Are You Prepared for the New Thing God Is Doing?
God is getting ready to do a new thing in his church. This new thing will be preceded by or concurrent with a cleansing of the church that will reveal shocking information about some famous pastors, evangelists and prophets. As great upheaval comes to the churches, God will, at the same time, be opening the understanding of his true believers, understanding that will reveal new things that this church of the end times needs in order to proceed into God’s kingdom as the kingdom comes to earth.
As our mind is moved from its usual place of limited understanding, we will learn to think differently about some things we have previously thought we understood. Because we have known only “in part,” we have formed some solid doctrinal beliefs based on partial knowledge. As that which is perfect comes (Jesus) and opens our understanding, our thinking will need to be adjusted. At this point we will be transitioning from partial knowledge to full revelation necessitating new ways of thinking about some things we thought we fully understood. “…whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (1 Cor. 13:8-10).
This concept of knowledge vanishing away may be frightening to some people. I believe the changes coming to the church in these end times will exceed the changes experienced by those who lived in Jesus’ day when Old Testament sacrifice was done away by Jesus’ perfect sacrifice. Some may find themselves opposing the new thing God is doing because of the fear of falling into error. Others will fear letting go of the comfortable familiarity of the “old” in order to embrace the unknown “new.” The only safety will be in having a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ and his true Church and walking in total obedience to the Word of God.
There is a delicate balance to be maintained in being able to receive a new end time revelation without falling into error. I believe I have found the way to be open to revelation and yet keep my feet on solid biblical ground. I do this by being under authority to a godly covering, by having an accountability partner to whom I am very open, by checking all things thoroughly in many places in Scripture, by checking everything in the original languages with concordances and lexicons and by studying large blocks of Scripture thereby keeping all things in context. I also check the spirit of what I am learning according to James: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). If what God is showing me brings all these qualities into my life and I have thoroughly checked it through all channels available to me, then I can be confident that I am on the right track. And not only that, God himself gives me confirmation through dreams or experiences he brings directly into my life. There is usually no way to have what God is revealing to me confirmed through someone else’s writings because no one else I know of has yet seen some of these things. That is not to say no one else has seen what I see, but I don’t know how to connect with them if they have. We can’t check the writings of great Christians down through the centuries because they were not allowed to know what God is revealing to us today. However, all things I am learning are consistent with the great biblical truths known down through the church age.
I have noticed over many years in the churches we have served how quickly people will defend a pet doctrine for which they have no real biblical basis. They read someone else’s book and will defend what they read until their dying day without ever having studied it, checked the original languages or done research of any kind. This is what will get us into trouble and block our ability to comprehend the new things God desires to do in our lives. We need to know why we believe what we believe. Our conclusions should be based on our own studies and not someone else’s. If someone is seeing a revelation about the end times, rather than immediately brand them as heretical because it is different, we need to be as the Bereans of whom the Scriptures say, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Being able to have our understanding opened by God is predicated on a walk of holiness. In order for God to open our understanding to heavenly things, sin must be removed because we can only see according to what is in our own heart. Revelation is not given to those with the greatest intelligence. Rather revelation comes according to what is in our heart. We see with our heart. The more pure our heart is, the more of God’s revelation we are able to comprehend. A heart clouded by sin can be deceived by evil beings in the spiritual realm. Therefore one aspect of heaven being opened involves the cleansing of the sin that indwells us. The closer the manifested presence of Jesus comes to us, the more we recognize our own sinfulness. This leads us to repentance whereby Jesus then burns up the sin and replaces it with his resurrection life. This is a process that takes place incrementally.
The Bible teaches that our sin nature can be conquered through our identification with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. We were in him when he died and therefore we also died to sin. This understanding deals with our tendency towards sin as we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God, but the effects of the sin principle are still at work in our bodies making us susceptible to sickness and the inevitability of aging and death. However, the Bible tells us that, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26). God’s way of accomplishing this in us, will be a process that involves our participation.
Identification with the death of Christ gives us victory over our tendency to choose sin; however, there is another part of us that needs to die daily. This is our self-life that resides in our soul. Jesus taught that, “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). The Greek word for “life,” psuche, actually means “soul.” The saving of our soul (sanctification) clearly involves daily decisions concerning whether or not we are willing to obey God and accept his working of the cross in our lives.
When we first asked Jesus into our heart in our initial salvation experience, he came to reside in our spirit. However, our spirit is encapsulated by our soul. If the life of Christ is going to be expressed through our life, our soul that is so absorbed with self-love must be broken. Only in this way will the glorious light of Christ be able to shine forth out of us. Watchman Nee explains it this way:
Many of God’s servants are not able to do even the most elementary works. Ordinarily they should be enabled by the exercise of their spirit to know God’s Word, to discern the spiritual condition of another, to send forth God’s messages under anointing and to receive God’s revelations. Yet due to the distractions of the outward man (the soul), their spirit does not seem to function properly. It is basically because their outward man (the soul) has never been dealt with. For this reason revival, zeal, pleading and activity are but a waste of time. As we shall see there is just one basic dealing which can enable man to be useful before God: brokenness.
This vital principle of life is revealed in John 12 and elsewhere in the Bible. It is a great truth that much of the church has neglected to preach. In John when some men wanted to see Jesus, his response to their request was,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour (John 12:24-27).
Jesus knew that the only way people would see him (that is, have a revelation of who he was) was for him to die and be resurrected. Then his life would extend into all places and all ages. Jesus is our pattern for life. We don’t have to die physically as Jesus did, but we have to die to self in our soul so that the life of Christ can be seen in us. Then we will bear much fruit.
In the natural, if a seed wanted to remain intact in its present condition, it would never yield anything of any use to anyone. If that seed is willing to be put into the cold, hard ground, covered over until it is not visible to anyone, and there become wet and break open, then life will come forth. It will produce fruit along with many seeds that can also become fruit-bearing plants. This is a basic principle of life in the natural and also in the spiritual.
Not only will we become useful for the Master’s work, but the degree to which we have been willing to die to self will determine the extent of our capacity to know and enjoy Christ throughout eternity. We all have read promises in the Bible about the wonderful things that are reserved for us in heaven. Some people have described their concept of these rewards as related to a big mansion or a beautiful garment, but Scripture tells us that Christ is our very great reward. “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1). The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does not change but our capacity to know him does.
God will be able to raise us up into a supernatural dimension of health and safety in him if we are willing to participate by obediently following the mandates of Scripture regarding sin. If our approach to God has been based on our desire to get blessed, we are going to have problems in the days to come. If we have been willing to deny our self and experience the pain of the cross in our lives, we will be progressing into new heights in Christ. Faith, obedience, repentance, love and sacrifice will be vital keys to survival in these end times.
We are told in Rom. 5:10, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Most Christians understand the first half of this verse but have little revelation of the second half. We are successful in our Christian walk when we allow Christ to reign in us and live through us. Each time we take up our cross, deny our self and follow Christ, the result is less of us and more of him. The more he lives in us, the more wisdom and power we have to live, not according to our own desires, but according to his will. When Christ is leading, we will be in the right place at the right time which will be crucial in the coming days of terror and disintegration. This confidence can turn terror into peace for those who walk closely with Jesus and allow him to live his life through them.
As things in our nation crumble and fall, we can encourage ourselves and others with the knowledge that these are things that must come to pass before the kingdom of God can be established on earth. Jesus will not permit his kingdom to rest on a foundation that consists of anything other than his truth and goodness. As these things fall, we will by faith be entering into a realm in God where the supernatural, seldom seen today, will become commonplace.
If supermarket shelves are empty, the angels of God can provide us with food. If our workplace demands we take a vaccine that will potentially destroy our own immune system or change our DNA, we can quit our job by faith believing that our God will supply all our need through his riches in Christ Jesus.
People, this is what is meant by having oil in your lamp. If you have a deep, abiding relationship with Jesus Christ, you know by wisdom, understanding, and faith that God will not fail you. If you don’t have this kind of relationship, begin today to do all in your power to get to know Jesus and obey him in all things. When Jonah preached to the evil city of Nineveh proclaiming the judgment of God that would destroy them, their king decreed that everyone fast, repent of their sins and put on the sackcloth of humility in hopes God would relent of his decree for disaster. God saw their sincerity and withheld their calamity.
I don’t mean to say America can do this now. I believe the die is cast and there is no turning back from judgment for our nation. However, as individuals we can repent and begin to earnestly seek God. I urge everyone reading this article to do as the people of Nineveh did if you have slacked off in any way from your pursuit of God. Begin today while it is still called today!
