It Is Our Time (Part 1)
It is our time. Please allow me to qualify that statement. It is always time because we live in time. In the beginning God created time and one day he will end time which will be swallowed up in eternity. That is why although we occupy time we should always live from the perspective of eternity.
And so we pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven – that the eternal would invade the temporal, that heaven would touch the earth, and that what is eternally established in heaven would be experienced on the earth.
It is our time because it is our generation and our opportunity to reach the people of our generation with the good news of salvation, healing, and deliverance.
Psalm 119: 160
160 The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
1 Peter 1: 25
25 ….the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
God’s will is his word and his word is his will – his word is the expression of his thoughts and determines his ways.
John 1: 1 – 5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend [overcome] it.
Luke 6: 47 – 48
47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
If we are still running around looking for a word it may just be because we haven’t dug down to the word.
In 2 Timothy 2: 2 Paul could confidently say to his spiritual son, Timothy:
2 The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
It would appear that Paul wasn’t advocating that they run around looking for more words to add to those they had already received and heard. He testified to the elders from the church in Ephesus in Acts 20: 26 – 27:
26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare [avoided declaring] to you the whole counsel of God.
Surely you can’t mean the whole counsel of God, Paul?
1 Corinthians 15: 32 (TPT)
32 Tell me, why did I fight wild beasts in Ephesus if my hope is in this life only? What was the point of that? If the dead do not rise, then let’s party all night, for tomorrow we die!
It is our time.
Ecclesiastes 3: 8
8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace.
I believe it is our time to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. It is time for war because it is time for peace. It is time for everyone for whom Jesus purchased salvation – and for whom he accomplished reconciliation – to experience the fullness of his provision for spirit, soul, and body, perfect shalom where there is nothing missing and nothing broken.
2 Corinthians 10: 3 – 6
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [of the flesh] but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Remember what Jesus said in John 6: 63:
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Philippians 2: 16 (NLT)
16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.
So we enter the war equipped and fully armed with spirit words – life-giving words – that are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Strongholds that can be defined as “mindsets impregnated with hopelessness that a believer accepts as unchangeable even though they are contrary to God’s will as revealed in his word.”
We fight with spiritual weapons but the battleground upon which we engage the enemy is the soul – our mind, will, emotions, conscience, our identity, our personality. Basically, who we are and we all have had residual damage in our soul that needed healing.
A few months ago I wrote down that I believed the message was under attack – the message out of which the ministry comes – the message that is the foundation for our ministry.
Recently I came across a sermon by a Pastor I have listened to a few times over the years. He was preaching on the jezebel spirit and as he taught on the various ways that this spirit operates and attacks I began to realise why I was feeling some of the ways that I was. Remember, I had realised that the message was under attack.
Jezebel hates the true prophetic and loves the false prophetic and so if you are an advocate of the true prophetic you will be a target of this wicked spirit and it will threaten to take your life. However, if you flirt with the false prophetic it will have you feast at its table and falsely promise to satisfy all of your appetites.
God loves the true prophetic and he hates the false prophetic and so it is our time to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. God loves truth and he hates lies because truth sets people free and lies bind people up in deception.
As I have sought the Lord for understanding of the nature of the attack and the timing of the attack on the message he has shown me that it is actually no surprise that this attack is happening now because it is our time.
When I realised that it was the spirit of jezebel that was doing the attacking I wanted to hear and remind myself of what Jesus said about this spirit.
Revelation 2: 20 (NIV)
20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
As I meditated on this Scripture it came to me that what you tolerate will dominate. The NKJV says, “you allow that woman Jezebel.” You will inevitably bow to what you allow.
Jesus is speaking to the local church in Thyatira and he is basically telling them to stop tolerating and to stop allowing the false prophetic message of Jezebel to mislead the servants of God. He goes on to say to them:
25….hold fast what you have till I come.
What did Paul say to hold fast to, and to hold firmly to? He told them to hold fast and firmly to the word of life, the message he had established them in.
In New Wine Church I believe we have an established message. Over the years there has been a digging down through tradition and faulty belief systems in order to firmly establish our faith in the message that is Jesus and all that he has already accomplish on our behalf.
I believe that if we can if we disciple people in this message it will transform their lives and God will get all of the glory.
But before we go any further let’s shut the door on jezebel. Let’s purpose and agree together that we will not tolerate or allow that wicked spirit to infiltrate and corrupt and pervert the simplicity of the message that we have been established in. Remember, what you tolerate is what will dominate and you will bow to what you allow.
This is our time.
Something radically changed happened when Jesus hit 30 years old.
Luke 3: 23
23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age.
Jesus was the living word – the message – in the flesh and at thirty years of age the ministry began to arise out of the message.
On the 11th April 2007 the Lord spoke to me as I was reading Proverbs 4: 20 – 23.
20 My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the centre of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.
The Lord said to me: “I have not been building a ministry in you; I have built a message in you, and out of the message the ministry will come – many ministries will come.”
Jeremiah 33: 14 – 16
14 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
15 “In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Galatians 4: 4
4 But when [in God’s plan] the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the [regulations of the] Law.
God had a set time for all that had been prophesied over generations and millenia concerning what would come to pass.
Hebrews 3: 1 – 3
1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honour than the house.
It was Jesus’ time to begin to initiate the new covenant and to model true ministry that arises out of the word – as a fulfilment of the word and all of the covenant promises of God. And it is now our time to be a continuation of what Jesus began – to be a continuation of his life, an amplification of his message, and an extension of his ministry.
How did Jesus’ ministry begin?
Matthew 3: 13 – 17
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptised by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptised by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptised, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
What a grand entrance onto the public stage. You would imagine that it is bound to be awesome from now on, with even an endorsement of your ministry from God the Father himself. But hang on.
Matthew 4: 1
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted [tested, tried] by the devil.
When I recognised jezebel’s MO (after all this isn’t the first time this wicked spirit has attacked me personally or New Wine Church) I realised that Jesus himself would have encountered this wicked spirit that comes to corrupt and pervert the message and to lead God’s servants astray.
Hebrews 4: 15 (AMPC)
15 For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathise and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
Jesus didn’t just experience the full force of the jezebel spirit – he had to contend with satan himself.
And so, as it is our time for ministry to arise out of the message in this year of reconciliation as we are released into our commission of proclaiming the word and ministry of reconciliation it makes perfect sense that there would be a season where the message would be subjected to a more concentrated assault by the adversary.
The jezebel spirit is rampant in the world – in government, in business, in education, in entertainment, and in virtually every sphere of life – but we can’t tolerate or allow that spirit in the church.
There is a lot to this subject still to come but I believe that before we go any further we need to stand together and decree that we will no longer tolerate or allow the spirit of jezebel to infiltrate our church with its corrupting and perverting of the message and its misleading of the servants of God.
Remember, jezebel hates the true prophetic. So what is the true prophetic? As always, the answer is in the Word of God.
Revelation 19: 10
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Testify about Jesus, speak out the name of Jesus, sing the name of Jesus, shout the name of Jesus, exalt the name of Jesus, pray in the name of Jesus. It’s all about Jesus. People need Jesus. We all need Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. There is salvation in the name of Jesus, there is healing in the name of Jesus, there is deliverance in the name of Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
It is our time to bring the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 2: 18 – 29 (CEV)
18 This is what you must write to the angel [messenger] of the church in Thyatira: I am the Son of God! My eyes are like flames of fire, and my feet are like bronze. Listen to what I say.
19 I know everything about you, including your love, your faith, your service, and how you have endured. I know that you are doing more now than you have ever done before. 20 But I still have something against you because of that woman Jezebel. She calls herself a prophet, and you let her teach and mislead my servants to do immoral things and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her a chance to turn from her sins, but she did not want to stop doing these immoral things. 22 I am going to strike down Jezebel. Everyone who does these immoral things with her will also be punished, if they don’t stop. 23 I will even kill her followers. Then all the churches will see that I know everyone’s thoughts and feelings. I will treat each of you as you deserve. 24 Some of you in Thyatira don’t follow Jezebel’s teaching. You don’t know anything about what her followers call the “deep secrets of Satan.” So I won’t burden you down with any other commands. 25 But until I come, you must hold firmly to the teaching you have. 26 I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end. 27-28 I will give each of them the same power that my Father has given me. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash those nations to pieces like clay pots. I will also give them the morning star. 29 If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
It is our time.
I invite you to join me in the following prayer:
Father, in the name of Jesus I repent and receive your forgiveness for any time I have tolerated or allowed the spirit of jezebel to influence or lead me or others astray by corrupting or perverting the truth of your gospel of the kingdom.
In the name of Jesus I declare and decree that I will no longer tolerate or allow the spirit of jezebel to infiltrate my life, my family, the local church, or anywhere that I have responsibility to exercise the spiritual authority you have given me as your servant.
In the name of Jesus I join with my brothers and sisters in Christ and declare and decree that together as one we will guard and protect as watchmen and gatekeepers against any infiltration of the jezebel spirit in our midst.
And so right now in the name of Jesus we break off any influence of that wicked spirit and renounce any partnership with or or tolerance of it and we declare and decree ourselves completely free from its control in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
It is our time.