pp 44-45.)

What hits people between the eyes, when first confronted by this truth, is summarised in these words of a friend: "Do you mean to tell me that ALL these churches have got it wrong?! That what we see in church structure throughout the world is not biblical?!"

Indeed, it does come as an almighty shock!

But ponder a bit more deeply Jesus’ words, and you shouldn’t be so surprised. Whenever Jesus made a point of stating something, these were not petty asides. They were fundamental truisms that He knew would be overlooked, ignored, disobeyed, or rejected.

Like His statement to watch out for massive deception:

Take heed that no one deceives you, for MANY will come in My name... and will deceive many (Matt 24:4,5).

It has come true, despite the warnings.

Deception is not a thing of the past only. Jesus gave revelation that Satan deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9) – present tense. It is an ongoing reality!

But Jesus doesn’t want you to be another casualty. When He said "It shall not be so among you," He had you in mind as well as the first disciples.

Dead Wrong, And Now Dead!

In the article You Should DEFY, Not Deify, Church Authority! written some years ago, it featured my warnings to a particular minister. I did not reveal his name at the time, because I had hoped for his repentance and change. I referred to him as ‘JR’. He was Jim Rector.

I presented to him the truths about spiritual gifts and the power of the Spirit, of which he was very ignorant. He was so cloned in wrong thinking – that was based on pride – that he drew the conclusion that the spiritual gifts seen in other Christians who didn’t share his doctrinal ‘purity’ were bogus. He thought that all their tongues, their prophesyings, their healings and other miracles, were all either fake or of the devil – while he had no evident power, no equal manifestations! His conclusion was symptomatic of the size of his pride and feelings of pre-eminence.

Initially he appeared to welcome my input, but his relationship with me soon turned sour when he realised that he was not pre-eminent, because the truth I brought caused him to see his deficiencies. With that he cut off contact, after vilifying me, accusing me of finding fault with him when the truth was the reverse.

Some years passed without any communication between us. He had cancer, and had attempted to find healing through natural means. (People who are out of the will of God don’t have faith for God to heal, and God’s miraculous power passes them by.) Although I wrote, hopeful that by now he might be more receptive to the Spirit, he was not. Again he rejected the input.

It was his second warning. God warns twice, then He acts. Not long afterwards he died. He had had his chance for salvation, but didn’t want to glorify Jesus in His life. He wanted to glorify himself. He was lost.

There are many ministers in that category. They think they are true Christians, but are mistaken.

0That’s why you should DEFY their authority which they exercise over you, because it is not of God. It is of the devil. You should NOT DEIFY it!

It’s interesting that the only difference between the word DEFY and DEIFY is one letter – the letter ‘I’. Isn’t the biggest problem with a false minister just that – his ego? He puts himself first, just as Satan did. He wants your worship, adoration, your obedience, and power over you.

But you are called to defy his demands, and only submit to God. Jesus showed us the way. If you ever need a reminder of that, just read of how Jesus obeyed God to the point of (near) death in the desert, in order to defy Satan (Matt 4:1-11).

He refused any compromise, declaring:

You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve (Matt 4:10).

The majority of Christians do not serve only God, nor worship Him only. They have divided loyalties. They think they have a loyalty to God, but their loyalty is compromised. It’s not total like Jesus’ was. They are also loyal to their church, or their pastor, or their something else.

Very late in the first century, John the apostle warned:

Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 Jn 5:21).

It’s curious how that little statement concludes his letter, warning against encroaching heresy (1 Jn 2:23; 3:7), apostasy (2:3-11; 3:10), false believers (2:19) and antichrist (2:18,22; 4:3) ‘in the Church’.

There are many false believers, false ministers, false teachings and false ideas. John adjured to test the spirits (1 Jn 4:1). Today few do!

Where Self Rules

When Richard Wurmbrand was a pastor in communist Romania, he was the only one who stood up for Christ in a public auditorium where Christian leaders had convened. All the other ‘men of God’ feared for their lives, and tried to appease the State authorities by saying Stalin was good, worthy of praise, a Bible-believer, a friend of Christians, and that they had no quarrel with Communism, etc., etc. The satanic rubbish that came out of their mouths was darkness exemplified.

99% of church leaders were not prepared to pay the price Christ required of them to uphold Him and deny atheistic State oppression!

Why? Because SELF was their god.

Where self is number one, Satan can take control.

If you think that was an isolated problem to those ministers under an oppressive ruthless regime, you need to think again. The New Testa- ment is replete with warnings about falsity and false ministers. They are here in every society. Only when confrontation arises does a separation occur or appear. Until then they remain conveniently hidden.

A false minister looks OK on the surface. But what is in his heart – in his inner motives – causes him to differ from the true servant of God.

It is a major problem that revolves around self. Paul warned:

I have not shunned [avoided declaring] to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [not overlords] to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among your- selves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples AFTER THEMSELVES. Therefore watch... (Acts 20:27-31).

But people don’t watch. They don’t test the spirits. Most tolerate falsity and false ministers. They don’t want to be confrontational. They don’t want to rock the boat. They quietly appease by tolerating evil, double standards, and playing a double game.

It’s hypocrisy!

See how Jesus whipped such hypocrites in His day (Matt 23) and you’ll get a little idea of how vehemently He hates this dreadful sin!

But ‘the Church’ has pews full of hypocrites, and pulpits full of them too: people who profess to be Jesus’ followers, while they espouse all sorts of double standards for expedience’ sake. They are not like Paul, or John, who stood up against the inroads of heresy and apostasy. Paul did not shun declaring the whole will of God, but these impostors do. They tell something of the truth, but they won’t accept it all or tell all.

They are the ones Isaiah prophesied of as ‘uncircumcised’ and ‘unclean’ (Is 52:1). They are in it to get something for themselves. Often it’s money or power, or both.

Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves... (Jude 11,12).

Cain’s way was to do what came naturally, disobeying God. He disregarded God’s commands and did what he wanted instead. Instead of keeping sheep and livestock which returned fertility to the land, he only grew quick-yielding crops that took from the ground. His approach was as greedy as Balaam’s, who sought fiscal reward though he was a prophet. Such a prophet ended up merely a false prophet.

No wonder organised churches do not accept true prophets! The false variety pander better to their desires. True prophets have a rather abrasive message (Is 58:1). They tread on toes, and feelings get hurt. Pride protects self, and has plenty of excuses!

Naked

Remember in the dream that the false minister told me to take all my clothes off? The rather graphic imagery portrays what actually occurs when you submit to a false minister. Without realising what has happened, instead of helping you to get properly dressed and ready for Jesus’ coming, his influence undermines that process of preparation.

Clothes depict righteousness, especially righteous conduct (Rev 19:8). While Jesus imputes His righteousness to us where we would otherwise be unable to attain it (2 Cor 5:21), that does not absolve us of duties in obedience to all God’s commands (Matt 19:17).

Jesus’ new spiritual creation in us (2 Cor 5:17) is ongoing. You are not "once-saved-always-saved." It requires our continuing obedience and submission to Him. Without an aspiration for holiness, and actively pursuing it, you won’t see Him (Heb 12:14).

That’s why false ministers don’t see Him. They are blind. They have some truth, but don’t see the more important aspects of obedience that God requires of them.

Everyone is tested. Satan comes to steal away what you have. If you let him, you’re a fool. You have to stand your ground. It isn’t easy. It’s as difficult as it was for Jesus in the wilderness, battling with Satan’s temptations in His mind.

The church that could have been represented in the dream is the Worldwide Church of God, which used to uphold the biblical teaching on God’s festivals, one of which is the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths). They were tested wholesale when a false minister, Joseph Tkach, took the main leadership role in that church and dismissed the biblical basis for these observances, embracing instead traditional orthodoxy of Sunday observance, keeping Christmas and Easter, etc. It’s one thing being ignorant on such issues, and being genuinely deceived – God ‘winks at’ such ignorance. But it’s entirely another to dismiss truth for the sake of seeking human approbation and wider approval. Falsity is always more appealing than pure truth, and a false minister sees any number of reasons why it is ‘right’ to accept error. He can justify it all the way to hell!

However, it is not difficult to show from the New Testament why these days should be kept, as I have demonstrated in The Early Church Observed Israel’s Commanded Assemblies. Anyone wanting the truth can find it with some honest Bible study.

Seekers are finders, losers are weepers. There will be much "weeping and gnashing of teeth" for those who followed Tkach down his road to hell. He told them to take their clothes off, so they (I portrayed them in the dream) dutifully obeyed.

Are you a dutiful church member? If you are, you need to take a closer look at why you do what you do, why you believe what you believe, and make sure that all you do and believe is biblical and true.

Of course, the dream does not only apply to that church. It is but one illustration. Since my wife and I have had firsthand dealings with it, we know how deceitful and cunning ministers can be! They would lie against you, and about you, to consolidate their position of control. Truth and obedience to God was not top of their priority list. Self was.

That’s why the church fell apart after we witnessed to it more than twice! They had so many warnings you wouldn’t believe it! The history of what occurred, and why, is covered in these three publications:

1. God Speaks to the WCG,

2. Dreams From God About The WCG, And Churches of God,

3. A Message To Worldwiders.

It’s a final witness against them. Never underestimate what any prophet says. He doesn’t just speak for himself. God has commissioned him.

That is why I am writing all this here for the few who will listen.

Going Higher With God

God-fearing people are willing followers. They want to obey. They want to please. They want to do good. And since they are first called by God through Christ into some part of what they perceive to be His Church, they don’t want to go against that structure or personnel.

The problem is, however, that it’s not all God’s Church. Some are sheep, some are goats. Some are good, some are evil, though you cannot tell the difference in the natural. You need spiritual discernment – which comes when God’s Spirit indwells you more fully – and you need to listen to true prophets who bring fresh revelation that takes you higher with God.

To go higher with Him, you have to do some more coming out. You have already come out of the world (to some extent) to get where you are now. You also need to come out of the Babylonian customs that are syncretised into church worship and practice. These are outlined in:

1. Wielding The Divine Axe,

2. The Faith Once Delivered To The Saints,

3. Meetings With Jesus.

It might shock you to know that most of the major church customs that most Christians take for granted are not Christian at all, but are part of the old Babylonian Mystery Religion, and have been cleverly adopted by the Catholic Church and passed on down to daughter churches. Hence the admonition to come out of her influences in Revelation 18:4, and the castigation of her abominations in Revelation 17 and 18!

You can only go higher with God by going deeper first. Things that die are to be buried, not left lying around. So, repentance means digging a hole and burying what you once partook of, never to partake of it again.

When you were baptized, you took a vow before God to come up out of that grave and leave all the old dead stuff behind. It’s the Spirit that counts now in your life, and all that is of the Spirit, including truth of the Spirit that many deceived ‘spiritual’ folks wrongly call ‘legalism’ – things like keeping the Sabbath holy, honouring God on His true festival (holy) days, not this world’s holidays. The fallacy of Sunday-keeping is exploded in Why Keep Sunday? If you don’t know, read it and:

1. Our Sabbath Rest,

02. The Festivals of God,

3. The Controversy Concerning Law and Grace.

4. Sunday Versus Sabbath: The Final World Crisis.

Or if you have come from that old dead Worldwide Church of God or another Church of God background that never experienced the power of the Spirit, move ahead with:

1. An Introduction To The Spiritual Gifts,

2. Listening To God,

3. Faith And Healing.

Regardless of which side of the ‘fence’ you have come from, these further truths will enlighten you. Both sectors need to know about:

1. The Ten Virgins (the parable explained),

2. Testing The Spirits,

3. Apostasy In God’s Church!

4. God’s Church – Whose Authority?

God is restoring His pure truth at this final hour, shortly before Britain and America fall in the Great Tribulation, and persecution against Christians reaches another zenith. You haven’t got much time to prepare. The time is NOW!

What God Says You Should Do

There is much more to the dream than I can explain here in this short article. If you are discerning you will be able to see the remarkable parallels and meaning of specific aspects of the imagery. For example:

Walking along the road = our spiritual journey in life.

Not going anywhere = churches don’t give you all you really need.

Car = ministry.

Snagged on a rock = obstacles need to be removed by Jesus. His prophets warn of them (Is 40:3,4). Nine = the number of judgement.

Waiting for the minister’s approval = the way members are expected to look to, and rely upon, the ministry as spiritual overlords.

Accepting nakedness = complacency in spiritual destitution.

Two of the churches of Revelation are told about the presence of the Synagogue of Satan[2] (Rev 2:9; 3:9). When God first showed me this truth many years ago, I was astonished. He pointed out to me that this represented the presence of false ministers in churches, who rule over God’s chosen ones. The problem is so extensive that it is fair to say they are the dominating influence. They overpower and overshadow true ministers, rendering them powerless to take the Church higher with Him.

The word synagogue is deliberately chosen. It means ‘together led’. The concept embodies a church, a group of people, who are aware of their need to fellowship. But, who is leading them? Satan’s ministers! (2 Cor 11:13-15, Acts 20:27-31.) No wonder Paul exhorted:

So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32).

Reliance upon men and half-truth must be replaced by reliance upon God and the full purity of His Word. You should not stay in halfway houses. Tainted churches, with false ministers in controlling positions, are doing Jezebel’s work today (Rev 2:20). Do you think it’s OK for you to have fellowship with demons as well as with the Spirit of Truth?

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers [or with those who profess belief, but whose works deny their profession – see Matt 7:15-20]. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

‘I will dwell in them, and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you (2 Cor 6:14-17).

Shake yourself from the dust [falsity and spiritual filth], arise... Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck (Is 52:2).

Will you? Or will you continue to obey their illicit commands? —

‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’ And you have laid your body like the ground, and as the street, for those who walk over you (Is 51:23). AWAKE! AWAKE! Stand up, O Jerusalem [Jerusalem is a figure for the Church, God’s people] ... [But] There is no one to guide her among all the sons [leaders] she has brought forth (51:17,18).

Footnotes

1.		God’s festivals are outlined in The Festivals of God (FoG), and Sunday Versus Sabbath (SS).
2.		More is explained in God’s Church – Whose Authority? (GC), and Understanding The Book Of Revelation (Rev).