Making War In The Local Church
1 Peter 5:8-9 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
The devil is always on the prowl looking how he can destroy the lives of God’s people. One of his most powerful weapons is deception whereby people end up believing his lies. We must know that every Christian can fall into this trap and no one is immune from it. He also deceives believers into thinking that they cannot be forgiven when they fall into sin. He makes the person feel like they are worthless and not good enough to approach God’s throne and ask for forgiveness.
He starts reminding them of their past and other sins they committed and if Christians believe these lies, they can easily backslide and fall into more sin and drift further from God. Eventually the person that is being deceived will begin to think that whatever sin they have committed is greater than the shed blood of Jesus Christ that was given for the remission of their sins. Believers should know that there is nothing more powerful than the blood of Jesus.
The devil’s plan is to steal kill and destroy. God however has a greater plan through His Son and that is to restore mankind so that they can enjoy abundant life. The way to defeat the devil is to resist him. Satan must flee because he cannot match the power of God. We need to remember that according to God’s Word the devil is the accuser of the brethren. It is not God who reminds a person of their past. It is Satan who does not want one to see God as a loving forgiving Father who is ready to welcome His children with open arms.
There is no justifiable reason to fall away from God. In leaving the Lord, Christians leave all the blessings that flow from Him and give up any hope of eternal life with God. Truly their last state is worse than the beginning. Jesus has given His children the Holy Spirit to help them change. Many Christians begin to lose their first love because they have been unable to renew their minds and to change their attitudes and behavior which must be in line with God’s Word.
That is why it is so important to study God’s Word and to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that a transforming change can take place in your life. Many new believers revel in their newfound faith and love for the Lord. However, if they do not grow aggressively in their faith, the demonic assignments launched against them will eventually cause them to become discouraged and they will begin to fall away.
Many new believers are not taught how to overcome the onslaught of the evil one and become confused and disorientated when things begin to go wrong. The Bible makes it clear that Christians cannot live any way they want to. Christians are new creations and through the anointing they must begin to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit and not the works of the flesh.
God has definitely promised to do His part but we also have a part to play. Nearly all God's promises are conditional and are dependent on each believer doing their part in order to partake of these promises.
There are two important aspects of being saved. First, salvation as it relates to the sinner. A sinner experiences the new birth by accepting Christ. There is nothing a sinner could do to earn the new birth. The new birth which the Bible calls salvation is a free gift, but it must be cared for once it is received. The second aspect of salvation relates to born again believers maintaining their salvation by living a life of holiness and bearing good fruit.
Philippians 2:12 - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
It is also very important for the children of God to be part of a local church. The reason why we go to church is to build a relationship with God and with other believers. The Christian life is not always an easy road. It is so easy to become discouraged. When believers separate themselves from other believers they become vulnerable and are an easy target for the devil.
Never before have people been confronted with so many voices and so many choices. God speaks to His people as a whole and He speaks to them individually, guiding them into truth and reminding them what is right and warning them what is wrong. His is a voice that tells the truth when so many other voices cannot be trusted. Coming to church means interacting with fellow members of the body of Christ. It is often through His body that Christ speaks the comfort and crucial direction that is needed. It often happens that one Christian will have spiritual insight that could benefit another.
Christians need to belong to a community of faith that includes other brothers and sisters in Christ. It is important to hear how other believers have struggled in the past and how they grew and lived out their faith from different perspectives. The strategies and schemes of the devil are well thought out and going up against these strategies without proper guidance will lead to unnecessary hardships and disappointments.
Those who have had a genuine conversion know all too well the tremendous joy and freedom that salvation brought to them initially.
They will also remember how they were initially truly devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ. It must be remembered that all this occurred before they were beset by a seemingly unending deluge of temptations from every side. They have had to face temptations and found that they are unable to resist many of them. This has caused many to withdraw from their initial depth of commitment.
Ephesians 1:13 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Winning in the battle
There are six battles that believers are going to face in their Christian walk which they must win.
1. Win the battle against your body
Our bodies can be our biggest enemy. Our Adamic nature demands conformity to the flesh and will always oppose what the Spirit wants it to do. The flesh will always fight against the truth of God and His Word.
1 Corinthians 9:27 - But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Galatians 5:19-21 - Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
2. Win the battle against your mind
Just like the body, your mind can also become an enemy that fights against the things of God. Strongholds are mental habitual patterns of thought that are not consistent with God's Word. These fortresses exist in the thought patterns and ideas that oppose God and give the devil a secure place of influence in your thought life.
Proverbs 23:7 - For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
3. Win the battle against your finances
God wants us to win the battle over our finances and wants each and every one of us to be blessed financially. To win this battle, we have to defeat lack and poverty. Too many of God’s children suffer from the “not enough” syndrome. God wants you to have dominion over your finances. God wants you to have more than enough and one of the ways that you can win the battle over your finances is to apply His principles for financial blessings.
Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
4. Win the battle against your health
There is a battle that the enemy wages against your health. Jesus is our healer and our health and we can win the battle that comes against our bodies.
James 5:14 - Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
5. Win the battle against your relationships
Relationships are important and the people we choose to surround ourselves with should be done with much prayer and consideration.
It is important to surround ourselves with people who are like-minded and who love the Lord and who encourage us to pursue and fulfill our calling.
Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
2 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
6. Win the battle against your soul
Matthew 16:26 - What good will it be for a man or a woman if they gain the whole world yet they lose their own soul. What can a man give in exchange for his soul?
There is a battle for your soul. There are people who claim that they are Christians but they are not saved. They do not go to church and do not bother with the things of God.
Philippians 2:12 - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
The salvation of our souls is something that we need to seriously work out. We need to grow spiritually and live a life of holiness.
15. Deal with your weaknesses
1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
We need to deal with our weaknesses. As you start growing in the things of God and as you start dealing with issues, you will discover your strengths, but you will also discover your weaknesses.
You will never ever fulfill your destiny unless you deal with your weakest point. For example, you may be strong in the Word, strong in witnessing to others, strong in commitment to your local church, casting out demons, etc., but you must know and understand that the one thing that will limit you is your weakness. We all have weaknesses and we should be aware of those weaknesses, because that is the point where the devil causes us to fail and not our strong points.
Over the years, David grew in the anointing and performed supernatural things, eventually reigning as king over the whole of Israel.
But he never dealt with his weakness, which was his love for other women, and it destroyed his reputation. If David had dealt with his weakness he would have fulfilled his potential. His weakness kept him back which indirectly caused him to be disqualified from building God’s temple. Now God will still love you but you will not be able to put that full distance between you and the devil if you have not dealt with your weakness.
The second aspect of salvation relates to born again believers maintaining their salvation by living a life of holiness and bearing good fruit.
Philippians 2:12 - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
It is also very important for the children of God to be part of a local church. The objective in going to church is to build a relationship with God and others.
The Christian life is not always an easy road. It is so easy to become discouraged. When believers separate themselves from other believers they become vulnerable and are an easy target for the devil.
Hebrews 10:25 - Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Never before have people been confronted with so many voices and so many choices. God speaks to His people as a whole and He speaks to them individually, guiding them into truth and reminding them what is right and warning them what is wrong. His is a voice that tells the truth when so many other voices cannot be trusted.
Coming to church means interacting with fellow members of the Body of Christ. It is often through His body that Christ speaks the comfort and crucial direction that is needed. It often happens that one Christian will have spiritual insight that could benefit another.
Christians need to belong to a community of faith that includes other brothers and sisters in Christ. It is important to hear how other believers have struggled in the past and how they grew and lived out their faith from different perspectives.
The strategies and schemes of the devil are well thought out and going up against these strategies without proper guidance will lead to unnecessary hardships and disappointments. Those who have had a genuine conversion know all too well the tremendous joy and freedom that salvation brought to them initially. They will also remember how they were initially truly devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But this all occurred before they were beset by a seemingly unending deluge of temptations from every side. They have had to face temptations and found that they are unable to resist many of them. This has caused many to withdraw from their initial depth of commitment.
Ephesians 1:13 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee or seal of our salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ promised that He would send the Holy Spirit Who will be a helper and a comforter. Christians need help from the Holy Spirit because they fight an invisible enemy. That is why it is important to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus warned His disciples not to leave Jerusalem before receiving the power of God’s Spirit. Jesus only began His ministry after He was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
The clean house
Matthew 12:43-45 - When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.
A person who is delivered from demons must accept Jesus as their Savior and commit their lives to Him in every way and grow spiritually. They must ensure that their lives are filled with the things of God and must actively engage with the Holy Spirit which will lead them to maturity. They must also submit themselves to a local church so that they can be mentored and equipped for righteous living.
God expects true reform from sin. Jesus teaches that seven worse spirits would return if the proper conditions were not met in deliverance and that persons will find themselves in an even worse state than they were before.
They must fill up their house rather than leaving it empty, swept, and put in order ready for sin to return. When a person accepts God’s blessings without accepting a responsibility to change, their situation becomes worse than before. Christians must replace formerly wicked behaviors with righteous ones or else sin will soon return in a greater measure.
The Six Anti-Types
Unless we understand the apostolic call on the church today we could miss God completely. There are so many things that are set up in opposition against God’s end time plan. The devil knows that his time is short and he is using every resource that he can to frustrate God’s Kingdom and sadly, he also uses the church to work against what God wants.
Zechariah 3:1 - Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
We need to understand that the devil is set up to oppose and embarrass us before God. Everything that God does and every good thing that He releases upon the earth, is opposed by the kingdom of darkness.
The word “anti’ means “another way” or “opposition”. These six oppositions or six anti’s are directed by Satan against the Kingdom of God and many times we find that the church is complicit in working against the anointing of God. We need to be aware of this so that we can test what we are doing and ensure that we are working with God and not unwittingly against Him. God does not want His church to work against Him but to work with Him.
The entire kingdom of darkness is set up to oppose the Kingdom of God and it is violent, consistent, well structured, and very well planned. The devil will use people in the world to carry out his evil plans and if he can, he will use Christians as well.
Having knowledge will give us power against the enemy especially in these last days. The church needs to have an apostolic spirit which will enable it to expose these plans. An apostolic church is a church that lives in a heavenly environment.
God is calling His church to live in heavenly places with Him. God does not want the church to be programmed whereby they come to church on a Sunday, do everything else on a Monday, and by Tuesday He is forgotten. God wants us to love Him with our whole heart, mind, and soul and this includes our possessions, our time, and our heart. Every word that comes out of our mouths should glorify God.
That is an apostolic mind-set. In these times in which we are living, God is going to call the church to operate in a new dimension of the anointing. We are either going to represent what God wants in this time or we are going to represent what the devil wants.
God is challenging the church in this season because He does not want us to be lukewarm and indifferent. He wants us to be apostolic by having a Kingdom mind-set which is a twenty four seven walk with the Lord.
The apostolic church is the true church and it loves Jesus. It is a church that is totally sold out to God. God wants you to be totally sold out for Him. God does not want to share you with anyone. He wants all of you.
The devil has been defeated but he is not out of commission yet. Every war that is fought has two conflicting sides and it generally means that one side will lose. The devil is behind all these conflicts and when one side loses, the devil does not care. His aim is simply to steal, kill, and destroy. He does not care who wins or who loses, as long as he can cause as much bloodshed and destruction as possible. After the devastation, he simply moves on to the next bloodbath. Although one nation may be defeated by the war, the devil is not. He simply moves onto another conflict.
But Jesus said it is going to be worse in the last days because nations will rise against each other and there will be conflict everywhere. We can see that happening with new wars breaking out almost every day.
Satan is the one trying his utmost to destroy nations because he is not out of commission yet. He is still very busy and that is why God wants us to be actively involved in His church to oppose him.
What is the definition of spiritual warfare? God gave me a very simple definition. Anything that advances God’s Kingdom and pushes back Satan’s kingdom will initiate a spiritual war because it invokes the wrath of the devil. Anything you do that God loves and Satan hates, will involve you in spiritual warfare because it hurts the devil. When you pray, you are engaged in spiritual warfare, because it is directed towards God. When you become involved in a church and you start growing spiritually, those actions are acts of warfare against the enemy. Instructing your children in the things of God is spiritual warfare.
If you want to come against the devil and you want to win in this fight, do everything that God loves. But understand that there is a war out there. Do not play with the devil.
An apostolic church does not preach compromising messages that tickle the ears of the people. An apostolic message is one that aggressively challenges the people and their lifestyles so that they can be moved by the Spirit of God to make much needed changes in their Christian conduct.
Today we see so many people wandering from church to church seeking feel-good messages but the true apostolic church will never preach these messages. We are living in serious times and God is not going to build His army with people who are not totally committed to His cause.
God is about to pour out an apostolic anointing which will cause the church to rise to the full stature of Christ. God’s heart is not for the church to represent anything that does not look like Christ.
1. The anti-Father
John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Mankind has always been searching for God but Jesus is the only way to the Father. False religions believe that there are many ways to God and do not believe that Jesus is the only way. Jesus is therefore the one stumbling block to a single world religion, because Christians know that without Jesus there is no salvation, no eternal life, and no relationship with the Father and they will not accept that there can be another way.
The devil knows that if he can take you away from a father he will ensure your demise. He has worked tirelessly to mess up the definition of “father” throughout the past generations and has done this to ensure that people struggle to relate to a father figure that typifies the heart of our Father in heaven.
The devil has done this by trying to destroy fathers in the family. He has been active in destroying marriages so that children do not grow up with a father in the home. Today, fathers are not raising their children. They have been driven from their home through failed marriages which has its true root in the devil’s hatred of his Father.
The devil hates marriages. He hates a father and a mother raising up their children together and sadly, he has not only been successful in the marriages of unsaved people, but has been very successful in destroying the marriages of born-again Spirit-filled children of God. The statistics for both groups are the same.
His aim is to destroy the righteous offspring of Godly men and women and tries to ensure that resultant generations of the righteous do not relate to God the Father. This spirit is called anti-Father because everything the devil does is against the Kingdom of God. He rebelled against his Father and uses that same strategy to convince the righteous sons and daughters to rebel against their fathers on earth.
There are young boys that are being raised up without their fathers in the home and they are so confused because there is no father to mentor them and where there is no father, the devil will ensure that someone else mentors that boy. He will be taken away from his
God-given destiny and taken to the wrong places. The devil will ensure that someone will raise up that child who hates God and loves the devil.
If you are a father, set your home in order and make sure your family stays together. If you are a mother, do everything in your power to make sure your husband does not leave your home.
When the devil targets your marriage, be aware that he is actually after your children and your children’s children. Do not give him any opportunity or foothold into your home.
Joshua 24:15 - But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
2. The anti-Son
The Bible tells us that anyone who is anti-Son is antichrist. The antichrist is coming to exert great influence on the earth for a time. But the antichrist is actually a demon spirit in the world that represents everything opposite to who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He desires. The antichrist opposes who Christ is.
1 John 4:3 - And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
If any person or religious group does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, they do not promote heaven’s agenda.
There are many that believe in Jesus and will openly admit that He was a great prophet sent by God, but they do not believe that He is God and the only way to God. There is no other way to God except through Jesus and to be anti-Son is to declare another way. That is the spirit of the antichrist.
This Laodicean spirit also works within the church and ensures that God’s people have a lukewarm attitude towards the things of God.
The church has lowered the standard of holiness and feed the people with feel-good messages that do not confront or challenge the lifestyles of the people.
This spirit also seeks to tie the church with other religious groups that do not believe in Jesus in a misguided belief that all religions should work together regardless of religious beliefs. To fit in they try their best not to allow their belief in Jesus to offend others. They are reluctant to speak about Jesus because their religious peers seek unity by declaring that all roads lead to God. It is a church that is afraid to confront anyone in case it loses popularity with the community.
The greatest attack against the church is coming from within the church by its leaders who are watering down the Word and making the Christian walk easy and casual without any need for lifestyle changes or taking responsibilities.
It is high time that the church defends the name of Jesus because if we do not have Jesus, we do not have God. If we do not have Jesus, we do not have eternal life. That is the message of the church and anyone who minimizes this position is under the influence of the spirit of the antichrist and is anti-Son.
The apostle Paul confronted everyone in defense of Jesus and he was not even intimidated by kings and rulers. He stood before them and refused to compromise. If we do not oppose government, they will pass laws that will violate our Christian values. They will trample on our religious freedom and even go as far as to instruct us how we should run our homes.
The apostolic church is one that influences the decisions that Governments makes.
What God do you serve? If it is not God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - the three in one God - then it is another god.
3. The anti-Word
A person who is anti-Word knows what the Bible says but does not apply it. These are people that oppose the Word of God. I find that people who try and make excuses or explain away the truths of God’s Word, really do not want to obey what God says and they are usually the beneficiaries of their convictions. In other words, they stand to gain the most by not applying the Word. They do not want to obey the Word because it will mean that they will have to give up certain things, or it may cost them something.
For example, people who argue that it is not important to belong to a church are usually those who justify why they are not submitted to a church. You will never find someone who is benefiting from a relationship with their local church making such statements.
People who do not submit to the instructions and wisdom of the Word are deceived by the devil because he does not want them to live a full and abundant Christian life.
2 Timothy 4:3 - For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires...
This spirit is becoming more and more evident in these last days and many are being driven away from the church and away from God because they do not want to submit to God’s Word.
Every false doctrine, false religion, and cult today, is known as such because they have taken the pure Word of God and changed it.
They do not even have to change it much to corrupt it. If we are not grounded in God’s Word, we will be caught up in false doctrines.
There are so many people making sacrifices for their religions and their beliefs, but all God wants from us is to obey His Word. God teaches us that obedience is better than sacrifice.
4. The anti-Holy Spirit
Ephesians 4:30 - And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The anti-Spirit prevailing in the world is really messing up churches. When God’s power and leading is rejected in favor of church programs, personal charisma, and abilities, it can grieve the Spirit of God.
The true apostolic church is led by the Spirit of God and allows God to move supernaturally in the meetings. Today, the anointing has been replaced by hype and other counterfeits which ensure that God’s will is not accomplished.
God does not look at our flesh because flesh cannot bring glory to God. God is looking for weak vessels of clay that He can fill with His Spirit so that we can do supernatural things that give Him glory.
Moses was a person who could not speak properly because of a speech impediment, yet God used him to bring many powerful messages to Pharaoh.
The apostolic church knows that it does not qualify to do the mighty works of God in the natural or in the flesh. It understands that it needs God’s power to be able to accomplish the impossible in cities, communities, and nations. The apostolic church performs signs and wonders and prays for those wanting to be filled with the Spirit. It prays for the sick and believes that God still perform miracles in and out of the church through anointed men and women of God.
Today, that simplicity has been replaced by sophisticated methods which brings a false order into the church. In so many churches today, the Holy Spirit is not welcome. Leaders fear that the presence and manifestation of the Holy Spirit can ruin their “successful” churches, but they are actually deceived by the anti-Spirit that is “churching” communities, but not transforming them by the power of God’s Spirit.
Zechariah 4:6 - So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by (man’s) might nor by (man’s) power, but by My Spirit,' Says the Lord of hosts.
The only way we can be instruments in the hands of God to build God’s Kingdom, is to allow God’s Spirit to empower us. Everything we do should not be by our own ability, but by God’s Spirit. When we perform spiritual things without God’s Spirit, we grieve the Holy Spirit and this can bring great destruction and judgment upon the church.
How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? By not listening to the voice and leading of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit still speaks today and has a lot to say to the church.
1 John 2:27 - But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
The Holy Spirit will teach you things that others do not know. There are secrets that the Holy Spirit has for your life and your ministry and when you make Him your friend, you will never ever be at a disadvantage.
5. The anti-ministers
Matthew 24:24 - For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Jesus has given us the five-fold ministry to build Hisis His church which is the ministry of the apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, and the evangelist. Satan organizes his Kingdom in opposition to God’s Kingdom and just as we have the true five-fold ministry operating in the church, there can also be the false five-fold ministry.
Jesus has given us the five-fold ministry to build His church which is the ministry of the apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, and the evangelist. Satan organizes his Kingdom in opposition to God’s Kingdom and just as we have the true five-fold ministry operating in the church, there can also be the false five-fold ministry.
a. False apostles - There are false apostles that are setting themselves over the work of God but who have not been sent by God. They are manipulating the church and leading people to the wrong place. I am not saying that every person who calls themselves an apostle today is a false apostle. There are those who carry an apostolic anointing by planting churches and looking after networks of churches.
But the true office of the apostle is still to be fully restored, as they are going to be used by God in the last days to work with the other ministry gifts to bring the church to perfection and maturity.
b. False prophets - The Word tells us that we are living in a time of false prophets and we are warned not to listen to them. We need a discerning spirit in these days to make sure that we listen to the right people. It is becoming more and more difficult today.
c. False teachers - There is coming an attack against the church by false teachers and we should not listen to them. They are the ones who are corrupting the pure Word of the Lord and leading God’s people astray. They will express their own opinions and deviate from the standard of the Word.
d. False pastors - The Bible tells us that false pastors will scatter the sheep but true pastors will love the sheep and look for the ones who are lost.
e. False evangelists - A false evangelist will draw people to themselves whereas a true evangelist will draw people and communities to Jesus.
The Bible tells us that some men and women in the five-fold ministry will stand before Jesus one day and will be rejected. Even the miracles they performed will not count in their favor. How frightening to think that there are men and women ministering signs and wonders in the name of the Lord who will be rejected by the Lord. We need to be so careful who we follow these days. We can only have certainty by walking closely and intimately with the Spirit.
6. The anti-church
The true church is an apostolic church. An apostolic church is one that is led by God’s Spirit and builds God’s Kingdom without any fear or intimidation. It is a church that is not moved by the opinions of others, but boldly and fearlessly proclaims the message of God for this season. It is a church that does not compromise God’s standard of holiness and preaches the pure Word of God. It is not a popular church and probably does not fit in too well with the religious establishment.
It is a church that is embarrassing to its peers because it is radical. It is a church waiting for a fresh touch from heaven and knows it must stand ready for new instructions from the Lord Jesus Christ in the coming season.
It is a church that provides a safe spiritual haven for God’s people and leads them to safety and protection. With them, there is no middle ground. It is all for God or all for the devil.
Revelation 3:14-16 - "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
False churches are those that operate in the middle ground. As someone once said, the church has become so worldly and the world has become so churchy. The lines between the church and the world should be distinct, but the dividing lines have become so blurred that it is difficult to distinguish them from the world.
The anti-church spirit is one that causes churches to deviate from God’s true pattern and life of the church. The false church tries so hard to fit in with society and prefers to be social rather than life-changing. Churches today spend so much money making their buildings comfortable and draw people who have become fat with feel-good messages but do not know the difference between hot and cold or what is wrong or right.
