FIRE
BY NIGHT
"Reflections Upon Reflections" [of The Father's Heart]
JANUARY 23RD
DELEGATED AUTHORITIES
[PART 4 OF 4]
IF ONE'S HEART IS APART FROM GOD THEN THEIR "ACTIONS" WILL
ALWAYS DISREGARD - AND EVEN BLASPHEME - THAT WHICH IS "GLORIOUS"
Words of prophecy:
* ...."Persecution for the Word's
sake [righteousness' sake] can become "trouble" if one ignores the
command to walk in love in the midst of it"....
* ...."Up until now, many of
My children have come to "accept" a "mediocre Christian
life". At a time when the deepest desire of My heart is to reveal Myself
in My "absoluteness" - in every aspect of My children's lives - many
are "content" with a continued mixture of My Word and the
"world". But truly I say to you, this shall end "abruptly"!
and all those who continue to "dishonour" My Word shall be "cut
off", and they shall move further and further out into darkness (the
world).
They pridefully proclaim that they
are still in the "way", but truly I say to you, their "way"
is not of Me! And, thus, they shall "allow" themselves to be used as
vessels of persecution against their very own brothers and sisters - who are
walking in the faith and obedience that pleases Me so. And though they are
"family" there shall result a "clear separation" between
those of My children who love [obey] Me and those who do not, and it is certain
that "all" those who seek Me shall know which group of My children is
truly of Me and which group is not. And so shall each man be presented with a
clear option.
On the one hand, My "spotless
and unblemished" Church - an ever-expanding "vessel" of My Glory
and Light and Truth - and on the other hand, the dead and lifeless form of
"religion" that acknowledges Me with their lips, but whose hearts are
far from the place that they should be - considering their
"relationship" with Me.
But even in their folly
[foolishness] I shall not forget them, and I shall send forth My holy apostles
and prophets, and they shall "devastate" the "strongholds"
of the doctrines and traditions that have been a product of the "mental
ascension" of those ones who have not drawn near to Me - a mental ascent
made continually stronger by their "fellowship" with the world and
its ways - a heart-fellowship which gives Satan a continual "inroad"
into their lives.
Fear not! All those of you who are
concerned for those "caught" in this position, for truly I say to
you, whatever happens in the midst of My people from here on in shall be for
the "greatest eternal benefit" of "all" - both individually
and corporately! Only continue in in faith, love and obedience on their behalf
- KNOWING that I am true to My Word!
...."and at the hands of the
apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they
were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. But none of the rest dared to
associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem
....But the high priest rose up,
along with all his associates [that is the sect of the Sadducees], and they
were filled with jealousy; and they laid hands on the apostles, and put them in
a public jail. But an angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of
the prison, and taking them out he said, "go your way, stand and speak to
the people in the temple the whole message of this life." And upon hearing
this, they entered into the temple about daybreak, and began to teach"
..."And when they had brought
them, they stood them before the counsel. And the high priest questioned them,
saying, "we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this Name,
and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring
this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered and said,
"we must obey God rather than men"....
..."so they went on their way
from the presence of the counsel, rejoicing that they had been considered
worthy to suffer shame for His Name. And every day, in the temple and from
house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the
Christ"....
Acts 5:12-13,17-21,27-29,41-42 NASB
In this situation that developed in
the early church we can see clearly the distinct difference between a true
obedience and obedience to a "word" that is apart from God. As we see
in the story of Saul's [Paul's] conversion we saw that the "religious"
authorities of the day were fully convinced [in their iniquity] that they were
doing God a favour by attempting to eliminate the church [Matthew ]. And again,
in this situation, we see the efforts of the "high priest" to put
down - and even "eliminate" - those who were preaching the
"Gospel" in the name of Jesus [Matthew
10:16-20]. At first glance, it seems very strange that, in light of the
tremendous signs and wonders and healings that were taking place, the
"religious leaders" would disregard these wonderful happenings; but
let it be understood clearly that - regardless of ANY situation - if one's
heart is apart from [not right with] God then their words and
"actions" will ALWAYS disregard [and even blaspheme] that which is
"Glorious" [anointed], in order to maintain the
"self-glory" that is derived through the exercising of a "false
authority" - and the control that is its spontaneous fruit.
THE FATHER DOES NOT REQUIRE HIS CHILDREN TO
"OBEY" OR "SUBMIT" TO ANY WORDS OR ACTIONS THAT ARE APART
FROM THE REVEALED KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL
As we look closely at the circumstances leading up to Peter's statement:
...."we must obey
God rather than men"....
we shall come to understand that the
Father does not require His children to "obey" or "submit"
[other than to pray and obey God on the behalf of the one who is attempting to
get them to submit to them - in a spirit of "self-exaltation" and
control] to any words or actions that are apart from the revealed knowledge of
His will [Love]. It is certain that there is a very "fine line", at
times, between that which is of God and that which is not, but as the child of
God gives the Word of God "pre-eminence" in their life, THEN, in such
a time as they are "pressured" to obey men rather than God, the
"assurance" [revelation] of what the Father's will truly is [a divine
assurance that comes only through a constant and close fellowship with Him]
will cause them to overcome any attempt of the Evil One to lure them away from
the true purposes and plans of God. It must be stated emphatically that ONLY
the abiding presence of Christ - the Anointed One and His Anointing - can
enable [empower] the child of God to withstand and to discern what is true and
what is false when confronted by "any" "delegated"
authority - real or counterfeit.
ONLY THOSE WHO ARE "WILLING TO DO ALL THE WILL OF GOD" WILL ABIDE IN
A "PERFECT" DISCERNMENT
And so, with a clear understanding
in our heart that only those who are "willing to do all the will of
God" [John 7:17-18] will abide in a
"perfect" discernment, let us look more closely at how Peter and the
other apostles handled this situation - with a view to "diligently
preparing ourselves" to courageously defeat the schemes of the Evil One
directed against us in this last hour. From the beginning of this story it is
clear that God was with His "true" authorities in power, and that
they were carrying out His commands; and then, we see that the religious
leaders were "filled with jealousy" - for they realized that they
themselves could in no way "compete" with the works that were being
done at the hands of the apostles. And so, in their perverted thinking, they
"reasoned" that the only way to eliminate what they perceived as a
great problem, was to separate them from the people - who were turning their
eyes away from "religious tradition" to the "living" Word
of God. Certainly we can understand the "human" ground [pride and
self-exaltation] - ground that Satan MUST have in the "vessels"
[flesh and blood] that he has chosen to formulate his schemes against God and
those who are truly serving Him. In this entire situation it was certain that
the religious leaders of the time feared for "their" position. It is
also clear that the power of God was increasingly wrecking "havoc"
upon Satan and his strongholds, and unless he could cause the servants of God
to obey men rather than God [compromise], he would continue to suffer great
"defeat".
THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS - AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT - IS
THE WILL OF GOD
We, as children of God, are
called to a perfect obedience and it is only as we abide in this place of
perfect obedience [faith - love] that we shall be found remaining in a
"perfect submission" to "flesh and blood" at all times! As
we discussed earlier, this perfect submission that we are called to concerning
those in authority in no way calls us to obey any "words", or to
accept any "actions", that are apart from the "true knowledge"
[revealed knowledge] of God's Word and the unction of His Holy Spirit [Who is
the Spirit of Love]. But let it be clearly understood that each one of us, as
children of God, are called to love our enemies and pray [without ceasing] [1 Thessalonians 5:17] for all those who have
"allowed" themselves to be used by Satan to persecute us. So, in
other words, although we must NEVER compromise the Word of God by bowing our
knee to anything or anyone that is not in line with that Word [by conforming
"our" actions to it] we must continually remain in "perfect
submission" to all those who cross our path [friend or foe] by walking in
"perfect love" towards them [obey God on their behalf]. Having
established in our hearts that "the only thing that matters" - at any
given moment - is the will of God, let us realize that this refusal of the
apostles to obey the "delegated" authority was due to the fact that
the delegated authority here [the high priest] had distinctly violated God's
command ["go your way, stand and speak to the
people in the temple the whole message of this life."] and, thus,
trespassed against the servants of the Lord . Such an answer as Peter's can
only be given in a situation where the "revealed" Word of God has
"clearly" been violated! All those who truly desire to serve God MUST
be found guarding their hearts with ALL diligence [Proverbs
4:23] in order that they might remain in a position that
"allows" [enables] them to discern that which is of God - and that
which is not. If one chooses to walk in the "middle ground" of
carnality, somewhere along the line they will SURELY be found
"reviling" those walking in perfect obedience - deceived into
thinking that are actually doing God a favour. In all other circumstances, that
is, in situations where the Word of God has not been violated, we must learn to
be wholly submitted [with a holy submission] to those delegated authorities
that the Father Himself has placed in our lives. For they are His
"gifts" to us for our edification - with a view to the perfect
fulfillment of His will and highest purpose for our life and ministry.
PERFECT LOVE CONSUMES [CASTS OUT]
"EVERY" GROUND OF FEAR
When the child of God is in a
situation where the Evil One is attempting to "pressure" them to obey
or submit to any "word" or action that is apart from God, then they
MUST, without hesitation [if they are assured in their heart through
revelation], reject that word or action, but they must never "reject"
- through a spirit of fear [offense, hatred, unforgiveness] - the
"vessel" [the person or people who delivered that word or carried out
that action. For, as mentioned previously, the perfect submission that
each one of us, as children of God, are called to, requires us to love our
enemies and pray fervently and earnestly for "all" those who
persecute us [Matthew 5:43-48]. Thus, as we
diligently walk in a perfect love toward others - regardless of what they have
said or done in the service of the Evil One - we remain in a perfect submission
unto the Father - and unto man - and, because of this, the will of God is
continually manifested in our lives, and the power of love is exercised on the
behalf of those "held captive" by Satan to do his will [with a view
to their deliverance] [2 Timothy 2:24-26]! Many
still fear being deceived by a false word heard from the pulpit, but as the
children of God draw near to God in the "inner chamber" on a daily
basis [and, thus, continually "allow" the love of God to be shed
abroad in their heart by the Holy Spirit] [Romans 5:5]
- "all ground" for fear shall be consumed [1 John 4:18] - and because their hearts are pure
[wholly given to God] they will know the origin [righteous or unrighteous] of
any given teaching, without exception. As those who are truly seeking the
fullness of their destiny [destination in Christ] are found abiding in perfect
obedience in this hour it is certain that they will be "divinely
connected" with the true delegated authorities that the Father has raised
up for them - and in this corporate anointing [true spiritual environment] they
will be edified to the greatest degree continually, and come to abide in the "fullness"
of their precious inheritance [Covenant], in Christ.