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Church Leaders Shut the Door On Jesus! By Malcolm B Heap, Midnight Ministries Copyright © Midnight Ministries Copyright of Midnight Ministries may be waived and this publication duplicated without asking permission, if full credit is given to the source (with the address) and if the contents are not altered. Likewise, publications of Midnight Ministries may be translated into any other language without asking permission, provided that the translation is as accurate as possible to the meaning of the original text, and full credit is given to the source (with the address). The distribution of God's truth should not be restricted by copyright. |
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I reported in Carried Along By The Spirit (p 7) that many church leaders, evangelists and preachers have slipped from subservience to Christ and listening to His Spirit, into the trap of reliance upon self. This is a devastating fall! Jesus cries out:
You have forsaken your First Love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place (Rev 2:4,5, NIV).
A lampstand represents the ability which God gives through His Spirit to 'light up' the Word of God – to make it understandable, to preach it accurately, and to convey spiritual enlightenment to others.
Testimony to the historical accuracy of Jesus' prophetic warning is with us to this day! We see the 'Christian Church', highly divided, unable to agree on basic biblical issues and teachings, and heresies without number scattering on the winds! This all began when men got lifted up, dispensed with humility, forgot to consult the Divine Architect and didn't realise they were going it alone. Self-will and pride are the roots of this disobedience.
The same self-will and pride are flourishing today. I don't just mean in the world; I mean in the Church! And these evil qualities of spirit have brought horrendous spiritual devastation in the body of Christ!
God has given us dream after dream (Numbers 12:6) over the years revealing, in symbol, the awful spiritual state of the body of Christ, especially in the West, because of this denial of humility and Christ-centredness. He holds the leaders mainly responsible! (Is 3:12.)
What God Said In Dreams
A shocking dream of a naked woman depicted one particular church organisation – the Worldwide Church of God (WCG).[1] But there are other churches and ministries which are similarly depraved.
24th July 1997. M. The WCG's Moral Depravity! Dream of a woman whose upper torso was tattooed all over with a map of Britain:
I could hardly believe it, but they used her bare torso to do a weather forecast on TV, pointing out the areas which would have rain or whatever.
Meaning: I thought at first that this was a graphic portrayal of the depraved immoral state of affairs in the nation and expressed on TV. Producers stop at nothing to use seductive women to market whatever they want, even in the seemingly harmless areas of viewing! But, on 26th July, a lady staying with us was awoken at 6 am and given some strong prophetic words that this meaning was incorrect. She was told that it portrayed the vile, lewd spiritual state of affairs in the WCG. They were pointing out changes that were occurring in various areas, just as a weather forecaster uses a map to point out changes in weather patterns in certain areas of the country.
The Bible uses sexual metaphors for spiritual unfaithfulness.
E.g. Rev 2:20 – Jezebel, by her teaching, lures My servants into fornication...
Rev 2:15 – Pergamum was being seduced into fornication. Fornication is a metaphor for entertaining wrong teaching – satanic heresy! It lures its victims into a relationship with the devil, taking them away from the holy One (Rev 3:7).
Rev 3:18 – Laodicea is spiritually naked. The Church has suffered this satanic onslaught from the outset. Apostasy is taking its lethal toll today! The WCG is one recent victim.
The WCG produces a magazine called the Plain Truth. It is not the plain truth, however! It's a deceitful sham. Its glossy marketing is intended to pull the wool over eyes of readers. It's a masquerade – an attempt to gain acceptance and acclaim while denying truth that is not palatable to the majority. The Plain Truth promotes an anything-goes philosophy of 'Christian' humanism, a theology of broad orthodoxy, and shuts out divine revelation that would provide any correction to its arrogant humanly-defined course. The WCG is an abomination to God!!
It's not alone. There are many other churches which subscribe to similar watered-down teaching. Their motives are to please people, not God. And their agenda in winning converts is as corrupt as was the Pharisees' in Jesus' time. They are deceived that God is pleased by their approach in trying to 'win' people 'to Christ'.
You travel land and sea to win one proselyte and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides....! (Matt 23:15,16).
How does God try to wake up His people to such spiritual abuse and corruption? Prophets are His last means when they are not listening properly to His personal promptings via His Spirit. This is why Jesus' diatribe in Matthew 23 climaxed in:
Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets... (Matt 23:34).
But they reject them! They will not listen! Self-will and pride shut Jesus out! These dreams from God depict the malaise:
11th August 2001. M. A lot of people were gathered to worship God. There was more to this dream, but one aspect was this: A group of people were worshipping God. They stood to praise, some raised their arms. Then they sat down and stood again to praise. There was a woman in this group who was naked. She had no shame about her state, in fact she was proud to be naked. This shocked some people, and amazed me. I peered through the crowd, intent on seeing this peculiar woman. In a gap through the gathering I caught a glimpse of this individual, totally unashamedly exposing her breasts, raising her arms to God in praise! I was astonished.
Meaning: This depicts a person who came to visit us yesterday. It is a man, not a woman, but he was portrayed as a woman, because men as well as women are called to be part of the Bride of Christ. This person received our literature, but he didn't respond as God wanted.
He attends a Sunday-observing church and 'praises' God there. He has not put on the clothing God gave him through our ministry teachings, one of which is keeping the Sabbath, observing God's holy days. To God, this is as ridiculous and as perverse as the woman's behaviour in the dream. She was proud to be naked. This man's religious pride keeps him from moving forward. There are many like him. They stubbornly refuse to accept the fulness of teaching God is offering them and prefer to go naked.
1st April 2001. M. The lewdness and nakedness of the Church. A woman was talking with some other people (depicting her mingling with society). She had a gown half covering her body, but it was quite clear that she was lewd. She was exposing herself carelessly. Then something happened and her gown came right off and she was totally naked. But, the astonishing thing was that she didn't care! One other thing God conveyed was that she was quite skinny.
Meaning: A pictorial representation of most of the Church at this time. It is spiritually careless, morally lewd, and undernourished. It needs more of the truth of God.
Pride and Prejudice
You know, the problem with many church leaders is that their pride and self-will cause them to be prejudiced against 'new' truth which God sends via His prophets to wake up the Church. They resent that because they want to be in charge.
They don't mind the Holy Spirit being in charge when their agenda is not challenged or their motives are not exposed, but when God sends a prophet in from outside to do the Holy Spirit's bidding – which is corrective in such instances – they don't like it. Most resist and rebel!
We have met that response so often that it's like a worn out tape-recording to repeat the outcome.
I wrote to Derek Prince Ministries in America in 2002, sending them input from the Spirit of truth, mostly contained in 'our' dream diary. The hostility and fear in their prejudicial response was glaring!
They didn't sign or hand-write anything. They merely replied on a blank white page with these words typed in underlined bold capitals:
PLEASE REMOVE FROM YOUR MAILING LIST DO NOT SEND ANY MORE MAILINGS WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR NEWS-LETTER OR MINISTRY.
There was no love in the reply. They quenched the Holy Spirit. This sort of wrong attitude is rampant!
The Evangelical Alliance
When I wrote to the Evangelical Alliance, from one of their offices in the UK I received this curt response (most don't bother to reply!):
"I would be very grateful if you would delete us from your mailing lists."
I did as they requested, but also wrote:
In response to your letter of 1st November, attached, I would ask "Why?"
Are you (I mean those on whose behalf you have written) not interested in what God is about to do in this land? Do you not care to be part of the revival coming to Scotland outside the confines of the Evangelical Alliance?
The misguided, humanly-defined aim of the Evangelical Alliance – encapsulated in the slogan "uniting to change society" – is unbiblical. Have your leaders never read what Jesus said that He didn't come to change this world? Had His Kingdom been of this world, He and His own would fight to establish it and radically reform society. He could do that – if it were in His plans for this time – but He has not opted to do so. That is on His agenda for the Millennium (Rev 20:4-6, Is 2, etc.). For now, His message is a witness against those who defy His will – including many who claim to follow Him! – and He lets them rebel. But they won't be in the final 'award ceremony' (Matt 22:11-14).
The dismissive response from your office is characteristic of this church age of Laodicea. Recently I had cause to write to Derek Prince Ministries in the USA, for the same reason. What I wrote to them may well apply to those who have instructed you to respond in like fashion, so I include that response here for those in your office who likewise reject the prophets Jesus has sent:
I recently sent you a copy of our November 2002 Newsletter, containing dreams which God has given us about what He is starting to engineer to usher in the Last Revival of which Smith Wigglesworth prophesied in 1947.[2]
You have rudely and arrogantly written back that you don't care to know.
When Jesus spoke to Derek Prince[3] many years ago, He told him that he would live to see this revival. He is now an old man and close to dying and the revival is beginning. So, I sent you prior notification of this, so you could notify your mentor. But you reply in bold capitals:
PLEASE REMOVE FROM YOUR MAILING LIST. DO NOT SEND ANY MORE MAILINGS. WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR MINISTRY.
I am not astonished by your blindness, nor by the alacrity with which you dismiss this input. You might just as well have said, "Jesus, get stuffed! I'm not bothered by what you are doing now. What you did before is good enough for me, I don't want anything more" (Rev 3:17).
Your worship is compromised by human loyalties. Derek Prince has become your saviour and your leader, not the living Jesus who comes undetected like a thief in the night, who is preparing His Bride to accept further truth.
As many as He loves, He rebukes and chastens (Rev 3:19).
Sincerely, Malcolm B Heap
Church Leaders Shut The Door On Jesus! So the Church Sleeps!
Spiritual leaders lull the Church to sleep. Even the so-called 'Spirit-led' ministers and ministries follow this trend. They preach Christ, but not the fulness of Christ who calls you to suffer for Him as He suffered for you. They don't warn the Church of the most subtle heresies or of Tribulation looming. Evangelicals and Charismatics have gained a large following by giving people what they want to hear – an appealing message which only highlights the pleasant side of God's love.
I remember getting a letter from a man who, while he complimented us overall on our publications and articles, could not understand why we engaged in 'bashing' other ministries so hard.
If you are unclear about that, the title of the recent article compilation Judgement To Fall On All Falsity and False Ministers should give you a clue. We report on various ministers or ministries to whom God has sent us:
While we would like 'our targets' to wake up, it is highly doubtful whether most of them will. History testifies to human failure as a result of:
Religious people unfortunately can be amongst the most stubborn and self-willed. They pick up stones to throw at God's prophets just as readily as the unconverted! Those whom God has selected to be His people are often represented in the Bible by the metaphor of 'Jerusalem', and Jesus' lament below is a strong indictment against you and all whom He has called, unless you accept the prophets He sends:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you... (Matt 23:37, NIV.)
Human nature has not changed, which is why Jesus' correction against ministers, ministries and Christians has not lessened in intensity, either.
What Jesus said was so true. We get 'stoned' or 'stone-walled' by every Christian ministry or church to which God sends us!
And even where we find a rare individual who listens, generally they don't accept the fulness of the message, but pick and choose aspects to suit their agenda, adapted for their audiences for the sake of convenience or expedience.
The following is an example which God predicted in a dream (copied from my dream diary). It illustrates the trend:
An Example Of 'Spirit-Led' Ministries
25th Nov 2002. M. The Christian Convention. We were 'at' a Christian retreat, which began at the week-end for a few days. The dream conveyed that we had to work for our 'keep', however. [This highlights our lack of support, in contrast to theirs. We have had to take on huge debts to survive.]
The next part of the dream showed Zenya [our younger daughter, aged 19], dressed in a pale turquoise suit. She was really smart. Then, I saw a preacher, enthusiastic in his preaching. As a result of the way Zenya was, he preached about the destruction coming (although I wasn't shown how this came about), but he said that the whole world would be engulfed in war in 10 years' time.
In the next scene, a sizeable group of people were gathered on a lawn in a nice setting. But they were all looking in one direction only, taking no notice of what God was doing elsewhere, which was far more important. They all followed like sheep; they went in the direction that looked most sensible from a human perspective – the direction that their leaders had pointed them. Effectively, they were being led astray.
Meaning: I didn't know what the dream meant until we opened the morning post. The dream concerned World Harvest Christian Centre, an association or organisation run by Wale Babatunde. A glossy four-colour flyer advertising their up-coming conference came in the post that day (25th Nov 2002). This was the Christian 'retreat' in the dream. As I prayed that morning, God showed me that I should write to them and send them some pieces of our literature. I was shown by the Spirit what to send, and 23 publications were enclosed. (In Bible numerics, 23 depicts hypocrisy.)
But the dream conveyed that they aren't listening to the prophets God is raising up to do the short, sharp work at this end time. They are not aware of how God is going to raise the dead to jettison His Work into prominence. They are seeking prominence for themselves. They want to be seen and heard, because they think they have valuable input for the Church. They are intent on promoting themselves. But God promotes those whom He has called and chosen for the end-time task of 'Elijah'. His means of putting them in the limelight will be through raising the dead. Those who seek prominence for themselves are not seeking prominence for all Jesus taught. They could end up being false 'prophets'!
Our younger daughter, Zenya, helps us out in our office, sending literature and doing other necessary office work. She figures very prominently in God's plans to reach this nation. (I can explain more about this in the future. There is much more significance about why she figured prominently in the dream, particularly with regard to the turquoise suit, which is a symbol of beautiful heavenly garments.)
The world conflagration in 10 years' time is a false prophecy, a human prediction, which illustrates that the prophetic stuff they are receiving is a mixture, tainted by error – the ideas of men (biblically, 10 is the number of man). Like the message from Satan in the Garden in Eden, it's truth mixed with error. Who wants that?! Apparently, many do, because the dream showed all the people going the wrong direction, away from what God is doing, following in the direction which their teachers are leading them.
The spacious lawn in lovely surroundings depicts Ashburnham Place in Sussex, where they were holding their meetings.
As I was praying that morning, God also reminded me of what Jesus said about human nature being evil (in Matthew 7:11). If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children....
Why did He remind me of this? Because many believers look at Christian leaders and think that they are well-meaning. They assume that they have laudable motives, because they are preaching Christ and are running their independent ministries. But what God sees is very much different! They are only listening to the Spirit in part. They only want to hear what God has to say which will bolster their ministries, or support their present doctrinal positions.
They don't want Jesus telling them to turn around, and do something totally different. They don't want to accept the 'new' truth which God is presenting to the Church and the nation at this time – which He will do through raising people to life who have been dead for years!
How did Jesus get people's attention? Was it by human advertising, or miraculous power and situations which God set up? Compare the way they operate with the way those whom God has called to front-line evangelism operate (a good example of this is in Like A Mighty Wind by Mel Tari, about the Indonesian revival), and you can readily see which is of God and which is of man. These ministries (and there are many of them who operate like this) call their seminar or get-together a 'conference', but it's not really a conference. In a conference people confer; they exchange views. There is a level playing ground. There is opportunity for a free exchange of views to take place and for open discussion to occur. However, if we were to turn up, and try to open up the floor for the exchange of our views to occur, we would either be shut up, ignored, or shown the door! This has happened before, so I know whereof I speak. No, it's not a conference. It's a platform for them to promote their ministries, their theology, their agenda. They want you to accept them as their spiritual leaders. That's why they call the event. They want to promote themselves. They are making a living out of what they are doing, and they want you to support their effort, so they can continue to pursue their goal.
Don't be deluded by people's approach. It may look good, even though it is compromised by humanistic philosophy. Remember Jesus' words:
If you, being evil.... (Matt 7:11).
They may have a picture with a nice smiling face, and words of approbation underneath, extolling their ministerial credentials, giving them great acclaim. They may herald themselves as 'watchmen' or 'prophets', 'operating in a strong prophetic and apostolic anointing', etc., but have they truly heard from God or are they merely trying to, or hoping to hear from Him as they pursue their own ends and agenda?
Did He really send them with a commission and a specific message for the people, or have they just run of their own accord, hopeful to get acclaim for themselves?
Be not deceived, the human mind, even that which has been touched by the Spirit of God at times, can be very devious and deceitful! (Jer 17:9.) Are they selflessly promoting Jesus and the truth of God, or are they using what they know of Jesus and the truth of God to build their own empire?
The Pharisees in Jesus' day went over sea and land to make just one convert! They put out a lot of effort in their bid to influence people's minds. But they were self-motivated. They wanted elevation, too. And they got it.... for a while. But when the Spirit of God blew in, they blew out!
How many ministries there are in our day who will go the same way when God turns up the heat! They can't see that their modus operandi is laced with pride, arrogance and self-will. There is presumption written all over their advertising campaigns. And as long as they are in that mode, they won't hear much from God, or do many wonderful works for Him. True prophets are sent by God, appointed by Him, not by men. They are certainly not self-appointed and their motive is not one of seeking attention for themselves, but for the message from God which they bring. And that message, although full of spiritual goodies, is harsh and uncompromising in its flavour. God's prophets are hardly accepted at all in our hedonistic, self-seeking age. Like it was with Jesus, what they have to say is rejected. It is unacceptable.
Jesus did not say what He did for effect, or to gain a following. That was not His motive. He didn't try His utmost to get people to follow Him. He cared only about conveying the truth of God.
Jesus did not seek attention; the attention came to Him, because of the power of God working through Him, because He was commissioned from Above. So, it will be when the dead are raised through our ministry. People don't want what we are saying, because we have the unadulterated truth of God. Only the minority want it – only those who are truly seeking truth, who are humble, who have no airs and graces, who are not living a sham. Those few accept it, and when they find more truth through our publications, they rejoice and accept the purity of God's Word into their lives, changing the way they live. Revival occurs, and they are built up and their lives transformed.
They don't go to a conference of men, paying them for the privilege! As they learn from our publications, which expound the truths of God that the Church doesn't want to accept, they can open up to the Spirit of God, and He comes in and transforms them. I don't need to be lifted up on a platform in front of them. They can read what the Holy Spirit has had me write and totally ignore who the human instrument was. And that's good, because the more man gets lifted up in any move of God, the more God's Spirit withdraws to the shadows.
Who is "preparing the Church for such a time as this?" (Motto on World Harvest Christian Centre's advertising brochure.) I can tell you it's not the ones whom most think. It's not the recognised ones. It's the Elijahs of our day who have next to no human support, who are virtually all alone, but who have the resurrection power of God behind them.
So what's the sign of such prophets today? It's those who have prophesied of resurrecting the dead – people who have been long dead – not just dead for minutes, but for days, weeks, months and even years! This is the sign we have given the Church since 1992. (Recounted in Dreams and Visions From God.)
The appropriate response to a sign from God is to believe and accept His prophets. Then you can benefit from the new thing God is doing today and comprehend the message they bring from the Throne of God.
Today, it's really very little different from the way things were in Jesus' day. He contested with the religious leaders then about their hypocrisy and sham. He called them vipers and worse! It sounded slanderous, but it was not. His accusations against them were true!
Religious leaders today display similar hypocrisy and sham. Too many do not lead people to God, but to follow THEM! And the people don't see it, because the transfer of loyalties is so subtle. Jeremiah prophesied of this debacle: An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: the prophets [leaders who claim God is directing them] prophesy falsely, and the priests [the teachers of God's Word; church leaders] rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so (Jer 5:31).
So, God sends out a prophetic cry to alert the Virgins to the fact that all are asleep to this disastrous spiritual situation (Matt 25:5,6). Sleep depicts deception.
The Midnight Cry goes out at this late hour, as the world (and Church) approaches its darkest time in history. (Explained more in the booklet The Ten Virgins.)
Prayer For The Nations?
Rod and Julie Anderson conduct a 'prayer ministry' in London under the impressive name Prayer For The Nations. They, too, send out glossy colour flyers advertising their upcoming 'conference' events which lift up the personalities appearing on stage.
For example, a brochure promoting their 31st March 2003 event Prayer For London at Westminster Chapel featured pictures of John Dawson, President of the International Reconciliation Coalition (sounds impressive!), Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, Doug Williams, London AOG (Assemblies of God) Superintendent, and of course Rod and Julie Anderson, Founders of Prayer for the Nations.
And their Prayer Summit meetings of May 20th-24th 2003 – "Five days to pray for change in our nation" – contained elevating portraits of the founders alongside Dutch Sheets, Cindy Jacobs, Pastor Agu Irukwu, and Ed Silvoso. (The latter never replied when I wrote to him two years ago about something else which he needed to correct.) Don't be too impressed; some of these are false ministers!
To promote themselves, they printed these written endorsements from others who support them:
Nice bit of back-scratching!
Oh yeah? I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed. Where's God's commendation? (2 Cor 10:18.) Print that, not what men say. Clearly, they don't have much on that front, or they would print it! Jesus said:
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets (Luke 6:26).
And some of the ones they feature may well turn out to be false 'prophets' in the final count!
They advertise their event which they call The Turning for July 21-26 as "a prophetic prayer encounter with Rick Joyner and the Morning Star Band and Dave Markee at Ashburnham Place."
We heard Rick Joyner's Morning Star Band[4] at Edinburgh in October 2001 where we saw displays of people giving themselves over to demons!
Rod and Julie Anderson's presumptuously named Strategic Prayer School claims to be the hub of the spiritual reformation and change which God intends to bring to this nation. If it were I would gladly give them credit! But when personalities are lifted up as if they were God's prophets to the nation, without the message of repentance which God is promoting, how can they be anything other than false prophets in this context?
Humanistic promotion, to impress, and get acclaim or support is not God's way. It's vanity. Paul spoke against it in 2 Corinthians 10:18. We tell others what God has said about us (some of those revelations are in the leaflet What God Said About MM.)
Previously, I had sent our written materials to them on several occasions, but finally I received a letter asking me to desist. Not surprisingly, they didn't want the truths about the Sabbath and holy days.
Their advertising brochure for Lifestyle of Prayer VI 'conference' on April 7-11 at Ashburnham Place, E Sussex, contained this statement:
"A prophetic prayer encounter in the Word and the Spirit with practical teaching that develops strong faith, strategic intercession and intimate worship."
It sounds really good, doesn't it? And some of it may be good. I'm not knocking everything. There is always some good that Christian ministries achieve. However, after they have rejected the pivotal truths which God had us present to them – which will be the pivot for the coming revival – they are doing the same as all the false prophets in Jeremiah's day.
To reject the one whom God has appointed to bring the truth is to reject the One who sent him. Wandering in darkness is the result. I wrote:
4th March 2002 Dear Rod and Julie, Your Agenda There is a major problem with your ministry. You are missing God's agenda. While you are praying for a breakthrough and for revival in this nation, the means by which God is going to bring it, you repudiate. It's ironic that God is even now answering your prayers, but because your agenda differs from Jesus', you don't see the avenue of His working. You are not alone in that. The majority of the prominent ministries are missing it. As we met together for worship on 28th July 2001, we received the following prophetic words: "Many people come before Me, says the Lord, and they pray. But they have their own agenda. They have not My agenda, says the Lord. And they are seeking the things of themselves; they are seeking the things of the flesh; they are seeking to glorify themselves, or to establish what they have started. But I have not blessed their agenda, says the Lord, for I am here to bless what I have started, not to bless what man has begun." That's a pretty shocking corrective word from God. We also received these words on 4th August 2001: "There is little time, and the darkness comes over this world... the time is short. [God] will do a short work on the earth and cut it short in righteousness." Too many are waiting for God while He is waiting for them. But He will not wait for long. He has His agenda, and what He has called us to promote should be accepted by the Church. But because many will not, He will cut His Work short in righteousness (Rom 9:28). Two years is what He has decreed.[5] Then, the great tribulation will begin to engulf this nation as Europe takes complete sovereignty over Britain. Newsletter 15, enclosed, contains more on this matter on pages 6-8. I have enclosed it to help you plan better, so that you can get in line with the will of God. He wants you to bring your ministry into line with His will, but will you? You are praying "to rend the heavens over this nation, in particular for the next generation.... We believe God is going to bring a turning, that will effect the entire nation." There won't be a nation-wide turnaround. While many will come to the Lord, the majority will not. There WILL be a revival, but not in the way you expect, nor for the purposes which you anticipate. On 11th August 2001, God spoke to us and said: "We are to raise up a standard in all we do. That standard is the Word of God, the holiness of God, the beauty of God, for the beauty of God is seen in His holiness. The Church underestimates, downplays and disregards this. The Church has missed the mark of My holiness; the Church has missed the mark of My holiness." That includes you. I wrote to you some time ago and presented to you some of the standard of God's holiness for His Bride, which He wants restored and incorporated into Church practice, but you rejected it. 2 Chronicles 20:20 states: "Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets and you shall prosper." You think you believe in God, but you only believe part of His Word and obey some of His commandments. You accept a compromised standard of Holiness, not the pure standard as outlined in the Bible, but one palmed of as acceptable to the majority of the Church. Thus, you follow men, not God. And when God sends a prophet to correct you and redirect you, is your response any different to the majority of those whom God has called? They reject His prophets and the re-directive message they bring. Just so that you are clear, I repeat: The Lord spoke to me today about your agenda; that it is not His. He also reminded me of the word He spoke in August that His people are missing the mark of His holiness. And thirdly, for you, He reminded me of the subject of Ezekiel 18 – that the former righteousness of the righteous will not sustain them. A person must continue in righteousness, as God reveals more and expands its meaning, or they will fall behind and eventually be cast aside, trashed along with the wicked. He cannot accept those who step back. Morris Cerullo prophesied two decades ago that God would place before His people a line. They would have to choose which side of the line they would go. There could be no straddling of the line, no sitting on the fence. We are coming to that time of judgement. It is even now upon the Church. They must choose which side of the line they will go. There is no middle ground. "He that is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters." The line the Lord presents to you again is the truth contained in the book Our Sabbath Rest. "Believe His prophets and you shall prosper." (2 Chron 20:20.)
They didn't reply.
The Lord had me write to them again later:
Mr and Mrs R Anderson Prayer for the Nations PO Box 15027 LONDON SE5 0YS
1st February 2003 Dear Rod and Julie, Thank you for your recent mailing [promotional to all their mailing list], informing of upcoming events you are staging. When I sent you some of our publications some while ago you asked for your name to be removed from our mailing list, which we duly did. Am I to presume from receiving your latest missive that you are now willing to receive, and not merely wanting to promote your own activities to other believers? I hope you find the enclosed useful to you in grasping some of the greater moving of the Spirit throughout the body of Christ at this time. Raising the dead is now very much on God's agenda. A young boy was raised back to life in Nigeria recently, in conjunction with our ministry (see Raising The Dead enclosed). There will be more, many more occurrences of this, to testify to the message Jesus wants you and the rest of the Church to accept as part of His last move of the Spirit in this land before it goes into captivity – taken over by Europe, and the mark of the Beast fully enforced. I am continually amazed at how blind some leaders want to be. I was astonished at the way you could just dismiss the input of prophets whom God sent from outside your set-up, as if they were of no consequence, and then place yourselves on a pedestal as if you are doing something worthwhile for God. Your agenda is adrift from that of the Spirit in several respects. As long as you think that this is God's time to save cities more or less wholesale, or that He is even trying to save huge masses of people, like for example reaching London to that end, you are out of touch with His will. This is not His time to save. Rather it is His time to tell the rebellious nation that it will face takeover by their 'lovers' in Europe because they DON'T want Him, and WON'T accept Him! But you are not giving them that true prophetic message, rather you are presenting them with one of your own, watered down and sufficiently acceptable to their ears. And, after dismissing the prophets whom God sent to you, you assert a prophetic role for yourselves. There should be no place for self-appointed 'prophets' in the Church! True prophets come with God's approval, not man's. When did Elijah ever have trusted friends speaking at his venues? When were there other voices alongside his, agreeing with 'his' agenda? (Which was not his agenda, but God's!) Would he be sending out glossy flyers today, promoting himself alongside others who have received acclaim as speakers of worth? I do not mean to be disparaging of all you are doing. There will be some people who will be helped by your activities, and I don't doubt that He has called you. But, where you are veering away from the direction which God wants you to take, and He shows me that, it is as much your duty to heed these words as it is mine to present them to you. So, I list here some of the aspects of His mind which He would that you receive, and the publications which address them: 1. Raising the dead. Publications: Raising The Dead: Testimonies In Our Time; Faith: Raising Our Level Of Expectation. 2. This is not the only day of salvation; He is not trying to save cities wholesale now. What God IS doing. Publications: Witnessing For Christ; Dreams and Visions From God; Who Is The End-Time Elijah? 3. Britain is about to face severe judgement, as is America. Publications: Why Britain Will Fall Soon; The Imminent Fall of America. 4. The generally taught 'prosperity gospel' is at variance with the true gospel. Publication: Understanding The Mind of God: A Message To The Charismatic Church. 5. Acceptance of true prophets. Publication: Prophets and Prophesying. 6. A greater emphasis on holiness, with an acceptance of matters which were part of the faith once delivered to the Apostolic Church, which need restoring today to most Christians. Publications: The Missing Dimension in Christian Living; The Faith Once Delivered To The Saints; The Festivals of God; Our Sabbath Rest; The Controversy Concerning Law and Grace. These publications are to be found on the enclosed list and we will be pleased to send you any that you request. I wish you well. Sincerely, Malcolm B Heap
No prizes for guessing how many publications they requested, or even whether they replied! Like I said, the false prophets get the acclaim; the true prophets get the flack, or are ignored!
Prayer...? ...or... Performance?
The Pharisees considered themselves the 'prayer warriors' of Jesus' time. Jesus castigated them for perverting prayer and making a public display of it for their own glory (Matt 6:5-8).
Time has moved on, and so has the subtlety and cunning of Satan, whose chief target is the elect of God. He deceives to lure people into spiritual traps where he can strip away humility and righteousness, injecting you instead with his pride and presumption.
When Jesus illustrated a right approach in prayer, His first emphasis was the opposite of what we see today in those who profess to be 'strategic prayer warriors'! He said, "Don't make a big show of it in public. Start from the basis of humility and pray in private if you might be tempted towards vanity." (Matt 6:5,6 paraphrased.)
"Recognise your own inadequacy (Matt 6:11-14), your sinfulness and need for forgiveness (Matt 6:12; Luke 11:13), that you are deserving of no 'glory' but that all the glory belongs to God" (Matt 6:14).
Yet we see many charismatic 'prayer warriors' getting puffed up or elevated, thinking that they and their efforts are central to the attainment of God's plans and purposes in Britain or elsewhere! A subtle transference has taken place in which church leaders have usurped divine prerogatives. They have taken Jesus' place as the One who makes intercession for those who need it (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:26,27,34).
The very subtle – but very wrong – teachings of intercessory 'prayer warriors' are blasphemous! They are not taking cities for Christ! If Jesus is going to do that, HE will do it, and those He uses as intercessors will invariably be people behind closed doors whom very few others know what they are praying for. Why? Because Jesus knows it is harmful to you if you become a great celebrity through His achievements which He may give you the privilege in sharing. (Not sharing the glory while you are in the flesh, but sharing the work load.)
Always remember prayer's primary purpose – it's to change you first and foremost. When you pray for others, you change; your nature changes; more of the love of God enters; more gratitude, humility and other godly virtues are born. When prayer lifts people up, or makes them stage personalities and celebrities, something is very wrong. If they think that they are important or even indispensable in God's schemes – 'strategic' – they have actually disqualified themselves (1 Cor 9:27). Malcolm B Heap
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