Empower Conference - Session 1

It was my initial plan to begin transcribing a series that Rob Rufus preached on the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 2007. However to be honest I have been really struggling with feeling quite low about the spiritual state of the United Kingdom - my homeland. I remember when Rob first came to "Together on a Mission" - the Newfrontiers Leaders Conference in Brighton in 2006 and then in 2007 there was a great deal of excitement and anticipation. God seemed to be on the move and there were dreams and visions and prophecies about tidal waves and coming waves of glory. The Florida Outpouring seemed to be another signal that something was abroad in the world. But then I am not quite sure what happened. "Together on a Mission" went off somewhere different and last years conference talked a lot about Mark Driscoll - but I didn't hear as much about the manifest Presence of God. What's going on? Where's God's tidal wave?

So I decided to transcribe and publish the last conference that Rob spoke at here in the United Kingdom! I was fortunate enough to be there - it was called "Empower" at Kings Church in Eastbourne. It feels really "right" to do so! There is so much encouragement and reminders that God has not forgotten His planet!

Here is Session 1 preached on the Friday night;

Graham Marsh (Kings Church lead elder): What would church be like if the fire of Pentecost came upon us and then I asked another question - what would community be like if the deluge of His Spirit came down? In recent weeks and in the last month we have been catching a glimpse of that if you have been tuning into satillite T.V around the world and seeing what would happen if suddenly the power of God was to break in upon us. Two years ago I started to ask that question and it was at that time that I went along to a conference and heard extrodinary communication of faith to prepare us for that day. 2 years ago ago nearly I sent out an email offering lots of things - holidays, fine wine and cheese - in the hope that Rob and Glenda would get on a plane and travel 13 hours and come and be with us. As we started this evening and I was welcoming people, a lady came in who had been to the conference we held last year from another church around this region and she said "Something happened on that day that has changed my life. I have been suffering with depression for years" - and fourteen months later she is now beginning to testify that her life has never been the same since the day she was released from that depression. What would church be like? What would community like if we were in a place where the power of God came on us like a deluge? That is our prayer for this weekend that we will be changed, our churches changed and as a result the community will be transformed. So I want to welcome you to "Empower" - the desire as we read through the Book of Acts was that people's breath was taken away and that is also our desire;

That we will catch such an awesome glimpse of the manifest Presence of God that our breath is taken away.

So it is my real privilidge and pleasure to introduce all the way from Hong Kong - Rob and Glenda Rufus!

Rob: Good evening everyone! It is such an absolute delight to be here. Eastbourne at last! We believe this is a divine setup. When Graham invited us 2 years ago - there was no Florida outpouring and no idea of those things. We feel that God has ambushed us this weekend in a wonderful way and we are so excited to be here. We have already had a lot of fun with Graham and Belinda and they have been so good to us. Everything they promised us when they tried to seduce us to come, they have gone exceedingly abundantly above we could have ever imagined. I preach from living free from guilt but I am almost guilty and embarressed since coming into Eastbourne - but I can handle a bit of that kind of guilt! God is so good. It is so strange having lived all of our lives in the southern hemisphere and everytime we come back to the UK it is the most strange sense of coming back to your roots and legacy and we feel so at home here - as though we were born here.

Three years ago I was in Richmond Park praying for a series of meetings we were going to do in a place called Reading just outside of London. God spoke to me literally audibly. Not with my physical ears but down here. That is for every believer to hear the inward audible voice of God. I don't think it is normal to go without hearing God's voice! Jesus said; "My sheep hear My voice" and that inner voice of God that is audible and clear and speaks in English (because God is English - you realise that?!). He speaks in English to the English and there is an inward witness and an inward testimony of the Spirit and sometimes your own spirit speaks and you can hear it. The Holy Spirit lives in your spirit so your spirit gives you good counsel. It goes upto your mind like a kite in the wind. But often God will speak in an audible voice. We are listening with the wrong ears because He speaks down here and not to your head. He said;

"Son I am going to visit the British Isles with waves and waves of glory" - this was three years ago - "And I am going to call you to come into the UK from time to time for a season - for only a period of time - and I will open platforms that are strategic and significant platforms where you will facilitate the release of the glory. Then after a season you will not need to come back anymore for your assignment will be over".

So I didn't tell Glenda that and a few nights later God said; "Terry Virgo will be the first one to invite you to the Brighton Conference". Glenda turned to me the same day and said; "You know what God has just told me? Terry is going to invite you to the Brighton Conference!". I said; "I know that - He has already told me!". Like a smart alec! A few months ago up in Hong Kong we have a rooftop where we often have BBQ's and God just came and visited me in the most extraordinary way. I love it when God visits you and you haven't been fasting and praying. I have got a bad confession to make. I have very few encounters with God when I fast and go on extended prayer times.

God just seems to come upon me unexpectedly and unsummoned when I feeling most unspiritual!

I had my BBQ all lined up. Suddenly God came and visited me - it sounds Biblical and I went into a kind of semi-trance and I heard God's voice. And He said;

"Son I want you to please tell My people to stop trying to impress Me". I said; "What!?". He said; "Including you! Stop trying to impress Me. Stop trying to impress one another. Ask My people to let Me impress them because I can really do that well! Nothing actually impresses Me except faith and I wasn't shocked or impressed when man landed on the moon. I created the galaxies! I want to impress My people! You are the Bride and I am the Bridegroom! There is something wrong about a Bride that is meant to be all feminine and beautiful trying to flex her muscles and impress the Bridegroom! I want to impress you with how powerful I am! My church doesn't have to impress Me! I have clothed you with the garments of salvation and you are beautiful to Me and I am already in love with you! Would you let Me impress the church?". So I said; "Yes go ahead Lord! Anytime!". We saw an increase of God's Presence from then on!

So anyway we got back to Hong Kong and within a week Terry's email arrived asking us to come to Brighton and he said; "Won't you pray about it?". We wrote back immediately within minutes and said; "We don't need to pray about it - have been waiting for your email! What took you so long?". He also graciously invited us back last year as well to be there. There has been such a sense of everytime we come back to the UK there has been such an increase here of anticipation! We have seen people get out of wheelchairs here - did you know that? God is doing miracles in the UK! I get so angry when I go to Third World nations and I hear people say; "God has finished with Europe and the UK". I say;

"The greatest move of God is coming out of the UK and out of Europe - He isn't finished with the UK and Europe! This is going to be mighty what is coming out of this area of the world!".

I am finding it easier to see miracles in Europe and in the UK than in some Third World countries! We have just been in the Northern Europe Conference - the Newfrontiers Leaders Conference. We had at least forty to forty five healings and extraordinary miracles that Jesus did! From the Latvians to the Dutch! An incredible colourful gathering of people! There was a Dutch lady there that we saw being wheeled around the conference everyday and she had M.S. She had been diagnosed a few years ago and slowly she started losing the use of her limbs and her arms and eventually she has now been reduced to being in a wheelchair. Her unsaved husband was at the conference pushing her around. I was speaking at the conference about a miracle that God did in Reading with a lady with chronic MS came out of a wheelchair and couldn't lift her legs before we prayed for her. She began to walk and then semi-trot and then jog around this auditorium. People were shouting and going crazy and her husband was crying. So I said to her; "Put your husband in the wheelchair and push him around!". Which she did! So while I am giving this testimony - this woman comes out of her wheelchair just a few days in Holland in the conference and pushed her husband up and down and Dave Holden was there so can verify this! She ran around the building showing off! How many of you believe that it won't be long before her husband is saved? He was reduced to tears! God is doing these things in Europe!

How many of you find that you struggle with a cynical mind? I do! I am still cynical! When I see these miracles I am the most shocked out of everyone! You did it again! I am analytical and cynical and embarressed about the movings of God! Our background didn't help us or prepare us or educate us to do signs and wonders. Whether you were secular or religious - both work against the supernatural. We have been taught by cessationist theologians or by secular atheists that we are living in a closed material world of cause and effect and everything we see is the product of impersonal time plus impersonal chance plus impersonal matter organising itself in an impersonal way developing impersonal complexities thus contradicting the second law of thermodynamics - do you believe that? And we said yes! That there is no supernatural, invisible realm. We brought into this lie and were brainwashed over and over again. So we stand here in a time when God is beginning to do unprecidented things in our earth. I mean unprecidented! We had a visitation of God in 1981 and many came out of wheelchairs - some blind eyes open and deaf ears in South Africa. We have seen some signs and wonders but I promise you what is happening on the earth now is unprecidented! It is unique!

We must be careful that in our openness to supernatural signs and wonders of God and His manifest glory Presence that we don't start putting categories on God as to what He can and cannot do. We will be locked into this! Some have already done this and only see Him as a healer - those who have gone further in signs and wonders - they see Him as a Healer but forgot He was first a Creator before He became a Healer! The only reason He had to start healing was because creation was subject to the fall of man. God is a Healer! But the reason why we don't see more creative miracles is because we only see Him as a Healer and have locked and restricted and limited God.

The Bible says "Let God arise" - let Him arise and be a creator! Because He can do awesome things! Like this lady from the Reading church in Southern California where a number of people have seen into the spare department room in Heaven! Now when I first heard that I thought; "That is a bit silly!". Then Bill Johnson said; "Well you live without parts you need then!". My first reaction is "I must verify that and make sure that is the case". I am longing for the day when I hear a testimony of the miraculous and just say; "Yes I believe that!" - until it is proved
wrong!

In the early church when the lady came and said; "It is Peter knocking at the door! The guy you have been praying for to come out of prison!". They said; "It can't be him! It must be an angel!". They found it easier to expect angelic visitations than an answer to their prayers!

Today if someone gets bitten by a poisonous snake and they don't die then we say "It must have been an old snake or bitten someone else and had no poison left". We are still primed wrongly and the main thing that we need to deal with is our minds! We must deal with how our minds think!

There are coming miracles that if our minds are not open then we will become Pharisees and Sadducees and couldnt-sees and wouldn't-sees! The Pharisees loved the Scriptures! You couldn't fault them - they were Word people.

I believe in the Word of God! I believe from Generations to Revolutions! I believe in the Bible! But we need to have the Spirit of revelation in way we read and contextualise the Word of God! When Jesus spat into sand and made mud and put it on someone's eyes, I cannot find any biblical precident for that. If I was a Pharisee I would have said; "Where in the Word of God do You have authority to do that?". I don't know in the Word of God where there was a precident for a whole herd of swine to go screaming with a kamikaze spirit and jump over a cliff!

Revival is wild! Revival is tearing a hole in the roof in desperation to get into the Presence of God! Revival is not for the comfortable! For those who want to understand everything with their heads! How do we deal with the fact that God is downloading gems and gold and unusual things and people are taking them and getting them verified as something unique!?

Millie here who is originally from the UK and is in our church in Hong Kong was at our "Glory and Grace Conference" and we saw unusual signs and wonders! We discovered a new platinum tooth filled up by God! My cynical mind said "Go check" and a dental technician who was there said it was new and flawless. The more we open our hearts to the fact that God is not just a Healer but a Creator then we will see things! More than ever we need to hold onto the Word of God in these days but we have got to watch how we interpret what God is doing! If it is God doing it then I don't care what He does! I have heard all about these feathers falling and I think; "What's the point?". But if it is God then let Him do it! I don't know why He does it but if He is doing it then let Him do it! Let God have His way! People say; "I don't know if it is God or the devil" and I almost want to say "You need to get born again" for you have an anointing on the inside of you so that instantly you can discern the difference between absolute manifest evil and absolute holy God. In Hong Kong the majority of Christians seem to have a theology of a very big devil and a very small God. Anything supernatural that happens must be the devil. We need to be saying; "God if You are doing it then I am embracing it!". As long as I know it's You! If I don't know it's You and I am a bit suspicious then I am going to wait! But if I know it's You then I will do it.

Just before we left Australia to relocate and go and go and live in Hong Kong - about a week before I was praying and was frightened and thinking; "God what is going to happen there!? I don't know the language or the culture and nobody knows us in the city. We have got five people to start and I am not a young man anymore!". I was just praying and then suddenly the power of God fell on me and I am talking FELL on me! My arms starting windmilling around and I thought God was going to take my arms out and then put them back on to demonstrate what He could do! And I am not exaggerating! It was that violent! He was waiting for me to say; "I am glad this isn't a public place!". Suddenly the manifestation changed like a Jew at the Western Wall and then suddenly the inward audible voice of God came and it said;

"Rob are you willing to be unashamed of My manifestations no matter what I do as long as it is Me? For many of My people are ashamed of Me and have pushed Me out of the church because I am not popular in many churches anymore. When I turn up and do manifestations then people are ashamed and think it will drive the unsaved away. In the Book of Acts I had many manifestations and I added to their number those that were being saved and Peter's shadow healed the sick and there were great signs and wonders and all were healed and demons came out with shrieks and it didn't drive people away but MANY were added! Are you willing to be unashamed?". I said "Lord I am willing to be unashamed!". Then He said; "Go in My power!".

I dropped to my knees and sat there for about an hour in the tranquility of God's Presence. I think that around the world if people don't understand that there is a revolution - not a revival - going on. There is something coming on the planet that we cannot look into our past and say "This is going to be a duplication of that". It is not! It is going to be of such a scale! We have got to be so careful that we don't call it the devil when it goes outside our cultural box! When I made a decision not to be ashamed - I said if I shake, rattle, roll then do it Lord! But do it in a dignified way! I am a proud man! No - do whatever You want! Then we began to preach and teach these things and it goes on our website! Last month in April we put a series of 12 teachings on "Glory and Grace" onto our website and we had over 348,000 downloads! There is a hunger out there! It is easier to get miracles in the street and in the marketplace than it is in the church. The New Agers have been doing Phd's in the supernatural while the church has been sitting analytically wondering if it is God or the devil with cautiousness and formalism that has dwarfed and diminished many believers from their inheritance to do the works that Jesus did and greater works.

There is legalism in the church so people don't feel worthy enough to get healed but you go out into the world and people out there are open!

Friends of ours - Fini and Isi - where we have just done our "Glory and Grace Conference" there - they were sneaked into a New Age Festival. All tarot card readings and fortune telling and they spent 3 days there. 17 of them from their church in Sydney that is in a great move of the Spirit and they have powerful revelation. They often go up into the heavenlies - this friend of ours - Isi de Gersigny. She is a true prophet but very down to earth and real. But she goes up into the heavens regularly and sees angels often which is normal New Testament! They set up a "Prophetic Booth" and said they could tell your future. And didn't tell them they were Christians and just started praying for people. A lady came who was totally unsaved and she had an accident and had a large piece of glass in her foot that the doctors couldn't remove because it was right next to a nerve. So they bandaged it up. These friends of ours began to pray in a New Age festival context. The lady said "Oh it feels better!". So the girl looked down and saw a big piece of glass on the floor. Remember the lady still had the bandage on! So she picked it up and said "Is this your piece of glass?". The lady said; "I saw it on the X-ray - that IS my piece of glass! How did it get there?". So they undid the bandages and there was no scar or mark! So she gets up and runs around the booth and they told her that they were Christians and they had prayed for her! So she goes running to other booths saying "There are Christians here! They prayed for me! My glass came out through the cloth! I am going to be a Christian!". And she came to Christ!

We have got teachers in our church in Hong Kong and one is an Australian and she teaches in a private school with young Chinese children whom Cantonese is theif first language. And she is trying to explain about the Gospel and they weren't understanding! So eventually they said; "Well Who is the Holy Spirit?". She said "I will do something better than tell you. I am going to invite Him because He is My Friend and He is Almighty God into this room and you can all meet Him!". So we teach everyone in our church to move in signs and wonders and how to release the anointing. So she said "Oh Holy Spirit won't You come?". And He did! Which He always does! He came in and instantly children were saying "I have got electric feelings on my hands!" and others laughed drunkenly and others had demons coming out! There are a lot of demonised people in Hong Kong. This is what I have lived for! God moving there where the precious ones that Jesus died for are! The lost ones! Those that some of the Church judges - the New Agers! That is where God is going!

And if the legalistic church in it's fundementalistic pride but abscence of the supernatural does not want to live up to the season or time we are in - then the greatest church of the future will be those that are not yet born again but are birthed into first generation grace churches with no baggages of the traditions of men.

Open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Jesus seemed to talk and didn't say "Turn to this or that" but everything He was saying was the life and the Word of God. How many of you are here desperate to have a divine encounter to carry away? It is not about my speaking. God can wrap the words I am saying in His Presence and there comes impartation and divine administration and tomorrow afternoon I will probably talk about positioning yourself for this wave of glory and then the second session - sustaining the supernatural.

The manifestation of God's glory is merely the appearance in the seen world of the unseen world of God. It is when the invisible realm of God becomes seen in the visible realm of men. If the world does not see regular signs and wonders and miracles then it will not see the true nature of God for the true nature of God is to restore, to replenish and to give back what has been stolen and lost. The true nature of God is to remove human suffering, pain - He is a God of redemption.
I don't believe that heaven is clashing with the earth rather I believe that heaven is merging with the earth in order to topple the control of evil and manifest the goodness of God.
Anything that does not exist in heaven God does not want it to exist on earth.

The glory light - the light of God's glory - when it comes and shines - there is no opposition that can stand against it from darkness. God's glory light is so superior to the darkness in this world that there is no contest! As soon as light shines, darkness immediately goes for the light is superior! The fact that there is still so much darkness in the nations is not because or explained by the power of darkness. The reason that there is so much darkness is that darkness has not yet been fully challenged by the light. As soon as there is a challenge by the light there will be no contest and darkness must flee.

I do not have a theology that we will shrink into a world where the Christians will be some remnant group hiding away. I believe we will see the Kingdom of heaven advance and we will see the Spirit of God poured out on all flesh and God will reveal the knowledge of His glory as the waters cover the sea!

The greatest sign of the end of the age of evil - Matthew 24:14 - the Gospel will be preached as a sign to all ethnos and then the end will come! The greatest sign is not a church hiding away but a church preaching the good news of the government of God's Kingdom in the earth and mighty signs and wonders to all nations in the earth! China will wake up any moment now and 1 billion - 300 million people will experience the glory of God manifesting and shining across China! It will cover the earth! It is not a contest between light and darkness! That is yin and yang. Darkness must just go. Jesus would just walk into a place and demons would start screaming. People have got such exaggerated ideas of pulling down principalities and powers and binding them. Colossians 2:14 - Jesus cancelled the written code that stood opposed to us and disarmed the powers and authorities, triumphing over them openly! The Cross has already defeated the powers and authorities! We don't have to battle them to neutralise them to get them out of the third heaven! We are living under an open heaven in Christ Jesus! It is not a closed heaven - it is closed heads! Cynical closed heads that sit in pews on Sunday morning - the Sunday morning conservative traditional mentality! Jesus went to His own home town and could not do there any mighty works except heal a few of minor ailments and He marvelled at their UNBELIEF!
We are getting out of the Nazareth syndrome - the syndrome of minor miracles and we are moving in a wave of glory to major miracles! The contest is not between light and darkness but in the hearts of believers.

The war that is raging is this - am I worthy enough to carry the glory that raises the dead? Am I worthy enough to carry an anointing that causes a piece of glass to drop through a bandage and onto a floor? Am I worthy enough to carry a glory that causes cripples to get out of wheelchairs so that unsaved husbands can see an invisible world made manifest and see how good the nature of God is? Well if we have an Old Covenant mentality then we will never feel qualified and worthy to carry such glory.

Most Christians don't have an absolute Old Covenant mentality. Most Christians that I have met on this planet have a mixture of Old Covenant and New Covenant. Many believers have come into a revelation of grace and are enjoying a level of freedom in the grace of God yet still have performance pressures and things they feel they must do in order to see miracles. I believe in fasting and I believe in praying and some days I will pray hours a day. But it is not my fasting or my praying that will produce miracles. It is the revelation of the New Covenant! And it is abandoning any trace or vestige or remant of Old Covenant thinking and performance pressures!

It is through the obedience of the ONE Man that we have been made righteous! So we have a fool-proof, a failure-proof and a devil proof righteousness! It is not based on yours or mine obedience but on the one Man on our behalf! It is faith that we are the righteousness of God permamently and eternally and irreversibly in Christ Jesus - that by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever all of those that are being made holy! THAT is where the miracle power flows out of on a regular basis and on a daily basis!

How can we tell multitudes of churchgoers who work hours a day and have children to pick up and drop off and have all kinds of demands that in order to produce the miraculous you have got to fast and spend hours a day praying - it is not like that!

The New Covenant is not about what we DO - it is about what He has DONE at the Cross! The generator is ON! I don't pray to get the power - I pray IN the power!

Instantly it is accessible! "Holy Spirit come!". And He comes! I didn't have to fast! Come! We are in a New Covenant of unfading glory! We need to condemn condemnation! We need to accuse accusation! We need to grab guilt around the throat! We need to get out of the religious boat and realise that we can float! And wear our Father's glory coat! Most Christians who have a fear of stepping out in the supernatural and a fear of standing in front of someone in a wheelchair - a fear of praying for the blind or a fear of letting the manifestation of the Spirit show - you will find behind all that fear there is a root of condemnation. Even people that have sat and listened to grace for years! God is coming with a greater understanding of grace!

I am so glad that in Europe Dave Holden endorsed me and said "Rob - run with this message - we need this - you have opened more light to us - go for it!".

There is a deeper realm of glory! To the degree you deal with guilt and condemnation - to that degree the glory of God in proportion to that will manifest in your life. I want to say something - I am an intense person. I am an introvert posing as an extrovert. I like the mountains and the desert! I like being alone with God! I am exposing my insecurities and vulnerabilies! I like a response! I am not asking you to kiss your brains goodbye but when you sense that sounds true - be like the noble Bereans! Sometimes we have got to give ourselves permission to be happy! I can feel there is a responding culture here! How we miss the revelation of what that great outpouring of joy was. We thought it was all about joy - if that was all it was about then it would have been worth it, because that was a party! The first manifestation in the Gospels was when He turned the water into wine!

I believe that where it says; "a joy of unspeakable glory" - I am convinced of this theologically and experientially that the joy takes you into the glory.

It was the revelation that our God is good and His mercy endures forever that took them into the glory! It is the revelation of joy in the wonder of the good news of the gospel - a holy laughter! Joy is a fruit of the Spirit! Zion is the joy of the whole earth! Psalm 126 - the Lord filled our mouths with laughter! God sits on His throne and laughs at the devil who thinks he can advance against the Lord's anointed! A merry heart does good like medicine! People fought that joy and the devil was behind it because the joy of God is the doorway that takes you into the glory. Some of the greatest miracles I have seen are when the Holy Spirit has fallen and the people don't sit there analysing whether it is genuine - we are in days of extreme grace! If the church doesn't open up then like Paul tried in Ephesus to preach this radical extreme gospel! Where Paul says "I am not ashamed of the gospel" - we think he was saying he was not ashamed to preach it. He lived in a Jewish culture extremely committed to righteousness by human effort and performance and by what you gain and the very idea of being declared permamently righteous all the time was called a scandal and was almost blasphemous! He said "I am not ashamed of this gospel!". It is the power of God unto life, healing, preservation and in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed that is by faith from first to last.

It is not something you get by faith and then you must work later on to keep - it is faith from FIRST to last! This is such good news! We have said "yes it is good news but ..." that we do a Galatians 3. The Galatians had signs and wonders and miracles and then went back under law. It is so radical and extreme and sounds frighteningly irresponsible! Jesus plus anything equals nothing! Jesus plus lots of prayer and fasting ... Jesus plus any good deed will bring a declining fading glory. Jesus plus NOTHING will bring an unfading glory. The fact that the church even has need of revival is a sad testimony of Galatians 3 syndrome where the church gets a revelation of grace and then slowly drifts into a mixture of law and grace. The gospel is not preaching right living. I believe in right living and have been married 33 years to the same wife. I have six grandchildren and go to bed every night with a granny. I haven't split churches or run off with the church secretary although my wife was the secretary for a while and I ran off with her! So I believe in right living.

But the gospel is not right living. Many people for centuries in Europe have been under such condemnation. Preach right living for centuries has produced such dysfunctional church goers. I have had the pain of hearing a number of psychiatrists say that their biggest clients have been Christians living with obsessive compulsive behaviours because of the fear of losing their salvation or the fear of God getting upset with them. The fear of divine disapproval. Most psychiatrists link the root of all stress, anxiety and anger to a root of fear. From the Word of God I say they are wrong and it is not rooted in fear but a root of condemnation.

That was in the Garden of Eden. As soon as he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - what's that? The law! The knowledge of GOOD and evil. He didn't cut good out of the fruit! Good was as much part of the fall of man as evil was.

When he entered into that conciousness he hid from God because he said he was afraid. Condemnation caused a withdrawal and a loss of the glory of God. God then had to set up a cherubim and not let Adam and Eve have access to the glory realm.

When you are under a conciousness of good and evil or law-keeping then you have no right to have access permament and unconditionally to unfading glory. The law demands a fading glory. Moses said "Show me Your glory!". God said "I can only show you My hindparts". Under the Old Covenant glory is God walking away from you. Under the New Covenant it is God walking towards you open-handed! An unfaded glory!

The first Pentecost was on the day when law was given on Mount Sinai and the focus was on man's works and efforts to keep the law and 3000 died. The first Pentecost of the New Testament was when the Holy Spirit came in like a mighty rushing wind and 3000 were saved.
Ezekiel had a vision of the temple and he saw the glory of God come off the Holy of Holies and begin to reluctantly withdraw slowly and then went to the Mount of Olives and then hover there and then reluctantly go back to heaven. Then for a long time Israel had no manifest glory. It faded completely off the earth. When the first Pentecost of the New Covenant came, the Holy Spirit did not come back slowly like the way He left but He rushed in!

Somewhere in this time He will come and shock and surprise us and come like a mighty rushing wind - the moment Old Covenant strongholds in our thinking are broken! When it says "There is now therefore NO condemnation" - it means NO! It didn't say "No condemnation to those who don't sin" - because what would be the point?! Who is that who accuses?! It is God who justifies! But how many Christians who believe the grace message still live with accusation and low grade guilt all the time! It is rampant in the Body of Christ and that is the number one hindrance to great signs and wonders and miracles. It makes people dysfunction, shy and frightened of the supernatural and scared of manifestations!

This is what I wrote down the other day and I believe that this is the best way I can describe what the glory of God is;

"It is the realm of effortless miracles, signs and wonders".

When this lady came out the wheelchair a few days ago - it was effortless. It was the easiest thing! We should restore dignity to the ministry of Jesus - we don't see Him huffing and puffing! Just; "Go your way". Up to now the Church has mainly seen the operation of the anointing. The anointing and the glory are different. The anointing of God is the power for man to minster and man to pray. It is an empowering of God but the glory is WHO God is. You can get people healing in the anointing but you get very tired. You need the anointing to preach. I never preach without desperately relying on the anointing. It is the most dangerous thing to speak accurate Bible truth without an anointing. Very dangerous! There needs to be always a demonstration of the anointing while we are speaking Bible words otherwise we bring death to God's people. I am speaking under the anointing right now because I want to demolish Old Covenant thinking patterns because I know to get a move of God is not to neutralise principalities up there but to demolish ways of thinking in here in people's heads and then open them to the realm of the glory and the more you do your job in the anointing successfully the more man can backpedal and then His glory comes and man can fade into the background.

God takes place and then does things effortlessly. It is not difficult for God to heal cancer! But under the anointing I can get cancer healed but it is such hard work! The crowds will be so big! How does your shadow heal the sick? It has to be because the glory is over you! If we are going to live under the glory then we can't fluctuate with guilt and condemnation and the paralysis of analysis. When God's people come to a place where there is no condemnation even when they mess up and say "Lord that is not consistent with my new nature and I shouldn't have but I thank You that where the blood of bulls and goats couldn't take away guilt for thoe who draw near and their sin offerings were in fact an annual reminder and made them even MORE guilt concious - I thank You Father than by one sacrifice I have been made perfect forever!".
Colossians chapter 2 says "Having forgiven ALL our sins" - past tense. 2 Corinthians 5 says; "In Christ reconciling the world ... NOT counting mens sins against them!". Romans chapter 4:8 - David looked down the corridors of time and saw the New Covenant and said; "Blessed is the man whom the Lord will NEVER count their sins against them!". We are living in the time that David longed for and yet still living a confusing cocktail of good news and bad news! Christians are becoming spiritual schizophrenics and we are mis-reading contexts and we are wired to read rejection and disapproval into things but if we see the context as love letters that are securing us in grace!

The Old Covenant was written to show the power of sin and strip us of all self righteousness! When Jesus said to the Pharisees; "You should not commit adultery - it is a death sentence but I say you should not even look with lust in your heart" - people say that Jesus was preaching the New Covenant and it is a higher standard! He wasn't preaching the New Covenant! He was preaching the true spirituality of the law of Moses to strip the Pharisees of self-righteousess and prepare them for the wonder of the grace of God! If He was preaching New Covenant truth there then you that look with your hearts at someone you shouldn't be looking at, then you should pluck your eyes out or cut your hands off and be consistent if you are saying Jesus was preaching the New Covenant there! He followed that up with self-mutiliation! And because we live in a modern world we don't do that anymore although I have met Christians who have plucked their eyes out in Australia and Zimbawe because of that perverse interpretation. We don't self-mutilate physically but we self-mutiliate psychologically with this root of condemnation and the devil loves it. He is the accuser of the brethren!

You say "Talk about the anointing - don't talk about grace - we are the people of grace!". I know you are and I have learnt from you! But this will open up the manifest glory of God! The glory realm is the realm of effortless signs and wonders and miracles. The glory realm is God's realm, the realm of the supernatural, of healing, of prosperity, of life, of fruitfulness, it is the realm of His riches shared generously. It is the realm of multitudes being saved. Don't tell me the glory has come to church and people aren't being saved. When the glory comes people get saved. It is the realm of liberty, joy, confidence and peace. The glory is the realm of awe and wonder and power over the devil, where we get purified and grow in holiness, where we become more like Jesus and grow in God. It is the realm where we see into the invisible. It isn't just apostles and prophets that should see into the invisible - every New Covenant believer should see into the realm of the invisible! It is the realm of rest and revelation. It is the realm of hearing His wonderful voice. It is the realm of heaven! It is the eternal realm, the realm of heaven, the realm of absolute goodness.

I just want to read these few verses and make a few comments and then close. The Old Covenant was designed by God to strip us of all self-confidence. If you meet Christians who don't have confidence to pray for the sick or to prophesy or to come close to God then that is a sign they are living under Old Covenant mentality because the Old Covenant will take away your confidence in God. I know Christians who go to church and outside of church they are confident in their careers and in the sports field but before God they are wimps! Why? They have condemnation conciousness. I believe there is enough in the New Testament - Hebrews 10:14; "By one sacrifice He has made us perfect forever" and the next verse; "The Holy Spirit testifies to this!". I am so tired of people accusing the Friend of all Friends that I have in the earth of being someeone that condemns or convicts of sin. "I know that Scripture Rob - John 16 - when the Holy Spirit comes He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement. You see the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and tells us how righteous we should be and that if we dont then what judgement will fall upon us". That is bad exegesis!

Jesus elaborates what He means! "Sin because they do not believe on me". So the only sin is unbelief on Jesus. That is the only sin He couldn't die for and the only sin that will send people to hell. "And righteousness because I go to the Father". When Jesus went to the Father what was He doing for us? Our high priest mediating and interceding for us and declaring that we are the righteousness of God. Then He said; "And judgement because the prince of this world is now condemned". So the Holy Spirit comes to the believer comes to the believer to help you overcome areas of unbelief in your life or comes to the unsaved and convinces them of their sin of not believing on Jesus. Once you are saved He comes to convince you that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 10:15) and that we are perfect forever and then He convinces you that it is the devil who is judged at the Cross! I know why some people don't have an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit! They think He is the one convicting them of every sin they did! How many of you could have a close friend who followed you around and was always pointing your faults out!?

That is the practice of the LAW - to make you concious of sin! The Holy Spirit does not come to make you concious of sin, He comes and convinces you when you most need it that Jesus has gone to the Father everliving to intercede and mediate for you as a superior Mediator of a better covenant that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and the devil who is accusing you - he is the one who is guilty and is the one triumnphed over at the Cross!

He has come to be just like Jesus! Sinners were so comfortable with Jesus and how will the Holy Spirit be any different? The only people that Jesus was hard on - and He was the most courageous man ever dealing with arrogant bigots - the Pharisees - and He never backed down or was intimidated and didn't fear man. He only feared His Father and was only hard on the self-righteous! To the people He was kind and loving and despite the sin the crowd had was that He healed them ALL! Grace was flowing from Him! The Syro-Phonecian woman persisted and said "Even the dogs will eat the crumbs" and Jesus said "I have never seen such great faith!". She didn't need to get offended by Jesus! Grace came! Which other person did He say that to? The centurion! What was the common link between himself and the housemaker woman? They were both non-Jews, not living under the law. Romans 4 says that the law neutralises and diminishes faith. It is not just about having a theology for not being under law. It has got to go far deeper than that! It is more than a notebook! It has to be a demolishing of a thinking that we have a standard we must live upto! I have heard some say that the only difference between the Old and New Covenants is that we now have a power to live upto the standards of the law. I do not believe that is the radical message Paul preached. Because we are still focused on ME trying to attain a certain standard.

Colossians says we are COMPLETE in Christ! We have received fullness in Christ! We are no longer under the law! Christ is the end of the law to ALL who believe! And the Holy Spirit is now really a comforter! The devil is the one judged! You are the righteousness of God! It gets difficult to sin regularly when you are in the glory! Do you know it is difficult to sin in the glory presence? It is condemnation that drives people to sin but glory transforms the Church! 2 Corinthians chapter 3! The worst thing you can have in a place like this is people who come to observe. No we want people who come to find the power source and want to crawl right up the plug to the power station! Smith Wiggleworth said if the Holy Spirit is not moving then we move the Holy Spirit!

I get angry when people say of me or other ministries; "Ah its their gifts that produce the miracles". How come for years I didn't see any miracles? I have a gift as an Ephesian 4 Ministry to equip and train people but I have no advantage over any other believer! This move of the Spirit is not following a ministry but a message - the message of the New Covenant!
Take Florida or any other move of the Spirit - if legalism comes in then you will see the glory fade very quickly! It is not an issue about law and grace but an issue of "Who is in control of the church?". We are not going to have chaos! We believe we tithe under grace not Malachi 3! Abraham didn't tithe to get the windows of heaven opened! He tithed because the windows were already open and we are partners with God! The majority of our people come every Sunday and give! They are committed and share their faith! This message doesn't make rebels! It is an empowerment of the New Covenant! Elders are not managers of the church but empowers! We will celebrate even your failures!

A grace church is a safe place to sin if you are going to! People sin under law and under grace! If you swim with sharks don't them know you are bleeding!

2 Corinthians 3:4; "competent as ministers of the New Covenant ... the letter KILLS". The devil can retire in many churches because preachers are killing people! He said it was a ministry that brought death. (v8); "How much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness ... being transformed into His likeness". Let's give Jesus an applause for this wonderful New Covenant!

Hearing the Voice of God

This sermon was preached by Rob Rufus on Sunday 7th December 2008 and just before Rob came up to preach, Wayne Duncan brought a significant prophecy to City Church. Wayne is based in South Africa and leads a church there that is enjoying an amazing move of God. He and his wife were visiting City Church that week.

Wayne Duncan: I just wanted to share something that during worship I felt God drop into my heart and it wasn't planned. This church - as small as it is - has an internation effect. You guys touch countries and people all over the world. As we were worshipping I was so caught up with the profoundness of what I believe God has called this church to be. God kept on showing me even from early this morning - the tip of a spear. I saw it stabbing a soft ceiling the whole time and during worship I felt God gave me the fullness of it. I felt God was saying

"Do you see it - have you seen it and do you know? Don't underestimate the power of the divine strategies of God and don't underestimate the significance of your role in His divine strategy". I felt God say that He has positioned this church to be part of the most significant move that Hong Kong has ever seen. A revival that will touch the city and will be spoken of by every citizen. The Name of Jesus will be on the lips of everyone! I felt that in heaven there was a trumpet that was sounded a while ago and the call of that trumpet resonated in many people's hearts and that's why many of you are here even now. You heard the call of God and it is significant in and through that thing God wants to release in Hong Kong - He has called you here.

Then I saw the rest of the pole for the first time reaching down in the vision. In that pole I saw those who were worshipping and I saw those of you praying at home and getting caught up into the glory and every time someone prayed and everytime someone worshipped and everytime someone was laying down a part of their lives I saw that as something that was going into the very pole that was driving the spear tip. And that added weight and momentum and support behind the thrust. I felt there was an army of people that were called to serve. I saw finances being released and I saw a huge army of people bringing energy into it.

Then I saw the most awesome thing in the third part of the vision - I saw Jesus Himself grabbing the spear and thrusting it through and I believe there is a time coming of incredible breakthrough. Don't underestimate your significance. God has significantly and strategically placed you and placed you in this church and in Hong Kong for this time. It is now! Hong Kong is going to see something unprecidented and never seen before in terms of the power of God. Even as we were worshipping and saying "Jesus come build Your throne" and we were declaring the glory of what is to come. We were declaring the glory of the breakthrough and there will be multitudes and thousands of people saved as that spear shoots through into new places. So bless you guys - go for it - we love you".

Thanks Wayne. I appreciate you guys - they came to "Glory and Grace" last year and their lives were turned upside down and their church came instantly into a move of God. One of the phenomena that happens regularly (so it is not a hit and miss thing) in their church and where they travel, when they lay hands on people - people get gold dust. Even when they don't lay hands on people's hands! And it's not 1 out of 10 - it is a high percentage of times. No pressure guys! But afterwards we will line everyone up! I am inspired to live every day with the belief or conviction that my Father really wants to pour out grace and mercy on me every single day!

Grace means the absolute goodness of God and only His goodness coming my way! Never judgements, never divine frustrations, never divine disapproval.

The Old Covenant has finished! The Law has gone and Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law that the blessing of Abraham may come on us and that we have a God whose nature is to do us good all the time! He is not impatient, He doesn't get frustrated, He is not disapproving of us - if that is what you think He is, then you are wrong for you are reading the Old Covenant. I suggest go after the Cross! Don't even go after the four Gospels if you want to start! People say "Start at John" - no don't start before the Cross! Start in Acts chapter 1 after the Cross in the New Testament and see the power of God being poured out from a Father who is smiling! And there is a happy sky over your head! Then go back and read the Old Covenant and see how grateful you should be that you are living in the New Covenant and it is good to read the Old Covenant so you can understand how wonderful it is for God to have positioned us to be in the New Covenant. I am inspired to live every day with goodness and mercy following my life.

David - that great king - had God say of him; "THIS is a man who is after My heart". David in Psalm 23 said; "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me ... some of the days?". "ALL of the days!". Bad hairday, good hairday, bad Monday - all my days, every single day! If you had a bad week it just means that you weren't sensitive to the desire of God to dump goodness and mercy on you! He was trying to and He just couldn't because you didn't expect it or believe it. But once you do - then He can! Now hell might have been breaking out with all kinds of friction and frustration and anger relationally but God was wanting to dump goodness and mercy on you every single day of your life! If you will start looking for it and expecting it and believing for it!

What is the difference between grace and mercy? I thought they were the same! No - big difference! If you were breaking the speed limit by a long way in Hong Kong and policeman pulls you over to give you a fine and he comes up and looks through the window and he is overcome with mercy and he says; "I am not going to give you a speeding fine" - that is mercy! You kiss his hand, his glove, his cheek, his head and you receive mercy! Then you see him take out his book and say "Oh no! I knew it was too good to be true!" but he gives you a cheque for $10,000 and says; "I just want to give you that - I just feel in a good mood!". THAT is grace!

Mercy stops God giving you what you do deserve - judgement and grace inspires God to give you what you don't deserve but to give you what Jesus deserves - because He died on your behalf!

I am convinced that no one can believe what I just said - that every day God's desire is to dump abundant goodness on you. You can try and study and confess a million times; "I am the righteousness of God" but you will still live with a conciousness of doubt and resident cynicism about the fact that God wants to dump every day grace and mercy on your life!

The only way we are ever going to believe this is to have a community that believes the voice of God! When you hear His voice -not my voice or some preachers voice - but God's voice tell you that you are the object of His affection and you are the objection of His sonship and you are an inheritor of the wealth of heaven and a joint equal heir with Christ - when you hear Him say THAT to you then forever you believe that our God wants goodness and mercy to follow you all the days of your life!

Today I want to speak on "Hearing the Voice of God" and there are many many people around the world that want to hear the voice of God! They long to hear it! But the good news is this - many of you in this room have already heard His voice. If I called out in the worship and said; "Who hear has heard God say something to you in this worship?" - many of you will have heard God. Those who didn't hear - it wasn't because He didn't speak. He did speak but you didn't hear because you didn't expect to! This is the good news - the One who cannot lie said; "My sheep know My voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow". I am so glad that He didn't say; "Sensative, New-ager, loose wrist, artistic, intituative, sensitive types hear My voice!". No - He just said MY sheep hear My voice! If you have truly met Jesus Christ as a resurrected Lord and discovered His Lordship - if He came into your life then I promise you that you are a sheep and you know His voice!

To know His voice is to hear His voice!

It doesn't matter what your temperament is or your personality - some people are prophetic people and they are artistic, poets with a sensitive soul. They can walk into a room and feel what people are thinking in that room! Before anyone tells them! Others God has not designed them like that. He has designed them to think strategically and to think pragmatically and to think like that because if they didn't then they couldn't do the job that God called them to do. So thank God everyone is not an artist! Or pragmatic! It would be a chaotic world if everyone was artistic but it would be a bland boring world if everyone was pragmatic and strategic, task-orientated thinkers! Some are feelers and some are thinkers! But God didn't say a certain temperament or personality - He said, "My sheep know My voice!". So certain types of personalities will hear the voice of God in a more artistic way. They will see pictures whereas the task-orientated people will have a thought or a flash of an inspired idea.

It is responding to those promptings and being more sensitive to the intutative. 9 out 10 times when I meet a stranger I know things about them immediately! My head tries to talk me out of it but my first impression is always right. I know when people are pregnant! We all hear the voice of God and I don't mean psychics. Psychics hear a false voice - because any voice you hear that takes you away from Jesus or from the Word of God or from thinking your life with eternity in mind that I will give an account for this life - any voice that distracts you from that is never the voice of God! It is the voice of a psychic, the voice of witchcraft, the voice of the demonic. My sheep know My voice! Jesus says in Revelation eight times; "He that has ears let him hear what the Spirit says!". The good news is that He didn't say "He that fasts and prays and gets good enough willl eventually grow ears and be able to hear Me". He said; "He that HAS ears let him HEAR!".

The grace on the prophetic ministry is that we are not speaking to the deaf society when we talk to the born again Christian. The grace on prophets is to announce to believers in Christ that you already have ears and now under the power of the Spirit I say to your ears; "Let them hear!".

Too many people are trying to grow ears to God whereas the prophets are saying "He that HAS ears" - who has ears? My sheep know My voice! Everyone in Christ has spiritual ears to hear the voice of God and the prophets say; "I activate you and release you into revelation supernaturally to recognise that you have ears! Now ears - HEAR what the Spirit is saying to the church!". So I say to City Church International and everyone listening on the website; "You have ears and can hear so HEAR what the Spirit is saying - let your ears hear!". And when you hear this grace and mercy following you all your days! A hearing community are positioned to believe that grace and mercy at a high level follow you!

In 1st Corinthians 14:1 the Bible says very clearly; "Eagerly desire the best gifts especially the gift of prophecy". We have got working of miracles, the gift of faith, word of knowledge - to know facts and events about someone where that information was not fed to you by natural information and you just knew, word of wisdom - you know things about their future, discerning of spirits - you know what angels are doing around you and you recognise if it is a demonic presence and prophecy and tongues with interpretation.

And it says "desire those gifts". Every believer can operate in all nine of those gifts like every believer can have all nine fruit of the Spirit. That is why Paul says; "Eagerly desire" - which is the word; "Lust after" or "Hunt after". In those days when they went hunting it wasn't for sport but for survival to eat.

So "hunt after the gifts" because your very life depends on it!

My son is alive today because of the gifts of the Spirit. When I was in L.A the Spirit spoke to me and said "Pray for Ryan right now and apply the blood over his life" and it stopped him being killed because he went into a car accident and he walked out of a smashed car and stepped out unharmed when many had been killed in that spot in recent years. I didn't know it - I was in L.A getting ready and was showering and walking to go to a meeting and stopped and said; "Oh Glenda! I have got to pray for Ryan" and put my Bible down and saved his life! Hunt after these gifts! Eagerly desire these gifts because it can save lives! It's saved Glenda and my life too - we have been going somewhere and the Spirit says; "Don't go" and the people who did got killed. People heard God on 9/11 not to go into the Twin Towers and they are alive today!

What we are talking today is very important! "Eagerly desire the best gifts" - hunt them down, lust after them and ESPECIALLY the gift of prophecy! Why?

Because prophecy is hearing God and saying what He is saying.

Reading the Bible and preaching or teaching is not prophesying. It is reading what God said a long time ago. Prophesying is saying what God is NOW saying. "Eagerly desire" - to hear what God is saying and the anointing to say what God is saying across a coffee table or in the middle of a sports match, work or a commercial meeting - listen to what God is saying and desire above anything eles to hear what God is saying and be able to say it. Why? Because that revelation of the voice of God will open up all the other gifts and will manifest gifts of healing, working of miracles and all those other things - as a community start hearing God! I believe and say again - you CCI have ears and you are hearing! Let your ears hear! People say why doesn't God just speak audibly and loudly to my physical ears? Well that would be great wouldn't it? Easy! "Rob! Don't work today! I will provide!". "Yes Lord! Your servant hears!". God has spoken like that in the Bible and I know people personally who have heard that audible physical voice. I personally as far as I know have never heard His audible voice with my physical ears. One time it was so audible in here that I did jump around thinking someone was talking to me but that doesn't happen a lot - that loud inner audible voice but it has happened a few dozen times.

He often speaks so quietly and so whispered that you have got to develop a history of listening to actually get the tones of that voice. With art of practice you begin to hear that voice every day. I would say over the last 20 years there hasn't been a day gone by when I haven't heard thati inward voice. It is an inheritance because everyone who is a son and has received Jesus as their Lord knows His voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow. A strangers voice takes them away form Jesus! In John 12:28-30 says Jesus was standing there and there was a large crowd and God the Father spoke and said "This is my Son" and some said "It thundered" while others said "It was an angel". So no one in that crowd recognised God's voice when He spoke physically and audibly! We live in a world today and think that if God would just speak physically and audibly then all the world would believe and all believers would hear His voice! It doesn't work that way. John 12 shows us that. 1 Kings 18:12-13 says that Elijah was standing on the mountain top and there was a fire and an earthquake and God was not in the earthquake or the fire or the dramatic things.

God was in the still quiet voice. God told Elijah things to do in the still quiet voice that saved the whole nation of Israel. The instructions God gave to Elijah and which he put into practice brought Jezebel down! Jezebel was a witchcraft spirit that hates the apostolic and hates the prophetic.

There are so few prophets operating in the church world today because the pastors and the teachers in denominations have allowed prophets and apostles to be kicked out and silenced and no one wants to listen to them because they are too wild and too passionate and too full on for the average person who wants a religious club!

The church world by and large have gone into total irrelevancy because the prophets have been silenced. Elijah ran from Jezebel in panic and fear after being a mighty prophet and on that mountain he heard the still quiet voice of God not in the earthquake or thunder or fire but in the small voice and he went and anointed Elijah and Jehu and successors that brought Jezebel down and liberated Israel back into revival and a return back to God! That's what the quiet voice is! Too many Christians are saying they want big, technicolour angels talking to them - I want to hear the audible voice with these ears! No - sensitise your spirit and that can change nations and can save your marriage, your family, your finances, stop you getting engaged to the wrong person, taking a wrong job or going or staying somewhere. You need to hear God! So many Christians have got a speech impediment and can't seem to talk with confidence and boldness and authority with prophetic, apostolic authority! Instead they speak like the Pharisees of the law! But when Jesus arrived they said; "With what authority does this man speak?". Why? Because when you hear God you speak with authority!

I am talking about the nature of a loving God - not some god that says go fly into buildings and blow them up. That is NOT God. That is something else. People can't speak because they are not hearing. And ear, nose and throat specialists say if someone has got a speech impedient, the first thing they look at is a hearing capacity. Because if you are not hearing then you can't speak properly! Let me give you two things about hearing the voice of God. Not technique but how to steward this gift. God will give this gift in greater capacity to those who know how to steward it rightly.

1. This gift is not to make you rank as a super saint.

God spoke through and to Balaam's donkey! Therefore do not think that hearing God makes you the voice of God! That is why there are idiots out there who were once great prophets but they are idiots now because they think "I am the voice of God! When people don't obey me they have rejected God!". No - you are not concerned with them rejecting God. You are insecure and you feel rejected so you hate the church and you withdraw because the church didn't change fast enough or get in the process of seeing the promise fulfilled. Sometimes that process can take decades! Prophets don't have a sense of time sometimes and come in with a sense of immediacy! "God says revival is on the way!". Next week God! This is three months of teaching on how to hear God, how to be a community that hears God! Some people are just coming around to the idea of there being a God and Him being interested in speaking! You must prepare people with grace and what He may say and how you interpret what He says and how He says it.

In Christ EVERYONE is a super saint!

If you hear God a lot He will encourage you and talk to you and confirm you and you will hear His tender voice. But you hear God for other people as well! So use the gift of hearing God to bless other people! I learnt these things the hard way. My first trip to Australia and I stand up in front of the congregation I have never met in my life and I am going to be given the leadership of this church but I am kind of on probation that day. I know it and they know it. They are Aussies and I am a fresh South African and I have my best behaviour and I am going to preach my best sermon and bring out the real me later! So I am in the worship and worshipping God and God says; "Joan!". My mum's name is Joan! "Is my mum okay?". I heard; "Yes she is alright". So why are you saying Joan? Am I Jonah?! "No you are not a Jonah - there is a lady here in the service called Joan and she has never met you - call her out by name as soon as you get upto preach". So I said "Okay God!". Praise God this is going to get me into this church! When they see they have a prophet in their midst! That knows people by name! If I get the name I will get amazing details about her life that will prove to her I am a prophet!

I get upto preach and everyone is looking at me and I say; "The Lord has shown me that there is a woman here by the name of Joan". A middle aged lady at the back jumps up and comes running forward all excited. So immediately I lay my hands on her and say; "Joan - the Lord would say to thee that your name is Joan ... and He would say that He knows you by name and He would say to you - Joan - that your name is Joan and that He knows you by name!". And I am inwardly praying "More! Please God! Give me the downloads!". So I had to say; "And Joan that is all the Father would say. Go back". There are numbers of times I have walked home depressed after the service thinking I preached terribly and the devil agree and a few people ally with that! Public speaking is the biggest fear on the planet apart from dying. So my preaching is a flop! I am thinking they all think I am stupid! At the end of the service Joan comes running up to me all excited and says; "I am a widower and live on my own and am so lonely and was saying to God when driving to church that I don't want to test you but I feel like You don't even care and don't even know my name but this guy coming today - if he doesn't call me out by name - then I am not going back to church. Wasn't that amazing?!".

I wanted to slap her! Why didn't you tell the people!?!? For my credibility?!?! God said "Because to hear His voice is not to promote you but to love people - to love them and show them God knows about them". But if we think it is to promote us then that is why we have got frustrated weird prophets in the world today and the church didn't appreciate me! Many times they haven't! But some of us prophets are around and not cynical or hating the church! Lastly;

2. Prophesy and speak the Word of God in humility.

We are all prophetic by the way - there are prophets and there are sons that prophesy - every Christian can hear the Word of God and speak on behalf of God to people. Not what the Bible wrote 2000 years ago but what He is saying now to this person. If I have got seven doors to go through and choose from then I can't open my Bible because the Bible doesn't talk about doors - I have got to hear God tell me which door to go through. I need to hear God today! And if I have a problem speaking with boldness and authority then I need to check that I recognise that I do have ears to hear.

We need to prophesy in humility because no prophetic person prophesies perfectly. The Bible says we prophesy "in part". We don't see everything 100%. That's why we need other prophets and we need local church. I prophesy through my temperament but I need to hear someone else who hears God differently. They each have a bit of the puzzle. So this thing about someone who doesn't prophesy accurately - they aren't a prophet. Not true! The only Person who was accurate 100% was Jesus! The highest level prophets still get it wrong occasionaly and the psychics get it wrong 99% of the time but have vague clever ways of hiding it and clearing it up. This is what determines a false prophet - Deuteronomy 13:1-5; "Someone who hears God accurately and with that incredibly accurate gift they use it to draw the people away from God and to wow the people and make it all about personal power". That is Satan! He didn't want to see God worshipped. Lucifer did not want to worship God but be equal with God - that is why he was cast out of heaven.

Everyone under the deception of Lucifer - the voice that is not the voice of Jesus wants personal power. To use what they have got to draw people to be impressed with them! Deuteronomy says a false prophet is someone hearing God accurately because the gift is genuine. The Bible says in Romans 14 that God won't withdraw the gift or shut it down. But they are using the genuine to draw other people to themselves or other gods. Not Jesus! That is a false prophet! People who come and don't prophesy accurately but don't try and draw people away from God - have no fear of those people! They are just speaking out of their imaginations. A false prophet is someone who hears God but uses it to draw people away from God. A true prophet use the gift to make a Joan know she is loved and even if it doesn't draw people to you it will draw people to Him which it did to Joan!

Always see if prophetic people are drawing to Jesus or whether they are drawing a following after themselves and where they making people dependent on them and people want to use them like a crystal ball gazer so they become dependent on them.

A true prophet is God bringing liberty through them and then they equip and train you to hear God for yourself!

I was leading a church in South Africa and a couple were our closest friends. They had been trying to have a baby for 16 years with no hint of conception and were totally discouraged. I was in the bush praying and just enjoying God.

If you try to hear God then you won't.

The Father is not like a wife! So I was just enjoying Him as a son and I hear the inward audible voice; "I want you to call this couple out publicly and prophesy over them that within 3 months she will fall pregnant". God! No! Go privately! "No I want you to go public!". God! If I am wrong I won't look good! It is all about fear of man! So I called them out and prophesied. "You shall fall pregnant within 3 months" and everyone claps or is stunned. Within 24 hours she fell pregnant. Everyone was shouting and excited. 3 months she walked with that baby but then instant miscarriage. Gone. I can't tell you how depressed I was. I was about 28 with no mentors in the supernatural. Kenneth Hagin sort of from a distance. Noone fathered me. I had to learn it on the mountaintops alone. So I had to learn what I learnt by the mistakes I made. The whole congregation is stunned and I am stunned and struggling with my own depression! They are questioning God and me!

I was tempted to get up and say "You saw a prophet in your midst call out a woman who had not been pregnant and announce she would be pregnant within 3 months. My prophecy came true! She was pregnant! But the Lord shows me there was sin in their life and they did not believe and therefore God judged them!". But God didn't say that and wouldn't say that because He wasn't judging them. I just knew as a 26 or 27 year old that I didn't understand what happened and that He had to speak to me or I had to get up and apologise to this entire congregation that I didn't have enough information and that I didn't understand or know enough but apologise to all for my inexperience. I am learning and I told them that!

And I found out that people are incredibly forgiving if you are honest. They know a cover up and a con from a mile away.

The entire congregation received it and relaxed and within a year she fell pregnant and has got 3 daughters. This is the thing I learnt - I believe I did hear God and she did fall pregnant. God called me to do it publicly not to show me off but because He wanted that baby to live to full term and be born. He wanted to lift us in 1985 into a high level of corporate hearing from God. He wanted a baby to be born to show forth His glory and His honour. I didn't know enough about the devil and the devil's hatred of the womb or fertility. If I had known what I know now then we would have guarded her around with a sentinel of intercessors till that baby was born. When that baby was born it would have taken that church into a much higher level of breakthrough in the supernatural. We don't realise how many aborted, still born manifestations of cancer, healings are getting aborted before they come to full term because he is not stronger than God but God has given us partnership with Him by learning how to operate and how to hear clearly as to how to do these things better.

About seven or eight years later I had learnt now and understood a bit about this. So we got a prophet from the USA writing to us in Australia when I was leading Coastlands. And he said "In this month of this year your church will be rocketed to national profile in Australia and will go on national TV in a positive way". We didn't have a clue what this prophet was saying or what it meant. His name is Liam from L.A church. About a month later I was closing a service down with about 1000 people there and as I am closing ...

And I know this frustrates practical people - that prophets frustrate practical people and vice versa and God says balance each other. We don't want practical people pulling out or prophets pulling out - we need everyone to come together because both need both. The feelers need the thinkers and the devil is trying to alienate each but the Holy Spirit is pulling both together!

As I was giving the benediction the Holy Spirit gave me a 20 minute prophetic word that said; "I am the God of great love and great power and I want to demonstrate myself in the nation of Australia and I want to show forth signs and wonders but I show off My power for a purpose and if those that are crippled can't walk in your midst and if the deaf aren't here and if the Satanists aren't here - then why should I manifest My power? Because My power comes for a purpose! If you will bring the cripples and bring the broken and take the effort and drive with your cars and bring them then I will do great miracles".

Now you can't put that on every congregation. I am not even putting it on you! He was saying that then to them! They knew it was the voice of God and ran out and got everyone! So next week I came in and there was everyone! I saw wheelchairs everywhere. When you are prophesying you can see five sentance ahead! So I preach on the two Adams and have a salvation call and a lady in a wheelchair is there. I didn't know but she had been on national televison and doctors had said it was impossible for her to walk again and she was dying and every joint went out of joint. She was beyond medical science! It is not about us looking good! I will keep apologising if I make a mistake!

So I said "Father are You doing this miracle?" and He was! A leg shot forward and she spoke in a deep voice; "I am not coming out!" and I said; "I am from Africa and you ARE coming out!". We cast demons out in Africa! Australian demons can't hide when the power of God comes! So it came out and she came out the wheelchair and walked around the building and walked for five days! She got her children back and was about to get her job back. She slipped in the shower and fear came on her and all her joints went out. So they rang me and I was so depressed again - "What are you doing God!?". I am mad and discouraged and depressed! There's always people - cynics are always waiting! I am still human enough to want to kill when people don't give you love! Because they never try any of this stuff! So I think I am never going to step out in prophecy ever again! I am going to be a nice guy! And give life skills and 20 minute pep talks! No - I was born for the glory, born to contend!

Suddenly the inward audible voice came; "When you land in Melbourne, phone this man and go to Michelle and say the demon has gone back worse and then she will walk again and it will go on national television". They prayed and demons came out and she came on national television. Prime time to millions of Australians! If you can't dance and praise God then maybe you need to go in a wheelchair and have God heal you! How many of you know why now it is so important that Jesus said My sheep know My voice and they will not follow a stranger? There is nothing greater than hearing the voice of the good Shepherd. I go out on the hills of Hong Kong and I want to hear the voice of the good Shepherd!

Don't try and get Him to talk! Mainly praise and worship Him! By the time I get back, I know it will be okay! That word "hearing" is the rhema word. We need to read what God said then so we know what God is like but need to hear what He is saying "NOW".

"Laying on of Hands" - Together on a Mission 2006

This conference was my first encounter with Rob Rufus - a life-changing encounter although I have yet to meet the man! But I had such an incredible touch from God and was so moved by his teaching that I wrote to Terry Virgo to thank him for inviting Rob and enthusing about what I had heard. Terry was gracious enough to write back and made particular mention as to how Rob's teaching on the "Laying on of Hands" was really useful and revelational to him. I listened again to that session while I was driving back from my parents last night and agreed - and felt it had to be transcribed.

Here it is:

"Training Track - Session 2" - "Together on a Mission in Brighton" - 2006

I want talk about the laying on of hands today and raising the significance of this incredible truth to a higher level of expectation. The doctrine of laying on of hands needs to be raised up to a higher level. I believe currently it is operating in the church at a very low level. I don't believe we are seeing the level of apostolic understanding as to what it means to lay hands on people. It has become almost too cheap and done too quickly and carelessly and casually and we need to encourage and train and equip people. Never come up and ask people to lay hands on you lightly. Never ask hands to be laid on you without expecting to receive something. It is a foundation doctrine of Christ. Hebrews chapter 6. The laying on of hands is equal to baptism, baptism in the Spirit, judgements, resurrection from the dead, repentance and faith towards God. Alongside that is laying on of hands and you can't go on to maturity without a clear revelation of the importance of the doctrine of the laying on of hands.

We look here in Habbakkuk chapter 3 and let's read from verse 2. "Lord I have heard of Your fame - I stand in awe of Your deeds oh Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known. In wrath remember mercy ... His glory covered the heavens and His praise filled the earth, His splendour was like the sunrise. Rays flashed from His hands where His power was hidden".

I am not trying to make out that God is reduced to human shape but it does say that "rays flashed from His hands" so there is this divine image that the power of God is flashing from the hands of God. I believe that when God's immortal hands come on our mortal hands then there is a divine flash - there is a discharge of heavenly voltage that needs to be restored back to the Church in dimension that was there in the Book of Acts and we have got to recapture today!

Go to Acts chapter 8 please. There are many passages on this. Dave Holden quoted it yesterday - Romans 1:11 and Paul says; "I have come to you so that I may impart a gift to you - a gift that makes you strong". Then in 2nd Timothy chapter 1:6-7 Paul says; "Stir up the gift that is within you through the laying on of my hands ... a spirit of power, love and a sound mind".

In other words Timothy was a timid man but he got something that made him amazingly strong when Paul laid his hands on him and got something amazingly powerful that Paul put into him through the apostolic laying on of hands so that Timothy was standing up and starting to lead well but people didn't like that so intimidation was coming back on him and Paul was saying; "Stir up what you received through the laying on of my hands".

Here Philip goes down to Samaria and has the most amazing signs and wonders and miracles - the whole city filled with joy. The cripples and the paralysed were walking - demons coming out - people getting saved! Then the apostles come down and they don't start off with line upon line teaching.

They add MORE to the supernatural by the laying on of hands for the impartation of the Holy Spirit!

Here is Simon the sorcerer who had just got saved through seeing some amazing supernatural phenomeon and he had moved in psychic counterfeit demonic power and in counterfeit miracles and had impressed the village. But when Philip came down he was amazed at the power of God at work and then he sees the apostles come down and apostles lay their hands on the new converts and here is what it says; (v18); "When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of hands, he offered them money and said 'Give me also this ability'". There are many witchdoctors in Africa and some of them are cons but I have met many that are really moving in dark demonic power. I have heard from pretty good witnesss of some who could reverse the flow of a river. Their curses on people would have power. I never knew of any of those witchdoctors that came to us Christians and offered us money so they could have the power that when I lay my hands on people something happens that is so powerful!

Peter said "Your money perish with you - you will die and even if you repent" and he gets heavy on him.

A witchdoctor or a sorcerer is not going to be impressed with hands being laid on people and nothing happening! He MUST have seen SOMETHING. He must have seen the miracles that Philip did but now he is willing to offer money to get the power to lay hands on people and something is given to them!

Today you see people lay their hands on people and pray for the sick and nothing. We must recover what it means to lay hands on people. John G Lake came to South Africa in 1905 and in five years, 500 churches were planted. It is the biggest denomination in South Africa today and sadly some of it has gone into terrible heresy because unfortunately John G Lake didn't build a proper biblical wineskin and that is the sad legacy of the power without a proper wineskin. But in terms of the power - phenomenal power! Signs and wonders and miracles! When he got back to America they hooked him upto machinery and put all kinds of gadgets on him and saw electrical powers on him. He said; "Gentlemen the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is quickening my mortal body with life!".

One day he laid hands on someone who had a massive festering sore and they had to scrape the maggots of it. So he came in and laid hands on that person in one of their healing schools and he prayed these kinds of prayers; "You foul devil of infirmity - I curse you by the authority of heaven - let the lightning flashes of heaven break through and manifest the power of healing in this body!".

The person went off and two days later they got a telegram back from this person from another city. The open wound was completely healed miraculously! But there is a clear imprint burn-mark about 1mm deep and the full imprint of that hand over where that open wound was!

We don't understand! That was someone who knew how to impart something! That may not be what God wants as the norm but we have to raise the level of the miraculous impartation with the laying on of hands. I know that if I can get people to lower their resistance to the anointing and get it right down low then I know that; "Such as I have - I can give". I know that! The great One lives inside of us and in the Kingdom of heaven;

Wealth is not measured so much by what you have but how much you give away.

So in a sense I believe that when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, we ALL have the Spirit without measure! But that doesn't measure our wealth. What measures our wealth is how much we can give away. I love what Peter says; "Such as we HAVE - we GIVE to you". So if we can help lower people's resistance then when we help lay our hands on them - there comes an impartation that is so powerful it can heal any disease. What about unforgiveness and bitterness in their lives? I think we have gone too hard on that and said "People with unforgivness can't get healed". I know of people that got miraclously healed and they still were bitter! It is like God healed them and delivered them of their sins. Some need to confess their sins of bitterness but there is no formula or checklist! "Any unforgivenss or any bitterness in your life?". Then you don't get healed!

The 1st thing I am going for is to lower their resistance on their faith fuse. Because when the power of God comes into people, He can heal them of bitterness as much as He can drive cancer out their body! Some people don't have the power to get free from their bitterness! But when the power of God comes on them it destroys that root of bitterness that is defiling them and heals their body. I know sometimes that bitterness can block the power of God sometimes and be a resistance but I am not wanting to make a type category here. If we can lower their resistance and lay hands on them then great healings can take place.

I learnt this at what we called in Durban a, "New Africa Celebration". We did a protest against apartheid, sang songs about a new South Africa but we also wanted to see a demonstration of God's power. So I preached a message in this big hall with a whole load of unsaved people there and I preached on God's will to heal and God's desire to heal and called people forward. There was such a corporate anointing that I literally ran down this row just slapping people on the head! About 98% of people got flung back like a baseball bat had hit them on the head and it knocked them and the catchers over! I didn't ask them what their sickness was because you see - I don't have faith to open blind eyes or deaf ears or miracles of healing cripples. I HAVE faith to GIVE the power of God! And it makes it so much simpler! That took 30 seconds to run down this row and then an elder came to me with a woman screaming "I can see! I can see" and a totally blind eye had been opened! How long have you been blind? She said "I was born blind in that eye". I said "I am so glad that you didn't tell me that before I prayed for you".

What I am saying is that I had faith to IMPART the power and she had faith to RECEIVE it. The power of God is like a heat seeking missile and it went and did the job.

Another guy came up and said "I can hear! I can hear!". How long have you been deaf? "I was born without an ear drum!". I am so thankful I didn't know that either! Because if I had known about this ear or eye then I would have gone back to my secular university days and literally tried to work out how God was going to put an ear drum in there and how that would happen.

But I developed my faith in "Such as I have" and I laid my hands upon people and I expect power to go into them! And I had prepared them to receive power.

I have found in the last 20 years that if we don't prepare people with faith to receive then we get about 5-10% healed but if we teach the Word of God clearly then they can be raised up to about 80% and higher. Let me give you several things here and then we can close. Here is some of the things that happen when we lay hands on people and we need to raise expectations. I have watched in services and no one is prepared to EXPECT something to happen when hands are laid on. So you see begging and pleading but I don't see Jesus ever (and I could be wrong) begging the Father to heal people or even asking the Father to heal people. What I do see is Him commanding sickness to go and demons of infirmity to go and healing to come. He just commands it! When I see hands laid on and there is begging and pleading I just don't think it looks like the New Testament! Jesus said to His disicples; "Go to a village and tell them that the Kingdom of heaven is touchable and it is reachable and it is at hand and you can change the way you think - then lay hands on the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons". THAT simple! He is training them to prepare people to receive.

I think once we raise this doctrine of the laying on of hands we are going to see manifestations of God! Now I think laying on of hands is one of the lowest levels of the impartation of the supernatural. But I think if we don't get the lowest foundational Hebrews 6 doctrine right then we can't go on to the greater manifestations. We look at Peter laying hands on the cripple at the Gate Beautiful and him walking to 2 chapters later and his shadows heal the sick. I have watched when we have laid hands on a few in a meeting and suddenly the glory of God covers a whole meeting and suddenly you go into a higher level and people are getting healed in their chairs and we can go onto spitting on people's eyes! Waving clothes around! We can just speak and heal them with our words wrapped in the anointing and people get healed 200 meters back in the hall. But if we don't get the laying on of hands then we are not going to get very far.

The more we lay hands on people to impart the power of God the more we will see the corporate manifestation getting stronger.

Kathryn Kuhlman would go and stay in a hotel prior to a meeting and the people on the floor above and below her would get healed spontaneously even though they didn't know that she was in the hotel! I know of one very well documented case of her speaking at a Full Gospel Businessmen's meeting in a great forum and at the end the anointing was so strong on her and they took her out through the kitchen area so she wouldn't have to work her way out through the crowds and so as they escorted her through the kitchen area and these chefs and unsaved people in the kitchen area were falling under the power! Unsaved people just falling under the power! I think we have got to grow in the laying on of hands and then we can grow to higher levels of the greater manifestations.

Nine or ten things that happen with the laying on of hands:

1. There is an impartation of Supernatural Life.

We become supercharged with the life and vitality of almighty God. For some people it is like the divine defibrillators at work bringing them back to life! That is a heartbeat! Why can't we use a 10v battery? No some people need 10 000 volts to bring a revival into another level of the glory of God!

2. There is an impartation of a gift that makes us strong (Romans 11).

3. Vision can come.

There are five levels of vision and the highest is open vision in front of your very eyes and you can see things happening! I have had a few of those and mostly to do with my children. They used to get so angry! Both my sons got saved properly in their late teens! They were upto all kinds of nonsense although they are all serving God now. My son is a leader with us in Hong Kong and my daughter is a worship leader and my oldest son is serving God in Australia. They would try and get upto all kinds of naughty things. I would be at home worshipping and I would see a vision of my son Ryan and he is meant to be at school. And I would see him standing under a post smoking a cigaratte. So I would come home and Ryan would be there and I would say; "Ryan where were you this morning?" and he said; "Oh Dad I was at school". "No you weren't - you were standing up that post with a cigarette!". He said; "That's not fair - why does God tell on us! Why can't we get away with it!?". I said "Because He loves you and so do I!".

When you lay hands on some people they have instant vision. Revelations of God's plans and purposes for your life! An inward quiet impression is just as powerful as an open vision. Some of the most dramatic breakthroughs I have had, have not been with open vision but with quiet vision! Vision comes through the laying on of hands! People get caught up into the heavenly realm. I don't understand that - that has never happened to me but I have laid hands on people and mainly teenagers have seen the throne room! This is an amazing thing that ten to fifteen years later their lives are still changed. They saw something! I loved what Dave Holden said yesterday - don't try to catch the youth up with a whole load of entertainment to get them related to the church! They are so ready for the supernatural, the young people! When I first went to Australia, all the young people sat at the back cutting up the benches and talking to the girls. These were the youth! Within several months of releasing the power of God they were all near the front and all on the front rows turned unto God. They got under the defibrillator and said "God is real".

Trances are not just New Age - trances are also biblical. The devil is not a creator but a counterfeiter. We have so overreacted to the counterfeit that we withdraw from the genuine. I think it is Acts chapter 10 verse 10 and Peter fell into a trance! He saw things and it opened up the gospel in a wonderful way into Cornelius's home. How many of you have heard of Maria Woodworth-Etter? Amazing ministry. She was standing preaching in the United States and made a point and fell into a trance and was like that for 3 days. It was like her bodily functions were suspended. She stepped over into the realm of the glory. For 3 days! And after that she carried on with the end of her sentance and wondered why the crowd had grown! They reckoned that tens of thousands had come in those 3 days to come and see this lady frozen - a sign and a wonder and they felt the Presence of God was so sacred that they fell to their knees and repented and they reckoned that for a 100 mile radius the glory of God radiated around that whole region.

Many religious traditions would say; "That's demonic". We are so quick to label everything as demonic. It is easy to pick up when it is demonic! When it is demonic it draws attention to the fact that it is the flesh, it is irritating. When it is the glory of God it edifies you and makes you wonder. When God comes in signs and wonders - it is a wonder! What is the point? People realise God is real and it is sacred!

4. Healing both physical and emotions.

5. Darkness is removed.

Demonic presence is driven out and great peace and clarity comes. Because there were extremes in the deliverance ministry many years ago we kind of backed off casting out demons. I don't believe that any individual has a deliverance ministry. I would never categorise myself as that - I believe that ALL believers are to cast out demons. Soon as you classify yourself as having a deliverance ministry the devil says "Great I will send thousands of demonised people that don't want to be delivered to your house and destroy you and burn you out!". Your identity is not in casting demons out but in God's grace. We just cast demons out as a normal way of life! It is just the Kingdom of heaven breaking in!

6. Visitations of Jesus - intimacy, closeness with Jesus.

He becomes so real and His love becomes so real and it carries over into daily living. Many people live for the rest of their life carried by the wonder of that encounter of how real Jesus was.

7. Callings and Commissionings.

God first calls you and then He prepares you over days and weeks and months or even years and then He suddenly commissions you and activates the calling and from that moment we walk in the authority and anointing of that calling through the laying on of hands.

I don't believe someone can actually function properly as an elder unless apostles lay hands upon them - there is a missing ingredient.

8. Conferring Blessings.

"The rod of instruction drives out foolishness from the child". We never want to smack our children with our hands. I know that is a bit controversial issue today biut it says spare the rod and spoil the child. So we would never use our hands to smack our children but a rod.

Hands are not to punish - hands are to bless with. Hands are for conferring blessing, success, favour, promotion, prosperity and peace - all transferred by the laying on of hands.

9. Ordaining Leaders.

10. You bring relief and an impartation of rest.

It brings a relief from striving that can build up internally over days and even years. Often this pressure does not come out until the anointing accesses those areas like a safety valve being opened.

11. The Personality of the Holy Spirit rubs off on you.

(Galatians 5:22).

The laying on of hands is not an immunisation. It doesn't guarantee you against challenges. But it sure is a powerful doctrine of the Bible that God wants to elevate to a whole new level of faith.

Becoming a Lightning Conductor - Part 5

This was Rob's sermon launching the "Glory and Grace Conference" in Hong Kong! It was preached on Sunday 15th March 2009.


"Operating in Greater Faith"

I am speaking on "Operating in Greater Faith" or "Dealing with our Unbelief". It is not a subject I particularly like talking about and the reason is that I don't know much about it. Kathryn Kuhlman - one of the greatest ministries of the last century in signs, wonders and miracles - in some ways mentored me through video. She after all her signs and wonders said; "I don't know how to explain what faith is". Today we have got people who are such experts in what faith is. I know we have got Hebrews 11:1 and what it says; "The substance of things hoped for". That is the definition and doctrine of faith but I am more interested in the spirit of faith. The doctrine of faith analyses and is academic but genuine faith acts supernaturally. Genuine faith does miracles! Genuine faith administrates the finished work of the Cross in triumphant application to the world around us. Academic faith or those that can define faith and think they understand faith go to the prisoners and embroider the prison cells with lovely flowers and pictures of what faith is.


But when they are finished, the prisoners are still inside with a little bit more of a colourful cell. The world doesn't need more people with academic, cerebral information about faith. They need people that have real faith that gets real results and really does open people with blind eyes! That is normal Christian life! We are in awe of that because we have lived in the subnormal for so long and have been in the abnormal for centuries - so when the normal arrives we put that person up on a pedestal and say; "Wow that person has got special gifts!". No - they just found out how to move from academic definitions of faith from Sunday morning meetings to something of another realm which is the inheritance of every believer.

The other reason why I don't like talking about faith is that when you talk about faith the anointing doesn't come. Because the anointing comes to honour Jesus and manifest the glory of Who Jesus is. Our message is Christ and not faith! Hebrews 12 from verse 2 says; "Looking unto Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith". So I have to look at Jesus! It is the revelation of Jesus and seeing Him by revelation that releases faith! That His whole joy was to go through the Cross to hold back the 72, 000 angels that could have nuked Jerusalem and neutralised and obliterated all of His enemies - but He called all of those 12 legions to keep back and He said "No I must go through the Cross because then on the other side I can realise the joyful assembly of angels over Zion - the people of God to come and help them inherit everything I am going to die for them". I hold angels back and justify them and take the law off them and cancel condemnation at the Cross and make them righteous as a gift and set them free and forgive all their sins - as I look to Jesus and see all that He was willing to do for me at the Cross and as I understand that - faith begins to rise up in my heart! I am really talking about Jesus today and what He has done for us - that releases faith for the miraculous!

Apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers have no more advantage in the miraculous than the royal priests of God. They only have gifts to equip others to come to the full stature of the measure of fullness of the body of Christ. When the entire body of Christ is equipped with the fullness of God then you don't need apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers anymore! And I believe for a season on the earth those apostles, prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers will go right to the background and will not be needed anymore because the church will be at the full measure of the stature of Christ and will all be doing the works Jesus did and greater works!

He didn't give the mantle that Elijah gave to Elisha - those were measurable mantles. Elijah's mantle if it can be double meant it was a measurable mantle that Elisha got. When Christ ascended - He gave the measure of all the fullness of who He is! These are not the days of Elijah! These are the days of Jesus! These are the days of the mighty Holy Spirit without measure! The world has never seen the church that is moving in a measure of all the fullness of God.

That is the role of apostles and prophets. Their role is not to teach pattern and wineskin and technique - it is simply to say that the power of the New Covenant will not fit under the wineskin of the Old Covenant - that wineskin is finished! Gone! They are not here to raise up powerless structures of programme and pattern! They are here to authenticate the actual gospel of grace, the kingdom of heaven being given to the church - to administrate what's in heaven being given into the earth!

The credentials of apostles are signs, wonders and miracles! I cannot read a book if a man cannot produce signs, wonders and miracles! I don't care how good his theology is! Something is wrong if he cannot produce signs, wonders and miracles! There is heresy if there isn't miracles in the author! I don't mean every few years - I mean on a regular basis!

It is time for people in the church to go to someone who has got something more than you! I am constantly open to people who are further down the road than me. I don't care what colour they are, where they are, I don't care if their doctrine is weird in some areas - if they have got more than me then I am going to drink at that fountain! We have GOT to get more anointing and more revelation and we have GOT to know how to do these things in our day!

The noble Bereans received the word with joy and THEN went and searched the Scriptures. This is not the time to be analytical. If you do that - I will pick up as a prophet what you are doing. I will and then I will preach for 2 hours! I can pick up! "Knowing their thoughts - He said!". I can know what people are thinking and so I can go and explain that Scripture. They are so analytical and afraid of being deceived! If you are afraid of being deceived then you are already a deceived person because you are not moving in faith but in fear! "I am afraid of being deceived!". What you fear has already come on you! People of faith are not afraid of being deceived because they have the Holy Spirit on the inside of them Who is the Spirit of Truth and the Word of God! The most dangerous place to live is the conservative safe place! That is dangerous! The most safe place is the radical, get out of the boat and walk on water, sink, get back! If the whole bunch of those 12 had come with Peter - those 11 played it safe! All the church thinks about is the guy who sank! I don't! I think about the guy who walked for a while! I spit on the ones who stayed in the boat! That is the majority of the church world today!

You took so long to get to that place because the Nazareth syndrome where Jesus could there do no mighty works is in almost EVERY Sunday morning service! Bill Johnson's church said they were so happy when they got to the Nazareth syndrome because at last Jesus could do a few healings in their midst! Before that there were none! They got so happy with a few minor healings but no mighty works! Jesus could do no mighty works in His home church and He marvelled at their unbelief! Don't play nice games! Faith is not a game - it either works or it doesn't work! We have got to find out how it works! We are not seeing all over the world every church having mighty works! Only a few sick folk are healed!

Jesus is handcuffed and strapped by the corporate shroud of unbelief and the church does not believe it is in unbelief - it has theologised and legitimised the Nazareth syndrome as something quite acceptable! This is not about a spiritual revival but a theological reformation! This is about changing the way people think and this is about a full recovery of the message of the New Covenant and a removal of the law!

Paul says God can't do mighty works and move among you by His Spirit while you think about observing the Law! In verse 12 of Galatians 3 he says the law is not based on faith!

Every time there is Law preached, the people are locked up in unbelief! Law kills faith and condemns, law is a ministry of death, makes people unhappy! Law makes people sin-concious, self-concious and not Christ-concious! Law kills faith! You can fast as much as you want and have the church go on a 40 day fast everyone and nothing will change until there is a theological reformation in the way people think!

Until then you can go into one of those churches on a Sunday morning and you can have fasted for 40 days and you can try as hard as you want but you are not better than Jesus! If He could not get mighty works happening in the Nazareth syndrome then you won't either. I don't care who you think told you can, if Jesus couldn't then you can't! Wherever He went with open heaven - there were "all" healed! They didn't all have "great" faith! All they had to have was a "little" faith! There were many with unforgiveness and bitterness and open sin in their lives but all were healed! Sin in your life and bitterness will never ever stop the power of God! Last year we had a woman come out of a wheelchair and she was totally crippled - the doctors said it was chronic, last-stages and she would die! She got out and ran around! Then she told me she came full of bitterness and only repented after the miracle! You can be full of bitterness, full of sin and with a little bit of sin - you will be healed!

What is stopping 99.9% of the church seeing the greater works? I will tell you right now! It is self-righteousness! It is the law! It is sin conciousness! "Oh it is my failures this week - I am not worthy!". It is so deeply established in the church that it is a shock once your eyes are opened! Then when your eyes are opened then everyone will say; "Oh he is critical - he is so on this! That's all his message is!". Hey - if you find the secret to seeing the greater works happen on every Sunday morning in every church in every nation and in every part of the planet then you will go crazy like I am!

You say "Well I'm not crazy - that's not my temperament!. I just don't respond like that! It's just the way you are Rob!". I will take you down to the car park, open my car door and slam the door on your fingers and you will REACT hysterically! Maybe even words will come out that you didn't plan on saying! The response is determined by the degree of the stimuli! People aren't excited because they have had no degree of stimuli of revelation of what is available for the church! The law makes you dull of hearing and self-concious! When we came to Hong Kong God said; "You preach in a way that you don't live to see buildings full of people but preach in a way to fill people with My Presence. If you preach in a way to fill buildings with people then a political, religious spirit will come on you and you will be a Sunday host that tolerates unbelief and insanity". Some pastors live to keep everyone happy and everyone coming back!

What is the use of having everyone come back if the Holy Spirit doesn't come back?! What's the use of having no signs and wonders and miracles and open heaven? Ten thousand in the meeting but no God?! I would rather go and surf in Australia and dodge sharks for the rest of my life!

Did I say turn to Mark 9? Faith brings the invisible into the visible. Faith is standing in a natural world and connecting with a supernatural invisible world. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, the proof of unseen things! If you have got faith in your spirit then it is the proof of some unseen realities. Faith recognises that Jesus is the only Mediator between the earthly realm and the heavenly realm and that the Name of Jesus is the power of attorney given to family members which authorises us to activate heaven's treasures in the earth! Faith is recognising the the glory Presence is tangible and creative Presence and is a substance that transfers the invisible world and makes it visible in front of skeptics and unbelievers - they suddenly see the invisible world manifest! God first created the invisible world! God did not create the cosmos first! The invisible world came first and then the visible world! And we with faith are called to manifest the invisible world into the visible world.

Now for God to deal with unbelief that means three things. I am asking God in my life and have been for three weeks. The Bible says faith is more precious than gold. We are in a world preoccupied with money but faith is more precious than gold! You can get gold if you need it if you have faith! It is not hope! Hope has no substance - it is just wishful thinking. With faith you have substance of those things you are hoping for and you know how to pull them into this world so they become visible in front of people's eyes.

But now I am in Hong Kong - everything I want to do is walk together with the congregation and I am not running ahead. I am walking with you! Everyone is coming together with greater faith because noone is going to stick out, no one is going to be up on a pedestal and every believer is going to do the works Jesus did and greater works because we can learn the secrets of the Kingdom! They have been revealed!

In "Glory and Grace" many secrets will be revealed! Fini and Isi, Joshua and Janet Mills and Glenda and myself - but at the end of the day it will be the Holy Spirit! Things God has been saying to me this week - I have been saying "God how do I deliver this stuff?! It is just awesome!".

God wants to do three things.

1. Take every trace of unbelief out of our hearts.

There is no condemnation in this but Hebrews chapter 4 says a "sinful heart of unbelief". So unbelief is really the only sin of the New Covenant. Unbelief is the only sin the Holy Spirit will convict the world of. John 16:9; "Convict the world of sin because they DO NOT BELIEVE on Me". They do not believe on grace!

People believe in the law! The majority of people on our planet believe the law! They believe do good, get good, do bad, get bad!

The Levitical priesthood - you do good and you get good. But you do bad and you get bad! You get cursed! The Melchizadek/Christ priesthood - God did good for you in Christ and now you are redeemed from the curse and blessings are all your inheritance all the time! No bad coming! All good all the time! Blessing all the time! The Holy Spirit will convict of unbelief in grace. He will empower people to believe in the grace of God!

We must get rid of all traces, ideas, elements of unbelief and deal with it as sin! A critical attitude to the goodness of God! Unbelief is resistance to God's goodness! Unbelief is self-righteousness, unbelief is self-promotion, unbelief is saying "I am greater than the blood of Jesus! My sins are more powerful than the blood! What I did wrong is more powerful than what Jesus did at the Cross! I am more powerful than last Adam! First Adam was more powerful than last Adam!". That is unbelief in Jesus!

We have to get rid of that! We have to see that being cynical and critical and skeptical is a pollution, a demonic poison and it is SINFUL! You have to learn and be trained in unbelief by evil forces, by demonic powers! The Holy Spirit will convince you that unbelief is wrong.

2. You need to have your thinking totally renewed!

You don't entertain ANY thoughts contrary to the New Testament! You don't entertain law or sin conciousness but you have the conciousness of Christ! You have the mind of Christ! Every stronghold and every idea and every imagination that exalts itself above the knowledge of God's love! The true knowledge of God! That must be brought into captivity of the anointing! Every thought brought into the captivity of the anointing! One of the biggest problems with Christians is that they don't monitor their thought life. The devil is trying to get footholds and landing strips and build them on your mind. He is trying to land lies and things that are against the knowledge of the God of Abraham - the God of all goodness, the God of all redemption, the God who has forgiven all your sins! The devil got a landing strip on Eve and she began to think that God is holding out on us. He is keeping us out of something good. That tree of the knowledge of good and evil - if we can eat that we will be like God!

Lies! It took and it went from her to Adam. The truth is they were ALREADY in the image and likeness of God! They already had all things on the earth! They were like gods on the earth with dominion - subduing dominion power. They entertained lies! When you partner with lies you are partnering with demonic powers. You cannot have great faith and allow your thoughts to just settle on T.V and the economic downturn! No - you must stand firm! That is the worlds system and I am in the kingdom of God! The economic system of heaven! You can hear in many Christians conversations the fact that they have never trained or disciplined themselves to monitor their thoughts and take responsibility themselves to stop giving their minds as landing strips to demonic lies!

I think most of faith STARTS with dealing with the mind! Renew the mind and then you transform and then you are not in the pattern of this world! You don't think by the corrupt wisdom of this age. In fact the corrupt wisdom of this age - I want to tell you right now - is legalistic thinking! It is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! It is trying to do good and avoiding evil to get more! No! You already have it all! You have been given fullness in Christ! You don't have to be religious! You deal with your thoughts! Don't allow negative thoughts! Sometimes I have to get out of bed at 03:00, go downstairs and walk up and down for an hour or two to get these thoughts off my head because I cannot allow them to just sit their percultating and get established! You need divine power to demolish strongholds, pretensions and imaginations that have taken captive of millions of Christians minds! So they sit in churches and there is an open heaven!

I can't stand it when they sit there in churches and say "We have got to get the heavens opened!". That is anti-Christ! The Cross opened the heavens! At His baptism the heavens opened! John's baptism which was a baptism of repentance for sins - the righteous, Perfect One went through a repentance baptism for sins because He is repenting on behalf of the sins of the whole world. God ripped the heavens open and the Holy Spirit came down and when Christ went to the Cross the heavens stayed open! It is anti-Christ to pray Isaiah 64:1; "Oh God open the heavens and come down!". That is anti-Christ! In John 3 and 6 God said over and over again; "I have come down - I have come down from heaven". God has come down from heaven! Then He says in John 1:50; "You will see greater things, you will see heaven opened and angels ascending and descending over the Son of Man!". The "Son of Man" includes everyone who is in Christ! Angels descending and ascending over you and your heavens are opened!

As I have travelled the world going to church after church you stand there and you know that you can't do much - even though the heavens are opened! Because if people are sitting there with closed heads and they think the heavens are closed, they are in wrong thinking. Wrong theology! Arguments! Pretensions! Lies! No the heavens are open! It is a problem with closed heads! So we need a theological reformation to open heads. Otherwise the prophet can go and fast for 40 days and come into a Sunday morning glittering with the power of God and have a few miracles that impress people and they then say; "When you have recovered come back and do that again! It was so much fun!". While the open heavens are entitling everyone to inherit open heaven atmospheres and encounters with God! "Rob - teach us faith!". I am! Deal with unbelief in the heart and see it as sinful and ungodly and partnership with the demonic. Deal with thoughts in the mind!

3. Position Yourself to be Full of Faith.

The reason why Jesus did what He did when people had even just a little faith and were full of bitterness and sin and yet He could still heal them by the multitudes - the reason why He did that was because there was no unbelief in Jesus - there was no footholds in the way He thought about His Father and His whole heart was absolutely full of faith all the time. So He would see a crowd that only had five loaves and two fish and His mind wouldn't reason any other way - His heart and everything just thought "God can do this!" and He did it! It wasn't difficult for Jesus to do miracles! Jesus just did miracles effortlessly because all three of these areas were dealt with. No unbelief in His heart, no partnership with wrong thoughts in His head with the devil and He said; "The prince of this world comes but he has no part in Me". He had no landing strips in His mind. You say; "Ah that's because He was the Son of God". The devil tried over and over again to get landing strips. Jesus had to fight the same things. "He was tempted in all ways like as we - yet without sin". All ways! Every kind of sexual sin, all kinds of unbelief, He was tempted to take premature inheritance and worship the devil to get the kingdoms of this world.

But He resisted all the demonic thoughts. Sometimes I know when a thought over my mind is a natural thought by watching T.V and that needs to be dealt with. But other times there are other thoughts that are like demonic hornets that go round your head. You must deal with those thoughts and get them off by speaking the Word of God! "I am not under this! I am not under condemnation! I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! No I will not commit that adultery!". Praise God I am not confessing for me! I have never committed adultery or come close to it but if I let those thoughts land that day then they would have driven me to rationalise stupidity. I am so grateful to God that I can say after 34 years of marriage that I have had no physical intimacy or emotional intimacy with anyone but Glenda Michelle Rufus.

Is this a difficult thing to have all these three areas? All unbelief taken out of our heart, all thoughts dealt with in our minds? A heart full of faith? No it's not a difficult thing because it is the will of God! How can it be difficult if you burn with a passion to have it?! If you want to be church-goer that hears sermonettes every week then forget it - don't even start on this journey! You are never going to make it! But if you burn with a passion to be part of the company of people that usher in the fullness of the heavens into the earth then this is easy! I tell you why it's easy - the more revelation the church is getting of the open heavens - first it takes our faith and then we reach out and get revelation and realise the heavens are open!

The more revelation of open heaven coming to the church, the more open heaven experiences we are having!

Last Thursday night was probably one of the most open heaven encounters that many of us in this church have had. 50 of us packed into our lounge on the steps! I don't know if it was because there was not enough oxygen in the room but awesome things began to happen! I can tell you with integrity that for about 5-10 minutes I felt the very air moving, the molecules in the air vibrating and moving in that room! Now I know if that vibration had gone up just one increment higher then the very building would have begun to shake like in the book of Acts. We were one degree from that! There are different frequencies and degrees in the Spirit of vibration and different degrees of angelic presence, different degrees of the glory! At certain degrees you can only get certain results. Next degree more results and next degree people overweight can just lose weight!

God can deliver people from the Amalakies and the Hittites and deliver us from the cellulites! He can do it!

All over the world it is beginning to happen. People are standing there having to hold up their trousers because they lost 20 pounds just like that! I know the cynics say; "Oh wait till I see it!". Well you probably never will. I say everyone is innocent until prove guilty! Any report I hear - I believe that! I believe it! I am positioning my thinking! I will get to honesty in a moment! It is taking a people that have lived in such shallow levels and taking them to other levels and as soon as we go beyond what we are used to, then people get nervous. Something weird could happen! It is weird to stay in the shallows! Something weird is going on in the church! They are not doing the works Jesus did and greater works! They are not moving in miracles! I don't want to be a Christian! I have given up being a Christian! The word "Christian" is only mentioned twice in the New Testament but the word "son" is mentioned dozens and dozens of times! I want to walk as a son! Romans 8 doesn't say that the world is waiting for the manifestation of Christians! It says they are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God to be revealed!

Creation is groaning and waiting for sons!

Christians go to Sunday morning church and they are so cute and so polite and so nice! They can't cast devils out though and they don't know what is going on and they don't know the realms of the heavens. Jesus did what He did at the Cross with all the cosmic consequences to sum up history through Himself and the vast majority of Christians haven't got a clue what their inheritance is! That is WEIRD! That is abnormal!

That is disgusting and God is going to raise the prophets up again who were put down by a pastor/teacher religious culture that took over the denominations of the earth.

Did you get Mark 9? When I leave here I have got to deal with my thoughts because the devil says that was a bit rough and you sounded critical and then the Holy Spirit comes and says "No it wasn't! You didn't go far enough!". Then I feel peace come over me! So this is what many of us don't understand - faith and unbelief can exist in your heart at the SAME time. That confuses people! They say "I've got faith" and they have! But they also have got unbelief. When I think often people have got 10% faith and it is real faith but 90% unbelief or 20% faith but what you don't hear is the 80% unbelief. So much of the church teaches them to be ashamed of their unbelief and pretend that they don't have any unbelief. So they just say the faith they have got and when they say it they are telling you the truth! But very seldom will you hear them admit; "But I think I have got about 80% of unbelief". If they could admit the 80% of unbelief then we can make a connection and get this miracle happening! But God is a God of truth and He can only anoint authenticity.

I am not exaggerating - I have documented cases of this with cancer that had progressed so far that doctors had given up. I wish I could say thousands but I can tell you dozens with medically verified facts! They said there was no hope! There was no medication going on - the family members had called us in because they were dying and nothing had worked! I say thank God for doctors because they are saving millions of people's lives. The church should be praising God for doctors! But we have gone in and healing! Miracles! No cancer! Disappeared! I have also had the terrible experience of people calling you into someones home and you don't know them. They are in the last stages of the disease and you want to pray for them because your heart is; "I know it's God's will for these people to be healed!". So you go in and you say; "How are you?". I want to locate where their faith is. And you hear this; "We have got all the faith in the world!". And I just want to cry and say; "Can I be honest? If you had all the faith in the world then you would be healed already. Let's not play games. Real faith attracts real power that has the ability to heal ANY disease!".

No they have a little bit of faith but 80-90% unbelief. If they were honest they would say; "I lie awake at night thinking I am going to die - I know this won't work". That is their unbelief and if they could just tell me that then I can say; "Right now we can work with something! Now we can deal with that unbelief and work with this integrity!". The church has got to help people and stop this teaching that makes denying and surpressing unbelief = faith. That is NOT faith! That is deception! If people had all the faith in the world then we would be hearing miracle reports in every local church every Sunday morning!

Never put people under pressure to pretend they have got all the faith in the world. Every time I have done that I have regretted it. Locate where their faith is at - locate how much faith and unbelief they have got and then help them to deal with that unbelief!

Mark 9:14 through to verse 32; "as soon as they saw Jesus they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet Him". That gives me goosebumps! When the revelation of the true Christ is revealed in Hong Kong then seven million people will be filled with wonder and will run to meet Him because He is in the house of God amongst a miraculous people who are moving in supernatural signs and wonders.

(v16); "I asked Your disciples to cast out the demon but they could not". Amazing - today we would have said that proves it was not the will of God. They prayed and it didn't work so it can't be God's will. Keep your suffering for the glory of God! Jesus' response; "Oh unbelieving generation ... bring the boy to Me ... if you can? Everything is possible for him who believes! ... I do believe - help me overcome my unbelief". THERE is humility friends! Faith and unbelief at the same time asking the Lord to help him overcome the unbelief.

(v25); "I command you - come out of him and never enter him again ... the spirit shrieked, convulsed violently and came out". I have seen that happen lots of times!

"He replied this kind come out only by prayer". Now some translations say; "only by prayer and fasting". I don't particularly like the NIV. I just use it because a lot of people use it. But I am glad in this case that the NIV didn't say "fasting". "This kind can only come out by prayer". Is there a kind of demon that won't come out unless you go and pray and fast? People have this idea in the church world that demons can possess people so easily. They can get into you so easily and are so hard to cast out. They get in and you yawn and they are in! Then you must go and fast for weeks to get them out! But you burp and they are in! But I want to tell you that it is so difficult for a demon to get hold or possess an unsaved person never mind someone who is in Christ. It is so hard! They are trying to tell people; "We can get into you easily". If they could then as soon as fell asleep they would be in! But we have this theology that they come in easy but are so hard to get out. They don't get into you easily at all. You have to be traumatised and traumatised.

I don't believe that Jesus said "this kind" meant a kind of demon but a kind of unbelief because if He meant a demon then anytime you struggled to cast a demon out they could say; "Ah it's because you haven't fasted enough".

People say; "Ah I am overweight because I have got a fat demon!". How many of you know that Christians blame demons for everything? Demons are sulking because they are getting blamed for things they never, ever did! Many demons need deliverance and inner healing. You want to say to some Christians; "Come out of this demon!". For those people who say they are overweight because of a fat demon - you can say; "Well THIS kind DO come out by prayer and fasting!".

It is not demons that come out by prayer and fasting but unbelief. "This type". Andrew Wommack talks about three kinds of unbelief that I want to tell you about quickly and then we can close in the next 2 hours. Three types. I listened to that teaching and thought "Wow that is pretty good!". I disagreed with the last point slightly but before we get there let me tell you in advance that I really honour Andrew. He is the only one that I have ever heard recently teaching that the Holy Spirit only convicts us of unbelief and of righteousness He convicts us is the righteousness in Jesus Christ. He has gone to the Father and judgement is about the devil being condemned and disarmed at the Cross! So I disagree with him on his last point but everything else is wonderful.

1. One type of unbelief is a type that people in the church have simply because they have not heard the will of God.

They haven't been taught the covenant of grace. They haven't understood that it's God's will to heal everyone. They have been told that it's not God's will to heal everyone. I want you to go to Matthew 8 and I know this is obvious but I have found out that you can't take everything for granted. Local Chinese people have come to this church when we have been about to have water baptism and have said; "But those pepople only got saved a few weeks ago! How can they be water baptised?". And I don't know what they are talking about! Then I say "Explain"and they say that the church they go to, doesn't allow you to be baptised for six months up to a year - maybe even two after you are saved because you are in classes and on probation to see if you are good enough! So before I realise what I am saying, I say; "That is demonc teaching - the doctrine of demons because you open the Bible up to 2 or 3 passages and you see that as people got saved they were immediately taken to the waters of baptism on the SAME day!".

So I said; "You know what they are doing? They are controlling you with witchcraft and that is demonic!". See we take these things so innocently and think it isn't so serious. We don't know the ramifications of messing with people's heads about trying to earn or deserve something that is a sign of grace. Then they try and make you earn grace! The sooner the better! If possible on the same day! Close the Red Sea and Egypt behind you! 1st Peter he says baptism is a sign to angels of grace! So I take nothing for granted anymore - there is so much wrong teaching which is why people struggle to have faith. Go to Matthew chapter 8. I know we are going to have lots more crazy people in the earth and they are going to be criticised as being critical and they better not be critical! I think when people come and get to know me personally and spend time with me in my home - they can see me weep, they can see the tenderness in my heart, they know that I love!

That's why I am like this! Because I HATE what religion is doing to people! I love people! Jesus stood up in Matthew 23 and said; "You scribes and you Pharisees - you kill the prophets! You stinking whitewashed walls! The blood of the martyrs will be upon you before this generation is over - you will know the vengance of God on the blood of the martyrs!".

THIS generation He said! In Revelation 5 it says that the martyrs were underneath the altar crying out for deliverance. And they got it when He died on the Cross! When He said; "It is finished - the graves errupted and the martyrs walked around Jerusalem!". He said; "They are the martyrs that you killed because of the Word of God which they preached. You religious leaders - you killed them because they stood on the Word. You are guilty of all of their blood!". Look at Matthew 8:14; "When Jesus came into Peter's house He saw Peter's mother-in-law". So Peter did have a wife. "Lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her". That quick.

"He healed ALL the sick". Scripture must interpret Scripture and the Scripture is going to tell us why He heals all and why it is ALWAYS His will to heal ALL. "This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah, He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases". That is Isaiah 53. Now Isaiah 53 is the place where He took our sin away and the punishment for our peace was upon Him. So Isaiah 53 speaks about all our diseases, sickness, pain being taken away at the Cross where Christ was MADE sickness for us at the same place that He was made our sin. Yet today in the church if you ask someone - if someone comes to Jesus and says; "Lord forgive my sins" would He say; "No it is not My will to forgive your sins?". No! Of course He wants to forgive your sins! Yet the majority of the Church is not convinced that He wants to heal ALL our diseases.

He has already healed all our diseases at the same place He was made sin and forgave us all our sins! Psalm 103; "who forgives all our iniquities and heals ALL your diseases!". He says to the man who was lame and the Pharisees judging Him; "What is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or take up your bed and walk?". Both happen at the Cross and He was speaking about it before it happened at the Cross! So for people to question God's will for healing they should then question God's will to forgive! Because at the same time sin and disease were both dealt with by Jesus at the Cross! It is God's will to save every person on this planet! But everyone doesn't believe! It is God's will to heal ALL that are sick.

There is faith in saying God is able but EVERYONE knows that God is able!

This is the New Covenant! Jesus died to ratify your rights as inheritors and joint equal heirs with God and then He rose from the dead as our heavenly lawyer to make sure it is prosecuted by the power of the Spirit! It is the will of God to heal everyone! But everyone doesn't get healed - because of the Nazareth syndrome. Jesus said "I have come down from heaven to do My Father's will". In Nazareth the will of God - Perfect Theology - couldn't get everyone healed! Why? Because of their unbelief.

2. The second type of unbelief is because of deliberately WRONG teaching.

The teaching that the power of God has passed away and the days of miracles are over. God is not moving the way He did in the past. That unbelief is harder to deal with than the first type. Now they have been established in religious doctrines of demons. What is the answer to that unbelief? Just more teaching! Teach and teach and teach! A clarity of the Word of God! Show them that the power of God hasn't passed away from the Word of God! Go to all the difficult Scriptures that they use to support their arguments. Go and answer them all in their contexts. It is very clear - those people need quite a bit longer to get free from their type of unbelief.

3. The third type of unbelief is with the disciples when they couldn't cast this devil out.

How many of you know that they didn't have a problem with the first two types of unbelief? They knew the will of God was to cast out demons! They knew the power of God hadn't passed away because they had seen Jesus do it over and over again and He had empowered them in Luke chapter 10 and Luke chapter 9 to cast out devils and heal the sick and came back to Him rejoicing that devils were subject to Him in the Name of Jesus! So they had seen and they had cast out devils! Now they are wondering why they couldn't cast this one out. They were okay with the first two types of unbelief. Tick those off. Third type of unbelief was this type;

When they looked at the natural and saw how bad the natural was - if you are being governed by education and programming and propaganda and endless training by religion or by secular humanistic thinking and intellectualism then you are governed by your natural senses. You are governed by the limitations of your natural five senses - smell, taste, touch, feeling and seeing. So when you pray and what you see is convulsing after you have prayed and manifestations of what looks worse after you pray - if you are governed by your senses then you will be overwhelmed by a type of unbelief that will go; "Oh it is not working". So He says; "THIS type comes out by prayer". If you want to add fasting then add it - I am not adding it and I will tell you in a moment why! This type comes out by prayer!

What is prayer? Prayer is going and getting alone with God. It is saying "Today I am not going to movies, today I am switching the TV off, today I am going to be alone with an invisible God and I am going to let this invisible God speak to my spirit and I am going to hear and experience things that is not with my natural ears, eyes or intellect".

But I will hear a supernatural invisible God speak in my spirit and I am going to learn how to be governed more by my five spiritual senses than my five physical senses. So what I see contradicting in the natural will be overwhelmed and surpassed and superimposed by a higher level of sons and daughters of God (not Christians) that know the invisible and know the supernatural and when you hear a living voice with inner ears and not these natural ears then you can do something! If you need to fast to help you then that is fine.

Never ever teach (and I will never teach this again) that fasting is the key to miracles. That is what most of the modern church has taught and it has not helped! It has caused more problems! Most of the modern men and women I know who move in miracles and signs and wonders hardly ever fast. I know how whole congregations that have just about killed themselves fasting and don't have miracles today! Jesus did fast for 40 days but that was for us - He was going in to deal with the devil as last Adam and He won! He won a battle for us! Jesus did things for us so we don't have to! We walk in the inheritance of His victories!

In Luke chapter 5 the Pharisees come to Jesus and say "Why don't YOUR disciples fast? John the Baptists disciples fast and the Pharisees disciples fast". The context in Luke 5 was the old sinner Levi who found grace through Jesus and brought all his sinning mates and threw a party for Jesus and Jesus was eating and drinking with Levi! And the Pharisees were mad; "Eating with sinners! Why don't you fast?". Jesus said; "How can the bridegroom tell His guests to fast?! When we are enjoying the celebration of the Bridegroom! When the Bridegroom goes then they will fast!". It is so wonderful because He only went for three days! On the third day He rose to life and said; "Behold I am with you to the end of the age!".

Every day my Bridegroom kisses me and I feel His Presence! I don't need to fast! My Bridegroom is with me! Paul the apostle who was an ascension gift after the resurrection - he didn't know Jesus after the flesh only after He had gone to heaven. Paul got his commission from heaven not from man! And he never taught fasting as a means to get greater faith! NEVER! They did fast at the commissioning of Paul and Barnabus but there is no revelation of the key of fasting to get greater faith!

I have people come when they hear of miracles in my life and they come and say "How much do you fast?". The church has taught them that! Bad teaching! "Well I fast regularly! Every night I go to bed! I do not eat for about eight hours! Then in the morning I break fast!". They are looking for a formula as to how this person came out the wheelchair and what did you do? What is your formula?

NO formula! I just let the Bridegroom kiss me! I look at Him and as I look at Him faith comes because I see grace and I understand and deal with my thinking and let my heart be filled with God! I get away with Him! I have got to go somewhere quiet! Jesus went regularly to solitary places! How many Christians get alone with God to hear the invisible voice? How many of you want your faith to go up another level and unbelief to go down another level? I believe in the worship and I thank all of you who have come from overseas. Something is going to be broken open wider.

The heavens are open - but you need portals to bring that open heaven into the earth. YOU are the portals of God! Your faith is the portal of God!

On Wednesday morning while registrations are going on, people will be already getting healed. While they are trying to sign up they will already be falling under the power of God! I believe in teaching and we will teach but as the conference goes there will be such an open heaven that heaven will be teaching us by the power of the Spirit by revelation! So I want to close with this to precipate and position you - to cause your faith levels to go up and your unbelief levels to go down. "Increase our faith!". They think increased faith is quantity. But Jesus thinks of faith as quality. He said; "If you have got faith as small as a mustard seed then you can say to mulberry trees - be transplanted!". I don't think He meant literal translation - He never did it once. He never moved physical mountains so He is not setting a precident for that. He is saying that there is a certain quality of faith and for that faith - nothing is impossible! Economic downturns, financial problems, sickness, disease - there is a faith that can transplant mountains!

Mountains speak figuratively of problems. Your problems will be brought low. Your cancers will be brought low. You will transplant cancers from here to hell! Gone! So they say; "Increase our faith!". Mustard seeds - it's quality is that it is small. If Jesus was living in our technical age then He would say to us - if you have faith as small as an electric fuse then all the power from the nucleur power stations conducted through power lines can come and light up your world.

The power of an electric fuse is not it's size but it's quality. What is it's quality? It has got the quality of conduction.

There are certain metals that electricity will not pass through. Copper! They need high conduction! And low resistance. Unbelief is low resistance to grace! If you have got an electric fuse with high resistance then you can only conduct a low level of that power. The fuse will defuse if the power gets too high! Certain fuses can only handle low level heavenly power. The church has been full of unbelief because the law has been taught to the people of God so the power of God can only operate at a low level.

When the power of God is de-fused then the church re-fuses the power of God and they become con-fused.

Then the church formulates theologies to legitimise the abcence of power! The atheist resistance is so high that it says the power station doesn't exist. But the problem is not with the power station or the powerlines of God's Word but the fuse box in the church! Stop teaching the law! Stop making them think about their sins!

Jesus didn't come to make you feel bad! He came to make you feel good about what He can do for you on the Cross!

Let me put it this way - five levels of faith.

1. Unbelief = Total Resistance to the grace of God = no faith at all.

2. Lots of resistance = Temporary faith (Mark 5).

3. Medium level resistance = weak or little faith.

4. Little resistance = strong faith.

5. No resistance = great faith!

Only two people had great faith in the whole of the New Testament according to Jesus and they were Gentiles because they had never lived under the law because the law is against faith. Why is the church so weak in the world - because the majority of the church has been preached a mixture of law and grace and it is killing and making them think wrong and putting unbelief in their hearts! All three types of unbelief are operating! There is a way to go from no faith to great faith!

Imagine a local church where every member has got GREAT faith, NO resistance to all of heaven's fullness to come into the earth and saturate regions with the atmosphere and beauty of the power of anointing - hanging like a smoke over the city because the people know how to pull heaven into the earth!

That's what I pray Father - every area of unbelief to be rooted out of my heart - every area of cynicism and skepticism, and pride and conservatism. Remove it from my heart. Let my mind be like the mind of Christ. Let me not entertain thoughts of sin conciousness and condemnation but Your thoughts and Your ways. Give us understanding of Your thoughts that we may stand in that grace. Fill us with great faith! Let our resistance through unbelief and legalism come down! Help our resistance come down so that we may come into "Glory and Grace Conference" as a people operating in high levels of faith and low levels of unbelief! Let angels come into this place! We ask them before the Throne - we acknowledge Jesus before men, now cause Your angelic host to come as chariots of fire, let them help us to inherit the invisible world! Holy Spirit! Change the metal of my conductor! I want a quality faith conductor! This is the realm of glory! It is not for the conservative or faint hearted or religious! It is for sons! Those who are redeemed from the curse of law that the blessing of Abraham may come on us in fullness!

Take one anothers hands oh lightning conductors and let the fire of heaven - the divine virtue - heavenly materiality - heavenly realities that faith is the evidence of existance come into manifestation! Right here! In this place! FIRE! Right through! Fire from heaven without holding back! Don't resist! Yield! FIRE! Burn up conservatism! Burn up condemnation! Burn up debt! Release prosperity! Release the blessing You gave Abraham - give to the people of faith! The anointing is coming even more tangibly! I am just going to obey God. Down the rows let go of your hands. Keep the rows clear but keep holding each others hands. I am going to run down the rows and slap the hands. I have got faith that the power will run down the rows and it will take 2 minutes but leave everlasting results! The guys in the rows stick your hands out and don't close them otherwise I will break your arms! I am going to run down these rows and faith will take that anointing. I pray they don't get Rob Rufus's anointing but Jesus anointing and an impartation of the life and glory of heaven - the breaking of self conciousness, analytical attitudes - a ripping open! A ripping of the shrouds! Let bodies be healed now! May mortal bodies feel immortal power! FIRE!

We will not tolerate conservatism at Glory and Grace! We didn't have this conference to cater for normal Sunday morning church but to see the glory come! FIRE! They've gone through the doors! FIRE! More Lord! Pour in the heavenly wine! Let the party begin before Glory and Grace starts! The first miracle Jesus ever did was to produce 700 litres wine in one go! We declare an opening of festivities! Let Your people get drunk on the new wine! In Jesus Name! A guy fell right through the door at the back - he got thrown through the door! We have an "open door" ministry! The Lord threw him out the door! Lord we are so grateful but not satisfied! We want so much more than this! If this is all we operate in then millions in Hong Kong will go to hell! We are so tired of being brainwashed with religion as normal and what people call anointed was just to comfort Christians - a "positive experience". We declare that pathetic! We want the violence of heaven to destroy evil in the nations! Let the whirlwinds of heaven come down and break evil in Hong Kong! Break abuse! Break demonic darkness! Break that which is against kingdom of heaven! Topple evil in our city! For the sake of all the nations represented at Glory and Grace, we pray that there will be such a release of the Spirit - 10 times more power than this morning in the conference! FIRE!

The Power of the Authoratative Command for Healing - Part 2

This amazing sermon was preached by Rob at City Church on Sunday 17th September 2006. I did Part 1 a while back and it was such profound revelation to me as to how we can much more effectively pray for the sick. The transcript of Part 1 is here.

"Open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 3. This is our eighth teaching on the series - "God's willingness to heal". If you have missed it, it really is worth getting the series from the beginning. This is our second teaching on; "The Power of the Authoratative Command". A lot of positive feedback from people saying how much they learnt from last weeks teaching and how faith rose in their hearts.

I want to now talk about the dynamics behind the authoratative command. For those who weren't here, let me simply say this in 20 seconds. In the New Testament, in the Book of Acts and in the Gospels you see Jesus very seldom asking the Father to heal people. The same with the Book of Acts. What they did most of the time was to command healing to come and sickness to go. They commanded cripples to get up and walk. They commanded blind eyes to open, deaf ears to open and it was done by the authoratative command. We went into detail and we looked at Scripture to substantiate that.

This morning I want to talk about what is the dynamic behind that authoratative command. What can we do in our own hearts in order to nuture the outflow of the authoratative command? I learnt about the authoratative command in 1981 not in a Bible school or by reading a book or by some mentor. I learnt really by the Holy Spirit who helped me and I want to tell you this - the only way you are going to grow in effective ministry to the sick is that you have got to start! You learn on the job! The trouble with Bible schools is that they take people away from the life of the local church and then professors who have never planted local churches themselves - professors that have never prayed for the sick or raised the dead or have seen blind eyes opened or cripples walk - they teach people the academic principles and information about these things but have never done it themselves! There are professors at Harvard University who have never started a business but who teach people on how to start a business! These are just concepts! But the Hebrew model of life - the Christian model of life and the Kingdom of heaven model is about God-encounters and teaching out of experience and that is the model we need!

That is why I say don't wait to go away to Bible college and get all the Bible information dumped on you and then you come out of there puffed up with a lot of Bible knowledge but it is all academic and not experiential. I have to say which Bible college did Peter, James and John go to? They raised the dead! Where did the 12 disciples go to? They went to the college of the Holy Spirit! They learned by making mistakes!

If you learn to fail forward then you are going to grow! But if you are a person that is so perfectionist you will be frightened of making mistakes. And he that doesn't make mistakes - makes nothing!

It is impossible to learn how to do this except by making mistakes. I had to pray for a lot of blind eyes and rebuke a lot of blindness before I saw blind eyes opening. Some people will never see blind eyes opening because they never try to do it - once! You will learn while you are doing it! So in 1981 as a young man in the ministry, there was a young lady in our church called Dawn. She came to Glenda and I and said; "The doctors have just diagnosed me with breast cancer. I have got a tumour the size of a pigeons egg and they want to remove it in 3 weeks time - emergancy surgery". And she was going to lose her breast. So we said come on Sunday morning where there is a corporate anointing and we will pray for you! We were very new in this and had just started out. All our background upto then had not prepared us - the church we were a part of did not pray for the sick. They were just very conservative about it. We hadn't been mentored in this. But for 3 days I had been listening to Kenneth Hagin on faith and so I had come back armed with 3 days of experience.

I want to say to you that you may think you don't know the Bible well enough. Rob really knows it well. There is no one on the planet that knows the Bible perfectly! Bonnie is doing a theology correspondance degree at the moment and she is asking me some very testing questions! I am amazed at how much I don't know! But it doesn't intimidate me!

Because it is not how much of the Bible you know - it is how many God encounters you have had in portions of Scripture!

I know people that know the Bible from back to front but do not have a supernatural manifestation going on in their lives! The Pharisees and Sadducees knew the Bible! Jesus said "You search the Scriptures but they speak of Me! Here I am!". Knowledge of the Bible can just puff you up! Now it is important to know the Word of God. But if you just listen to the Word of God on Sunday morning, get the CDS, look at your notes during the week, turn up on Thursday nights where we don't do lectures on praying - we get God encounters where people learn how to petition, the prayer of faith, supernatural warfare - not by lecture but by Hebrew style of doing it! Doing it! I have just had a fellow elder from South Africa who planted the church with me in 1979 and he is an older man than me - he turned 70 yesterday. I gave him a call and he said "I just so wanted you to be in South Africa so I could publicly honour you for being my father and mentor in the faith". I was going; "Hold on now - I am 51 and you are 70!".

He said; "It's got nothing to do with age! Fathering in natural secular society is biological fathering. In the kingdom you can be younger and father someone and you did it because you invited me to come and do things. And I learnt more by doing things with you than by sitting in a lecture hall!". So this church is only 2 years old and we have got people who can pray now better than most Christians I have met. They have learned "doing"! That's why I get people out to pray for the sick because I want them to learn how to pray for the sick rather than spectate the guru doing it. That's why you have got churches around the world with a big man at the front or a woman who can do miracles and in the congregation you have got people who don't have a clue. That is not the Kingdom of heaven. All you have to do is be here on a Sunday morning. We teach the Word and you learn by God encounters experientially under the anointing - you grow in the understand of grace, faith, kingdom, godly government, how to run your home, management, family life in the kingdom. You are learning that week by week and over several years when you look back you will have grown in a whole lot of stuff!

Or you can go somewhere where there is no life and spend in an academic world with professors who have never "done the stuff" and come out armed with a whole lot of academic understanding and in my opinion that is the WORST thing that could have ever happened to the church that is led by people that have learned the ministry in an academic world of non-practice of the supernatural.

That is why they are academic and they have equipped millions of people to be like them - academics! Cerebral knowledge of doctrine and theology! And knowledge just puffs up.

"Rob so you are saying Bible schools are wrong?". Personally I think they are wrong! I can't see them in Scripture! Where did they learn their theology in the Book of Acts? They learnt it on the job! The apostles trained, taught and equipped! There are certain prophetic schools that are temporary where you go for a 2 or 3 month period but anything that takes you out of the life of a local church is wrong! The Bible has got nothing to teach about individual piety. Some Christians say; "I don't want to worship God in a local church - I just want to go and worship God on a mountain all by myself". They are talking about individual piety and you ask them; "Do you believe the Bible?". Well they are lying! Because the Bible says "Encourage one another!". The Bible says "Forgive one another - serve another!". How do you do that unless you are in a community of believers where you have got to work out your piety through relationships that get difficult at times. You can live in a fools paradise of how spiritual you are - you can be an expert in how to raise kids and be an expert - until you HAVE kids!

You can teach people on relationships and how to work out relational conflict from not being part of a local church until you become part of a local church and realise to your shock that other people are just as imperfect as you are. So I cannot see in the New Testament anywhere where they have Bible schools. You know what they did? They raised the dead, got cripples walking and turned the world upside down because they moved in the supernatural.

Under the Old Covenant there were prophetic schools. I would prefer to see prophets and apostles come to a local church and stay there for a few months and equip and train that local church. You take a few people out of a local church to go to a prophetic school and they come back all frustrated because everyone else hasn't caught it and they have got it! I think the New Testament does not have prophetic schools - the Old Covenant did. I am not saying people should not go to a prophetic conference for a while but I think in Hong Kong, that Hong Kong Christians are addicted to conferences and seminars. I have found that people who run after conferences and seminars and run after the latest en-vogue speaker coming to town are the most rebellious when it comes to local church and are the most independent and unhappy people often living under witchcraft because they do not have proper grace government of a local church where there are gates put in there by God.

People are not growing and advancing unless they are part of a grace government of a local church.

So Dawn came to us with a pigeon egg tumour. I had never dealt with a woman who unless God healed her could lose her breast and lose her life through cancer! So she came up on the Sunday morning and Glenda and I laid hands on her. I laid hands on her head! And we prayed "Father would You please heal Dawn in the Name of Jesus?". That week she phoned and said that the lump was still there and nothing had changed and I could hear the panic in her voice. I thought "Oh God what's happened? When you pray for the sick they are meant to be healed!". So I said "Come back next week Dawn!". Jesus prayed for someone twice! So she came back the next week and we prayed "Father heal Dawn! Heal her of this cancer! Heal her of this lump so she doesn't have to have it operated on! In Jesus Name!". The next week Dawn phones us in real panic now and says she only has a few days left and then needs surgery - her breast needs to be cut off. We are going "God what's going on!?". So I said; "Dawn please come and we will pray for you and He doesn't heal you then we will at least pray that He will guide the surgeons hands". If you are a woman and are going to lose a breast, that is big in terms of their sense of value and dignity or beauty - that is very serious psychologically. So she comes the next week and is due to have the operation in a few days.

So we lay hands on her and I am about to say; "Father please would You heal Dawn". But just before I pray I feel the Holy Spirit rise up in my spirit and He says; "Don't pray for Dawn! Command the spirit that is within that tumour and keeping that tumour alive! Command that force life to go and curse what is in that tumour and demand that the tumour shrivel up and die! Don't pray for her!". And before I knew what I was doing, I said; "I CURSE this tumour!". No asking! "I CURSE this tumour and I demand that the very life that is within this tumour that is demonic and it leave right now and I command that it vanish and disappear in Jesus Name!". That was the first time I had prayed a prayer like that! The second I prayed it - she got smacked through the air under the power of God.

So we finished the service and went home and the next Monday morning very early the phone rings. Picked it up and I answered and I couldn't make any sense because all I could hear was hysterical joy. "AGGGGHHHH!!". I thought it was Cantonese! She had her sister there and they were screaming and I thought "Oh no she is dying!". So I said; "Now Dawn calm down - what's happening?". And she said; "It's gone! It's gone! We have checked it! It's gone! It's totally disappeared!". And I am going; "It has?! It has!?". Now I am getting hysterical! So she went to the doctor and got it checked out and all surgery was not necessary and absolutely unnecessary!

Since then I have COMMANDED sickness to go and COMMANDED demons to go and seen greater increase of the miraculous!

Now when eagles make love - and have intimacy for conception they don't do it in the nest. They don't do it in the Bible school. They literally fly 5,000 feet into the air and lock their talons and then freefall towards the earth and somewhere between heaven and earth conception takes place! And in this meeting right now the Holy Spirit is calling us to lock in with Him and be raised up into the heights of revelation and we will conceive an increase of the supernatural in our lives. A greater authority to deal with the opposition and the miserable things that try to rob us of the quality of our lives and then they will help us to get people free from cancer, blindness, cripple-ness, pain in their backs!

Do you know that the word "conception" comes from the word "concept"? That the wrong concepts can cause a problem with conception! In fact you get the word "contraception" from the word "concepts". Wrong concepts can cause contraception to the conception of the miraculous. Wrong concepts about God! If you think God is just a mean angry Judge and if you think He doesn't love you or if you sin and mess up then God says; "That's it - I will use someone else". Those kinds of concepts will cause contraception to conceiving the supernatural of God in your heart!

In the Old Covenant the glory of God was hidden behind a veil and when Jesus died on the Cross, all your sins - past, present and future - were blotted out and God is not ever going to see sin in your life again! He has declared you righteous as a gift! You stand before Him with the very obedience of Jesus Christ being credited to your account as a free gift! Isn't it amazing that we got saved we understood that we couldn't deserve it or earn it and there was nothing we could do to get it. It was all grace! We received it as all grace and then from then on we tried to earn it and deserve everything else that God gives us. If you could not earn or deserve the greatest gift which is the righteousness of God then you can't earn anything else - it is ALL grace! A wrong concept of law and grace will stop conception like a spiritual contraception!

When Jesus said "It is finished!" - the veil in the Temple was split from top to bottom so that the Presence of God could come out to the people of faith! Now in the New Covenant it talks about a veil too! In 2 Corinthians 3. It speaks of a veil over the mind. What is that? It is having wrong concepts in your head about God, His Word and His grace. God has to strip the veil off our minds by enabling our minds to rid us of the conceptions or concepts that religion has brainwashed the church with for nearly 1,500 years so we can go back to where the church was in the book of Acts. Full of miracles, signs, wonders with no hierarchies, popes, archdeacons but humility and servant-hearted friends standing together and serving God.

When Jesus spat in His hand and put it onto the man's eyes and the man's eyes were opened to a new dimension of seeing - there are two places in a man's body where his DNA is most strongly represented or carried. That's in his saliva and in his sperm. There is a spiritual saliva from heaven that God wants to rub onto our eyes so that we can enter into a new dimension of seeing through concepts that have been working as contraception against us conceiving the supernatural of God! When we talk about this language; "Bridegroom" and "Bride" - please don't misunderstand that we are talking about physical sex between us and Jesus. That is not what Adam is saying or what I am saying. We are talking about the symbolism that the Scripture uses of the Bride of Christ and Jesus as the heavenly Bridegroom. Let me say this - in the book of Revelation and in chapter 17 there are two women identified in that chapter. There is what is called the harlot/whore of Babylon and the Bride of Christ. Now the harlot/whore of Babylon represents churchgoers who just want to go to church and be religious and have a gratifying religious experience but don't want conception. They don't want the responsibility of being impregnated. They are the harlot/whore - give me that good religion and positive experience! "I am not coming to church unless people make me feel good and treat me just like I want!". Indulgant gratification - that's the harlot/whore posturing and posing to be the Bride.

But the Bride of Christ - as much as the bride wants intimacy and gratification and enjoyment of her heavenly Bridegroom - she wants to conceive His DNA! She wants to conceive and reproduce His miracles! That is the difference!

You will see that difference between sheep and goats. God right now in the world - hear me now - I tell you the truth under the Spirit - God is seperating sheep nations and those that are goat nations. Goats represent those that are rebellious. He is seperating sheep Christians from goat Christians and is declaring and identifying those are goat churches and those that are sheep churches. He is taking goats out of sheep churches and sheep out of goat churches. He is bringing sheep from goat churches to sheep churches and taking goat churches out of sheep churches and relocating them to goat churches! You mark my words! There is a realignment happening in the Body of Christ worldwide.

The 11th September 2006 - last Monday - the prophetic anointing increased in the earth and prophets will speak much more confidently now. And pastor/teachers that have dominated the church in a pastor/teacher culture are going to have to move aside so the apostolic and prophetic can once again in signs and wonders - and not in academics! We have had too many apostles just teach and teach. New Testament apostles came in signs and wonders and raised the dead! No one should ever call themselves an apostle again from last Monday unless they are moving in the miraculous supernatural signs and wonders. No one who really is an apostle should even pronounce themselves as one - I know Paul says "Paul, called to be an apostle". But he said it as a calling. He didn't pronounce himself and neither did he call "that one and that one" and voted himself to announcing who is an apostle and who isn't! A lot of books that have been written on apostolic ministry by sincere people - but it may be better that they are burnt now and we just go and read the Bible and see what apostles are.

From the 11th Septemer - Monday - there is a seperation from pretenders to authenticity. Counterfeit Christians to the genuine. Contraception Christians to conceiving Christians. 11th September - I woke up on that morning which was when the Twin Towers came down five years ago and I just felt instantly inside my spirit that I knew that I knew. I knew that I knew that I knew that I knew that I knew that some things are just the Kingdom on the inside of us! I believe in science but if you reduce the Kingdom down to what science alone can show in a laboratory - science is a product of the invisible realm of God. The prophets have been so complexed about their subjectivity and the teachers that have been so objective teaching line upon line principles and have been so certain - so the prophets have begun to back off! But they need to stand up! Don't tell people you are a prophet or an apostle and definately don't put it as your title! Just stand up in confidence and say; "The word of the Lord is ... He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying".

The fruit is in the eating! God encounters! Real signs and wonders of fulfillment! Prophets have almost disappeared off the scene of the church for the last 10 years because of the moral collapse of some major prophets and because the church readily pushed them aside and made them have prophets conferences which a few go out from the church to get all excited about and come back to a church dominated by pastor/teachers. The pastors and teachers are important but they need to come in humility and bring teaching and revelation and teachers need to step up and start praying for the sick and stop hiding behind their theology! Paul was the greatest theologian this world has ever seen apart from Jesus! But he raised the dead and opened blind eyes and got cripples walking! You don't have to fight this or get intense about it because God is going to do it anyway! You just have to say; "Lord take the veil away from my eyes and my mind - put Your spiritual saliva on my mind - I want to have a new dimension of seeing". Prophets will say on that day a new release came!

If the Holy Spirit had not put spiritual saliva on my eyes as I stood in front of Dawn for the third time and helped me to have a new dimension of seeing - that concept in my mind that you have got to pray for the sick would have caused a contraception so that her miracle could not have been conceived and at least she would have lost a breast. At worst that cancer would have taken her life. So what I am saying is - this isn't playing church anymore! It's not about coming to church and hearing a little sermon from the guru or the vicar! It is "Lord I want the veil off my mind!".

I want you to look at Ephesians 3. I laid that as a foundation and I could almost stop where I am. (v20); "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine according to His power that is at work". The Bible has just said that God is able to do immeasurably more than our greatest prayer meetings could ask or think or imagine according to the power that is at work within US! Not at work just within a prophet or an apostle! But is at work within US! The Church! US! The Bible is saying that this power that can do immeasurably more than we can ask is not going to work from heaven. There is a power at work within us that is going to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine!

Some of you heard me tell the story of a man who took a day off sitting by the lakeside and watching a man fish. Every time a man caught a beautiful fish and he would get it up on the bank and measure it and shake his head and throw this beautiful fish back. And he did that with every fish after measuring it with a six centimeter stick. Finally he caught an emaciated little fish and got his stick out and measured this small fish and he was so happy and put the fish in his bag and the stick in his bag and put his hat on and started to go home. The man watching couldn't take it anymore and ran up and said; "Excuse me sir - why did you throw all those beautiful fish back after measuring them with that six cm stick?". The man said; "It's very simple. At home I have only got a six cm frying pan". Because of wrong concepts Christians sit while the beauty of the New Covenant is taught and take their concepts or six cm measuring sticks and measure the promises. Measure up what they are hearing under the anointing and say; "It doesn't fit into my concept". And they don't even know they are dismissing it! "Count me out God!". Because concepts are contraceptives to the supernatural. Hong Kong is going directly to hell. There are only a few thousand born again people here. There is seven million in this city of which most worship some style of idol. It is going to hell unless the church gets free from it's six cm measuring stick and wrong concepts.

Unless Hong Kong idol worshipping people see the dead raised, the blind eyes opened, the deaf ears hear, cripples, paralysed and lame walking in the Name of Jesus they are not by the millions going to believe!

So what we are talking about is not just a nice little church morning! God has been looking for decades for a church that will believe this stuff and He will dump His glory in them! How do we break the six cm stick? Very simple - by the power of revelation! Go back to (v14). Let's find out how to break that stick! "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from His family in heaven and on earth derives it's name. I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with power by His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith and I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power with all the members of all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that goes beyond knowledge - that you may be filled to all the measure of all the fullness of God". Not just for the early church! "Throughout all generations for ever and ever!".

So you say; "Rob are you saying that an increase of the power within us is linked to a revelation of how much God loves us?". That is EXACTLY what the Scripture is saying! It says height, length, width and breadth of the love of God! A four-dimensional understanding of God's love! Why does he use all four? Hebrew people understood what a cube was! They understood that a cube represented perfection in all dimension! When God told Moses how to build the Holy of Holies He gave him the exact dimensions. 10 metres by 10 metres by 10 metres. When Solomon built the Temple he built it as a cube but expanded it to 20 metres height length and depth. The New Jerusalem in Revelation is 200, 000 km in a perfect cube! What does it represent? It means that the love of Christ is not short in one area towards you. It is a PERFECT cube - a full perfect total love towards you! In other words in some area in your life you are more holy and have got success in that area - you are tempted to believe that in that area God's love for you is a bit longer but in that area where you are still struggling with sin or failure or problems - in that area God's love is a bit shorter. What Paul is saying by revelation is that the love of God for you has to surpass knowledge and you have to get revelation that He has a perfect cube of love for you. He loves you in all four dimensions and His love for you is not short in one area towards you! He loves you unconditionally!

Romans 5 says that while you were yet a sinner and a rebel in your mind against God, God demonstrated His love for you in that He died for you. In John 17 Jesus said that the Father loves US the SAME way He loves Jesus! That is the end of people saying that He loved Jesus because Jesus was so perfect and so holy. No - He loves us! With the same perfection and it is every second of every moment of every hour of every week of every month of every decade! And when the veil of the wrong concept of God's love is removed from your mind and you go into that which surpasses knowledge and the power reveals to your heart together with all the believers by the power of the Spirit the height, length, breadth and depth of the love of Christ then you and I are filled to all the fullness of the measure of God on the inside of us - that God is able to do exceedingly above what we are able - to do - not that is at work in heaven! But that is at work within us! Out of that internal reality we speak healing commands and it manifests in external reality! If the power within us is condemnation, insecurity, inferiority complexes and condemnation, feelings of guilt - then what we will speak on the inside will come out on our external reality.

When we get a revelation of this perfect love of God for us - no matter if your father or someone else abused you - if you get a revelation that THIS father loves you then that which comes into your inner being is the measure of all the fullness of who God is! He was writen to the Ephesian church and they were saved, justified, baptised in the Spirit and spoke in tongues! He is speaking about something way beyond that!

That is why Jesus could stand up against a storm and say "Peace - be still!". Because storm out there was no match for the peace that was in here. His internal reality came out through words and then everything - cancer, cripples - has to surrender to the internal reality that is in the Church!

And ALL these concepts can be taken away - the veil - and the church walks in New Testament freedom and New Testament life.

If you read the New Testament with an Old Testament veil over your mind you will be in more bondage than if you just stayed under the Old Covenant! I have heard people say this and I did it myself years ago - that if they tithe under law how much more shall we do under grace. If you go a bit further then everything you see in the New Testament that looks like a command; "Avoid evil, don't do this, don't do that" - and the New Testament does talk like that - then you are talking on more law than you could ever imagine! The New Testament is meant to be spirit and life and the grace of God! You cannot mimic Christ's behaviour in the abscence of eternal encounters of the love of God and the grace of God!

These days are so exciting!

Glory and Grace Conference Update 2!!

Got an email from Lydia this morning when I got back from work!

"We are together and all is well!!! But we miss you!!

Enjoyed the first 2 sessions this morning very much. Fini and Isi did some worship. Not much though. We met Ursula after the second session because after the first session she was rolling on the floor laughing!!

And we also met Wayne Duncan from South Africa, and a whole bunch of other South Africans.......and got to chat with them a bit. We will have lunch with them all tomorrow. They were awesome!! I definitely felt God's presence at the end of the first session and had a hard time standing.......I think tonight will be much more glorious.

Rob said he is teaching us to get us prepared to enter into the glory easy...........yahoo!!

Julie and I are enjoying each other's company and our time away from busy mommyhood.........Still wishing you could be here, both of us were hoping you would just turn up!! Anyway, all for now, I will be in touch more later okay.......

Much love
Lydia"

I don't think my mind is going to be even touched down in the United Kingdom this week! I've never before felt so attached to a city like Hong Kong! Everytime I get back from work and lay my head on my pillow, the sounds, smells, sights of Hong Kong come back to me so so vividly! And last night I watched a film where some of the action took place in Hong Kong around the tall tower and I got all emotional!

Likewise I've never felt so much for 3 beautiful sisters in Christ and longed for them to receive the highest and greatest downloads of God's glory that they ever have.

Knowing the Holy Spirit - His Names, Titles and Operations - Part 6

This sermon completes the transcripts of the "Names, Titles and Operations of the Holy Spirit" series Rob Rufus preached in 2007. It was preached on Sunday 14th October.

"Faith Enjoys Effortless Blessings"

"Open your Bibles please to Galatians chapter 3.

The Kingdom is taken little by little! It is given to those who have faith and patience but you just stay consistent and you never give up! You take little ground and then more ground and more ground and stay faithful! And when it looks like this is a never-ending battle that isn't going anywhere then you stand your ground and take more and more ground - because if you have heard God say; "Take this ground - I have assigned you and authorised you and given you authority from the government of heaven to go and take ground" - then you stay and stay and take ground and one day there will be an explosion and you will take exponential ground and suddenly from all over you are getting reinforcements coming in and you begin to accelerate. We must keep going and be faithful because we are going to see Hong Kong filled with the glory of God! We are going to see hundreds of thousands and I want to declare millions of local Chinese people come to know Jesus Christ in Hong Kong. We are going to see nations impacted from Hong Kong!

We have been doing a series on the Names and Titles of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit has many names and titles - 20 to 40 - and every name and title reveals a manifestation of His ministry that benefits you and blesses you. This morning I want to talk about the Spirit of God with His title; "The Spirit of Faith". We have looked at His title; "The Holy Spirit", "The Spirit of God", "The Spirit of the Lord", "My Spirit", "The power of the Most High", "The Spirit of the Living God" and the "Spirit of God's Son". The Spirit of God's Son reveals to us that we are not under law but that we have an inheritance with the full rights as sons. We have been looking at that for the last 3 weeks and I want to carry on with that but looking at 2 Corinthians 4:13 where the Spirit is referred to as the "Spirit of Faith". I want to talk about faith being revealed in your heart. Faith is not just a force - faith is a Person. Grace is not just a force - Grace is a Person and His Name is Jesus Christ! Faith is a Person - the Spirit of faith! When the Spirit of faith appears in your heart then there comes a liberty from bondage, a liberty from prisons, unlocking and opening of doors and your life begins to expand.

Once faith is revealed! Some people say "Shouldn't Jesus be revealed in my heart?". Of course Jesus should be revealed in your heart - but you cannot have Jesus revealed without faith in your heart enabling you to see Jesus. So the Spirit of faith is revealed in your heart and you suddenly break out into a whole new, multi-dimensional style of living. Galatians 3:23; "Before this faith came, we were held prisoners to the law, locked up until faith should be revealed". Once faith is revealed in your heart by the Spirit of faith then locks are unlocked, prison doors are opened and you are no longer held in limitations, restrictive thinking, despair, hopelessness and a prisoner to prejudice and pride and Pharisees - you come out of restriction and your horizons expand to ever-increasing jurisdictions of influence!

Galatians 3:25; "Now that faith has come we are no longer under the supervision of the law". (v26); "You are ALL sons of God through faith - no one is born a son of God into this earth". When you are born again through faith you become a son of God and you belong to the Bride of Christ! I want to say that this faith when it is revealed in your heart, this faith has no prejudice whether you a man or a woman.

This faith will work a lot better in a woman's heart than it will in a man's heart. That's what it looks like sometimes! Most of the greater miracle workers I know in the world are women! I want to encourage you men - faith in your heart will work just as well as it will in a woman's heart! In Christ there is neither male nor female! Equal under God in terms of how faith will work! Faith will work in the heart of a white man just as well as it will in the heart of a black man! I am tired of just black men raising the dead! Africa is full of black men who are raising the dead! Are Chinese men raising the dead in Hong Kong? I don't know, I hope so! Hope it has happened here in at least 100 years! Faith will work just as well in a yellow, red, brown, rainbow persons hearts!

When you see people moving in faith who no longer have an emotional lock on their life and are not living to please people and frightened of people's opinions of them but are living for the pleasure of One Man Jesus Christ and are going to serve the purpose of God no matter who persecutes them or criticises them - they are FREE from the prison house of people's pride! People's prejudice and persecution! Their worlds have been unlocked to expanding horizons that see the dead raised, the orphans fed, the widows cared for, hospices raised up, millions saved! That is what happens - your world EXPANDS! If you are listening to this message, this faith will come to you and put faith into you!

Not my faith but God's faith! It will come as I talk - I will preach things I haven't thought of! You will see faith revealed to you! How will you know that faith has been revealed to you? Because you will want to jump up and out of your chair, jump, kick all the chairs over and run around this building and run to the front desk and tell them do you know Jesus? You may constrain yourself but you will want to do something more than just sit and listen to me preach! How do I know you have faith revealed to you? You will change today! Your world will grow! You will worship differently! You will praise differently! You will be bolder and more confident! Your prayer life will go up into another realm of the glory! You will be so excited about Jesus that everywhere you go it will be contageous! You will not be locked up anymore and some of us have been locked up too long! I was locked up before I was a Christian in a Hindu cage. I wasted a whole year of my life locked up in a Hindu cage wasting that year! Then I got born again and was free for about a year. Then the church locked me up again in a religious cage! I don't preach religion or Christianity anymore! I preach Jesus and the Kingdom of God!

A Christian religion locked me up and put me under a culture of coercion and control and manipulation and they wanted me to be what they wanted me to be but Jesus had other plans so I am living for the audience of One Man Jesus Christ! I am not being conservative anymore or being controlled! When the people said to Jesus; "Master stop the people from shouting 'Hosanna in the highest'" - a control spirit wants to stop faith and enthusiasm! Jesus said; "If they don't cry out the very rocks will cry out and worship Me!".

A control spirit is a religious formalistic demon that locks people into prisons - not of the law but of the pressure to perform and be stereotyped little clones of the system! Why is it that you can look at people from a denominational system and see they are from a denomination? You can see people begin to behave in certain ways and talk in certain ways!

We don't want to stereotype! We want diversity and uniqueness and freedom! Don't be locked up! We represent nothing but the Kingdom! We are free men living in freedom! We will not be controlled by anything because FAITH has been revealed! Faith has been revealed! Before faith came we were held prisoners of the law! Locked up until faith should be revealed! Now that faith is revealed we are no longer under the supervision! SUPERVISION of the Pharisees! Supervision of self-appointed people that frown on you when you take initiatives in the Spirit! That frown on you when you say; "No - God has called me to do this! I can't compromise this! I am a free man and I am not locked up anymore! Sorry but you can't play that game with me anymore! I was deceived and thought I had faith but my faith was not revealed!". I had enough faith to get saved but not enough to see the Kingdom! So people play the game with me and try and put the guilt trip on me and put subtle culture of religion on me and made me conform and crippled my personality and made me behave! I thought I was being zealous and thought I was doing what was right but I always knew that something was wrong! One day faith was revealed to me and I was no longer locked up, now the prison doors are open! The anointing opens the prison doors and lets the blind go free! Faith teaching is a dangerous subject! Faith is powerful! Faith isn't just positive thinking! Many people think positively in hell! Let's pretend we are not here! Faith isn't just a mental positive cerebral thought! Faith is God in you!

The faith that created the heavens and the earth is on the inside of you! That faith is in you! God has faith in you and His faith in you has faith in you!

Now we are going to see this faith is not prejudiced to any man or woman, black, yellow, brown or green! When this faith is revealed no one has an advantage! This faith will do the same thing without prejudice! Let's read (v28); "Slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus .. heirs according to the promise". Now what I am saying today is that faith enjoys effortless blessings! Faith enjoys effortless blessing! If I have faith revealed to my heart then I won't have anymore difficulties? No I didn't say that - but difficulties won't have you. Difficulties won't bother you anymore.

If I have faith then there won't be any challenges? Of course there will be challenges but you have got to know what those challenges are designed for! Those challenges purpose is to force you away from grace and back into prison of the law. If there was not that potential then why is the majority of the church world religious and not raising the dead?! Including us! We have seen some deaf ears opened, blind eyes opened and cripples walk and that is wonderful! We have got to go to another level that is called Book of Acts normal or Kingdom! The pressure that comes against you is not that the devil doesn't like you particularly! He actually couldn't care about you one way or another. The pressure comes because James 1 says the "testing of your faith" - he is coming after your faith to stop your faith operating so you will surrender your faith. When you surrender revealed faith then the prison locks come on, doors shut and your personality is stifled and your world shrinks and you become a pgymy existing waiting to go to heaven but not making an impact on human history!

The pressure that comes on you is to tempt you to leave Sarah and go to Haggai to deal with the issues of barrenness. But the Bible says in Galatians 4; "Sing Sarah oh barren woman, break forth into song for more will be the children of the barren woman than Haggai who had a child by the normal fleshly effort means". The problem in the world today is not anti-God. If you think there is an issue of anti-God then you are wrong! The issue in church and world is an anti-Christ problem. The anti-Christ and the mark of the beast is 666. Trying to perfect mankind without grace! It is rebellion against grace! People don't have a problem against God! People are not anti-God! The majority of this world has got some kind of a concept of God and their concept of God is normally religious fanaticism or human effort trying to be good enough and trying to earn favour with their God! Actually the church is meant to be Christo-centric which means that Jesus Christ, the finished work of the Cross and the message of grace in the New Covenant is meant to bring Christians to the end of human effort and enter into the supernatural power and Presence of God.

Go to (v1) of Galatians 3; "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you ..?". (v3); "Are you so foolish? ... Does God give you His Spirit ...?". It is very clear God gives His Spirit and does miracles NOT because of human effort or human performance or human fasting or performance but because they are not believing cultic power that obscures the Cross - the finished work of Christ. They are free to see the message of grace and they believe the message of grace and faith is all they need - and the Presence and power of God will operate in their lives!

God is not interested in behaviour modification. He is interested in heart transformation. The law addresses your behaviour but grace addresses your heart. Every true change that takes place in your life is effortless. People that have been on pornography have listened to our website on grace and have made every effort to get free from their pornographic addiction but listened to the message on grace and came off instantly without any problem and are walking free from that addiction! Any change that grace makes is without effort but by the power of the living God! Anything else is behaviour modification techniques! Anything you change in without the grace of God is not true change and is not lasting change!

Alcoholics have written in and have been delivered from alcohol addiction! Listening to the grace message!

If it is your effort then it is false change that does not last. If your effort got you there then your effort has to keep you there. But if grace got you there then grace will keep you there!

When people are living in grace the blessing comes into their lives effortlessly. Because of faith! When people are living in grace miracles happen - effortlessly! The Corinthian church was the most immoral church that has ever existed. They were getting drunk at communion and have sex with temple prostitutes and were saying "I am of Paul and I am of Apollos" and were denominational. They were taking each other to court and suing each other and a man was living with his mother in law and was having such perverted sex that even the champion sinners in Corinth were shocked at what the Christians were doing! Paul still says he is a father to that church! I would have denied I ever knew them! That's grace! Not once did Paul call them foolish! Not once! He never said; "Oh you foolish Corinthians!". This church in Galatia drifted from grace to law and Paul in anger calls them "foolish" twice in three sentences. He is trying to tell us something about God's opinion!

In the church world today your zealous attempts to be holy and your human effort to make sacrifices in your own strength is looked upon with great awe and respect! God looks upon it as foolish! When God sees faith revealed in your heart He smashes every prison door open, unlocks every lock against your life, you come out free and the power of the Spirit of God begins to move and operate in your life!

Faith enjoys the blessings effortlessly! You say "Rob isn't this message a little bit extreme?". I hope so! I am getting some messages across email; "Your message is extreme!". In the old days they threw rocks at people. Today they write emails. Not only to you and everyone else! "Watch out for that grace website in Hong Kong!". Guess what? Free advertising! Everyone wants to listen to this! 30, 000 downloads a month and climbing! There is a Christian church out there longing to get the locks off! I hope we are preaching extreme! Extremely wonderful, extremely liberating, extremely transforming! It is very extreme!

It is better to be persecuted by man for preaching the message of grace in the same extreme way that Paul the apostle preached it - than to lose the blessing of God out of fear of man.

I was guilty many years ago of having a revelation of grace but I would not preach it in it's fullness - when I lived in South Africa and Australia. I will tell you why - I knew that there were in the church misguided zealots who were so driven by legalism and misguided ideas of the Kingdom - that if you preached grace the way that Paul did, then they will attack you the way they attacked Paul in Paul's day. Paul went to prison many times and was attacked many times for nothing else but his extreme teaching on grace. That is the only reason he was beaten up because they said he was anti the law of God! I am not anti the law of God!

I am for the reason the law was given! The law was given to strip us of self-righteousness and be a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ! Now when faith in Christ comes, you are no longer under the supervision of the law or a prisoner to the law - you are DEAD to the law and you are ALIVE to Jesus Christ!

So what they do is preach grace but stop at a certain point and don't go as far as Paul did because they know that if they do there will be uprising against them. So then they begin to preach what they call "Balance" = human performance and human effort. Now please hear me - they will say to you; "Now Rob I understand we are not under the law. Of course we are not under the law - we are under the New Covenant".

When a preacher puts God's people under pressure to perform to earn the blessing, you can call it WHATEVER you want - it is the Law.

You may not call it the 10 Commandments or the ministry written on stone that brought death and condemnation and a fading glory but you can say it in a way that people think they have got to earn it through their drivenness and their performance. I promise you that is as deadly - you ARE preaching the Law and you are bringing curse on the people of God. If you think you can balance grace by preaching performance then you haven't balanced grace - you have totally made grace utterly invalid! If you preach any part of the Law, the Law is a composite whole and if you preach one part then you must preach the whole part, because if you break it in one part you are guilty of all parts. So if you lie, you are guilty of adultery, stealing and everything else! That's what James 2 says. So you cannot balance grace with a bit of human pressure and performance and human effort preaching! It cannot be done!

If you read Acts 13 - and Galatians 1 - you will see Paul full of grace and Jesus Christ and he goes into the Jewish synagogue - he has been highly trained in all the Law and he is a champion of the Law! He sits at the back and the rabbis talk and there is Gentile prosyltes there. You can imagine what that is like! They read the Torah and totally rejected Jesus as Messiah. They recognised him as a rabbi and asked if he had anything to say. Paul said "Yes" and he gave an erudite communication where he spoke the history of Israel and the patriarchs and the lineage of David and then he preached Jesus Christ and then he said Jesus Christ justified us from EVERYTHING that the Law could not justify us from! He doesn't even say "Repent" - he just said believe and you will be justified! When he finished, the whole synagogue came flocking around him and said; "Can you tell us more - when are you coming back!?". So the synagogue leaders had to get Paul and Barnabus back and the whole town turned up! When there is good news to open prison doors then everyone wants to come! And it said the leaders became extremely jealous!

Then the next line says; "And Paul preached boldly the message of grace!". He would not water it down! It says the disciples had great joy in that city! But it said "The God-fearing men and women of the city THREW Paul and Barnabus out in hostility and hatred!". That town was not known for holiness but for debauchery, it was full of taverns and wickedness and evil.

None of the sinners threw the grace preachers out. The religious people threw the grace preachers out! I have never had a problem with sinners on this message! I have had a problem with church members on this message!

Are we extreme? Oh I hope so! But getting more! There are two ways in the New Testament to get cursed. It is very important that you know that you can be cursed under the New Covenant so you don't do it. Look at Galatians 1:6; "Turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all ... trying to pervert the gospel of Christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach another gospel ... let him be eternally condemned or cursed". This is what will cause persecution and when men live in the fear of men they will water the grace message down! Because they live in the fear of men and want the approval of men! We cannot water this message down because there is a whole bunch of millions of Christians around the globe who need to come out of prison! There is a whole bunch of unsaved people needing to hear this gospel! There is no secret agenda!

I am at war with legalism! I am going to smell it out! I am on a search and destroy mission! I am going to hunt it down and kill it! I hate it! I hate what it's done! I hate what legalism in the church has done! It has destroyed science, arts - it has destroyed women. It has destroyed social freedom and families and marriages and creativity!

The other way you can get cursed is in (v10) of Galatians 3. "ALL who rely on observing the law are under a curse for it is written ...". What is the answer? (v13); "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written ..". Let me give you this little formula;

Faith + Grace = Receiving Effortless Blessing.

Human Effort to get the blessing = Foolishness and Curse.

Jesus + Anything = Nothing.

Jesus + Nothing = ALL the blessing.

I want you to go to Galatians chapter 5. What is the most important thing in the New Covenant for the blessing? Grace. What is the currency that accesses grace? Faith. So faith with a little bit of value and religion? No! Nothing! Galatians 5:6; "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has ANY value. The only thing that has any value is faith expressing itself through love". That is a powerful statement! That circumcision or religious ceremonies or keeping the law in any way or religious Lent or somehow thinking you bow here that will bring you favour! NONE of that has value! The ONLY thing that counts is FAITH revealed in the heart! The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love! You know what legalists have done with that beautiful passage? If I was Peter behind Jesus when He cracked the whip I would have been right behind Him! People have taken this beautiful verse and have turned it into a legalistic, self-effort, human performance passage. They have said; "This faith will operate and work if and only if you love everybody! If you don't love everyone your faith won't work!". So in the fear of your faith not working you falselessly love everyone. Legalism turns the church into phoneyness. Counterfeit. People saying "I lurve you". Legalism is a terrible thing! If they say your faith won't work unless you love everyone then at what point do you know when you love everyone? And what does that do to you? It puts the pressure right back on you to human effort trying to love everyone so faith will work!

The word "love" here in the Greek is "agape" and it means; "God's love".

When you get a revelation of how much God loves YOU then you can express faith God-ward very easily! You can express faith in God blessing you very easily! The Gospel will always take the pressure off you to perform human effort and put the pressure back on God to perform and God's effort because His effort and His performance is signs, wonders and miracles and life-transformation!

Don't keep asking yourself to have enough faith! Just see Jesus wonderful grace and He will see you full of faith! Look at grace! Look at the love of God! See Jesus in His great grace and He will see you full of faith! He GIVES you the Spirit of faith through a revelation of His love for you! Psalm 103:8 says God is three things and I am quoting directly from this; "The Lord is compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love". He is compassionate, gracious and abounding in love. The word "compassion" means "favour" - the word "gracious" means "favour" and the word "abounding" means "favour"! God is triple favour! Perfect favour! He is looking at you so full of love and redemption and He has redeemed you from the curse of the law! When you are redeemed from the curse of the law it means you are redeemed from the curse of the law!

That means if you break the law, make a mistake or sin - then no curse is coming from the law because you are redeemed from the curse of the law but a blessing is coming that God gave to Abraham freely to the Gentiles!

Abraham got the blessing 430 years before the Law arrived! He got the blessing through faith and grace! Now I am about to close in the next 2 hours! Let's look at Galatians 3. "Consider Abraham ... those who believe are children of Abraham ... those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith". The Bible says "Consider Abraham!". What does consider mean? It means to evaluate, observe, ponder and look at the outcome of Abraham's life. It means to gaze fizedly at the subject under discussion. The church hasn't considered Abraham enough and how Abraham got the seven-fold blessing! How did he get it - through human effort or faith? "along with". That means that what God gave Abraham He gives to you. What God blesses Abraham with, He blesses you. 12:1-2 - you will be great, I will make your name great - God isn't raising up a nameless and faceless people! He wants people to respect your name and know about your name! You haven't earned this! But by faith God will make your name great! God will abundantly increase favour on your life! Wherever you go there is a trail of blessing! He will bless those who bless you! You will be a blessing magnet and attract blessing! If anyone curses you, He will curse them! I love that one! I don't know why!

You can go out and minister and preach the gospel and God will protect you! You will be a blessing to all nations! You get churches and all they think about is each others belly buttons and each other and the smallness. I puke on that stupidity! I preached to 10s of millions of people on God channel I didn't earn it or deserve it - they just put it on! And that is a small part of the seven fold blessing! Tell people that if you bless me they will be blessed! When do they want to start!?

Only people with attitude make it in life!

Jesus was not nice! He was assertive! He was on a mission and He was doing it! Paul was not whipped and thrown in jail because he was a nice person! He offended people and Jesus was called the Rock of offence! What is this nice stuff on the church?! I am doing a mans camp in Australia and I looked at why the church is full of more women than men. I did a historical search through the last 400 years as to why the church has become more effeminate and why there isn't enough masculine anointing in the church. I am going to get men to rise! The women are doing great! Let's get the men on the move now! We saw that after the seven-fold blessing, Abraham was a pagan and God announced freely the blessing. From there Abraham became very wealthy! He got the wealth after the blessing! The word for "wealth" is under the glory! When you are exposed to the glory realm then blessings are imparted into your life and sooner or later you will see the manifestation of that blessing. When blessing was announced to Abraham freely without law he went out and got very wealthy. He wasn't wealthy before!

But Abraham lied! Sarah was beautiful but the blessing renewed her youth! Without plastic surgery! The glory of God begins to remove the wrinkles! He took Sarah down to Egypt in fear and he feared that the king would see how beautiful a 70 year old was! So they both lied that she was his sister. She called him "lord" in another chapter. Abraham lies! The man of God lied because he was afraid! Pharoh got woken up by God and went to Abraham and gave him wealth and abundance! What did he just do? Lie! We are encouraging people to see that the Bible is true! You don't earn it! Consider Abraham! Those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith! Some people in the world today would like to rewrite passages of the Bible! "God this is not good for your reputation and your image! Let's take the fact that Abraham lied out of the Bible!". God doesn't want that passage out the Bible! He wants us to concentrate and focus on it! Consider Abraham!

What about Abraham's grandson? Jacob! When Jacob became an adult, he lied and he deceived his dad and dressed up like his brother - and he cheated and he stole the blessing of the firstborn! He had to run for his life for lying, cheating and stealing and on the first day he got out of his father's home he had nothing but the blessing! He lay down by the side of the road in a place called Bethel and there he had a dream of a stairway from heaven and God said he would be blessed in everything that he did! Jacob woke up and said "God was in this place!". Jacob said he would give God one tenth of everything! Your failure to tithe can't reverse the curse of the law when Christ redeemed you! How can failure to tithe reverse the Cross?! Jacob didn't tithe to get the blessing! If you tithe to get the blessing then that is human effort trying to earn the blessing! Abraham was under New Covenant and in the Gospel! While they lied and cheated and stole Abraham and Jacob got the blessing! They tithed because of a REVELATION of the love of God! They saw they were in partnership with God! He won't curse me if I don't! Tithe because of a revelation of the grace of God!

Don't tithe into a legalistic church! Don't empower legalism! Find grace churches and empower them and bless them and you will be blessed!

Faith is easy when you realise how much God loves you through grace! God is not interested in behaviour modification and I know that is hard for Christians to realise! He is not interested in forcing behaviour modification changes on you otherwise He would not have blessed Abraham or Jacob after they lied! God wants to capture your heart with His jealous love and so you love Him with all your heart and give your time, your tithe, your love! He will always out-compensate and out-give everything you can do and greater! His goodness to us will transform us!

Under the law you have to obey to get the blessing. Under grace Jesus obeyed to get you the blessing!

How does this blessing come? This blessing comes by the only thing that counts! Faith that is expressed by the revelation of God's love to you. In the Gospels Jesus would meet many people that did not have the blessing. In Luke 13 there was a woman who was sick and crippled for 18 years and the Pharisees were mad with Him for healing on the Sabbath. "Daughter of Abraham ... Satan has bound". When faith came to that woman, she was freed from that crippling state. The Pharisees robbed them of the Abrahamic revelation!

Everytime Jesus found someone who wasn't enjoying the blessing of Abraham He would never say; "Oh you of little holiness. Oh you of little morality, fasting, sowing". He always says; "Oh you of little faith". Faith is the hand that reaches out and RECEIVES the blessing. If your hand is little then you can only take a small portion of the blessing. This is a revelation that is God's energetic desire for us to have BIG faith to receive as much of the blessing as we can! Jesus only rebuked His disciples for one thing and His rebuke was one of redemption to provoke them to more faith - not of rejection! He wants our hands to be so big that we can pull the seven-fold blessing into our lives!

Faith is easy when you consider Abraham and when you concentrate your focus on Abraham then your faith signature accesses and activates greater wealth withdrawals from heaven in an effortless way.

You just get blessed! Faith activates and accesses the wealth of God! John 4 - this is so important for some people right now!

We must see that Jesus absolutely enjoys you pulling as much blessing from Him as you want! He wants to give you so much! When people pulled the blessing from Him, He got energised! How much more in His heavenly ministry? Little faith He rebukes! Big faith He honours and gives more! Take it! Take wealth, anointing, blessing! Take it!

Jesus arrived in Samaria and He was exhausted. He was fully God but fully man. He got tired and His disciples went off into town to get some Starbucks and McDonalds to feed Jesus because He was tired! A lady came to draw water from the well. In the Middle East women did not draw water during the afternoon - it was too hot! So that was an important detail and she came alone. Women drew water in the early morning and came together and gossiped. This woman had shame and had been isolated in a prison of shame and was the object of their gossip. She had five husbands and was living in sin. She didn't want to go to church on Sunday because she didn't want to be with people who gossiped. She was the equivelent of an Elizabeth Taylor today. Has anyone been a Jesus to Elizabeth Taylor? She had no prestige or anything. She was a loser! The seventh Man sat down at the well - completion, rest and effortless. "I can give you water that will spring up like a well of eternal life". "Sir give me a bucket!". Jesus never met this woman or heard gossip but He knew by the gift of discerning something about her life. So He was very naughty and said "Go and get your husband". She said "I don't have one". "Sir I perceive you are a prophet!". What a brilliant lady! Then she got religious! Jesus said "The time is coming when men will not worship ... but in Spirit and in truth".

Such an anointing comes on that woman that she jumps and runs into the city and suddenly she had influence and was unlocked from her cage - the whole town listened to her! While Jesus was waiting for her - His disicples came back and they were thick. They learnt though! There is hope for all of us! But He wasn't tired anymore and He was full of energy! He didn't want to eat! Maybe someone else gave Him food?! "I've got food you know nothing about ... My food is to do the Father's will!". Giving energised Jesus! "The harvest is white into harvest!". The whole town came over the hill towards the well led by a little woman locked up in shame and isolation and suddenly after a brief encounter with the Son of God she was released into horizons of influence to lead the whole city to Jesus. The entire town believed and was born of the Spirit of God! ONE exposure to Jesus and He opened her world up to influence to the entire city!

How can we sit as Christians without leaving a legacy and changing government and politics and arts?! How can the church be ignored when we are sons of Abraham?! Before faith came we were held prisoners to the law locked up until faith is revealed! A secret disciple is no longer a choice when faith is revealed! You will bring people to church! Your world expands and you come out of that and begin to be a Kingdom man or woman and walk in seven-fold blessing and God blesses you and makes you a blessing! And all nations are blessed through you! Consider Abraham!

God said to me this morning; "My eyes are on you". What do You mean? "My eyes are on you". But my eyes are on You! "No - I WANT to fix My eyes on you! I am looking at your heart and I want to honour you! I am looking for what pleases you and gives you pleasure!". But Lord I am Your servant and I want to please you! "But I want you to focus on the fact that I am looking at you to bless you! This faith is not prejudiced! It will work in anyone's heart. Tell the people! My eyes are fixed on them! I the Lord Jesus are fixed on you. If Elizabeth Taylor could find out what that woman at the well found out, she would fall in love with Jesus!".

Not the church. We don't want to introduce people to the church but to Jesus. We want a church that will attract the lost - and they will come in from the nations. And we call thousands of Chinese into CCI. Let faith appear and be revealed to them! We call them into CCI! Let us grow into the hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands! Give us the nations as our inheritance!

Knowing the Holy Spirit - His Names, Titles and Operations - Part 5

I am still working through various sermons of Rob's stored away in the City Church International Archives and noticed that two sermons were missing from the series that Rob did around the time of the "Glory and Grace Conference" in 2007 in Hong Kong. It is a special series to me because taking notes from some of those sermons were the first I listened to (the notes are over on the "Spirit of God!" blog which I haven't forgotten!).

Here is Part 5 preached on Sunday 7th October 2007;

"Foolishness or Favour?"

Just before the children go through I want to make one announcement - that between now and the conference we are having we will not have "Connect" groups around the city. We will meet in our home. God is raising us up for the next few weeks in our home as a holy battering ram as a people of prayer as we pray for this conference. When you have got hundreds of people - each of them spending thousands of dollars on air fares and hotel accomodation and they are flying internationally into our city - then we want to create an atmosphere of the glory of God through our prayers and our intercession. I think we have been a bit sleepy as a congregation, and a bit passive and indifferent to the amazing opportunity that God is giving us. I had to give a gracious disciplinary talk on Thursday night to the very committed people who were with us - that we need to not sleep during this time. Because the enemy over the last few weeks really did try and encroach upon us and really dried to dry up people's finances, tried to oppress people and discourage people and make people confused and some were dealing with demons that they didn't know how to deal with and they just got jealous or critical. So I have had to pray last week and this week (but particularly this week) like I have never had to pray in Hong Kong before. I am amazed I have still got a voice left today! I had to intercede for hours a day so the enemy would be pushed back and the glory of God would roll back into the presence of His people and we would lift up our heads again.

The Bible says that the glory is the lifter of our heads and we see vision again and purpose with greater clarity. On Thursday night the guys prayed like I have never heard them pray before. The intensity of our warfare in the Spirit was profound and I have never been with a group anywhere that has prayed like that. I want to just say to you as a father, a pastor, a priest, a shepherd and as an officer in command - your commanding officer under THE commanding officer - Jesus. There is some times in a war when all leave is cancelled. If you have got leave already and air fares booked then fine - you go. But what I am saying is that times come when a standing order comes;

"All hands on deck! All passes are cancelled! Man the guns! Leave the canteen! Leave the mess hall! We are on full alert! Suicide bombers are coming in!".

We can go on leave and pretend it's not happening and be in the mess but then we will be obliterated.

I promise you as a prophet of God these last few weeks the enemy did not try to take one or two of you out. He tried to destroy the existance of this church. I had to use thirty years of experience in fasting and prayer to keep his hands off and stop him doing what he wanted.

And the about thirty people who stood with me on Thursday night - we blew this thing apart and I am calling on you guys on Thursday to cancel anything you have. Be with us to stand with us and stand together! We have broken through and last night the enemy was trying to sneak back again. I have got an amazing radar system on my spirit and I can detect any intrusions again. He is called the Holy Spirit and He lives inside me and I feel a horrible feeling of grief and a terrible feeling of ugliness and discouragement and I know that people are speaking under demonic power and psychic power is coming against me and I know the enemy is trying to creep up again. So I had to forget what I was doing and go into my room and pray for hour after hour until it broke off again.

Life is not always like this. It is just seasons. We are hosting a conference here and we have to be alert and not sleep in an hour of opportunity and visitation that is unprecidented than most people have experienced living in Hong Kong. While something so key is happening I have watched some people sleeping, distracted, not alert and not aware of the enemy's schemes. To win a battle you must know how your enemy operates and know their schemes and their strategies. If you are ignorant of the enemy's strategies and schemes then he will take you out and make you a prisoner of war sometimes for the rest of your life. You still go to church but you go through religious motions mechanically but you are defeated! I will never be defeated for one split second. I owe Jesus my total life and I will never withdraw and never leave Hong Kong except in a body bag and I am never going until I have finished my race here - and that means a church that is in revival and churches all over the city hearing the grace message. I have never surrendered to the devil and I don't plan to - you can check my track record for the last 30 years in churches I have led. Sometimes people wish that I would have surrendered! And just stopped getting in their faces and just gone with the devil and just been religious.

But I cannot! It is not in my DNA to surrender! I cannot surrender!

So I call upon you as the commanding officer of this local unit - cancel ALL leave! ALL hands on deck! Come as early as you can and we will pray like we did last Thursday and we will have a glory time when this conference comes! This conference is not just a teaching time of sitting in rows. It is going to be a conference where angels are going to turn up, God's glory is coming, hundreds of people will carry the glory! We have got people coming from all over the world - from China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia - to our little church for a divine impartation to take the glory back! And some of you haven't even signed up yet! It just blows my mind! In the nicest way possible! We have got 253 people signed up and the majority are from overseas. It will be closer to 300 over the next 2 weeks so please sign up. It is pretty full with 253!

Open your Bibles please to Galatians chapter 3. We are doing a series on the Names and Titles of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the contact Person of the Trinity in the earth. If you do not know the Holy Spirit intimately and know His nature and His character and His Presence then you cannot experience anything from heaven. The Father and the Son are in heaven but in the mystery of the Trinity - the Godhead - the Holy Spirit is in the earth. When in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve walked with the Father face to face and knew His voice and saw His glory then they committed high treason. After a millenia of distant relationship through the Old Covenant then God the Son was the contact Person of the Trinity in the earth. You could touch Him, feel Him, hear Him and see His miracles. Then He went back to heaven but just before He went He said "I will send Someone to replace Me - His Name is Parakletos" and that means the Helper. It is not the Father or the Son in the earth now. It is God the Spirit who is in the earth now and if you try to meet with Jesus or the Father then you will just be a religious person and have a dead religion.

But if you know the Holy Spirit - the contact Person now in the earth and as you fellowship with Him and get to know His Names and His operations and manifestations then the Holy Spirit will empower you to know Jesus and have access to the Father.

Ephesians 2:18; "We have access to the Father by One Spirit". So many Christians don't know the Holy Spirit or His Names or His Titles. So we have looked at 'The Spirit of God' - 'The Spirit of the Lord' - 'The Spirit of the Most High'. Every name reveals a different manifestation to benefit you and to bless you. Today I simply want to talk about "Foolishness or Favour?". Are we living in foolishness or favour? I do not believe you can live in foolishness and at the same time live in the favour of God. When I say that some Christians automatically think that I mean you must not live irresponsibly and you must not live undisciplined. No I don't mean that but I do want to suggest that we live responsibly and I do want to suggest that we live disciplined lives. No question about that!

But when I talk about "foolishness" today, I mean the foolish idea that you can win the favour of God and the blessing of God by your human effort, human endeavour and the level of your holiness or the degree to which you can keep the law of God. THAT is foolishness!

It is a folly that has profoundly permeated the church world and has permeated my life in different stages in my walk with Jesus. It is a foolishness that I have progressively been throwing off. It is a foolishness of the deception of self-righteousness. You can receive nothing from the Father - nothing of the blessings of God through any effort that you can make or through any level of your holiness or even through your obedience or any law-keeping that you can do. The only way that you can get the blessings of God in your life is simply through the currency of faith - that you believe the message of grace. That you believe the message of the finished work of the Cross and you believe that the grace of God is towards you to give you the fullness of the blessings of God.

To live in favour means to live in awareness of the message of grace. To live a foolish life means you think you can earn or deserve the blessings.

Let's look at Galatians 3:1. Foolishness is not seeing the finished work of the Cross and letting the devil creep in on your life and close your eyes down to the remarkable grace of God that came at the Cross. Lets read verse 3. "Are you so foolish after beginning with the Spirit are you trying to attain your goal by human effort - have you suffered so much for nothing? Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you kept the law or because you believed what you heard?". Paul is about to go on and make it clear that God moves by the power of His Spirit and does miracles not because we try to observe the message of the law but because we believe the message of the Cross. We believe the message of grace!

If that is true then wherever there is a lack of the moving of the Spirit or a lack of the miraculous in the Church then we have to conclude that it is because there is foolishness in the Church and the Church is still bewitched and is still attempting to get the blessing, favour and power of God by human effort and by moral keeping of the law and trying to earn it and deserve it.

Now when people try to keep the law and try to do right and try to do the right thing and keep the law, that is seen by much of the Church as "wisdom" but God condemns it as foolishness. Many people can't seem to understand if we give up trying to keep the Law and trying with human effort then what am I meant to do? Just get lazy? Am I meant to go out and sin as much as I want? No - if you believe the message of the Cross that you are declared permamently righteous in Christ and that God will never look on you as sinful and that your sins - past, present and future - have all been blotted out and that He sees you as forever perfect then the power of the Spirit of God will move in your midst, miracles will manifest in your midst, you will be empowered to live a holy life, you will see things that are sinful and be disgusted by them, resist them and puke on them. Things that grabbed you before while you were under the law, those sins that held you as a victim, you will mock them and say that you are addicted to the glory of God and believe the message of grace and the power of God is your portion and your inheritance!

Why do I get letters from around the world say that I was addicted to pornography and made myself accountable to my pastor and couldn't get out but listened to your grace series and am FREE! Alcoholics listening too and stop trying in human effort, stop trying to be holy, stop trying to keep the law and you are free! If you went out and sinned every day then God would still see you as righteous! Only a few idiots run out and sin every day! Grace exposes the true state of someone's heart and if someone is a rebel already and hear that they can do what they want then they will do what they want. But if you a Christian and have a new creation heart and want to love and serve God then they hear Romans 6:14; "Sin will not have dominon over you because you are not under law - you are under grace!". Though you may sin and make mistakes (because no one is perfect in our actions .. yet) - you will see yourself sinning less and less! Being less and less jealous, less and less petty, less and less small-minded. Your marriages will be blessed! You won't think of another man or woman as an option even in unhappy times in your marrage!

When Glenda and I got married I burnt every bridge as another woman being an option! I have been through times when I wondered if other women would be better for me than Glenda! Who did that come from? The devil! But because I believe the message of grace and the Holy Spirit moves in my life, I am not living in condemnation and the feeling that God doesn't love me and I know He loves me and I know He sees temptation and because I know that, I can say "NO!" to these things! We are going to see that it is foolishness to try and live the human life by effort and by keeping of the law and it is by believing the message of grace. I am going to show you two things.

To demonstrate what foolishness and what faith is, he is going to say what we saw last week; "CONSIDER ABRAHAM". The second sentance I want you to see is this; "Those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith".

(v6); "He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness ... children of Abraham ... " - remember Abraham lived 430 years before the law. "All nations will be blessed through you so those who have faith". Not those with unbelief, are religious, human effort - "those who have FAITH are blessed ...". (v10); "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse". (v13); "Christ redeemed us .. by becoming a curse for us ... He redeemed us that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus". Not Budda or Mohammed! "By faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit". What does "CONSIDER" mean? It means to observe, evaluate, gaze fixedly with your mind at something.

It is my conviction - Much of the church has not seriously considered Abraham and that is why we have a legalism problem in the church and low-level miracles and low level signs and wonders and low level power because much of the church is acting foolishly by the definition of the Bible.

I am not talking about us or anyone - but I am talking generally. We need to "consider Abraham". Let's look at the phrase in (v9); "along with". It means included with! Together with! That what God dealt to Abraham in his blessing - He also wants to give to you and deal to you what He dealt to Abraham. I know I am being pedantic and repeating myself but I have learned in the last few weeks that people don't listen. So now I am going to make my point so clear that those who don't bother to take notes or listen to the CD again will get it the first time! We can't march around the same truth again - we must get this thing and move on. We don't have the luxury of one day taking things seriously. People that come and go in this church come back and can't catch up anymore! That is the sad thing. People coming in as new people are coming in and God gives them grace to catch up. But people who are casual - we are going faster and faster! We are for the weak and the stragglers but we are not for those who are making excuses. This is the Kingdom of God and we are to be equipped to be very fruitful in what we are doing!

There are high schools here that are to be invaded by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christian schools that are not hearing the Gospel! Get me in there! Give me half an hour with hundreds of students! Give me an opportunity God! Open the door! Turn to Genesis 12 - let's have a quick look at something.

How do we consider Abraham and what does it mean to be blessed along with Abraham the man of faith? Let me give you an answer! To be blessed along with Abraham the man of faith means that God blesses you with a seven-fold blessing! The seven-fold blessing is your inheritance and your right as a son with full rights! The seven-fold blessing of Abraham - as you consider Abraham and you have faith then you will be blessed along with Abraham - the man of faith!

I don't care if you work for a church or a Christian organisation and you are a volunteer with no salary, or a wealthy person.

You must shut ALL poverty thinking down and all that limitation down! You must lift your eyes above your small circumstances and the misery of an earthly conciousness and truly become the people of God who are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus! It is time for the church to walk in her inheritance! It is time for the church to stop being so carnal and stop being so humanistically involved with their own inadequacies and to look up to the God who has made a covenant with us and walk in the anointing and the power of a living God!

It is time for a pastor to stop having to fight devils off on behalf of people who should have learnt to fight themselves - women and men! For God gave subduing power to Adam and Eve! Eve has got government in the earth! She was given authority to deal with the devil and she did not use her governmental authority - and the devil took her out. From that time - Adam instead of being a warrior of God expanding the kingdom became an emotional nurse for his emotionally stunted wife. It is no use the wives sitting at home letting the devil crush them to pieces and the husband comes home and finds an emotional cripple at home so his whole life is being an emotional nurse catering for a sulking wife!

Wives you have dominion government authority! Every wife needs to stand every day against devils! So when your husband comes home, he finds a wife with her eyes ablaze under the anointing of God and all day she has stood against depression, oppression, demonic lies - because she used what God gave Eve - subduing dominion authority! So when her husband comes home tired from work he meets a wife full of fire who has been walking in the anointing all day and operating in her kingdom rights and she says; "Come in dear - boy are you going to have a great night tonight! The candles are lit, the perfume is spread, flower petals from the front door to the bedroom and we have got the incense going! Baby sitters arranged!". The anointing will come on that husband!

But many husbands in Hong Kong are manipulated through sulking - the husbands who should be warriors for God are nursemaids to their wives emotional needs. "Oh okay dear - I am so sorry, I feel so guilty, I have neglected you". Come on wives! If you don't fight the devil - you will fight your husband! Don't fight your husband! Fight the devil! Deal with him who is coming to discourage you! Husbands there are times we may have to put our arms round our wives and be emotional nurses! There is a time for that - but not a lifestyle! There are times that Glenda is my emotional nursemaid! "Pull yourself together! Sort it out!". We don't have the TIME to waste on emotional nursing! Use that energy to slap the devil in the face and take authority over depression, negativity, discouragment! Fight it like it was cancer!

Then you have energy to take the Kingdom of heaven forward! No matter how small your apartment is - no matter how small your world is! Whether you are wealthy or in poverty - on volunteer or on a salary! Workers are worthy of their hire! If you are a volunteer working for nothing then start thinking of wealth coming to you! Stop thinking you are defined by the circumstances around you - if you shrink your life to your pathetic circumstances then your life is pathetic! If you will enlarge your life to the grace of God and the vision of God and the inheritance you have in God then you are not earthly thinking - you are thinking heavenly! Set your heart on things above - Colossians 3 says! "Consider Abraham" - it says! Not those who are in self pity and wobbling from one week to the next not knowing if they will be there! "Those who have FAITH are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith!".

What is it to be blessed along with Abraham - the man of faith? It is to receive a seven-fold blessing for your life!

If you have faith then I don't care whether you are a top surgeon or you are working for crossroads - it doesn't matter who you are - this is a blessing that comes to ALL no matter what your circumstances are! The Bible says that the "blessing of the Lord makes RICH and adds no sorrow!".

You know it is the blessing of God when it makes you rich without destroying your marriage or your children! You can get blessed by hard work but it is not the blessing of God - it is the blessing of sweat! It comes with a price - destroyed marriage, children, home and health!

I don't care what condition you are in - whether you are in poverty or in a small or wealthy place. There are glory dimensions of the blessing that are available for us to access and to receive today. Here is the blessing God gave to Abraham - the man of faith! And what happens if I break the law?

I am redeemed from the curse of the law! What does that mean? If I fail or come short then the curse cannot touch me because I am redeemed from the curse that the blessing given to Abraham may come to me!

Here it comes - verse 1. "The Lord said to Abraham .. go to the land I will show you". Here it comes - the seven-fold blessing!

1. (v2) - "I will make you into a great nation".

2. "I will bless you"

3. "I will make your name great"

4. "You will be a blessing".

5. "I will bless those who bless you".

6. "Whoever curses you, I will curse".

7. "All people's on earth will be blessed through you".

Here they are!

Blessing Number 1 - Wherever you go - greatness comes!

If you are truly anointed as a businessman or woman, it is almost like you can take the world map and throw a dart with your eyes closed into it and wherever it lands you can go there and have a successful business. Wherever you go under this blessing, you will have heartaches and you will have difficulties and challenges and enemies but this blessing will supercede and override and conquer everything that comes against you! I am fully convinced I could put a blindfold around my head and throw a dart into a map and go plant a church there and I could go and get it done. Because of the blessing! I do want to stay in the will of God though! Isaiah 60:1 says; "Arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you". The last verse in that chapter (v22);

"The least of you will be a thousand and the smallest among you a mighty nation - I will do this swiftly in My time says the Lord".

So if you are the least you should have influence and lead at least a thousand people to Christ in your life! You should have influence at least over a thousand and then every individual will become a mighty nation!

Blessing Number 2 - I will bless you!

The Amplified Bible says; "I will bless you with an abundant increase of favour".

Blessing Number 3 - I will make your name great!

Favour, fame, prestige and influence comes with the blessing of God!

You hear in the world today that God is raising up in the church an army of "namless, faceless people". I reject that as heresy. I am sure the people saying it mean it in a sincere way but it is not the Word of God and I am always watching for these phrases that religious people make that sound so spiritual but are anti-Biblical. One of the blessings in Abraham that is ours is; "I will make YOUR name great!". Abraham's name is mentioned over 300 times in the Bible. He is not a nameless person! It is FALSE humility! I WANT God to make my name great! I WANT God to make the name "Glenda Rufus" great! I WANT God to make the name "City Church International" great! I am not going to lie and say I just want to be humble and be nothing and everyone goes to hell around me! No! God says everywhere you go, greatness comes with you! He increases favour in abundance on your life and He makes your name great! So your name will carry respect!

What does "great" mean? Favour! Influence!

If you have been living in Hong Kong for decades and decades and no one knows you are here then you are not walking in the blessing of Abraham but some religious demon!

You are walking in foolishness! The Bible says it is foolish to think you can earn the blessing by human effort, by your holiness and by your righteousness! People say it is too straight, too hurtful, too offensive! I just told you the Bible! If the cat feels I am stroking it the wrong way then let the cat turn around! It is called repentance and we are meant to be doing that while listening to the Word of God! We are not meant to be offended, we are meant to see the light come on and think; "That is right - I turn around - now He is stroking me the right way!". If every sermon you feel I am stroking you the wrong way then you are in a bad way!

A leader has to stroke the Kingdom way and if you are not facing the Kingdom way then don't blame the preacher! Turn around! Adjust! Then the power of God will come! Don't be foolish! God wants to make your name great!

Blessing Number 4 - And you will be a blessing!

Wherever you go, you leave a trail of blessing. I hope it is a case when you visit someone, a city, a hotel or people that when you leave, you feel; "That was such a blessing! I feel so blessed meeting that person!". Who wants to be with sulky, negative, complaining people? People that are always up and down and not walking in Abraham's blessing? If you walk in this blessing whereever you go - you don't try to be a blessing or don't work at being a blessing (it's called being foolish!) - no, you let this blessing come on you and when it does you don't even try to be a blessing. You just are! That is what you become along with Abraham!

Blessing Number 5 - I will bless those who bless you!

This is the power of God that comes on other people - not you. It comes on other people and puts in their hearts a desire to bless you! I don't have the audacity but maybe you can - to tell others; "If you bless me then you will be blessed!". If you bless me then you will go high in life! Whatever you do, don't curse me, don't be jealous of me or attack me because I have got someone else on my life as well! I want to show you my history - people better than you have tried to curse me and some are in the grave today. When this blessing comes on a man or a woman you need to bless them and not curse them. Don't criticise them or speak ugly of them or be jealous! Don't say; "Why did they get it? They're not that holy!". They got it because they have got faith! They got blessed along with Abraham the man of faith because they took time to consider Abraham!

You will attract a desire in people to bless you. People will want to bless you! You will be a magnet to the blessing from others! The truth is - we have not been able to tell you the degree when we were in South Africa and the elders blessed us in dimensions of finance and gifts and places and holidays and air fares that got to the point where Glenda and I (who are used to receiving blessing - we don't have a problem with it or giving it) had to go to the elders and say "Please stop giving us so much - we can't take or handle so much abundance! We are starting to feel guilty". Nick, who heads up the eldership team said; "No that is fine - but here's another 20,000!". The blessing will come to you!

Generosity! People will start to get generous with you! How many of you would like to complain that you are sick and tired of blessing?! Solomon started piling up his silver and gold in mountains - the Bible says! He paid cash - the equivelant of 200 million US dollars for the Temple out of his own pocket. It cost him the equivelent of 16,000 US dollars a day to eat. Solomon! "Well he wasted money - he's just selfish!". Be careful about that. When a woman poured a whole year's wages onto Jesus feet - Judas Iscariot said; "This should have been given to the poor!". Jesus was already giving to the poor! Solomon was giving to the poor! Stop criticising wealth! The love of money is the root of all evil and many poor people are guilty of the love of money. A lot of wealthy people don't care about it and are trying to give it away!

The church is suffering from a poverty spirit! Where did we get "as poor as a church mouse?!". Disgusting! I CURSE that statement! It should be; "As RICH as Abraham!". Where is all these Christians with faith in Jesus, the message of grace, where are the Christians who have considered Abraham and are blessed along with Abraham - the man of faith? Where is the faith in the church for the blessing? Poverty is good - poverty is holy - sickness is good - suffering for God is good! Rubbish! Christ redeemed you from the curse of the law that the blessing given to Abraham may come to YOU! The curse of the law is sickness, poverty and defeat! How can you say that a blessing is a curse?

That was number five - and did you know that the number five is the number for grace? Number 3 is the number for the Trinity which is the number for perfection. Number seven is the number for rest and completion. Number six is the number for man. Man was created on the sixth day. Why is the mark of the beast or the mark of the Antichrist - "666"? Three sixes! The mark of the anti-Christ, anti-anointing, anti-grace is "666". What is that? It is the delusion of man trying to be perfect without grace and without God! That is in false religion and in secular humanism! Some Christians think it will be a mark on their heads - rubbish! It is not going to be a computer bar code! But people who walk in self-righteousness will carry that mark!

Blessing Number Six - I will curse those who curse you!

This is the anointing that brings judgement on those that curse you. Those that criticise you and are jealous of you and try to bring witchcraft against you and are jealous of you and speak out against you - curse will come down on their lives! You NEED that blessing! Christians who want to make a mark in this world will face opposition and jealousy and hatred and you need the sixth blessing! Someone has said that the church is full of nice people, mixing with other nice people trying to be nicer! Eugh! Imagine Jesus just trying to be nice! Jesus was wild, took a whip, smacked it and crashed it on the tables in the Temple!

Don't try and be nice - you will end up being NOTHING!

You need an anointing of favour round your life that causes anyone who curses you to be cursed! You can stand there and be loving and forgiving to them while God is smashing the daylights out of them! You don't have to fight them - God will!

I woke up one morning after having a dream. God said there are three men and He gave me their names. He said they are criticising you and unless they repent they will be dead within three weeks. I told Glenda and Fini de Gersigny - only those two. Within three weeks one man was dead and the other two had left the church. We were in a revival in 1981 and had a powerful outpouring of the Spirit and you criticise in those times and it is very dangerous.

This is a wonderful blessing!

Blessing Number Seven - ALL Nations will be blessed through you!

I don't care if you are wealthy or poor - God has raised you up to be a blessing to all nations! I hate it when people think we are an international church means we are integrated with different nations. No - we are international because our parish is the globe! When I preach to 200 nations, to 10s of millions of people 2 or 3 weeks ago that was a small part of the Abrahamic blessing! I preached in Iraq, Iran, China, America - 200 nations! It was a small part of this blessing when I preached across God channel!

Why do you need the favour of God? Favour gives you free access to all of God's abundance! The greater the degree of the seven-fold blessing upon you - the greater influence for the gospel you have, the greater respect people will show you, He will anoint you! The greater the degree of the seven-fold blessing - the greater the success in your life, your marriage, your family, your career.

Now go to Genesis 13. You have to connect the seven-fold blessing in Genesis 12 to chapter 13. (v2); "Abraham became very wealthy". He became very wealthy in livestock, silver and gold. Modern theologians say that the blessings are "spiritual". No - the blessing of Abraham was that he was made VERY wealthy and it only came AFTER the blessing was released over his life. You will never become truly wealthy in terms of God's wealth until you have faith in the grace of God to give you favour! After the blessing came, this little Iraqui man called Abraham who was an idol worshipper and didn't worship God at all - he was unholy and walking around his life - God appeared to him and manifested Himself to him and said; "Seven fold blessing!". He hadn't earned it or deserved it and hadn't earned a thing! Favour was given to him!

He goes down from that blessing to Egypt and lies about his wife as we said last week because he knew the king would kill him and take his beautiful wife Sarah into his harem. So he lies! So the king won't kill him! If I had asked Glenda to lie like that for me then she would have killed me - not the king! The old pervert takes Sarah into his harem and God wakes the king up in the night and says "Do you want to die?! That is Abraham's wife!". The king gets all frightened and comes to Abraham and gives him silver and gold.

So Abraham LIED and leaves in the blessing! There are still people today that think "I have got to earn the blessing! I must deserve the blessing!". Consider Abraham!

No it is not saying go out and lie! It is trying to show you that your failures and your mistakes cannot stop the blessing flowing! What can stop the blessing flowing? Foolishness. Coming back under law. Self-righteousness. Trying to earn it and deserve it. 666! Trying to perfect your man-ness through self effort and empowerment of yourself. Stay weak and vulnerable and trust the blessing comes freely. God announces blessing on Abraham - a seven fold blessing - Abraham lies and walks out with more blessing than he had before! It is interesting this word "very wealthy" - this is the first time this word is mentioned in the Bible and in the Hebrew it means "glory". Glory and wealth! The glory of God in manifestation drops wealth! Why in many parts of the world right now when the glory is coming over the church is gold dust and diamonds falling? They are taking them to jewellers and they are saying; "There is no flaw! We don't know anywhere in the world where diamonds are like this!". These are dropping in meetings! This is glory coming into the church and God says there is wealth in Philippians 4:19 - that He will meet all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus! Not according to what we need! But according to HIS RICHES!

If you have your needs met according to your needs then it is selfish! Then you just got what you need and blow everyone else and to hell with the world! But if your needs are met according to His riches then you have got superabundance to be generous to the purposes of God and to be a blessing into the nations!

What is favour? Three things about favour. 1. It is becoming an object of God's great affection. He likes you. He turns His face to you. He shines His face on you. He wants to make your name great. Why? Because you are so perfect and so obedient and know so much Bible? No! But because you are not foolish and are not deceived by the foolishness of religion and believe the message of His grace! You consider Abraham and because you have faith you are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith! There are people who live with a poverty mindset and a victim mindset and think they didn't get a good break in life, my family was poor, my mother or father or budgie or goldfish abused me - and they talk like success is based on getting a good break when you are young! Or getting opportunities! That is the world's way of thinking about success and wealth!

The Kingdom way is that it doesn't matter what your background is or how much your father or mother abused you. I am sorry if it happened to you and I hate it happening! It grieves me when it happens and I wish I could stop it! But that makes no difference to your future! No matter how people cheated on you when you were young! Or how many people put cases against you that were not right and ruined you! The thing that gives you success in life is stopping being foolish and worldly and relying on the world's economy!

You are the children of the most High God and consider Abraham - a heathen Iraqui that God made an example so He can say that which I did with Abraham I can now do with the people of God!

Galatians 3:29 says if you belong to Christ then you are a seed of Abraham and an heir according to the promise! You can break out of poverty and your circumstances! All your disadvantages can be turned around for your advantage! When you walk with wealth and power and God makes your name great and God blesses nations through you and makes you a blessing wheerever you go - then people will say, "You must have had an incredible mother and father and background". You can say; "No my father raped me when I was four. I was kicked out of school and this went wrong and this went wrong". Well then - how do you account for this?! I am glad you asked! I stopped being foolish and I realised that there is a God who loved me and a God who redeemed me from the curse of the law and I am not talking about Christianity or church! I want to talk about the Kingdom of God! I am tired of talking about Christianity! Let's talk about Kingdom! Christianity has made a bad image in the world! Christianity is religious! People with a poverty mindset who worship suffering and sickness and inner healing and all kinds of therapies! Rise in Jesus Name to your Kingdom inheritance!

God shines His face on you. 2. Favour means God gives you preferential treatment. God is no respecter of persons and loves everyone in the world the same. But He will only give His favour to those who believe the message of grace! If you believe the message of grace then God will dump favour on you - the person next to you and if they don't believe He will give the favour to you and not to them. He will give you preferential treatment!

Don't tell me God treats everyone differently! He doesn't! He treats people with unbelief one way and people with faith another. Don't say it isn't fair! It is fair!

Smith Wigglesworth raised 30 people from the dead said God will ignore and bypass 10 million people to get to one person who has got faith! I have sat in meetings and watched power flowing and seen some touched and others not touched! Why? They did not lift their sail of faith but sat there passively and blamed everyone! No! Stop it! Forget about your past and think about your future! Seven fold blessing! I have never seen major inner healing courses change the course of people's lives! Many have been in it for 20 years! Some time you have got to wake up! Sometimes you have got to wonder if the Kingdom is the answer and not therapy! The power of faith and believing the gospel is the answer! Stop all this foolishness and human effort! Walk before God and as a man or woman walk with the God of Abraham! Enoch walked with God! Enoch didn't go to church! Some people go to church but don't walk with God! Every day walking with God - never turning God off! He is my help and my surroundings! 24 hours a day walking with God! I watch rugby walking with God and in the movies walking with God!

You can't walk with God and then go sin! When you walk with God you see temptation coming your way and laugh! Live in the Spirit so you don't satisfy the desires of the flesh! How many of you saw the movie "One Night with the King"? It was a Kingdom movie based on the book of Esther! Esther was an unknown Jewish lady - no mention of God in the book but she understood the covenant with Abraham. The king of Persia gave her favour and the king gave half his kingdom. 60 nations from India to the Middle East! What is the book of Esther trying to tell the church? When you get favour with the King He will give His Bride favour! People at work will give you favour and promotion! Stop talking Murphy's Law! You are talking curse over your own life! Start talking blessing over your life! Things are going to change now! I am under the blessing! They are flowing! My life is changing! I am getting victory over those cycles of dysfunction! Don't call your children or grandchildren naughty! The favour of God is on the righteous and their children and children's children! The lineage of Rufus is blessed due to the blessing of Abraham! Don't call them stupid! Don't do that! Say "You are a blessing! But I must discipline you right now". Bless your children!

Do you know that Jewish orthodox under the law are not blessed? The average Jew that doesn't have faith in God around the world will lay their hands on Jewish children and say "The blessing of Abraham be on you - and may the face of God shine on you and make you great". Did you know that the Jewish nation has got the highest amount of awards in the world - for inventions, creativity, arts, science and for wealth! Think of the most wealthy people in the world? Jewish! Why does the devil hate the Jews? Because they are natural descendants of Abraham! They have been attacked and fought and hated more than any other nation on the planet! But they are wealthy and people are jealous of them! But the Bible says in Romans 11 that WE ought to make the Jews jealous! How do you make the most blessed and wealthy and blessed people with poverty and nothing?! They are saying it is working now! Paul says we must make the Jews jealous! Gentile and Jew Christians!

Third power of favour - favour is a shield of protection around you. Psalm 5:12 says "You surround them with your favour as with a shield". The favour of God is the only protection against forces of evil that would love to kill you and destroy your life. That is the favour of God! If you walk with faith then you will trust His favour today! That favour is a shield that would drive poverty and sickness on you. You need the favour of God. Isaiah 54:17 - NO weapon formed against you will prosper! It didn't say some may and some may not! NO weapon! The devil hasn't got ANYTHING that will succeed but it will succeed if we don't walk in the favour of God. Walk in the blessing and favour of God and you are invincible! Keep walking day after day and month after month and year after year considering Abraham!

Let our response be as Mary - "Be it done to me according to Your Word".

Taking Away the Veil

This wasn't actually the main sermon preached on Sunday 28th September! But it was probably the most helpful and shocking insight I have had (yet) into the problem with my life as a Christian and the church in general. I've been meaning to get to it for ages because I noticed that Chris Welch recommended it on his blog. Now I see why!

Here it is;

"Open your Bible to Isaiah 25. I want to share two Scriptures and then we are going to praise and worship. I feel like God has got something so special for us today and I am very excited about what He is going to do with us today. Isaiah 25.

Isaiah was one of the greatest prophets who could see the New Covenant coming. He announced in advance that the New Covenant was coming.

About five years ago while living in Australia I went for a few days away on my own to pray. While I was praying I had a open vision and I saw a terrible veil - a cloud of oppressive darkness over much of the church world. I said; "Lord what is that?". And He said; "That is the cloud of unbelief that is oppressing My people. My people do not understand the clear difference between the covenant of law and the covenant of grace so they have a veil of condemnation and curse over them and it is a spirit of witchcraft that robs Christians of happiness and joy and the miraculous". I began to say; "Lord - how do we get that veil off?". He said; "I will show you". I didn't understand then.

But when I got to Hong Kong it showed me it was by teaching the message of grace - because that is the only thing that can get the veil off as we turn to the Holy Spirit. This morning He began to speak to me suddenly and He said; "I am going to lift the veil off people's minds in this service this morning. Last week I lifted the veil off this church and then the enemy tried to come and superimpose it back again. He thinks if he keeps going then we will get confused and think we cannot get free and just have to accept living at this level of faith and freedom and joy". So He said; "This morning I am going to lift the veil off and I want you to read Isaiah 25 and 2 Corinthians 3 - briefly explain to the people and then everyone prophetically turn to the Holy Spirit and trust Him and you will see this veil be completely lifted off us as a people today! We will come into such freedom!".

So I said; "Lord I don't doing stupid things because sometimes you have to do the ridiculous in order to see the miraculous. But I would like some confirmation that you want me to do this because I want to do this with faith and not as a ritual". I am jealous for the 2 hours we have got and I hate wasting one minute on anything that is dead ground and doesn't produce supernatural momentum in the service. So I asked; "Lord would you confirm this by someone praying or prophesying in the prayer meeting". This morning Ryan began praying about a veil coming off and "I don't know why but the Lord is saying a veil is coming off" and he went into that in some detail!

So great - here we are! So Isaiah is a prophet who speaks a lot about the wrath and the anger and judgement of God coming on the nations. But then he looks through the corridors of time and begins to see a suffering Messiah on the Cross and he said God was looking for an intercessor - someone to stand in the gap so that God would not have to judge the nations. Then he goes on and says that God has found an intercessor - someone to stand in the gap and in Isaiah 53 he said that the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. He took our iniquities and He carried away our transgressions on our behalf! Then Isaiah begins to prophesy that God will bring a covenant of peace and He will not judge the nations but will bring salvation to the nations of the earth. So now he is talking about a veil over the whole world and a mountain called Mount Zion which is a little hill in Jerusalem where David set up his tent so that they could come into the Presence of God and they didn't go down to the Tabernacle of Moses with all the sacrifices and blood of bulls and goats. Only Jewish people could go into Moses's Tabernacle and it was racialistic and exclusive and it was ALL by earning and deserving.

David came back with the glory Presence in the Ark and God said "Don't put it behind the veil in the Tent of Moses but put it on the Mountain called Mt Zion and everyone can come in - Gentiles and Jews will pour in with no hierarchy and everyone can come into the Presence of God! Just by worshipping and praising and through grace alone!". In Acts 15 when the Gospel has come out and it is the New Covenant and Gentiles are getting saved and it begins a big controversy in Jerusalem - Paul and Barnabus have to go down and speak to the apostles in Jerusalem. They say; "People are trying to put the Gentile converts under the law and some in the Jerusalem church are agreeing that we should put them under the law!". Peter gets up and says that is hypocrisy and our hearts are purified by grace and we cannot live under that bondage of the law. Our forefathers couldn't carry that yoke so don't you put that hypocrisy on the Gentiles! God set us free from the law! Paul and Barnabus get up and say; "We preached the message of grace to the Gentiles and the glory of God came on them!". Peter went to Cornelius's home and preached grace not law and the fire of God fell on the Gentiles and they all got saved and all got included into salvation freely and pouring into the Kingdom!

So James says that the end of the argument was a quote from Amos 9; "In the last days God says I will restore David's fallen tent and the Gentiles will pour in!". It is a tent not of ritual and law and qualifying yourself but it is easy, quick and immediate access into the Presence of God! That was in a tent on Mount Zion but now God wants the church to become the new temple of David restored where there is no law and grace is our access into the Presence of God!

He is talking about a mountain and this is Mount Zion! Hebrews 13 - the church of the first born! Isaiah 25:6;

"On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples". It is no longer exclusive to Israel. "A banquet of aged wine - the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain ..." - that is Mount Zion. "... He will destroy the shroud ..." - that is a veil of death from being under the law. "... that enfolds all people's". That is that vision I saw in Australia five years ago. "The sheet that covers all nations - He will swallow up death forever". The law is a ministry of death - 2 Corinthians 7 says. "He will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away tears from all face and He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken - surely they will say; 'This is our God, we trusted in Him and He saved us! Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation!".

Now go to 2 Corinthians 3 and I will show you how this shroud comes off. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Paul makes it very clear from verse 7 that the Old Covenant - the covenant of law had a fading glory; "... will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness" - that is the free gift of righteousness we spoke about last week - "for what was glorious is of no glory, now in comparison with the surpassing glory and what was fading away came with glory how much greater is the glory that lasts?". How many of you want a goodness of the glory of God on your life that lasts and doesn't fade? You have to get rid of the veil! Because if you live under the veil then you have temporary experiences of the goodness of God and then it fades because you have a law-thinking mentality trying to earn it and deserve it!=

How many want to get rid of the veil off your mind? This is how it's done! (v12);

"Therefore since we have such a hope we are very bold - we are not like Moses who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away but their minds were made dull for to this day - the same veil remains when the Old Covenant is read. It is not been removed for only in Christ is it taken away - even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts but wherever anyone turns to the Lord the veil is taken away!".

When he says "Lord", he is speaking about the Holy Spirit because the next verse will say; "The Spirit of freedom" or the "Spirit of liberty".

So whenever anyone turns to the Holy Spirit the veil is taken away by the power of the Holy Spirit!

(v17); "The Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is ... there is FREEDOM! We all with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit". There is no fading glory in the New Covenant! It is meant to be ever-increasing and unfading glory! We have boldness to believe that we are the righteousness of God and that we are not under the law or condemnation! But much of the church is under that veil because you can see unfading glory and joy and victory and triumph and confidence before God is NOT there in most of the Church! People take 2 hours to get warmed up to feel half happy and then by next week they are dead again and unhappy again because they are living under a veil! So they wake up and think they will pray for 2 hours every morning or every afternoon - and praise God for praying 2 hours every morning if you can! I bless you for that! But friends, they pray for 2 hours and that is not what makes you happy! If you pray for 2 hours under a veil then you feel you should have prayed for 3 hours! And you will still feel you didn't do enough! If you are under a veil then this is the glory of the Old Covenant and the law! The law is God's view and opinion of you through the scrutiny and the judgment of the Law! So whenever He sees you through the law He sees all your faults and He has got to judge you and withdraw His goodness from you. His glory is His goodness!

But the New Covenant - when you are no longer under the veil and your mind is turned to the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of truth has led you into truth - because Jesus said in John 16 that there were many things He would like to tell them but they couldn't bear them now but when the Spirit comes He will "guide you into all truth" - in other words these Jewish boys had centuries of legalism and if He told them how good the New Covenant was, they would argue and wouldn't believe it! But when the Spirit of truth comes and fills you, you will be able to bear the most radical and extreme good news and you will embrace it and it won't freak you out - you will embrace it and say "That's for me!" because the veil is gone!

See we have been brainwashed - look at a guy like Peter! He is on a rooftop and we don't go the Gentiles! It is a Mosaic covenant and it is inclusive! Not David! He sees a veil come down and animals in it that Jews are not allowed to eat under the law. The living God who wrote the Law speaks to Peter and says "Eat" and Peter lectures the LORD on how irresponsible and how unrighteous He is! Three times Peter says to the Lord; "No Lord! It is unclean food!".

Something has gone seriously wrong with a person's head when they are holier than God and refusing God's liberation from law and all kinds of ceremonies!

Then God says to Peter; "Do not call unclean that which I have called clean".

Do not call YOURSELF unclean when the blood of Jesus and the righteousness of God has made you CLEAN FOREVER!

Then the door knocks and there is Cornelius - a Gentile! And he goes under the roof of a Gentile which no God-fearing Jew should do! A non-covenant man! He says; "I am not even meant to be here but revelation came to him! The Holy Spirit enabled him to bear the awesome change of the New Covenant!". The disciples couldn't bear what Jesus had to say but when they turned to the Spirit the veil is removed! There is freedom and David's fallen tent has been restored in the earth!

The missionary model has failed! We went over there and taught them to eat with knives and forks and taught them about our legalism and exported our legalistic religious systems! The Muslims don't need a new religious system! They have got one already! The Holy Spirit is moving into the Muslim world, into the gay world and He is falling on the Gentiles because David's tent is being restored in the nations again and the veil is being taken away and religion is OVER!

The veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies has split from top to bottom when Jesus said on the Cross; "It is finished!". The glory of the Old Covenant is God's view and opinion of you - looking at you through the scrutiny of the law. Fading glory! Judgment! Wrath! Curse and judgment on you! The glory of the New Covenant is God's opinion of you only through grace - that you are the righteousness of God! Therefore His glory never fades! His goodness never needs to fade! If you get up for the next 3 weeks with just enough time to go to work and you don't pray and you don't read the Bible and witness and don't do anything and just get up and say "Father I thank You that it is David's restored tent and no rituals - I am as welcome as the man that prayed 10 hours that day!". You are as welcome as Jesus is welcome because you have a co-equal righteousness with Christ for you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!

People have made the most joyful thing a law! "You have to pray!". As soon as that comes on you it is law and it is bondage! There is no life! "You had better read your Bible, better give, better witness!". No no no! You don't have to do one single thing! Jesus has done it all! He measured up for you! When you turn to the Holy Spirit the veil is taken away and the power of God comes on you and now you LOVE praying and reading the Bible and being in church but it's not because you have to! There is a whole different dynamic! How many of you want that veil taken away?! Just ripped to shreds today?! Isaiah 25 says there is coming a day on this mountain - Mount Zion - David's fallen tent being restored and the Gentiles pouring in!

THOUSANDS wanted to be around Jesus - except the Pharisees! The Pharisees wanted to be there to catch Jesus out and prove His doctrine was wrong! Thousands of the worst sinners under the sun - tax collectors, prostitutes by the thousands gathered to Him! Not to the Pharisees but to Jesus! Have you noticed in Hong Kong that thousands of sinners and prostitutes and tax collectors are NOT flocking to the church? They flocked to Jesus!

There is so much legalism in the church that we have got an inner measuring rod in our conscience that judges ourselves with condemnation and when a sinner sits with us, they feel (even if we don't judge them with our mouths) the effect of that measuring rod on the inside of us disapproving of them and looking down on them when we have got nothing to do with being made righteous, nothing to do with what qualifies us to be holy - it has ALL been by grace and we have no basis to judge and our access into the Presence of God is NOT by the Tabernacle of Moses but by the restored fallen tent of David!

How will you and I know that David's fallen tent has been restored in Hong Kong? Or anywhere on the earth? According to Acts 15 and Amos 9 - we will know that the fallen tent of David has been restored when the Gentiles and all nations come pouring in!

For when David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back - the Presence of God - he was going to take it to Moses Tabernacle but in Chronicles God told him to take it to Mt Zion in an open tent so that everyone had access to the Presence of God! They got it wrong so the Presence stayed in Obed-Edom's home for 3 months. Who was Obed-Edom? Was he a covenant Jew? No he was a Philistine! He was a pagan and a heathen but when he got round the Presence of God then the love of God touched a Gentile and manifested blessing over his home for 3 months! David said what's going on? David wasn't a pure Jew! His great grandmother was a prostitute Gentile! And David began to understand that this racial exclusivness under law is going to cause the nations to go to hell! So God said don't put it back in Moses Tabernacle but in a tent where everyone can come! And Gentiles flocked in! And Obed-Edom brought 60 of his family to be doorkeepers to be in David's tent! Which means that these Philistines realised that the Presence of God is not something to run from or feel condemned by but the Presence of God is something to run after and run into so they all volunteered to be doorkeepers! They would have been killed if they had tried the same thing in the tent of Moses!

How will I know that the prophecy of Amos 9 is being fulfilled in the earth? When all over the earth tens of thousands of homosexuals and lesbians and Muslims and fundamentalist Hinduis and atheists and all the so-called worst of the worse - will FLOCK to where the Presence of God is! THAT is when we will know that David's fallen tent has been established in the earth and has been fully recovered again because veil has been taken away!

Peter saw a veil come down and when God spoke to them with the Spirit of truth they went to the Gentiles and when they went to the Gentiles home, the fire of God broke out and they were saved WHILE Peter was still speaking! God said "THIS is David's tent being fully restored!".

How do I know when David's fallen tent has been fully restored in City Church International? When I saw Philippino's and Chinese and Asians and Indians and Europeans pouring in here and those who don't know who God is are coming in because WE have turned to the Holy Spirit and are DONE with silly self-centred me religion and for me to have a nice service - no we want the veil off this whole church so thousands will pour in!

Note from Joshua Mills Re: Glory and Grace

Hi Guys, Well since I can now do this....and in relation to Dan's post (since I'm writing on the back of his post you may not have read it, so please do and pray with us that God opens doors for him to come!) ....I've thought I'd like to share a note that Joshua Mills, one of the speakers at Glory and Grace posted on facebook recently! I have felt a similar sense in relation to this conference...and thought I'd share it with you all...this is what all of us going are anticipating!

"It is with great excitement and confidence that we invite you to the Hong Kong “Glory and Grace Conference.” There is an authentic prophetic anticipation of many unique things that we believe God is going to do in Hong Kong that will signal a new heavenly commissioning. There are fresh (never experienced before) mantels of glory that God is giving permission to be downloaded at this time. These mantels are the timely resources of God to see the acceleration of Kingdom agendas activated in the earth that will enable us to stand in the centre of His healing and radiate miracles effortlessly. The assembling of the Hong Kong Glory and Grace Conference is simply to position ourselves to receive from the willing hand of His grace these mantels of His power. This will be a time of open heaven. The cloud of the glory will be there. We believe there will be a lot of joy, fun, equipping and rich impartation. You will carry back to your nation a mantel for miracles, signs and wonders but most important of all, an atmosphere for intimate adoration and fellowship with Jesus. I cannot shake off the word ‘unique’ in connection with this conference. This is going to be a time that is uniquely powerful. This is not a conference to be missed. Trust God for financial provisions to get here. It will be worth it. Besides that, Hong Kong is an awesome place to visit. It is a city of stunning beauty and variety that will leave you enriched and fascinated with lasting memories."

Glory and Grace Conference Update 1!!

So to make it clear for those who aren't quite up to speed - here's the deal. I was always going to "Glory and Grace" in Hong Kong ... until last week. I had the money saved up for me and Scott to go and we both had the weeks booked off. Then unfortunately my new work intervened and said they "couldn't afford for me to go" seeing as the paediatric client I look after won't have proper care while I am away. I tried and explored every option short of resigning (I was open to that prospect and just waiting for a confirmatory word to do just that!) but it seemed clear that something just wasn't right.

There's been nothing short of a satanic onslaught trying to keep me away from Rob Rufus this week. Firstly this whole disaster with the conference happened. So I vowed to take sanctified revenge on the devil and told him "he would regret what he has done" and began transcribing the message of grace with greater fury and greater venom than ever before! The next thing that happened was that internet access in my flat got cut off - thanks to a "surprise" virus. I sorted that out by installing wireless internet onto my laptop that I use for transcribing. And then last night I was packing to go to work and my IPOD that I store all my Rob Rufus sermons on was stolen from my car!

Oh and then a day too late ... my work turned round and said I could have the week off anyway!

Nevertheless my threat of sanctified revenge still stands! Three of my most special friends are going to "Glory and Grace" and I am probably more excited about what God will do than when I went to Hong Kong in October 2007 (maybe!). We have agreed that absolutely EVERYTHING they tell me is going to be reported and published so this conference is the most heard about event possible!

My wonderful friend Ursula sent me the first of many updates I hope! Her being able to go was a miracle in and of itself promised to her by Jesus - here is her testimony! Here's what she's going through;

"Dan...wow....I'm so excited! I just heard from Fini...and they are so stoked to be seeing me....and me them, so hopefully I can steal them away for an hour or two and just spend some Father, Mother, Daughter time! I can't wait!

Other good new is that Fini went to SA for his brothers funeral and one got saved and several healings. Yay Jesus!

Ok...so the plan is, I'm going to London tomorrow afternoon to spend the night with my oldest friend, who is not saved. I'm really really excited! You knwo when you know someone its like wearing old slippers? So we are just going to hang, visit, she is going through some stuff so I get to minister the love of Jesus.....and we can just be! Then Monday I head to Heathrow...and on the flight!

Arrive in HK, attempt to take two busses to where I'm going.....and text my friends to pick me up! And then....GLORY! The party is guaranteed to start immediately! So good!And then....Wednesday...BLISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm probably staying with Lydia and Julie Sat/Sun night....so we will be sightseeing and all....and I have the whole of Monday to sight see!I heard from Julies hubby yesterday and it sounds like she is having a tough time with morning sickness......hopefully we get to see her healed of that quick smart! And of course will have my phone to send you texts...heeeheeee! Going to be so so fun! ;-)

Ok...I have to go put the first load of washing in!!!!!!!

Love Me"

Our prayers and thoughts are going with you Ursula!! As I say, my plan is to publish absolutely every scrap of information that they send - I feel like a dying man desperate for drops of water of glory here! And I know God is going to do some life changing work in everyone who attends that conference.

Becoming a Lightning Conductor - Part 4

This message was preached on Sunday 8th March 2009.

"Positioning Ourselves for Heaven to Kiss Earth"

Open your Bibles to the Song of Solomon - that is the whole theme. Trust God to live in health. Healing is great but living in health is far better! It is wonderful to be healed but it's a lot better to walk in divine health! That is the will of God that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul is prospering! A prospering soul provides the landing for the power of God to be transmitted to heaven through you so that we prosper in all things. You can't get into revelation unless you are receiving, drawing! You can't sit there lazy while I work my behind off! You have got to get your revelation button on! You have got to sit there desperate - our lives depend on it! Every week we must go to a new level! Cosmic and redemption realities are fully available to the church and we aren't walking in them but we want to! No one had to pray for Jesus to be healed! He walked among very sick people and didn't get sick but they got healed and because of what He was - we can be!

You can NEVER be satisfied where you are because the greatest miracles, signs and wonders, things that God has done in our lives - we are STILL in the shallows! I am still in the shallows! In the shallows we have seen great things and more things than most Christians in their entire lives but we say openly with joy that we are in the shallows but we are going into the realms of the depths of God because we are hungry, mad, crazy, not a Christian but a son of God! We don't want Christianity! Christianity is only mentioned twice in the Bible but dozens of time "sons of God" are mentioned! We are sons of God and Jesus has made the dwelling place of the Father and His heavenly mansions on the inside of me! He went to heaven to prepare a place for us and He will come back so where we are so may we be also! Keep them in the earth manifesting the kingdom of heaven and I will fill them with all the fullness of God! They will walk in the earth and be a people who will radiate heaven's full glory!

You better know that what we have seen is great but it is small and it is next to nothing compared to what God has given for the sons and daughters of the living God! How do we get into that realm? Revelation is an invitation to a divine encounter!

Without divine encounters you cannot move in realms of the glory! You cannot go to new levels of the power of God, to new levels of victory, strength and triumph in God without revelation!

Hebrews 5 says that people under the law are dull of hearing!

I go to churches where there is legalism and it doesn't matter how exciting you preach - they have no capacity to receive revelation because they have a veil over their heads, are dull of hearing, bored with revelation and don't understand it or have capacity for it - yet know the Bible and have Bible information but don't have revelation and don't have living water supernaturally flowing through their lives and there is too many of those types of Christians on the planet and the world is SICK and tired of Christianity - it is looking for the sons and daughters of God to manifest in the earth NOW!

We are talking about sons and daughters becoming lightning rod conductors that conduct heaven's influence into the earth. Jesus still stands in this desire - "Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!". What is already loosed in heaven and what is already bound in heaven? I give you the keys to bind on earth what is bound in heaven. Sickness, disease, political oppression in the Sudan, in Zimbabwae - bind it! If you see evil and wickedness on the planet, if you see child sex trades, wicked governments impoverishing people, cancer, wheelchairs - "I am raising up a group of people like the Acts 5 church whose shadows will heal the sick and the glory will be so dense and concentrated and unfiltered and thick in their midst that sick people will be instantly healed and will throw their crutches away!". I am burning with that and I am going for that!

If this is the highest level then I give up God and I am not going to serve and I am going to go and become a champion marathon runner and forget the whole church thing! I don't want a religious club! I want a radical people that know what it is and what their assignments are! They are here to change history! They are here to topple evil! They are here authorised from heaven as ambassadors to administrate divine heavenly influence into the earth! If the church doesn't then Obama can't! There are things that are way out the range of earth's wisdom and earth's greatest attempts! And when earth tries to organise society and nations without reference to the Creator of the heavens and the earth then they are building a Babylon or a Tower of Babel that God will raise up and in the very next chapter He will bring them down and in Genesis 12 He will bring out HIS answer to the nations - Abraham. "I will bless you and make you a blessing to the nations!". (Galatians 3:29) says if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.=

Romans chapter 4 says Abraham's seed and offspring are not heirs of the world through a righteousness that is of the law but they are heirs of the world through a righteousness that is of faith!

We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! We stand before the Father in the same stature and standing that Jesus Himself is! We are joint equal heirs and heirs of God - equal heirs with Christ and as He is, so are we in this world! We have received fulness in Christ! You have been made complete in Christ! You have received fulness in Him who is the fulness of the Deity in bodily form and He is the head over all powers.

You have received circumcision of that nature that was bitter and cynical and didn't trust in the goodness of God so God had to put the law on Israel because the law is not based on faith and they didn't have faith in the goodness of God and the arrangement of Abraham so God had to give them the law to show them how cursed and full of death the law is! In Jesus we have received fullness and we have received a new nature cutting away that unbelief! Don't walk around saying "I am full of unbelief". You and I may have some unbelief hanging around - we will see how to break out of all unbelief and come into a place where we look at something and see it with faith and see it that can change and alter and line up with heaven!

He gave us a new nature and forgave us all our sins - before we had sinned ONCE, HE had already washed them OUT.

He cancelled the written code and the rules and regulations that stood opposed to us at the Cross and cut away the ministry of death and disarmed the principalities and powers triumphing over them at the Cross! We have fullness! Our Christian life isn't trying to get fullness - our Christian life is trying to get revelation of what that fullness is and entering into divine encounters! If you don't then before you know it you will be 75 and it is coming very quickly for us and you will be 85 and look back on your life and say "What did I do? I went to church and tried to have faith occasionaly and it didn't work and I guess it didn't work" - so you backed off where millions of Christians are casualties on the roadside of church history licking their wounds in bitterness and becoming critical!

I have been going 30 years because I have found out where the oil is! I have found out where the treasure is! I have found out where to stay fresh decade after decade after decade and not give up or get disillusioned but stay strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might and wait on the Lord and renew your strength and rise up and run and not grow weary and walk and not faint because I am running to the finish line!

We are speeding up and running without hindrances! We are throwing off unbelief and every hindrance that so easily entangles! No more "easily entangling" me unbelief! I will easily entangle you with faith! Life will swallow up death! Faith will swallow up unbelief! There is an intensity coming that will scare religious people! It will frighten them and it needs to! They need to have hell frightened out of them and heaven inspired in them!

I want to talk today about "Positioning ourselves that Heaven will come and kiss 7 million Hong Kong people!". Sometimes you say extreme things and if there is a small chance that could be true then I will get excited anyway! I am going to talk today about a biblically, doctrinally sound, revealed in the Bible precident about how to position ourselves for Heaven to come and kiss 7 million (of which the vast majority are unsaved) and I am expecting God to come as we position ourselves, as our stance and posture shifts in earth then heaven's position in earth can shift and heaven can come through the portals of our faith and kiss seven million Hong Kong people with LIFE and salvation in Christ!

Adam prophesied on Thursday night that one of the main things that God is going to be doing in these days is revealing the kiss of heaven - the kiss of God to the earth.

How many of you know that the Welsh can still sing? God came and for three years heaven kissed Wales! Policemen had to retire - the crime rates went so far down that evil was toppled. All the pubs closed down! The football teams gave up because everyone was crowding into the church to worship God! Why? Because in a short space of time 100 000 swearing, church hating, blaspheming, coal miners got kissed by heaven and their lives were forever radically changed!

I am not going to preach a gospel that says; "Listen you have got to get saved so you won't go to hell". I don't want you to go to hell but I want to see heaven come down and see heaven kiss you and me so much that we are so full of the kisses of heaven and so full of the romances of the glory that every day we wake up and glory is there and wherever we walk, sleep, work, think - that something is coming out of us that is pervading Hong Kong! And Hong Kong people may be bitter, cynical, worship idols, money, busy, but suddenly a tangible - not a Bible study! Or a tract! "But such as we HAVE - we GIVE to you". Wherever we go heaven is kissing Hong Kong!

In the middle of that Welsh revival they wrote many anointing songs! One of them was about being drunk in the Holy Spirit because they used to fall and get drunk in the Spirit which prior to that was so rigid and formal and dead but then suddenly God came and spiritual drunkenness and laughter of God came. The one song they wrote is called; "Here is Love vast as the ocean" and one of the lines is; "And heaven's peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love".

How many of you know in Luke 15 - the parable of the Prodigal Son - Jesus gave it to give revelation of the nature of God because the law preachers, the Pharisees and Sadduccees had taken away the key of knowledge and they had stopped people entering into the goodness of what God revealed to Abraham. Jesus came with the parable of a son that had squandered his dad's inheritance and had been with prostitutes and had spent all he had on prostitutes and had been indulging but as the father saw this son coming home, the father started running to his son. In Hebrew culture it is not dignified for men to run once they are over the age of 30 in a public place. The Greek word there is not the word "jog".

There are many words there for "run". It was the word "sprint" and the Greek means that every muscle engaged in running hard was being expressed in the way the father ran. He ran with passion and he ran with delight and when he got to the son, the son had no time to repent. He was trying but the father wouldn't even listen to his repentance and it says the father "FELL" on his neck. There is a Greek word there that is important. He fell on his neck and "kissed" him and the Greek is the present, continous tense and that means he kept kissing and kissing and kissing! That son lost all interest in pig styes and prostitutes! Take law and condemnation and threats and give them grace and freedom and they can make mistakes but the Father wants to kiss you and keep kissing you and running to you and falling on you with his love!

If you come from a law type church then you don't have a clue what I am talking about and you don't know how to touch heaven or for heaven to touch you because the heavens are open but the LAW makes them feel like brass! They are OPEN! The only thing that is closed is the head that feels unworthy, undeserving, condemnation - that is demonic! That is a religious demon which is so active in Hong Kong trying to stop congregations trying to position themselves for heaven to come kiss them and through them to kiss millions of people into the kingdom of heaven. Our God is an extravagant God! He doesn't make love like most husbands and wives do! He is extravagant, full of perfumes and oils and joy and sounds and lightning and glory! He is our heavenly Bridegroom! He likes to taste what is under your tongue in the Spirit! He finds you - the Bride!

God is raising up His prophets to say to the Church - He finds you delightful! He is so in love with you! He is so angry with the law people in His church!

When Christ cancelled the law at the Cross and split the veil in the temple, He said "It is finished" and He cancelled the law - when religion sews that veil up and preaches the law then they are no longer preaching in the Holy Spirit but are moving in satanic power and much of the church have moved into satanic power because if you are preaching law then you are preaching something that is NOT on God's heart because that law was cancelled at the Cross! That veil was torn to show we can go into the Presence of God in our imperfections and in our failures!

Grace came through Jesus but the law was given through Moses. The law didn't come as a Person. God is not Law - God is Love! Law was given through Moses but grace CAME through Jesus! Grace is not a doctrine or a theology! We have never done a "grace series"! Jesus IS grace! God had to bring the law because of Israel's unbelief in His goodness that He revealed to Abraham.

It says in Acts chapter 7 and in Galatians chapter 3 and in many other places that the law was mediated by angels. Over and over again angels helped Moses write the law and brought the law and mediated the law. Angels saw the death and curse and judgement of the law. Angels know how dangerous the law is! Now Zion is a place of grace and myriads of angels are over Zion and none of those angels will ever bring the law to the church again because they know grace came and cancelled the law and they know what the law did because they were mediators of the law! That is why Paul says if any angel comes to you and preaches any other gospel that what he preached then let it be eternally condemned - don't worry about someone who goes on a 40 day fast and says an angel spoke to them about hell and people in hell being Christians - that gospel is a myth and may that gospel be eternally condemned! Paul said it! Don't just sit there and say "That's radical!". Someone should get outraged that for centuries it hasn't been made clear to the multitudes of God's people! When the law is taken off you and when you develop a "rainbow mentality" (rainbow means no more judgement and grace - an oath never to be rebuked) then it means no judgement, happy skies, no more wrath, He loves me totally!

When I find I have messed up the worst, I find Him kissing me the most! Now shall we sin more to get more kisses?! NO! He will kiss you anyway! It has got nothing to do with whether you sin or not! "To sin or not to sin" - that is not the question!

The question is - will you believe this gospel!? When you believe then He will kiss you! He is trying to kiss people under law but they are reminding themselves that they sinned yesterday and so are not worthy.

Most theologians will say that the Song of Solomon is a picture of Christ and His Church. Ephesians chapter 5 speaks about the Bride and her husband. Often that is preached at weddings and they can if they want but it is taking it out of context, but when they have finished all of that about a Bride and being all beautiful, he say; "But I speak a mystery - for I speak of Christ and the Church". He talked about love between a male husband and a female Bride. I go to the average church service and there is nothing revealing that mystery! There is no mystery there! It is just blatent religious programmes! Overhead projectors and "With my hands lifted up ...". I had a hard week this week! There is no mystery of being cherished and ravished by this loving God kissing you and you kissing Him back and worshipping Him with abandonement! That is demonic! That is misrepresenting Him to a world out there!

And showing it is all cerebral and doctrinal and theological and all doing it "right". No passion! No signs and wonders and miracles! No glory Presence! Just conservative people who are old-fashioned and are anti-gay, anti-this and anti-that!

I spoke to a Chinese atheist from China mainland who had never heard of Christianity and asked her "Who do you think Jesus is?". She said; "I don't know - but I think He is that guy who is just against abortion". All they have heard is what we are against! They haven't heard what we are FOR! Of course we don't want abortion and of course it is murder.

All the "anti" of the Church have caused the religious Reformed evangelical fundementalists of North America to lose credibility! That is why Obama is in! Because America got tired of judgemental politicians and evangelical Christians who can't keep their own pants up and are committing adultery and going to prostitutes in private while judging the world! We just say to the world; "We have got sin in our lives - you have got to know that. We get sick sometimes. We struggle with things but praise God our Father keeps kissing us! And the pig sty smell is going and those wounds are going because He is loving me into sanctification! He is living me into obedience! The power of sin is breaking off my life and I am starting to hate sin more and more and love His Presence and His will and what He wants for my life!". The world says; "I can buy into that!". Get ready for the kiss - here it comes!

Mystery! Much of the Church is in the mystery of Babylon and are intrigued by demon powers that own religious worlds. We are not in Babylon! Most of the wrath being poured out is being poured out against false religion and I promise you much of it is against what is being called church today. I know this isn't endearing me to many around the world but Jesus wasn't there to endear Himself to the Pharisees or the Sadducees! He was there to do His Father's will and He had the attitude of "to hell with the devil!". How will Hong Kong change? By us watering it down and being politically correct? By going to meetings and keeping our mouthes shut and fitting in? By keeping quiet while they say that sickness is a punishment for sin? So they have basically accused my Father of being illegal and breaking the law of "double jeopordy"!? Why would He punish the same crime twice?! You are accusing God of a crime when you preach this! No we just go quiet and walk out the meeting frustrated! And everyone says "Wasn't that wonderful unity?". It wasn't unity! It was a bunch of politicans getting together and Jesus had nothing to do with it! That is not unity! That is deception!

The prophetic HAS to by nature NOT conform!

There is a thin line between rebellion and non-conformity and we need to know where the line is! Leaders are people who don't conform! If you want to lead people out of the state of much of the world then you can't come into that state! You have got to come in with bombs! You have got to run in with glory suicide strapped to you and blow up the place! Then you get resurrected and you come out! How will the glory run through the streets of Hong Kong? How will the cripples walk through the streets of Hong Kong? How will miracles happen in our government at highest levels? How will our hospitals change? How will hundreds of thousands under the breadline in our city apply change?

Unless heaven kisses Hong Kong? How will things change? Does man have the answers and solutions in the earth realm? No! Man is throwing more money at the problem when the problem was caused by throwing money at the problem that didn't exist! Greed grabbed more money because mystery Babylon was in operation! And now millions are dying because a few were greedy and borrowed money for things they shouldn't have had! Now to solve the problem we are throwing more money! God has got a mystery in the earth called the Bride and it is not mystery Babylon or the United Nations who run from every conflict. It is not Babel! It is called the church of the living God and the Bride of Christ!

I belong to the Bride and that Bride is being awaken because it has been kissed with passion by a Bridegroom's call! You are here to change history and topple evil in Hong Kong! Your fun will be greater when you know you are fulfilling assignment to rip evil out of our city! Why would Jesus say; "The glory that You gave Me - I have given them and keep them from evil". Evil doesn't want us to be here but we have a glory on us that keeps us from evil. If you don't walk in manifest glory then you have no shelter from evil! You have got no shelter from law and rules and regulations! I want to talk about heaven's love for the earth. Heaven wants to kiss the vilest sinner on the earth!

We have left it upto too many theologians to interpret Revelation for us who don't know the difference between the Old and New Covenant and don't have any insights into the finished work of the Cross and their insights were wrong and scratched. There were seven seals that were open in Revelation 5 and they preceed the sounding of seven trumpets which preceed the releasing of seven bowls. If you study the bowls and the trumpets you will be completely confused. You have got to see the opening of the scroll by the Lamb who purchased all by His blood.

At the "Glory and Grace Conference" I am going to preach an insight into Revelation that is the greatest revelation of Jesus and the love of God for this planet and the power of judgement is going to break against mystery Babylon and evil religious practices - when those trumpets sound after the seven seals then I would not want to be in mystery Babylon!

I am a bit passionate about this! Here is the mystery of the Bridegroom and the Bride! I have deliberately left out some passages because some of you would blush. These passages were written by the Holy Spirit and you are not as holy as the Holy Spirit as He expresses intimacy and you can't handle it. In the military where atheists become Christians on the Angolan border, and they usually read pornography books - so one night I opened the Song of Solomon and they all usually want to borrow each others books. I put my candle on and I read the parts which I can't read to you because you are saved people. I read it to them because they were reading pornography so they could cope with it but you are Christians and you are holy and you can't! I didn't tell them it was the Bible and hid it below my sleeping bag! And they said; "Wow what book is that - can I read it after you?". I said "Yes it is the Bible!". I wish I had captured on video their faces! They said "No!". Suddenly they all wanted to read the Bible and they realised that the Bible had been mis-represented by Christians!

30 of those swearing blaspheming troops got saved and many of them are still going on with Christ today! I wasn't a Christian - I was a son! And I showed them that this is the mystery of God and His Bride! I told them "Don't go to church to check this out because you won't see it - you will see no passion or heavenly romance". Song of Solomon chapter 1:1;

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth for your love is better than wine ... let him bring me into his chambers". That is the King to the Bride!

Go down to (v12); "My lover is to me ... how beautiful you are my darling oh how beautiful". Then the church says back; "How handsome you are my lover!". This is church - Sunday morning! "Oh how handsome you are". All through the week I have been encountering your love, all through the busy week I have been concious of heaven! 2:3; "Like an apple tree ... I delight to sit in His shade .. His banner over me is love". The prophetic word God spoke to us today! "I am faint with love". How many of you have felt FAINT with love for Jesus? "I charge you by the gazelles ... do not awaken love .... here He comes! (Jesus!) bounding over the hills ... Arise my darling!" - talking to the church! -

"The rains are over and gone ... the season of singing has come ... arise, come my darling, my beautiful one" - this is His invitation to every individual every single day! 4:9; "You have stolen my heart!". We are clothed in garments of praise, worship, beauty of salvation, we are so beautiful and attractive to Him? "With one glance of your eyes". Sometimes when I pray I take on a look heavenward! The gender thing is mute - we are sons of God and daughters are called sons of God. As a man we are part of the Bride! Don't get too gender concious! "All are one in Christ!". This is JESUS saying; "With one glance of your eyes ... how delightful is your love ... milk and honey are under your tongue". (v16); "Awake ... blow upon my garden ... let my lover come ... I have come ... I have drunk my milk". And it gets more and more glorious and to think this is the mystery of Christ and His Bride!

Now go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. For the glory to flow in the streets of Hong Kong, the glory must first flow in the church. Every Sunday morning across Hong Kong when 100 000 worship - maybe 200 000 at most - in a city of 7 million - is the glory flowing? Is there this face to face intimacy with God? Are people being healed? Are they bringing people from all the surrounding streets to be healed? Or is it programme worship and a nice sermon and then we go home? That can go on for a million years and then Hong Kong is finished! It can't go on! People are dying! We have had the crusades and evangelists have turned up! And the majority of the unsaved don't come but Christians go up and rededicate their lives again because they feel so guilty under law! There can be a negative affect to Reinhard and Benny Hinn coming because people rely on that and then go back to church as normal and in the book of Acts God didn't rely on just Philip to get Samaria sorted but local churches full of the glory so that all around were aware that God was in that city and all the time! Every week! Every day! God was in that city and thousands of people were conductors of heaven's glory and were portals of glory and weren't just taking but were taking and given into the spiritual atmosphere of their city! So I would love to go to a unity meeting with hundreds and hundreds of churches gathered if we understand this!

2 Corinthians chapter 5 and we are talking about God "kissing" Hong Kong. For Him to do that you have got to allow Him to kiss you. For Him to kiss Hong Kong I have got to stop being so shy! "No don't do that again! Don't do that!". But it is a present continuous tense! You have stolen my heart, my sister, my Bride! I cherish you! Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her! He gave Himself for sinning, wicked, evil people who put Him on the Cross under the law and He hung there naked! No loin cloth! Naked! Why? Because He looked at us in all of our sin and once glance from us to Him - "God so LOVED the world". We won His heart! He gave Himself for the church! Most of the church won't let Him kiss you! If you are uncomfortable with revelation of the Bridegroom and if you are a woman or a man and are married - sexual intimacy should not happen outside of marriage. It is not a law. It is a reality that reveals Christ and the church. Every time we take the privilidges of marriage without the responsibilities of marriage then we violate the mystery of the Bridegroom and the church. It is not law! It is mystery. We cheapen this thing! This thing we have with Jesus was a covenant broken with blood. The breaking of the hymen of heaven! This covenant was contracted into a privilidge of heaven's glory with the responsibilities of faith!

Sex outside of marriage is an absolute perversion of this mystery. If you are uncomfortable and you think God would never make you uncomfortable then you are wrong! Jesus made people feel uncomfortable - so much so that they tried to kill Him several times! They tried to throw Him off a cliff and He walked right through the middle of them. The only time they could get Him was when He gave Himself. The only way God will kiss Hong Kong is if the church stops pushing Him away in their frigid, rigidity! "No Jesus - no intimacy! I have had a bad week!". But My daughter, My bride - I am lovesick for you! "I have sinned this week". Get the law off and get into grace where He loves you so much that the smell of His fragrance and perfume goes with you and permeates the whole of Hong Kong and the heavens start kissing the city. The reason why Hong Kong is not being kissed by the mystery of the Bride is because it has been kissed for a century by the mystery of Babylon chasing money. The trade systems of men and religious demon worship of idols!

The worst perpetrators of idol worship has been the church in Hong Kong. They worship idols more than other religions do.

Let's see God's attitude to the world and these lost people out there. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; "Who reconciled us to Himself ... ministry of reconciliation". We have been given this ministry to release a revelation that heaven has reconciled itself with the whole world. That is your ministry to let the earth know! You are ALREADY reconciled to heaven! (v19); "reconciling the world to Himself in Christ not counting men's sins against them". Who? Church people? No! God was reconciling the world to Himself not counting men's sins against them! And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation! And what is our message? God is reconciled to you world! He is not counting your sins against you! (v21); "God made Him who had no sin to be sin ... so that in Him we are imputed the righteousness of God". Jesus never sinned but He was given the free gift of our sin and we are given the free gift of HIS righteousness so we are equal to God in righteousness because we have the righteousness of God that is in Christ Jesus!

Go to Hebrews chapter 9. Babylon means "confusion" whereas Jerusalem means "city of peace". God's people are coming out of Babylon and coming into the heavenly Jerusalem. Most of the church is confused - don't know if they are under law or grace! God healed all our sicknesses at the Cross but doesn't He sometimes put sickness on people as judgement?! No! That is Old Covenant! Under New Covenant He reconciled the world to Himself!

God is relating to the world totally different from the time of the Cross! He is seeing lost people differently! Not counting their sins against them! He has declared righteousness as a GIFT! ALL our sins were put on the One who never sinned and ALL His righteousness was put on us who have never done righteousness!

So my on-going permament state before God is FOREVER righteous because God's righteousness cannot fade or diminish by my bad performance!

I don't have a righteousness based on me at all but on the obedience of the one Man Jesus Christ! Let's go to Hebrews 10 and see what Jesus did in heaven. Guys - stick with me because I have got to finish this today. I must finish this! Next week we are going to talk about elements or traces of unbelief in our hearts that hinder us conducting the fullness of heaven. I have got to get this in before "Glory and Grace" and then next Sunday and God said to me those two things have to be put in place before "Glory and Grace" to position this church to host heaven in the "Glory and Grace conference". Hebrews chapter 9 - if you are a law preacher then you will tell people that before they go to heaven they will have to stand before a throne in the Presence of God and appear there and their whole life will be spread before them and they will be judged. The New Testament doesn't say that! The New Testament doesn't say you appear before a throne in heaven to be examined and judged! Someone else appears on your behalf for you and His Name is Jesus your great High Priest!

He is in the order of Melchizadek! Under the Levitical order if you did good then the Levitical priests would bless you but if you did bad then they would curse you - in fact they would stone you! It actually said if your children don't behave then take your own children out and kill them under law! These people want to bring law back and I wish they would bring it back to it's full extreme so that people could see! But they don't - they are like the Pharisees and water the law down to what is palatable for civilised and decent church-goers! No! The law says cut hands off and pull eyes out! Stone people! Kill your own children!

Melchizadek was an order of priests of grace that blessed Abraham with heaven! Melchizadek gave Abraham heaven's blessing! The question is not am I good enough but is HE good enough? Yes! He is your representative! If Israel's high priest was good then Israel would be okay but there was always this nervousness that his sons may be bad guys and then we are in trouble! Then the crops will fail and there will be curses because it was all about the high priest! Israel went through confusion and destruction and in Hebrews it says our high priest isn't a high priest due to ancestral lineage but on the basis of an indestructable life. The Perfect One who is yesterday, today and forever the same (Hebrews 13:8) and we quote it at healing meetings but it is about His priesthood! He represents you and me forever in the heavenly realms!

Your life is hid with Christ in God and God can't see your sins and doesn't know they exist and they are all gone and the law has been blotted out and He is not counting your sins against you!

And you have still got Christians going "No - dont kiss me - I don't deserve it!". What grace that He doesn't say fine and leave? He did that to Israel eventually! And gave them the law! If people keep resisting grace then they are positioning themselves to be bewitched and go back under law. Don't produce Ishmaels! Don't mess up and think you have to put a bit of law in to make you better! No - just stay in the power of the Spirit and He will change your life and you will get victory in that area. Don't rush it! Otherwise you will produce an Ishmael! I don't want an Ishmael holiness that the church is impressed with! It is all my flesh and external holiness. No - we want heart transformation by believing this message and enjoying God and letting Him kiss us! Hebrews 9:24; "He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's Presence! Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again ...". (v26); "Then Christ would have had to have suffered many times ... now He has appeared once for us". The sin issue has been dealt with! It doesn't make us want to go out and sin! It has the opposite effect! Kiss me again! The more He kisses me, the more I am in love with Him and the less sin has power!

If you do sin then He doesn't count it against us! (Hebrews 6) Jesus went into the Holy of Holies on our behalf to anchor our soul in the substance of eternity forever appearing for us! The Church forgets though that He is there for the world too! Go to 1st John chapter 2.

I haven't found a church once anywhere on the planet that is in revival or full of life where they have fifteen or twenty minute sermonettes and it is just to fit in or cater to man's convinience. Revival churches never cater to man but to heaven and for God! If people are too busy for these things on a Sunday morning or a Thursday then they are just too busy.

1st John chapter 2:1; "I write this to you so that you will not sin". So that you will not sin. So grace preachers are not preaching to get people to sin! "But if anyone does sin then we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence, Jesus Christ the righteous one". Sin has been judged and punishment and wrath have been poured out on our sin! (v2); "Not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world". So when people say that the Holy Spirit is convicting the world of sinning then they are crazy! Why would the Holy Spirit convict the world of sins that Father is not counting against them and Jesus has already forgiven them and reconciled them and dealt with and taken away those sins and appeared in the Presence of God for the whole world?! So why do people go to a lost eternity - if all their sins are dealt with? Because of one sin of unbelief in grace. Grace and truth came through Jesus - unbelief in Jesus is unbelief in grace and is a belief in a religious system and in law and atheism and evolution - something that is an arrogant charade against a creator God.

In the book of Revelation you will see in the last days that God's glory will so fill the earth with awe and activity of angels and miracles happening along with counterfeit miracles happening by mystery Babylon! Churches that are not positioning themselves to understand the anointing and the ways of heaven and how righteousness works will not know WHAT is going on when this stuff appears on our planet!

That's why the prophets are getting so urgent around the globe now! And pastors are going; "Let's keep everyone happy and everyone safe". No that is not good pastoring! Good pastors teach their people what prophets are and teach their people not to get offended with them and then good pastors don't invite idiot and unaccountable prophets without a long track record of accountability and a marriage that has lasted years with no financial scandals or abuse and then get that prophet in with good theology on grace! And prepare your people! Because they need to start welcoming prophets back on the earth the way they welcomed Jesus because I promise you that prophets are announcing trumpets that are being sounded; "Awake sleeping church!". No generation is going into what we are going into now!

Go to John 16 - what is the one sin Jesus couldn't die for? Unbelief in grace. Under law sinning is falling short of the law. Under the New Covenant since the Cross sin is unbelief in grace and in Jesus. Romans 14 - anything not of faith is sin. Galatians 3:12 - the law is not based on faith. Law people are sinning all the time while they try and keep the law because they are not operating in faith of Abraham. They are full of sin and judging people who make mistakes and do something they shouldn't have.

John 16:7; "It is good for you that I am going away ... if I go I will send Him to you ... He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement". It is to my embarressment that about nine years ago I used to preach this text right out of it's context. Remember I said a text out of context is a text that will con you. It is like writing a new Bible! These verses are inspired by your religious ideas. I used to preach that the Holy Spirit was coming into the world and into Australia and Adelaide and He is making sinners feel so convicted and so guilty about their sinning and the Holy Spirit is showing them the standards of righteousness that they must live upto and He is making them feel guilty that if they don't then judgement is coming! That is BLASPHEMY to preach that and it is anti-Christ and anti-the finished work of the Cross. I didn't know I was doing it! One day I heard the Holy Spirit speak audibly to my heart and I hadn't even heard anyone preach this! Since then I know of four or five different ministries that say what I am about to say. He said; "Rob stop stopping at verse 8 and read verse 9 because My Son Jesus explained what the Holy Spirit would do regarding sin, righteousness and judgement".

Go to verse 9. "In regard to sin, because men do not believe in me". That is the sin that the Holy Spirit is convicting the world of - unbelief in Jesus! Unbelief in grace! When the Holy Spirit comes to Hong Kong He will start convicting everyone that it is dangerous to not believe in grace! It is dangerous to put your faith in religious faith systems - put your faith in grace! He is convicting them of sin of unbelief! No other sins because those sins are not counted against us anymore! The counsel of the defence at the right hand of the Father is for the WHOLE world!

LEGALISTS UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE CROSS!

That's why I want to preach the book of Revelation - Jesus the mighty Lion! Revelation is about the champion that conquers evil! Evil is going to be broken! Let's see what righteousness we will be convicted of. (v10); "I am going to the Father where you can see me no longer". What is He doing at the right hand of the Father? Speaking in our defence! Declaring to our hearts that He was made sin and there is no sin counted against us and we were given His righteousness! He goes as the great High Priest and He will convince the world that all their sins are not counted against them and there is one sin that seperates us - unbelief in grace! And once they start believing in His grace then He will convict them of the free gift of righteousness and that He is in heaven as the defence of the whole world! It is so clear but for centuries lies have been preached about the precious Holy Spirit!

Then what is this judgement about? (v11) The judgement has got nothing to do with us! "The prince of this world now stands condemned". Who is the prince of this world? I promise you that it is not Jesus! 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls Satan the god of this world! John 14:30; "I will not speak with you much longer for the prince of this world is coming and he has no hold on me". Who is the prince of this world? Satan! 1st Corinthians 2:6 says; "The Cross was God's secret wisdom destined for our glory ... had the princes of this world known they would never have crucified the Lord of glory".

When the satanic powers stirred up Herod and the mob they fell into an ambush that was destined for our glory that was God's secret wisdom before the world began! It says in Colossians 2:15 that Christ triumphed over principalities! At the Cross your sins were taken away and God is not counting them anymore! At the Cross the rules and regulations were taken away and God is not putting us under the condemnation of the law anymore! At the Cross the prince of this world was judged! When you see this and when the Holy Spirit comes to the world then He starts kissing them and loving them again and again; "You don't believe in grace, you don't believe in grace - come on, come on!". While He convicts them of unbelief in Jesus, He is also empowering them with an anointing to enable their hearts to believe!

How did I believe? The Holy Spirit convicted me for 3 moinths as a Hindui and suddenly I just believed! And I saw that there is a great High Priest! Some Christians do not see this because the Holy Spirit is not there in their meetings! The Holy Spirit can reveal the lies that have been on the church!

That's why evangelical fundementalism is coming down in North America! Because the world is saying "Something is wrong!". Something is wrong when evangelicals get up and say that the Twin Towers going down in flames is God judging America! No! That was satanic people flying planes not God! Everyone goes to church after the Twin Towers because of fear of judgement and the motive is fear! I am a surfer and I know beaches in Durban where sharks came and killed people. Within 4 days people went swimming again! Fear doesn't stop people! Fear won't make people go to church! The love and beauty of God will! The Holy Spirit then says; "You know this feeling of condemnation you know as a Christian? The law has gone!". Yes but God I feel so accused! "There is an Accuser of the brethren! He is condemned! What he is doing is a lie! He is judged!". He is kissing the world and loving the world! God has reconciled us in Christ! God is not counting your sins against you! You are reconciled!

NOT just the church! The world! But the church doesn't see this and lives under condemnation and keeps sin in it's life! But then goes; "Yes well at least I have got some hope of going to heaven because the blood sort of clenses and I am trying hard at least! Those other sinners just look all the time and I am actually quite jealous because I would like to do what they are doing! But I can't! Because I am afraid of this horrid God and to hell with them all and I am glad they are going because they are having more fun than me!". Can you see why much of the church cannot conduct heaven's kisses into the earth because they think that the Holy Spirit wants to smack them and bring poverty on Hong Kong and bring fire and torture people!? Who wants to spend eternity with a God that hates and rapes and tortures and destroys!? That's why many Aussies are saying forget it! They would rather go to hell with all their mates! I don't blame them! They got that from the church! Their church services are so boring and Satan loves it! The devil is jumping condemnation on them! It isn't the Holy Spirit! It's the devil condemning! This is the New Covenant after the Cross!

Peter and John asked if they could call fire down on the Samaritans and Jesus said; "Oh that is the Old Covenant! It is the wrong spirit! You can't call wrath down and heaven's love for salvation!". That is Babylon and confusion! We have the good news of peace! The angels announced when Jesus was born; "Peace on earth and good will to men". Angels announced it! But then we come out of the Christmas service and proclaim coming wrath! No - Jesus came with good will to all men. Read the Old Covenant prophets and they all prophesy over Someone coming who would redeem the whole world. The whole world is redeemed and reconciled and is not having their sins reconciled against them and Jesus Christ is right now in heaven in defence not only for you and me and the church but for the whole world! The only difference between them and us is that they haven't yet believed in grace because they haven't heard much of grace but of judgement and wrath and fear! Any Christian in Hong Kong that were going to church out of fear and told that God is angry with you if you don't go to church - they all went less and less often. I mean them all over! Not because of anything else but a false gospel being preached that stops heaven breaking into Hong Kong!

Last Scripture and we close. What we are involved in is not just a nice church but a church that will influence nations! We must accelerate! Acts 10. Last week we finished with Peter's hypocrisy and I explained what Peter's hypocrisy was. When born again legalists came, Peter was afraid of them because they intimidated him. It was a demonic power on them and on legalists. In their presence we start acting all false and holier than we really are. We start agreeing with them but it has gone now! No one will ever intimidate me again! I am never going to play their game again. Peter played that game and became a hypocrite and Paul challenged him! He said to an apostle; "You are clearly in the wrong! You are a hypocrite! Your hypocrisy is taking over the Antioch church and they are moving from grace back into law because of YOU!".

Peter repented! Peter wanted to call fire down on Samaritans and now He wants to move the gospel on sinning Gentiles but can't use Peter because he still believes he is under law and still has some Babylonian hangovers. Peter thinks that the sinners out there are defiled, ugly, unclean and impure! But God is not counting their sins against them! Peter can't conduct heavens kiss to the Gentile sinners because of a religious block in his thinking! Heaven must come and kiss Peter so through him it can kiss the sinners into salvation.

Acts 10:9; "he fell into a trance". Trances in the Holy Spirit are quite biblical!

(v11); "He saw heaven opened". Revelation - heaven coming down - biblical! "Kill and eat". Now Peter is so holy he is trying to lecture God Himself. That's how established religion can destroy someone. (v14); "Surely not Lord! I have never eaten anything impure ... Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. This happened three times .... do not hesitate to go with them for I have sent them". These men are Gentiles under the law and are Italians and Peter shouldn't be able to go with them! But under a vision he knows that God is speaking about going to the lost! (v23); "... As Peter entered the house ... I am only a man myself ... but God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean!". What a massive paradigm shift in this man! Then Peter gets up and preaches grace and in (v43); "everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name".

Peter did NOT say God will forgive you IF you believe. Forgiveness has ALREADY been done! The tragedy of people in hell is that God forgave all their sins at the Cross! They are there because of one sin - unbelief in grace. Forgiveness is already done. If you believe - that is when you receive what is already available!

When they heard this, this is the climax and finale! (v44); "The Holy Spirit came on". Check out the Greek. In most translations it is "fell on". It is the same Greek word in Luke 15 when the Father "fell on" and kissed the neck of the prodigal son. The Holy Spirit couldn't wait! The Father ran! Before Peter had finished his message, heaven came down and fell on them and kissed them! (v44); "ALL". It wasn't a few that came up to be saved. "The circumcised believers were astonished for they heard them speaking with tongues". How many of you saw them repent? Did they repent to get saved? The prodigal son didn't get a chance to repent and nor did Cornelius and his house! They are still preaching Old Covenant John the Baptist repentance! New Covenant repentance is simply change the way you think! You are saved from law! There is a new time and God is relating to the earth differently now! This is a whole new deal! Can you imagine if we got every church and every believer as a portal - can you imagine how heaven would fall on and kiss 7 million Hong Kong? If the church doesn't wake up and do it then we are going to build the biggest church of unbelievers today!

I want to plant a church with a whole load of sinners who don't know about Old Covenant hierarchy! They just don't know! They just come in and go "This is church!".

He handpicked us! Some have come out of curiosity! But have gone because they are orientated wrong. You are able to endure long messages! You come on Thursday and pray and push through. He is establishing a company of people on assignment from heaven to see Hong Kong kissed! In the Welsh revivals the Holy Spirit fell in church services and fell on the church and then it became so fall and He began fallling on open meadows and open streets! In the Hebrides hundreds went to the police station because they were just getting kissed in the streets and they went and gathered! Duncan Campbell had to go and preach and tell them what they were receiving! No preacher! The biggest problem was to get a stubborn denominational church moving. Evan Roberts single-handedly lead that the church in Wales and said; "If the church will bow it's knee then the world will bend". But the church wouldn't bow it's knee because it loves its programmes and it's religious hierarchy. I am tame compared to Jesus! I have never cracked whips!

He said to them in John 8 that their father was the devil so they were conducting devilish practices into the community. This woman should have been set free after 18 long years! You think there aren't spirits plotting to kill me!? You don't know a fraction of the emails Glenda and I have to read! I try to be a nice person and try to get up and be nice! And I get up and smell a bit of religion in the room and then I don't switch it on - He does! When He switches it on - here we go again and we have another hour!

We are preaching not for 100 people but for millions of people! We are preaching for a congregation called City Church to lay hold of revelation, have divine encounters and in unity pull heaven into Hong Kong!

Becoming a Lightning Conductor - Part 3

This message was preached on Sunday 1st March 2009.

"How to Speed up in the Supernatural".

Turn in your Bibles please to Hebrews chapter 12. The series we are on at the moment is; "Faith Conducts Heaven's Influence into the Earth". Jesus said; "Father Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, Your Kingdom come to earth and let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven". This morning we are in the third part of the series and I really do feel like more and more of heaven is coming down. I am waking up to more of heaven in my room. I am waking up to a greater awareness of the invisible realm, the realm of the celestial, the transcendent realm. The Bible says set your minds on things above where your life is hid with Christ in God. It also says we are seated in heavenly places and are citizens of heaven. So too many Christians are earthly-concious and are not heavenly concious. So they are very good at practical things but are not very good at bringing heaven to earth so they act like practical atheists. Many Christians live fairly good moral lives but I know atheists that live fairly good moral lives. I know atheists that can do fairly good things such as the Rotary Club and organisations that do ethical good things. So what distinguishes them from us? Surely it has got to be a whole lot more - otherwise I am leaving the church and getting out of this stuff because I find just trying to be a good person really boring! I want to be a good person but if that is the objective of my life then you can be an atheist and do that!

We were born into this earth with a destiny for God to use our spirit and our soul and our body as a living conductor for heaven to come into the earth.

We are not the mediators or mediums! That is demonic! Jesus is the superior Mediator and what He is mediating is His finished work at the Cross as our great High Priest and what He is mediating can be downloaded from the Holy Spirit from heaven into our spirit and then released into the earth through us being conductors. Now I believe the primary place that should take place first of all is the church.

When we gather together like Acts 5 the Presence of God should be so powerful in the place that people feel awed and amazed and overwhelmed and some would be astonished and while some would mock and say; "These people are drunk with new wine" and would ridicule it and others would fall on their faces and others would jump out of wheelchairs and blind eyes would open because God has come down! Heaven has come down! And that happened again and again in the book of Acts that when God's people got together and you wouldn't know what would happen next! Today the church services are scripted according to a programme and governed by the hand of man. We have got so far from the original pattern that was the book of Acts. That was the church that Jesus birthed! He deserves in the 21st century the church He birthed 2,000 years ago come back to the earth!

Last time I checked - most morning services around the world don't have what I have just described. They have a lot of practical things, moralising, good programmes, they are good, nice, sweet, irritatingly nice people eating chicken meals and drinking their tea together in a sweet nice way while the world goes to hell by the millions! I believe God is raising up apostolic, New Testament churches in the earth today that are not for the faint hearted or who want an easy life. This is for those who love being persecuted and for those who can handle rejection and can be misunderstood and can endure and can come through and at the end of their life say; "I have ran my race and have finished my course!". I want to talk today about throwing off every hindrance and all umnbelief and running this race with perseverance this race that is marked out for us and having a church where 100% of the members conduct heaven's influence into a meeting! That there isn't one member sitting there analytical and skeptical and mocking and ridiculing and questioning "Is this God?" or appointing themselves as the moral policemen.

God didn't die and appoint any human being as the decider as to what is the Kingdom of heaven and what isn't. He gave the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to testify in our spirits and our hearts by the anointing what is the truth! You have an anointing and you know all things! You have an unction from the Holy One and the Spirit teaches you what is truth. He is the Spirit of all truth and the fear of being deceived means that person is already deceieved.

Because if you are frightened of being deceived then you are living in fear and the Bible says that God hasn't given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. So if you are operating from a motive of fear then you are ALREADY deceived. You are already in deception and analysing the truth from a place of deception and you need power from heaven to break your mind free of that religious demon! From that religious spirit that has held you bound in the traditions of men.

Some people have got a ministry of taking out the garbage and the garbage is what contaminates our minds. I am not talking about sin but unbelief, pride, traditions of men, conservatism, self-conciousness, inferiority complexes, criticism, judgemental attitudes. That is garbage and you won't even finish the race with that in your heart or in your mind. A lot of hindrances are going to snap off our lives today! I wanted to preach this message last week but I didn't get to it.

Last Sunday at 05:00 while I was praying not thinking of Hebrews 12:1 the Holy Spirit spoke into my heart and said; "I am a running Spirit, I am a moving Spirit, I am a sprinting Spirit!". I said; "What?!" and He said; "Yes! And I am anointing My people in City Church to run this race with EVERY hindrance gone! ALL unbelief gone! I am going to put that anointing on this church and you will see some acceleration, some speeding up taking place!".

So please walk this thing through with me. I am excited because the prayer meeting before the service basically prayed my message and they didn't know what it was. Wesley said; "I see God running to us!" and I said; "Yere that's right in the message!". Others were talking about contamination coming off, fire consumming hindrances and restrictions off us! That is the prophetic word to us today! I believe in the Word of God - I believe in the Bible and I believe in good doctrine. But all theology and all doctrine is not always present to your immediate situation. That's why prophets are not just teachers teaching general good theology. They preach and teach the "Now" word from heaven - what the Father is saying "Now!" to the church, "NOW!" there is a running anointg and "Now!" let the revelation come and invite you into anointing that can speed your life up. This is about speeding your life up in the supernatural but pleae hear this - this is also about what hinders heaven through us to the whole of Hong Kong. How many of you know that evangelism programmes are best in the world for handing out tracts and going door-door and having crusades and it is losing the race in Hong Kong!

At the present rate most of Hong Kong will be living a Christ-less eternity. So God wants the church to conduct heaven into the residential, geographical, spiritual zone of the world in which they live. God wants the church in Hong Kong (and not just us) to become divine radiation zones so that while we are sleeping, while we are not even thinking of doing it - heaven is finding a portal, open heavens is finding a conductor! In Dubai I saw one of tallest buildings in the world is still going up and it gets so much lightning. We are seated the highest places - in heavenly places and yet we are on earth as heavenly citizens to bring heaven to earth. So we are capacitated through faith to eminate heaven's influence into the earth.

I wish I could go back and give lesson number 1 as to where and why the earth lost heaven's influence because the earth was created in the image of heaven and the glory of heaven was over it all the time when Adam and Eve walked here. It was only after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (which was religion - trying to do good and avoiding evil) that frustration came on our planet. Satan became the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) but at the Cross Jesus cancelled Satan's lease and said; "ALL authority in heaven and on earth is now Mine and I am going back to heaven to sit down but I am going to delegate My authority to My church to bring heaven to earth again because an illegal usurper called Satan is not legitimately or legally anymore the god of this world since the Cross and the Resurrection and the Church sits on it's blessed assurance and says "Why is God allowing wars and people to suffer and cancer and sickness?". - to the PEOPLE to not live part-time Christianity, to not pop into church when it is convineint but to become enlisted not as volunteers but arrested by eternal urgency to live as the people of God!

Nothing else is the Kingdom! You cannot be a part-time disciple! You will be taken out! You have to monitor your life and be clearly identifying what is hindering me? What is slowing me down? What is restricting me? And be ruthless in the way you deal with that so you can run! A race is marked out for you and you will give accollunt if you ran that race and finished that course! If there weren't things hindering us running that race then why are the majority of Christians in the world not serving Jesus supernaturally, why are they lukewarm, why aren't they moving in miracles, why have they abandoned themselves to convinience? Why do millions no longer go to church? Because they were part-time disciples, casual about this treasure and stewardship of the eternal realm in the temporary. They were casual about it and are not going to make the race. Unless churches come into awesome restoration of the book of Acts. Backslidden Christian will look up and see authentic people who are on the earth who have been through pain, rejection, set backs and disappointments and have brushed it off and run right through it because there is your life being removed so you can run right though it.

If you have got hindrances in your life then you will not run through the opposition. But if you get rid of the hindrances then you can run through every opposition from tday! Momentum is everything! When a massive locomotive is going 2km an hour you can put a little branch on the railway track and it will stop a train weighing many tons. But when that train gets up to 60 or 70 km an hour you can put a massive log on the train and it is gone! Hardly felt! Disappointments, rejection, hurts will come! This is normal to the Christian life! If you are part of this church then you are going to be hurt! "Rob I want a life where I don't get hurt!". Then I will pray for you and we will put a gun to your head, shoot you and you will never be hurt again!

Why get there sooner than you need to though because we are going to get there anyway but we need to bring IT HERE before we go THERE!

So journey with me on this thing! It is going to be very good! Remember last week I said that Galatians 3:9 says that those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith? Faith means I believe God is good all the time. I know that He is good all the time! I don't care how much bad is happening in my life - God is good ALL the time! I am not in heaven and there isan enemy against me who is trying to do everything he can to hinder me. Faith means God is good all the time and wants to bless me all the time! Then we saw in Galatians 3:12 that the law is not based on faith.

Galatians 3:23 says we were held prisoners by the law locked up until FAITH should be revealed! It means that Abraham operated in faith 430 years before the law. Then the law came and it came because God didn't want to give the law or the sacrificial system or the Levitical system - He brought the law because Israel did not walk in the faith of Abraham but their unbelief in the goodness of God meant that God said He would give them something not based on faith. It is the law. So He gave them the law and they realised that under that law no one got blessed, no one got righteous only the curses of the law came! So Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law that the blessing given to Abraham may come to the Gentiles by faith through the promise of the Spirit. So faith being revealed is more than "you have got to have faith".

Faith being revealed as the only governing principle of the New Covenant. Law is no longer a governing principle at all!

Last week I said something radical and it is radical! If you don't see it it will become plain to you in the future! I only saw this in the last few months!

Under the Old Covenant of Moses sin is defined as "falling short of the law" or breaking the law. Sin is when you don't keep the law perfectly under Moses. Under the New Covenant of grace sin is clearly defined throughout the New Testament as unbelief in the goodness of God. Sin is not defined as falling short of the law or breaking the law. THERE AINT NO LAW ANYMORE!

There is no sin to measure your sins because you are redeemed from the curse of the law and we saw last week that in Colossians 2 Christ cancelled the written code, the rules and regulations that stood opposed to us nailing it to the Cross! So that is gone! So sin the New Covenant is unbelief in Jesus and unbelief in the goodness of God and unbelief in the grace of God! So you can see how much sin is going on in legalistic churches! When you put the law on people you are in unbelief because the law is not based on faith. The law blinds you to the goodness of God and the law drives you to self-righteousness and to try and earn the blessing of God because you think God is not good, He's stingy, He's mean and He wants to punish me so I better behave and do good to earn the blessing! That is not a good image of God and that is never the way God wanted to relate to man.

He ALWAYS wanted it to be by grace before time began!

So I could prove that a lot more but I need to move on. If you are taking notes and want to check it out - look at Hebrews 3 sometime from v7-13 and the writer of Hebrews makes it very clear that a sinful heart is a heart of unbelief in the grace of God. Then we see in Hebrews 10:26 that; "If we deliberately keep on sinning". That is not general sinning but a specific sin - the Hebrews were relying on the Levitical system, the priesthood and the blood of bulls and goats. The writer to Hebrews says; "You are trampling the blood of Christ under foot again, your sin is the sin of unbelief in the New Covenant, unbelief in the blood of Jesus and you are trusting in your own works, the Temple system and trusting in shadow and symbols when the substance and the reality have come in fullness in Christ". Hebrews 11:1 starts off; "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". So faith is the evidence in your spirit of things you can't see and if faith stays there as the evidence while you can't see it then very soon you will start seeing it with your natural eyes as well! If you can endure long enough through faith and patience, faith is the evidence in your spirit of things not seen.

In 1981 I got faith that one day I would pastor a church where every member was a royal priest carrying the glory of God! That miracles, signs and wonders would not have to happen because of one man coming in and fasting or a special visit from an evangelist but that our meeting together would be so hot ... I haven't seen it yet but I have got the evidence of it in my spirit and sooner of later I am going to see it! I have got a dream and a hope and a substance to that hope! Because faith is the substance of that hope - I don't see it with these eyes but I have the substance in my spirit!

Faith is on the inside of me and faith is what pulls me forward! Then Hebrews 11:6 says; "Now without faith it is impossible to please God". Galatians 3:12 - "The law is not based on faith". If you keep the law 100% then God will NOT be pleased with you. Even if you did - no one has! Except Jesus! Because the law is not based on faith and it will just make you a moral person that is self-righteous and a Pharisee, Sadduccee, couldn't-see, wouldn't-see and a critical person! Faith is what God wants! I am not encouraging unholiness and please understand I am not encouraging sinning! If you are born again you don't want to sin according to the Old Covenant definition!

But if you don't sin according to the New Covenant definition - if you don't have unbelief in the goodness of God but have faith then I promise you that faith will attract heaven into your life and give you increasing authority over what the law calls sin!

So I am not encouraging sin! But I am going to say some radical things from the Bible here. The rest of Hebrews 11 goes on and it describes heroes of the faith. "By faith Enoch walked with God" and then got caught up into the heavenlies. "By faith Abraham did this" and "By faith Moses saw into the invisible world and endured the difficultiies he faced in Egypt". By faith Noah built an ark! By faith businessmen in Hong Kong are going to make billions of dollars and find a strategy of how to do that! By faith they conquered armies! By faith mothers brought their children back from the dead! Then the Scripture changes towards the end of Hebrews and talks about those who were sawn in half! They were also sawn in half with faith! That is a split personality in the extreme! They refused to give into the fear of man or the pressure to walk away from Who Jesus is! These are people that did mighty things through faith! That is Hebrews 11.

Then you get to Hebrews 12:1 and it begins immediately; "Seeing then we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" - who is this great cloud? All these mighty men and women of faith in Hebrews 11! Now it says we are surrounded by them! Hello Abraham! Hello Joshua! I see you Moses! We are surrounded by a cloud of them - these people that endured and by faith marched around walls and walls came down!

These people that did amazing feats of miracles that are so foreign to modern Christians! They surround us! I am not saying their spirits are in this room but Pauil says in Ephesians 3 that in the removing of hindrances of unbelief we are able to conduct the faith experiences of the cloud of witnesses who have passed a baton to this end day generation that we might run the race that is marked out for us and in the faith of Moses and Abraham and Enoch and those who did awesome things!

Today God said "I am going to impart to those who have ears to hear the download of the trace memories, experiences and wisdom of the heroes of the faith into City Church International those who will take from the Spirit this cloud of witnesses!".

What is a witness? Someone who gives evidence in a court of law. These people show a life that gives evidence that the things they trusted for were manifested in mighty demonstrations. Hebrews 12:1 - "sinning". Take the whole context of the book of Hebrews and the New Covenant. What is that sin? An evil heart of unbelief that the Hebrews were constantly going back to the law. That is the sin of the New Covenant - unbelief in the grace of God! "Let us run with perseverance .. the Author and Perfector of our faith". When you hear the word "perseverance" - what do you think of? Tired! A long distance marathon runner who is staggering on his feet and just wants to give up! Why? It is a wrong picture! If you are entangled by unbelief then you will run your Christian race like so many marathon runners do! (v12); "Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees, make level paths for your feet so the lame might be healed". If you allow the instruction of God to build you, if you will throw off the hindrances then as you run with faith the ground will go level and mountains will come down and valleys will be filled and you will run with perseverance so that no opposition will be able to stop you penetrating straight through it!

I live for a whole church that understand this! It doesn't mean at times we will comfort each other, the church does have a hospital ward! But I have gone to churches where the whole church was a hospital ward. And it was all about everyone having therapy and my granny was hurt and my mother did this and my budgie committed suicide and I was abused by pastors. Come on! The whole church is not a hospital ward! The church is running for the nations! It is running for eternity and eternity's sake! It is running for the multitudes on their way to hell! This is a picture that shows us that the church doesn't have to be lame or disabled or running up through mountains or valleys! "God prove yourself - show You are the God of signs and wonders!" - God, You are on trial! No He doesn't have to prove a thing! We are the ones on trial! What will we do with what He has gven us? If we are faithful with what He has given us then He will give more. If it is faith then He will give a greater anointing. God is not on trial! He does not have to do another miracle to prove Himself! But He WANTS to do miracles because of His great love for us.

He cannot entrust the greater miracles and the stewardship of them to a people that can't endure! A hindrance "hinders" you - a hindrance makes it more difficult to go forward! How many of you have had a dream where you are running away from something that is chasing you and you can't seem to run? It is like you are in this syrup or soft sand? So you are putting out so much effort but not tting very far! That is a hindrance! That is your subconcious mind telling you that you have got thoughts in your mind that are hindering you in your marriage or ministry! This verse is so wonderful because it says "Throw off everything that hinders and the sin (unbelief) that so easily entangles".

Now the New Testament wouldn't say throw it off if we couldn't throw it off!

Let me just deal with another religious tradition that is a lie. If I had time today I would show you where wrong thinking came into the church and would take you on a history lesson and would trace from about 200 A.D when the church was moving in such power still with glory and were shaking nations. They said; "These Christians are turning the world upside down". But then the New Covenant was lost and for 1, 000 years the church went into the Dark Ages. Adolph Hitler said if you tell a lie often enough then people will believe it! So today in 2009 you have got generations being born into these lies! And people born into the church and absolutely believe they are sound in doctrine but they are doctrines of demons. Paul says in the last days there will be doctrines of demons - lying spirits. They were a priesthood and many didn't know God. They went to superstition and went to beating themselves, lying on spikes to try and get holy! We should be so grateful for our Bibles! We should be so grateful for this book in our hands For 1,000 years the priests would not let the people near it! Because they said if they read the New Testament for themselves then they will know they were being controlled and lied to. So doctrines of demons were passed and they are STILL in the church today!

You are either anointed and controlled by the Holy Spirit or you are controlled by religious demons - there is nothing in between!

I could show you doctrines of demons that are preached on Christian television and where they came in and they are not New Testament! They are hindrances! And one of them is this idea - that you are meant to run with hindrances. You are meant to! Some through mud and some through snow but one day it will all be worth it when we get to heaven. People even say this - running with this big elastic band on you and that is like going to the gym and doing resistance training and that is how you build your faith muscle by running against hindrances! If you built a faith muscle by running against hindrances then why does God say "throw it off?". Get bigger ones on?

You don't develop faith through resistance training. You develop faith by hearing your Father speak to you.

When perseverance comes that faith rises up because you have got substance and evidence. So you push through it and develop perseverance. But it is not the hard times that give you greater faith. If it did then India would be the place where they are raising the dead every day! Everywhere where people are suffering trials and difficulties they would be raising the dead, opening blind eyes and walking in miracles! No it is not walking in hard times, resistance that makes your faith great.

It is hearing God! Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God! Faith will be tested! But that doesn't make your faith grow - it makes your perseverance grow! Faith will push through the opposition because it's got no hindrances! No unbelief! Go to Galatians. Sometimes you have to press eternity as something urgent into people's hearts as long as it is not an artificial urgency that burns everyone out. But I don't think the church is in danger of that generally in the world. Galatians chapter 5. You guys are listening really well to something quite extreme that I am preaching and it is a sign of the maturity of this church. 3 years ago I could never have preached what I am preaching now. It would have been bouncing off heads! Free people are popping up and not under the dark ages anymore! Don't be seeker sensative and nice to our guests! Go crazy and our guests will become like us!

People want passion - that is why they take drugs! They are tired of boring lives! Married couples are tired of boring sex! That's why they go out and have adultery! They are tired of a life without passion! Tired of being so tired! Sick and tired of being sick and tired! So they take drugs and excess alcohol beyond what is wise! They will risk their character and integrity and whole standing for a brief moment of passion! Why? Because people hate boredom! And God is not boring - He is extravagant and intense and radical and random and awesome and almighty!

I don't know who some Christians worship on a Sunday morning but I promise you it is not God! They are worshipping a semi-senile Santa Claus who is on retirement and half the angels have got the Hong Kong flu and are complaining! You don't have to have adultery to have passionate sex! You just have to have romance and love one another! That is the only reason why Glenda and I haven't had an affair! Because we have a great marriage! I promise you good sex doesn't make a good marriage. Good marriage makes for good sex.

There you single ones! Don't be too quick to say "It's not fair - it's not fair!". There are some married couples saying; "It's not fair I am married! I shouldn't have!". An angel is not going to come down from heaven one day and make your life exciting. If you have got routines that are making your life boring and draining you and giving you a lack of passion then YOU change your routines, YOU change your calendar, YOU remove the fear of man that demands you do things that do not add to you but take from you so you have nothing to give to the precious ones who are important! I am not saying stop coming to church Sunday morning and Thursday evening! That is crazy! It is like saying; "I am going to change my life and not drink water anymore!". When we gather this is the life of heaven being poured out! You will miss the Word of God - you will be ambushed and you won't make it! And when we go we want to know that we got to the end of our race that God marked out for us! He has marked out one for you and you are going to have to finish this race! I promise you you won't with the sin of unbelief in the grace of God!

Look at the race. Galatians 5:1. "Stand firm". It is dangerous to stand passively in front of me! Not because I am a driven man trying to manipulate but because that worries me. In many areas in your career you make stands. But in hindrances you don't make stands and let him do what he wants! Just go down the psychiatrist and the priest and make it better?! The time for therapy is over! The Word of God - the Cross give us power to make level our paths so that the lame are running! I know what it's like in war to carry wounded fellows! You do it because you love them but it is endangering your life. In fact some of the enemy do it not to kill you but to disable you so they know it will put the platoon under real jeopordy because they have got to carry their comrades. A civilised army will take their wounded out but an uncivilised terrorist group will kill their wounded and maim their opposition! If I get wounded then I believe people will carry me and I pray that anyone who gets wounded in this church - we will carry you! When you are shooting yourself in the head and arms then wewill carry you a few times. But after that we will help you pull the trigger and say "Bye bye!" because we have got to go! New converts come in and their lives are a mess and we help them and carry them through but if 4 years later they are still saying "Carry me, carry me!" - no! Let the lame make straight their paths!

Rob don't bring that military language in! This is a church! Paul talks a lot of military language in the New Testament! He says we are here to please our commanding officer! Galatians 5:1; "By a yoke of slavery. (v7); "Who cut in on you?". When I was a physical education supervisor in South Africa I had to mark out the field for the 400 metre track! If you didn't get it right then everyone would break records that year or noone would break records that year! They trusted me to do that! I remember running track and you had to watch out because a strategy was to cut in on guys and you could fall right over them! Or you could stumble and they would box you in. It was all deliberate and you couldn't break out! Paul said you were running a good race! They were seeing miracles taking place in their midst and then they were cut in on and their good race came to an end!

When you try and obey the law it will hinder you from obeying the truth!

Anyone trying to obey the law longer trying to obey the truth! What is the truth? What is the truth? To obey the truth is so your thinking and actions line up with grace. If you try and obey the law you will not line yourself up with grace but will line your thinking up with trying to get God to like you again! You will not obey the truth of grace! (Galatians 2 v14) - What is obeying the truth? It is acting in line with grace and it is a phrase that Paul uses throughout the New Testament. (v11) - this is Peter the apostle! Not the first Pope! The church is not built on Peter but on the revelation that God gave Peter that Christ is the Messiah. If Peter is the first Pope and the church is built on him then God help us all! Because Paul spoke to the first Pope in a way that people should not speak to the first Pope! "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong!". So if he was the Pope then he clearly wasn't a perfect one! (v12). James was from the capital of legalism - Jerusalem. "He was afraid". Legalists will try to make you feel unholy and sinful. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that even Barnabus was led astray.

Paul uses the word "hypocrisy" twice and he uses the word "fear". What will try to hinder you is something that will try and bring you into fear and something that will cause you not to act in line with the truth of the gospel but to act as a hypocrite. What is the biggest criticism of the church by the world? HYPOCRITES! You know what? They are right and I am going to prove it to you now why the world says they are hypocrites! I have been guilty of this hypocrisy that I am about to describe! What is the issue here? This hypocrisy is not about Peter eating kosher food or Gentile food and other Jewish coverts eating Gentile food. As soon as born-again legalists who say we must keep the law, Peter sees the legalists and feels fear! He moves away from his Gentile brothers and goes back to eating Jewish food! That seems like such a little thing but Paul rebukes him to his face! How much do we let go in this modern world? The issue is about a hindrance that is big in the church world.

What is the issue of hypocrisy that hinders our running? Paul is pointing out in this passage that Jews know that the law did not stop sinning in their lives. "We pretended we weren't sinning and looked at Gentiles as sinners because they did not have the law". As Jews free from the law and living in grace, there is still some sinning going on in our lives so let's not feel ashamed that our sin will make it seem as if Christ is promoting our sin. It is just that our behaviour is not yet perfected.

Our position is perfect in Christ but we still have sin in our lives - but Christ has dealt with our sin fully at the cross!

The real hypocrisy is that we are trying to use the law as a pretence that there is no sin in our lives! The law is destroyed but you are re-building what is being destroyed because it will prove that you are a law-breaker and a sinner! Acting superior as Jewish people set free from the law is unreality and hypocrisy! It is hindering your lives as born again Christians and is confusing the Gentile Christians!

What is the hypocrisy that hinders the church conducting heaven into the un-saved world? It is Gentile Christians in the world who pretend that they don't sin by trying to appear as strict law-keepers! In recent years many many around the world top church leaders have been exposed as living in behaviour that under Old Covenant law would be serious sin. The sin they were doing did not shock the world. What shocked the world was that many of these preachers on TV or through books were judging the world and calling fire down on the world and saying the world is going to hell and God is going judge the world and acting like they were so holy so when their sin was exposed - the world wasn't shocked at their sin! They know about that kind of sin! What they were shocked at was the hypocrisy! The world needs to know that as Christians we are not under the law! We want to be holy and want to live obedient lives to the truth but we still have sin in our lives and we are on a journey!

That will change the way we see the world!

Paul goes on and he says if you Jewish Christians go back under law then the law will do it's job. It will make you concious of sin. That is the job of the law! To make you sin-concious. When you come to Christ you are no longer under the law therefore there should be no sin-conciousness in your mind anymore! If you rebuild what has been destroyed and if you put the law back up then you will feel sinful and you will think you are a sinner. Christ would not be promoting that sin-conciousness because Christ died for you to FREE you from ALL condemnation! The reason you blame Christ for making you feel condemned is because you have rebuilt the law back up over your life.

(v15); "Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners". That is the attitude! "By observing the law no one will be justified ... if I rebuild what was destroyed then it is clear that I am a law-breaker". Christ isn't promoting your sin conciousness! "Died to the law so that I might live for God". You can NEVER live for God if you are living under law. To the degree law keeping is in the church - to that degree you have got hypocrisy. They have been hindered and have a heart of unbelief in the grace of God and that translates into a blockage against sinners out there. The will of God is that there are churches who are not in the law at all so that heaven can come to and through the church - heaven has found a portal and the power of heaven begins to flow over the unsaved with love and with grace and convicts them of one sin - unbelief in Jesus. We are going to move into that because Peter had a big problem with that.

Peter walked with Jesus through Samaria and Peter and John wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans. That is the church in hypocrisy under law! How God will destroy the earth and judge people! "You are of the wrong spirit - that law spirit and that spirit of calling judgement down on sinners is Old Covenant". How can that spirit of wanting to call fire down from heaven on sinners be a conductor of heaven into the world? That is a hindrance! If you can get churches in Hong Kong free from that hypocrisy then heaven will come blasting through the church and into our streets, neighbourhoods, governments, and regions - that is when revival comes! The Presence comes and stays for months! God's will is that it stays for ever until Jesus comes again!

What are prophets and apostles doing smacking their heads against granite walls and local churches? We are throwing off these hindrances! Throwing off unbelief in the grace of God! Throwing off hypocrisy of ideas that have stopped us running a good race! So that we can conduct heaven's influence into Hong Kong so that millions can get saved even without an evangelistic crusade! There were some crusades but only one obviously in Acts! Mostly it was local churches conducting heaven so powerfully that whole regions came under the divine radiation of God and turned regions to God! Not because they felt God was against them and was going to judge them but because they felt the love of God and goodness of God leading them to repentance!

Ryan Rufus - "Keys to Understanding Romans 5, 6, 7 and 8"

Rob's sermon on the "Covenant of Increased Blessing" so excited me and thrilled me that I couldn't leave it there for one night so I scrolled through my IPOD and this sermon by Ryan caught my eye. And it was incredible! There was particularly heaps of material ideal for the "Glory and Grace Blank Bible" so keep an eye open!

He preached it on Sunday 24th August 2008.

This morning I am a bit nervous! I feel like I am carrying something I want to get out. I don't feel I am nervous about public speaking so much as I am about communicating what I feel God wants me to say here this morning. What I am wanting to do is preach on four precious chapters from the Bible this morning and that could be the most ambitious and the most stupid thing I have tried to do! I don't want to give you the content so much of this chapters as the context of these four chapters so that context will arm and equip you to be able to go and study this four chapters and to unlock them and to be able to see the sequence and the flow. I've got about five or six Bibles at home and these four chapters have got the most underlined bits, there is writing down the side, they highlight and circle some bits of the texts. They are my favourite chapters!

I believe these four chapters are the bedrock chapters of understanding grace and as we study them and understand them, then we will be able to look at any verse that poses a "problem" for grace, that seems a bit contradictory of grace - but when you understand these four chapters you will be able to put those "rogue verses" into their proper context. If you understand these four chapters and then read another verse in the Bible that seems to undermine grace then the chances are you have misunderstood that verse and what that verse is actually saying. As you study these four chapters and understand them then you will be able to unlock the rest of the Bible.

The four chapters are Romans 5, 6, 7 and 8. My favourite chapters along with Hebrews chapter 10! I love the whole Word but particularly Romans 5-8 and that is where we get our theology of grace. Those four chapters come as a package - they are together and it is not good to isolate one chapter and build a theology around them. There is a flow and a sequence to those chapters that God has only begun to unlock to me in the last few months. I've seen a few things that has helped to unlock those chapters! What I want to do is arm you with a tool or a method on how to understand these four chapters. I wish I could state it in one sentance but I am going to have to state it in a few. Please resist the temptation of turning off! It's very distracting as a preacher! Just keep going, keep walking wiht me and it will drop and click into place! So I will state it and what I am on about then we will go back and look at it with some key Scriptures and establish the context.

What is Romans 5, 6, 7 and 8 talking about? I believe that Romans 5 through 8 are talking about TWO states of being. TWO positions that we are in. TWO kinds of races of people on the earth. Those that are in first Adam and those in last Adam - Jesus Christ. The theme of Romans 5 through 8 is contrasting the two states of those in first Adam and those in last Adam. Two states of being! You are either in first Adam or last Adam.

Romans chapter 5 is all about that. Adam or Christ. It is contrasting are you in Adam or Christ? There is nothing you can do to put yourself in either one of those. You were born in first Adam and we had nothing to do with that. When we come into Christ we are born again - we had nothing to do with that except believe. No righteous act got us into Christ and nothing we did got us into first Adam. Romans 5 is all about people's position. People are either in Adam or Christ.

Romans chapter 6 is contrasting that you are either in the position of SIN or RIGHTEOUSNESS. People read Romans 6 and get confused and think it is about "sinning" or "doing sins" or "being righteous" or "doing righteousness". Actually the position is either you are IN sin or you are IN righteousness. Because people are in Adam they are automatically in sin. People who are IN Christ are automatically IN righteousness!

Those who are in Adam and in sin - it doesn't matter how many good works they do - they can never be IN righteousness or IN Christ. Consequently those who are IN Christ and IN righteousness - it doesn't matter how many bad works they do - they can never be IN first Adam or IN sin again! They are IN Christ and IN righteousness!

Romans chapter 7 is contrasting those who are under the Law and those who are in grace. It is actually talking about how we have died to the Law so that we might belong to another and come into grace. It is also talking about POSITION. You are either in the position of being under the Law or you are in a position of being in grace.

The flow is this - if you are in Adam then you are in sin and under the Law. If you are in Christ then you are in righteousness and you are under grace.

People who are under the Law can try and live in grace but unless they die with Christ and believe by faith in Jesus then they can never come into Christ. Those who are in grace can put themselves back under law but positionally they are in grace whether they like it or not. With their mind and their body they can try and keep laws and fulfill the law and we say they have "fallen from grace".

To fall from grace is not a POSITIONAL thing, it is a CONDITIONAL thing. You haven't "fallen from grace" in your position. Your position is still in grace and still in Christ and in righteousness but you have gone back to the Law which Romans 5 says is "spiritual adultery". That is to "fall from grace". You are still saved and still in Christ but you are trying to impress God by the things that you do.

Romans chapter 8 - those who walk after the flesh then there is condemnation but those who walk after the Spirit then there is no condemnation. The problem with Romans chapter 8 and it's interpretation then people think "One moment I am walking by the Spirit and the next moment I am walking by the flesh and sinful nature". Something there is condemnation and then there isn't. Romans chapter 8 isn't talking about that - it is talking about your position. You are either IN the flesh or you are IN the Spirit.

If you are in Adam then you are in sin and under the Law and IN the flesh. If you are in Christ then you are in righteousness and under grace and IN the Spirit!

Positionally if you are in Christ then you are NOT in the flesh! You are in the Spirit! So a key to understanding Romans 5 through 8 is to understand what position or state it is talking about. Another key is to understand that at any point there are eight simultaneous things happening at one time.

Romans 8:1 - Someone who is in the flesh is not in the Spirit. They are in Adam and not in Christ. They are in sin and not in righteousness. They are under the Law and not under grace.

Someone who is under grace is not under the Law. They are in Christ and not in Adam. They are in righteousness and not in sin. They are in the Spirit and not in the flesh!

We look at Romans 7:1 and see "Shall we continue in sin?" and we think that is talking about "should I keep sinning or try and stop sinning?". It's not talking about that! It is talking about someone who is IN sin and not IN righteousness! "Shall I continue IN sin that grace may abound?". He is saying shall I continue under the Law so I can expose and keep exposing that sin then more grace will be revealed to overcome that sin! So do we keep living in that place of sin? No! God forbid! You can't be in that place of sin if you are in Christ and have come out from Adam! You cannot live in sin if you are in righteousness! You cannot be in sin if you are in righteousness! Now you can do sinful things but that does not make you IN sin! You are in the position of righteousness! Someone who is IN sin can do all the righteous things that they want but that does not put them in the position of righteousness. They have to be united with Christ and be born again!

Let me give some key Scriptures here. They will help form a context when you go to study them. (Romans 5:12) My three study books at home are the King James, the NIV and Vines Expository Dictionary of Greek words and between those three the job gets done. (And the Holy Spirit!!).

Romans 5:12; "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world". That is talking about through Adam sin entered into the world and the consequence was death and judgement. "For that all have sinned". Those in Adam are imputed with Adam's sin.

Romans 5:19; "For by one man's disobedience ... many were MADE sinners so by the obedience of one so shall many be MADE righteous". So if you were born into Adam then you received the free gift of sin! Hallelujah! Isn't that awesome?! You didn't need to have faith for the consequences of that sin. The consequences just came upon you whether you did anything bad or good! You received seperation from God! You received future judgement! You received condemnation! No good work that you can do can cause you to backslide out of Adam and into Christ. Just like those that are in Christ who are MADE righteous. You are imputed with the gift of righteousness. It wasn't your righteousness - it was given to you as a gift. You were MADE righteous! You don't have to have faith for the blessings or for the consequences of that righteousness. You are given the free gift of righteousness and you receive all the consequences of that righteousness. Relationship with God, being made alive in Christ, blessed in the heavenly realm with every blessing in Christ and NO bad works can cause you to backslide out of righteousness and back into sin.

Romans 6:1; "Shall we continue in sin?". It doesn't say shall we continue "sinning". It says shall we continue "in sin" that grace may abound. We cannot live any longer in sin because we have died with Christ. The next few verses talk about being united with Christ in death, burial and resurrection. We have been released from the position of sin and into Christ and into righteousness.

Romans 6:7; "He that is dead is freed from sin". Many of us think that means we are free from "sinning". But I still sin! So that means I am not dead! Oh I need to kill myself! Kill my flesh and my sinful nature! And so we get into all these DEAD WORKS thinking that we have to do something that the Bible says has ALREADAY taken place! He that is dead died with Christ and is FREED from the POSITION of sin! Understand that you died with Christ! Believe it! Don't try and believe it to be true! Believe it because it IS true! It is not your believing that makes it true! It just IS true so believe it!

Romans 6:18; "Being then freed from sin you became the servants of righteousness". The NIV says the "slaves of righteousness". You do want to be a slave of righteousness! It is good to be a slave of righteousness because even if you do bad things then you are still the slave of righteousness and righteousness is not letting you go ANYWHERE! Righteousness is cracking the whip and not letting you go back to being in sin! For all eternity you are in Christ and in righteousness! Righteousness is your master! We are slaves of righteousness!

No wonder Romans 8:1 says there is NO condemnation for those in Christ! We are not in sin! We are a slave of righteousness!

Romans 6:14; "Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace". Oh but sometimes it feels like sin has got dominion over me! It is not talking about that! It is saying that the consequences and the judgement of sin will no longer have dominion over you. You are free from sin! You are free from the consequences of sin and so no matter how much sin wants to intimidate you and lie to you and rule over you, it will not have dominion over you! It can have no more consequence or judgement over you because you are in Christ and in righteousness. You are FREE from sin, consequences, judgement and death and you have come into grace, life, freedom! You are free because you are no longer under the Law - that's what it says!

That sets up Romans chapter 7 for us! Romans chapter 7 is talking about how you are either under Law or you are in grace. It is talking about how we have died to the Law so we can come into grace in Christ Jesus.

Let's look at Romans 7:1; "Speak to them that know the Law that the Law has dominion over a man as long as he liveth". If we are under the Law we cannot just think that we can go into grace. That is spiritual adultery! Something needs to happen to release us from the Law. We cannot be in grace and try and keep the Law to impress God! We need to be released from the Law to belong to grace. It is not by righteous acts that we belong to Jesus but by being released from the Law and through faith.

Romans 7:4; "You have died to the Law". Why do people still preach that we are under the Law?! The Bible said we DIED to the Law! That we might belong to another - Jesus Christ!

Romans 7:5; "To bring forth fruit unto death". We weren't trying to keep the Law under Adam but we were still under it. The reason God gave us the Law was not so that we should try and keep it to get into Christ. He gave us the Law to show us that we have an internal sin problem that we cannot fix on our own! Paul said he would not have known what sin was but through the Law! The Law stirred up the sin nature in us! The sin nature then tries to drive us into sin! So the Law came to expose how unrighteous we are and how in desperate need of Jesus Christ we are! Once we get that revelation then the Law has done it's job! The whole of the Old Testament is about the Law and the Prophets proclaiming the Christ! Pointing to the Christ! Once we come to Christ then the Law has done it's purpose and we have died to the Law and so we might belong to another. He has given us a new nature that wants to live for God and wants to serve God!

Many people struggle reading the latter part of Romans chapter 7 where Paul says "the things I want to do I didn't" and vice versa. And there is a big dispute in the church where people are asking if that is Paul talking about himself before he was saved or after he was saved. Is that the life of a Christian? That the things we do want to do we don't and the things we don't want to do we do!? If you understand what I am saying to you today about being in sin and in righteousness or being in Adam and in Christ or law and grace - if you understand that then go and read from verse 14 and put that in it's right context!

(v14); "I am carnal, sold under sin". Does that sound like someone who is in Christ, in grace and in the Spirit? To me that sounds like someone who is in Adam, in sin and under the Law and in the flesh.

Romans chapter 8 is awesome and will help you understand that we are in the Spirit not in the flesh! What does it mean to be in the flesh? In Adam, in sin, under the law and in the flesh. In the Spirit we are under grace, in Christ and in righteousness!

Romans chapter 8:9; "Be that the Spirit of God dwells in you". If you are born again then the Spirit dwells in you and the Bible says clearly that you are not in the flesh! These people that teach on Romans 8 about being in the flesh one moment and the Spirit the next - I don't want to be too harsh but it is rubbish and it is putting Christians into the wrong direction! We must read it in context! Otherwise there is condemnation! When you realise that you are always in the Spirit and can never be in the flesh but can do fleshy things and do carnal things that STILL doesn't mean you are in the flesh! Just like you cannot be in the flesh and do Spirit things which can never make you IN the Spirit. It does not take you out of that position!

Once Paul gets through that then he launches into awesome truths about the outflow of our position in Christ! Once Paul gets through teaching on this stuff he gets so exciting in Romans 8:11 and he talks about the Spirit giving life to our mortal bodies, and that we are joint heirs with Christ, the promise of glory that is ours, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray and connect with God, God is working all things together for our good! If God is for us who can be against us!? God will freely give us ALL things! God did not spare His own Son so how will He not freely give us ALL things?! God is blessed with our life because when He sees us, He sees us in Christ, in grace and in the Spirit! He sees the glory of Christ's face when He looks at us! No charge can be laid against us and therefore we are MORE than conquerors as we go through the things we face in this world!

And the final climax of these four chapters - Paul says there is NOTHING that can seperate us from God's love in Christ Jesus! There is NOTHING that can seperate us! That is our POSITION in God! That can NEVER EVER change! That is IT! It can NEVER change! No bad works can cause you to backslide out of Christ and into Adam!

God's Covenant of Increased Blessing - Part 1

I am carrying on my wonderful exploring of the City Church International archives and suddenly realised that I haven't transcribed a sermon from 2005 yet. So here is the first!


Preached on Sunday 6th March 2005.


"The prophetic is really important isn't it? Someone said "Would it happen if someone didn't prophesy?". Well - I don't think so! I think the prophetic releases that creative word that brings it into reality. So we need to prophesy over one another! The Bible says that we can all prophesy. There is not some with the gift of prophecy and others don't have the gift. The Bible says in 1st Corinthians 14 that we can all prophesy! We are not all prophets! But we are all priests of God and all priests of God can prophesy. The gift of prophecy is different to the office of the prophet. Prophecy encourages and exhorts and comforts and builds up so prophecy is really powerful.

Please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 1. How many of you are going to make a date with God this week and spend some time alone with the Lord and refresh yourselves? It is so important you know! The Bible says that those who wait on the Lord will mount up with wings like eagles! They renew their strength if they wait upon God. We all need to break free from the gravitational pull of this earth. Some people say that you are so spiritually minded that you are no earthly good.


Some people are so earthly minded that they don't know how to touch heaven. We need to rise up with wings like eagles and move into the heights in God. I had some issues this week and they looked so burdensome and so impossible and so difficult that I didn't know how I was going to cope! So I ran up into the mountains to pray and when you get up there you are so tired that you cannot pray anymore! But in that time with God He began to address my heart and refresh me and release me from things and as I waited on Him mounting up with wings like eagles and it is amazing on the heights with God how your problems DIMINISH the HIGHER you get with God!

And God is magnified! God is so big that He cannot go anywhere because He is everywhere! God doesn't increase but we magnify the Lord. In other words He becomes increasingly bigger in our understanding as we go up to those heights. I remember that wonderful message that Ern Baxter preached one day on the eagles. And he came out with this little song on the eagles and I tell you what it is so corny and cheesy but there is an anointing on it! It goes something like this;

"Rise into the sunlight rays - using both your wings of prayer and praise, rise like eagles higher in the sky. Things will look so different when you fly!".

Maybe I should have done the junior church today! I want to talk about "God's Covenant of Increased Blessing for our Lives". This is not a prosperity cult - we don't focus on prosperity but we focus on Jesus! We don't focus on healing - we focus on the Healer! We don't focus on anything but Jesus. So we are going to look at the covenant that God cut with His Son Jesus Christ to increase the blessing on our lives. Satan is a poverty spirit. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 28 that God will bless our coming in and our going out. Our barns and livestock and credit accounts. Be the head and not the tail. Those who rise against us will flee in seven different directions. He goes on and on and on! You will lend to many but borrow from none! The opening verse says that if you will obey Me and do all My commands then these blessings will come on you and OVERTAKE you! You can't even run away from them! Then He goes on and says if you don't keep these commands and laws then all these curses will come upon you and it is sickness and disease and poverty. And He said because you did not serve Me with joy in the times of prosperity then so you will wear a yoke of poverty.

So part of the curse of the law is poverty but Christians today take oaths of poverty and think that is holy and not knowing it is part of the curse of the law! People think it is acceptable to live in defeat - no it is part of the curse! The blessing is victory and our enemies fleeing in seven different directions!

The one stumbling block for many Christians is; "If you keep all My commands and laws". So they think they must earn it and if they keep all the laws then they will earn the blessings. But Galatians 3:15 says; "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by being cursed in our place that the blessings of Abraham can come on the Gentiles by faith". This is not earning it - this is by faith! This is a better covenant with superior Mediator based on better promises! The covenant of grace says you receive the promises by faith in the finished work of the Cross and not by you trying to keep the law. If you try and keep the law then you will come under curse because if you don't keep it perfectly then you will come under curse! You break it in one area and you come under curse! But if you step out of law keeping and into faith and the finished work of the Cross then the blessings will come on you and overtake you!

Faith is based primarily not on a knowledge of God's ABILITY but on a knowledge of God's WILL. Even the devil knows God is able! It doesn't take great faith to know that the One who created the heavens and the earth is able to do awesome things! Faith is based on a revelation of God's willingness.

If I was a multi-billionaire and I said to everyone of you that I am able to give each of you one hundred million pounds British! There is no basis of faith for you - just because I am able doesn't mean I am willing! The question Christians are asking is - is He willing to do this for me? If I said I am a multi-billionaire and I am able to give each one of you a hundred million pounds but today I am only willing to give three of you it - you couldn't have any great faith! You could only hope that you are one of the lucky ones! Hope will never get your prayers answered! So many Christians say "I am hoping so!" - well forget it, nothing is going to happen in your life!


Hebrews 11:1 says "Faith is the substance of things hoped for". Without faith your hope has got no substance to it! It is just empty wishful thinking and weak human optimism! But with faith that comes by revelation of the will of God that faith will add substance to your hope and your hope will be made manifest with the substance of your faith! So if I told you I was a multi-billionaire and I was able to give each of you a hundred million pounds but I am also WILLING and here is an attorney and here is a document and I am able and willing! Then you would jump up with substance in your hope because you know that my will is to give you one hundred million pounds!

It is guaranteed! Now your hope has got substance to it which is the basis of your faith! Without a knowledge of God's will there is no basis for faith - there is just empty hope. Now we will look at the Word of God because the Bible says in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God". So when you know what God's will is for you then you know that you can put your faith in God's covenant of increase and blessing and you know that He will bless you! Why do we want to be blessed? Because we are selfish and greedy? No we want to be blessed because the qualification for being a blessor is that you first have to be blessed! It is from the innermost parts of our being to the outer most parts of the earth - that is the call of God. The nations are our inheritance! But the innermost parts of our being ought to be blessed and overflowing with love otherwise we will export bondage to the outermost parts of the earth. We need to be free on the outside then the sufficiency and supply of God Almighty will flow to the nations!

Genesis chapter 1. Let's pray;


"Father we ask for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to open the eyes of our understanding and our hearts as to the hope of our calling and what is your exceeding power towards us that same power that worked in Christ when You raised Him from the dead. So You have worked that same power in us and we are the very glorious inheritance of You Father. Open our understanding to see that we are very joint heirs with Christ and heirs of God! Thank You that through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness we are ruling and reigning in life through the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray today Lord that I would not preach a euphoric triumphalism - a false hope or a false pretence or a pretended victory. Our victory today is a genuine one because it is not based on our performance or our ability but it is in Him. Open our eyes! May the grace of God come on everyone's employment that the blessing may come on us all. Thank You that our businesses are not the source - You are the source and You can supply way more than our businesses can! In Jesus Mighty Name".

Now we will teach today so hang in a bit and stay open to God's Word and lets receive this impartation. Here at the very beginning of creation God announces out of the generosity of His heart great blessing on man and woman. The theological principle of "first mention" is a very powerful theological principle. The first mention of something shows that it is God's intention to go on and on and on. Let's read this. Genesis 1:27. He has just created man and woman and this is the first thing that comes out of His mouth. This is the heart of God for His people! (v27); "In the image of God ... that moves on the ground".

Now folks I want you to do warfare with me today in the Spirit. I don't believe we attack principalities and pull them down into the basement of the church and lock them up in plasma bottles - no we pull down strongholds that are in the mind! That are in opposition to the Word of God!


Do you know that's what 2 Corinthians 4:10 says? Our weapons are mighty through God to the demolishing of strongholds ... bring it into the captivity of Christ! The enemy has fought me all week to stop me preaching this message! There is excesses in this message and people have backed off from this thing and the devil doesn't want the church blessed - he doesn't mind if we just have enough and a survival mentality! But God has cut a covenant of increased blessing that should keep on increasing daily, monthly in our lives! So you are going to need to fight with me okay! The devil tried to take me out before I preached this message! Take the Word of God and suck it out of me! Let's all be Americans today!

The Bible says that EVERY promise God has made (no matter how many promises there are) they are all YES in Christ Jesus and through us the AMEN is spoken to the glory of God!

There is a biblical purpose for saying "Amen" because as you say "Amen" then you seal that truth to your heart with a golden nail that seals it to your heart! God's desire was to bless Adam and Even and give them increase! And for a while they walked with authority and anointing and dominion. There is a first Adam anointing. The last Adam being Jesus. Here is the federal headship of the human race in first Adam and first Adam walked with such power and authority under freedom in God and then he is seduced by satanic lies that tell him in deception (starting with Eve and then him because he made Eve his goddess instead of God his God and he let Eve manipulate him and deceive him as well because he chose Eve instead of God and that is a pressure that comes on anyone) - Adam rebelled and received the deception that he can be "like God" which is the teaching of the New Age! Satan wanted to exalt his throne above the throne of God - he was jealous and envious and wanted to be God but he cannot be God because there is only one immutable transcendant God.

So he was seduced into believing that he didn't need God and that he could become God and as he did that he committed high treason and died spiritually. He was cut off from the blessing and increase and he had to labour by the sweat of his brow. He entered into a "works ethic" mentality that was cursed. The ground and his life was cursed! And he was cut off from the covenant of increased blessing! The world today and many Christians still labour under the curse instead of the covenant of increased blessings! The world outside of Christ is labouring and working hard for the blessing and as much as they accumulate and they get through the sweat of their labour they find a vacuum of emptiness and they lose it in bankruptcy over and over again. But we are in last Adam and a covenant of increased blessing! So God looks on mankind in sweat and labour and confusion and curse and He has mercy and grace and so He decides that He is going to get back into the earth realm through a man called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans. He is an Iraqui man actually who then becomes the founder of the people of Israel.

So go to Genesis chapter 12. I love the people of Israel and the Jewish nation but I also love the Arabs! Look at Genesis 12:1 - this is the first encounter that Abraham has with God. "The Lord said to Abram ... so Abram left as the Lord told him".

You know that word "blessed" in the Hebrew there is the word "Hasad" and it literally means this; "favour - the dispensing of goods and favours in abundance - good will - special liking, special kindness - in hot pursuit of you - coming on you - blessings coming on you". That is God's promise to Abraham! One condition - leave your father's house and leave the old ways. Now I do not believe that necessarily means we all have to geographically leave our families and children. I believe more of a cardiological change than a geographical change. There has to be something where we come out from the conditioning of the influence of our past - the conditionings and limitations of people's ideologies that we grew up under. I believe we have got to connect with a covenant of increase and to do that we have got to leave the influences of our past that leave limitation on our lives. I do not believe that all of us have to leave our families and friends and children. We have had to do that by coming to Hong Kong. Some are called to relocate to nations in the purposes of God because God wants all nations to be saved and touched with the gospel!

But not all are called geographically and permaemently. All are called sometime to go for the gospel's sake but we are called to leave the mentality that conditioned us when we were growing up. We are to honour our parents but we do not need to take things from our lives if what they gave to us made us cynical and skeptical about the gospel. The very idea that the gospel is only relevant for heaven but on earth it is irrelevant and Christians are a joke and they walk around begging for everything with pastor's discounts and they are as poor as church mice and this mentality where the world patronises and condescends to the church because the church is always begging and poor and needs more and more! But when we have a covenant of increase! You have relatives in this room who think you are crazy when you come to church and they think you are wasting your time and they think Christianity is something one day when you get to heaven. Instead of understanding that this is a covenant that God has cut of increased blessings in our lives.

Go to Mark chapter 10. We are warring well here! We must leave the influences and leave the things behind that have put limitations on your life. (10:29); "I tell you the truth no one who has left home or ... will fail to receive a hundred times as much in THIS PRESENT AGE". I don't know what that means! Is that a hundred homes? "Homes, brothers". Glenda and I have got hundreds of thousands of friends and I am not talking about they are just vague - we know hundreds of thousands of people! 20, 000 churches that we are working with! We just can't remember their names! "with them persecutions". You get blessed like that you will be persecuted! It won't be the world attacking you, it will be some church people! The Pharisees and Sadducees and wouldn't sees and couldn't sees! This is blessings in this present age! This is leaving behind the poverty thinking and limitation thinking and have no power or authority but one day when you get to heaven it will all be worthwhile.

That is NOT what this Bible teaches!

(Genesis 13:1) Abraham had become very wealthy in livestock and silver and gold! When did Abraham become very wealthy? When he had LEFT his family, his home, his country where they worshipped idols! He followed El-Shaddi - the God who is more than enough! God's promise was true! It didn't just say he was rich - it said he was VERY rich in silver and gold! I don't have silver and gold! But I have always turned salaries down in the church because that is too much! It is not about driving around in Rolls and smoking cuban cigars! It is that God's people get blessed!

Because the more we have the more we can do! In Hong Kong money is their god and it is a devilish god! The love of money is the root of ALL evil! People think that if I have got enough money then I don't need God! I want to tell you that money is a great servant but a terrible God! You can't do a thing without money! Money says you can buy that land, buy that building, send five thousand pastors out on the field and plant 20, 000 churches in China! That's what money says in the right hands of the right stewards! Money takes on the character of the hands that it is in! Under Hugh Hefner and Playboy it buys more and more pornography and destruction! Under righteous hands that money takes on a righteous purpose and our money represents our hours and our time!

You can be as anointed as you want but if you don't have money then that anointing can't get to where it needs to go!

No one says to me when I get on a plane; "Oh you are a pastor? Don't worry about it! This air fare is free!". You can't take the gospel anywhere without money! This idiotic thing that money is not important is insane! Jesus said if you are not faithful with worldly wealth then you cannot be faithful with true riches.
If you are stingy and small-minded with money then you will be the same way with the anointing! But when you are free with money and releasing money then you are free in releasing power and the grace of God into the nations!

So Abraham became very rich after he met El Shaddi! Some people in Hong Kong need to understand this that when you walk with Him leaving the old influences behind and walk with God you can become very rich! We may not all become multi-millionaires but we call all LIVE like multi-millionaires! I don't have millions in the bank but I live like one by the blessing of God! Everything we want it seems God does it! Genesis 15 - now this is a long reading but stick with this! Every verse here is a whole series but we will only make a comment on the main one. (Genesis 15:1); "I am your shield and your great reward". Now I want you to see that is covenant language. The enemy cannot destroy you! (v2); "A son coming from your own body will be your heir ... so shall your offspring be". A covenant of increase! Abraham believed the Lord and He credited to him as righteousness! "I brought you ... to give you this land so you can take possession of it ... oh sovereign Lord how can I know?".

Faith is based on knowing the will of God not just His ability.

"How can I know I will take possession of it .. birds of prey came down but Abraham drove them away". You have got to keep the demonic off your inheritance! "As the sun was setting Abraham fell into a deep sleep". That is the Hebrew word again "Radam" and it means to fall under the power or be under the influence of the Spirit. You can hear things going on around you but you are caught up in the Presence of God. "I will punish the nation they serve ... you will go to your father's in peace and live to a ripe age ... a smoking fire with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces ..". This would have blown Abraham's mind and we cannot understand it if we don't live in Africa or North America. "Covenant". Many people in the sophisticated Western world don't understand what covenant is. "Covenant" was well know throughout the world. Dr Livingstone was able to penetrate into Africa because he made covenants with powerful chiefs and the sign of the covenant was a cut on the wrist or the palm of the hand. He walked through dangerous areas and held up his hand and they would see he had a covenant - there is more to him than we see with our eyes.

We touch him and are touching a whole backing of many tribes that are powerful and stand with him. A covenant was an alliance where they cut an ox in half or would exchange coats and belts and would walk through these slain split oxen and as they were doing it they would recite the terms of the covenant; "Everything I have is yours - everything you have is mine". Anyone attacks you and they attack me - if we break this covenant these are the things that will happen. That was known throughout that world. What would have blown Abraham's mind was when God said "I am going to make a covenant with a human". All My resources are yours! Anyone who fights against you fights against Me! How many know who got the better side of this bargain!?

Here is the revelation of the New Testament. When God cut this covenant with Abraham, He said; "I don't want man's abilities in this. It is not by your righteousness or by your human effort. Man's performance is too fluctuating! So we need a covenant that is so secure that it is above and beyond reproach! That even when we fail and mess up this covenant stands constant" and sure and God said; "You won't walk through the cut halves of the ox with Me. I will put you to sleep under anaesthetic. You can see what's going on but you will sleep. The preincarnation Christ - the Angel of the Lord - walks through the calf and God the Father cuts a covenant with His Son on Abraham's behalf. So for this covenant to be broken Jesus would have to backslide. John 8 - Jesus said before Abraham was - I AM. He said "Abraham saw Me and He rejoiced!". Abraham saw the Son of God walk through and God the Father cut a covenant with His Son. That's why God required Abraham to be willing to give up his son so God the Father could get His Son into the earth to die and that was the ultimate cutting of the Abrahamic covenant and sealing it and finalising it here on earth.

So for you to constantly be taking your spiritual temperature and be worrying am I hot enough? Am I righteous enough? He wants us hot but to get the blessing is NOT based on your efforts or your righteousness or your strength! This covenant is as perfect as the Father is perfect, the Son is perfect! They cut the covenant with each other on our behalf! We are in Christ! And if I put a piece of paper in this book, even if that piece of paper has got a few little blotches in it then whereveer the book goes so does the piece of paper even with it's imperfections! And the Holy Spirit is the administrator of the power of the blessings of the finished work of the Cross!

We are just condemned to victory! We are victims of victory! Truth sets free!

God cuts His covenant and now Abraham knows that he has got it now! God can't back out! Imagery of stars - increase! Genesis 17 - now Abraham has got substance for his faith! Now his faith lept into another dimension! Let us see how long the Abrahamic covenant is for! (v1); "When Abraham was 99 years old ... walk before Me and be blameless". He didn't say be PERFECT. He said be BLAMELESS. A very big difference between the two words! Blameless is that you have got no big problems in your life! We are perfectly righteous in Christ as a gift and we are becoming more and more blameless, sinning less and less and less. It doesn't feel like that some days Rob! I know - we all have days like that apart from Glenda! (v2); "My covenant between Me and you and will GREATLY increase your numbers!". I don't understand people who say they just want a small church of 20 people and just want inner healing and to hell with the world! We are on a covenant of increase and there are 7 million people in Hong Kong who don't know their right from their left and are on their way to hell! It is wrong to have a concept of smallness! Is it wrong to have a relational drive? Not at all! We must have relationship before we function! We must have such good relationships that we can speak the truth in love! It is grace and truth! You don't speak one without the other! First with God and then each other!

But we must understand that we can grow as a New Testament church into thousands and still have intimacy with each other and with God! There is just a wineskin the Bible gives! (v3); "Abraham fell face down ... father of many nations ... name will be Abraham ... I will make you VERY FRUITFUL". (v7);

"I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you!".

This is not a temporary covenant! 430 years after this covenant was made the Mosaic covenant was inaugurated where God's finger wrote the Tablets of stone. This Bible says that this covenant is an eternal one! The law covenant was a temporary covenant! It lasted for 1,700 years and the book of Hebrews says that the Old Covenant is now obsolete! It is now redundant and we do not have to take bulls and goats into temples and we are not under law but under grace. It is not how many hours a day that earns you the blessing! It is FAITH in the finished work of the Cross!


In that kind of faith you want to pray, you want to be a blessing! This is an eternal covenant - not temporary like the law! You say; "Rob is the law of God still relevant in the earth?". Yes - to every unbeliever and to every unsaved person is under the law (Romans 3, 7) - the law was not there to SAVE you but to LEAD you to Christ! The law is to show you can't save yourself! The law was brought in because of sin! So we can come to Christ with faith that we are not under the law, not under the supervision of the law and we are dead to the law, redeemed from the curse of the law that the blessing of Abraham may come on us!

Go to Genesis 24:1; "Abraham was now old and well advanced in years and the Lord blessed him in everyway". He was increasing in blessing! To be blessed iean every way meant there was no area in your life where you are not blessed! You are blessed in every way! Abraham got what God said He would do! Go to Genesis 24:34; "So he said ... the Lord has blessed my master abundantly". Go to Psalm 105. Remember God told Abraham that his descendants would be in slavery and come out laiden with many possessions. (v37). This is the prophetic word God gave Abraham happening. "He brought out Israel laiden". How many Christians do you see today laiden with the good stuff? "laiden with silver and gold. No one was feeble". After years of slavery! The power of God came down on that place and I believe healed the whole 3 million! This is the Bible!

We must NEVER get to the place where we say "I am going to lower the Word of God down to my current experience". Say; "I want to have the faith to raise myc current experience to the Word of God!".

Look what he says in (v38); "A cloud of covering and fire at night ... He opened the rock and water gushed out .. He remembered His promise to His servant Abraham .... He gave them the lands of the nations ... ".

Go to Psalm 115 and read from (v9); "Trust in the Lord ... He is their help and shield ... He is their help and shield. The Lord remembers us". The Hebrew word there means; "You are on the forefront of His thinking". God is plotting and planning and scheming ways that He can bless you!

"Small and great alike". It doesn't matter what your station is! "May the Lord make you increase!". Go to Isaiah chapter 60. You are always going to have in every church someone saying; "Yere but Rob ... !". It is a goat religion! Sheep follow! But Rob! But Rob! You don't know how small I am! We are so narrow minded we can look through a keyhole at the same time! We have poverty over our generations! Someone sinned back there and we are going to be punished! I know God is great but look at me! Look at the promises of God and know you have NO excuse! You have substance for your faith!

(60:21): "Then will ALL". Hebrew means it includes EVERYTHING and excludes NOTHING! It means that in the Greek too. ALL means ALL!

"Then will ALL your people be righteous". It is announcing the New Covenant! "The least of you will become a thousand - the smallest a mighty nation!". God cannot lie! He cannot exaggerate and get carried away! Is this possible?! There are 7 billion people on the planet of which 6 billion are not born again! That is enough to go around! I believe this church can grow to 20 000 and it is still too small!

When we stay in unity that we are in a covenant of increase then God can add to our number daily those being saved!

"But that was for Abraham and the Jews". I am just a Gentile! All I have got is the Gospel that saved us from going to hell! Abraham got the blessing and he didn't have the gospel! The Jews didn't have the gospel - we get the gospel! That's what maybe 98% of Christians in the world believe! They wouldn't tell you but that is exactly what they believe! Go to Galatians chapter 3. This is foundational for next week! Let's read! "I am just a Gentile with the gospel not the blessing!". (v6); "Consider Abraham!". Well we have been doing that for an hour! "He believed God ... those who BELIEVE are children of ABRAHAM ... the gospel in advance to Abraham". This is not the law covenant which was temporary! This is still the law covenant! (v8); "Those who have faith are blessed along with ....". Not hope! Faith is based on a knowledge of the willingness of God to do it for you. "Those who have faith are blessed along with ...". Why are believers so afraid to be blessed? The main thing is justification by faith - sure! "But all who rely on observing the law are under a curse". Too many Christians are under law. "Do this and get blessed". "ALL who rely on observing the law are under CURSE". Crippled with condemnation and negativity and can't even think of God wanting to bless them!

God is NOT pleased when we crawl into the throne room! If my children came to me like that then I would slap them! "Oh Dad I am not worthy to have a chocolate - can I just have the paper?!!". I would say; "What's wrong with you!?!? Have the entire fridge!". "No I am not worthy I did not take the garbage out!". I would say; "Have the entire fridge and then take the garbage out!".

(v10); "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to EVERYTHING written ... Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us ... He redeemed us" - in order that we would go to heaven? No. "In order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit!". (v24); "Now that faith has come we are no longer under the supervision of the law ... Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise". Covenant of increase! Let's quickly look at 2 Scriptures. Acts chapter 2.

Let's see the church that began 2000 years ago and lets ask ourselves is that the way that the church is today? This was the baby church and we have had 2000 years to grow into the full stature of Christ! But we went into the Dark Ages 500 years after this and for 1000 years the church was in religious superstition and hierarchial control, demons and doctrines of demons. You can trace the last 500 years in waves of restoration as the church comes out of religious tradition! The church is coming back to her apostolic and prophetic calling! God is raising up the Ephesians 4 Ministries again! It won't just be an evangelist running a crusade! Evangelists will preach the gospel and then apostles will come and establish foundations and raise up elders and biblical pattern and we will go further than the book of Acts!

I have been to fraternals for 20 years and will continue with God's leading to associate with all the pastors in the city I can - I believe in the spirit of unity! But the Bible says we have the five fold ministry to move us from spiritual unity to a unity of faith and come to the full measure of the stature of Christ Jesus!

That is why we must NEVER meet on the lowest common denominator not wanting to offend each other! You can't read that passage - we don't believe that here! No the covenants must be taught clearly and your traditions nullify the the Word of God! I have worked and led fraternals for 20 years! But I know that is not where it is going! Get into unity and we will have revival!? We have been in "unity" for centuries! We have got to move towards the full stature of Christ by apostles and prophets getting up and SAYING it like it is! With love! There are too many politicians in pulpits today being politically correct! That will never take us to the rugged, authoritative church that paralyses principalities and powers and administrates the power of the Cross into the nations and plants churches!

This church is where we are going! Ride the bus Gus! Some want to get to what I have just described but they are on the wrong bus! You can sit on the wrong bus and pray and fast until you have got no flesh left and pray in tongues but you won't get to the right destination! You can sit in religious traditions of men and say I am being faithful! But the Bible says you must be faithful to your leaders and submit to their authority and if they are preaching stuff that you don't believe in the Word of God then you must believe that too!

There is an apostolic bus that took off in the earth and it is gathering momentum! It is local church based! Apostles circulating and relating to elders! They don't fire elders or own buildings! The local church owns the building! Apostles don't come in as executives or superintendants but as friends with affection and love and build foundation into that church! That is biblical!

(Acts 2:42). Do they have a covenant of increase? Everyone was involved! "All the believers were together and had everything in common ... every day they continued to meet together ... and the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved!". INCREASE is the will of God!

Notice they didn't add to their number by their religious evangelistic programmes! The LORD added to their number DAILY those who are being saved!

(Acts 4:32) "All the believers were in mind ...much grace was upon them ALL ... no needy person among them ... distributed to everyone as they had need". Acts 6:7; "So the Word of God spread ... increased RAPIDLY ...". Now let me close with a practical application. This covenant is based on faith. But something that can short-circuit your faith is a lack of thankfulness for what you have currently got. I don't understand why God has blessed some of you in areas He hasn't blessed me in! I don't understand why He hasn't blessed you in ways He has blessed Glenda and me.

But all I know is that it is His will to bless me in EVERY WAY!

I have got to be thankful for what I have got right now! If God is blessing you and I start getting jealous and angry and bitter then people will start manipulating and turning Christianity into communism. Christianity is not communism but anointing sacred holy righteous capitalism! Those who invest their talents get more! Those who take risks get more! Those who bury their talents lose it! That is capitalism! The Church is not socialist! They act lazy and are there to beg! As God blesses the church and we give to the poor, the Bible says we are lending to the Lord and we will get repaid! There is no needy in our midst! People in Coastlands gave their cars! There is NO manipulation here! You don't have to give one thing! People gave cars to those who didn't! People paid for others to go on holiday! We were seeing dozens saved and added! If I get bitter and twisted and beat myself up - I have had pastors all over the world tell me about buildings that can seat thousands! I felt a funny feeling and God said I should celebrate what they have got! If you don't thank God daily for what you have got then that jealousy will cut off your faith!

God CANNOT bless you if you are jealous because Galatians 5:6 says that faith operates through love and if you don't have love flowing in your life then your faith won't work.

If God wants to give you something then you don't have to hint! "Faith-hints". God can put it on someone's heart to provide! But don't be too proud to ask for help! We will try and find a way to provide! Walk around your small apartment and thank Him that the rain doesn't fall on your head! Thank Him for the bed and the toilet! And then tell Him about the covenant of increase and ask Him for a bigger one! We need to be increase minded! If your salary is such and such then thank Him!

But God doesn't want us to SURVIVE - He wants us to THRIVE!

He wants us to thrive with an increase mentality! You may be just making ends meet but thank Him that the ends are meeting! Now ask Him for a salary you believe in! "Just have faith". We thanked God that we had two months of savings when we went to Australia! But then we asked for the figure we wanted and that was the salary I was getting! Then in a short while it was doubled!

Your company is too small to give you all that God wants to give you! He can provide through your company but through plenty of other sources too!

He can kill some of your rich relatives! Joking! When we brought our first house it was so small that even the cockroaches had claustrophobia! But don't despise the day of small things! Glenda could tickle me in the ear from the kitchen while I was in the bedroom! But I praised Him for the little house and reminded Him of the covenant of increase! I don't want to live off the church or the state! But in a covenant of increase I can own several houses and live in one and sell the rest and live when we have to retire! I believe we should be so blessed that we can have more than what we need so we can resource others!

The local church should be the most powerful Kingdom resource on the planet. God's agency is local church!

There must be affect through local church and for it to function it will take finances! Giving to local church is investing! This church is very generous for it's size! The Christians in South Africa and Australia resourced us here in Hong Kong! But last month I told them to cut it by a third because you guys are coming through here and soon I want to tell them to cut it by 100% because we are increase minded! I thank God for the six or seven people saved here! But now we want 30 or 40 and then to a thousand!

Confident Ministers Of Life

This sermon was slightly shorter than Rob's traditional hour + sermon! However I think that the church was still basking in the visit of the two large angels and the anointing was clearly heavy so after the sermon - the time of ministry was particularly awesome. For that reason it is very worth hearing the audio.

Rob preached it on Sunday 24th June - two Sundays after the visit of the angels.

"Open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

The Bible says in the book of Revelation that Satan is the one that accuses the brethren or the Christians night and day. It is 24 hour obsession of the enemy - he has got an obsessive personality. His compulsion is to accuse you. Everyone of his accusations are totally illegitimate. Even if what he is saying about you is true - he is illegitmate in his accusing of you. The Bible says at the Cross in Colossians 2 that God the Father nailed the rules and regulations that stood opposed to you and me and judged you and me - the standards of the law - and at the Cross He cancelled them taking them away and made a public spectacle of the powers and authorities and disarmed them, triumphing over them openly.

So there is no more standard for the New Testament Christian of the law by which he can say that you fell short of that standard and accuse you. And every one of the sins you have done past, present and future have been fully dealt with by the righteous integrity and justice of God's High Court in heaven. It has been punished already and can never be punished again.

If you ever interact with someone who you think is the Holy Spirit and after your time you come out with a feeling of hopelessness then I want to tell you on the authority of Scripture that you never met the Holy Spirit. You met a religious demon pretending to be the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says in the book of Romans that God is the God of all hope and encouragement. When you interact with the Holy Spirit you are interacting with a Personality that will fill you with HOPE. Hope is not wishful thinking but a confident and joyful expectation of good things happening in your life. In any area of your life where you feel a sense of hopelessness then that is an area that has been subject to the influence of lies not God. But the spirit of religion, witchcraft, lies, deception or a Jezebel spirit.

But Paul says that we do not have the spirit from the world but a spirit by which we may know the things that God has freely and undeservedly given. The devil accuses but the Bible says that they responded to the accusations by the blood of the Lamb and the fact that we weren't trying to defend ourselves - we have already been defended by Jesus at the Cross and He is our counsel for defence - our lawyer at the right hand of the Father. He is the superior Mediator of the New Covenant and He never changes. He is a never-changing priesthood. You change and I change and sometimes for good and sometimes for the bad. We change all the time but an unchanging great High Priest stands as the Attorney to administrate the New Covenant who is unchanging in His position as a merciful great High Priest that always declares; "Father they are righteous!". He sees no sin in us at all. What was the third way they overcame the enemy? By the word of their testimony! Someone doesn't like testimony and his name is the devil. We need to testify when God does something. I am going to give a testimony this morning!

A few months ago Gloria was diagnosed with a lump in her ovary and they did extensive tests and they found out it was a cyst not cancer. She needed an operation to go and have it cut out. Some of you were here two weeks ago when there were two angels here and the power of God hit Gloria in a phenemonal way and He just hit her again! They had extensive tests and that 3 to 4 cm cyst has completely disappeared out of her body! No operation needed there! There are only two worlds in the reality of the universe - the world of heaven and the world of the earth.

We reflect the world we are most aware of. We reflect the nature of the world we are most aware of.

Heaven is a place where there is total and absolute trust in God and absolutely no unbelief whatsoever. Earth is a place with many geographical areas of absolute unbelief in God. We reflect the world that we most feed on and the world we are most concious of and aware of. That's why Jesus said; "Seek FIRST the Kingdom of heaven". When you seek first the concious of the heavenly realm then you are concious of the nature of heaven and you override the nature of the earth realm which is unbelief in God.

I want to talk today about my little journey into the anointing and how that happened to me and how it changed my life and based on the reality of coming into the distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Lets read 2 Corinthians chapter 3:4 onwards to the end of the chapter. It is such a beautiful passage of Scripture. I like the word "confidence". I think Christians should be very confident. When you know the New Covenant you become very bold and very confident. The Old Covenant under the law