Scripture Reference : 2 Kings 4:38-44 (NLT); 2 Kings 5: 5-25 (NLT)
Are you ready for the power of God? Praise Jesus. I’m so glad you could be here this evening. I want to just say to you that today has been an really awesome, spiritual and wonderful day for me. We got back from Pretoria this afternoon about half an hour ago, and brother Dennis, has requested that he be allowed to sleep rather than come here, but his heart is here. And he was already dozing off in the car coming here, and he’s 81 years old. He arrived on Monday, and he’s feeling it, so you have me. Hallelujah. Thank you. Thank you.
It was an amazing thing, and I’m going to just share with you a little bit that when Dennis arrived yesterday at the airport, all I can say is that when we hugged each other, we didn’t want to stop hugging each other because we haven’t seen each other in more than 15 years. Well, probably 12, 15 years. And it was wonderful to see a brother that God had obviously connected us a long time ago. The Lord has used his presence here in South Africa to do many things in 24 hours.
Before he arrived here, some of his itinerary for this day, this Tuesday, was known to me. And I had a choice to be the driver because a lot of what he was going to do didn’t need me. He needed a driver. But there was a scheduled possible meeting on the list. When I saw who this meeting was arranged with, I said, I wonder if God has got a plan here. All I can say is this gentleman is a Pastor of a ministry here in South Africa, our families have a long history that’s all I want to say for now.
Over time, we have tried to find each other but if you have two CEOs of two banks, for example, that want to find each other, it’s quite hard because in the same industry, it’s like they’re competitors. And so two CEOs don’t find each other easily it’s got to be facilitated. You understand what I’m saying? And so I wondered if this meeting was going to go ahead, whether God hadn’t arranged a facilitated meeting and so it was. God arranged a facilitated meeting for me because I chose to be a driver. And when I walked into that meeting, it was like if Dennis only came to South Africa so that I could meet this man, it’s enough. It’s enough.
Yeah, we both had an instant recognition that we should have met a long time ago. And that God had arranged a moment like this for us to meet when we got back in the car, in fact, Dennis’s daughter, Catherine, said, “Well, it seems like God arranged us to come from America so you could meet this man.” It was like that, It was like that.
You know, in fact Dennis asked me about, you know, “What, who’s this man that I am going to meet? And what is he and all of that?” When I gave my side of what I thought, he asked me a question. And Dennis is very good at asking good questions. And he said, “So, John, if, something happens here, how will you know?” I said, “I don’t think it will take more than ten seconds. Because we will know spiritually, not because of how the conversations go. When we see each other we will know.” And it was like that. It was like that.
You know, he walked in and the person that facilitated our getting together, you know, he was like, this is Dennis Peacock. This is his daughter. And then he greeted them and he looked at me and he just looked at me. And then the man said, and this is John Bendixen. He just ignored them, and he just walked over to me. And he said, “I’m so glad you are here today.” I said, “I am so glad to be here today.” That was the end of it. The anointing of God came into that room for an hour and twenty minutes. We had an anointed Holy Ghost meeting of God today. Yea, Hallelujah, Praise Jesus.
So, there are many things I want to share with you tonight. And I know this is a prayer meeting, but you also came here ready to hear the Word because we shared that with you and I prepared you for that, and I was just saying to Pastor Sharon, she drove me here in the car because I’ve been a chauffeur enough today. In fact, Catherine said when we got home, she said, “You know, if I was in America, I would send you a five-star rating as an Uber driver.” I said, “Thank you, Catherine, I’ll take it.” So, I give Pastor Sharom a five-star rating as my Uber driver here tonight. Although she nearly rode over some poor guy driving on a motorbike, that was trying to text while he was riding on his motorbike. You know, I didn’t have that all day but from home to the church, the Uber driver nearly rode over an Uber Eats guy. I’m exaggerating a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit. I gave you five stars.
So, if you grow up in life and you grow up on a farm and you are taught by your family that you’ve got to have enough cows and enough goats and enough sheep, and enough chickens to hatch enough eggs so that you can provide for your family and you could provide for a community of people that will allow you to have a few other things. And that’s how you live as a farmer. You would grow up not knowing any better, other than this what you have to do, right? What would happen one day is someone arrives at your farm and says, “I would like to come and take you and show you my farm.” “Well, why would you want to do that?” “Well, I knew your dad, and he was a good man. And out of a place of respect and honour for your dad, I would like to show you what I do on my farm.”
Then you say, “Alright, I’ll go along with you and see what you do on your farm.” So, you go to his farm and you find out, this guy has got cattle stalls, like, 30, 40 cattle stalls. And he’s got these machines that are milking cows. And he’s got not just 30, 40 cows in the stalls, but he’s got hundreds of cows waiting to be lined up to have themselves milked, you know. And he shows you, not a chicken hook, but a whole battery of chickens, sommer 5 batteries of chickens. And there’s like 100 chickens in the battery. And these things also are making eggs. And he’s got eggs and lots of chickens and he’s got cattle. And this guy says to you, “So, what do you think?” He says, “Wow, man, this is a lot of stuff you’ve got going on here.” “Yeah, what do you think?” Well, he’s got a couple of answers he can give. He could say, “How did you get to the place where you had a few cows and now you’ve got all these cows?” Now that would be a good question, don’t you think? Because it would reveal something in this person’s heart. Or he could say, “How much time do you spend making this thing happen?” And it wouldn’t be a bad question, but it would be a neutral question because you don’t know what’s in his heart yet.
Or he could turn around and say, “You know what hey, joh, this is a big responsibility to have – all these cows, all these machines, all this stuff all going on at all the same time. Too much work for me.” He says, “Can I take you back to the farm?” “Yeah,” goes back to the farm. When he drops him off at the farm, drops you off at the farm and he says, “Listen, if you want to have some idea of how this happens out of a relationship with your father, I’ll show you everything I know so that you can take your farm to get to where my farm is.” This person says, “Thank you.” There’s no disrespect, no dishonour, this is all good. This man is now sitting with his chickens and his cows, goats, and sheep, and he sits down on the stoop on his rocking chair that his dad rocked on. This is a whole new form of hard rock. Sorry.
So, he’s rocking on his rocking chair and now he’s contemplating. I wonder what that means, I wonder how much work that guy puts in? I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder. What’s happened to him is that he went from a world that had no choices in it because all he had to keep doing was what he knew to do. To have something shown to him left him with a choice because not only did he now see something bigger, better, whatever he could go after, but he was also given the capacity, the means to get there. Yes? Now he’s got a significant choice to make.
Well, praise the Lord. I want to say to you that I am very glad, I’m delighted, I’m so full of gratitude to God that God has given us as a ministry a worldview that was changed because I had a worldview. I had a worldview that changed from being poor to a worldview that says you can be rich, John. I went from a worldview where the church that I grew up in believed that you could be sick and it was God’s will for you to be sick. To know that it’s God’s will for me to be healed and whole. I’m grateful that God gave us the opportunity as a whole ministry to shift from being a congregational church to being a church of Ecclesia. I’m grateful that God has given us an opportunity to move out of a mindset of we’re just a church that’s trying to build a good church to being a Kingdom Ecclesia-minded ministry. Amen. I’m grateful.
In time to come, I will, you will you will understand what I’m saying tonight. And what God has certainly done in me and to me through so many different things in the last 24 hours. I want to read something to you from Second Kings chapter 4, I’m going to read from verse 38. It’s in the New Living Translation.
38 Elisha now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.” Come on. There’s a famine in the land. He’s with the group of prophets. Who feeds the prophets? How do they get there? How do they get their source of income and get their source of food? Who feeds the prophets? The prophets don’t have lands and farms, and they don’t … that’s not what they do. The people who feed the prophets are the people of the Levites. That’s how they get their money.
Second Kings Chapter 4 verse 38. 38 One day as the group of prophets was seated before him in a time of famine, he (Elisha) said to his servant, Do you know who his servant was? The servant was Gehazi. “Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.” 39 One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous. 40 Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite or two they cried out, “Man of God, hold on a minute. They’re all prophets.
“Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!” So they would not eat it. 41 Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” This is in a time of famine, so now flour is a precious commodity. “Bring me some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat.” And then it did not harm them (2 Kings 4:38-41 NLT).
I would say that’s quite a miracle. Right? In other words, what he did was he took a rare substance by faith, he took a rare substance, threw it into something that was absolutely no good to anybody. Useless to be thrown away. He threw it in there so that it could become productive and useful. That takes faith. Yes?
So, one day – I just want to keep reading for you. 42 One day, a man from Baal-shalishah, whatever, brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.” 43 “What?” the servant exclaimed. Huh? Who is issuing the instructions for the food to be distributed? The prophet. The servant says, “What?” 43 “Feed a hundred people with only this?” But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the LORD says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some leftover!” 44 And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some leftover, just as the LORD had promised.” (2 Kings 42-44 NLT) I thought it was the prophet who said it. Same thing. Right?
I’m just wanting to make a point here. The point I want to make to you is that Elisha is faced with a food problem in famine and it’s got poison. He uses flour to correct a problem and make it suitable and edible for everybody to eat. Servant exhibit number one. Servant exhibit number two. Bread is given to the prophet, there’s a hundred people or whatever amount there was. The Bible says a hundred people at least. Feed all the people. This amount of bread can’t feed all these people. He says, “Feed them.” And as they begin to distribute the food, it’s multiplied. So, they all eat and there’s left over. Servant exhibit number two.
Are you noticing that the servant is actually a witness to two miracles? Quick on – in succession. In a time of famine, two miracles of God multiplying and correcting a multiplication or production issue. Yes? Directly witnesses God’s intervention. In the natural, this is a problem and God is declaring a supernatural solution to a natural problem. Yes? Supernatural solution to a natural problem. I ask you this question – Is this the same God that we serve? Has He changed? What is required for God to intervene? Faith. There’s more though. There requires an activation of a messenger to be obedient to what God says. Only after the messenger is obedient to what God says, can God do what faith requires. Yeah.
This is chapter 4. We go to Chapter 5. So, there’s a king who gets a captain. He has a chief of his military and he’s got leprosy. And the king says to him, go to the prophet. “5So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver …” I reckon this man is valuable to the king – 750 pounds of silver. How much would you pay to get healed? “… 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing” (2 Kings 5:5 NLT).
I ask you, if he’s going with 750 pounds of silver, a 150 pounds of gold, he’s just taking a few rags from Old Khaki? I use that name on purpose, Old Khaki. I’m not diminishing anybody who wears Old Khaki. But he wasn’t taking Old Khaki clothes. He was taking Gucci, Chanel. If you’re in the athletic world, Lululemon. Some of you don’t even know what I’m talking about. Okay. Go online and find out.
I mean, he’s not taking that much silver and gold and then he’s taking just a few pieces of rags as clothes. He’s taking the finest garments that money can buy. Right? The very best. Why? Because he’s going to someone who’s in touch with the supernatural realm. And if there’s any answer to his problem, it’s someone who can touch the supernatural realm and touch his natural life, because his natural life is about to end very quickly. Amen.
So he goes with a letter. ⁶ The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.” ⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.” ⁸ But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots… (2 Kings 5:6-9 NLT) This scripture doesn’t say that he left the gold and silver with the king. The king obviously tore his garments because he didn’t have an answer. How much authority does a king have in a nation? This problem couldn’t be solved by him.
¹⁰ But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message… So now this guy comes with a letter, king to king. He’s got all the silver, all this gold. There’s all these political protocols that are happening, everything. And Elisha sits in his little fishing cabin. And he says to the same Gehazi, “Go talk to this man that’s coming to me.” ¹⁰… “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” ¹¹ But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! ¹² Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage (2 Kings 5:10-12 NLT).
So hold on a minute. It’s okay to have the protocol of kings involved. It’s okay to have as much wealth as the kings are prepared to spend to solve a problem. But when someone doesn’t care to meet you and tells you to go and wash in a dirty river and is basically guaranteeing your healing. You are enraged and angry because he’s not meeting the right protocols. Hey? Wow. You might say this guy is really stupid. I wonder if we can’t call ourselves and all of us identify with a bit of stupidity that was in Naaman. Because sometimes when God speaks to us, we can find ourselves in a rage.
We can find ourselves, “Well, who does God think He is to come with His messenger and just basically tell me what I must do with my life? Surely I should be treated with more respect? Because aren’t I something? Haven’t I achieved so much greatness? Am I not worthy of more than someone just preaching at me from the pulpit? Surely if God wants me to change something significant in my life, He would come and knock on my door and come and bring gifts and exercise protocols of proper order for me.” [The microphone makes a noise as Pastor John places his hand on his face.] That was unintentional. Hey?
13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, “Go and wash yourself and be cured!” [Pastor John slaps his head with his hand] Duh. Right? 14 So Naaman went, listened to his officers, and he went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed! (2 Kings 5:13-14, NLT) Thank God that once He has spoken a word, even though you may fuss with human protocols, even though you may be angry at what has happened, even though you may have harsh words to speak, even though there might be things that you completely put yourself against, because, “This is just not right for me.” Thank God that once the Word has been spoken by the messenger of God, God doesn’t withdraw it. Thank God that Word stands as the order of God for all of us to change our minds and get in line with what God says. Thank God. Thank God. Hallelujah.
So 15 Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.” 16 But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” (2 Kings 5:15-16 NLT) Come on, I know, if you’ve been a Christian any length of time, you would have heard this story but it’s worthwhile me saying it anyway. God’s anointing and God’s intentional intervention into the human ways of men with supernatural, is not for sale. It’s not up for someone to buy it. It’s not for someone to negotiate it. It’s not for someone to begin to say, “Can I give You something in return for what You’ve given?” The anointing and the supernatural intervention of God into the natural human affairs with men is based on His will. It’s based on His love. It’s based on His glory, and no man’s money can buy it. And Elisha was completely aware that he, being a messenger of the Holy One, the Integrated One, had to be a representative of the full integration of the Integrated One and if he misrepresented the Integrated Holy One in this matter, he was going to be in trouble, the messenger, because God’s supernatural is not for sale. It’s not to be bought, it’s not for any amount of money, or gift.
16 But Elisha said, as surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on, I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD. 18 However, may the LORD pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the LORD pardon me when I bow, too.” (2 Kings 5:13-18 NLT)
Now, I just want you to see something here. I’m going to get to something else in a minute, but I just want you to see something here that in this matter, He’s saying, “I’m living in a world where now I know who the real living God is, but in the world that I live in, there is no recognition of who this living God is. Even though I might return without leprosy on my skin, they will only say it’s their gods. So, my king is going to go and worship the god that he worships and he’s going to expect me to go into that place, I cannot go against my king.”
So, you, the man who has rejected payment for the anointing, who will not take any amount of money for the supernatural into the natural. I recognize that you understand the power of what’s happening here. Therefore, authorize me to do what I have to do without having a penalty. Because if you could tell me to go to the river and get healed, you can tell me that on this matter, God won’t judge me. Because you won’t speak if you’re not hearing from God. So, give me a pardon. This is taking faith now on the part of Naaman. Right?
Elisha says, “Go in peace, go in peace. You will not be judged by God, the Lord, for what you do for your master.” Wow, I ask you one more time, where’s the servant? Where’s Gehazi?” He’s a witness, evidence number three. The servant, exhibit number three, the servant.
20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, “My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts. As surely as the Lord lives, I will chase after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi set off after Naaman. When Naaman saw Gehazi running after him, he climbed down from his chariot Why? Why is he, why is he giving so much respect to Gehazi? Because he understands serving. And if the servant is coming, perhaps the authority of the anointing and the supernatural is coming with him. Hey? 21 …he climbed down from his chariot and went to meet him. “Is everything all right?” Naaman asked. 22 “Yes,” Gehazi said, “but my master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hill country of Ephraim have just arrived. He would like 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothing to give to them.” He knew that he couldn’t go against what he’s… what Elisha had said, I want them. So, he said he wanted them for someone else.
23 “By all means, take twice as much silver,” Naaman insisted. He gave him two sets of clothing, tied up the money in two bags, and sent two of his servants to carry the gifts for Gehazi. 24 But when they arrived at the citadel, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants and sent the men back. Then he went and hid the gifts inside the house. 25 When he went in to his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” “I haven’t been anywhere,” he replied. You know, I’m going to finish the story. But if God has to ask us a question about our obedience and we answer, “I haven’t disobeyed.” Who are we fooling? Who are we fooling?
26 But Elisha asked him, “Don’t you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to receive money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, and male and female servants? What was he saying? Is this the time to receive it? Because he knew the money that he got was going to buy him all those things. He didn’t just say, was this the time to receive the money? He was saying, Is this the time to receive your future? 27 Because you have done this, you and your descendants will suffer from Naaman’s leprosy forever.” When Gehazi left the room, he was covered with leprosy; his skin was white as snow. (2 Kings 5:20-25 NLT)
So, people, I believe this with all my heart. I believe this with all my heart. We are in a time of supernatural. We are not just merely in a time of natural activities. We are in a time of supernatural as a church. I have absolutely no doubt about this, that we are in a time where God is allowing us to be ready and prepared, for our highest expectations, for promotion. For all of the things that God has prepared for us in this season, He has made us ready for it. You and I have been witness to the supernatural intervention into our lives. And we must take note that God is amongst us as supernatural. He is amongst us. His presence is amongst us. His anointing is upon us. His life is in us. And He has made it clear to us that He wants to progress us, to increase us, to promote us, for our highest expectations to be met. Has He not? This is the moment. This is the moment that God has prepared for us. So, Pastor John, why did you start out having this conversation this evening about a farmer with a few goats and a few cows and a few chickens? And now you get to talk about Elisha and about all of this supernatural intervention.
Many years ago, many, many years ago. The Lord spoke to me. In the last 24 hours, I could only just continue to express my gratitude. The Lord spoke to me and He said, “I want you to serve Jerry Savelle, at Rhema,” 1996. I want you to serve Jerry Savelle on behalf of your Pastor.” I said, “Yes, Sir.” So, I took leave and I drove him around for a week and I served him on behalf of my Pastor. Later that year the Lord spoke to me and He said, “I want you to go and serve Kenneth Copeland Ministries.” And so I phoned Kenneth Copeland Ministries and I said, “The Lord wants me to serve you in any capacity you choose.” So, they let me know that it’s time for us to serve Kenneth and Gloria and Jerry and Jesse and Creflo. And so we again took leave, my annual leave, and I went on my leave for another nine or ten days and I served Kenneth and Gloria. In that time, the Lord spoke to me again and He said, “You are to be connected to Jerry Savelle.” And you know the story. “What am I going to say to him? How is this going to happen?”
Just recently, when I was in America in November, Brother Jerry called me up and he interviewed me in front of the congregation. And he said, “John, how long have we been together?” I said, “Twenty-eight years.” We’re in our twenty-eighth year of being connected to Brother Jerry.” 1996 to 2024. I didn’t start working for him officially till 1998, but the connection started in February of 1996. Where I served him for a week on my leave, my holiday. In July of 1997, Brother Jerry invited me to come to Fort Worth on my holiday. Invited me to bring my family if I chose to, then brought my youngest, my two younger sons. I think Brynn was, I don’t know, 14, 15, 14, I think. And Garth was 12, somewhere around about there, and we flew to America because he had something in mind that I didn’t fully understand what was going to happen at that moment, but he had something in mind. And what he had in mind was for the very first time, that Heritage of Faith Christian Centre and Jerry Savelle Ministries International was going to put on a piece of legal anything, he was going to, he was going to ordain me as the very first.
Pastor Sharon and I, as the very first ministers to ever be ordained by Heritage of Faith. Four people got ordained that night. Sharon and I were two of them. The other couple was another ministerial couple who ran Brother Jerry’s Bible school, who no longer have anything to do with Brother Jerry. But at that point in time, it was Sharon and I and we are still standing. We are still with him. This, this servant messenger of the Lord has not changed. This servant, this messenger of the Lord will not change what God has ordained and ordered. He would have to tell me with lightning bolts from heaven for that to change.
Hey? Have you not been a witness? Have you not been a witness of the favour and the wonder of what God has done amongst us?
Have you not witnessed that there have been times when God is… when there has been poisonous things that have been served up to us and God has taken his anointing and His Word and His Glory? And He has taken flour and thrown it into our lives and He’s turned the bitter into productivity. Have you not witnessed that? Have you not witnessed over time some of you are younger and may not have all the knowledge of it, but have you not witnessed that God is literally on times multiplied our opportunities and multiply our seed for sowing and our bread for eating? Have you not witnessed that God has multiplied that in times when there seems to have been famine?
This is not a time for you and I to say we are hearing from the Lord, that He is making, He is making a pull on us. Let us go and dip in the river seven times. Isn’t He? Isn’t He saying, “Give me your holy days? Give me the stuff that is unclean in your lives I want to purify you.” Is He not doing that to us? Isn’t this a time for us to obey? Is there a price? No. Is there money to be given for it? No. Whatever God is telling you to be cleansed from in your life, it’s not because he needs a payment. It’s not because we need a payment. It’s not because we need anything in return for the cleansing of our lives and our future.
If we do anything going forward because we brought all of our silver and our gold and our fine clothing of our lives to present as an offering that we may gain the favour of God. He will immediately reject it and say the supernatural on your life for cleansing is not for sale. It’s not for negotiation. It’s not up for anything else. This is the moment for cleansing. This is the moment for new beginnings.
There are going to be people who will witness what God does for those who want to be pure and clean. They may want to use the opportunity. For self-growth. For self-development. For self-increase, wealth increase. I’m just letting you know upfront that future is unclean. There is no future there. Are you hearing the Word of the Lord tonight?
So, I want you to be ready in your hearts, that tomorrow night you’re going to hear, I believe, the Lord must speak as He wills, but I believe you’re going to hear something that is brewing in the heart of Dennis about Ecclesia, and about the kingdom of God. If I know who God is to me and if I know where the authority of God is in my life, I might receive cleanness but I may not confuse cleanness with the messenger. Messengers aren’t always perfect and messengers don’t always deliver messages perfectly. “Go wash yourself in the river, a dirty river seven times.” Huh? It might not be what you want to hear. Yes?
Dennis is 81 years old. He has shared his life with me, in the last 24 hours he has shared his life with me, and many, many challenges that he’s had in his life. Many, many challenges in the last years that I have not been – I mean, I’ve been aware of the headlines, I’ve been aware of some of the stuff. But you don’t get to know the details until someone is sitting face to face and telling you the details. Right?
I’m ready to see. I’m ready to receive from the Lord, anything that he has to say about the Kingdom of God, and about Ecclesia. Will it change where God has called me to? Doesn’t change anything, does it? He’s a messenger sent to deliver a message to us. Amen.
I would like you to have respect in your heart for a man who has given his entire life since he was 25 years old to serving the Most High God. He’s an elder statesman to many, many ministries around the world. And he loves me, and by default, he loves you. He loves what God is doing amongst us. And he might be the messenger of God to tell us to go and dip in a dirty river seven times. Yeah. Praise the Lord.
Do you remember the story I told you about God wanting to touch my life? With a man who was unshaven and spit, and he told me to roar three times like a lion. And that was the last person on earth I wanted to receive anything from God, from. And the Lord basically said to me, “If you don’t obey this, you’ll be missing Me.” Right? Hallelujah.
I was privileged to hear something today. His story is not for me to tell it, but I can tell you this part. The Holy Spirit moved on him to share a part of his life that I’ve never heard before. I didn’t know this actually happened. But I can only tell you this part, if he wants to share it with you in any other form, that’s up to him. But I can tell you this part that he said to me, “When I looked into the eyes of Jesus, I saw the depth of love and intelligence that was beyond my scope of comprehension.”
And when he said those words, he just broke and he just wept and wept. And we had to wait until he was finished. Because he was reliving the moment when he was 25 years old when he encountered the living God, that changed his life forever. What changed him wasn’t the power of God, it was the depth of the love of God that he saw in His eyes. And being someone who is an academic and an intellectual, he saw something that stimulated him to say today, that he saw intelligence in His eyes that was beyond his comprehension.
I watched the anointing of God come upon him in a way that I have never seen and I was privileged to encounter that moment today. You know when you encounter God like that, there is very little else that matters in your life – truly, there is very little else that matters in your life because you know Him to be so real with such reality that there is no other reality that can ever come close.
I remember because it is not a memory in my human mind, I remember when I was seven years old because it is a spiritual memory. It’s a knowing of my spirit – I remember spiritually when God encountered me with the presence of His Holy Spirit in such a way that I was lost in the spirit, and I came to myself speaking in tongues at seven years old. Because the Spirit of God is not dependent on how old a human body is, whether it is eighty-one or seven years old. The Spirit of God will use and come upon any vessel anytime, anywhere, any moment, and when He does, it is power, it’s beauty, it’s love, it’s everything.
And so, it is my desire, and I trust that you will receive Him tonight – a supernatural part of God tonight, that I believe we as a ministry, I know this in my spirit that we as a ministry are touching the very essence of Who God is, because, we are His hands and His feet on the earth. We are the representation of Jesus. He’s not – I have got news for you. He is not sending Jesus back to the earth again. If He sends Him back to the earth again, it’s going to be where we are, not to replace us. He is not taking us up to remove us from the earth. If He is coming back to the earth, He is coming to be with us, not to replace us. Are you hearing me? I know the answer is when He comes back, not if He comes back. I am nearly making a point because I don’t want to make a doctrinal statement that puts anyone in a different position. Huh? But God didn’t save us so that our only hope is to be raptured.
He saved us to be Him on the earth. Right? Messengers of the supernatural. Messengers who can take flour and throw this flour into poison and turn it into a substance that’s of value and useful to people because we are there. He has brought us to a place where we, as His messengers, can declare multiplication and God will do it. Healing, cleansing, anointing. Healing, cleansing, anointing. Healing, cleansing, anointing. Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. Praise Jesus. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord.
Aren’t you grateful? Aren’t you grateful that God has got us where He’s got us? Aren’t you grateful that you, wherever your journeys in life might have taken us, that you are here? Aren’t you glad? Some of us have had to fight off arguments with ourselves and circumstances to still be here. Some of us have gone and come back. Some of us have gone through difficulties and come through them. Some of us have had many different reasons why we had different arguments and different things, but aren’t you glad you’re here? Aren’t you glad you’re here? If nothing else, this should tell you that you are here, because God wants you to be here. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
You know, over the last 24 hours, Dennis has, on many occasions, he has come and stood right in front of me, right in front of me, and he’s just grabbed me by the shoulders, and he just looked at me and he said, “I just need to hold you to know that this is really you, that I’m really here, that we are really here together.” Driving in the car many times today, he would take his arm, his hand like this, and he would put it on my arm and hold my arm like this. And he says, “John, sorry if I’m touching you a lot, but I just need to know that this is real.” He’s 81. He knows this in himself, “I don’t know how many years I’m going to be here. I’m going to live every moment that God gives them to me.” Hey.
It doesn’t matter if we have different doctrines in some areas. It doesn’t matter if there are ways that he’s lived his life, and I’ve lived my life, and we have seen things differently over years. He has something in him that God wants to give to us. It will bring cleansing to us. It will bring healing to us. Right?
You know, when we got into the car to go to Pretoria today at one time, we stopped and had a coffee. He said, “John, I’m so up for this prayer meeting tonight.” He said, “I want to be there.” He says, “I’ve got things burning in my spirit.” I said, “We’re ready, Dennis. We’re ready to have you.” After the meetings that we had, he got in the car, and he said, “John, I’m not sure that I have the energy left for tonight.” I said, “I know it, Dennis. I know what’s come out of you today. I know, I’ve been a witness to what’s happened today.” But here’s what I’m trusting God for, that there is nothing that he should have said that will go unsaid. There is nothing that he needs to bring to us that we will not receive. That everything that needs to happen and we can have happen to us will happen tomorrow in one session. Hallelujah. God is never going to leave it too late or undone.
And I said this to Dennis, I said, “Dennis, it doesn’t matter what else you do in South Africa. I said, “God, used those things to bring you to us.” He says, “I know. I know.” Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. We had some really amazing moments in my lounge this morning, and he sat on his back and he said because we’ve missed many years. We’ve missed many years. And he sat there and he said to me, “But John.” He said, “I’m going to be in eternity soon.” He says, “When you get there, we’ll have many times to talk about the stuff we couldn’t talk about.” I said, “I look forward to it.” Praise the Lord. So, I want to tell you that there are so many things that have happened to me today. Such fullness. I mean, there are things I just can’t say that happened today. Not just with Dennis, although I’m using this moment to share most of it about him. But there’s things that happened today that I believe you will see in months, and years to come. I believe you will see that God has had a plan to facilitate things. To facilitate some relationships and to facilitate some things that in his world, you know, only God could organise.
So, I’m going to leave you with this last thing. Are you still okay with me sharing this? I’m going to leave you with this last thing. When Dennis arrived, we were kind of catching up with people that I’ve known who were in his world that came into my world because of him and things changed over time. And so I asked him about a pastoral couple that had visited us in South Africa that was in his world and is no longer in the ministry. They had a powerful church. They’re no longer in the ministry. That church doesn’t exist.
They sold the church and the building, and they took the millions and millions of dollars and they put it into a nonprofit investment company that they’re using to do different things with, to help nonprofit companies. Because they didn’t know what to do with the church. So, they sold the building and they took the money to help organisations in America. Sad. That couple came to South Africa, and I shared this with them that we found ourselves, I found myself in a doctrinal debate. I want to almost say a doctrinal confrontation with that pastor. He was staying in my home. We were having a doctrinal debate, for days. I went to bed one night, woke up in the morning and the presence of God was upon me. The Holy Spirit told me to go and read a scripture in the Bible. Sharon was up, already downstairs making breakfast for them.
God came all over me and I started reading that scripture and He revealed to me, and He said, “John, this debate, this doctrinal confrontation you’ve had with this Pastor, is out of order, son. I want to show you that you have a Pharisee heart. Your debate is coming not from a position of brotherly encouragement, but from a place of a Pharisee heart.” Do you know what a Pharisee heart is? A Pharisee heart is someone who believes they are right because they know the law, so they stand their ground on the matter of a law, but will not bow to a greater view of the way God is. And so the Holy Spirit said to me, “John, you have a Pharisee heart.
And in this matter with this Pastor, you have revealed your Pharisee heart. And I’m using this moment to cleanse you from your Pharisee heart if you will receive it.” I’ll tell you, it broke me. It has always been and will continue to be a marker moment in my life which is why you won’t find me any longer standing my ground in a matter of doctrine. You won’t find me standing my ground on, I must be right because I will not have a Pharisee heart again in my life. I will not make a stand on a matter of biblical correctness for the sake of a relationship.
And so the Lord instructed me and He said, “For your repentance to be real, you must go down and apologise to the Pastor and share with him what I have just done with you.” You know what He was telling me to do? He was telling me to have a Naaman cleansing moment. I said, “Yes, Sir.” My eyes were red and puffy, I’d spent an hour in the presence of God. I went downstairs and I went to him and his wife. They were already sitting down in the kitchen with Sharon. I said, “I’m sorry I’m late. I want to just tell you what’s happened to me. I want to tell you the encounter I’ve had with God,” and I read them the scripture. I said, “I want to repent before you and apologise to you for my attitude and for the way I’ve treated you these last few days.” You know, that Pastor had absolutely no issue with it. He said, “No, come on, John, we’ve been in debate. We’ve just been talking the Word. We’ve just been, you know, this is not unhealthy.” I said, “No, for me it is because there was something in my heart that wanted to prove my rightness and God’s called me on it. It doesn’t matter what you say or you don’t say. I don’t need you to make me feel better. I have to obey God here.” From that moment, God cleansed me from my Pharisee heart. It’s something that I will always have to be watchful for because the spirit of a Pharisee can come upon you quickly.
I shared that with Dennis today and I was saddened to find out that the Pastor is no longer in the ministry and no longer has a church and is no longer a part of Dennis’ world. But I shared with him what had happened to me because I want to always remember that my heart is what dictates what happens to my future. And the minute I have a name and heart that says, “I will not go and cleanse myself in a dirty river, I’m done,” leprosy stays on me. The minute I have a Gehazi spirit that says, “I want to go and take for myself what doesn’t belong to me,” I’m done for. I need to have a heart that is always ready and open for God to mould it, change it. My future depends on my heart. Does that sound like the Bible? Doesn’t the Bible say out of the heart flows the issues of life? Hallelujah. Let’s have a heart for what God’s doing with us right now. Right now.
Will you join me just for a short while this evening, will you join me just to thank God that we are here? That we are experiencing even tonight His presence and His anointing and that even tomorrow God has got something really amazing planned for us. Won’t you just thank Him? You don’t have to make a big noise, but just thank Him. Just thank Him. Just praise Him. Just thank Him. Thank You. Thank You, Lord. We reverence You, Lord. We reverence Your Holy Spirit and we thank You that Your Holy Spirit is constantly upon us, watching over us, guiding us, leading us, bringing us to places where we can experience the fullness of God, the cleansing of God, the healing of God, and of course, the provision of God. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. We praise You. We praise You. We praise You. We praise You. We praise You, Jesus. We praise You and thank You. Our heart is full of gratitude. Our heart is full of joy. This is us, Father, Your people. This is us. We are Your people. This is us presenting ourselves before You tonight to say we are thankful and we are grateful.
For those who couldn’t make it, who are watching on live stream, join us in saying thank you. And we are together, all of us together, we say thank You, Lord. Hallelujah. You remember that Jesus caused 10 lepers to be healed. One of them turned and said, “Thank You.” And only one of them had everything restored in his life. There is such power in thankfulness. There is such power in thankfulness. Such power. Let’s come back tomorrow with gratitude and thankfulness in our hearts, shall we? Let’s spend the whole day tomorrow just remembering to be thankful. Let’s make a decision together tonight, we’re going to spend the whole day saying thank You together tomorrow. Just where you are every day, just in yourself, by yourself, just say, “Thank You, Lord, thank You.” Just make a determined purpose. Put a message on your phone. Just have a reminder, have someone remind you. Let’s continually be saying to each other, “Let’s just say thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. We’re thankful, we’re thankful, we’re thankful.” We could have been so many different places in the world, in so many different conditions, so many different spaces, but God’s got us here. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Wow. Wow. Praise the Lord.
Something happened to me today with another man, not with Dennis, with someone else, but something happened to me today that has reached back into my past many, many years. And God said, “John, I never, never forget a legacy. I never forget a seed sown, and I never forget a legacy. I never forget a seed sown, and I never forget a legacy.” And you are here, that means God has got a legacy for you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah. Yeah.
You know, you guys that have come from Diepsloot, you’re part of this legacy because you’re here. The legacy is for you, you know? Yeah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yeah. Lorraine, you know, years ago, you and Conrad, you were in the restaurant business, and we came there. You have a legacy now. You didn’t then, but you do now. Yeah, and your sons are living in the legacy that you decided then. I know there’ve been challenges and challenges, but here you are, you’re creating a legacy, and He never forgets. Wow. Yeah. Hallelujah.
Praise Jesus. It’s like that. It’s like that. The decisions we are making today are creating a legacy. Yeah. Hey, Werner and Nelmarie? You have a legacy here. God brought you here. [Pastor John laughs.] And He never forgets. He never forgets. Hey? Van Heerden’s? God doesn’t forget. [Pastor John laughs.] Praise Jesus. Praise Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. The Holy Spirit is so strong here. His presence, His Person. Sho. Wow. Yeah.
You know, God has allowed me. Yeah. God has allowed me to see into the spirit realm. I had to speak words today that I saw a vision. I saw a vision. It’s one of the few visions I’ve had. I’m not going to tell you the vision because it’s not for your ears, but in the company that I was in today, the Lord had me speak the vision, and that surprised me that He wanted me to speak it out but I saw a vision in the spirit of South Africa and things that would happen in the future in South Africa. And when I said it today, the present company witnessed the power of what I said in the spirit and received it. And I wanna tell you that South Africa’s future isn’t in the hands of the ANC or the government of the day. It is in our hands. It’s in what we declare and what we pray. It’s in the order of our declaration and our spirit of faith.
One of the other things that the Lord allowed me to see… He’s allowed me to see a warrior spirit. He’s allowed me to see a warrior spirit that rests upon some people. It’s not just men. There are women that have a warrior spirit, too. God has need of people that have a warrior spirit. They are difficult sometimes because a warrior spirit almost wants to pick a fight, you know. It’s true. It’s almost like they’re looking to have a fight because they don’t think that they have… they’re feeling like they have a need in life because they haven’t had a fight for a while. Don’t shout me down ‘cause I’m preaching real good, now.
And then, sometimes, God will bring me into the presence of a warrior spirit, look them in the eye, speak words of significance to them because in that moment of significance, the warrior spirit is satisfied that their purpose is still intact, they don’t have to have a fight – just be ready for the fight when the fight comes. I had no intention of talking like this tonight, but praise God. He’s got it covered.
The Lord has allowed me to see, He’s allowed me to see women. He’s allowed me to see the power and the significance and the value of women, the glory of women who is submitted to God, accountable to God and the Word of God and honourable to God and the power of what their voice and their spirit does in the Kingdom of God and in Heaven.
You know, men, God didn’t just birth us on the earth to provide. Provide is just one thing that we do. And, women, He didn’t birth you on the earth just so that you could have children. It’s one thing that you do. He birthed us all on the earth because He has an assignment for all of us. And He doesn’t just bring you to the earth with one spirit – He brings you to earth with another thing, another gift, another calling, another assignment and sometimes you’ll hear a word and it just grabs you. You just know; that’s me. That’s me.
Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. Praise Jesus. Praise Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.
I have to leave you now because the Holy Spirit has said I must stop. So, I have to leave you. I love you. He loves you. And I’ll see you tomorrow. You can just leave quietly. You can talk outside. If you want to stay here and just be in the presence of God, you’re welcome to do that, too. Hallelujah. Bye.
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