God spoke to Pastor Sharon. “This is My fire that burns in this, My Church, in the midst of My congregation, this is My hand. This is My sword of judgement, My weapon of love. While My fire is burning in this congregation, there is nothing else for you to bring but the fire of My word. The sword is on fire in this congregation and judgement is in My house. Now you receive My words, and you eat what I give you (out of Ezekiel). And then you go, and you speak to them, even if they do not hear.” The Lord told me to tell everybody in Heritage of Faith that even if you are not here in this congregation every time to hear the messages, He personally holds you responsible for what you did not hear because you’re supposed to be in the assembly.
Pastor John’s story: The Lord said – there was a very great day for God in the realm of the Spirit in Pastor John’s life, where he fully had the law of recognition and the law of protocol and the law of honour operating in his life. It was a day that would impact his very destiny, and his very future and the future of his church.
This is the pattern and the principle here: 7Remember your leaders and superiors in authority, [for it was they] who brought to you the Word of God. Observe and consider their manner of living … and imitate their faith (Hebrews 13:7 AMPC). I’m telling you this story so that you can observe the way Pastor John lived – in the fear of the Lord. 17 Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch over your souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you (Hebrews 13:17 AMPC).
Pastor John went to see and seek a servant. Seek a servant that can talk to you in your life when you don’t have the law of recognition at work or you will head for a disaster and leprosy will consume your life and parts of your world will begin to fall apart.
The spiritual protocol that you broke, opened the way for the devil to come and destroy your whole future. Protocol, the law of recognition, and the law of honour, go together. If you break one of those, you’re in great danger. There are times when these things are more important than others.
When I’m preaching from this pulpit, you will get much counsel and advice about how to live your lives. The Holy Spirit makes everything that I say personal to you. But there are some big decisions in your life, where sometimes you need to lean on the authority of a spiritual leader, and the wisdom of God that comes with our mantle to help you through a significant moment. But you have to have the law of recognition and honour at work – that God does talk through this person.
The Bible is full of God bringing out into the public the private sins of people – as He wills. The Lord will show because He is about to do something about it, because of His great love. He’s about to pass sentence so that there can be repentance.
I have a few things to say about the servant, Pastor Christi. There have been people that do not think it necessary anymore to seek her counsel, because they can do things themselves. God said, she is a servant with the anointing of a shepherd that is of the ‘highest order’. They say, “How can I go to Pastor Christi for anything about marriage?” She has paid the highest price in her marriage. She has been the Abigail in her marriage, and it saved her husband’s life. Other people say, “Well Pastor Christi does not have children. How can I go to Pastor Christi for counsel about my children?” I declare publicly to you that Pastor Christi in her discipleship and her shepherd anointing, is probably of the best parenting that you can ever imagine.
When called into Pastor Ray’s office regarding a matter, Pastor John went to see a servant. The servant said to Pastor John, “John, you are right in what you heard from the Lord. However, your being right does not mean one stitch to God. This is not a matter of who’s wrong and who’s right, that you have to justify yourself and debate with your pastor. John, whatever sentence he passes, whatever he tells you to do, you accept it all. God will vindicate you, don’t bring your own vindicator.”
Pastor John yielded to Pastor Ray’s sentence (to repent in front of the people), he yielded to that honour and that law of recognition and that protocol. He didn’t justify himself, he didn’t demand to be heard. He said, “You are my pastor. I will do whatever you say.” He refused to leave the church, “No, we’re not leaving. This is where God has planted us. I’m not bringing division to this church.”
These things I’m speaking to you today, are things that God has need of in our hearts so that we can become His Ecclesia. This is the kind of heart decision the Lord is requiring today. He is building a legislative assembly here. He passes sentence so that there could be repentance.
God will use human failure and weakness in a spiritual leader to test your obedience to Him. Failure of delegated authority will test your obedience. A father is God’s instituted authority in the home. But the flesh delights in seeing a defect in authority so as to throw off all restraint.
Brother Jerry’s message, ‘The Glory.’ The very first time the word ‘glory’ is found in the Bible it’s talking about wealth, prosperity, The dumbest thing you could ever say is, “I’m a self-made man. I don’t need to tithe. I can remain a tithing delinquent and a spiritual delinquent as long as I want to. Up until now it’s worked for me.”
Brother Jerry said, I’ve discovered that if you make sure that you give God all the honour and the glory for your prosperity, God will take you to different levels of prosperity. If you honour Him with your substance.
The Lord said to me, If you do not give Me the glory, if you do not give Me your wealth, don’t say, “I give God the glory for blessing my business.” I will never be able to say again in my life, “I give You glory” without going directly to money.
Tithing matters. God’s not going to let us go of What’s your more for?
The Word says it’s hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God things, because they got it themselves through their education, through hard work. Pastor John and I, in our marriage, did not say, “This is my money.” We said, “This money, all this money is the Lord’s.
Malachi 2:14 (HCSB) 14 …the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have acted treacherously. That Scripture is right there in the midst of the tithing book. And so, a man pulls the wool over his wife’s eyes. “No, no, I’m tithing. Don’t worry. I’m seeing to it.”
From the first moment that Pastor John and I were together, we said “It’s God’s money”. And we sought the Lord together. And we tithed the tithe together. We blessed the Lord with our tithe. We got into the power of agreement of two. Watch yourselves carefully and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.
Jesus said, 10 He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much… faithful in tithes, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much (Luke 16:10, AMPC).
11Therefore if you have not been faithful in the [case of] mammon (money, riches, possessions). If you have not been faithful, who will entrust to you the true riches? (Luke 16:11, AMP). We will not receive the true riches as an Ecclesia, if you are not faithful in what belongs to God. The tithes belong to God, it is holy unto Him. “If I be Your Father, where be My honour?”
I say: May the fear of God be upon me, may it rest in my heart, Lord, in this congregation. I pray that the law of recognition, and the law of honour, and the law of protocol in the way that Pastor John has walked, will never leave me again. I will remember what You spoke this day. I ask You to forgive me from my Babylonian ways. I want to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness. I seek Your righteousness Father, to be right in Your eyes, especially in this matter of money that is such a big deal to You.
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