Scripture: Hebrews 12:22-24 (NKJV); Genesis 18:25 (NKJV); Luke 6:46 (NKJV); Hebrews 11:40 (NKJV); Matthew 16:18 (NKJV); Hebr 9:14 (NKJV); Colossians 1:19-20 (NKJV); Colossians 3:1 (AMPC); John 14:30 (NKJV); Revelation 11:3-6 (NKJV); Revelation 12:11 (NKJV); Malachi 3:7 (NKJV); 1 John 1:7 (NKJV); Revelation 5:1-6 (NKJV); Revelation 2:1-5 (NKJV)
We rejoice, Lord. We rejoice, we praise You. We praise You. We delight ourselves in You, Lord Jesus. We delight ourselves in Your words, as we, Your people, gather today in Sound and Song. We rejoice, we rejoice, and we worship You.
We praise You, Lord, thank You for Your love. Your Word is the truth, Lord, we give You glory. Hallelujah. Lord, this whole morning, we’re going to rejoice because of Your Word. We keep on rejoicing in Sound and Song, Father, because we choose to keep on Putting Our Foot in all the words, the Sound and the Songs that You are giving us. We praise You, we praise You, Lord, we give You all the glory. We give You all the glory, Lord, we praise You. We are rejoicing in You this morning. Hallelujah.
Thank You, Father, in the name of Jesus, that You are watchful over all things pertaining to Your Word and that everything Lord, that You speak and say, Lord, it is coming to pass. Your anointing, Father, we ask You today that Your anointing will be here on every word, and on every one of us. Your anointing, Father, is the burden moving, yoke destroying power to set each and every one of us free. Completely, Lord. Hallelujah!
Lord, thank You for all Your messages that You are bringing to us. We receive Your plans and Your purposes for our lives. Jesus, we rejoice in You, because You are the Head of the church and thank You for every single message. Thank you, Lord, because Your words bring great light and understanding to each and every one of us. Father, I ask you today in the name of Jesus, that I will speak with great clarity, with great purpose and with Your anointing upon me, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that I will Go Big and Bold with what You have shared with me.
Father, as I was standing there and praising Your name, I want to say, thank You, Lord Jesus, the Head of the church, for Pastor John, for the Apostolic mantle that is upon him. I ask You today, Father, that I will not only speak about You but that You will speak through me today. The message that You gave me. In the name of Jesus, and by Your doing Holy Spirit, let Your anointing rest on us today. And we all say, Amen. You may be seated.
Well, a big, big welcome to each and every one of you and our family, that’s joining us at home. It’s wonderful to be in church again today. Pastor John and Sharon—they are on this tour with the interns and the whole team. Expedition 2021, Footsteps to Destiny, and we say if you will reach out and just stretch out your hands, and we say, “Pastor John and Sharon, interns and the whole team, be blessed this week, be blessed this week, in the name of Jesus.” Hallelujah.
Oh, it’s wonderful to be in church with you, once again, today. Praise the Lord. The title of my message is, In the Light of the Ecclesia, Part 2. Last week, I did not give you a title because I did not have one, and prayerfully before the Lord, on the second of September this week, it was Thursday, God started to give me the whole message in His heart about many, many things. The Lord said to me, “You will call this, In the Light of the Ecclesia.”
So, I’m going to jump in straight away and ask you to open your Bibles at Hebrews chapter 12 this morning. Specific things that I’ve got to say today. In the Light of the Ecclesia, last week, we spoke about the Principle of Recognition, is the Foundation of Revelation. That means that you have to position yourself to see and to hear what Jesus is saying to this church, to this ecclesia. We have talked about last week, we have to busy ourselves with the things that Jesus is presiding over, and not the way that we are running our own lives. That’s very important.
So, why would I say, In the Light of the Ecclesia? In the way that the Holy Spirit gave it to me. I spoke to you and please listen to this message and all the messages that we receive from pastor John and Sharon, not only this year but coming for a very long time, to get us to this place. After crucial obedience given by Pastor John and Sharon, and then us as a people with them, but specifically Pastor John and Sharon, we find ourselves at this place. Very important for our ears to hear.
Look where Jesus says, We have come to, very important. I’ve asked the team to put on Hebrews 12, verses 22 to 24 in this way, for me this morning. I have highlighted certain words, that I’m going to explain, speak about the things how God gave me the message. So, I’m going to highlight those words for you this morning.
We’re going to read from verse 22, in the New King James. Listen to this, ²² But you have come to Mount Zion, you have come, we have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, look at verse 23, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24 NKJV)
Now, all of these words that I’m going to highlight to you from verse 22, are all a sermon and a teaching in themselves. But I want to say to you today, I want to remind you of what the Holy Spirit said through Pastor John. This is the perfect atmosphere for spiritual babies to grow. Please keep on looking at, if you have your bible. I hope you have your paper Bibles here today and you will see why, but of course, your Bible on your iPad is as perfect or on your phone. Back to verse 22.
22You have come. We have come, we are positioned here as New Testament believers. 22You have come to Mount Zion. Now, Pastor Sharon ministered on this and I know she will still do a lot of ministering about it. The church is Mount Zion, heavenly Jerusalem, the church, the city of the living God, the church, the ecclesia. It comes from heaven. It comes from heavenly messages, heavenly words that come into our hearts. God is breathing out words, out of Pastor John and Sharon, like spores. Our hearts will receive, our eyes will see, our ears will hear, and we will become. Hallelujah.
That, of course, is what we spoke of last week, but this is Mount Zion. Just a little bit of more info, for you to understand the teaching that Pastor Sharon brought. You have come to Mount Zion. We talk about the ecclesia, In the Light of the Ecclesia. When you speak about mountains, in the Word of God, you talk about government. God sits on His throne and from there He rules and He reigns.
Then it goes on and I’ve just explained it, to this city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to the innumerable company of angels, 23to the general assembly and the Church of the firstborn. That is the word for ecclesia, and I will mention that again and again, but that is the ecclesia, not just a group of people assembling, it is the ecclesia. Of the firstborn, that is our first love, our Lord Jesus presiding over everything. What He’s saying to all the churches, as the Head of the church. Who are registered, an assembly, a church registered in heaven. Not all churches gathering together are ecclesia’s, we will talk about that today. We talk about the assembly, the church, who are registered in heaven. I’m going to come back to that. To the Judge of all, very important, and the spirits of just men made perfect.
There’s so much that I want to share with you here and you will remember the messages that are coming now. The Judge of the earth, we talk about the mountain, we talk about the government of God, In the Light of the Ecclesia. Here we see, God the judge. Abraham came to God, the Judge in Genesis 18, where he pleaded, he wanted to intercede for a city, but he did not have jurisdiction over that city. And he said in Genesis 18:25, “Will the Judge of the earth do right, (Genesis 18:25 NKJV) and destroy this city?” He started with 50. But he ended with God for 10.
So, all the messages that God is bringing to us, I want your ear to hear this morning. To the spirits of just men made perfect. Oh, I wish I could go into more depth about that, but not today. This is talking about the witnesses who are already in heaven. Because Hebrews 11:40 says, They cannot come to perfection apart from us. That’s very, very important. The witnesses that are witnessing us finishing this race, that God has for us.
Listen to this, verse 24, Jesus, our mediator. Once again, when we use the word mediator, we talk about jurisdiction because mediator means to arbitrate, on God’s behalf, but this is now Jesus, as the mediator of the New Covenant. Now, for the direction, there are two directions that I’m going to take today by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Now we have to look at what the last part of verse 24 says. Look and see that for yourself today.
And we’ve come to the blood of sprinkling that speaks. The blood of sprinkling that speaks. What does the blood speak of? Of the better things, our new covenant. So, I’m going to go there, when we look at the blood of Jesus today and the power of the cross. Yes, the blood of Jesus is speaking for my and your forgiveness, every time we come to repent.
But it also speaks of the messages that Jesus, the head of the church, is bringing to the churches. The blood of Jesus speaks about the prophetic words that God has for us, as a people. It actually goes to Psalm 139, where God says our lives, and that what God has for Pastor John and for us as a people, are written in God’s Book. The blood of sprinkling speaks not only of forgiveness and our protection, but it speaks for what God has for Pastor John and us, as a people on assignment. It speaks of every single thing that God has for us. Hallelujah. How glorious!
We have come, we have come to Mount Zion, where we are positioned, right here in the New Testament, where God is positioning New Testament believers. Do all Christians take their place? Do all believers qualify to operate from this place? Well, it is God’s will, but this is very important for us to know today because God is dealing with us.
I’m going to show you today how Jesus was dealing with the seven Ecclesia’s in Asia, when He spoke to those churches. All born again Christians are God’s children, but all believers do not live for the Lord in the same manner. I’m going to repeat that. All born again Christians are God’s children, but not all believers and Christians live for the Lord Jesus, in the same manner. Luke, chapter 6, verse 46, New King James. This is Jesus presiding over what He’s giving and speaking to the churches, Jesus says, 46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ Why do you know I’m Lord, and I’m the head of the church but, you do not do the things which I say? (Luke 6:46 NKJV)
I’m speaking through the churches and also this church of Heritage of Faith, through the messenger, like I showed you last week in Revelations to Pastor John. Jesus says, so I’m speaking to all of us here. I’m speaking to all of us and do you hear? Do we hear what Jesus is saying? Not all believers make Jesus the Lord of their lives. Many believers make Jesus the saviour of their lives, but never the Lord of their lives, to say, “Lord, this is what You are bringing to me and Your Word is the final authority.”
I’m going to come back to Hebrews 12, in a big way. Through what we’ve got to say, and where we have to go today, but I want to remind you of what Pastor Sharon shared with us a while ago. I’m going to remind you about quite a few things that the Holy Spirit brought to us through Pastor John and Pastor Sharon, that is coming from Jesus, the head of the church.
Pastor Sharon shared with us, The Lord is imploring you, Heritage of Faith people, to understand what the local church is all about, what it is for.
Look at Matthew 16, verse 18. That’s where Pastor John and Sharon started to bring to us many years ago, the message about understanding the ecclesia, versus many people only understanding church, as a group of people gathering, just coming together. That’s not what church is. The ecclesia is very powerful and very specific.
18 And I also say to you, this was Jesus talking to Peter, that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and that word is ecclesia. That word is ecclesia. And the gates of Hades (hell) will not prevail against it. (Matthews 16:18 NKJV) The gates of hell will not prevail against an ecclesia. This is what the Word says. We are not talking about people gathering and calling themselves a church. The gates of hell will prevail against them. This is the order of God. Everything that we are talking about here this morning comes from Matthew 16 because that’s where Jesus said; The called-out ones, in my ecclesia are going to overthrow the called out ones of the enemy in any region and in any place. Hallelujah!
Yes, that is very, very important. Again, not all believers live the same way, choose the same way to come and obey, the Lord Jesus Christ. Many are living for themselves. I want to give you another insert of what Pastor Sharon shared with us. Please, and I know and I declare it, I’ve prayed it and I’ve asked the Lord, let all of our ears hear like never before.
Narrow is the road that leads to life. Pastor Sharon shared this with us.
This is the heart of everything today, in these messages, God is bringing everything for us to repent, to self-correct, to hear Him, to change, to change, to make the changesbecause we have come to this place. God is looking for the 10 righteous, not all Christians live in the same way for God. He said, and Abraham was calling for the 10 righteous. Very important that God is looking, to rule from Mount Zion in the ecclesia, to bring about His will into the earth. Hallelujah!
Very important. Look what Pastor John shared with us about this self-will of people. It’s so profound. I wanted to put everything in the messages, but I couldn’t. I’m just going to show you one or two things. Listen to what Pastor John shared with us.
The church has become very Entitled.
When you are the centre of your own existence, …..You never say no to yourself!
Only when you choose to live for Jesus, …..then you have the Grace ….. to say NO to yourself.
We’re going to focus on that today. Every single time the messages are coming, it’s like I said last week, it’s full of direction. It’s full of detail. It is to self-correct. It is to bring us to the awareness of repent, come back to Me. Return to Me says God. Returned to Me, come out of Babylon. Return to Me and come back to Me, says God. That’s very important.
When Pastor John mentioned, in part three of Blowing Your Mind, Pastor John mentioned a few times, Pick up your cross and follow Jesus. What does it mean to pick up your cross and to follow Jesus? Well, Jesus is our example in this. I said to you last Sunday, I think more so in the Jo’burg Church, that many people have a very, a little bit of a misunderstanding, only in one way, when they hear these words. But let’s see, we’re going to look at the blood of Jesus Christ, and the power of the cross today, to understand what it means when Jesus said to His followers, pick up your cross.
So just, in short, Pastor Sharon ministered very powerfully, and those are the messages I’m going to highlight for you on the web. Pastor Sharon ministered on, The Cleansing Flood of the Blood, The Time of Authority in the Blood, Awake to Authority. Those are just some of the messages that would be very powerful. If you go back and meditate on them again. She said, all of us are invested with heavy authority. The weightiness of our authority is because of the weightiness of the blood of Jesus.
Pastor John shared, Heritage of Faith, every morning you’ve got to wake up and rule. But now we have to see how we have to come to that place, coming out of Babylon. Repent, return to the Lord. How do we do that? Because we’ve got to be responsible, and we have to be in charge.
Let’s take a closer look today, and this is a short summary. If you want to know more, and you have to know more and meditate and understand the power of the blood, please come to Bible school. I know many of you are there already, but your ear is going to hear what most people do not meditate on, in understanding the blood of Jesus.
Please go to Hebrews chapter 9, verse 14. We’re going to take a closer look at the Spirit and the Blood, this morning. 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your and my conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebr 9:14, NKJV) Can you see if we want to serve God and one another, how important it is to come through the blood and to understand the blood? Pastor John is sharing with us in the mornings, and Pastor Garth now, “We’ve Been Served.” We want to serve our Lord Jesus. We want to serve one another. We have to understand this Authority, invested in us, in the name of Jesus, but also the Power of the Blood.
The first thing we need to know about the blood of Jesus that was shed for us is that the Spirit and the Blood work very closely together. This is very important to understand. Now, just before I continue, remember where we started in Hebrews 12? 24The blood of sprinkling that speaks. Many people think the blood is not doing anything. The blood of sprinkling that speaks. The Spirit and the Blood work closely together. This is something that you have to start to meditate on much more. It is through the Spirit alone that the Blood has power. When the blood of Jesus was shed, it could not decay, because the Spirit lives and works in the blood. So, the blood of Jesus itself, has Spirit and life in it. The blood is made effective by the eternal Spirit. Praise the Lord.
When God gave me this revelation many years ago, it’s still changing my life. I’m going to share with you today why the Holy Spirit took me here because everything that Pastor John is sharing with us now, to have eternal joy, eternal rewards, comes down to us understanding what the blood of Jesus, the blood of sprinkling, speaks for every single day.
Hebrews 9:14. Now I want you to look with different eyes to that scripture. 14 How much more… And that’s a teaching in its own, but there’s no time to go into that. 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? The way we’ve got to?
Here is a very big important point, eternal. That you can see in that scripture, it’s talking about the eternal Spirit. Now eternal is one of those words in Scripture, that we all think we understand what it means, but only a few believers do. Let me tell you, many, many years ago, I did not understand the meaning of the word eternal. Many people think eternal simply means; That something will always continue. That something will never end, but that actually tells us what eternal is not. Because if you have that definition, it does not say anything about the nature of being eternal, or the very being. Everything that exists, and Pastor John has ministered powerfully on this. Everything that exists in time has a beginning and it is subject to the law of increase and decrease.
Most of us have a good grip on those laws. Meaning the law of becoming or decaying. But what is eternal? Listen to this. Has no beginning and knows no change, or knows no weakening. Why? The Spirit, that eternal Spirit, because it has in itself, a life that is independent of time. That is powerful, and listen to this.
So, when we talk about the eternal rewards, the eternal joy, these things that God has for us, where Pastor John said in Colossians, and I’m going to read it to you. Do not think, don’t shuffle along here on earth, be mindful of the heavenly things. When we talk about eternal, listen to this; there is no past, that is already disappeared or lost. There is no future not yet possessed. Glory to our Father, Jesus and the eternal Holy Spirit.
You know, every time, because God opened that to me, when Pastor John brings the messages. I remember, I think three or four messages ago. Pastor John was standing here, the one time and he says, “The Word says, Abide in Him”. Pastor John went and he says, “Just abide in Him and see.” See what? See the eternal rewards. There’s no beginning, there’s no end. Just come and obey what He’s telling us to do, that we can live like this because we have it. Because we have it, but now our faith must come up. Our faith must come up.
Please go in your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3 verse 1, and this is what I want to show to you. Eternal talks about the power of an endless life at work, in which there is no change. Also, it cannot diminish, it cannot become less. The power of an endless life that is working in us. Colossians 3 verse 1 to 2. I know you are meditating on this, Therefore, 1 If you have been raised with Christ, this is all possible because of the blood that redeemed us, but the blood of sprinkling that speaks for us in Christ…[to a new life, sharing His resurrection from the dead].
We’re going to talk about the power of the blood, the power of the cross today. Aim and seek the [rich eternal treasures.] That’s why we cannot live for ourselves. That’s why we cannot. Look and seek for the [eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 And set your minds, blow your mind up. Of course, when the enemy is coming to us, but being earthly minded the whole time. Keep them, set your mind on what is above, the highest things, the eternal things, not on the things here on the earth. (Colossians 3:1-2, AMPC) Praise the Lord.
I’m going to show you another insert, exactly what Pastor John has been ministering and telling us, not this year only, for years, for years. Look at this.
This is what we’re talking about here. We want to obey the Word of God, but this is what it means for all of us. This mighty, mighty power of an endless life, at work in us. Praise the Lord.
So, the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, you cannot separate them. Only through the blood, can the Spirit dwell in you and me. And like I said, this is quite a short summary about a teaching where Pastor Sharon started to open up everything for us about the blood of Jesus. Pastor Sharon explained that only after the blood was shed on the cross, think about that. Only after the blood was shed upon the cross, the outpour of the Holy Spirit could come on the day of Pentecost. That’s powerful.
Now. Why going this way? The Lord said to me, “Christi, this is the rising, the becoming of the ecclesia, In the Light of the Ecclesia, in the light that you have come to Mount Zion, this place and everything that I read to you. God wants us and He is taking us, because of Pastor John, to new levels. You know that Pastor John, and we are praying that in our Prayer Connect, that Holy Spirit, we are seeking, and we want the gifts of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. We first have to repent and come through the blood, so that the Holy Spirit can work. Can you see what’s happening here? This is through the messages that come through the messenger to the church from the Lord Jesus, that we can function and be in this place, and rule and reign with our Lord Jesus. That is very, very important.
The Spirit goes where the blood has cleansed, the Spirit answers to the blood. So, as the blood is working in our hearts, and we honour the blood in our hearts, so then the Holy Spirit is free to carry on His work.
Please go to Colossians 1 verse 19. We will take a look at the blood and the cross right now. We understand a little bit more about the spirit and the blood, but now we must look at the blood and the cross. Why? In that 3rd part of Pastor John’s, Blowing your Mind messages, he said again, and again, “Pick up your cross and follow Jesus.” Let’s see Colossians 1:19. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20 NKJV)
We spoke about the blood, and the Spirit, the Spirit and the blood. Now we are focusing on the revelation of the blood and the cross. Having made peace through the blood of His cross, we will see the nature of the cross, the power of the cross, and the love of the cross. When we watch movies about Jesus on the cross, people make a lot about the physical sufferings of Jesus, and rightfully so. But, scripture itself does not place that on the foreground, the Word of God shows us everything about the cross is about the inner nature of our Lord Jesus, the choices He made, which then only was the outer expression of the cross. I am going to say that again, the inner nature of Jesus Christ is the actual source from which the cross was the outward expression. This is very, very, very powerful to understand today.
What does that mean? It means the inner nature of Jesus Christ was the very thing that led Him to the cross. Many people think if I’ve suffered, Jesus is not…God says I’m not interested in your sacrifices. I’m interested in obedience. People sometimes think if they’ve suffered a little bit, then I mean, that must be all to God. No, this is not what we’re talking about here. Also In the Light of the Ecclesia, of the self-will that must die. The inner nature and the choices Jesus made led Him to the cross. That is why Jesus said to His own disciples, take up your cross and follow Me. The very thing that Jesus said to His disciples in connection to the cross was, become like Me.
Now “become like Me” did not mean suffer like Me only, in living here on the earth. Most people think if you just suffer in the economy, in life because of hardships and the attack of the enemy, then now you took up your cross. That’s not at all what it means. That’s not at all because, we have the victory in the blood, because of the blood of Jesus to overcome, but most people have a very wrong understanding of that kind of suffering. No, “become like Me”, Jesus meant “choose to deny yourself and develop an inward quality of character”. That’s what it means. This is the thing that Jesus desired all of His disciples and us today to do. Now, this means taking up your cross does not start with taking up a material cross in the earth, laid upon your shoulders, and there we go. It is like, I’ve got this cross now on my shoulders. No, no.
Jesus carried the cross, all through His life, every single day. What became visible on that hill, when He hung on the cross, was a manifestation of the inner nature and character that inspired the whole life of our Lord Jesus. So then, what does the picking up of your cross mean for you and me to Jesus today? First, we must remember this, Pastor John ministered on this. The evil of sin, changed everything, in the relationship of God with us and us with God. As a result, we are separated from God. Also, the guilt of sin demanded the judgment of God. So, this is the very thing that had to happen. Jesus had to bring the power of sin to nothing. That was the first thing that was needed and was required.
The only way Jesus could do that, was to come in the weakness of the flesh, with being tempted fully. In those moments, if you can imagine that right now, in those moments for Jesus, of absolute body and soul agony, when Satan came to tempt Him, and the very moments Jesus had in the garden of Gethsemane. What really happened there to Jesus? Jesus had to ceaselessly fight against His self-will and self-honour. At what point do we think Jesus wanted to say, “It’s enough?” Like we think, like Pastor John said, the church has become so entitled, but Jesus had to fight ceaselessly against His self-will and His self-honour, against the very, very great temptation of trying to reach His goal by Himself. This is the thing if I can tell you, how I see Pastor John, from the day I met him.
Pastor John has ceaselessly like Jesus, he did not take the opportunities people brought to him. From day one things that people wanted to give him. He only wanted to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to him…how Jesus wants to build the church. Do you think in those moments, Pastor John was not tempted to reach his goal his own way, to go for self-honour, self-justification? He did not.
Jesus had to stand against the temptation to set up God’s kingdom His way. He had to come against the easy, worldly way out. You see, Babylon, Babylon is the easy way out. It’s the easy way out, Jesus, in order not to do it by His self-will, Jesus had to take up and carry His cross every single day to say no, to His self-will. That’s what it means to carry your cross. That means Jesus had to lose His own life. He had to lay down His own life, and Jesus…and do and say, nothing, nothing, except what He has seen or heard the Father say, or do.
That’s what it is. That’s the thing that led Him to the cross. What was the temptation to sin? The temptation to sin was, do it yourself, live for yourself and assert yourself in this moment. Tell them. That’s why Satan came and said, “You’ve got all these angels, surely You can command them now?” How Satan comes to us in each one of these easy things in our arrogance, when we want to ask people do you know who I am? Joh!
Jesus overcame the temptation to satisfy His self-will. Jesus denied Himself by taking up His cross daily. He learned obedience and became perfect. Jesus gained complete, victory over sin until He was able to say, John 14:30 until He was able to say, 30“I will no longer talk much with you. He said to His disciples, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. Because Jesus died to Himself. The powerful removal of sin and the curse did not come, like most Christians think. The pain and the suffering through the death of Jesus. No, no, Jesus was willing to endure total obedience to the Father. The development of the inner nature of Jesus not loving His own life, till death, laying down His self-will. That is what gave the cross its power. That is what gives the cross its power.
Look at Revelation 12:11. I mentioned it last week, what did we talk about? Revelations 12:11. 11And they overcome him by the blood, we’re talking about the spirit, the blood, and the power, and that the blood of sprinkling speaks. They overcome by the blood. The word of their testimony. Like we said, it is not your personal testimony here, it’s part of your personal testimony, but your testimony is in agreement with the Mediator of a better covenant. Jesus qualified to witness in heaven, and what He is saying in heaven, He is saying to the churches, and He wants our witness and testimony to be the same as the Mediator in heaven right now. That’s the place that we have come to. That’s the place that we have come to. Look at the third thing, and they did not love their lives to death. Most people think it’s only to die for your faith. It’s actually in one moment to die for your faith much easier than to live for Jesus and die to yourself every single day, taking up your cross.
That’s why Pastor John is ministering all the time, the only way to the life of God is through yielding of yourself life, to the Word of God. I’m not putting this on the board. Pastor John said, “All aspects of self-life must be reckoned unto death, and when you live for yourself, you will not walk in victory, when you live for yourself. It means your days are not ordered by the Lord. It means you do what you want, you go where you want, you buy what you want. Self-life must be reckoned unto death, if Satan to be defeated. Through the victory that Christ has on the cross, and through our lives here. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.
Now the power of the cross, and this is important to understand. We have come to this place. Now the power of the cross is blotting out guilt, and it’s there to break down and it did, all authority of sin by the man, Jesus Christ. So, that the cross can now bestow the power upon you and me, to do the same thing.
The life of Christ, we live in Him and Him in us, we are able. Jesus qualified. Now, In the Light of the Ecclesia, like I said to you, He qualified to stand in that position of the Mediator of the New Covenant, to testify, because He spoke. This is the testimony that God is seeking from us, that He got from Jesus, to only say what My Father is saying.
When Jesus is now speaking to the church, and He brings the messages through Pastor John and Sharon, He’s looking for the same witness. He’s looking for the same witness, and the Lord showed me In this Light of the Ecclesia. That’s why we are talking about the witnesses, the cloud of witnesses. Some of them, some of them, their witness was so intune with the witness of the Mediator that He qualified to stand in heaven, because He only spoke the Word of God, that some of them still has this stand with God because what they said and prophesied and declared in the earth is still witnessing today. That cloud of witnesses around us, to see that we will run our race.
I’ve said that I hope you have your paper Bible here because I want you to go to Revelation chapter one today. In the Light of the Ecclesia, coming through the blood so that the Holy Spirit can work, cleanse us so that we can repent. There’s no time to go into all the definitions that Pastor John shared with us about repentance and we will do that another time. What I want to show you here today is very important. Pastor Sharon did this so many times and I know still so many times it’s so important, and spiritual babies here today, you are in the perfect atmosphere to grow today, to grow today.
When we open the book of Revelation, it’s actually powerful, that you will see from verse four in the New Testament, my Bible says, Greeting to the Seven Churches. Greetings to the seven ecclesia’s. Jesus, the Head of the church is not talking to people wherever they have gatherings. He’s talking to the messengers of a legitimate ecclesia, where God is sending them.
Then we see from Revelation chapter one, verse four, Greetings to the seven churches. We actually start now to see that Jesus is speaking to ecclesia’s. I will take you back now, now to Hebrews 12:23, where He says, 23the assembly of the firstborn registered in heaven. Why? Because if you start to look at chapter two, verse one, He is talking to a legitimate ecclesia here, the church in Ephesus. Then He continues in verse eight to talk to the church in Smyrna. Then He goes on to the third church in verse 12, to the church of Pergamos. He keeps on talking, and Revelations chapter three, verse seven to the church of Philadelphia, this is church number six, and then He ends with the lukewarm church, in verse 14, chapter three, the church of Laodicea.
Then I want to show something to you today, just in short, because of time. Then we go to chapter four. Again, just the New King James, is better, and Bible translations do that sometimes. The throne room of heaven, when Jesus is talking to the ecclesia’s here in Asia, that’s meaning He will talk to every ecclesia, like Jesus is doing through all generations, He switched over to God, the judge…the throne room. The whole of Revelation four is where we see the Judge and His throne. We have come to Mount Zion, to the judge, mountain is governmental.
But now I want to show you something that happened and that God, I know this in my heart, when God started to reveal this to me. What happened to me on the second of September, it was Thursday this week, the Holy Spirit started to say to me, “Christi, look, look”. Now God used those words to me in a different context a while ago, but He switched it completely, and He said to me, “Now I want you to see, I want you to see about the church.”
When we go to Revelation chapter five, we’re going to put from verse one on the board. As we read it, I want you to see it. There are messages that must come to Pastor John and Sharon. There are messages that must come to the church. These things are written in the Book of God. To rule and reign, for a church to come up, but you’re going to see again, just a pattern here, in Revelation five, of how God goes about first, us repenting in our hearts, really coming out of Babylon, repenting when we receive the messages, and then come to God. Before we can rule and reign we must go through the blood.
I’m going to read from verse one in Revelations five, 1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Now, there’s much more to understand about this, but there are things that must be revealed, things that must come into the earth through the messengers that God has. Then in verse two, 2 Then I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And verse three says, 3 And no one in heaven, or on the earth or under the earth, were able to open the scroll, or to look at it. Look at verse four. Here we see John. 4 So I wept. He cried. He knew these things that God has for Pastor John and for us as a people, that Jesus has in His heart that must come into the earth, will come through legitimate ecclesia’s. That’s why He’s talking to them individually, to take care of things that are not right. Why you have come to this place? So John wept. He wept much because there was no one found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. Verse five, 5 But one of the elders said to John, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals,” Jesus on the cross.
Look, look, the Lion of Judah, He can do this, the Lion of Judah is going to rule and to reign. Look, and those, of course, that is in Him. Verse six, 6 And I look, and this is now what I want you to see, What’s happening here? And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb. He’s talking about the Lion of Judah. He says before you come as the Lion of Judah to rule and reign, there’s going to be a Lamb. You have to repent. You have to come out of Babylon and return to God, like He says in Malachi three, come back to me. There stood a lamb, as though it had been slain. Jesus on the cross, the power of the cross, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into the earth. 7 Then He came and He took the scroll out of His right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Worthy is the Lamb, says the New King James, in the heading there, verse eight.
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, now these things are again, I have to say it. These things, John wept, because no one could read, the things that were in the heart of God and for Jesus the head of the Church must come, it must come for the ecclesia’s. Then it says, verse 8, and when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
How powerfully did Pastor Sharon, minister on this? So, we know when we come in our Prayer Connect together, what’s happening with our prayers, it comes into the bowl, and the angels mix it with the incense. Verse nine, 9 And they sang a new song, they sang a new song like we are having Sound and Song. God is giving all the sound and the song, the words and everything that must happen to Pastor Sharon and to Pastor Garth. We’re singing this new song, as God is giving it to us. 9“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood. Here we see the order. We are redeemed by the blood and out of every tribe and tongue and people, and you have made us kings and priests of God, and we shall reign in the earth.
Through the blood, through our repentance, through coming out of Babylon, we have come to this place, Mount Zion, the ecclesia that He is talking to, that can repent, that can change, that can become, that can become now. So, through the blood, we will rule and reign, only when we come to repent. When we come by the blood, will we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, as Pastor John said, “Believe for the full manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit?” And I want to end with this today. Very, very important for what the Lord wanted me to say here today.
I’m going to take you in the book of Revelation, back to chapter two. Why is this opportunity being granted for us, to be part of our Lord Jesus, with Pastor John this way? Let’s go back to Revelation chapter two verses one to five in the New King James. Remember what I’ve shared with you the last time, that word, angel in Greek is, the messenger that God gives to a church. 1 “To the angel, the messenger, of the church of Ephesus write, “These things says, He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: That word lampstand, is very, very important. I’m going to show you a few things about that. And verse two 2 The Lord said to this church, “I know your works, your labour, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say that they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars.
So, just like all the ecclesia’s, many people are doing wonderful things, but God is dealing with them to come up to the place and to receive the correction for everything that must come into their lives. That’s very important.
The third verse, 3 And you have persevered, and you had patience, well done, and you have laboured for My name’s sake, and you have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Jesus, Jesus. Remember, therefore, and now I want you to really see how important this connection is, to where we started with Hebrews 12, In the Light of the Ecclesia. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, repent, and this is what God is saying through Pastor John and Pastor Sharon through all the messages, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. (Revelation 2:1-5 NKJV)
Do you think Jesus will put something in there and not do it? This is, God talks straight to us. He’s a straight talker. Repent unless I come and remove your lampstand from you. So, we are a legitimate local church. Why? And it’s very important because of the Apostolic mantle that is upon Pastor John. Upon the Apostolic mantle. The lampstand that Jesus is talking about in Revelations 2:1, I have asked that they will put it on again, God says, if you do not repent, God has all these legitimate ecclesia’s all over the world, where He has them. If you do not repent, I will remove that legitimate lampstand.
Now, I quickly want to show you what that means, what that means. So I’m going to jump to Revelation 11 verse three, thank you. I’ve said to you, and I’m just going to remind you, I’m not going to take us to that scripture right now. Hebrews 12 again, that talks about the General Assembly, the church of the firstborn, who are registered in heaven. Assembly registered in heaven because of a legitimate Apostolic calling, that Apostolic mantle is on Pastor John.
That is the very jurisdiction. That’s very important to hear today. That is the jurisdiction given to Pastor John, therefore, to us. From church to church, it will differ concerning what God says must happen in nations and what must be happening in cities. That is what I want your ear to hear today. Jesus makes it clear if you do not repent of the things that I come to show you, every church specifically, then Jesus will remove that lampstand. Then it will be a church calling itself church but in the eyes of Jesus, it’s just a gathering. It’s not registered in heaven, because the lampstand is removed. The lampstand in our church, is, of course, is Pastor John’s apostolic calling and Pastor Sharon, the prophet shoulder to shoulder with him.
Now, I want to show you Revelation 11, verses 3 to 6. In the pattern of God’s Word, in the pattern of God’s Word. I want to show you that this is what the lampstand is, it’s also been called in many translations, “the candle, the very light, the jurisdiction that God is bringing”. So, I’m going to show you, I don’t have time to go to Zechariah today. Pastor Sharon did that in the past, and will do it again. But I want to show you that when God does this with spiritual leaders according to the pattern that we see in His Word, it looks like this.
Look at these lampstands. And I want to show you why the Bible calls them a lampstand in Revelation, and what it looks like, with what God gives them to rule and reign over. Verse 3 chapter 11. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. verse 4, 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. Listen to the power and the jurisdiction that God gives them. Verse 6, 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and strike the earth with all the plagues, as often as they desire. (Revelation 11:3-6 NKJV).
So what I’m showing you here today is, why do you think there are ecclesia’s with the lampstands? Because that means, that’s the calling. That’s the calling of Jesus geographically also, that God gives on an apostle like that, and for the people with him, for the will of Jesus to come into the earth.
I want to read two things that Pastor Sharon shared. This is insert seven.
You can’t be in authority, to rule, and to reign as a king in life, which we are all destined to do as sons of God,
That’s what I want to share with you.
Then when Pastor Sharon started to minister on this quite a few years ago, this is what the Lord said. I had that in my heart this morning, I was preparing, and as God started to give me the download this week, He said to me, “Christi,” and that’s why I’ve prayed it the way that the Holy Spirit gave it to me. He said to me, “I know you’re going to minister about Me, but today I want to speak through you.” And of course, that is true every time we even testify about Jesus or preach or teach. It’s always, we teach and preach about Jesus, but mostly He wants to speak through us.
This is what the Lord said to Pastor Sharon. Pastor Sharon, and Pastor John, the Scope and the Scale, the Scope and the Scale of what Pastor John and Sharon will walk in now for Me, says Jesus, it will change My church. It is your rule and reign for Me now. I have put My zeal forth in you and you will accomplish this, the Lord said. Necessarily for the understanding of everybody, but these are things the Lord wants to go on record. When Pastor Sharon read it to us that day in the church.
You are My two sons of oil, you will know My power now on a scale you have not experienced or walked in before. Side by side in sync with Me, in sync with each other, both required, both desired. Unique and manjefiek, are the words He gave to Pastor Sharon. To Me, says Jesus, the head of the Church, unique and manjefiek to Me, and that’s what it matters to Me. It doesn’t matter who you are to the people. I want to say here today, it does. Exactly what Pastor Garth was sharing with us. Who is Pastor John and Sharon to us? That’s important for every ecclesia. That’s it, but it is important to God who you are to God. So I just wanted to share that with you today.
Then I’m closing with this. This is a prophecy. Already when God started to show me these things about the church, while actually 20 years ago, when He planted us here. I did not know many of the things that I’m sharing with you today and the Lord said to me, “Christi, I’m going to teach you about the Church.”
I remember when Brother Copeland brought out this prophecy, this is what we are talking about here and I just wanted you to see it in that light. Look what Brother Copeland had to prophesy about politicians in America. Those politicians who refuse My call to unite and become the United States of America, and not just America. Those politicians who refuse to listen, and those politicians who continue the pathway of hate. I will remove them from their places. I will remove their influence from the record books.
I was talking to you the whole time about what is written in the book, what is written in the book, and what must come. I will remove their candle in their family. That’s the same word for lampstand. I will remove them from the office and put someone else there.
Now many years ago, you will remember how powerfully and wonderfully Pastor John ministered on this that we have legitimate sons in the nation of South Africa, called to serve us in government. Then we have the legitimate spiritual sons like Pastor John. Now, President Mandela was a legitimate son of this nation, to help and to be there for all the people. Our current wonderful president is a legitimate son in this nation.
That’s why we will always pray to have them, but they, as much as the spiritual leaders have a choice to do, to be the vessel and to serve Jesus and not their own agendas. Because that’s what it means in the book of Revelation to have that lampstand, it means to have that legitimate place.
Here God is talking about the leaders in America that He gave a place in local government. God says, “I do give them a place, but I want them to serve Me by serving the people.” So Pastor John is one of those sons in this nation, who is a spiritual leader with, if I can put it the way I’ve shared with you today, that has a lampstand, that God will still show pertaining to nations and cities, what must be.
I just wanted to share this with you because when I heard it when Pastor John brought it to us the first time about Kenneth Copeland, my ear heard immediately. I said, “Lord, we have come to this place. We have come to this place.”
I’m finishing, really with this now. As the messages are coming to us, we need to repent. I’ve shared with you in the messages that came up until now is Malachi 3 verse seven, 7 Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:7 NKJV). By faith, we must follow Jesus. Obey Him, seek Him. We need to repent where we have to repent, as the messages are coming to us.
1 John one verse seven. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, keeps on cleansing us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 NKJV). All unrighteousness. He’s looking for the ten righteous.
Pastor John shared with us, Walking In The Light, does not mean walking perfectly, it’s walking honestly, being honest with God. God is looking for the ten, who choose to walk and live righteously. Righteousness is not the result of keeping rules, it’s a result of living under the mandate, and government of the Holy Spirit. Pastor John’s messages, he said, Repent. He brought the message of repentance. He said turn around, the Spirit of God is saying, “Will you change? Will you change? Will you turn around in your heart?” We are finding ourselves changing and turning because of the Holy Spirit that’s working with the blood. And we all say, “Amen.”
Let’s pray. Father, we thank You for this message today. That it’s sent out to do what You have purposed it to do. That it will not return to You void Lord. Father, we pray today, that Your will, and that Your will be done, and that You will be glorified. Father, in the name of Jesus, we are blessed going out, and bless coming in this week. And whatever we will put our hands to this week will prosper, thank You, Holy Spirit. Father, show up in our businesses, show up in the places where we work, create miracle after miracle, that will change our lives forever. We ask You that today. Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church, to You belongs all the glory forever and ever. According to Your Word in Hebrews 12, we ask You now, individually, and in our collective greatness, strengthen us, Lord, complete and perfect us, make us what we ought to be. Equip us with everything good, that we may carry out Your will, while You, Yourself is at work within us to accomplish that which is pleasing in Your sight, through Jesus Christ, our Messiah. And we all say, “Amen”.
Well, thank you for coming to church, and thank you for all of you at home who joined us this morning. Have a wonderful, wonderful Sunday, and we will see you soon. Bye, bye, everyone. Thank you for all of you that came.
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