Written from 28 March 2017
INDEX TO VOLUME 3(1)
1. Introduction to Volume 3(1)
2. Gods promises to you
3. You have the fullness in Him
4. A new concept of His Word
5. God’s time to reveal His Son in me
6. Receiving the Promise of the Spirit through Faith
7. The dwelling place of God’s people
8. The work of righteousness will be peace
9. An urgent need for the promises of God
10. The sting of death removed
11. We would have become like Sodom
12. Called according to His purpose
13.The testimonies of God
14. Persecuted for His Name sake
15.The Fruit of the Spirit
1. INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 3(1)
This Volume contains many promises by which the Father wants to reveal His love and goodness to you. He wants you to experience His goodness. He says: “O, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps 34 : 8) . What a wonderful and glorious promise? He promises that you will experience His goodness in all situations and circumstances. This is a great promise!
However, it is imperative that you will know and remember how to treat God’s promises. You need to remind Him constantly about His promises, never hold your peace and never keep silent (Isa 62 : 6-8) .This is a important topic and we will have to pay much attention to it because it includes your relationship with Him and His Son through prayer ( 1 John 1 : 3) . If you have the most beautiful child with an impeccable character but he/she seldom pays attention to you, spend very little time with you, always quickly saying Hi! and Bye! She always speaks about you but seldom to you. Will that satisfy you as parent? Won’t it rather please you if they spend more time with you, looking into your eyes, telling you how they love you?
You will soon discover that your spiritual level does not rise far above your prayer-life. It is actually the same thing. If you try to be spiritual without a deep and intimate prayer-life accompanying it, you will be nothing else than a hypocrite. Ps 119 : 132 says in the Afrikaans Bible that you have the right on Gods mercy if you love His Name. And because He gives us His promises through His grace and mercy we need to love Him really with all our hearts (Matt 22 : 34-40) , love His Name (Ps 69 : 36) , and learn to know His grace in truth (Colos 1 : 6) . You will have to seek His face (Ps 27 : 8-9) , come into His presence and before His countenance with joy and thankfulness (Ps 100 : 1-5) , or pour out your complaint before Him (Ps 132 : 1-2) . Then He will cause His face to shine over you and save you (Ps 80 : 3-7) . And He will give you grace (Numb 6 : 23-27) . We will, however, say more about this later.
2. Gods promises to you
Have you read the Scripture in Gal 3 : 16 before? It says: “ Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds”, as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ”. All the promises of the Father are thus been given to Christ, even the promise of the Holy Spirit. When this promise to Him was eventually fulfilled, He did not keep it selfishly for Himself but in His love remembered us and shared it with us by pouring it out on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2 :33) . Just consider the faithfulness of our Lord: In John 14 : 13-18 He promised not to leave us orphans but that He will send us His Spirit in His Name (John 14 : 26) to be with us and in us . The Spirit was sent to pour out in us everything that He is (John 16 : 13-16) , yes everything that He obtained and received by His resurrection (Rom 8 : 11) . Thus the fullness of God is embodied in Him (Col 2 : 9-10) . Do yourself a favour and read Col : 1 : 13-22. If you really read it in the Spirit you will never be the same !
When Israel was gathered before the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke to them (Acts 2 : 14-40) , and in the power of the Holy Spirit shared with them how Jashua the Saviour, the anointed of God was crucified by the Jews (Verse 22-23) but being raised by God on the third day (Verse 24, 30, 32) , how God exalted Him to His right hand and let Him receive the promise of the Holy Spirit (Verse 33) , where He now sits waiting for His enemies to be made a footstool (Verse 34) . And then He shared with them the good news that the promise of the Holy Spirit, who was poured out on that day, was also for them and their children and to all who was afar off, as many as the Lord will call (Verse 38) . That includes you and me. We will thus have to delve deeper into these treasures of the promises of God and then in prayer seek His face, reminding Him to fulfil His promises (Isa 62 6-7) , not because He forgets His promises but for you to proof that you remember that He promised it and that you judge Him faithful to fulfil His Word to you (Heb 11 : 11 ) . In Heb 7 : 6 the Scripture refers to Abraham as “him who had the promises”, being blessed by God. In the Afrikaans Bible he says that Abraham was “the owner of His promises”. But also you and I have the promise that we have the same blessing as he had because we are blessed by God in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephes 1 :3 ) . We are thus owners of the promises of God, but in Christ only.
3. You have the fullness of Christ in Him
When we eventually believe that we have the fullness of God in Christ, the obvious question to raise is: “ But how do I get into Christ?”. Before we ponder over all the riches that we have in Jashuah our Messiah, we will first have to look into the truths of the Word concerning “ What we should do do get into Messiah (Christ)”
There is a word in Ephes 4 : 14-16 about the key to life in Christ. Please read it now, but do it in prayer. He says : “ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ”. Job 12 : 11 says “Does not the ear test words and the mouth taste its food?” The Afrikaans says “…as the mouth tastes its food”. As we often sit and taste our food, rolling it between our tongue and palate, contemplating and experiencing the taste, we also do with the word. But we must do it in love for our Father, His Son and all His body. How often do you sit and eat His Word, meditating on it, thinking it over and over, while you drive to work or washing the dishes? You will now probably complain that you don’t really have the time. Really? How much time do you spend on social media, on visiting friends, things which are in most cases as Eccl 1 : 12-18 says ; “ It is chasing after the wind”. Are you not comfortable and at ease in the presence of your Father and Jashuah? Then there is definitely something wrong, or absent, in your relationship with Him. Is it maybe because you have not “…heard and knew the grace of God in truth” (Col 1 : 6 ) ? You are probably believing that you need to earn His grace by good works and because you never “feel” that you achieve it. You lack the confidence and boldness to enter His holy place. Or possibly you don’t know the love of Christ because you don’t believe Him (Ephes 3 : 16-21) . Whatever the case may be, we will write about this in coming days, but you will have to pray that Jahweh will enable us to do it. You should pray as Paul asked the Believers to pray in Ephes 6 : 18-19.
But, in the meantime start now to praise and thank Him that you have the fullness in His Son (Col 2 : 9-18) , not because you feel it or see it in any way (Heb 11 : 1) , but because He said so, and He can not lie (Heb 6 : 13-20) . And then, as the days go by, you will experience and believe that He lives in you.
4. A new concept of the Word of God
This morning I got up from my bed early counting myself so blessed and fortunate to praise and thank my Father and His Son early before the birds can do it. All by His grace ! What a good and great God do we serve?! And when I opened the Bible and asked Him : “Father what do you want to tell me this morning?”. He then gave me Ps 56 : 4, 10 which says: “By the help of God I will praise His word” (Amplified Bible). Then He gave Ps 119 and spoke to me in several verses about His WORD : If you have the time now please read verses 9, 11 ,16, 25, 28, 42,43, 49, 53, 57. And then He also gave me words about His promises to me. After that He gave me words in Acts 20 : 32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified”. To me the WORD means more than merely “the Scripture says” or “The Bible says”. To me it is God that speaks to me, His son. To me it is the Word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt 4 : 4) . If you could, every time God gives you a word, say : It is the truth “ For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken”. Then Isai 55 : 10-11 will obtain new value in your life : “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it”. If man speaks God’s word he cannot speak it in his own name, he can only speak it in Jahweh’s Name (Col 3 :17). Many words are spoken today in this world, in fact in this time of the rule of the fourth beast (Dan 7 : 7-11) , words and even pompous words, are the order of the day. Every day the rhetoric of man is broadcasted over the world’s TVs and in the media. But words means nothing if it is not spoken by a person of high integrity. But who is a person that you can really trust, who’s words you can really rely on and believe? This person is the Living God and He alone! “God is no man that He should lie” (Num 23 : 19) It is impossible for Him to lie ( Heb 6 : 18) . Therefore the words that proceeds from His mouth are words that you can really trust and rely on.
Pray your Father now in Jashuah’s Name that He will give you new insight into His Word, a totally new concept and view of the Word. That will lead to a new appreciation of the Word that comes from the mouth of God. “God speaks to me personally” That is what a “Living Word” means. And that can only have its origin in a personal love relationship with the Father. Is He really a Father to you – your Father (1 Pet 1 : 17; Matt 6 : 9) ? Are you a son to Him (Gal 4 : 6-7) ? Are the words that you read in the Bible really your Father in heaven that speaks to you, or is it merely a Scripture from the Bible?
There is life in His Word. Joh 1 : 4 says: “In Him was life and the life was the light of men” (Joh 6 : 63).
5. God’s time to reveal His Son in me
The apostle Paul refers to a time when it pleased God (Elohim) to reveal His Son (Jashuah Messiah) in him (Gal 1:15-16). The Father did not enforce it on Paul, but He called him for that. Paul could have said “no” but the loving- kindness by which the Father called him, urged him. How can you neglect a calling like that? Although you are not forced in the real sense of the word thereto, however, the love of Christ compels you (2 Cor 5:14). And even more, if you realise that this calling is not in any way earned by you, or not at all by any merits of you but a calling by His grace, and His grace alone, you cannot say “no”.
There is a time in which it pleases the Father to reveal His Son in you and me, as there was a time for Paul, and you ought not to let that time go by without utilising it and taking full advantage thereof. Is it now maybe the time that God wants to reveal His Son in you in order to preach Him among the gentiles? Immediately the purpose for which the Father wants to reveal His Son in you, namely, to preach Him among the gentiles can become a stumbling block to you and even causing you to back away. You may argue: to preach Him under the gentiles is an evangelist’s work isn’t it, or the work of a preacher. No, it doesn’t work like that. Every child of God in whom the Son of God is revealed is a fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. “To the one we are the aroma to death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life” (2 Cor 2:14-16). This lovely fragrance diffuses the knowledge of Christ in every place (verse 14). It is contagious, everywhere you go and whomever you meet are sensing this lovely odour, and it either leads them to eternal life or to eternal death. And all this without you even preaching a single word. This is the great truth to which the Scripture refers in Isah 42:1-4 (Matt 12:18-21). His life that shines forth from you, as the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead lives in you, is convincing the people that He is alive (Rom 8:11; Luke 24:45-49). And you believe it don’t you? And that is the reason, because you believe it, that the people will sense this fragrance of His life in you. Yes, the same fragrance. And that is exactly what makes “The quiet in the lands” so special throughout the ages: they did not advertise their churches or assemblies, they simply lived it! How did it work? God revealed His Son in them!
“The quiet in the lands” were people of prayer: They lived in continuous fellowship with their Father and His Son, they prayed without seizing. The Word of Christ dwelt in them richly while they were teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, singing with grace in their hearts to the Lord (Col 3:16). As Hebr 13:15 says: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His Name”. When other sincere people smelled this fragrance it spontaneously excited the life of Christ in them. Don’t you think that it is now the time for this wonderful revelation of Christ in your life? Pray Him now for it.
6. Receiving the Promise of the Spirit through Faith
Surely, all the promises the Father has made is equally important, but the one promise that the Father gave me tonight is very precious: Gal 3 : 14 : “ That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”. It is realy exciting for somebody who really desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit: you receive it through faith!
I still remember how I as a youngster landed in the Penticostal church, after I grew up in a Reformed Church. I was totally ignorant as far as the baptism in the Holy Spirit was concerned. I still remember how I drove my little Morris from place to place where I heard of some preacher praying for those who desired to be filled with the Spirit. After many kilometers and many experiences, they eventually said that I am filled with the Spirit. My experiences where, according to them, the proof that I was filled with the Spirit. But I could not experience the “Fruit of the Spirit” that Gal 5 : 22, 23 refers to. I was also full of fear, while 2 Tim 1 : 7 says : “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. And so there were many characteristics and attributes of a Spirit-filled man that was absent in my life. And even more if I compared myself with those believers who were filled with the Spirit on the day of Penticost in Acts 2.
I must cut a long story short now by breaking good news for you: You receive the Holy Spirit by faith and not by experience. Later there will be many great and wonderful experiences, but for a start there will be no other proof that you are filled with the Spirit than your faith in the Word of Jahweh. Let us now read Heb 11 : 1-3 : “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Therefore wait on God that He will give you His Word that He fulfilled His promise of the Spirit to you. To me personally He gave the Word in Joh 20 : 21 “And when He had said this He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. This Word became só alive in my heart that I still believe until today that I am filled with His Spirit. And throughout the years I had many great proofs and evidences that I am. Most probably He will not give you the same Word as He gave me, but believe the Word that He gives you and that Word will work effectively in you as it is written in 1 Thess 2 : 13. Read it! Begin to thank Him, even now, for the Word that He is going to give you, because He is faithful.
7. The dwelling place of God’s people
Many of God’s children are living in countries of war and violence, not sure if they are going to see the sun rising the next morning. Their houses are always threatened by the adversary, causing them to live in anxiety, anguish and fear. Maybe you are living in a place like that? Then I have a Word from Jahweh for you, a promise that He will let you dwell safely : “My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, though hail comes down…” (Isa 32 18-19). The most dangerous place on earth can not make this Word useless, without power or change it. “But” you will say, “You have not seen the likes of our dwelling place, there is no place on earth so dangerous, not in Syria or Afghanistan. Here a great miracle needs to take place, all the angles of God are needed to protect us”. Don’t you think that they are there already?
If your Father gave you the Word in Isa 32 : 18-19 and quickened it in your heart as a promise by Him because you believe it, nothing on earth can change it, or declare it nil and void because it is incorruptible. God is no man that He should lie (Num 23 : 19). If you believe this Word with all your heart and confess it with your mouth (Rom 10 : 8-10), God will fulfill it (Isa 55 : 10-11; Jer 1 : 12; 2 Thess 1 : 11).
The Word about Jahweh as the keeper of His people I can write many chapters on, but if you could now go into the presence of your Father and ask Him for words of protection, He will surely give it to you. Most probably He will give you Ps 91 or whatever He gives you, ask Him to quicken the word in your heart as a living Word and you will enjoy your “new home” as a dwelling place of peace, security and a quiet resting place” (Isa 32 : 18-19). And when you wake up at night praise and thank Him for His faithfulness and for keeping His promise. He surely won’t permit anybody to do you harm. Read Ps 105 : 12-15.
8. The work of righteousness will be peace
It could be more than three months since I wrote any promises to “the quiet in the lands”. In the meantime we were abroad for more than six weeks. When I sat in the presence of my Father this morning, asking Him what the next promise should be, I opened the Scripture on Isa 32 : 17-18. Was it coincidence that I opened at exactly the Scripture that I wrote about last, a few months ago, when I was writing about the dwelling place of God’s people? What a good and faithful God we serve?
Today we must read Isa 32 : 17 again prayerfully in a spirit of expectance. Gods terms and conditions for all His promises are imperative in these times we are living in now in South Africa when so many people are murdered from day to day, even in their homes. At this point in time your are surely aware of the fact that Gods promises are subject to some terms and conditions? You can have the most precious promises and then experience that they are not fulfilled because you do not comply with the terms and conditions. Now, what are Gods conditions for the previous promise for a peaceful habitation, secure dwelling and a quiet resting place? (Verse 18). Verse 17 says: “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever”. Peace, quietness, and assurance here goes hand in hand with righteousness. Ps 85 : 11 says that “Righteousness and peace have kissed”. Thus, where there is unrighteousness there will be strife, war, all sorts of danger, crime and restlessness and no peace for sure.
But how is it possible for a sinful, unrighteous, corrupt person to obtain righteousness in such a short period of time in a situation of trouble as we are in South Africa? How is a sinner going to become a righteous person instantly? It all depends on how you prefer to become a just and righteous person. What is your view in this regard? Do you believe that you are justified by good works, by keeping the law? No, I have good news for you. And that is the gospel of grace: Rom 3 : 20, 24, 28 says that man is justified by faith and by grace and definitely not by good works or by keeping the law. Rom 5 : 1 says that we have peace with God because we are justified by faith. If you therefore believe that Christ is your righteousness as the Scripture says in 1 Cor 1 : 30, you are a just and righteous person. Instantly!
This peace does not come like the peace of this world when you go to bed tonight, knowing that you are fenced in with security walls, dogs like war-tanks, lights and sirens, not even to speak about your guns and amo! No, the peace that I am speaking about comes from Christ. He says: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”(John 14 : 27). He is our peace(Efes 2 14).
Thus we see that peace goes hand in hand with righteousness. If you then walk in righteousness you will automatically experience Christ as your peace in your heart. Do you believe now, as I have written above, that Christ is your righteousness? Than you are a just person, and then you can expect His peace, rest, quietness and assurance in the most dangerous situations. Yes, the peace of God,which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jashuah (Fil 4 : 7). Is’nt Jahweh good and faithful?
9. An urgent need for the promises of God
The past few days we have received reports of eleven farm attacks on mainly white farmers in South Africa. Four farmers died. I sat before my Father and seriously called to Him that He would talk to me about this. These attacks on whites in South Africa are not uncommon. Each year hundreds of white people die in this tragic way of genocide by an overwhelming force against the minority of 3 million people who will never survive. Besides, I repeat, except by intervention of the living God!
His people have been through many such mortal dangers in the past. If you read history you will soon discover that it is not something strange. The apostle Peter also says in 1 Peter 4: 12:” Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” So, He says that to be tried in such circumstances is not something unusual for the people of God. Jashuah told His disciples: “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world“(John 16: 33). My wife and I, on several occasions, stood at the grave of a loved one. She and I both buried a child. We therefore had experienced a little of the pain of death. Also we are dealing with people who do not have the ability to overcome the death of a loved one. And we found that if they do not change their view about death, they still don’t overcome their difficulty after years. I’m not saying you should not cry. Paul also does not say that we should not mourn, but he does say that we should not grieve “as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18). Therefore we will have to get into such a relationship with our Father that He will speak to us in such a loving way that we will come to very different insights and views regarding the death of loved ones. Now, where do we start? I realize that it is very urgent to address this issue. If I just look at the many messages that my beloved wife received today on social media about the farm murders, then I will certainly not exaggerate when I say that the whole country is abuzz about it. I assure you that I am, amidst a very busy schedule, writing this Word to you. But it is a matter which is very close to my heart. This is the nation which I am part of. I speak their language because I was born here, this is my mother tongue! I also feel the urgency of the Spirit, as He is laying this Word to you, on my heart. So I get the Word directly from my Father, and I thank Him endlessly for it! Now, what should we do?
* Firstly, you will have to surrender your life completely to Yahweh and also all the things regarding your salvation, so that, if you die or if He will keep you alife, you will love Him and are given to His will. This also implies that you believe that He holds the keys of death in His hand (Rev. 1: 18). He determined everyone’s date of death before the foundation of the earth, as well as his date of birth. David prayed: “Make my end known to me.” You will need to be given in such a way to His will, that you can say with Paul: “According to my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed; but with all boldness, as always, so now also, shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor; and what I shall choose I do not know. 23For I am in a dilemma: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better; 24but to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25And I trust and know that I will remain, even with all of you will keep your progress and joy in the faith … “(Phil 1: 20-24). Romans 14: 7 For none of us lives to himself and no one dies to himself. 8For if we live, we live unto the Lord; and if we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord”. The Scriptures I have quoted above refer clearly to the believers who have a deep committed relationship with their Father and His Son. And if the next of kin of such a child of God must stand at his grave, and they also have such a relationship with Jashuah and the Father, they can share in the joy of heaven when this believer entered the gates of heaven ! This is where Scripture in Psalm 116: 15 apply: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” This is also why we sometimes come to a funeral where the next of kin is particularly comforted, though they wept. But they see their beloved in the glory of God and how happy He is for His saints who came home. The friends and relatives of the deceased also realize that it is God’s time for him / her to come home. Although the death happened by a murder, it was God’s time. Jashuah has the keys of death, He unlocks the door and no man closes, and vice versa (Rev. 1: 18; 3: 7). There is no such thing as ‘he / she could still be alive if there was more order in South Africa’ or ‘If such aggression was not allowed here, my loved one could have been alive’. No matter how hard it may seem, but it was his / her time. Yahweh determined the hour of each person’s birth and death before the foundation of the world. Job lost his children all at once and said,”The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; may the name of the Lord be blessed! “22In all this Job did not sin and charge God with wrong. (Job 1: 1-22).
Our human efforts to change our fate in South Africa will make matters worse. On the question if we as white Europeans where being sent here by God 365 years ago, you need to clear out with your Father, if you know His voice. Yesterday the people dressed black and arrived at various places in large numbers to block highways. Their goal is to establish the international attention on the genocide which is going on in South Africa. Needless to say, the news media broadcast nothing, or very little, about the killings. What should we do as children of God here on the South tip of Africa? If you realize that for those who love God all things work together for good, it will change your life! Romans 8: 28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”. “If you do think of something that we have to do to stop this massacre, and you sit down before your Father’s face to hear from Him what He recommends, He, in His love, will tell you what He expects you to do. You will also soon realize that He does not think like you think. Isaiah 55: 8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” He might first tell you that there is a curse on those who trust in man and the arm of the flesh (Jeremiah 17: 5-7), but that there is a blessing on him who trusts in Him (verse 7). Psalm 147: 10-14: “He has no pleasure in the strength of the horse, no pleasure in the legs of a man. 11The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, that wait for His mercy “. Psalm 33: 16 : “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength”. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy To deliver their soul from death…”
Many things on social media comes to us every day. My beloved wife handles everything! And how she succeeds I know it’s just grace. But among all the plans that the farmers have to stop the murders there came a message yesterday by a farmer. It was more or less the same that the Father has told me; “Let us stop to search for human solutions. Put down the guns and let us bow low before our God and confess that we have wandered from Him, as our ancestors have done. Let’s confess with our hearts their transgressions and ours. Let us humble ourselves before Him and beg and beseech Him to forgive us and restore us as His children. Then He would send in some wonderful ways for our outcome”. Yes, it’s true. The Bible is full of testimonies of outcomes that God sent if the people humbled themselves before Him. In the section on “The testimonies of God” I’ll write more about it as Father leads.
The Scripture text in Romans 8: 28, however, is an important Word: It says that all work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Who are these people who are called according to His purpose? We will have to get a Word from our Father in this regard, because it determines if everything that happens to you, work together for good or not. So we pray that He will speak to us in a next chapter, if He wants.
If we just now realized that life and death is not in the hands of the enemies or the wicked, but in the hands of our loving Father, we already have a spiritual milestone! If it is now our time to die, it will certainly not come in any other time. If we also realize that the way we dies is determined by God, it is another step forward. I think if Stephen lived in our time we would certainly would have been bitter to the Jews who stoned him. Not so? Read as soon as it is possible for you, Acts 6: 8-15 and verses 54-60. This was a man of God’s death as a martyr. He did not curse his enemies, but prayed for them! as Jashuah also did on the cross (Luke 23: 34). It is in any case the attitude of a believer who knows that his God all works all things together for good to him, and that everything is organized by his heavenly Father. I also do not get the impression when I read about Stephen that he was in terrible pain. Have you noticed that his face showed no pain but rather have shined? Verse 55-56:”But he was full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”. Is this not an example for us how should a true child of God die? Have you ever learned in the history of the millions of Christians who were martyred during the Dark Ages? They told us that families stood at the stake, singing while they were consumed by the flames. “You will not even be able to sing with your finger in a candle, let alone on a stake? But it is clear that the same Jashuah that stood up from His seat at the right hand of His Father when His faithful disciple, Stephen, was stoned to death for the sake of His Name, is also the Jashuah who supported His disciples being killed during the Middle Ages, without feeling significant pain – even with a song on their lips! But, are our people today dying for the sake of Jashuah’s Name or perhaps because of something else?
10. The sting of death removed
1 Corinthians 15: 55-56: “Death,where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ” Over the centuries, man had a fear of death. Heb 2 : 14-15: “He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”. Yes, death had a sting, and it counts for the majority of people on earth. What is the reason for this? Sin and the law! Hear what the Scripture passage we read above says: “… the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” When the sin problem is addressed and also conquered, the sting of death will disappear for you. But the Bible says that it is the law which gives power to sin. Through the centuries many debated “the law” and whether we should keep it or not. What is the dictionary’s description of the word ‘Law’? There are several meanings, some of which refer to the laws of the country, another to the Law of Moses, others society laws, and others to the laws of nature, scientific laws etc. At the time of the New Testament, especially Paul, preached a lot and also wrote about the law of the Old Testament, in contrast to the grace and faith message of the gospel in the New Testament. To write about it now here will detract from our loving Father’s purpose in this “Promises to the quiet in the lands”. Therefore, I want to briefly say: If you received Jashuah as your Saviour from a serious and sincere heart, you will get a great desire to do His will and to please Him in everything. Especially if He poured out His love in your heart according to Romans 5: 5. If you love Him truly you will want to keep His commandments (John 14: 21-24). Therefore Romans 13: 8,10; Gal 5: 14 says that love is the fulfilling of the law. Did Jashuah not also summarize the entire Old Testament in two texts, when He in Matthew 22: 34-40 said that to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and your neighbour as yourself, are the two commandments through which all the law and the prophets were fulfilled?
Now I want to challenge you to create this love for God and your neighbour, by your own abilities and your own strength. Try from now on and, after a period of days or weeks, you sit in front of your Father and say to Him what Paul said in Romans 7: 4-26. (In order to do it you will obviously have to read this section first and meditate on it). There are many Scriptures that say the same, but if you truly love your Father and His Son you will soon see that you, in your own strength and your ability, will not be able to do so. Then the Father will give you a revelation, the same that I personally had years ago while ministering in Komatipoort. One night at a prayer meeting, He showed me that His Son, Jashuah Messiah, is my righteousness (1 Cor 1: 30). He is our righteousness! “Him who knew no sin, God made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM” (2 Cor 5: 21). Truly one of the greatest Scriptures in the Bible! If you believe Him, and store this Word in your heart, it will be implemented and activated by the Spirit in your heart. Especially if He adds to it the Word that says that He poured out the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, in your heart (Rom 8: 11). And if you read, and reread, that deserts, merits and the good deeds of the law, can not give you salvation, then the light started going up for you. If you have time you can read the following in this regard: Romans 7: 4-26; Romans 3 19-28; Romans 10: 4-11; Gal 3: 21-25; Galatians 4: 1-9; Galatians 5: 3-5.
For every believer in Christ, there is a time “before faith came” and a time Scripture referred to as: “But now that faith has come” (Gal 3: 23 and 25). Paul says in verse 24: “The law was our tutor to Christ.” The more you begin to realize that you can not keep the law, the more you want that Christ, who has fulfilled the law (Matthew 5: 17), will also do it on your behalf. Then your eyes are opened for the great revelation and truth that He had done it ALREADY. He has fulfilled the law already on your behalf! And if you do believe it, you will find that the Word that says, “But now that faith has come,” also works in your heart and that you truly believe that He has fulfilled the law on behalf of you, and that He therefore now IS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore the Father seeks nothing else from you in order to be saved than only that you believe that He has fulfilled the law on your behalf and that He is now your righteousness.
If you reached this point you start to know the GRACE of God in truth, and then the gospel of the kingdom (Matt 24: 14) will bear fruit (Col. 1: 6). The fruit are many and various. One of the major fruit – in fact they are all important – is the fearlessness of death that fills your heart. It is said that the saints who died in the Middle Ages under tremendous torture, did not shrink from death but was actually excited that their turn would come to go to the stake, or to be fed to the hungry lions. They also believed that they therefore “would gain a better resurrection” (Hebrews 11: 35). To them who were killed death certainly had no sting, and they were not afraid to die. Would you say that you get the impression that death has a stinger for many of us South Africans, and they are afraid to die? If so, we as intercessors already have a very important thing to pray for on behalf of our fellow believers. Start right now!
11. We would have become like Sodom
(Isa 1:9)
Sodom and Gomorrah was referred to for many years in our popular speech as “terrible places and people that God will burn with fire and brimstone because of their dissolute and immoral lives”. In Sodom of old, in His goodness and mercy to Lot, the nephew of Abraham, God spared him and his two daughters. His wife would have been saved if she had not disobeyed the orders of the angels, and then turned into a pillar of salt. Also the New Testament Scripture refers to her as an example for us (Luke 17: 28- 37). Lot was vexed by the wicked dissolute life (2 Peter 2: 4-10). Do you think that our sinful world is still not as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah, and that we do not need, like Lot, to be saved from out of this world? Do you think that because our modern world is at least not so bad, we will not find God in His anger? You’ll have to talk to your Father if your thinking is so wrong. Conditions today are very bad, worse than in those days, but God (Elohim) kept Himself quiet for a long time (Isaiah 57: 11) and therefore the people don’t fear Him.
The reason why He is silent is to let men’s cup of unrighteousness become full. Read Dan 9: 24; Matt 23: 32; Ps 75: 8; Jeremiah 25: 15. Yahweh wants to claim all the blood of the saints, which was shed through the centuries, from this generation who are now living on the earth. Matt 23: 35-36: “…that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. “
Then it is also important to note that Sodom and Gomorrah’s great sin was not so much immorality, yes, it was horrible and abominable in the Lord’s eyes, but read Ezekiel 16: 48-50 ‘48 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit. 51 “Samaria did not commit half of your sins…”
Is this not what James 5: 1-6 say? Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
Thus the Father is saying here, that the great sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was that they lived in luxury while they did not care for the poor! Their mother sin surely was unbelief in the Word of God, as you have read in previous chapters. And arising from unbelief they closed their hearts and hands for the poor while they themselves lived in luxury. This is a matter that you and I have to go and make out with the Father in how much we are guilty of this sin of Sodom. But, here comes the good news:” Unless the Lord of host had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1: 9). Yes, in our days, as Yahweh, who was appointed by His Father as Judge to judge the nations in this end time, that of which we read in Revelation 14: 9-13, torment this world in His wrath and fury, there still will be a remnant. You should read it yourself if you have the chance. Romans 11: 5; “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace”. We will not all die. There will be a remnant for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken! Yes, many are going to die in this country and throughout the world, but there will be a remnant in Southern Africa and also over the world.
The remnant will initially be a small, meek and humble people who in the Name of Yahweh will shelter (Zephaniah 3: 12-13). Eventually these same meek and humble people will be the stone that roled down the mountain and destroyed the image, which Daniel prophecied about – that is all the kingdoms of the earth. (Dan 2; 44-45). Then they will rule the whole earth (Daniel 7: 21-28).
To be part of the remnant you will truly have to seek your Father’s face praying Him to pour out His grace upon you in order that you will know Him in His great love. 1 Peter 4: 7 says, “And the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. Jashuah’s advice for the last days is: “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” (Luke 21: 34-35). Also Rev 3: 10 says: “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from (Afrikaans: “IN”) the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth”.
This means that there is a test through which all the inhabitants of the earth will have to go to be declared “tested, approved and well-proven”. Like an examination at school or university, it is important that you will prepare for it in good time!
If the Scripture says that the remnant will be small, it definitely points at the fact that not everyone will be part of it. It’s like when a women sews a garment from a piece fabric and there remains a small piece of it. And this is called ‘the remnant’.
If you go to your Father now and ask Him to speak to you about the remnant He will surely give you a living Word about them. That will inspire you to pray for the remnant!
12. Called according to His purpose
We should never underestimate this part’s importance and never forget it. I would, if I were you, have myself now bowed down before my Father praying Him to quicken this Word in my heart so that it can produce fruit for His glory. But, however, let’s continue.
On this earth we are dealing today with the intention or purpose of people in contrast to the purpose of God. In Acts 5: 38-39 we read: “And now I say to you, Refrain from these men and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you cannot kill it – lest ye be found even to fight against God”. In Ephesians 1: 11 there is a deep and intricate Word: “In whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being foreordained according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His will “. We wrote in an earlier part about the glorious truth that all things work together for good to them that love God,“…for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8: 28).
The question comes to you and me, ‘Am I called to the purpose of God? “ Or even: ‘Is my intention in everything that I do according to the purpose of God, or is it according to the purpose of people? ” The passage above in Acts 5: 38-39 says that if it is by my own purpose or the purpose of people, it will be destroyed. We live right now in a world where there is more turmoil in almost every field: political, social, economic, security, religious, health and much more. I do not need to tell you that, because you see it for yourself on the news. Everyday we have to make choices and decisions. At the end of the day we will know whether that intention was according to our own purpose or that of men or of the purpose of Yahweh. Jashuah says that every plant that His heavenly Father did not plant, will be uprooted (Matt 15: 13). That means all this world established in the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – which is not of the Father – will pass away, but the Word of God alone will remain forever (1 John 2: 15-17).
The question that a reasonable person now would ask is: Do I still have to continue with my business? Or should I still work for a salary? Yes, definitely! To work was commissioned by God to Adam before the Fall. To work for a renumeration is also Biblically justified. But the question is whether God planned in advance that you have to work at that specific location? Years ago I got a call to a smaller town with less pay and no high school for my children. Many things there were more unfavourable than where I was. Then a fellow pastor said to me that one should progress in life – always to a bigger and better place with a bigger salary. My answer to him was that to progress in God’s Kingdom means to grow in the grace and personal knowledge of God. That is real progress. To be in His will and His purpose with my life is progress. You can read 2 Pet 1: 2-12 and 2 Pet 3: 18 if you have the time. It is not about more money or better conditions, but only because He had to send you on a specific date and time to a place chosen by Him with a purpose to His kingdom and His will there to be done. Now there arises many questions: ‘Is the place where you work according to God’s purpose?’ So also the house you live in, the car you drive, your furniture, plans for your garden, plans for your holiday, etc., etc.? Are all these actions in your life what He purposed for you, or is it according to your own intention and plans?
If you read Ephesians 1: 11 and 3: 11, and Romans 9: 11, you will realize that your Creator has planned a certain way and purpose for you. Ephesians 2: 10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. If you don’t walk in it, then you walk in your own purpose and will. And then your works will eventually fail. And then all things do not work together for the good, as Romans 8: 28 says, but rather for the bad.
You may now realize that God has planned everything for your life, yes, also your spiritual growth, and also the moment you will be redeemed from sin, as well as the day you will be filled with His Spirit. Yes, every step of spiritual growth! Everything in your life is determined by Him. You will now ask if you can’t change anything about it. Will your zeal with which you pray not speed things up? Now read Phil 2: 13. It says that it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. The zeal with which you seek His face and pray to Him, is also inspired by Him, and also at His appointed time. Now read the following Scriptures prayerfully and with an open mind, without stubbornly holding on to your view that you can gain spiritual virtues and qualities more quickly through your works and your efforts.
I just want to make it clear that God did not decide beforehand that certain people should go to hell and others go to heaven. He wants to save all people (1 Tim. 2: 4), but all people do not want to do His will and they actually choose to be lost (Acts 13:46). God knew everything beforehand and also that you would be willing to do His will. On that basis He has determined your whole life path for the good. Hence the Word in Rom 8: 28, (a Scripture that you ought to read). Therefore, He has determined your whole spiritual path. He calls it His eternal purpose for you. Now read the following Scriptures: Rom 9: 11-21: ” What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Eph 1:11 “in Him we also received an inheritance being predestined for this purpose according to the intention of Him who works all according to the counsel of His will”. Eph 3:11 “… according to the eternal intent which He conceived in Christ Jesus our Lord… ”. 2 Tim 1: 9 “… who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace that has been given to us in Christ Jesus forever…”
NOTE that He clearly states that it is not through your works through which you obtain it but according to His own purpose and grace. We will have to write separately about this grace, but now only about your own efforts and works by which you want to promote spiritual power, and virtues. Read Romans 3:20, 27, 28. In Rom 4: 2-7 Scripture states that Abraham was justified by faith and not by works. But faith is not from yourself, it is a gift from God (Eph. 2: 8-10). Remember that all good gifts descend from the Father (James 1: 17-18). Over the years I met many people who tried very hard, well-meaning, to become holy through their own strength, efforts and works, and that was always a failure– it was man-made and artificial! But I also met them who waited on Yahweh and kept His Word in their hearts until it germinated and yielded fruit. What a difference between what you are trying to do (DIY) and what He does for you? So what does He expect from you to do as part of your free will? He only expects from you to do the works of faith. Read James 2: 14 We write about this in a next section. Pray for that.
13. The Testimonies of God
Apart from all the things our Father in heaven did for you throughout your life, there are many things he has done for our ancestors. Maybe you can’t even remember everything He did for you. I myself forgot most of God’s benefits, while the psalmist says in Psalm 103 that none of His benefits is forgotten. Yeah, I get ashamed if suddenly something inside me reminds of everything He did for me, when I suddenly remember what my Father did years ago. All the things the father did for us is our testimonies, and besides what he did for us, there are all the miracles written in the Scriptures that he did in the time of the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
The testimonies of God are the events in the history of God’s actions with man on earth through which He has proved himself as the God of love, kindness, long-suffering, omnipotence, omniscience, forgiveness, and many more. He also wants to show the world that we are His children to whom He wants to show al His goodness and blessings, even in times of trouble.
If you can now read through the longest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119, you will be amazed how many times it refers to the “testimonies of God”. In the history of Israel, it was very important that their leaders, like Moses, shared the testimonies of God with the people. Also for king David was it very important to admonish his son Solomon, at the end of his kingdom: “Now the days of David drew near that he should die, he charged Solomon his son, saying:
2I will On the way of the whole earth: Be strong and become a man;
3and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in everything you do, and everything you do to yourself;
4That the Lord may continue his word which he spoke concerning me, ” (1 Kings 2: 1-4)
Much time is spent by Christians on Bible study, yet one finds that there is a lack of knowledge of the testimonies of God, yet it is one of the main reasons why a believer should read the Bible. What Scripture means by “I have kept your testimonies” (Ps. 119: 22) is that the Holy Spirit will quicken the Word of God in your heart, as we have already written in previous passages. Then you will find that the day when you are in a great need or crisis, the Holy Spirit is faithful to remind you of the words of Jashuah as He promised in John 14: 26. He will remind you of all that our God – Elohim – has done for His children through history. He will remind you of His faithfulness to those who served and loved Him. Also, He will remind you how He dealt with the enemies of His people. If you then believe His testimonies that He is going to do the same for you in your emergency situation, He will do miracles for you in order to rescue you from your distress as He did in Biblical days and also for our ancestors through the history.
For Him it is not only important that you remember His testimonies, but it is also important to Him that His testimonies will be repeated in your life. It is of the utmost importance to Him that the things recorded in the history of His actions with man, will be repeated in your and my life. He also wants to close the mouths of the lions for us, rain manna from heaven, provide water for our thirst, heal our diseases, protect us in special ways.
Part of the covenant He made with us through the blood of His Son was that we would keep His testimonies. 2 Chronicles 34 verse 31 “And the king stood in his place stood and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul to perform the words of the covenant written in this book”.
When Jashuah, before His ascension, stood on the Mount of Olives, He instructed His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they are endued with the power of the Holy Spirit from on high. He promised them: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Being witnesses of Jashuah means being on-going evidence that He has risen from the dead. It also means that the things God has done through history for His people and His children will also be reproduced or repeated in your life by the same Holy Spirit. Yes, even greater than these: John 14: 12, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He who believes in Me, the works that I do he shall do also; and he will do greater works than this, because I go to my Father. “If you can rejoice in His testimonies as much as you do in all riches and all sorts of wealth, your life will soon change: Ps 119: 14 “I rejoice in the way of your testimonies as in all riches.24Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors”. Pray your Father now earnestly that He will show you all His testimonies in the history of His people and also in your own life. It will fill you with gratitude and joy when you start counting all your blessings. Also, your faith will be strengthened to believe that what He has done for others, He can do and will do in your life as well.
Read now Psalm 111 verses 2 and 3 and note that he says that if you delight in the works of god he will increasingly be telling you and showing you what He actually is doing for you. There are so many things that God does for us that we take for granted, but if you really like to see how God works in your life, your eyes will suddenly open to many more things He does for you than you ever realized. Pray your father now that he will make this word alive in you because then only you will discover a treasure of spiritual wealth that you could never realize that you possess it. I also pray with you now that according to 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 you will not receive the word as a word of man but as it is truly the word of God who also works in you who believe.
14. Persecuted for His Name sake
Were there also in the town where you grew up, notorious people who had the bad name of being brute savages, people who didn’t hesitate to make the life of peacemakers unpleasant? And for their name’s sake, they have moved out of society. Such people may deserve what they experience and sometimes they don’t deserve it either. But that they persecuted Jashuah and eventually crucified Him, after an indescribable torture, was undeserved. That they burned his followers on piles for two thousand years after His crucifixion, fed to the lions and abused them in various horrible ways, was undeserved. Solomon says that a name is more preferable than great wealth. He clearly refers to a good name here. It doesn’t help if you are rich and have a bad name!
If you really desire today to live godly in Christ before your Father in this modern day in which we live, you will be persecuted. It is not to be doubted at all. Read that 2 Timothy 3: 12 says:”And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Jashuah said: These things I have spoken unto you, that ye may have peace in Me. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
This persecution was for His name’s sake. It was certainly not for the sake of a bad name that He had over which they persecuted Him, it was for the sake of a good name, a great and glorious name, a holy and awesome name (Ps 111: 9). And this is also the reason why they have persecuted His disciples through all the ages, for the sake of His Name, which was written on their foreheads (Rev 22: 4)). Satan hates that Name. He fears that Name because it is the Name of the One who met him in an open dual battle and conquered him, and took the keys of Hades with Him (Col 2: 15; Rev 1: 18; Heb 2: 14-15). This is the Name of the One who sets free everyone who desires it from Satan’s power. I say Satan knows that Name of Jashuah and that he fears that Name. Therefore, shortly after Jashuah’s ascension, Satan instigated his evil comrades so that they should command the disciples of Jashuah not to speak in that name, the name of Jashuah (Acts 4: 17-18; 5: 28). The apostle Paul also, before his repentance, persecuted and even gave instructions to kill everyone who confessed the name of Jashuah. Read the following scriptures please: Acts 4: 17: 7 But that it spread no further among the people, let us severly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. 18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Acts 5: 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name? And, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine; and you want to bring the blood of this Man upon us”. Acts 5:40: “And having called in the apostles, they smote them, and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jashuah, and to let them go”.
For the believers of that time, it was a great honour and privilege to be persecuted for the sake of the Name of Jashuah. Acts 5: 41:”They went from the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven; for so they persecuted the prophets that were before you” (Matt 5: 11). 1 Peter 4: 12 “Beloved, do not be surprised about the fiery trial among you which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13but as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that you may rejoice at the revelation of his glory with exceeding joy.
14If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. As for them, he is blasphemed; but as for you, he is glorified”.
If you and I can realize how great the fear is that Satan has for the name of Jashuah, if we can also realize how great the hatred is for that name that arises from his great fear, we will also realize why he persecutes the children of God who believe in that name, and confess that name (Heb 13:15), and upon whom that name was written (Rev. 2:17; Rev. 3:12), so severely.
Not only are individuals persecuted for the sake of Jashuah’s Name, there are even peoples and nations who are persecuted as a Christian nation – even to death. And there are still such persecutions today. There are people who do not have the Spirit of God, but are filled with the spirit of this world, an evil spirit, which hates other people who have the Spirit of Christ in them (Gal. 4: 6; Rom 8: 9), and persecutes them to death. Then we think of the persecution of the Protestants in France from which our ancestors – the Huguenots – fled to many countries, as well as to South Africa. We think of “The quiet ones in the lands”, which has been persecuted to death for centuries. And there is at least one people today who is persecuted for the name of Jashuah, who confesses Him – though not the entire people who confess that name but only a small portion. And this is because of another spirit who is in the persecutors that they persecute and kill the saints who have the Spirit of Christ. Not for another reason!
Has that name been called upon you? Is that name written on you? Do you believe in that name? If you can answer ‘yes’ to this, you should expect to be prosecuted for some reason for that name, yes, even to death. The reason is that Satan trembles and trembles for the name written on you. he hates that name. that is why he wants to persecute and kill anyone who has the name of Yahshua Messiah on his forehead and appreciates being sealed. Read Matthew 2 verse 16 and note how Satan used Herod to kill the little boy Christ by killing all the little boys of two years and below. Herod did not know who exactly this King of the Jews was and thought that by killing all the boys, he would surely remove the little Christ. It is the Satan who worked through him. Likewise, Satan is working today through people, seemingly good-hearted people who belong to Christian churches, to remove from society those on whom the name of Jahshua is written, by blaming, accusing and slandering them, and selling them out to the media. Again, it is the spirit of Satan in those people who trembles and fears the Spirit of Christ in the upright saints.
If you know that the name of Jashuah is written on you and that you belong to Him and it is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead that also lives in you (Rom 8:11), there will also be a promise with that knowledge that every one who calls on that Name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21). Sit in front of your Father and tell Him that you are prepared to be persecuted by His grace for the sake of the Name of His Son, but that you cannot stand in your own power, that you need His grace greatly and you trust in Him to persevere. If you trust in Him you will never be ashamed. Then, like our ancestors, “The quiet ones in the Land” (Ps 35: 20), you will be able to stand and sing on the stake and glorify Jashuah’s name while the flames consume you.
Then, a word of warning to those who are accepted by society, are regarded and not persecuted for the sake of Yahshua’s Name: if I were you I would have investigated myself deeply before my Father and ask Him: Father why am I not persecuted for the sake of the Name of Jahshua? It is clearly said in a word that if I want to live godly in Christ Jesus I will be persecuted. And I’m not persecuted. There must be something lacking in my spiritual life! Think about this. Pray about this. It may be a red light that flashes for you.
15. The Fruit of the Spirit
After your unforgettable experience of receiving rebirth, or the new birth, and accepting Christ as your righteousness (1 Cor. 1: 30), the desire to be a son / daughter on whom the Father can be proud as a vine-dresser becomes proud on the fruit that its vineyard yields. You desire that, when He walks through His vineyard and He sees the beautiful fruit that it has yielded, and how happy He is, that you also bear fruit to His glory. Immediately, you begin with human efforts to have a beautiful life on which, you think, He will be proud. The more you try and the more you experience that the word in Romans 7 verse 8 to verse 25 is true in your life as it was in the case of the Apostle Paul: the more you try to do well the more you do actually evil. Every night you confess your transgressions and sins of that day. And that can continue for many years. You never come to the place that you are truly free from sin and that you bear fruit to the glory of your Father. what would be the reason for this? You find the answer in John 15: 4-5 where he says that if you abide in Him you will bear much fruit. Note that nowhere it says that you have to produce the fruit, you only have to bear it. In Ephes 2 verse 10 He says: “for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared, that we may should walk in them”. So He already has prepared the good works that you can do them – this is the fruit He is seeking by you. You only have to walk in it. So you only have to bear the fruit, He produces it. However, there is a condition attached: you must abide in Him (John 15: 4-5).
Much is said in different churches about the fruit of the Spirit. I myself have written a lot about it and also preached on it, but there is one important truth that must always live in our hearts and that is: it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not our fruit—we only bear the fruit. Why do I repeat it? That you will never forget it. So the Holy Spirit produces the fruit, and we bear it. In order to enable the Spirit of our Father to bring forth the fruit which He has been seeking for such a long time, we must have an active working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In order to obtain this, His Word will work in you (1 Thess 2:13) for the Word and the Spirit are one. The Word God speaks to you is Spirit and is life (John 6:63).
It is therefore important that the seed of the Word through which you are born again (1 Pet 1:23) fall into good ground in your heart or spirit. (Luke 8: 8-15). And then that seed dies as John 12 verse 24 says: “Most asuredly, I say unto you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain”. The process of dying should already, by this time, be known by you as it has been emphasized over and over by many writers as the key to life: the death with Christ is the key to the resurrection life of Christ, namely the rebirth. If you have not died with Him, you cannot live with Him. The dying with Him brings you to the point that you can do nothing more of yourself than just wait for Him until His life flows through you. A dead person cannot make efforts, he cannot try either. And if the Word has fallen into your heart as the grain of wheat or seed, it must first go through the process of dying, that is, a process by which everything that the Word promised comes to a zero in your heart so that you see nothing else but the opposite happens. For example, if it is a word of salvation that you have received, you first experience the opposite of salvation, namely, a lesser state of redemption and addiction. I realize that you will be frightened at hearing this, but this is the path of salvation. For example, if you got a word that Father pours out in you, through His Spirit, long suffering and patience as fruit of the Spirit, you will probably experience even greater impatience and no long suffering.
When Jesus announced in John 12 verse 23 that the hour had come that the Son of man should be glorified, He added an important condition namely: “If the grain of wheat does not fall into the ground and die, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit”. The Word “dies” means corruption and decay. So it means there is no sign that the promise that comes through this Word will be fulfilled. There is therefore no sign of fruit to come, all that remains is an unwavering trust in the word of the Lord, and also the patience to wait until the fruit comes. In fact, the patience I refer to here is the first fruit of the spirit, namely long suffering and patience (Galatians 5:22). you would like the spirit to start with the fruits you would like to bear first, but it doesn’t work that way, it starts with the fruit the Holy Spirit wants to yield first through you. In this case it is patience and endurance! Complaints and arguments against this truth? You have no choice.
We received the most beautiful and wonderful promises by the living word. The word may already have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit in your mind, it is in your intellect and emotions. Yet you desire the word to be alive in your spirit and in your heart, but you cannot turn it on yourself. It can only be alive if the Holy Spirit revives or quickens it and, as I have already said above, the seed of the word referred to (Luke 8 verse 11) will only die. The dying process to which I refer is closely linked to the death referred to by Galatians 5: 20. It means that being crucified with Christ and not living any more, you are not able to bring any life to that seed of the Word. Thus the promises of God will only come true when the same Spirit through which God the Father raised Christ from the dead (Rom 8:11), reveals the Word in you. This Word causes you to live – the same life that Christ received at His resurrection. It is yours now too! What a word? And if you believe it, the Holy Spirit will be faithful to complete every Word with power (2 Thess 1:11). Galatians 6: 9 encourages us not to get tired because at the right time we will reap if we do not relax.
If you experience the above condition and you would just continue to believe in God, praise and thank Him for the fruit He reveals in your life through His Spirit, even if you do not see it or feel it, you will soon see the appearance of the fruit of the Spirit.
I can still write a lot about this subject but it is all that the Holy Spirit leads me to share with you at this stage. Pray and let Him pour out His love and His grace into your heart so that you can bear much fruit to the glory of the great Vine-dresser who is also your Father. If I refer to prayer here, you should know what the power of prayer entails. Just the fact that you are still trying to do things yourself and try to bear fruit is actually an indication that you have not discovered the depths of prayer yet. God is the answerer of prayer and He says in different places in the Scripture that if you pray you will receive. Who says this? God who can’t lie (Heb 6: 18). If you believe that God is the answerer of prayer, you will also make progress with the fruit of the Spirit. Otherwise you must forget to bear fruit, as the key to fruit, namely prayer to God, in the Name of His Son is the key to everything.