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AT THE CROSSROADS: WILL AMERICA REPENT? (5)
Repentance is the action of individuals. People are saved one person at a time. It is a highly personal decision. It has always been this way.
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Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’” [Matthew 3:1-3]
DOWN TO THE CROSSROADS
When a person hears the real Gospel and becomes convicted in heart, standing guilty as charged before the Lord and knowing without any doubt that he is guilty, he must act. He has no choice. At this early stage, personal faith arises from within that had never arisen before. He sees himself as God sees him, as a sinner in need of salvation. But also, though shattered by the knowledge of his personal sin, he senses a concern and a brief glimpse or feeling of mercy directed toward him from some unidentifiable spiritual place beyond himself, and from that place a small hope arises. From this initial entry point one stands at a spiritual junction.
I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above for mercy, “Save me if you please”
I went down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Nobody seemed to know me, everybody passed me by
Many years ago I had a friend who gave his heart to the Lord a couple of months before I met him. I had never known him before his salvation experience, one which had been quite dramatic. I remember him telling me that the night he decided on the Lord, it almost never happened in that he felt too weak to make the decision the way it must be made. He told me people had been earnestly praying for him, though seemingly unsuccessfully. He had received a very powerful witness. He wanted to get right. Spiritual war was going on for his soul but he knew little of that at the time. He did know, though, that he was in a new place he had never been in before and seemed to lack control to do anything about it. He had been prayed out of darkness temporarily and found himself down at the crossroads.
Essentially, he was in the process of being yanked out of his hell-bound status, with which there was otherwise no remedy, even by his own efforts. He had certainly made an effort, but had been so far away from God and so deep in sin it was all he could do to gain his present circumstance, powerfully aided by the prayers of others. Yet at that new and unidentifiable place, in which he could very easily fall right back in the pit from which he arose, he would have to be the final arbiter and make a choice. He told others afterward that he pictured the proverbial angel on one side and the devil on the other. He referred to the devil as a hell’s angel. They were both fighting for him. He felt himself slipping away. He saw the good angel fading out and growing farther into the blurry distance, far up above as he was sinking fast. Then, all of a sudden, the good angel reached way down and somehow grabbed him, all in an instant, and pulled him into life…
THE UNACKNOWLEDGED EFFECT OF REAL CHRISTIANITY
In reality, nations do not repent. Great Awakenings are not a “nation” awakening but a comparatively large group of individuals within and across that nation that is awakening. In this sense such occurrences are defined as national. They happen when a much larger percentage of the populace than usual turns to the Lord together in a relatively short period of time. They are not repenting and getting right with God to save their nation, however, but for God to save them, one another, and whosoever will.
All countries, nations, states, empires, etc, are temporary, as this world itself is temporary. It is only the Community of the Lord Jesus, or His kingdom, that lasts forever, and His kingdom is not and never has been an earthly kingdom.
When it happens that the majority of a country is composed of real Christians or if a minority of real Christians is very effective spiritually, that particular country becomes a comparatively better place because it means the Lord has more authority and control. It means a greater number of people show real love and obey the Golden Rule. It means there are fewer sinners. It means sin has less overall effect. It means there is greater conviction of sin. It means there is less demonic activity. When such countries begin backsliding away, it is because the real Christians are backsliding away.
But real Christians as large groups usually never devolve into blatant sin but merely get co-opted. They give in to watered-down gospels, false narratives, and throw their weight behind teachings the Lord never taught. It usually happens on the sly, over a gradual period of time. There is a sinister author but such Christians lose sight of the author. They make peace with the world. They compromise. Their lights grow dim and unless they make corrections their lights eventually go out.
Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES—THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.” From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Matthew 4:12-17]
Of course, John had been preaching way out in the wilderness, unconnected to the ultra-legalistic religious entities that controlled the synagogues and temple complex. He preached until the Lord was baptized and began His forty day fast. According to the Gospel accounts, it was during those forty days or shortly thereafter when John was arrested and thrown in prison. When the Lord returned from the wilderness, He also was unconnected to the religious establishment, though He began preaching in the synagogues of Galilee “and was praised by all.”
THE GREAT DIVIDE
Then He went to His hometown. The people of Nazareth initially accepted Him warmly. He spoke in the local synagogue.
What happened next is what always happens when two distinct and very different kingdoms with different agendas abruptly share the same territory, as warm moist air from the south runs into cold dry air from the north. They will clash. Thunderstorms happen. Lightning flashes. Thunder rolls. One would think the people of Nazareth would embrace Him. They did at first, until He began preaching a message contrary to their message. This created a message tornado, a spiritual cognitive dissonance whirlwind which at first confused the synagogue members and stunned them into silence. They sat there with open mouths and unblinking eyes. Then they got it. Then they went absolutely nuts.
The following passage is an eye-opening illustration of what happens when the anointed Word of God goes to war against false teaching masquerading as truth:
And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. [Luke 4:28-29]
For real Christians, this is all quite familiar. It is what happens when light shines on darkness. It’s what is supposed to happen. If it is not happening, it means truth is not being revealed. It means the real Gospel is not being preached. The devil continues to hide successfully, operate behind the scenes, and dumb-down the people he controls into dead, ineffectual religious compliance. In that darkness all manner of false doctrines germinate. The next thing you know, “Christians” act the same way those people did in that Nazareth synagogue.
This is why Great Awakenings are most often completely unconnected to compromised, establishment Christianity—that which has accepted spiritual chains in the guise of any number of replacements and the false doctrine foundations upon which they rest, most of which involve cultural conformity, coerced donations, and religious pride.
CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS
Religious pride and personal repentance don’t get along. In fact, these two hate each other. Only one can win. The other gets destroyed. Most people choose pride. A comparative few find life, though it will cost them. The unrepentant religious pride people always attempt to throw the repentant life people off a cliff. Their pride, conviction of sin, and refusal to repent demands it. Thus, those who find life have a harder row to hoe and constitute the fewer. Not only must they dodge the cliff-throwers, they also take the time to pray for them. That’s rare. Also, staying on the path of life, due to the demands of real discipleship, sometimes causes their numbers to be reduced over time.
The Lord preached to tens of thousands during His ministry. Several thousand were following Him from place to place. He often had a hard time escaping the crowds. This even happened when He went to Jerusalem the week of His death. Many were praising Him and shouting Hosannas. Then, once the crowds found out what supporting Him would cost, they all abandoned Him. Many turned on Him. The signal was given, “Release the hounds!” You know the rest of the story. Except for one man and several women close by the place of execution, all of His friends vanished by the time they killed Him, including His own disciples.
Even after His resurrection the same dynamic played out. There were as many as five hundred who saw Him at one time. Yet, the majority of these drifted off. By the time it came to the full end which also signified a brand new beginning, only a hundred and twenty people made it to Pentecost. The tens of thousands had vanished. They all left Him except for a few. The majority could never bring itself to go all the way and put everything on the line. Heaven will thus be sparsely populated.
DOWNTOWN DOGFIGHT
We are at yet another crossroads and things are taking a giant turn toward societal civil war. Those paying attention knew this would happen, could see it emerging quite a while ago, and are somewhat surprised that it took this long. I say that because the evil agenda has been in place for so long. The Great Awakening will subdue it somewhat. This emerging civil war is indeed a spiritual reaction to what the Lord is bringing forth. A great many will join up with the Lord. But until the people who have control, authority, and wealth start becoming real Christians, nothing substantial can possibly change long term because those guys have a completely different agenda and will never relinquish it.
They are helped in their pursuit by Christians who have aligned themselves with the aforesaid false gospels and cultural Christianity in which they mix two competing entities to make one powerless, low wattage entity. Christians such as this want nothing to do with the only thing that will ultimately save them and reject it because they have no frame of reference yet to how bad things may get. They therefore see real Christianity as something completely unnecessary and exaggerated, not worth the discipleship, not worth the upsetting of their lifestyles, and even overbearing within a construct of relatively good times. Their karma chickens will eventually come home to roost. They will then get a better frame of reference. Some will attempt to apply what they know that seemed to work in the past. It will have little effect. It will be too late.
Yet, for all the real Christians out there, the strong and the faithful, they know the Lord Jesus ALWAYS takes care of His own. But they also know there is a job to be done. The real Gospel must be heard. His light must shine. Darkness must be exposed. People must be set free.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. [Hebrews 12:22-25] [1]
© 2017 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued.]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
PART 1: ECONOMIC CRASH AND BURN
PART 2: THE THIRD SIGN: IT’S DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
PART 3: REVEALING THE HIDDEN ECONOMIC JUDGMENT PATTERN
PART 4: SOLAR ECLIPSE ACROSS AMERICA SIGNALS ONSET OF REPENTANCE
THE GREAT AWAKENING: As Revealed Here Five Years Ago
I’ve been writing about the current Great Awakening since I began this blog in May of 2011. Though it remains in the early stages, there should no longer be any doubt that it is coming forth.
Here is a prediction of five years ago: 2011: The Year in Review.
When I first received the revelation and told a few of my associates, they had yet to see any indicators. And as I have explained a few times on this site in other posts, as time passed, they reported back that they were certainly seeing them. Remember, when the Lord brings something forth gradually over time it looks to most observers as not a new thing at all; it merely looks like life as usual. But when one receives a revelation of what will happen beforehand and then observes it coming forth exactly as predicted, one has a front row seat, so to speak, of a revelation becoming reality.
In the five and half years of this blog I have often put forth truth that has been soundly rejected and even disparaged by some Christians. This is all part of the process. People in general resist change. People invested in untruth don’t appreciate their stock being depreciated or their beliefs being questioned. All Christians are, of course, completely ignorant of all things spiritual in the beginning. That’s why it’s a born again experience. The problem is that the majority appear to stay in the beginning and resist further development. They invest in certain doctrines and beliefs and resist the consideration of greater truth.
CHURCHES AS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
I often use the elementary school illustration for churches in general. Why? –Because they are. Most churches, though they may be great places filled with wonderful people, are elementary. The majority of the Christians in these places do not care for greater truth. They do not want to graduate to the third or fourth grade. Thus, they remain unaware.
Anyone who spends a lot of time studying hard and doing in-depth research knows it is very difficult work. It is not the realm of the lazy. Christians who would rather take it easy can always find a place to fit in, because many churches are comprised of such people. This is not a knock against them but simply an acknowledgement of reality.
Some Christian groups make it to high school but they are very few and far between. Almost no churches at all in America ever get to the spiritual university level. This means individual Christians, if they want to grow, develop as strong and mature disciples, and gain greater truth and revelation, must do the vast bulk of it on their own.
YOU GOT YOUR GOSPEL WHERE? THE DESERT?
For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. [Galatians 1:11-12]
The problem arises, however, that when the apostle Paul came back from Damascus and the desert, much of it being alone with the Lord for three years receiving revelation, and returned to Jerusalem, the first disciples he met up with did not fully believe his conversion. It is also why, later in his travels, many unbelieving Jews did not understand what he was talking about or trying to relate, and thus rejected his teachings. This is in part why Paul later found such great success among the Gentiles. They were less concerned about obeying cultural religious precepts and keeping up appearances within religious establishments and much more concerned with a practical application of real Christianity that changed their lives for the better.
It is obviously right and good to protect and stand for the ancient paths, as long as the ancient paths were authored by the Lord. It is terrible thing, however, to stand up and fight for untruth, false doctrines, bad narratives, and outright deception. The Christians who fall for this stuff and never correct it have only themselves to blame. I confess right now to you all, my readers, that I have believed stuff that turned out to be wrong, but as Paul said once, I believed it from ignorance. I didn’t know any better. It’s what the preacher said. It’s what the book author said. It’s what I was taught. Whatever. Through continuing study I discovered facts that proved unfacts wrong.
But again, with reference to Paul, the man who goes to the desert often finds he is no longer welcome when he returns. The people you used to hang with want you to junk all the new truth the Lord gave you and return to being a dummy. They will not work to be a better disciple and they get upset when their lack of greater discipleship is exposed. They get convicted. It is often the case that a person doesn’t have to say anything at all and still get a bad reaction. It is how the enemy works. The enemy goes into demonic derangement syndrome in a heartbeat and flies off the handle. Here is a case in point:
And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” [Luke 4:31-34] [1]
Do you notice how the Lord was being a real Man and speaking with great authority? And had the dunamis to back it up? That usually never happens in many churches. The Lord, however, during His ministry, was POWERFUL. He shook things up. The people were amazed. The religious leaders were shocked. He was a real man’s Man and beyond. People took notice. Sinners were instantly convicted. But demons were scared to death. That’s why the synagogue demon flipped out. And this is also why they flip out in churches when someone brings in some real truth that clashes with the accepted curriculum.
People who have never been to the wilderness or the desert will usually never accept anything from the wilderness or the desert.
In the next post I will list some trends to watch for in the coming year. Until then I encourage you to look over some of my recent posts and especially posts that concern the Great Awakening. There is a search box in the left column entitled Seek, and Ye Shall Find.
© 2016 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Exodus To The Wilderness: The Spirit-Filled Life
“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
“But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces!
“But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.
“This is the one about whom it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’” [Matthew 11:7-10]
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As Christianity in America goes, so goes the country.
But instead of changing anything at the source, the majority of Christians in America will remain glued to pews, and blame anything and anyone other than their dead institutions and compromised behavior.
That’s why the only way to do anything and get anything done is by leaving the institutional, traditional, the-same-way-we’ve-always-done-it-formats and silly belief systems that teach contrary, lifeless gospels in direct opposition to what the Lord taught.
Ted Williams was a baseball player, an all-time great. He stated early in his career that his goal in life was to have people say, “There’s goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.” That might sound arrogant, but it wasn’t. It was simply a high goal. And by the end of his career half a century ago and even until today, he is without doubt one of the top three hitters of all time, and arguably the greatest. He set a seemingly impossible goal and actually achieved it.
The Lord gave us an example of who He called the greatest man who ever lived. This man is pretty much the opposite of what a traditional Christian would see as great: He never went to church. He never wore a clergy outfit. He never manned a pulpit. He never went to seminary. He never had any earthly honors.
Instead, he stayed out in the wilderness far from society. He wore animal skins. He stayed alive eating “locusts and wild honey.” He preached and prayed all the live long day. If one would visit, one would have to go far out of his way and be extremely inconvenienced.
But the man had crowds all around him. He was flooded with humanity night and day. People went out there and camped out, staying with him and around him for days on end.
WHY?
It was simply because in the words of John the Immerser, they were hearing something powerful, strong, direct, clear, and devoid of religious garbage. He preached a pure message with ONE purpose in mind—he was there to obey God and please only Him.
The majority of Christian ministers do the opposite. There is a long list of people they must honor and please and the Lord Jesus is nowhere near the top.
John probably set no high goals, but he was without doubt 100% determined to obey God, regardless of all the hate and obstacles thrown his way. Again, the Lord Jesus, God in flesh, called him the greatest up to that time:
“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!” [Matthew 11:11a]
Something tells me that professional churchmen have a different opinion, simply because most are the direct opposite of John.
Imagine the scene. All those people, fed up with the usual synagogue garbage that had no answer whatsoever for the yearning of their hearts and souls, going out to hear John. He gave them something they could get nowhere else. They had been doing everything they were told for years, year after year, and it did not satisfy. What did satisfy?
John told them the truth! HE CONTINUALLY PREACHED TO EACH AND EVERY ONE THAT THEY WERE IN NEED OF REPENTANCE. Repentance and the release that followed was what they lacked. They knew they were sinners, though constant church-goers. They knew they prescribed to all they were taught, but none of it touched their hearts. They wanted someone to tell them the truth, that they were messed up, incomplete, fearful, and weak, and what to do about it. They were not happy with the status quo!
Why did they care so much? BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BE GREAT! They wanted to please God! And they knew they could not please God according to the traditional manner they were taught.
This is much of the reason why a giant exodus from traditional Christianity has taken place over the last few decades. The end result is that traditional Christianity is by and large left with the remainder, those who do NOT have a passion to please God, but to cower at the feet of men. That’s why traditional Christianity in America is a watered-down mess filled with people-pleasers. No one wants to offend. At best, everyone wants to be the nice guy. The end result has become disastrous.
Why was John the greatest? Why was he greater than Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and all the prior prophets? What was so special about John?
For starters, there is nothing in the Biblical record that says John suffered from the same foibles as those other men, great as they were. Noah got drunk. Abraham was chicken and lied about his wife. Moses killed a man. Trumping Moses, David killed a man and stole his wife! These men were no less great for the accomplishments they achieved, but they did not measure up to the standard set by John.
AND JOHN DID IT WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT. The anointing of God rested upon him as it did on many others prior to him, but the indwelling of God’s Spirit would not take place until Pentecost. The Lord Jesus stated this clearly:
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. [John 7:37-39]
Unreal Christianity, however, does not care to receive. For the most part, there is no place for the actual life-changing infilling of the Spirit of the Lord among traditional, institutional Christians for the same reason that all the traditionalists during the Lord’s time really wanted nothing to do with John.
That’s why God put him out in the wilderness. He didn’t want him or his message watered down and compromised. Like Abraham and Moses and other desert dwellers, John the Immerser was out in the wilderness alone with God receiving and preaching a very powerful and clear message. He was sent as a forerunner TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD.
The idiot Pharisees were there, conversely, to fight against and obstruct the way of the Lord.
They took lifeless religious vows—John took a lifelong Nazirite vow.
They appeared on the cover of Clergyman’s Quarterly—John looked like a Caveman.
And those Pharisees and Sadducees bore a striking resemblance to modern day religious Christianity peopled with those who oppose and obstruct the Lord, and are much more intent on protecting their religious turf than obeying God.
Their goal is not to be the greatest. Their goal is not to be like John. And their goal is CERTAINLY not to be like the Lord. Their goal, at best, is to be the greatest Tee Ball players who ever lived.
But for those who are passionate for God, there is more to the story—THERE IS A WAY ANYONE CAN BE GREATER THAN JOHN:
“Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” [John 11:11b]
Please don’t skim over this. The Lord is stating that His people must not only be more righteous than the Pharisees, they must be greater than John the Immerser! Each and every one!
Since this generally blows the minds of religious Christians, they immediately blow it off as an impossibility, or apply some other such nonsense to the idea. In other words, most preachers have it as their goal to not be the greatest, but to make sure they make a living, and if they can, to make a great living. And regardless of what the Lord thinks or that their methods don’t work in any effective spiritual sense as taught by the Lord, religious Christians are stubbornly intent on maintaining their traditional, institutional, dead formats and applications.
“And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” [Matthew 15:3]
“And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” [Matthew 15:6]
“Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” [Mark 7:8]
“You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.” [Mark 7:9]
“…Thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” [Mark 7:13]
THIS is why John attracted crowds out in the wilderness, despite the fact that he had none of the creature comforts religious people must have. There was no shelter unless people brought their own. There was no giant air-conditioned auditorium with padded seats. There was little or no food. There was water, though, good for drinking and staying alive but mostly great for immersing. There was nothing out there that a religious Christian would find tasteful or desirable.
Yet, for those who wanted GOD, it was the jackpot! It was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! And it truly was somewhere over the rainbow, “where skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.” John’s disciples discovered this, and it began the mass exodus away from dead religion in the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and toward the new life ushered in by the Lord.
This is exactly what is happening at this writing in America. Again, it began in America several decades ago, but it is now beginning to come forth. As long as American Christians were comfortable and happy with the status quo it could never happen, and for those in such a state it won’t happen. But for those who want the BEST and to be the GREATEST and to pay any price, it is becoming a reality.
I don’t know how Ted Williams ultimately fared with God. But I know he was the main influence in starting “The Jimmy Fund,” a well-known charity that has since raised about $800 million. He was very often helping child patients, paying their bills, and visiting as anonymously as possible, wanting no publicity. I also know he pretty much achieved his goal of becoming the greatest hitter who ever lived. He did this despite the fact that he lost almost five full seasons while serving in the military during WWII and Korea, and parts of others due to injuries. Had he had those years he would surely have achieved his goal statistically, which already rank among the best.
John the Immerser achieved greatness, and was in fact the greatest. He did exactly as he was called to do in preparing for and announcing the arrival of the long hoped-for Messiah. There was not the slightest bit of compromise in the man, and the evidence of his success, extremely difficult to attain, is obvious. Imagine preparing an entire nation for the Great Light after it had fallen into such darkness…
The Lord Jesus, though, was the absolute greatest of all, no contest, hands down. HE WAS THE GREATEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED. No one else comes remotely close. But guess what? Because He said we could be filled with His very Spirit—
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
“I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU AS ORPHANS; I WILL COME TO YOU.” [John 14:12-18] [1]
The infilling of the Holy Spirit—the Helper—the Spirit of Truth—the Spirit of the Lord Jesus—is the difference maker. It is what allows an otherwise dead, traditional, institutional Christian to become great like the Lord is great. It is what allows a spiritual Ted Williams to become the greatest in the world at whatever the Lord has called that person to do. It is how Peter the fisherman went from being a fearful wimpy man at the Lord’s trial to the great preacher at Pentecost and great apostle for decades after.
For most, the Spirit-filled life is far over the rainbow and it may take a tornado to get there. It is OUT IN THE WILDERNESS. It is in a different place altogether.
A powerful call of REPENTANCE has gone forth, and such an anointing is always the forerunner of such powerful events and new life. Millions have repented, have rejected dead tradition, have journeyed to uncharted territory, and discovered this place where dreams come true—the Miracle Realm—the Kingdom of God on earth, where the Lord Jesus is King and the only King of hearts.
As a result—
WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A NATIONAL GREAT AWAKENING.
To the Wilderness!
© 2014 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
The Spirit and Power of John and Elijah
People desire that which is real. We’ve been faking our Christianity for a very long time in this country, and it has taken a severe toll. Congregants pine away on pews, though with a stiff upper lip and feigned smile. Most know their hearts are not being touched nor their souls fulfilled but carry on as if their duty is to expect far less than what the Lord promised.
I came that they may have life…
After so many years of going through mere motions and never seeing their heart’s desire, Christians get old and weary in their soul. It’s as if a promise was made in the distant past that never came true and never will, but many still long for it anyway, defeated within but ever-dutiful without.
Do we ever expect another Pentecost? A Great Awakening? A powerful revival that rocks the core of society and thousands upon thousands come to the Lord? Why did such things happen in the past but not now? What did those guys do that was all that different? What are we not doing?
Well, let’s see. They obeyed. They wanted the will of God more than anything else. They had an incredible burden for souls. They travailed and interceded like there was no tomorrow. They were dead serious. They would not be denied.
They hit the devil right between the eyes.
“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.” [Matthew 11:7-9]
John the Immerser set the spiritual tone for the Lord’s ministry. He turned Israel on its ear. Even the hoity-toity evil-hearted religionists were coming out to get baptized. They were scared on the inside but remained jerks on the outside. They knew full well that John’s ministry was of God. Yet John refused to have anything to do with them. He never went to their synagogues. He never hung out in their cities. He would remain in the wilderness and not be affected by all their hypocritical garbage. His job was to prepare the way and it was the most difficult of tasks. Therefore, he stayed clean and pure and powerfully anointed. He had absolutely no fear.
Those who would repent made the trek out of societal and religious nonsense. They put forth all the required effort to go out to the wilderness. They heard his great preaching and appreciated his no-nonsense manner. Their spirit rose within them: This is what we need!
“It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” [Luke 1:17] [1]
This is what we need. It is what the Lord always supplies if it be the cry of our heart. John was not Elijah, but he had the same incredible prophetic anointing. Such a great anointing always precedes great movements of the Spirit of the Lord.
Look around. Is there a genuine non-counterfeit prophetic anointing indicative of John the Immerser or Elijah the prophet “out in the wilderness” somewhere near you? If so, the Lord will be coming to your place, and maybe soon. It’s a matter of proper preparation and His perfect timing. He always goes where He is welcome, though it seems such welcomes are in short supply…
© 2011 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
