Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Walking in the Promises of God

Someone said there are about 21,000 promises of God in the Bible. I have not counted them but I know there are much more promises of God than we ever know. What I do know is, most of God's promises are conditional and only few are unconditional.

An example of an unconditional promise of God is His love - His love for sinners (John 3:16) and His love for Israel (Jer. 31:3).

An example of a conditional promise of God is found in the 28th Chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy - The promised blessings of God are for those who obeyed His voice.

"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observed carefully all His commandments .... The Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God" (Deu. 28:1, 2 NKJV).

God promises to keep His promises

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill" (Numbers 23:19, NIV)?

"Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:11, NKJV).

"He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" (1 Thess. 5:24, NKJV).

"For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us, ..." (2 Cor. 1:20).

"... for He who promised is faithful" (Heb. 10:23).

God will never fail to keep His promises because He is a covenant keeping God:

"My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips" (Ps. 89:24).

God's promises for those who fear Him

The following promises of God are obviously conditional; the condition is that we fear the Lord.

Here are some amazing promises of God for those who fear Him:

Walking in God's path and in God's way

"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses" (Ps. 25:12, NKJV).

God has a plan for your life. For a person who fears the Lord, God will show him the path He has chosen for him to walk in. God will turn on the light and he who fears Him will see and will come to the path of the just as a shining light that shines more and more unto a perfect day (Prob. 4:18).

Keeping one's life clean forever

"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether" (Ps. 19:9, emphasis added).

The word "clean" comes from the Hebrew word "tahor" which means pure, unadulterated and holy. Not only the fear of the Lord cleanses and purifies, but as you walk in the fear of the Lord your life shall be kept clean and purified at all times - it endures forever.

The secret of the Lord is revealed

"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant" (Ps. 25:14).

Solomon said, "It is glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Prob. 25:2).

Believers are made kings and priests to God the Father (Rev. 1:6). So it is the glory of believers to seek and to understand the secret of the Lord. If you want to understand the deep things of God start to walk in the fear of the Lord.

Hidden in the secret place of God's presence

"Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which you have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! you shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps. 31:19, 20, emphasis added).

There is nothing worst than having the wagging tongues of Christians against you. If you are walking in the fear of the Lord, the Lord will hide you in the secret place of His presence and no other Christians can touch you.

Protection of the angel of the Lord

"The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them" (Ps. 34:7).

"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways" (Ps. 91:11).

There shall be no lack

"Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him" (Ps. 34:9).

Compare this with Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want ..." (Ps. 23:1).

Desires fulfilled

"He will fulfill the sesire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them" (Ps. 145:19).

If you have unfulfilled desire in your heart, God promises to fulfill your desire as you walk in the fear of the Lord.

Live longer

"The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened" (Prob. 10:27).

God will add years to your life if you walk in the fear of the Lord. We are not talking about those unbelievers who live longer than believers. God has a different plan for them.

Strong confidence of God's protection

"In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snare of death" (Prob. 14:26, 27).

The fear of the Lord sets you free from the fear of death.

Free from the visitation of evil


"The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil" (Prob. 19:23).

The visitation of evil is most undesirable; it includes all forms of evil circumstances and situations - calamities (fire, earthquake, drought or flood), accidents (road, air, rail or sea), sicknesses, diseases, sudden-deaths, thefts, murders, rapes and you name it. No believer wants the visitation of evil. We desire the visitation of God's goodness, loving kindness and mercies.

Riches, honor and life

"By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life" (Prob. 22:4).

These are promises that every one of us desires - financial security, good name and good health!


Prosperity and blessings for future generations


"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth" (Ps. 25:12, 13, emphasis added).


"In the way He chooses" speaks of the wisdom of God. "Dwell in prosperity" speaks of the peace of God. "Descendants shall inherit the earth" speaks of the blessings of God for future generations.

The above three promises of God are promises that every one of us desires.

In the midst of God's presence

"Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name" (Malachi 3:16, emphasis added).

God's presence will be in the midst of those who walk together in the fear of the Lord. God listens to their conversation and He has a book of remembrance prepared for them. We usually have a book of remembrace for VIP's who attended our functions. In other words, those who walk together in the fear of the Lord are being treated like VIP's!

Candidates for God's healing grace

"But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; ..." (Malachi 4:2).

The sun is a symbol of righteousness. The sun speaks of God Himself who is always righteous.

The psalmist said, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good things will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Ps. 84:11).

Healing is one of the good things provided by God for those who walk uprightly. To walk uprightly is to walk in the fear of the Lord. If you walk uprightly, love righteousness and hate wickedness you are a candidate for God's healing grace.

Like the clear morning sun

This is a promise of God for kings and for those who are in the leadership positions, including Church leadership.

Here are some dying words of David and I believe the most important words spoken by a person are his dying words:

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me; 'He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain'" (2 Samuel 23:3, 4, NKJV).

God desires that all leaders, including Pastors, Elders of the Local Church be just and righteous and fear God as they shepherd the flock of God.

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" (Prob. 4:18, NKJV).

Our just leaders will arise and shine; and the glory of the Lord will be risen upon us, the Church (Isaiah 60:1)!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Walking in the Fear of the Lord

At the close of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said to His disciples:

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48, NKJV).

The word "perfect" comes from the Greek word "teleios" which basically means "matured", "full grown", "full stature", "upright", "blameless" or "complete".

In fact the whole messaged (all the epistles) of the apostle Paul was basically exhorting believers to move on toward perfection and come to a place of full stature. And yet recently I heard a theologian who said that it is impossible for believers to be perfect. It is unfortunate that this theologian failed to understand that "to be perfect" is a command of Christ! Ask yourself, would Jesus give you a command that is unachievable?

Relations between being perfect and the fear of the Lord

Chapter 5 of Hebrews is the foundation for the theme of walking in the fear of the Lord. We cannot walk in the state of being perfect in the eyes of God unless we are walking in the reverent fear of God.

The writer of Hebrews wrote about our Lord Jesus Christ:

".... who (Jesus), in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ..." (Heb. 5:7 - 9, NKJV, emphasis added).

The Lord is looking for a people whose heart is perfect toward Him:

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chron. 16:9, KJV).

The Lord found such a person in Job:

"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil" (Jobe 1:1, NKJV, emphasis added).

Job was upright (perfect) because of these two qualities - he feared God and hated evil. Similarly we can be perfect in the eyes of God if also fear God and hate evil.

The psalmist said, "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (Ps. 33:8)

The phrase "stand in awe of Him" means "to honor and to show reverence of Him".

Solomon said, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Proverbs 8:13).

Therefore, to fear God and to hate evil is a key to leading an unright and perfect life.

Types of fear

The phrase "fear not" or its equivalent appears 365 time in the King James Version of the Bible - one "fear not" for everyday of the year. Surely the Lord is saying some important thing to us. God does not want us to fear anything apart from having a reverential fear, honor and respect for Him. Once you come into a place at fearing and honoring the Lord you will automatically find youself being set free from all tyes of other fear.

The following are undesirable types of fear that are gripping the lives of many God's people today.

1. Demonic fear

Paul wrote to Timothy, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7, NKJV).

The spirit of fear does not come from God but comes from demons. On the other hand God has given us the right type of Spirit in three forms:

a. Spirit of power - Power to encounter foes and danger; power to endure under trials and power to triumph over persecutions.

b. Spirit of love - Love toward God and toward the souls of men, natural love and the love of the brethren. "Perfect love cast out fear" (1 John 4:18). In other words, God's perfect love and demonic fear cannot co-exist.

c. Spirit of sound mind - The NIV says "Spirit of self-discipline". A self-disciplined person has a sober mind, a mind that is well balanced and under the right influence. A man with the Spirit of sound mind is a man of prudence and discretion.

2. Religious fear

God was speaking to His people through Isaiah:

"Inasmuch as these people draw near whith their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, ..." (Isaiah 29:13).

This is quite similar to what Jeremiah said, "You (God) are near in their mouth but far from their mind" (Jer. 12:2).

This is religious fear - fear taught by the teaching of man. Many people, even believers, are bound up by religious fear. The best way to be set free from religious fear is to be found walking in the fear of the Lord.

3. Fear of man

Solomon said, "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trust in the Lord shall be safe" (Proverbs 29:25).

The writer of Hebrews said, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me" (Heb. 13:6)?

Many believers are living today under the dominating influence of men or women. Many in the Body of Christ fear Pastors, Pastors' wives, leaders instead of trusting and showing reverential fear toward the Head of the Church.


Moving in the Wisdom and Knowledge of God

Psalmist David said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments" (Ps. 111:10).

Solomon said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Porb. 1:7).

That mens we cannot begin to move in the wisdom and the knowledge of God unless we know something of the fear of the Lord.

The Path of Wisdom

Job said, "That path no bird knows, nor had the falcon's eye seen it. The pround lions have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lions passed over it" (Job 28:7, 8, NKJV, emphasis added).

In Scripture, "bird" or "fowl" (KJV) speaks of "prince of the the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2) or the demon spirits.

In the parable of the Sower Jesus said, "And so he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them" (Matt. 13:4, emphasis added).

It is obvious that demon spirits "devour" things.

When the Bible talks about "falcon" or "vulture" (KJV) you can be sure that it refers to the Devil himself. Vulture is a bird that comes sweeping down on the flesh. When there is a demonstration of the flesh in a Christian meeting the vulture will come in and have a heyday! That is the reason why all Christian meetings must be led by the Holy Spirit. Christians must not be led by the flesh.


But there is a path that the fowl of the air knows nothing about and the vulture's eyes cannot see. And that is the path of wisdom where those who fear the Lord will follow. You can walk safely on this path because it is hidden from the Devil's knowledge.

Job quoted what the Lord said further down in the same Chapter, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding" (Job 28:28).

As we walk in the wisdom of God with the fear of the Lord in our life, the fowls don't know what we are up to and vultures can't see us. This was precisely what Jesus experienced. He come up out the Jordan Riven after Water Baptism, driven to the wilderness, tested by Satan and ministered in the power of the Spirit throughout His earthy life. He walked in the fear of the Lord and on the path of Wisdom. Satan could not touch Him or find anything in Him at all.

Jesus walked in the fear of the Lord with 7-fold Anointing

Jesus was the Son of David and David was the son of Jesse. This was how Isaiah said about Jesus:

"There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; ..." (Isaiah 11:1 - 3, NKJV, emphasis added).

This 7-fold perfect anointing was to make Jesus quick understanding in the fear of the Lord so that He would not judge after the sight of His natural eyes, neither would He reprove after His natural eyes.

Powerful Anointing

The psalmist revealed the secret of Jesus ' powerful anointing in His earthly life:

"You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than Your companions" (Ps. 45:7, emphasis added).

Some of us might think that God anointed His Son with such powerful anointing simply because He is the Son of God. But the Bible does not teach that. Jesus was powerfully anointed because of two things - He loved righteousness and hated wickedness! In other words, He feared the Lord.

Spirit without measure

Anothing thing about Jesus that set Him apart from all people of God was that He had the Spirit without measure:

"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure" (John 3:34).

Some might think that we have already been given the Spirit without measure and we would be able to speak the Words of God without any error now. But this is not the case - Paul said:

"Who (God) hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Cor. 1:22, KJV, emphasis added).

All Christians have received "the earnest of the Spirit" as a deposit. But God is getting us ready to enter into the fullness of our inheritance by getting us to walk in the fear of the Lord.

Fear of the Lord in the early Church

"Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied" (Acts 9:31, emphasis added).

"..... submitting to one another in the fear of God" (Eph. 5:21).

Forget about man's method of Church growth, for they will not be effective. Attending Church growth conferences is a waste of time! The local Church will grow automatically if all members are walking in fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And also with all members submit to one another in the fear of God.

The early Church were walking in the fear of the Lord they and were serving the Lord with fear. The did exactly what the psalmist said:


"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" (Ps. 2:11).

One of the main problems of the contemporary Church is that the people have learned to rejoice in the Lord in their meetings. But very often they rejoice without the fear of the Lord (trembling fear), their rejoicing becomes very fleshly and carnal in nature. Instead of getting the visitation of the Holy Spirit they might get the visitation of the old vulture himself - the Devil! A good example is the so called "laughing revival" meeting.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Perplexity in the Last Days

I believe this is a timely message for the Body of Christ. We are living in the End-time hour and a lot of things are happening in the world. Even in the Church life these things are perplexing us. Tremendous disasters are happening daily - extreme weather conditions, floods in unusual places, droughts, earthquakes; buildings and bridges collapsing, tunnels and mines collapsing, airplane, train, buses, cars accidents; senseless kidnapping, murders and rapes; new cases of cancers and other incurable diseases and you name it. Our lives are being visited by evil on the daily basis!

Jesus Himself said people will experience perplexity in the last days - prior to His second coming:

"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the power of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke 21:25, 26, NKJV, emphasis added).

I have said it before and I say it again - the Bible is more up-to-date than today's Newspapers. It also contains reports of things yet to come because all Bible prophecies are going to be fulfilled. It is so encouraging to read the Words of jesus realizing that He said in the last days we would know perplexity. Perplexity is here to stay and everyone will experience it some time in his life.

Learning to trust God

Thank God, the Bible has the only real answer - We must learn to trust God for who He is and not what Hes does in any given situation. Look around you and you will not fail to notice that there are so many professing Christians who only trust God for what He does. And when God does not do for them what they feel He should do for them at the time in which they wanted done, many of them get so disillusioned and discouraged that they start to depart from the Lord and ultimately stay away from all spiritual involement!

But God wants His people to have the ability to go forward from strength to strength, from faith to faith and from victory to victory even there are things happening round about you to cause perplexity to come into your life.

Hear the Words of Jesus again: "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:11 - 13, emphasis added).

Not only many false prophets will rise up and deceive many in the last days, but also false teachers and Pastors - like the homosexual "pastors"with their partners ministering to homosexual churchgoers. There is also a "pastor" who prayed over the body-parts of female churchgoers to make them sexier. It is totally beyond our imagination how depraved the human mind could become!

The good news is, God is forming into us His endurance so that in the midst of tremedous perplexity we might hold on, be overcomers, and come through into a mighty resurrection! God's people who have the endurance of Christ written in their life are people who trust God for who He is. God is a God of integrity and it is impossible for God to fail us. But we have to learn to trust Him in the midst of perplexity.

All true servants of God trusted God for who He is

The majority of Charismatic Christians generally throughout the world have only learned to trust God in what He does and when He doesn't do what they expected Him, they tend to feel discouraged, despondent and they begin to blame God, blame the Pastor, blame the Pastor's wife and blame the elders of the Church and even blame themselves.

The Bible tells us that all true servants of God went through a period of perplexity at some stage of their life, but they learned to trust God for who He is. Here are some examples, beginning with Jesus.

Jesus Christ

I believe Jesus Himself was perplexed at that moment when He hung on the cross, and cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me" (Matt. 27:46).

The psalmist (David) depicted the perplexity of Jesus when he wrote:

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning" (Ps. 22:2).

But Jesus held on and "endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus could have called upon His Father to "provide Him with more than twelve legions of angels" (Matt. 26:53) to deliver Him, but He held on and in the midst of perplexing situation came forth to a glorious resurrection.

Job

Job was perplexed when he saw the wicked prospered and he complained:

"Some remove landmarks; they seize flocks violently and feed on them, they drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox as a pledge. They push the needy off the road; all the poor of the land are forced to hide" (Job 24:2 - 4).

Later on Job repented after he learned to trust God for who He is:

"Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3, 6).

The Psalmist

The psalmist was perplexed when he spoke to God regarding the prosperity of the ungodly and the wicked:

"Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning" (Ps. 73:12 - 14).

It speaks to us today about the prosperity of the people who do not know God but make money their god. But when the psalmist started to seek and trust God for who He is, he began to understand:

"When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me - until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understand their end" (Ps. 73:16, 17, emphasis added).

Notice that God is very concerned about the end of people, both His people and the people of the world.

When Israel was tested in the wilderness, Moses said: ".... who (God) fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you that He might test you, to do you good in the end ..." (Deut. 8:16, emphasis added).

Moses

Moses was perplexed and started to blame God after his first encounter with Pharaoh. Instead of letting Israel go, Pharaoh oppressed them, set taskmasters over them and gave them extra labor.

Moses complained: "So Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Lord, why have You brought to this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all;" (Exodus 5:22, 23).

God assured Moses that at the appointed time Pharaoh "will drive them out of his land" (Exodus 6:1).

Have you ever wondered why God waited 4000 years to send His Son Jesus Christ? The Bible gives us the answer!

Paul said, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4, 5, emphasis added).

Timing is very important in God's perspective. Many of us have received prophetic words over our life concerning our future ministry, but many of those things have not come into existence yet. While waiting (with perplexity) for that divine moment, God wants us to wait upon Him, spend time in His temple, continue on walking by faith, serving Him and we'll find in the fullness of time, even in our own life and experience, God will bring into existence that which He has spoken over our life.

God commanded Ezekiel to speak to His people:

"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: 'None of My word will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,' says the Lord God'" (Ezekiel 12:28)

Habakkuk

If there was a prophet who had truly learned to trust God for who He is, it was Habakkuk. The message of Habakkuk began with a burden (Hab. 1:1, 2) and turned into a song in the end (Hab 3:19). Right at the beginning we see Habakkuk was so perplexed, so weighed down with heavy burden concerning the nation of Judah which was enjoying a time of prosperity. But as the material prosperity was up the moral level gone down (Please read my earlier message - "An area of the Nature of God").

Habakkuk went forth and declared the Word of the Lord faithfully to the people but God did not respond in doing what God said He would do at that time, and Habakkuk became perplexed.

He was full of questions at the beginning - why Lord? Oh God how long? Wherefore? After God answered him, he decided to take some time out to wait upon the Lord:

"I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected" (Hab 2:1).

The lesson learned is, when we take time out to wait upon the Lord, in time of perplexity or pressure, the Lord will always answer.

The Lord answered, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Hab. 2:3, emphasis added).

Every vision or prophetic Word of God has a primary and a secondary fulfillment. Part of the vision was revealed: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14).

This vision, being secondary, is still waithing to happen. We have not seen it yet, but it will come very soon - at the end of this age!

Take a look at Joel's prophecy: "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh ...." (Joel 2:28, emphasis added).

All flesh means all un-regenerated flesh, un-regenerated Jews or Gentiles.

The primary fulfillment happened on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon about 120 people in a prayer meeting. The secondary fulfillment wil take place soon - upon this end time generation. But before God does that, He is going to have a people who are ready as His instruments to bring in the harvest. We are part of this generation!

Habakkuk, though perplexed, decided to keep silence and waited upon the Lord by faith, for he knew that, "The just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4).

Habakkuk said, "But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Hab. 2:20)

Habakkuk knew that God was teaching him how to trust God for who He is. Similarly every time you are perplexed and have many unanswered questions concerning the nations of the world today and wonder why God allows these things to continue on, you can be sure God is teaching His people how to trust in Him for who He is and not just what He does!

What happened that brought about the change? The circumstances were still the same but Habakkuk was clearly changed!

By faith he said, "Though the fig tree my not blossom, nor the fruit be on the vines; ... Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17, 18).

Some Christians only experience joy in what God does. They get really exited when somebody gets saved or healed or deliverd. Of course it is good to get exited and joyful. But the highest form of joy is in the Person of God Himself!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Walking With God

Every believer should walk with God even as Enoch walked with God. But before we go on to study the life of Enoch and to find out why Enoch speaks of the type of the end-time believers that God seeks after, we begin by looking at some passages of Scripture of Isaiah's prophecies concerning the end-time.

"Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His path'" (Isaiah 2:2, 3, NKJV, emphasis added).

"Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising" (Isaiah 60:1 - 3, emphasis added).

God gave Isaiah a picture of the last days, and He caused him to see something that is going to happen in the world - at the time we are living right now. Isaiah saw a vision of the last days on earth when deep spiritual darkness basically is covering the whole earth. But he saw a people who are different, who are not in darkness but are walking in the glorious light of God. These people are walking with God, walking in God's way and God's path.

As we walk in the way of the Lord we will arise out of darkness, set free from areas of darkness in our lives. We, as God's people, walking with Him are going to arise and shine and His glory is going to be revealed in us. And many unbelievers will be drawn to us.

The people who are walking with God

Enoch was a man who walked with God. In fact he had such a powerful walk with God that one day God just took him right up into glory (Gen. 5:24). He was a man who escaped the appointment of death.

The writer of Hebrews said, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).

Destiny of God's people who are walking with God

It is interesting to note that Enoch was not the only person ever lived who escaped the appointment of death. The Bible tells us that there is a day yet to come, there will be a certain company of God's people on earth who are walking with God will also be loosed from the appointment of death.

The psalmist said, "You (the Lord) will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to her dust. So the nations whall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. For the Lord shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory. He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer. This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord. For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the Lord viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death, ..." (Ps. 102:13 - 20, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. When the Bible speaks of "Zion" it does not refer to a geographical location over the land of Palestine, but refers to corporate company of people called out to be totally abandoned to God's eternal plan and purpose. In other words, "Zion" simply means collectively the true Church of Jesus Christ.

2. God is in the building program. He is building us together as a Church. We are living in a period of time where God is building into our lives the very nature and character of Jesus Christ. A day will come when the Lord will appear in His glory to take His Bride with Him (Ephesians 5:26, 27).

3. What the psalmist said here was for a particular generation of people, the end time generation created to praise the Lord.

4. A day is coming when the Lord in His divine moment is going to loose a company of His people from the appointment of death.

The life of Enoch - a man who walked with God

Very little is written concerning the life of Enoch in the Bible. But if we are careful to search the Scripture diligently we will discover gems of truth.

Genesis 5 describes the first ten generations from Adam to Noah. Enoch represents the seventh generation from Adam whereas Noah the tenth. Every man listed in Genesis 5 apart from Enoch died in faith. Enoch, who did not see death, is a very real type of the last day Church on earth. He was a type of your life and of my life - provided of course we walk with God as he walked with God.

The importance of names

Names in the Old Testament, including Adam's family to the tenth generation, give a picture of the character and personality of the persons. Adam means earth or earthly in the Hebrew language; Seth means appointed of God; Enosh means mortal; Cainan means sorrow; Mahalalel means praise of God; Jared means descending and Enoch means dedicated. I will surprise you with the meaning of Methuselah's name later.

Uniqueness of Enoch and his son Methuselah

"Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughter. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighey-two years, and had sons and daughter. So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died" (Gen. 5:21 - 27, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Enoch lived the youngest (365 years) of all those in Adam's family to the tenth generation.

2. Something happened to Enoch (a dedicated man) when his son Methuselah was born. He began to walk with God in a much higher dimension than he had walked with God in those first 65 years of his life. I believe, because of his heritage, Enoch was a man during the first 65 years had an intimate relationship with the living God. Something transformed his lifestyle at the age of 65 and it had something to do with the birth of his son Methuselah.

3. Methuselah lived (696 years) longer on earth than any man ever lived as recorded by the Bible. I believe the numbers 9 and 6 have great significance. 9 is the number of the Holy Spirit; it speaks of fullness, finality and fruitfulness. And we know there are 9 gifts and 9 fruit of the Holy Spirit. 6 is the number of man. Therefore I have the reason to believe Methuselah walked with God just like his father Enoch walked.

4. Now, the question is why God kept Methuselah alive longer than any other man on earth? I think it has something to do with his name. Methuselah's name had a very unusual meaning in Hebrew - "In the year that he died the Flood came" (Fausset's Bible Dictionary). In other words, whe Methuselah is dead the Flood would come! Quite incredible!

5. Methuselah was born when Enoch was 65 of age. He was told prophetically by God what to call his son! He knew that when the son dies the Flood is going to come. I believe because Enoch was aware of the coming of the Flood he began to change his lifestyle and he walked before God in total dedication to Him for 300 years! I think his son Methuselah also changed his lifestyle and began to walk with God in a more intimate way.

Enoch was a type of God's end-time people

We have seen that Enoch missed his appointment to death because he walked with God in total dedication. Another reason, revealed by the Scripture, is that he pleased God.

"By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, ..." (Hebrews 11:5, emphasis added).

So, on the basis of the above Enoch was a man of faith who pleased God and walked with Him.

Enoch and Methuselah were signs to every generation

Enoch and Methuselah who walked with God by faith were signs to their generations and our generation.

I believe God has marked every one of us, who are walking with God by faith, to be signs and wonders in the midst of a people who are living in gross spiritual darkness.


To be signs and wonders are far more wonderful than seeking signs and wonders or even having signs and wonders following the ministry of the Word.

Isaiah said, "Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion" (Isaiah 8:18).

Enoch and Methuselah were disciplined people

As we have seen earlier both Enoch and Methuselah were warned of the coming Flood, it is understandable that they feared God and became disciplined people. Genesis 6 tells us that God sent the Flood because the people were corrupted, evil, undisciplined, going their own way and doing their own things.

Many God's people today, even they are born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit, still love their own ways and yet they ask God to bless them in the way they are going and doing - totally lack of discipline. But God is looking for a people who will lay down their own way, seek after His will and be obedient to Him. He is looking for a people who are disciplined and who will walk in His way because His way is so much higher.

The most amazing prophecy of Enoch - Jesus' Second Coming

"Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men (apostates) also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14, 15, NKJV).

Amazing! How did a man living hundreds of years before the Flood and hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus was born, was given a vision from the Almighty God, not of the birth of Jesus, not even the life of Jesus on earth and His death on the cross and His resurrection; but God gave to Him a revelation of the second coming of the Lord Jesus?

To me this revelation is staggering! There was a prophetic mental picture upon Enoch's life and his eyes were opened to the coming again of the Lord Jesus. To me Enoch was a type of a man who made preparation for the coming again of Jesus Christ. And in that preparation he was walking with God, dedicated, disciplined, pleasing God, moving in faith and he was preaching everywhere concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus with ten thousands upon thousands of His saints and the judgment which would follow if men and women did not turn to Him! God is looking for a people like Enoch in our days!

Among these ten thousands upon thousands of His saints will be some of us who have walked with God even as Enoch walked with God by faith. Just like Enoch some of us will never see death! This coming event was made clear by Paul:

"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17, NKJV).