Newfrontiers Europe Conference - Session 1

"A Covenant of Grace" - 10 May 2008

"When He split that veil from top to bottom - when on the Cross He said, "It is finished!" - a new covenant began that is drastically different to the old covenant.

"My mission in life is to set believers free from mixing Old Covenant and New Covenant together! It is a joyful assignment!"

It faces much opposition though because believers want to fight for the right to be depressed! They believe suffering is always the will of God - condemnation and accusation is normal. It is not normal under a New Covenant! It is weird! It is strange - foreign - alien! Romans 8:1; "There is now NO condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus!". He didn't say "to those that never sin". What would be the point of that? It says to those that are in Christ Jesus! God wants us to rise up and condemn condemnation, accuse accusation, grab guilt round the throat and get out the religious boat and realise we can float and wear our Father's glory coat!

Open your Bibles to Acts chapter 5. I want to talk on the glory of God. How many of you believe that God has called us to build nothing but New Testament churches? I am not looking for a pragmatic model or shortcuts. I believe the book of Acts is the only type of church that will eventually invade nations successfully. Sometimes it looks like going book of Acts is too slow and there are other methadologies we should adopt because they seem to work.

I believe those that are faithfully seeking to demonstrate a book of Acts church are about to be rewarded with great results.

Let's read what the New Testament church looked like and remember this is the baby church. They had not reached the full measure of the stature of Christ yet. We live at the climax and consummation of the ages. So we are about to see the Church arise in the earth that prophets of centuries ago longed and dreamed for - but we are the people now. What Dave Holden preached this morning - it glowed with faith and what Hank preached about transition and what the prophets have prophesied about already being in this weekend of acceleration - and that faith will accelerate the transition.

We are in a wave of glory already on the planet whether you know it or now and it is not just because of what is happening in Florida. God is already visiting this planet in an unprecidented way and I believe the UK and Europe are going to be leaders in this manifestation of the glory of God in the earth. Some 3rd world nations have written Europe off as Christian nations. They are utterly wrong! Some of the greatest signs and wonders are going to come out of Europe and the UK!

Acts 5 - here is a New Testament church - the way Jesus birthed it before it was polluted by the toxic traditions of men. (v12-16). "Crowds ... crowds .... crowds gathered". Not bringing in their sick to a healing crusade but bringing their sick to a local church - to a normal Sunday meeting and "ALL were healed". There is a precident in the New Testament Church that they had meetings where ALL were healed. Everyone troubled by evil spirits were ALL set free. That is because Jesus had meetings where ALL were healed and ALL were set free.

So they were not polluted by the toxic theologies of unbelief - their teacher was Jesus and then the Holy Spirit. That is a great Bible school.

I know Paul had some that were sick and I know they didn't get everyone healed all the time but why do we quickly focus on that? Why don't we preach this - "ALL were healed" - more boldly? Because we are afraid of hurting people who leave the meeting still sick so we live under the torment of never raising false hope - but we then become prisoners of that fear.

How can I be guilty of raising false hope if I am preaching God's Word? Faith is the substance of things hoped for! And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God! The more the revelation of God's will comes into our hearts, the more the substance of hope comes into our hearts - but if we are held prisoner to fear, we will keep on qualifying - we cannot reduce the Word of God down to the current experience of the Church!

There needs to be some bold radical men and women in the Church today! I will not be a prisoner of fear! I will not be intimidated by those theologians who are trying to make out we are fringe fanatics - we are not! Jesus was perfect theology and He healed them ALL! He said; "ALL who believe on Me, the works that I do shall you do also and even greater works because I am going to the Father and I will send the Holy Spirit". The first church had a meeting where ALL were healed!

There is a hunger in the church world today more intense than many leaders are aware of - I believe there is a revolution happening on our planet - I believe Europe is at a tipping point - a scientifically, architecturally, politically geared society and so on - yet bored with the transcendance - the absence of the supernatural.

Not only are believers getting desperately hungry to see the mighty works of God but also the unsaved society don't even know what they are hungry for but they are hungry for something! The Bible says that God is shaking all things in the nations - the desire for all things in the nations - the desire for all things is going to come! He is Jesus! They don't even know they are desiring Him and they don't even know it. Europe is full of New Agers - they are a statement to the absence of the supernatural in the church.

Don't judge them! A spiritual son of mine - Fini de Gersigny in Australia - went to a New Age festival last week and put up their own booth and advertised predicting the future, prophesying, healing. They had so many miracles there that if I told you some of them, you might be tempted to think I am exaggerating. They found it so easy to do signs and wonders there - much easier than in most churches! Most churches have a "Nazareth" syndrome - only minor miracles allowed there and NO mighty works because they are offended and full of unbelief! In the New Age world they are open to supernatural things.

They had a New Age lady come into their booth. On the Thursday a woman came bandaged up with a shard of glass in her foot that the doctors who operated on couldn't remove because it was too close to a nerve. After prayer, the girl praying for her noticed a large piece of glass on the carpet next to her. She said; "Is this your glass?!". The lady had seen it on X-rays and said it was. When they opened up the bandage there was no lump where the glass had been - no scar and of course no pain. She danced around! No scar! I like miracles in church but I am much more excited when they go out there among the lost!

One lady in our church teaches at a private school - it's not a Christian school - to little Chinese children. Their first language is Cantonese not English. She started talking to them about the Holy Spirit - never been at church and don't know anything about church. I don't know if it was even legal for her to talk about the Holy Spirit. We've got to take some risks! Don't ask permission in Hong Kong - just do it, that's the best way because they are so legalistic in Hong Kong they will say "No". So the children said to her; "Who is the Holy Spirit?". She said; "I will tell you what - I will invite Him to come in here and then you can meet Him" - because we teach every person in our church about the anointing and how you can have your words clothed the anointing.

Not to speak words from your brain but from your spirit - and I trained them how to release the anointing! All our members - expats and Chinese can all release the anointing! So she said; "Holy Spirit - come!". These children suddenly said; "Ooh I have got electricity in my hands!". Some of them started laughing. They hadn't been told that you don't laugh at church - they hadn't been to church! Others started weeping and demons lifted off. Demons lifted off and the glory of God came into the classroom! I live for that stuff!

If the church doesn't wake up then God is going to move on the unsaved and raise up new churches of unsaved people! If you can't get miracles in church then be encouraged - go out there and do them out there! The unsaved and new agers don't live under an Old Covenant mentality. They are open to grace - it's the Church who is bound up with law. There is such a hunger!

I was so shocked a few days ago - we have a website for our church - City Church International - we have about 35, 000 downloads off our website of our messages around the world. Last month we put up the downloads of a Glory and Grace conference we did. In April we had 348, 481 downloads - in April alone! Many from Europe and the Middle East! What is that? Is that a commentary on my preaching? No! That is a commentary on the hunger in people's hearts for glory and grace!

You cannot have an unfading glory on your life unless we fully understand the New Covenant - guilt and glory don't go together! It is grace and glory!

There are only 2 types of glory in the earth right now. There is a fading glory that happens to people who live under grace and law. They mix the two together. The very need for revivals is tragic to me. Glory doesn't leave when the Church goes into sin. I have been married for 33 years in ministry and haven't committed adultery so please understand I am NOT encouraging sin.

The glory of God does not lift off the Church because of sin - because revivals start when there is a lot of sin!

What is "falling from grace"? In th emodern church they say it is falling into sin. But when sin abounds, grace does much more abound! When your sin and grace meet in the boxing ring - grace wins every time! Falling from grace is not falling into sin (Galatians 5:4) tells us what falling from grace is. It says that you that are trying to be righteous as from the law have alientated yourself from Christ and have made Christ of no value so you have fallen from grace. (2 Corinthians 3). I believe what we saw in Acts 5 - that the New Testament all were healed, I believe century after century there should have been an ever-increasing glory.

But after about 200 years the church started going into the Dark Ages not because of an increase of sin but because of a Galatians 3 problem - coming back under law and leaving grace. Once you lose grace - and by grace I mean this - no mixture with the Old Covenant at all. It is anything that that demands a believer matches up to earn the blessing - that brings a loss of the supernatural and a fading glory. When God met a heathen Iraqui called Abraham in Genesis 12 - Abraham had done no obedience to God. He was a total heathen with no understanding of the Kingdom of God (the law was to arrive 430 years later) to a disobedient, unsaved Iraqui - El-Shaddi the living God appears without a Bible manuscript.

This is going to happen in the Muslim world and it is happening! God is going to appear to people!

He did to Abraham and He said; "I am going to bless you and make your name great and I will make you into a great nation and I will bless those that bless you and I will make you a blessing". Abraham said; "I believe that!". He hadn't been to church. God said; "I will credit that faith as righteousness". But God didn't promise him righteousness - He promised him blessing!

When a man believes that God wants to bless you without your works - that is declared as New Testament right standing with God! Consider Abraham!

Those in Christ are the seed of Abraham! It was not increase of sin that took this New Covenant glory away from the church - it was mixing Old Covenant with New Covenant. Mixing Ishmael with Isaac. God chose Europe to bring a restoration of a revelation of grace. He chose a German and it was the revelation of justification by faith that we owe all the other truths that have been restored. If you lose understanding of the New Covenant, we become instituationalised - embrace wrong government - this is not about law and grace but about WHO controls the church.

Performance pressure on believers brings them under the control of man. The revelation of grace brings the Church under the control of the mighty Spirit of God.

What I am about to say - you are free to disagree with. I get worried about people praying for open heaven. Classic Old Covenant mentality! I believe in tithing strongly but not under Malachi 3. I do not believe that tithing opens the windows of heaven. That is blasphemy on the Cross. Abraham tithed under grace. Not to open the windows of heaven - he lived under an open heaven. He became rich - he had victory over His enemies - He was a friend of God and even lied about his wife and came out richer and the Bible says; "Consider Abraham!".

For years the church has been flattering the power of sin and minimising the power of grace.

The Old Covenant was to emphasise the power of sin - the Old Covenant was to strip us of all self-confidence in ourselves. I get extremely worried for the Body of Christ when I hear people say we have to live upto higher standards in the New Covenant than we did under the Old Covenant.

Now I believe in living a holy life. But as soon as you focus God's people on trying to live upto something higher, you are no longer preaching the New Covenant - you are preaching the Old Covenant. When Jesus Christ said; "It was said you shall not commit adultery but I say if you even look at something with desire you have committed adultery". People say; "See He was preaching the highest standard of the New Covenant". He was preaching the New Covenant! He was preaching the true spirituality of the law of Moses. If you believe that is the highest standard. He was preaching the New Covenant - to be honest and consisten with that belief - you must pluck your eye out, cut your hand off next time you sin with it!

He taught that too! He was preaching to the bigoted, arrogant Pharisees. You think you can be ready for the New Covenant by your law keeping? The standard of the law is so high that you have no hope but to turn to grace! You need the New Covenant! You had no miracles for 300 years between covenants. The God of miracles doesn't work through your law-keeping anymore. You have got to wait for an angel to come and stir the waters to get healed. There is a reason why this message sounds so radical to some people.

It is because we have had centuries of mixing Old Covenant and New Covenant. It is a confusing cocktail that cripples the Church with condemnation and throws a sack of hopelessness over God's people and suffocates faith.

The ordinary believer cannot even imagine inviting the Holy Spirit into a classroom and He turns up. The Gospel is not preaching right living. For centuries the Church has been preaching right living as the Gospel. All that has produced is a lot of money for psychiatrists. I know a lot of psychatrists who work in the secular world and their biggest problem is Christians with obsessive compulsive disorders because condemnation is the root of fear, worry and anger. We have many Christians with dysfunctional patters in their lives because they lack inner security and confidence before God.

God deliberately designed the Old Covenant to be a weak and useless covenant. Hebrews 7 says that is God's opinion of the Old Covenant - weak and useless! You mix that into the New Covenant and they cancel each other out! There is a composite unity - the Law is a composite unity. If you keep most of the law but break a part of it - you are guilty of breaking all the law because it is a composite unity (James 2:10 and Galatians 3:10) says that! If you want to lie and live under any part of the law then you are guilty of being an adulterer, a thief, a paedophile, and guilty as the terrorists that threw the planes into the 9/11 buildings. You are guilty of all the law!
BUT grace is a composite unity too! Faith in Jesus - Hebrews 10:14 by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever all those who are being made holy (v15). "And the Holy Spirit testifies to this as well!".

If your sin could stop the favour of God on your life then your sin is more powerful than God's New Covenant.

When you preach this, people get nervous because they think we are going to release a lot of sinning in the church. I've got bad news for people who think that. People who preach labels have got a whole lot of sinning in their churches. I am amazed at churches where there are leaders falling into immorality and I know of members in their church living in sin who are fighting this grace message! What is this?! You are defending yuorselves like you are all so holy and the NFI movement that lives in grace - you are all licentious!

No you are not! The Gospel is not right living - it's right believing. When you believe right you will also begin to live right. But if you aspire to live right without believing the wonder of this Gospel you will come under law and you will see the glory of God begin to fade.

Let me say this; there are only two glories in the earth.

1. A fading Old Covenant glory that comes and goes. Moses under the law says; "Show me Your glory" and God says; "I will show you My hind parts". Under the Old Covenant glory you just see God walking away from you all the time.

2. Or a New Covenant glory which is unfading. They are the only 2 glories.

The glory of the Old Covenant is this - God looks at you only through the law. He looks at you through the perfect exatitudes - the scrutiny of the law. When He sees you through the law, the supernatural glory has to fade. The glory of the New Covenant - God only and every second of the day and night looks at you only through grace. So the glory never has to fade away! The new Covenant is designed to make you very bold and confident in God's Presence.

The Old Covenant is designed to condemn you and curse you and strip you of all confidence - never mix the two.

Under the Old Covenant if a leper touched you, you were unclean. Under the New Covenant if you touched a leper - they were healed.

The church is still mixing the two - it is so confusing! They will take a few verses out of the beginning of Hebrews 6 and the last half of Hebrews 10 and frighten everyone with those Scriptures! For me those Scriptures give me the greatest assurance of eternal security - if you read them in the context of the whole book.

I long to see God's people rediscover the New Testament as a love letter from heaven!

There is one verse in the book of Jude that warns of abusing grace; "Some have come among you to turn the grace of God into license for immorality". Christians worry they are one of those! The rest of the book tells us who these people are! They walk around at the love feast with adultery in their eyes - they openly display adultery and try and convert everyone else to it too. I haven't met one believer in 30 years like that!

There are whole books of the Bible warning of the terrible dangers of coming under law - but people focus on the one verse. The way the devil fights a doctrine will give you an insight into where he knows the power lies. I believe in fasting and often pray hours a day but I promise you that is not where the power for miracles comes from. Most of the people in our churches don't have hours a day to pray. They don't have days to fast! Jesus fasted once and I know there was a specific reason for that for 40 days. I think He represented us as last Adam very well there. I don't think you and I need fast 40 days! Unless the Lord tells you to.

I know churches that have prayed for years for the Lord to open the heavens. When Jesus Christ came out of the waters of baptism, the heavens were opened! Why!? What was John's baptisms? A baptism of repentance for sin. Why would Jesus have to repent for sin? He never sinned but said "to fulfill all righteousness" - I believe He repented on yours and my behalf.

When He came out of the water and the heavens were opened and He spoke about living under an open heaven - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived under an open heaven, those in Christ live under a constant open heaven. It's not trying to stop the principalities and powers over Europe to get the heavens open. The heavens were kept open when Colossians 5:14 says that Jesus Christ cancelled the written code and took away the rules and regulations that stood opposed to us. Cancelling the written code - God wrote the written code with His finger on Mount Sinai - it is called in 2 Corinthians 3; "The ministry of death". That is what the law means - to kill you, to take away the supernatural, fading glory. God wrote it with His own finger and only God has the right to cancel it and on behalf of those in Christ He cancelled it!

That is (v14). In (v15) he says; "Having disarmed the principalities and powers He triumphed over them at the Cross!". To preach any kind of law to God's people is to re-arm a disarmed enemy. The heavens are open over Europe! The only thing closed is heads. Renewed minds to this New Covenant revelation brings you into an unfading glory. (2 Corinthians 3:4). That letter he is talking about is the Old Covenant - I will prove it in (v7). Why has the glory lasted in the church down through the centuries? Because the devil does a Galatians 3 and brings the Church back under law.

Let me close; I want to read this in my notes. I want to do a quick comparison.

1. The Law demands perfect righteousness from you -grace provides God's perfect righteousness for you.

2. Law says; "Do-do-do" but Grace says; "It's done - it's done".

3. Under Law God says; "I will by no means remember your sins". Under grace God says; "I will by no means remember your sins".

4. The gospel is not a revelation of what's wrong with you - the gospel is a revelation of how right you are in Jesus Christ.

5. At the Cross Jesus identified with you at your worst - so that in Christ, you can be identified with Him at His best.

6. There is no height into the glory that you cannot go into because there was no depth into your depravity that Jesus refused to descend into.

7. The reason why grace brings such relief and peace is because it takes the focus OFF our unworthiness and puts the focus ON His worthiness and the glirous fact that we are in Him.

Rob what has this got to do with signs, wonders and miracles? EVERYTHING. This afternoon I heard God speak audibly into my heart very clearly and tell me what He was going to do here. At the prayer meeting just before the meeting Hank prophesied EXACTLY what God told me in my hotel room and I believe the Lord will do it in a few minutes. People are going to get hit by the glory of God in a lovely way. People are going to be healed now just where you are sitting - mantles are going to come off - boldness to move in signs and wonders - even while you are still preaching, people will get healed!

Greater revelation will come to you of the New Covenant. I have only covered surface here. In 1984 in South Africa Terry Virgo came to my home city where I grew up and he preached on grace. My life was utterly changed from that day.

God said to me; "Your assignment from now on is to bring My people into the freedom of New Testament life". No more condemnation, no more accusation, no more guilt, no more accusation, no more guilt, no more sin conciousness but righteousness conciousness! I am not ashamed of the gospel!

For it is the dunamis of God unto soterio - healing, miracles, provision, prosperity. For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed - is revealed - is revealed not by head knowledge! When it is revealed you will never read the New Testament the same again! Not a righteousness from the law - or from man but a righteousness from God. First to the Jew then to the Gentile - that is by faith - that is by faith - that is by faith - from first to last for the righteousness will live by faith! Even when you have messed up and done something wrong that is the time more than ever to get up and say; "Father I thank You that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!".
That is where the power of salvation is. Right believing leads to right living. Every church should be full of the unfading glory - the realm of the glory is effortless signs and wonders and miracles. You work hard in the anointing but when you get into the glory it is effortless. The anointing is empowering man to do ministry but the glory is God turning up - the glory realm is the realm of the supernatural - it's the realm of healing.

People are being healed of arthritis right now, of a deaf ear right now. It is the realm of prosperity, its the realm of a life of fruitfulness, of His riches, shared generously!

God does not meet your needs according to your needs but His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!

The realm of the glory is multitudes being saved. I am not interested in revival that does not reach the lost. I am so tired of people wanting the anointing just for themselves. I live on the doorstep of 1 billion, 3 million Chinese people of which only 100 million are saved - that is so small. Only the glory of God! "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh in the last days - I will cover the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" - the realm of the glory is face to face worship with the living God.

The glory realm will change the way we worship - we will sing less and less songs about ourselves and sing intimate face to face songs with the living God in the glory, It is the realm of liberty, joy, confidence, peace. It is the realm of awe and wonder, of seeing into the invisible, the realm of rest, realm of revelation, of having His wonderful voice, of heaven, eternal realm in the earth, of timelessness, of His absolute undiluted goodness.

Outside of the glory none of these things can happen. In the glory these things happen easily.

Is it possible to preach too much grace?

This is the title of the latest message from City Church International, preached by Ryan Rufus. 

"Is is possible to preach too much grace? Can we overdose on grace? Be careful now, if you preach too much grace people are going to turn it into a license to sin. Careful now, if you keep preaching grace over and over again, people are going to think it's okay to just run out and sin. You need to balance this message, you've gotta put a little bit of restraint on people, because if they just keep hearing grace, grace, grace, they're just gonna go out and sin. OH REALLY?!! 

Let's clarify this question. Are Christians desperately wanting an excuse to sin?

Titus 2:11 ' For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions.' 

What teaches us to say no to sin? Is it the law? No. Is it restraint? No, it's the grace of God that teaches us to say no to sin.

If you teach Christians that they've been forgiven of all their past, present and future sins, and that God will never ever count their sins against them ever again, well then what's to stop them from just running out and sinning? If you keep teaching grace you're going to produce Christians that always want to give in to and go out and sin....No!

'The grace of God teaches us to say no to ungodliness' 

Why is it the first thing that people think when you teach on grace, you just have to clarify it, quick we don't want people to hear this and think oh we can just go out turn it into license and sin now, why is that so common when people hear grace preached? It is because people have not seen their salvation, they have not seen the supernatural work that God has done in a person's life when they get born again. How does the grace of God teach us to say no to sin? Now I am not talking about overcoming sin, I am talking about why we teach on grace so much. The grace of God teaches us to live near to God every moment of every day, and to have boldness to come into His presence every day and to come face to face with God. People that live near to God, don't find it so easy to give in to sin. The closer you are to God the less you want to sin. Law drives people away from God. Law brings people under condemnation. Law is the accusing voice of the enemy, that is why God nailed the law to the cross and this disarmed the accusing voice of the enemy at the cross, when God cancelled the written code at the cross, because the power of the enemy to accuse you was the law. The law says do not lust in your heart, well that's it you lusted, that's it you fell short of God, now you have to be punished......the law actually drives people away from God, it sets up a standard where people have to live with a standard that if I do this I have got to do that, in order for God to love me or to be happy with me, then God will be happy and then He will let me in His presence, so if I don't do this and don't do that then I fall short of His presence and feel condemned and that God does love me, so the law actually drives people away from God.

'Putting the law on Christians results in them feeling far from God and seriously struggling with sin and it will fill their mind with a sin consciousness that will keep them in condemnation, you cannot live in condemnation and close to God at the same time. You cannot live in victory over sin if you are not living close to God. Grace empowers us to live close to God. The more we live in grace the nearer we will live to God, and the nearer we will live to God, the less we will sin. The more people come under law, the further they will live from God and the further they live from God, the more they will give into sin.' (excerpt from the book Ryan is writing on sanctification)

Grace empowers us to live to God every moment of every day!! The closer we are to God, the less we will want to sin. 

'For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions.'

The same grace that saves you is the same grace that sanctifies you. Why is that? Because when you came to Jesus you realized it was not about you and what you have done, or your performance or keeping the law, no it was all about Jesus, it was all about the blood that washed away all of your sins and that doesn't ever change, it's not now I need to go back and earn that salvation by keeping the law, or I need to pay God back - no it's the same grace right from the start through to the finish and if you walk in that grace you will walk near to God every day, so the more you preach grace the more people will be driven to God. People that are under grace are people who love Jesus. People who fall more in love with Jesus every day! I am more in love with Jesus today than I was yesterday. People under grace grow in their love for Jesus. 

How does grace teach us to say no to sin? Grace teaches us that God's not trying to put restraint on you, because he's already put it in you. He's changed your heart. When you got saved he took out your stony heart, that had the sinful nature in it, that was provoked by the law and he ripped that out of you and gave you a new heart, he gave you a new nature in your spirit. In Ephesians 4:24, it says we have been created after God himself. Our inner man, our inner being has been created after God's perfect nature in righteousness and holiness of God, inside of our new man, there is a God nature living inside of us, and it's the very nature and character of God. The bible says, we are partakers of the very divine nature of God - we've got God's nature, his character, his justice, his mercy, his love all of that living in our new nature. But the circumcision group wants to come and say you need to be circumcised, outward restraint. God says, No way man I circumcised your heart, changed you from the inside. God's not trying to put restraint on us, he's already put it in us. My inner man, my spirit wants to live passionately for God every day of my life. My spirit wants to serve God with everything that is has, it wants to live in 100% righteousness, it wants to live obedient to God, it wants to live passionate for Jesus. That's my spirit. Now my mind comes under bombardment, I'm working through stuff in my mind. My body gets tired, and tempted and I have natural appetites. If I could live just by my spirit without the interference of my mind and my body -you would see me living 100% righteous, 100% passionate for Jesus, 100% obedient and fruitful for Jesus, why? because God has put that stuff in my spirit. And so sanctification is us learning how to get our minds to line up with heaven and getting our body under control and saying no you are not going to take me there, the Spirit of God wants me here and this is where I am going, it's offering your body as a living sacrifice and it's being transformed by the renewing of your mind. God has put some awesome stuff in our spirit's. We just don't realize that enough, that God has changed our inner man. Before you were saved, sin was on the inside of you, the sinful nature, trying to express itself through your life, law was on the outside of you coming and trying to bring restraint and control that sin problem. Only thing was we think it was trying to control the sin problem but it wasn't. God didn't give the law to control the sin problem, he gave the law to expose the sin problem. That there is a sin problem in us. But then you don't take the law and try to fix the sin problem, it is only through Christ that the sin problem can be solved. Where we have died with Christ, crucified with Christ, that sinful nature has been circumcized, removed from us -Col. 2.  To many preachers still teach that we've got a sinful nature and oh we've just gotta die to the sinful nature. No, the Bible is so clear that the old nature is gone, and we have been circumcized from the old nature and that God has put a new nature inside of you. You don't have a yingyang theology, you've got the old and the good, the sinful and the new nature living together and just wrestling and fighting it out. That is bogus theology! That is rubbish! That's what I mean by Christians have not seen their salvation. And so when you haven't seen your salvation, you think oh if I just preach grace the sinful nature in me or in Christians is just gonna go out and sin. NO we don't have a sinful nature. So when you preach grace, grace empowers that new righteousness nature to want to rise up and live for God as much as you possibly can. Before you were saved sin was on the inside trying to get out. The law was on the outside trying to get in. Now that you're saved, how many of you have ever seen this, now that you're saved sin is on the outside trying to get in, and law is on the inside trying to get out, trying to express itself. Hebrews 8-10 the Lord says a New Covenant I will make, I will write the law on your heart. It's not a reminder, it's a new nature, it's a new drive, it's God's character, God's perfect standard, God's perfect holiness, God's perfect righteousness living on the inside of your new nature, wanting to express itself in perfect righteousness for God. 

Before you were saved, sin on the inside, law on the outside, now that you're saved law on the inside, sin on the outside. 

The circumcision group wants to put external restraint on Christians, grace says no, God has put internal restraint in us. 

You know how they try to restrain you, those who haven't seen their salvation, this is thte  kind of restraint they will try to put on you, "if you sin, God's going to punish you." Is that a good motive not to sin? Because of punishment. That is fear. Fear opens the door to the enemy. You will end up thinking God is punishing you, therefore releasing the enemy to have power in your life. God is never going to punish believers again, because ALL sin has already been dealt with at the cross. Jesus was already punished for ALL my sin. From the start of time to the end of time. Why would God punish for sin twice? God is just - He only punishes sin once!

Where is the safest place to be in a forest fire? It's where the fire has already burned because it will never burn there again......

Where is the safest place for sinners  to be? IN CHRIST, where the fire of God's wrath has already burned, because it will never burn there again. 

The heart of a Christian is not to run out and sin. Temptation comes, because sin is external trying to get in. Not internal trying to get out.

If you sin enough you will lose your salvation. That is not biblical, that is not grace, that undermines the cross. The cross looked ahead at all the sins would ever be committed and dealt with them all right then and there. That means even if we sin, that sin has been dealt with already. 

Sanctification is about our condition on this earth coming in to alignment with our position in heaven. Our position in heaven is perfect forever. When you get tempted it's not even in your spirit, the devil can't even touch your spirit, he goes for your mind and your body. 

Can you ever lose your salvation? NO! It is impossible in any way to lose your salvation. To say you can lose your salvation is to go back under law. It's to put yourself back under old covenant and to say I didn't perform good enough. No, it's a New Covenant, it's His performance on your behalf. Grace from the start right through to the finish. Grace, grace, grace!!!

Why are you always going on about righteousness? When are we going to move on to some solid food? You are always talking about the gift of righteousness.....but let's move on, you keep teaching about righteousness, you keep teaching that you are just going to produce immature Christians, you know infant christians.

 

OH REALLY!! Let's turn to Hebrews 5:12. We are involved in a grace revolution around the world, God is bringing His church back to New Covenant theology, bringing his church bakc into New Covenant glory, that's where the  unfading glory is, God is taking his church out of old covenant the fading glory and He's bringing his church back into New Covenant glory and it's a time for the revolutionaries to rise up, it's not a time for people to sit back and weigh their options. 

The revolutionaries need people to stand with them, they need people to have their backs. City Church is like a spearhead. It's not a time to back off. It's not about us being right, and others being wrong. Its about liberating the church to come into freedom to invade the world. We want to release the life of God to the world. 

You preach this message and you will face persecution, you will feel people's psyche's coming against you. This is normal. You preach the true Gospel you will face persecution.

Back to Heb. 5:12-14, "2In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

The bible says teachings of righteousness is the solid food. Anyone who is still and infant and immature, is not acquainted with the teachings of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, solid food is the teaching of righteousness. The more you teach righteousness the more you will be giving people solid food. Anyway, who is still and infant is not acquainted with the teaching of the gift of righteousness. We need to teach the gift of righteousness.  Why? Because we are transformed into His glory as we encounter His face.  2 Corinthians 3, says we become like Him when we encounter Him. How? - by revelation that we are free, that we are righteous in Christ, so that we can come boldly into the throne room of grace and encounter God, not in shame, in grace, there is nothing in the way of me going before God, as we encounter Him we are transformed into his likeness and what is that, maturity -being transformed into His likeness is maturity. The more we encounter Him the more we are transformed into His likeness!!! 

2 main things you need to understand to unlock the grace revelation. First, propitiation, that means the satisfying of God's wrath at the cross, not only does he cover our sins, he removes them forever. Hebrews 1o, one sacrifice for all time for all sin. The cross looked ahead to all sin in the future.  There is no more wrath left for sin. 

And secondly the teaching of the gift of righteousness. God sees you 100% righteous all the time every moment before Him. Don't look at your condition, look at your position. God doesn't relate to you on the basis of your condition, he relates to you on the basis of your position. Amen!! 

Sunday Morning Session - Miracle Healing Meeting

22nd June 2008 - City Church International, Hong Kong.

Because of the intense and tangible manifest Presence of God very obvious over the MP3 of this session, I have transcribed some of the songs they sang and some of the prophecies that were brought in an attempt to add some context to what Rob preached - hope it is helpful!

Worship:

"Strength will Rise".

"Praise is Rising".

"This is the Day of Jubilee".

"I can't help falling in love with You. I can't help falling in love with You. Take my hand, take my whole life too - for I can't help falling in love with You. Anoint me Lord to love You more for I can't help falling in love with You" - (To the tune of; "I can't help falling in love with you").

Rob Rufus's Prophetic Song;



"For I'm turning the hearts of the fathers to the sons, I'm turning the hearts of the sons to the fathers, I'm turning the hearts of My people towards Me and I am turning the hearts away from things of death. I'm turning the hearts to the ways of truth and life - yes I'm turning the hearts to My Presence and life.

In My Presence with your heart turn to Me - you will hear My voice so clear and so true today. Today. Today. So turn your hearts to Me - turn away from misery. Turn away from unbelief - turn away from every offence. Turn away from bitterness and turn to Me - your God.

For I'm turning the hearts of the city of Hong Kong! I'm turning the hearts of the multitudes around you. So turn your hearts to hear the cry of the city! So turn your ears to hear My words of life! For the city of Hong Kong - this is your day - this is your hour! I am coming!".

Rob goes on to prophesy;

"Let's cry out to the city of Hong Kong! Father we hear Your words of love to the city of Hong Kong. We bless Hong Kong! We declare over you - Hong Kong - that this is your time, your hour.
The grace of the Lord is towards you and He does not visit you with judgement or rejection but the Father gives good gifts to you - Hong Kong! He is pouring out His glory on you - Hong Kong! He is pouring out mercy and grace! He is pouring out His love on you - Hong Kong! The dead will rise, the lame will walk, the lonely will find family, the fathers will find their sons and the sons will find their familys in Hong Kong!

Broken relationships will be restored and mother and father and children will find liberty and freedom and love in the city of Hong Kong!

We declare that age-old disputes will be ended. We decree reconciliation over Hong Kong! We declare the loss of memory of things done wrong or vendettas carried down generations! We decree and declare over Hong Kong the mercy of God - we decree the anointing of the most high God to redeem relationships over this city. We decree the church rise in Hong Kong! We decree that religion comes down - we decree that legalism and boring church comes down but the church rise in Hong Kong!! And FIRE ... and WILDNESS ... and PASSION and LIBERTY in Jesus Name!".

Prophetic Song;

"We sing a new song over Hong Kong - we sing a new song over Hong Kong - that's filled with joy, that's filled with life. We sing a new song over Hong Kong that's filled with life - that's filled with life - that's filled with life!".

Rob prophesies;

"I heard the Word of the Lord say; "Can a city be saved in a day? Can a city be born in a day?". And I am not saying this is the day that the city will be saved but the Lord is saying; "Can you believe in My suddenlies, in My sweeping changes? I am the God who brought down the iron curtain, I am the God that brought down the Soviet Union, I am the God that makes sudden changes! In the city of Hong Kong I could suddenly cause such a sweeping move that impacts the society, the government, the politics, the economics, the world-view and the philosophy of our city to be turned towards the living God". God said He is turning the hearts of the city to Him - to hear the words of love He is saying!".

A Corporate Shout:

Hong Kong! Hong Kong! Hong Kong! Hong Kong! Hong Kong! Hong Kong! Hong Kong!

"There is None Like You".


Rob Rufus's Message;

"I went home very happy last night - I sense such an anointing in this place. How many of you are aware when the anointing comes that something lifts off you? Things that you want to get gone off your life - they go.

I really do believe it is not good preaching that sets people free - it is the anointing with truth. The anointing destroys the yokes of bondage and the anointing lifts the burdens.

I had such a wonderful thrill this morning watching the DVD that Dave has been doing of testimonies of people in this church for our 4 year celebration. They are saying why they joined this church and what this church meant to them. I just stood there crying because there is such a sense of everyone saying a similar thing - it is just God's Presence and grace and freedom and the love of God - being accepted. No sense of ranking. Some of us have jobs to do and that means I have got a big mouth and have to be in the front most of the time. That is just my function but there is no sense of ranking.

People are saying marvellous things and how many of you realise that last night I was not preaching on healing. Did you realise I wasn't preaching on healing? I was preaching on Jesus and the Presence of Jesus. We were preaching on Who the Healer is. That is the most important thing. I would love to have more than 3 meetings. How many of you know that I envy Todd Bentley? They have had 80 days of being in the Presence of God every day! Imagine if we had meetings for 80 days here - every single day - can you imagine what would start taking place after a few weeks?! The news would get out across Hong Kong and we would have to keep moving to bigger venues because I promise you it wouldn't take very long but within weeks we would see a lot more notable miracles.

Isn't it amazing that as God begins to focus on what He is doing in Florida and He is breaking out across the world and the church has cried out for decades for a mighty move of God's Presence and healing - that when God brings it, some of the church is not happy with who He is using and they are not happy with the package or with tattoos on the man and go and dig out all the snot and all the stuff about Bob Jones's past. People are sending emails about what I must go and look up about Bob Jones and the sin he did in his past.

I am NOT interested! What I want to know is - is that God there? If God chooses to use Todd Bentley at the age of 32 then I say as a 53 year old - thank You Lord for Todd Bentley! Thank You for a new generation carrying the message of healing!

How can you listen to Bob Jones - do you know what he did 10-something years ago? How can you read the Psalms? That guy who wrote the Psalms is a weirdo - I tell you. Watch out reading the Psalms - you know you are reading the writings of a man that God was inspiring to write - that man saw a beautiful chick on a rooftop that he manipulated and connived as the king of Israel to get her? And he had illegitimate sex with her! Oh! Then she fell pregnant! Oh! Big problem now! What is she going to do when her husband finds out? Who happens to be one of the king's best friends?! So he betrayed his close friend and called him back from the battle and makes his friend drunk. Oh! Made his friend drunk!? So his friend would be so drunk and would go in and have sex with his wife and then he would think he made her pregnant!

You are reading the Psalms of a guy who wrote them and yet did this?! The husband said; "I'm not going in to be with my wife because my friends are out on the battlefield and I am not going to have that privilidge while they are out there". So he goes back to the battlefield and David arranges for Uriah to be murdered. Sure great was his repentance and David realised how serious what he had done and he repented from the depths of his heart and never did anything like that again in his life and when he died, God said; "This is a man after My own heart - who served My purposes in My generation".

We have got Pharisees in the church world and we have got Sadducees and I tell you - this is a true saying. If you are bleeding don't swim with the sharks. If you are bleeding and you are swimming with the sharks, do not let them know you are bleeding. I wouldn't want to fall into serious sin in much of the modern church because they will rip into you and rip your reputation apart. They will display your dirty washing across the internet and over email. They will disqualify you forever standing in ministry again. I felt the Holy Spirit say that He is getting quite angry with this. He said that these people who are always criticising the ones that I am using - He said, I am going to start scrutinising their lives and bringing out their dirty washing because when you operate in self-righteousness and pride then you forfeit the protection of grace because God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

All these criticising, judgemental people have got stuff in their own cuboards that they are covering up. It is coming out in the open. The Holy Spirit is going to bring that stuff out.

So I bless what God is doing in Florida - I bless Todd Bentley and I bless Bob Jones! I bless the prophets of God - I bless the work of God - I bless the fact that 25 people have been raised from the dead!

The God of miracles is turning up and people have the audacity to criticise it ... incredible! No fear of God at all! They have become main-stream thinkers - they are main stream and everything to the left or right of them is error and they are "it". God didn't die and appoint them to be the doctrinal policemen of the Church. The heresy hunters don't know that the Holy Spirit is hunting them down and He is going to smoke them!

People sit in meetings where God is moving like these meetings and criticise and look at things and the Holy Spirit is looking at them and their agendas. Tomorrow at Florida men that I honour and men that I know and have met like Bill Johnson will be standing on that platform with Rick Joyner and many others of wisdom and father dignity and a long trail of credibility will be standing with Todd and we bless that in Jesus Name!

They can send me all the emails they want about Todd Bentley having two women angels. What would be the difference if he said two men angels? That's okay - men angels! "Well Rob - there's no mention of women angels in the Bible!". Oh yes there is. We found it! Last week Glenda found it. Before you believe all the criticism - read the Bible. Ask Glenda for the Bible reference and she will give it to you. Women angels are in the Bible! Now angels are gender neutral. When we go to heaven, Glenda and I are not going to have physical intimacy anymore - it will be hard but I tell you something - Jesus said you will be like the angels neither giving nor receiving in marriage. Angels are gender neutral but they are found in appearance as people.

Why should they only come in appearance as men? We find them in the Bible - it says angels in appearance as women. All this paranoia and fear is all demonic - most of it is demonic attacking the move of God. I notice we are starting to see the anointing move faster in this Church and every little demonised psychotic rises up and has all kinds of things to say which is really not criticising us but is really criticising the anointing. There are anti-Christ, anti-anointing demons that are really people criticising and you can feel them talking and the enemy uses their disapproval as a launching pad to release psychic witchcraft against you so in your home you can feel and sense the presence of those people.

Then the fear of God comes on those people and they begin to repent but friends the only way to stay free from that witchcraft is to live in the anointing. Because that's what that feeling of oppression and fear is trying to get you out of - it is trying to get you into the flesh to fight it in the flesh and then you get out of the anointing. Stay in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Love it - love everyone and don't get bitter. Stay loving and humble and even if they slander you behind your back just stay joyful and happy in Jesus because we are seeing the results in Hong Kong and around the world and we are bearing fruit - that is my argument to every debate - FRUIT!

I am not interested in sitting at debating tables debating theology. I just say; "Here is the fruit of that theology - lives changed, people healed, cripples healed in the UK at Eastbourne, people healed here last night!".

Barry is going to come share his testimony - this takes some courage to share what he is going to share. No one asked him.

"This morning I got here pretty early at 08:00 and the Lord woke me up at 05:00 and I woke up crying and who says men don't cry!? I was crying with joy because I haven't had much joy on my life - for more than 20 years. My family, my daughter, my health, my job, my dignity - rejection - everything just slammed on me. I died twice too. God gave me life again. I came to this church close to 2 years ago and in this church I fell in love with Someone very special. Things were really getting horrible for me and I went into manic depression - suicide attempts (which I actually did last year). It got to the point where the doctors said there is no more medicine we can give you. Living with AIDS for 25 years is not easy!".

Rob: "For those of you who don't know Barry is the longest survivor with AIDS/HIV in Hong Kong. 25 years!".

"But what I want to share with you is that I have so much to be thankful for and grateful for. God really touched me to the point last year where I had to walk here on walking sticks because there was no more medication and I was deteriorating. I just said to the Lord at home - through Todd who gave me a lot of worship CDS - and I started to worship and pray every day for 3 hours and said; "I want to go to church" and He gave me the strength to come to church and since then I haven't had any drugs for AIDS (because there is no drugs for me now) and I am HEALED!! No more viruses - my immune system is normal as what a normal person should be - my blood pressure is back to normal and I have got back after 20 years I have had no contact whatsoever with people in my family. God gave them all back to me - my daughter, my father, my mother, my granddaughter and I am just so so HAPPY!!".

Stay up here Barry - take the posture and lift your hands. We bless Barry Lord - let the fire of heaven increase upon him. Let heaven envelop him - let the cloud of the glory come down over him Lord. Let him be a carrier of the glory Lord - a carrier of the atmospheres of heaven. May from his hands come the fire of heaven that will cause others with AIDS/HIV in Hong Kong to be supernaturally healed in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth and let the doors be opened up in the right season in other nations for Barry to tell his story in different contexts that hope will come in Jesus Name. Fire! Fire! Fire!

Come with that glory Presence Lord - that's what we want, Your glory Presence. The prophets can't live with Your logos Presence alone - they are lonely with the written Word, they must have the living Word. We long for Your Presence every day. We can't survive in Hong Kong without the anointing of Your Presence - we can't deal with witchcraft and betrayal without the anointing, without the Presence. We can't have free marriages without the lubrication of the anointing - Father without the anointing, friction is always around! With the anointing there is supernatural lubrication and oils of heaven. We want to slide through life with supernatural anointing. In Your Presence there is fulness of joy and at Your right hand there is pleasures forever more. Let Your Presence come!

Some live in constant overflow but others live like God doesn't exist. They don't spend time in His Presence, they don't seek Him from one day to the next. So when the Presence of God comes in a meeting like this - it takes so long for them to even register that they have the Presence and I want to welcome you today and say today;

The Presence of God is YOUR inheritance on a daily basis! Live full all the time - you cannot afford to be have empty. You must live full of the Presence.

Every morning I will start praising Him and worshipping Him and before I will even go down for coffee I will go up on my rooftop and say; "Lord I need Your Presence today. I just want You to come today Lord". It can just take five minutes sometimes. It doesn't take hours. You don't earn the Presence. It is just simple worship and loving Him and stepping into that Presence - it is relationship. The carriers of the glory. We welcome You Holy Spirit. In the prayer meeting there was a lot of emphasis as I was listening on the love of God and that nuturing side of God. Others were bringing that theme that God has that side - the mothering heart of God. We know it is our Father but God created man and woman in His image. Both man and woman - so in the Father heart of God there is a nuturing side. El Shaddi means the God who nutures even like a child on the breast of it's mother drawing milk.

El Shaddi is in this place. We need that loving tender nuturing in our hearts otherwise we get bitter, reactionary and we lose peace. Lord let Your nuturing peace saturate us in this place. Let Your peace come now. Lord I release that government of Your peace before I even begin to speak over this house that there would be no agitation or distraction and even the children will be still. Let peace rule over the young children in this meeting. We thank You that in this move of the Spirit, You are focussing on those under the age of 10 and we pray that those under the age of 10 will be so anointed in the rest of this service that they will carry a powerful meeting out of this meeting and very soon our children will come with words of knowledge in these meetings, in their school and playgrounds - in Jesus Name.

There is a wonderful Presence of God here! You don't have to be stranger to God's Presence because it is your inheritance. With healing - I just wanted to say this - that when a woman falls pregnant we call it in the English language, "expecting". You will hear people say that. The wife or husband will say; "We're expecting". People will say of them; "They are expecting". When Glenda fell pregnant for the first time, she came back from the doctors and said; "I am expecting - I am 3 weeks pregnant". Nothing was different about her - she looked as slim as normal. Nothing had changed - same figure - but she was expecting. We were expecting. After months I noticed a cute little bump. Outside evidence of change began to show.

In Exodus 15:26 God says; "I am the Lord that heals you". The Hebrew there is that "I am the Lord that heals you and I take sickness out of the midst of you". In 1st Peter 2:24 the Bible says of Jesus; "By His stripes you are healed". So Doctor Jesus said - just as you can say I am expecting where there is no evidence on the basis of the evidence of a doctor's word - the Word of God says I am the God that heals you and I am the Lord that has healed you and by My stripes you are healed - 2000 years ago at the Cross.

When in the Spirit you hear that as a rhema word in the Spirit to you and you say; "Lord I believe that" - from that moment on the evidence of Dr Jesus you should start expecting your healing even if there is no change in your body. On the evidence of the Doctor's word alone - you are expecting! You are living with an expectation!

Turn in your Bibles to John 21. I want to read you some amazing verses here. In John 20, we are preaching on Jesus. John 20:30; "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in this book". Many miracles were done by Jesus but they weren't all recorded in this book. 21:25; "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down then I suppose even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written". I think that is a way of saying something. I don't think they are saying literally what it is saying. It is trying to say that Jesus did a heck of a lot of miracles. They are saying that all the books in the world could not keep a record of all the things He did because He did so many things.

He did them in only 3 years! He spent 30 years preparing for 3 years of public ministry. Today they spend 3 years in a seminary for 30 years of ministry. Jesus spent 30 years with no public ministry and no miracles and at 30 the Holy Spirit came on Him and for 3 years Matthew, Mark, Luke and John every day, signs, wonders, miracles and healings radiated out of this Jesus so that in the spate of 3 years John said; "You can't fit them in - you could fill the whole earth with the miracles He did". How many of you would have liked to be a disciple by His side? I wouldn't have wanted to fall asleep. I would have been scared I would miss Him do another one! That is a concentrated short time to fill the whole earth with books on what He did.

I am going to read you another passage to show that is only what He began to do! It means now He has gone to heaven and He is going to do a whole lot more! If Matthew, Mark, Luke and John was just a small sample of the miracles but the majority was never recorded because the books of the whole world wouldn't contain it - can you imagine how many miracles He did! The Holy Spirit says that is just what He began to do.

"In my former book Theophilius I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering He showed Himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive, He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the Kingdom of God".

In v9 He then ascended and went back to the Father. So Jesus began to do and teach. Aren't you glad that Jesus was not like a modern person in the pulpit that just teaches but doesn't do? Jesus taught on healing but He demonstrated the supernatural. He taught and He did the miraculous. He did so many miracles that they couldn't record them all -there were too many! Those four gospels was just the Lord Jesus BEGINNING His ministry - now He has gone to heaven and He is still doing things! Let's look at what happened just before He went to heaven. Go to Luke chapter 24:45. I want you to see three things about the Presence of Jesus. It's very simple;

"Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures". (v50-53); "When He had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them - while He was blessing them, He was lifted up and taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy". Has everyone in this house got great joy? "They left Him with great joy and they stayed continually at the temple praising God".

1. In the Presence of God He opens your mind to the Scriptures.

There are people who read the Word of God like it was a ritual. I am not against Bible reading disciplines but you have people who have to read through the Bible every year and have disciplines and so many chapters they want to read and then they get stuck in the book of Lamentations and they start lamenting and in the meantime the Holy Spirit may be elsewhere in another chapter and in one verse. But they have got to stick to their Bible reading programme because it's a religious tradition and they think God will come. You ask these people with all this Bible knowledge in their head - "Have you seen miracles through your life?". "Have you seen signs and wonders? Do people get saved and healed and cast out devils?". No - all they have got is a big head and a small heart because their head is full of Bible information.

If you have had an experience with Bible information when you lay your hands on people all you have got is dead intellectual information about the Bible. If you get into the Presence of Jesus, then His Presence will open your mind to understand the Scriptures.

People say; "How did you get the grace message so clear? We haven't heard it this clear". We hear that Joseph Prince and others are preaching this thing and how did you get that? Because from the first day I got saved I have always been someone who pursued the Presence of God more than any other factor in my life and have done it for 32 years. I have not sought prestige or position or man's approval. I just don't care anymore!

I won't budge or adjust to the pressure of man because I want the Presence of God more than I want anything else!

In His Presence He opens your mind to the Scriptures.

I don't want to listen to people criticising the Florida Outpouring if they are not seeing the same amount of healings. If you are against that then show me what you are doing! If all you can give me is head knowledge from the Bible then don't come near me - I don't want to be associated with you. You have a form of godliness but you deny the power.

You can only know the Scriptures from the Presence of God. I have nothing against reading the Scriptures and having a discipline - I have memorised most of the New Testament and so when I go out and be with the Lord, He reminds me of this and that and then I see that makes sense!

I just could not stay reading the Scriptures every day because that is what you are meant to do. The Scriptures are His love letter. But then I want to find my Lover who wrote the letter. He opens the Scriptures!

2. In His Presence He blessed them.

I have never been into the Presence of God (and I do it on a daily basis - not at a particular time) I walk with Him daily, praying without ceasing, even watching TV just thinking of the Presence. It's very hard to sin if you are in the Presence! It doesn't feel nice - you don't want to. Stay in the Presence! You won't get people saying; "Lord I want to sin - You stay over here!". He comes with you anyway whether you like it or not! In His Presence He blessed them - He lifted up His hands and blessed them. I have never come out of His Presence not feeling blessed. Blessing means empowerment to succeed. It's empowerment for fruitfulness - it's empowerment for prosperity, provision, protection, peace - in the blessing of His Presence, every need of the human heart is met!

3. In His Presence they had great joy!

Then what happened? He ascended on high and went to the right hand of the Father and He sent the Holy Spirit. Jesus' life was supernatural! His birth and conception was supernatural! Virgin conceived! His ministry and His miracles were supernatural - His death on the Cross was supernatural! His resurrection, His ascension upto the Father - His immortal body was supernatural - everything about Jesus was supernatural!

Yet He was supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural!

He wasn't always talking about the en-vogue teaching of the Kingdom - He knew how to have a good time and drink a good glass of wine and have a party with friends and even turn water into wine and go to Lazarus's house and sit and enjoy fellowship with many and not just be Messiah walking around with a Messianic complex. He was a man dressed in normal clothes who would talk normal and would talk about the rugby and normal things!

If you live in the Presence of God you won't be weird and you won't be religious and you won't be a Pharisee and you won't judge everything because when you live in the Presence and nowhere else you immediately know that is the Presence of God that I felt in my room.

These people that criticise moves of God - it shows me that they don't know the Presence of God and don't live in the Presence of God because they don't recognise the Presence! They go by the letter of the Word not by the Presence of God!

That spirit has to be broken in Hong Kong! Religion!

Religion is always dead right but they are so right they are dead!

I am embarressed to call these people that are my brothers and sisters fundamentalists. They are so judgemental over the gay community. They are so judgemental over everyone! They have earned such a bad name for us because they walk around judging everyone.

They stand at gay Mardi Gras with their anti-gay placards; "Sodom and Gomorrah! ... Come over to the New Covenant!". You cannot judge everyone and then expect to win them over!

You spend time in the Presence of Jesus and you will have more of Him on your life. You will have the Presence of the water walking, blind and deaf opening, cripples walking, lame to walk, son of the Most High God in your life.

In the gospels Jesus never ever commissioned anybody to preach and teach without giving them authority to cast out demons and heal the sick. No Bible school should send out teachers and preachers without making sure they know how to cast out devils and heal the sick and equip the Body of Christ to do the same thing other-wise they duplicate brain-bound logos mentality in the church.

Fundamentalism! People eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and not from the tree of life that is in Christ Jesus! Under the anointing you can lose your temper and it is legitimate! Every time someone speaks passionately and directly without inhibition - Paul the apostle was worse than me and Jesus was far worse than I am! He just took the Pharisees on and told them what they were! Every time in our modern movement we become so pastoral and teacher-orientated that every time the prophet stands up and speaks to people ... I am not talking about hurt from rejection because everyone has been rejected . Some get healed and instead of turning bitter they get better and press into God's Presence! As soon as someone stands up and begins to address things for what they are and brings the truth of the New Covenant and government then people dismiss it and say they are living in the past and they are hurt and speaking out of hurt.

If a movement keeps on that kind of an attitude of dismissing - then firstly they need to dismiss a lot of Jesus' ministry and they need to wipe out a lot of Paul's ministry because he writes to Galatians and says; "You foolish Galatians and I am astonished you are turning to another gospel!" and he rebukes the Corinthians and he deals with stuff in love and grace for redemptive purposes.

If the movement begins to surpress that kind of speaking out then they are releasing an ungodly power that will tame and mutilate the prophetic voice and all they have got left is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that whole movement is already dying.

They say miracles passed away with the apostles - but I don't know what apostles they are speaking of. There are pre-ascension apostles and there are post-ascension apostles. Paul said after Jesus ascended and went back to heaven He gave more apostles and prophets. He said they will be around till the Church comes to the full measure of the stature of Christ. The Church is not operating in the full measure of the stature of Christ because if she was we would see the works that Jesus did and the greater works. They are talking about the pre-ascension apostles - the 12 apostles of the Lamb - that were to be witnesses to the baptism and the ascension of Jesus.

They teach that and they say a few miracles may happen now and again but it is more like an accident and it all depends on God's move and you never know what He is going to do and He may dump a miracle on you but you can't trust that. Because the miracles stopped when the last of the 12 apostles died. So you can picture what they are saying. All the apostles have now died and there is only John is left and he is 100 and something. He is the only one left and here is someone with cerebal palsy and they hear there is only one left and so they are hurrying to him and they get to his address and knock and an usher comes. "Yes?". "We need a miracle and we heard John is the only one left and they will pass away after John".

He said; "Come quickly!" and they come into the room and there's John on his bed all decrepid and John starts lifting his hand to pray for the man and gets it half way up and then he gives out his final breath and dies and the death rattle comes out. The usher says; "Sorry about that - he is dead and no more miracles will happen again on the planet ever again - the last of the 12 have died". That's what the fundamentalists have done to destroy faith in the Church. For 100's of years that has been preached and when miracles turn up on the planet then they are threatened because their theology is being exposed as FRADULENT. Our apostle has not passed away - He rose from the grave! Our apostle and high priest only BEGAN to do things in the Gospels - He did so many miracles they couldn't be recorded and that was only the beginning of miracles!

Our apostle is alive - He has not passed away! He has an immortal body and is at the right hand of the Father - He has gone through the curtain as an anchor for our soul! He is very active! He is my apostle! Everyone wants to be an apostle nowadays. I am amazed at all the apostles on the planet nowadays who have never planted churches, or seen miracles - but they are apostles! They always have the biggest cars and the most money and Apostle Paul said; "We are the off-scouring of the world - we are the back of the line - persecuted, betrayed, hated!". Suffering for the Name of Jesus - Paul the apostle!

Paul who was an outstanding apostle never ever gave himself the title of "apostle". He never said; "Apostle Paul". He wrote his letters and said; "Paul ... called to be an apostle". An apostle to some - but not to all. I get letters over email inviting us to different parts of the world from; "Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Bishop" - asking you to come! Where did the religious world get all these titles when Paul never got these titles?! It is a function not a title! I am not trying to be unkind - I am wondering what has happened to the church that Jesus birthed in the book of Acts! What happened to it?! How did this religious spirit get to take over so much of God's people? It is a control spirit that cuts off faith and binds faith!

"It is a sign of respect Rob!". Well we just say "Jesus". Surely we should honour Him?! He didn't ask or demand a title even though He is Lord! "In the Name of Jesus" - but no you can't address someone without the title of Apostle, or Prophet, or Evangelist, or Revelatory End-Days Magician! Our apostle is alive! This wonderful Jesus is our Apostle and our High Priest and He is alive! He is alive in you and me by the Holy Spirit. When He walked this earth in His body - He has reincarnated in His Spirit inside every born again person.

When He walked this earth in His physical body it was miracles before breakfast, miracles at breakfast, after breakfast, lunch maybe a miracle because you didn't have enough food so He would multiply, miracles after lunch, miracles on the boat of storms stopping, miracles of blind eyes opening, miracles of the dead being raised, miracles, miracles, miracles of which there are so many that they couldn't write them all down!

Then He rises up from the dead and He is alive as a High Priest and apostle and He incarnates Himself within every Christian by the Holy Spirit - "Christ in us - the hope of glory". So let me ask this question - and there is no condemnation here, because condemnation doesn't help. I like what Bill Johnson says; "Guilt and shame never works!". The incarnate one of Christ is in the inside - the one that did all those miracles on the earth is living on the inside of you.

How many miracles do you allow Him to do through you?

Here's another religious tradition of man that stops the miracle flow in unbelief. "Well you know Rob - it's as the Lord wills and only as the Lord wills ... hallelujah!". We placate ourselves with nonsense and drivel! Yes it is the Lord as He wills! As He wills! Let me ask you - when He was on this earth, He willed to do miracles every day and all day! Now that He is in you, how many miracles is He doing? Because He is using your physical body as His temple. He wants out! He wants to do the stuff! He really wants to do the stuff but we have listened to lies. He really wants to do His stuff! He has borrowed our bodies and our beings and is incarnated and duplicated Himself in millions of people on the planet!

The majority of those have no idea who is on the inside of them! No condemnation! But when was the last time you prayed and someone came out? 10 years ago. Do you mean to tell me that Jesus of Nazareth is doing 10 year intervals of miracles? How come when He was on the planet you couldn't fit the books in? He is the same Jesus! Hebrews 13:8; "Yesterday, today and forever - Jesus is the same!". Are you saying that when we go out there we should just get drunk in the Holy Spirit and get drunk and fall down and roll on the floor? I wouldn't have a problem with that! Go for it! It's better than being bored! But not necessary that you have to do that. We had a lot of that at the Sydney Glory and Grace - guys would come out of the meeting so full of God and would go down to the local pub to have lunch and would fall off their bar stools and roll on the ground and hadn't had any alcohol whatsoever!

The bartenders thought they were drunk until they started sharing about Jesus in a public place. Because when you are drunk all your inhibitions go and you become happy! "I believe in Jesus!". So I am not saying you necessarily have to behave that way - but I believe the people we bump into and touch and mess with - they should feel the incarnate one on the inside of us.

When we walk into a room concious of Who Jesus is - we should change the atmosphere! Something should shift!

It is not so much that you manifest and roll and shake out there - but those that you touch. I have seen people fall under the power on the lawn, swimming pool, on holiday in a resort, hotel rooms when we go on holiday - I just want to be out there among the unsaved a whole lot more! The only problem with this job is that you work only with Christians! It is a privilidge but I envy those of you who work with heathen every day. This Jesus on the inside of you. I have often thought I will go sailing, or join a yacht club or join a gym so I can mix with the heathen because God loves them and works through me. Peter, James and John - when they saw a crippled man at the Gate Beautiful - they looked at him and said; "Such as we have - we give to you in the Name of Jesus rise up and walk". They took him and lifted him up and he went walking and leaping and praising God!

He manifested! He was happy! He was jumping! He was shouting! People say; "Well I never saw Jesus running around and shouting and jumping!". No - but everyone He touched shouted and jumped and ran around! If He is touching you, you will jump, you will shout and you will run around! I tell you - this thing of temperament. "My temperament is shy, my temperament is Chinese, South African, Australian, English - it's not my culture to shout or clap or be liberated!". That's absolute rubbish - it's a lot of rubbish! Some devil taught us to say that! I take you down to the car park where my car is and I open the car door and put your fingers in that car door and I slam that door on your hand - you will shout! You will jump! You will scream! You will do something! You will be alive!

The depth of the touch will determine the depth of the response and evidentially many Christians haven't been touched by His response because they are sitting in pews Sunday after Sunday and hindering the flow of the Spirit with their religious attitudes!

God raised this church up to have every member on fire for God! Full of God! Glory in the house! Not people analysing every word - the pastor/teacher culture has taken over when the words of the prophets are analysed and to see whether every word fits into our doctrinal exatitudes. "Be responsible in what you say" - oh to hell with that! It belongs to hell! I am responsible and I weigh my words well! But Jesus said things that were wild and irresponsible in the appearance! "Unless you hate your father and mother then you cannot be My disciple!". Oh Jesus - just calm that down! Explain that! He just walks off!

There is Peter and John raising a man who is a cripple - lets rewind to the four Gospels where they are walking round, the sons of thunder. Confused at the teaching of Jesus - clueless! They try to pray for a demonised boy and can't cast the devil out - they fail here and fail there. Then Jesus rises from the dead and breathes on them as last Adam. Life. Something comes into them and then a few days later they meet with Him for 40 days after His resurrection and wait in an Upper Room and then the glory comes down. I thank God that Pentecost is not a denomination! Every Christian in the first century church was Pentecostal! Full of the fire! Full of the glory! Everyone spoke in tongues! Mary the mother of Jesus spoke in tongues - according to Acts 1 and 2.

There is no "What are you? Pentecostal? Charismatic?" - there is just Book of Acts! That is what the church is! Fire came! The Holy Spirit on their heads! Glory! Drunk in the Holy Spirit! Divine intoxication! They were inebriated! Supersonic sounds of rushing winds - encounters with God Almighty! People think they are drunk on new wine! I long for the day when the people at the front desk say "Have they been drinking?" because we come out all drunk - and we can say; "We are not drunk as ye suppose but this is the living God - we are not into religion!". Religion has FAILED Hong Kong - it has bound people up and destroyed people! Just let the Son of God loose in this city! Let every believer believe Christ lives in them and He wants to do miracles every day and we will wake up in the morning expecting miracles today, expecting Jesus to get out of us every day!

So when that man was begging for alms and they said; "Silver and gold we don't have but what we have - what we have". You can only give what you have! "What we have!". What did they have? Some kind of cerebral Bible information? If that is your experience - just Bible information then all they could have done is to take the cripples hand and give him an experience of Bible information. What did they have? The Son of God breathing on them. What did they have? Pentecost! What did they have? Tongues of fire! What did they have? Sounds of a mighty rushing wind! What did they have? Drunk in the Holy Spirit - inebriated, uninhibited, joyful dancing and singing and freedom! What did they have? Jesus! Every believer in the Book of Acts had the living Christ and then they scattered and everywhere they went they preached the Word of God!

Jesus is in me! We are not Buddhists! We are not people of philosophy and ideas! We are people of the Kingdom! Of Jesus! He wants out! He wants to do miracles! We are not people here to debate about theology! If I have got to go through all the apologetics of intellectual evidence to prove Jesus rose from the dead then something is wrong! If I have got to give you intellectual evidence that I am in this room today then something is wrong! You should feel I am here by now - you should know I am here by now!

If Jesus is alive then we don't have to give evidence that He is present - just let Him show up and every person who is lost will know that Jesus is alive!

We can go through the intellectual evidence of Josh McDowell and Frank Morrison's book on "Who Moved the Stone?" and give the court case - there is a place for that. But I am so tired about that being the limit. Jesus is alive! You don't have to prove He is alive by brain power and intellectual arguments in a court case situation - just let Him who is in you come out of you and signs and wonders and miracles and people will be healed and they will know that He is alive!

That is the flair of being aware - the gift with a lift - the discovery that brings recovery when we wise up and size up to who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us!

Every mistake you make and failure you make - just carry on! Better to be obedient with little results than disobedient with no results and just keep going on and you pray and they die. You didn't kill them by your prayer. They were on their way to the grave - they passed your hands on the way. You didn't kill them - don't feel guilty but you will get your first wheelchair case and your first blind eye and your cancer healed!

You will see AIDS - AIDS - AIDS HEALED!!

You will see it in Hong Kong! We will see these things in Hong Kong! The Church in Hong Kong is wanting this! Thousands of Chinese people - we saw it at Hong Kong - they are hungry for the Holy Spirit! They want the movings of the Holy Spirit!

I tell you something - if their pastors don't give it to them there is going to be a breakout in our city. People are coming out of religious cages and going to where there is life!

You cannot keep people under control - you cannot keep people dependent on the pastor and make out he is the professional and he is the guru. Every believer is in Christ and every believer has Christ in them. Every believer is called to signs, wonders and miracles and healings! Then when Peter and John had done this great miracle and turned to the people and said; "It is not by our own holiness or by our own power that is before you but it is by faith in the Name of Jesus".

They are saying it is not because we are apostles, not because of our gifting but because of Who is in us and what we believe about His Name! That is why this man is healed!

There comes a tipping point in this church and in my life when you may be afraid to stand before cripples. It happened in Europe when I saw the people and the deaf and cripples and all kinds of manifestations. There must come a tipping point - a place of boldness going for it with everything I have got. What is more important than doing the works that Jesus did and His works because He has gone to the Father? What is more important than that? I give my life to You Lord! I give myself to this! What is in your trail when you get to heaven? Self-centredness and a focus on me and my little world. Jesus must expand your world to nations and regions and cities and towns. This is the time for the Church in Hong Kong to arise in the power of God and go for it!

Don't miss tonight - bring the sick tonight. Tonight we are going to have more people - and bring unsaved people!

We had an unsaved Chinese man here tonight and he saw people falling under the power and he asked; "Please pray for me". He asked others because he said; "I want to feel God!".

We had people from South-East Asia who have never experienced God's power in all their years as a Christian. That is a tragedy! I was praying for one lady and nothing was happening but her mother and father was falling under the power so I turned to them! I go where the power is!

The Presence of God is what we were saved for - imagine not experiencing what we were saved for!

You don't know a thing until you are manifesting the fruit of it. In a Greek way - you know something if you just know the concepts. In a Hebrew (and Kingdom) way you don't know something until you are manifesting the fruit and the reality of that thing.

Repent - "Penthouse" - highest place. I come back to the place where my mind is open to the revelation of the God-breathed Scriptures. "Rhema" - living and grafted word".