Summary of Bible references on the Rapture
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The Elect
Below are the 7 occurrences of the term "elect" in the three synoptic gospels. I share this because in both Matthew and Mark the verses are essentially the same. Days are shortened for the elect's sake --> false Christs and False prophets will try to deceive the elect as a test --> the Lord sends His angels and collects the elect from the four corners of the earth. But Luke is very different. None of that is shared. Instead the elect are crying to the Lord day and night concerning the enemy. They are not deceived, they see it is the enemy, they see what is going on, and so they have passed that test. We are told that God will avenge them, He will answer their prayers. They are the ones praying for the Lord to restrain evil and in response the Holy Spirit is restraining evil. Luke gives us a picture of those who are raptured prior to the tribulation. Prior to the tribulation the days don't need to be shortened, there is no mass extinction event taking place. But after the saints in Luke are raptured, then you enter the tribulation, then you need those days shortened or else no one will live, and the purpose is to test these ones. They are now in "summer school" because they failed the test. If they can pass in summer school then the Lord will send out His angels and gather them as well. Think of the raptured saints as the first fruits and all of these ones as the general harvest.
Below are the 7 occurrences of the term "elect" in the three synoptic gospels. I share this because in both Matthew and Mark the verses are essentially the same. Days are shortened for the elect's sake --> false Christs and False prophets will try to deceive the elect as a test --> the Lord sends His angels and collects the elect from the four corners of the earth. But Luke is very different. None of that is shared. Instead the elect are crying to the Lord day and night concerning the enemy. They are not deceived, they see it is the enemy, they see what is going on, and so they have passed that test. We are told that God will avenge them, He will answer their prayers. They are the ones praying for the Lord to restrain evil and in response the Holy Spirit is restraining evil. Luke gives us a picture of those who are raptured prior to the tribulation. Prior to the tribulation the days don't need to be shortened, there is no mass extinction event taking place. But after the saints in Luke are raptured, then you enter the tribulation, then you need those days shortened or else no one will live, and the purpose is to test these ones. They are now in "summer school" because they failed the test. If they can pass in summer school then the Lord will send out His angels and gather them as well. Think of the raptured saints as the first fruits and all of these ones as the general harvest.
- Matthew 24:22
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
- Matthew 24:24
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
- Matthew 24:31
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his electfrom the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
- Mark 13:20
And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
- Mark 13:22
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
- Mark 13:27
And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his electfrom the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
- Luke 18:7
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
King Saul -- A type of the Antichrist
1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
AntiChrist means counterfeit Christ or "in place of Christ". It doesn't mean "most evil person", everyone chooses this person because they think he is the best, but the reality is that ruling the children of God is too great a job for anyone other than Jesus Christ, the true Messiah.
1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
AntiChrist means counterfeit Christ or "in place of Christ". It doesn't mean "most evil person", everyone chooses this person because they think he is the best, but the reality is that ruling the children of God is too great a job for anyone other than Jesus Christ, the true Messiah.
The Revelation of the Antichrist
1 Samuel 9:15 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, 16 To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. 17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.
There is a misconception taught in Christianity that the Antichrist does not get revealed until after the rapture. This is taught because in Thessalonians it says that after the restrainer is removed the man of lawlessness is revealed. But that is only saying that the antichrist gets revealed to those who are left behind after the rapture. Those who were restraining evil prior to the rapture and then were raptured, they were restraining the man of sin from being revealed. Samuel is a shadow of this and you can see that King Saul who is a type of the Antichrist was revealed to him before he was revealed to anyone else.
1 Samuel 9:15 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, 16 To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. 17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.
There is a misconception taught in Christianity that the Antichrist does not get revealed until after the rapture. This is taught because in Thessalonians it says that after the restrainer is removed the man of lawlessness is revealed. But that is only saying that the antichrist gets revealed to those who are left behind after the rapture. Those who were restraining evil prior to the rapture and then were raptured, they were restraining the man of sin from being revealed. Samuel is a shadow of this and you can see that King Saul who is a type of the Antichrist was revealed to him before he was revealed to anyone else.
How do you learn to discern the real thing from the counterfeit?
1 Samuel 10:24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. 25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
In this chapter Samuel gives Saul a bunch of prophecies which all come to pass and then Samuel has a big feast of the Lord for all of Israel where Saul is chosen by Lot from among all of Israel. Then Samuel the prophet tells the people that God has chosen Saul. Anyone observing this would say "surely this man is of God". "All the signs are pointing to it".
26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.
Think about this, God touched these men's hearts to give themselves to King Saul to help establish the kingdom. How can you say this person is the "antichrist"? A counterfeit bill is a very close replica. It takes discernment to distinguish a good counterfeit from the real thing. According to the Bible the Antichrist will be a "great deception" that means he will be "a great counterfeit". This chapter reveals that Saul is a great counterfeit. Now how do you learn to discern the real thing from the counterfeit? That is what the book of 1 Samuel is, a lesson in discerning the real thing from the counterfeit.
27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought no presents. But he held his peace.
We might be tempted to think that recognizing that Saul is a fake indicates you have discernment. No, it means you are a son of Belial, a worthless, good for nothing person. God chose King Saul, he was anointed by Samuel who is the spiritual leader of this nation. If you rebel against him then you are rebelling against God. The reason God chose him was so that all of Israel could see the difference between the counterfeit and the real deal. First God lets you embrace the counterfeit. The closer you are to him the easier it will be for you to see the full picture. Outwardly he seems to be everything that you could want, but inwardly you will see the failings and shortcomings. Later you will see David and you will assume that this little man is the impostor, no way he can stand next to this big king, but little by little you will realize not to look outwardly, but rather you need to look inwardly. Focus on the faith, the hope and the love.
1 Samuel 10:24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. 25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
In this chapter Samuel gives Saul a bunch of prophecies which all come to pass and then Samuel has a big feast of the Lord for all of Israel where Saul is chosen by Lot from among all of Israel. Then Samuel the prophet tells the people that God has chosen Saul. Anyone observing this would say "surely this man is of God". "All the signs are pointing to it".
26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.
Think about this, God touched these men's hearts to give themselves to King Saul to help establish the kingdom. How can you say this person is the "antichrist"? A counterfeit bill is a very close replica. It takes discernment to distinguish a good counterfeit from the real thing. According to the Bible the Antichrist will be a "great deception" that means he will be "a great counterfeit". This chapter reveals that Saul is a great counterfeit. Now how do you learn to discern the real thing from the counterfeit? That is what the book of 1 Samuel is, a lesson in discerning the real thing from the counterfeit.
27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought no presents. But he held his peace.
We might be tempted to think that recognizing that Saul is a fake indicates you have discernment. No, it means you are a son of Belial, a worthless, good for nothing person. God chose King Saul, he was anointed by Samuel who is the spiritual leader of this nation. If you rebel against him then you are rebelling against God. The reason God chose him was so that all of Israel could see the difference between the counterfeit and the real deal. First God lets you embrace the counterfeit. The closer you are to him the easier it will be for you to see the full picture. Outwardly he seems to be everything that you could want, but inwardly you will see the failings and shortcomings. Later you will see David and you will assume that this little man is the impostor, no way he can stand next to this big king, but little by little you will realize not to look outwardly, but rather you need to look inwardly. Focus on the faith, the hope and the love.
The Big Misunderstanding concerning the Antichrist
1 Samuel 12:13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. 14 If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: 15 But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.
Everyone thinks the problem is the Antichrist. But that is simply a reflection of the people. Do you fear the Lord Jesus and serve Him? If so the Antichrist is powerless to do evil, he is restrained because everyone fears the Lord and serves Him. The only way the Antichrist can do evil is if people obey his voice rather than the Lord's, and if they rebel against the Lord's commandments. Instead of trying to figure out what person is "the man of lawlessness" look in the mirror and deal with your own lawlessness and rebellion. The temptation is to just give the responsibility of living by faith to someone else. That is why they wanted a king.
1 Samuel 12:13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. 14 If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: 15 But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.
Everyone thinks the problem is the Antichrist. But that is simply a reflection of the people. Do you fear the Lord Jesus and serve Him? If so the Antichrist is powerless to do evil, he is restrained because everyone fears the Lord and serves Him. The only way the Antichrist can do evil is if people obey his voice rather than the Lord's, and if they rebel against the Lord's commandments. Instead of trying to figure out what person is "the man of lawlessness" look in the mirror and deal with your own lawlessness and rebellion. The temptation is to just give the responsibility of living by faith to someone else. That is why they wanted a king.
A correct understanding of prophecy
1 Samuel 12:23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: 24 Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. 25 But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
1. Prophecy would guide you in your prayers. It shows you where the children of Israel are lacking and what they need. In this case they needed to learn the good and the right way.
2. Prophecy is to guide the people to fear the Lord and serve Him in truth.
3. Prophecy is to remind the people of all the good things the Lord has done to build up their faith.
4. Prophecy is a warning. It encourages you to take the narrow path that leads to life and it also warns you that if you take the broad way it will lead to destruction.
1 Samuel 12:23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: 24 Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. 25 But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
1. Prophecy would guide you in your prayers. It shows you where the children of Israel are lacking and what they need. In this case they needed to learn the good and the right way.
2. Prophecy is to guide the people to fear the Lord and serve Him in truth.
3. Prophecy is to remind the people of all the good things the Lord has done to build up their faith.
4. Prophecy is a warning. It encourages you to take the narrow path that leads to life and it also warns you that if you take the broad way it will lead to destruction.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
When Jesus was crucified there was a trial in which he was convicted of the worst crime. Don't think that evil men did this, they would never have been allowed to do this had not God allowed it. Why would God allow a man who had not done anything wrong, and who would never have agreed to do anything wrong, why would God who knows the hearts, allow this man to be treated so badly? Instead of asking why does God allow bad things to happen to good people, let's ask why did God allow horrific things to happen to this one genuinely good person?
Jesus was a sin offering. When they take a bull and sacrifice it as a sin offering the bull was innocent, he didn't do anything wrong. However, people were wronged by the sin and there must be a price to pay to reconcile the situation for that sin. Jesus was the price. Interestingly, in many cases the sin is not that severe and the Romans will scourge the person and let them go. You can get a sentence of a few lashes, the most you can get is 40 lashes which in reality is 39 (forty minus one, just in case). They don't ever scourge someone who is going to be crucified. But in Jesus' case they gave him both punishments to cover all the possible crimes. But not only so they also mocked Him, spit on Him, beat him with their hands, and put a crown of thorns on His head. These are the kinds of attacks people do to those they don't like, even if their offense is not "criminal". Jesus was given the punishments for every kind of sin, from looking at someone funny, insulting them, all the way to capital offenses. Jesus is our sin offering and it covers every sin from little ones to the very biggest ones.
It even covers those that only God knows. When it says "He knew no sin" it is referring to what was in his heart. Many times we will have a hearing and the rich and powerful will claim they were ignorant of the sins and crimes being committed. Since we don't know what was in their heart, did they truly know what was going on or not, we can't prosecute them. But God knows. Even those sins that you think are "secret" God knows and Jesus is a sin offering for them as well.
It is by listening to our conscience and confessing and repenting of all these sins, even the ones that are small, and the ones that are secret, this is how we become the righteousness of God. For example, have you ever heard someone say "everyone does it"? What this means is that sure it is "wrong" but hey, "this is the way the world works". This guy is saying he didn't make the rules, he simply lives by them. Soon, you are so confused you have no idea what is truth, which is what Pilate said to Jesus. That is how unrighteousness spreads. Well the way God undoes that is He gives life to your conscience. At first you notice some horrible thing you are doing, and you deal with it. But the more you deal with your sins the more sensitive your conscience gets until you are confessing your tone was not right, your attitude was not right, and your thoughts about something were not right. You are being made the righteousness of God and this can only happen if you are in Christ Jesus. You need to be in that light having daily communion with the Lord.
Now this is where Christianity gets the doctrine of rapture wrong. No one is getting raptured unless their robes are spotless, that means unless they have become the righteousness of God. This process of dealing with sins does not take place in heaven, it takes place down here on earth. Who gets raptured? Those who have been made the righteousness of God. Yes, it is the blood of Jesus that washes away the sins, but it is you that applies the blood and confesses and repents. God helps you. All you have to do is realize "why are these things happening to me? It is because I need to confess and repent for some sins".
When Jesus was crucified there was a trial in which he was convicted of the worst crime. Don't think that evil men did this, they would never have been allowed to do this had not God allowed it. Why would God allow a man who had not done anything wrong, and who would never have agreed to do anything wrong, why would God who knows the hearts, allow this man to be treated so badly? Instead of asking why does God allow bad things to happen to good people, let's ask why did God allow horrific things to happen to this one genuinely good person?
Jesus was a sin offering. When they take a bull and sacrifice it as a sin offering the bull was innocent, he didn't do anything wrong. However, people were wronged by the sin and there must be a price to pay to reconcile the situation for that sin. Jesus was the price. Interestingly, in many cases the sin is not that severe and the Romans will scourge the person and let them go. You can get a sentence of a few lashes, the most you can get is 40 lashes which in reality is 39 (forty minus one, just in case). They don't ever scourge someone who is going to be crucified. But in Jesus' case they gave him both punishments to cover all the possible crimes. But not only so they also mocked Him, spit on Him, beat him with their hands, and put a crown of thorns on His head. These are the kinds of attacks people do to those they don't like, even if their offense is not "criminal". Jesus was given the punishments for every kind of sin, from looking at someone funny, insulting them, all the way to capital offenses. Jesus is our sin offering and it covers every sin from little ones to the very biggest ones.
It even covers those that only God knows. When it says "He knew no sin" it is referring to what was in his heart. Many times we will have a hearing and the rich and powerful will claim they were ignorant of the sins and crimes being committed. Since we don't know what was in their heart, did they truly know what was going on or not, we can't prosecute them. But God knows. Even those sins that you think are "secret" God knows and Jesus is a sin offering for them as well.
It is by listening to our conscience and confessing and repenting of all these sins, even the ones that are small, and the ones that are secret, this is how we become the righteousness of God. For example, have you ever heard someone say "everyone does it"? What this means is that sure it is "wrong" but hey, "this is the way the world works". This guy is saying he didn't make the rules, he simply lives by them. Soon, you are so confused you have no idea what is truth, which is what Pilate said to Jesus. That is how unrighteousness spreads. Well the way God undoes that is He gives life to your conscience. At first you notice some horrible thing you are doing, and you deal with it. But the more you deal with your sins the more sensitive your conscience gets until you are confessing your tone was not right, your attitude was not right, and your thoughts about something were not right. You are being made the righteousness of God and this can only happen if you are in Christ Jesus. You need to be in that light having daily communion with the Lord.
Now this is where Christianity gets the doctrine of rapture wrong. No one is getting raptured unless their robes are spotless, that means unless they have become the righteousness of God. This process of dealing with sins does not take place in heaven, it takes place down here on earth. Who gets raptured? Those who have been made the righteousness of God. Yes, it is the blood of Jesus that washes away the sins, but it is you that applies the blood and confesses and repents. God helps you. All you have to do is realize "why are these things happening to me? It is because I need to confess and repent for some sins".
He argues that the "true" Purim is April 1 and that the Jews are one month off in their calendar.
WE ARE OUT OF TIME! IN A BLINK OF AN EYE ALL SHALL BE CHANGED!
What the Bible says about the calendar is complicated. We are told that the one thing that stays constant is seedtime and harvest. So yes, this is the right time for Passover based on seedtime and harvest. However, Passover is also supposed to take place when the sun is in a certain constellation and that will not happen for another month.
So what is happening is that God is telling us a fascinating story that you can't understand if you do not appreciate this. When Jesus Christ was crucified that was the correct Passover. The Jews did not receive Him because they were defiled by a dead religion. As a result they missed the first Passover and so now, for them, we have come to "second Passover" which is one month later. This means this upcoming "fool's Passover" on April 1st is actually "second Purim". By adjusting the calendar to 2nd Passover everything shifts by one month. What is fascinating by this is that in the story of Esther she invites the King to a feast she makes and then invites him to a second feast she makes where Haman, the antichrist figure, is revealed. So it makes sense we have two feasts for Purim this year and we are now talking about "2nd Passover".
Why is April 1st called "April Fool's day"? It has to do with the changing of the calendar. The Bible tells us that Satan will seek to change times and seasons, and God tells us that we are fools because of this. The feast days are prophetic, they are dress rehearsals for the real events. If you know when the true day of these events takes place then that would be very helpful. As a result because of the confusion we are made fools.
The Lord Jesus does not need help from the flesh
1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Amalek refers to the flesh. Think of how you came to the Lord starting from when you were born. If you spend some time in prayer before the Lord He will show you that you had this same experience.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
You also had this experience, there were those who showed you kindness as you were on your way to finding the Lord.
7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
And we have also had this experience in Christianity. They are great when it comes to dealing with things that are vile and refuse. They have soup kitchens for the homeless, shelters for women and children who are being abused, halfway houses for people coming out of prison, drug rehab for addicts. But what about a FreeMason with a lot of money he wants to give to the church, they put this Satanist on the board of directors. How about these people who tell the Pastor to keep it short today because there is a big football game they want to see?
Consider Charlie Kirk's ministry. He seemed to deal with everything that was vile and refuse. But then you learn where all the money for that ministry came from. The people donating large sums of money were not born again Christians, and yet they wanted to control the ministry.
When you get saved and baptized you begin to deal with the flesh, cut things away, cut off negative influences, etc. But we need to be absolute, cut off everything the Lord tells you to cut off. Be careful, there are some good people in your past, they may not have been saved, but that doesn't mean you cut them off. You have to listen to the Lord in your spirit and don't use your own mind to ignore the spirit because something is "good". We love to justify things by becoming super spiritual, all of a sudden this relationship can "be beneficial for the gospel". You know you are following the Lord when you cut something off and all of a sudden you are filled with life and peace. Remember this principle, the Lord Jesus does not need help from the flesh.
10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
This is the test of whether or not you are truly obeying the Lord and following Him. Think about the crucifixion. Many of us agree that there are certain criminals that deserve the death penalty. But not everybody, not the good people, certainly not Jesus Christ. But that was not God's attitude, to God all flesh needed to be crucified. All flesh had been corrupted. All those who thought they had "a good heart" were deceived, their heart was deceitfully wicked. Think of all the harm done in the world, for example the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition. This was done by people "claiming to have a good heart", justifying their actions with some super spiritual garbage.
1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Amalek refers to the flesh. Think of how you came to the Lord starting from when you were born. If you spend some time in prayer before the Lord He will show you that you had this same experience.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
You also had this experience, there were those who showed you kindness as you were on your way to finding the Lord.
7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
And we have also had this experience in Christianity. They are great when it comes to dealing with things that are vile and refuse. They have soup kitchens for the homeless, shelters for women and children who are being abused, halfway houses for people coming out of prison, drug rehab for addicts. But what about a FreeMason with a lot of money he wants to give to the church, they put this Satanist on the board of directors. How about these people who tell the Pastor to keep it short today because there is a big football game they want to see?
Consider Charlie Kirk's ministry. He seemed to deal with everything that was vile and refuse. But then you learn where all the money for that ministry came from. The people donating large sums of money were not born again Christians, and yet they wanted to control the ministry.
When you get saved and baptized you begin to deal with the flesh, cut things away, cut off negative influences, etc. But we need to be absolute, cut off everything the Lord tells you to cut off. Be careful, there are some good people in your past, they may not have been saved, but that doesn't mean you cut them off. You have to listen to the Lord in your spirit and don't use your own mind to ignore the spirit because something is "good". We love to justify things by becoming super spiritual, all of a sudden this relationship can "be beneficial for the gospel". You know you are following the Lord when you cut something off and all of a sudden you are filled with life and peace. Remember this principle, the Lord Jesus does not need help from the flesh.
10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
This is the test of whether or not you are truly obeying the Lord and following Him. Think about the crucifixion. Many of us agree that there are certain criminals that deserve the death penalty. But not everybody, not the good people, certainly not Jesus Christ. But that was not God's attitude, to God all flesh needed to be crucified. All flesh had been corrupted. All those who thought they had "a good heart" were deceived, their heart was deceitfully wicked. Think of all the harm done in the world, for example the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition. This was done by people "claiming to have a good heart", justifying their actions with some super spiritual garbage.
Do not fall for this deceit
1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. 14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
Everyone knows the TV is fleshly. However, when they struggle with the Lord telling them to get rid of it they will always claim that they are keeping it for the best things so they could watch those things as a sacrifice unto the Lord. If you had this experience go back to your claims at that time, you were only going to watch it for those things that were really important or that really uplifted the Lord. Now, years later, ask yourself honestly if that is what happened.
The average screen time in America is 7 hours a day. Over 20 years that works out to 50,000 hours, on average. That is enough time to read the Bible 625 times. So imagine standing before the Lord at the judgment seat and you spent 50,000 hours watching TV after you got saved and yet you are trying to explain to the Lord how come you didn't have time to read through the Bible once.
The TV is a great example because all of us will exercise our discernment, that is "refuse" or that is "vile" and so of course, we as Christians will not watch that "trash". So we watch the "good" shows which are also fleshly, but not vile. Granted there are also the Kenites, perhaps a nature show or a documentary, not everything belongs to the Amalekites. But that is how they operate. Look at the damage they do to the kids with their "children's" shows.
1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. 14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
Everyone knows the TV is fleshly. However, when they struggle with the Lord telling them to get rid of it they will always claim that they are keeping it for the best things so they could watch those things as a sacrifice unto the Lord. If you had this experience go back to your claims at that time, you were only going to watch it for those things that were really important or that really uplifted the Lord. Now, years later, ask yourself honestly if that is what happened.
The average screen time in America is 7 hours a day. Over 20 years that works out to 50,000 hours, on average. That is enough time to read the Bible 625 times. So imagine standing before the Lord at the judgment seat and you spent 50,000 hours watching TV after you got saved and yet you are trying to explain to the Lord how come you didn't have time to read through the Bible once.
The TV is a great example because all of us will exercise our discernment, that is "refuse" or that is "vile" and so of course, we as Christians will not watch that "trash". So we watch the "good" shows which are also fleshly, but not vile. Granted there are also the Kenites, perhaps a nature show or a documentary, not everything belongs to the Amalekites. But that is how they operate. Look at the damage they do to the kids with their "children's" shows.
Humpty Dumpty Christians
1Samuel 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
What is the commandment of the Lord to us? Well we are told to come out of Babylon and don't partake of her sins. Recently family members condemned us because we didn't watch the Oscars, we didn't watch the Superbowl, we didn't watch other shows that they all watch. If you are afraid of what your relatives will say or what your colleagues at work will say, then this applies to you. You can't be a humpty dumpty Christian. You can't sit on the wall and try and please everyone. Either you are for the Lord are you aren't.
1Samuel 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
What is the commandment of the Lord to us? Well we are told to come out of Babylon and don't partake of her sins. Recently family members condemned us because we didn't watch the Oscars, we didn't watch the Superbowl, we didn't watch other shows that they all watch. If you are afraid of what your relatives will say or what your colleagues at work will say, then this applies to you. You can't be a humpty dumpty Christian. You can't sit on the wall and try and please everyone. Either you are for the Lord are you aren't.
There are many people who have lied to you about David and Goliath.
1 Samuel 16:18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.
One of King Saul's advisors tells Saul this prior to David killing Goliath. This story of a little boy killing Goliath is a favorite story in Christianity and they make movies about this story. Did you realize that David was known as "a mighty valiant man, and man of war" prior to killing Goliath? There are many people who have lied to you about David and Goliath.
The reason they want you to think that David was just some little boy who got in a lucky shot is they don't want you to know that David trained to be a "mighty valiant man in the Lord's army, a man of the spiritual warfare" because then you might imitate him. I think the best analogy to David would be Wayne Gretzky. When he was six years old he wanted to play hockey and the only league was for kids 10 years and younger. He made the team, but was smaller and slower than all the other kids so he had to learn special skills. Instead of trying to be "the superstar" he focused on passing the puck to his teammates in a way that would give them the best chance of scoring. He described this as not passing the puck to where they were but to where they would be. When he was 10 years old he scored 378 goals in one season and the newspaper did a profile on him. By age 13 he had scored 1,000 goals and by 14 he moved to Toronto to play Junior B hockey where he was named rookie of the year. As a 16 year old he broke the rookie scoring record for the Ontario Hockey Association. So yes, David, like Gretzky, is this young man, a teenager, but at the same time he was "a mighty valiant man, a man of war, and prudent".
1 Samuel 16:18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.
One of King Saul's advisors tells Saul this prior to David killing Goliath. This story of a little boy killing Goliath is a favorite story in Christianity and they make movies about this story. Did you realize that David was known as "a mighty valiant man, and man of war" prior to killing Goliath? There are many people who have lied to you about David and Goliath.
The reason they want you to think that David was just some little boy who got in a lucky shot is they don't want you to know that David trained to be a "mighty valiant man in the Lord's army, a man of the spiritual warfare" because then you might imitate him. I think the best analogy to David would be Wayne Gretzky. When he was six years old he wanted to play hockey and the only league was for kids 10 years and younger. He made the team, but was smaller and slower than all the other kids so he had to learn special skills. Instead of trying to be "the superstar" he focused on passing the puck to his teammates in a way that would give them the best chance of scoring. He described this as not passing the puck to where they were but to where they would be. When he was 10 years old he scored 378 goals in one season and the newspaper did a profile on him. By age 13 he had scored 1,000 goals and by 14 he moved to Toronto to play Junior B hockey where he was named rookie of the year. As a 16 year old he broke the rookie scoring record for the Ontario Hockey Association. So yes, David, like Gretzky, is this young man, a teenager, but at the same time he was "a mighty valiant man, a man of war, and prudent".
Seeing the value in those that the enemy disdains
1 Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.
I was a patrol leader in the Boy scouts. My two previous patrols had won the award for premier patrol and in each of those patrols one of the kids in my patrol had won the premier scout award and so some kid's father complained that I was winning because I was getting the best kids. As a result they had a meeting and the patrol leaders got to pick who they wanted in their patrol and I was given the eight kids that no one wanted. We were the patrol of everyone they disdained. One of the kids in my patrol that they gave me was the younger brother of one of the other patrol leaders and he learned from his brother what happened.
So in our first patrol meeting he is sulking and says "it looks like they gave you all the losers". Everyone was looking at me, they also had heard what had happened. I said to him "I am not a loser. My patrols are not losers. Who told you that you were a loser?" That word flipped the script, from that point on everyone in that patrol was happy to be in my patrol, and when they won the Premier Patrol award and one of the kids in my patrol won the premier scout award it was a humiliating defeat for those other patrol leaders and that father who had said what he had said. His son had been given first choice of all the people in his patrol. David was disdained as a warrior, and so he also was able to see the value in others who were disdained.
That was the truly amazing thing about Tom Brady, he was able to take a team that seemingly had no talent at the skill positions and make the most of them and go and win the super bowl with them. Gretzky did the same thing, he made everyone else on the team better. Six of his teammates became hall of fame players. While he was racking up assists they were racking up goals.
1 Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.
I was a patrol leader in the Boy scouts. My two previous patrols had won the award for premier patrol and in each of those patrols one of the kids in my patrol had won the premier scout award and so some kid's father complained that I was winning because I was getting the best kids. As a result they had a meeting and the patrol leaders got to pick who they wanted in their patrol and I was given the eight kids that no one wanted. We were the patrol of everyone they disdained. One of the kids in my patrol that they gave me was the younger brother of one of the other patrol leaders and he learned from his brother what happened.
So in our first patrol meeting he is sulking and says "it looks like they gave you all the losers". Everyone was looking at me, they also had heard what had happened. I said to him "I am not a loser. My patrols are not losers. Who told you that you were a loser?" That word flipped the script, from that point on everyone in that patrol was happy to be in my patrol, and when they won the Premier Patrol award and one of the kids in my patrol won the premier scout award it was a humiliating defeat for those other patrol leaders and that father who had said what he had said. His son had been given first choice of all the people in his patrol. David was disdained as a warrior, and so he also was able to see the value in others who were disdained.
That was the truly amazing thing about Tom Brady, he was able to take a team that seemingly had no talent at the skill positions and make the most of them and go and win the super bowl with them. Gretzky did the same thing, he made everyone else on the team better. Six of his teammates became hall of fame players. While he was racking up assists they were racking up goals.
Don't receive the grace of God in vain
2 Corinthians 6:1We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
The word for vain depicts something that is hollow or empty. People who receive the grace of God are supposed to have a treasure hidden within their earthen vessel. To be a "hollow" or "empty" Christian is to be a foolish virgin who has a lamp that is lit, but has no oil.
2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
When we become Christians we should count everything we have as loss, as dung, as refuse. We empty ourselves out of all we have and all we thought we had. Then we cry out to the Lord, we need to be filled. We need a hidden treasure.
3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
If you try and serve the Lord in your own strength or with your own riches, you will give offence. This would offend the Lord who in return will make sure you realize that you have offended Him. Why are you getting blamed? All you wanted to do was help. Wanting to help is fine, it is thinking that you can bring something in to help the church or the Lord that is offensive. Imagine I am on an NBA team, not just any team, but the team that had Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. Now I come in and let everyone know "I am there to help". Well what does that mean? If it means I recognize that Jesus is Lord and I am there fully consecrated to the Lord to be used in the way he sees fit, then that is fine. But if it means I have some suggestions for the Lord on how He should be taking advantage of many of the latest and greatest marketing tools for His ministry, well then that could be very offensive. I am not the Lord, do not be arrogant. The Lord knows all of these things, He is omniscient. If He leads us to use some tool we will, but if someone comes in that is arrogant and proud he will ultimately give offense and the ministry will be blamed.
4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
Everyone starting out wants to skip all this and go straight to powerful and prevailing ministry. But these things give you a solid foundation. When stuff doesn't go your way you aren't fazed, that has happened before, you got through that before. When you are suffering affliction, again, you have gone through that before and it always turned out for good. If you have necessities that also is fine because you have experienced the Lord providing all your needs in glory. Think about when Paul was bitten by that snake and everyone assumed that meant he was a criminal that God would not allow to escape judgment. That was a distress. It caused everyone to focus intently on Paul. But when he didn't fall down and die they changed their opinion, opened themselves up to his ministry and he was invited to pray for the sick and heal the people in that land. The Lord used that distress to promote Paul's ministry and meet the needs of everyone. You need a firm foundation strong in the faith that "all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to purpose". That faith is far more important than anything else you could do to promote a ministry. Compare your marketing campaign with the Lord using that snake, God's ways are higher and His wisdom is greater than ours.
2 Corinthians 6:1We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
The word for vain depicts something that is hollow or empty. People who receive the grace of God are supposed to have a treasure hidden within their earthen vessel. To be a "hollow" or "empty" Christian is to be a foolish virgin who has a lamp that is lit, but has no oil.
2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
When we become Christians we should count everything we have as loss, as dung, as refuse. We empty ourselves out of all we have and all we thought we had. Then we cry out to the Lord, we need to be filled. We need a hidden treasure.
3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
If you try and serve the Lord in your own strength or with your own riches, you will give offence. This would offend the Lord who in return will make sure you realize that you have offended Him. Why are you getting blamed? All you wanted to do was help. Wanting to help is fine, it is thinking that you can bring something in to help the church or the Lord that is offensive. Imagine I am on an NBA team, not just any team, but the team that had Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. Now I come in and let everyone know "I am there to help". Well what does that mean? If it means I recognize that Jesus is Lord and I am there fully consecrated to the Lord to be used in the way he sees fit, then that is fine. But if it means I have some suggestions for the Lord on how He should be taking advantage of many of the latest and greatest marketing tools for His ministry, well then that could be very offensive. I am not the Lord, do not be arrogant. The Lord knows all of these things, He is omniscient. If He leads us to use some tool we will, but if someone comes in that is arrogant and proud he will ultimately give offense and the ministry will be blamed.
4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
Everyone starting out wants to skip all this and go straight to powerful and prevailing ministry. But these things give you a solid foundation. When stuff doesn't go your way you aren't fazed, that has happened before, you got through that before. When you are suffering affliction, again, you have gone through that before and it always turned out for good. If you have necessities that also is fine because you have experienced the Lord providing all your needs in glory. Think about when Paul was bitten by that snake and everyone assumed that meant he was a criminal that God would not allow to escape judgment. That was a distress. It caused everyone to focus intently on Paul. But when he didn't fall down and die they changed their opinion, opened themselves up to his ministry and he was invited to pray for the sick and heal the people in that land. The Lord used that distress to promote Paul's ministry and meet the needs of everyone. You need a firm foundation strong in the faith that "all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to purpose". That faith is far more important than anything else you could do to promote a ministry. Compare your marketing campaign with the Lord using that snake, God's ways are higher and His wisdom is greater than ours.
The pathway of ministry
2 Corinthians 6:6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
The ministry is a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. I used to think that people during Jesus' day spoke funny because of the Bible. But I highly doubt it. Instead it is the Bible that strikes you as "funny", "different", "strange" because it is pure. Imagine a ministry that speaks "the pure word of God". That means no mixture with the world.
The second thing that was striking was the "knowledge". Everyone has knowledge, every ministry has knowledge, but the Bible has knowledge of the deep things of God, it has knowledge of the mysteries hidden from the ages, it has knowledge of what is in the heart of man and what is in the heart of God.
The third thing is that this person just won't quit. Maybe they have no where to lay their head, maybe they get rejected over and over and over again. Whatever it is, the long suffering is what catches people's attention. I can ignore your knowledge of the mysteries of God and I can make fun of your pureness, but your long suffering, that will catch me. How can you do that? Why do you do that?
Then the coup de grace is your kindness. After all the stuff I have seen you go through, the rejection, the mocking, the insults and yet you are kind! The world is a distinctly unkind place. It is called a rat race for a reason. They have a pretense to being kind, but the reality is people in the world are miserable and it is very hard for miserable people to be kind. They want others to be more miserable than they are. The Lord told us to treat our enemies with kindness, this is not what they expect. They have put up walls to defend themselves, so they treat you bad and if you in return treat them bad then they know, your "ministry" is phony. But if you treat someone who did evil to you with kindness, that is not what they expect, and from that moment on they are really wondering about your ministry.
These four things lay the ground work for the Holy Spirit to move. Think of the first four things as a pass, with kindness being the alley up pass where the Holy Spirit can catch it and slam dunk it all in one swoop. We are coworkers with God. It is not our job to convince or convert anyone. Instead, see your ministry as a basketball team and your star player is the Holy Spirit. Your job is to get the ball to Him. These first four things are things anyone can do. Anyone can speak the pure word of God, anyone can speak a word of knowledge, anyone can be long suffering and anyone can be kind.
But this all leads to something that no one can do, that is love unfeigned. There are four things you can do that any believer can do, all of them pass the ball to the Holy Spirit who can convict and convert people. When these five are combined, to the person receiving them it is "love unfeigned". For example, you speak a pure word of God, it sounds funny to me, I make fun of you but I can't forget what you said and it keeps bouncing around in my mind, the Holy Spirit is able to work with that. So maybe I ask you a question and your response is a word of knowledge, again, you don't respond the way others would and again the Holy Spirit is able to work with that as that bounces around in my brain. But I don't let you know that these words have caused me to be convicted by the Holy Spirit. I ignore you, pretend to not be convicted and yet you keep on keeping on. You don't quit. It doesn't matter if people are mocking you, it doesn't matter if they are insulting you or ignoring you, and just watching you is also giving the Holy Spirit something he can work with. You realize something is very different about this person and then, even though I may have done something specifically to hurt you, your response is kindness. That is too much, now I am convicted because I have seen love unfeigned. This is like seeing fine gold when everyone is wearing costume jewelry.
7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
So then how do you do that? First it is by speaking the word of truth. It all began by speaking the pure word of God. Second it is by the power of God. One mistake many ministries make is to think it is by the power of their logic, or the power of their persuasive speech. No, it is by the power of God. You have to have faith that you are a coworker with the Holy Spirit. You are simply passing the ball to him. It is also by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and the left. You are going to be attacked in many different ways. They will be looking for falsehood, you must be gird about with the truth. They are going to be looking for unrighteousness. You need to be protected with the blood of Jesus. You will be bitten by snakes, so you need good solid boots of the gospel of peace. They will send flaming darts at you trying to get you fired, so you must have faith in the Lord to shield you.
8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
Front page news is the news everyone reads, everyone looks at, everyone talks about. The Lord will make a ministry like this front page news. We want to be on the front page with a story of "honor". But the front page is stories of both honor and dishonor. Remember what the Bible says, woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, that is not the experience of a true prophet of God. Instead "where the Lord has a ministry that is building up the church the gates of hell will not prevail". So you will have half the stories from enemies trying to slander you and half will be by those supporting you. You will have both good report and evil report. However, the genuine ones like Nathaniel who was without guile, will want to know why everyone is speaking evil of you or why they are all speaking well of you. Since the enemy can't touch you regardless of how much slander he heaps your way that will convince some that you are true. The response of the enemy is "no, it is because you are a deceiver". All of this works out for good because you shake off all the "glad handers" and you know if someone is still asking you questions despite all this attack around you then they must be a genuine seeker of the Lord.
9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
I shared the story about how in my senior year in college I thought I was unknown, I thought I was as close to invisible as you could get on the campus only to learn that I was well known. After three years of preaching the gospel every person on that campus knew me and when they saw me they were convicted by the Holy Spirit. People assume the attacks will "kill you" and when they see that you continue to live it is a powerful testimony of the resurrection life. You will be rebuked, you will be ostracized, and all of a sudden new rules will appear to prohibit you from speaking the word of God. And yet, you are not killed. I mentioned before, I have been "chastened" by two other Christian forums and by Facebook. In all three cases they didn't tell me what rule I broke or what post violated a rule, but it didn't matter. In all three cases I was suspended for a month. The goal was to control my speaking. I applied the Lord's word "that when they reject you in this city shake off the dust and go to the next city". I shook off the dust and moved to another forum. That is how I came here. So, I was chastened but I am not killed, still speaking.
10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
When I first became a Christian you have this idea of what a ministry looks like. A ministry is always rejoicing in the Lord, but that is not because "only good things are happening". From a distance you would think they would be sorrowing, they lose this, they lose that, they are broke, they are constantly under attack, etc. But instead they are always rejoicing and it isn't an act. On a daily basis they are being renewed and encouraged by the Lord Jesus. The world pushes this "prosperity gospel" with these preachers wearing gold chains, driving luxury cars and living in mansions. However a ministry of the Lord will look like the Lord's ministry. He didn't have a place to lay His head. He walked from town to town, no luxury transportation. He was poor, but unlike poor people in the world who are always begging, there is no begging, instead this ministry makes you rich. They have nothing. No big team, no expensive audio visual equipment, no large meeting hall, and yet it seems everything belongs to them. If the Lord needs them to speak to a large meeting hall it is done, if He needs them to be speaking through the internet of TV that is done. But it all starts with speaking the pure word of God, speaking the word of knowledge, being long suffering, being kind, and putting your trust in the Holy Spirit to convict and convert.
2 Corinthians 6:6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
The ministry is a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. I used to think that people during Jesus' day spoke funny because of the Bible. But I highly doubt it. Instead it is the Bible that strikes you as "funny", "different", "strange" because it is pure. Imagine a ministry that speaks "the pure word of God". That means no mixture with the world.
The second thing that was striking was the "knowledge". Everyone has knowledge, every ministry has knowledge, but the Bible has knowledge of the deep things of God, it has knowledge of the mysteries hidden from the ages, it has knowledge of what is in the heart of man and what is in the heart of God.
The third thing is that this person just won't quit. Maybe they have no where to lay their head, maybe they get rejected over and over and over again. Whatever it is, the long suffering is what catches people's attention. I can ignore your knowledge of the mysteries of God and I can make fun of your pureness, but your long suffering, that will catch me. How can you do that? Why do you do that?
Then the coup de grace is your kindness. After all the stuff I have seen you go through, the rejection, the mocking, the insults and yet you are kind! The world is a distinctly unkind place. It is called a rat race for a reason. They have a pretense to being kind, but the reality is people in the world are miserable and it is very hard for miserable people to be kind. They want others to be more miserable than they are. The Lord told us to treat our enemies with kindness, this is not what they expect. They have put up walls to defend themselves, so they treat you bad and if you in return treat them bad then they know, your "ministry" is phony. But if you treat someone who did evil to you with kindness, that is not what they expect, and from that moment on they are really wondering about your ministry.
These four things lay the ground work for the Holy Spirit to move. Think of the first four things as a pass, with kindness being the alley up pass where the Holy Spirit can catch it and slam dunk it all in one swoop. We are coworkers with God. It is not our job to convince or convert anyone. Instead, see your ministry as a basketball team and your star player is the Holy Spirit. Your job is to get the ball to Him. These first four things are things anyone can do. Anyone can speak the pure word of God, anyone can speak a word of knowledge, anyone can be long suffering and anyone can be kind.
But this all leads to something that no one can do, that is love unfeigned. There are four things you can do that any believer can do, all of them pass the ball to the Holy Spirit who can convict and convert people. When these five are combined, to the person receiving them it is "love unfeigned". For example, you speak a pure word of God, it sounds funny to me, I make fun of you but I can't forget what you said and it keeps bouncing around in my mind, the Holy Spirit is able to work with that. So maybe I ask you a question and your response is a word of knowledge, again, you don't respond the way others would and again the Holy Spirit is able to work with that as that bounces around in my brain. But I don't let you know that these words have caused me to be convicted by the Holy Spirit. I ignore you, pretend to not be convicted and yet you keep on keeping on. You don't quit. It doesn't matter if people are mocking you, it doesn't matter if they are insulting you or ignoring you, and just watching you is also giving the Holy Spirit something he can work with. You realize something is very different about this person and then, even though I may have done something specifically to hurt you, your response is kindness. That is too much, now I am convicted because I have seen love unfeigned. This is like seeing fine gold when everyone is wearing costume jewelry.
7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
So then how do you do that? First it is by speaking the word of truth. It all began by speaking the pure word of God. Second it is by the power of God. One mistake many ministries make is to think it is by the power of their logic, or the power of their persuasive speech. No, it is by the power of God. You have to have faith that you are a coworker with the Holy Spirit. You are simply passing the ball to him. It is also by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and the left. You are going to be attacked in many different ways. They will be looking for falsehood, you must be gird about with the truth. They are going to be looking for unrighteousness. You need to be protected with the blood of Jesus. You will be bitten by snakes, so you need good solid boots of the gospel of peace. They will send flaming darts at you trying to get you fired, so you must have faith in the Lord to shield you.
8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
Front page news is the news everyone reads, everyone looks at, everyone talks about. The Lord will make a ministry like this front page news. We want to be on the front page with a story of "honor". But the front page is stories of both honor and dishonor. Remember what the Bible says, woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, that is not the experience of a true prophet of God. Instead "where the Lord has a ministry that is building up the church the gates of hell will not prevail". So you will have half the stories from enemies trying to slander you and half will be by those supporting you. You will have both good report and evil report. However, the genuine ones like Nathaniel who was without guile, will want to know why everyone is speaking evil of you or why they are all speaking well of you. Since the enemy can't touch you regardless of how much slander he heaps your way that will convince some that you are true. The response of the enemy is "no, it is because you are a deceiver". All of this works out for good because you shake off all the "glad handers" and you know if someone is still asking you questions despite all this attack around you then they must be a genuine seeker of the Lord.
9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
I shared the story about how in my senior year in college I thought I was unknown, I thought I was as close to invisible as you could get on the campus only to learn that I was well known. After three years of preaching the gospel every person on that campus knew me and when they saw me they were convicted by the Holy Spirit. People assume the attacks will "kill you" and when they see that you continue to live it is a powerful testimony of the resurrection life. You will be rebuked, you will be ostracized, and all of a sudden new rules will appear to prohibit you from speaking the word of God. And yet, you are not killed. I mentioned before, I have been "chastened" by two other Christian forums and by Facebook. In all three cases they didn't tell me what rule I broke or what post violated a rule, but it didn't matter. In all three cases I was suspended for a month. The goal was to control my speaking. I applied the Lord's word "that when they reject you in this city shake off the dust and go to the next city". I shook off the dust and moved to another forum. That is how I came here. So, I was chastened but I am not killed, still speaking.
10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
When I first became a Christian you have this idea of what a ministry looks like. A ministry is always rejoicing in the Lord, but that is not because "only good things are happening". From a distance you would think they would be sorrowing, they lose this, they lose that, they are broke, they are constantly under attack, etc. But instead they are always rejoicing and it isn't an act. On a daily basis they are being renewed and encouraged by the Lord Jesus. The world pushes this "prosperity gospel" with these preachers wearing gold chains, driving luxury cars and living in mansions. However a ministry of the Lord will look like the Lord's ministry. He didn't have a place to lay His head. He walked from town to town, no luxury transportation. He was poor, but unlike poor people in the world who are always begging, there is no begging, instead this ministry makes you rich. They have nothing. No big team, no expensive audio visual equipment, no large meeting hall, and yet it seems everything belongs to them. If the Lord needs them to speak to a large meeting hall it is done, if He needs them to be speaking through the internet of TV that is done. But it all starts with speaking the pure word of God, speaking the word of knowledge, being long suffering, being kind, and putting your trust in the Holy Spirit to convict and convert.