DO NOT TOUCH THE ARK! DO NOT TOUCH GOD’S GLORY!
Word For Today, September 9, 2019: DO NOT TOUCH THE ARK! DO NOT TOUCH GOD’S GLORY!
Beloved,
This morning, I felt the Lord’s heart breaking and felt a deep hurt he has. What was that hurt? It was the hurt of his body, men and women, giving the glory that belongs to him to others. Why does this hurt his heart?
God is a jealous God. It is not a human sinful jealousy but a Godly Holiness that burns in righteousness.
As I waited more in his presence, the Lord began to speak to my heart 2nd Corinthians 10:17-18, I even posted it. I thought maybe that was all He had me say about it.
Yet, the Lord would not let me go and felt I needed to write what He was giving me concerning the new wineskin and new wine God is pouring out in the Kingdom age.
Beloved the Lord Jesus rebukes the last church in Laodicea for the pride and arrogance in their hearts. Let us read what Jesus says to the Laodecian church. ring glory to men and more than Glory to God.
Beloved, we must make sure we don’t bring the attention or glory to men that belongs to God in all we do or say. Why don’t we see God’s glory filling our gatherings the way He desires to fill them? Because no flesh can glory in his sight.
The kingdom age is about God’s glory filling the earth and not ours. It is about His kingdom, His ways and not ours. It is about him being seen and not us.
It is about his activities and not ours. We are just ministering servants, but is God that give the increase not us.
Paul tries to correct this heart attitude in 1st Corinthians chapter 3, let us read it:
1 However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to [a]worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ!
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Even now you are still not ready.
3 You are still [b]worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not [c]unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]?
4
For when one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” and another, “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” are you not [proving yourselves unchanged, just] ordinary people?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Just servants through whom you believed [in Christ], even as the Lord appointed to each his task.
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was causing the growth.
7 So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth.
8 He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.
Beloved in verse 5 he writes, What then is Apollos, and what is Paul? What is your leader, your pastor, your apostle, your prophet... JUST SERVANTS THROUGH WHO YOU BELIEVED, EVEN AS THE LORD APPOINTED HIS TASK.
WHEN WE GIVE HONOR AND PRAISE TO MEN ABOVE GOD ARE WE “NOT PROVING OURSELVES UNCHANGED AND JUST ORDINARY PEOPLE? Verse 4 says.
God is a jealous God in the right way. What belongs to Him can never be given to anything or anyone else by human hands of efforts. What then is Apollos? What then is Paul?
In 2nd Corinthians 10:17-18 Paul writes to us again:
“But let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is NOT THE ONE WHO COMMENDS HIMSELF THAT IS APPROVED.... BUT THE ONE WHO THE LORD COMMENDS THAT IS APPROVED.” Verse 17-18.
I had to ask the Lord, have I done that Lord? Have I let other do that to me in a way that took Glory and Honor from you?
I have always tried when people try to bring praise or honor to me for what God used me for to remind them I am just the vessel, it was God that has done these things. Give Him the glory!
But was there a time I did not do that, or did I give praise to men above God? I know in my earlier days I did, but today let God show each of us if we have done this and grieved His Holy Spirit.
Beloved, I believe when we “touch the glory” and give praise and glory to the work God does through men to men, it truly and deeply hurts him.
Why, because it brings the glory, honor and praise that is His alone to a “created thing,” instead of God. We must never give honor and praise to ‘the created thing” which we are, above the God who is the Creator of us all.
It is easy to do, because we are thankful for the person God is using to bless us or help us. We want them to know we love and appreciate them and we should.
There is a godly way to do that and give honor to that person that does not supersede the glory and honor of God who sent that person to you. We just need to look for it more closely and find that delicate balance where we don’t lift up men above God!
In this new moment in time, with this new wineskin, We must be very sensitive to the Lord and the Holy Spirit. We must make sure we don’t reach up and touch His glory, the ark of His presence, by giving the glory that God alone deserves to men, churches, ministries, of 5 fold ministry.
1st Corinthians 1:31 says, “Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”
Beloved, If we lift up men, offices and gifts, churches or ministries above the Lord, we grieve and quench the Holy Spirit, and he will lift from our gathering and we may not even know it.
You may continue to see God’s working but it won’t be because of what you are doing, but in spite of what you are doing that is quenching and grieving him. He will often do that to wash people from the pride and arrogance that may be displayed that is touching his glory. He loves his people so much he will minister in spite of that, but he will withdraw from the people who are doing that.
I have been in places and cities where the spirit of pride is so strong, that it always lifts up people, praises people, praises pastors, praises ministers, often time with the spirit of flattery and not the true Spirit of God.
This is hurtful to the Lord. He is patient with us. He is loving toward us and will gently correct this in us if we let him. Yet if we continue to lift up men, offices, ministry above him, he will anoint his word, he will even bless people, but he will not fill that person, though use them. That is scary to me.
That spirit says, Saul kills his 1000’s but David his 10,000” look at what that did to Saul? What do you think it can do to leaders who love the praise of men, more than the praise that belongs to God.
Beloved, why do we teach Pastors to greet everyone at that back door to hear,” that was a great message pastor?” Why do we need to hear that? Is it really to give God’s glory?
In the new wineskin of Kingdom life, God must always get the glory and we must not reach up and touch the ark of his presence.
The two priest died for reaching up to touch God’s glory all in attempt to help. God would have no part of it, for they were not bringing the cart back the right way. If the Lord blesses are gatherings or even our works, we can declare what God has done, give him praise, and thank God for those he used as long as God gets all the glory and honor.
It is imperative for this new breed of apostles, prophets, and 5 fold ministers not to make the same mistake many did in the church age and desire other praise them, their work, their calling. We dare not build another Babel in the name of the Lord.
Beloved the Lord Jesus rebukes the last church in Laodicea for the pride and arrogance in their hearts. Let us read what Jesus says to the Laodician church.
14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
Do you see it beloved, you say, you say, you are rich, and have great wealth and not a thing. That is what we do when we boast about our church, men, gifts, God gives us above the God who gave them.
We must be very sensitive in this new wineskin of the Kingdom, all of us, none of us our exempt. We must as men and women of God make sure that all Glory goes to God. When men praise you, give it back to God for all the glory. Teach everyone how to give God all the glory.
For the word of God teaches us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. I Cor 10:31
May God remove every trace of Babel from our hearts. May we give God alone all the glory, honor and praise. I don’t believe that may are doing this intentionally to exalt men over God, but even unknowingly we may do so and we must learn not to.
There is a way to honor men of God, women of God in the Holy Spirit that does not grieve the Holy Spirit. We can esteem others better than ourselves.
We can encourage and strengthen each other with the “Holy Spirit Word’s” God gives us to build each other up, even a fellowship or church, but never above the Lord.
The spirit of Babel through the world system that infiltrated the church changed the focus from God to men. It changed the focus from meeting the needs of God first, to meet the needs of men.
That is how we got all the seeker friendly churches built on marketing surveys instead of the Spirit of God. This is how we are more concerned by gaining member and keeping them in church, then keeping God and His presence welcome in our church gatherings.
Beloved, that will never fit into the new wineskin of the kingdom. There is a way to give honor to those who honor is due that does not grieve the Holy Spirit by touching God’s glory.
We must need to ask him how to do that so we don’t quench, grieve, the Holy Spirit to cause him to withdraw from our midst.
I was conducting a meeting once where it was so heavy, no one could move, the Spirit of God was so convicting. I felt a need to lighten things up so I said a joke. Immediately the Holy Spirit lifted.
I saw it and felt it. I fell to my knees, wept and repented and asked him to return. He graciously did, but he would not of, If I’d did not repent of reaching up to touch his glory.
How did I do it, by empathy instead of the Holy Spirit. I was arrogant and thought I knew better than God. I was wrong, BIG TIME WRONG. The Lord was so gracious and came back, but did I LEARN A LESSON OR WHAT?
Beloved, What was the sin of Babel? Let’s read it. I believe this is probably the greatest sin in the house of God in the church age.
The heart of Babel in the last days church age is strong, and it begins with a counterfeit work of the Lord. What is the counterfeit, it starts with LET US!
Only the Godhead can say, LET US MAKE.... Man can never be the creator only God.
Genesis chapter 11:
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
I pray we will take this word in the love it is being presented. We must give God the glory alone. We must discern the “flattering tongues” the Spirit of Jezebel works in peoples heart that “builds up men, positions, titles, offices, churches, and ministries, above the Lord. A little leaven can leaven the whole lump.
May God remove the heart of “let us build” something for God that lifts up our name, build our own towers, builds up our own walls in our power and strength completely.
Unless the Lord builds the house, they that labor, labor in vain. Whatever God has us speak, or put our hands to do, let is all be done for the glory of God.
To God be the Glory alone! Let us ensure we always point people to give God the Glory and never us, our church, our ministry our work, lest we grieve and quench the Spirit of God.
This word is for all of us, no one is exempt. We need a deeper sensitivity to His sensitivity so he doesn’t withdraw His manifest presence from us.
When God’s glory come, He gets all the glory in return, not men, not ministry, not 5 fold ministries. He alone gets all the glory, honor and praise.
Much love and blessings
