By Francis Frangipane
"The Lord alone will be exalted in that day." --- Isaiah 2:11
Normally my Sunday sermon is prepared a few days in advance, but this week was different. All week the heavens seemed like bronze. Saturday morning came, and still I was at a loss. Nothing seemed alive. It was now Saturday evening and I was pacing the floor seeking God. "Lord," I asked, "what is the message for tomorrow morning? What topic should I address?"
A dozen ideas filed through my mind, loitered momentarily in my imagination, and left as unanointed as they had arrived. I went to bed praying. When I woke Sunday morning, my prayer was still on my lips.
A half-hour before I had to leave for church, I had not quit pacing the bedroom floor. For the umpteenth time, I asked, "Lord, what is the message?" when suddenly the electricity to our home clicked off, reset, and then came back on. This, in turn, caused the answering machine on my desk to also reset. Perfectly synchronized with my prayer asking for a sermon topic, the machine replied in its computerized voice: "You . . . have . . . one . . . message."
When a voice comes out of the air and says, "You have one message," if your message is not centered upon the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have missed the purpose of Christianity! That morning I preached Jesus. People said there was more fire than ever in my sermon.
The fact is, the church has only one message. The proclamation of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished is the eternal message of the church; it is the only message the Father promises to confirm with power. To reveal Jesus through obedience to what He taught is to bring the life of His kingdom into our world. As we return to the "simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3), we will find the most powerful manifestations of the Lord Jesus awaiting us. Indeed, at the end of the age, the church that loves Him will display Him. We will reveal His glory.
More of Christ
When we consider that America is plagued with abortion, violence, pornography, satanism, drugs, national debt, sexual abuse, and the breakdown of the family structure, it becomes obvious we need more of the nature of Christ!
How shall we deal with the terrors that have invaded our world? Should we move to a remote area, stockpile food, and wait for the tribulation? Perhaps we should simply close our eyes to the world and hope for the rapture? Or should we find out what God is planning to do and throw our lives into His purpose?
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Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, The Days of His Presence, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
"One Message"
Christ Our Passover Lamb
While we can forgive and cover non-Christian traditions in love, we should not let these traditions obscure the profound truth of God's Word. The early church had great reasons they celebrated the Feast of Passover. This annual tradition was not only commemorative -- it was also prophetic in nature. And while we would expect that the Jewish disciples would celebrate Passover, so also did the Gentile believers. We see this clearly in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. He wrote, "Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast" (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
Repentance Precedes Revival
By Francis Frangipane
A true revival does not just happen. There are conditions that must reside in the human heart before the Lord visits His people.
We Must Want Deliverance, Not Just Relief
Too often, ministries today seek to deliver people who are unwilling to repent of sins, who have not cried in their heart to God for help. The effect is that those prayed for may receive limited relief, but they soon fall back into sin and oppression. The key to successful deliverance is to discern if an individual is ready and willing to be released before we minister deliverance. Are they repentant? Have they put away their idols? Is their heart truly turning toward God?
God's pattern for us as individuals is also His pattern for the church and the city. Even as the Lord did not deliver us until we cried for help, so the war for our churches and cities will not be won until a significant number of us are crying to God in prayer. Christ's purpose in bringing the citywide church to prayer is to provide the proper heart attitudes to which the Almighty can respond.
Pursuing the Stature of Christ
In a most profound verse the apostle Paul unveils God's supreme plan for the church. He tells us we are called to nothing less than "the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). The Father's glorious intention is to exhibit through us all the attributes and power of Jesus Christ. He has purposed that, not only in eternity but here in the midst of our battles and temptations, we are to grow "in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ" (v. 15).
We have put such limitations upon our call in God! The Almighty's goal for us is not that we merely become nice, but become Christlike, literally partakers of His nature (1 Cor. 12:12; 2 Pet. 1:3; Heb. 3:14; Gal. 2:20). There is a difference between hallowed doctrine and hollow doctrine. Let us quickly abandon the boundaries of spiritually empty religious traditions: God has invited us to partake of the fullness of Christ! The depth of His grace has rendered us capable of climbing the heights of His holiness. Through the Holy Spirit, the responsibility of wielding Christ's very authority has been delegated to us!
A War in Heaven
Lucifer's terrible crime was not simply that he rebelled against God, as evil as that was. Even worse, through slander against God and deception, he stole away a third of the angels as well. Though banished to hell, Lucifer's war against the Almighty continues. Indeed, every time he divides another church, he accomplishes part of his goal, which is to strike against the heart of God.
If you have ever been through a church split, you are all too familiar with the terrible churning of emotions and the inconsolable distress that accompanies this descent into hell. If you are unfamiliar with the experience, expect that large factions of otherwise nice Christians will be pitted against one another. They will participate in slander, anger, deception, fear, bitterness, hatred, gossip, unforgiveness, strife, rebellion and pride.
Satan's Domain: The Realm of Darkness, Part 2
By Francis Frangipane
Submit to God
The trip wire that Satan used to cause Peter's fall was the disciple's own sin of pride. Let us recognize before we do warfare that the areas we hide in darkness are the very areas of our future defeat. Often the battles we face will not cease until we discover and repent for the darkness that is within us. If we will be effective in spiritual warfare, we must be discerning of our own hearts; we must walk humbly with our God. Our first course of action must be to "submit to God." Then, as we "resist the devil, he will flee" (James 4:7 AMP).
Satan will never be given permission to destroy the saints. Rather, he is limited to sifting us "like wheat." The good news is that God knows there is wheat inside each of us. The outcome of this type of satanic assault, which is allowed through the permissive will of God, is to cleanse the soul of pride and produce greater meekness and transparency in our lives. It may feel terrible, but God causes it to work for good. Our husk- like outer nature must die to facilitate the breaking forth of the wheat-like nature of the new creation man. Both the chaff and the husk were necessary; they provided protection for us from the harsh elements of this life. But before God can truly use us, in one way or another, we will pass through a time of threshing.
Peter's husk nature was presumptuous and proud. His initial successes had made him ambitious and self-oriented. God can never entrust His kingdom to anyone who has not been broken of pride, for pride is the armor of darkness itself. So, when Satan demanded permission to assault Peter, Jesus said in effect, you can sift him, but you cannot destroy him. The warfare against Peter was devastating but measured. It served the purpose of God.
Peter was ignorant of the areas of darkness within him, and his ignorance left him open to attack. But the Lord would ask each of us, "Do you know the areas where you are vulnerable to satanic assault?" Jesus would have us not be ignorant of our need. In fact, when He reveals the sin in our hearts, it is so He might destroy the works of the devil. Thus, we should realize that the greatest defense we can have against the devil is to maintain an honest heart before God.
When the Holy Spirit shows us an area that needs repentance, we must overcome the instinct to defend ourselves. We must silence the little lawyer who steps out from a dark closet in our minds, pleading, "My client is not so bad." Your "defense attorney" will defend you until the day you die, and if you listen to him, you will never see what is wrong in you nor face what needs to change. For you to succeed in warfare, your self- preservation instincts must be submitted to the Lord Jesus, for Christ alone is your true advocate.
We cannot engage in spiritual battle without embracing this knowledge. Indeed, James 4:6 says, "God is opposed to the proud, But gives grace to the humble." God is opposed to the proud. That is a very important verse. If God is opposed to the proud, and we are too proud to humble ourselves and admit when we are wrong, then God is opposed to us.
James continues in verse 7: "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." When we see this verse, it is usually all by itself as a monument to spiritual warfare. However, it is in the context of repentance, humility, and possessing a clean heart that we find Satan fleeing from us.
We must go beyond a vague submission to God; we must submit the exact area of our personal battle to Him. When we come against the power of the devil, it must be from a heart in submission to Jesus.
There is a recurring precept throughout this book. It is vital that you know, understand, and apply this principle for your future success in spiritual warfare. That principle is this: victory begins with the name of Jesus on your lips, but it will not be consummated until the nature of Jesus is in your heart. This rule applies to every facet of spiritual warfare. Indeed, Satan will be allowed to come against the area of your weakness until you realize God's only answer is to become Christlike. As you begin to appropriate not just the name of Jesus but His nature as well, the adversary will withdraw. Satan will not continue to assault you if the circumstances he designed to destroy you are now working to perfect you.
The outcome of Peter's experience was that, after Pentecost, when God used him to heal a lame man, a new, humble Peter spoke to the gathering crowd. He asked, "Why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?" (Acts 3:12). Peter's victory over pride and the devil began with the name of Jesus on his lips, and it was consummated by the nature of Jesus in his heart. The darkness in Peter was displaced with light; the pride in Peter was replaced with Christ.
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Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, The Three Battlegrounds available at www.arrowbookstore.com.