Speak Tenderly to My Bride ...

"Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path"

- Galatians 6:1 - New Living Translation.

"Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned".

- Isaiah 40:2 - New Living Translation.

I have a suspicion that there is a quantity of nameless and faceless Christians hiding among the church ranks bearing varying amounts of guilt and shame because they are doing things that the church ranks as unacceptable behaviour. Most religious churches will call it "sin" - and will even unconciously rank various sins as "worse".

Whatever our views on grace and righteousness - whether we believe that Jesus Christ took ALL sin at Calvary and dealt with it or whether we believe in indwelling sin and an life-long mortification of sin battle - the fact is that these people are in churches hoping desperately that they will never be found out, seen, discovered because they fear the consequences. Sadly I am becoming increasingly aware that when they ARE found out - the church responds and deals with them harshly and abruptly. That discovery can come if the struggling individual is "foolish" enough to confess their struggles to a church leader. It can happen if they are spotted by a nosy elder's wife. The way it happens is irrelevant. The response is what I am thinking about. Because that response - I believe - can scare many off church for life.

Let's get an obvious caveat out the way;

There is behaviour that I am not endorsing and never will. Behaviour that Jesus Christ went to Calvary for. Behaviour that Terry Virgo calls; "sin as a saint with all the sadness and inappropriateness of it". Behaviour - let me make clear - that I have and still do slip into from time to time! You will not hear me say that grace makes it "okay" to sin.

But what I AM saying is that I do not believe there is any good news in lambasting the church by telling them they are sinners. I AM saying that church leaders who swiftly respond with harsh church discipline on sinners are hypocrites. If ... they have not taken the time and effort with tears and prayer to plead with the individual to abandon their way of life.

I have been so so utterly encouraged to hear Pete Greasley (pastor of an SGM church in Wales) say several times in his preaching something to the effect of; "I'm just like you! I am beside you - not above you!". Sadly - that is a rare thing to hear.

So here is what I heard recently. I heard that a church leader in this country has scared young people under his control because he said something to the effect of if he found his child was seeing a non-Christian girlfriend, he would throw them out of his home. Of course I heard that comment out of context. I heard that comment third hand. And I HOPE that I misunderstood that comment and it was highly overexaggerated. I hope that no parent would EVER contemplate throwing their child out of their home and disfellowshipping them from the family.

Maybe that church leader meant he would do so regretfully and after much tears and pleading and only if the young person in question would persist in the relationship. But what worried me is that there are young people who are now scared to admit they are seeing non-Christian girlfriends or boyfriends for fear that the church leader in question will tell their parents to throw them out of the house. But if these young people are even THINKING that such a thing is a possibility then surely something is drastically wrong in the church. Fear? Threats? Surely such behaviour cannot be further removed from the behaviour of Jesus Christ and a self-respecting New Covenant church.

Did or would Jesus Christ ever behave like that? Did He ever cast people from His Presence or endorse that parents do this? How did He behave towards people "caught in sin"? I thought of a few examples;

1. Let's imagine a worst-case scenario in a Western church. A man full of demons who keeps screaming out and beating up the church members and ripping his clothes. How would most Western churches respond? Sure - at first we would probably try and ignore the person - but I am sure it wouldn't be too long before the stewards were instructed to bar the doors. Jesus?

"When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!".

Did Jesus condone the "sin" or deny it's existance? No. Did He condemn the man? Certainly not. Did He excommunicate or disfellowship the man? No - the man was already pretty much disfellowshipped from the community among graves. What did Jesus do? He solved the problem with a living word.

An interesting point - when the demonised man saw Jesus - "He ran and fell on his knees in front of Him". Even with a legion of demons, the man could still recognise the bringer of grace. I wonder what would have happened if the Pharisees had landed on the shore - would he have run to them? Possibly - but only to beat them up.

2. Let's imagine another pretty-bad case scenario. A renowned and well known prostitute is a regular attender at a Western church. Something keeps her coming and sometimes she preys on men in the church and flirts with them. Everyone knows what she does but no one "talks" about it. What is the most likely response? Most probably again discipline and disfellowshipping for the "safety" of the church. The experience of Jesus reminds me of what I imagine most churches would do;

"He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?".

What did Jesus do?

"But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not ... When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more".

I don't imagine that my ranting and raving here on a blog will persuade many - certainly not elderly church leaders set in their legalistic ways. I've got no particular interest in trying to get them to think whether what they are doing is truly Christ-like because my experiences tells me that they are usually quite sure that they are "pursuing righteousness".

A final point - do I believe there is a place for "putting such a one out to Satan"? I completely agree with a comment Pete Greasley made when we met for lunch. He said that such an action should be done - oh, so cautiously - and only after much prayer, tears, thought, and effort. Maybe there is a time where that has to be done, but I seriously fear for the church leader who finds it easy to take such an action. I know I for one wouldn't ever want to be in that position.

I want to speak to those "caught in sin" - WHATEVER sin that may be - and that's simply to say that I understand and have been there. REALLY been there. And have experienced the wrath of a church that has dragged me to Jesus and reminded Him of the law and demanded my "spiritual" death. And that's to say - you are always welcome here. I will always have a place in my heart and in my time for those who have been abandoned by the church or family. I will never say "enough". I will never say "Begone from me". As long as you want to put up with me - I will put up with you. And yes - I have got people in my mind when I am writing this. I will speak truth to you (or try to). I will remind you that you are a new creation and have the power to break sinful habits that bring you down.

But I won't spend much time talking to you about your struggles or habits. Most importantly of all I prefer to remind you that;

"The Cross does not have to be centred around me and be sustained by reflecting on my own personal failure! ... To insist on still calling myself a sinner could not add value to the Cross for me. Indeed, to call myself essentially a sinner actually dishonours the wonder of the gospel".

A New Vocabulary: "Resilience"

I've been on a fast-tracking learning new terms in my new job preparing for a potential surge in pandemic flu. One of the words that interested me was the term; "Resilience". It means;

" ... the ability of a material to recover from a shock, insult, or disturbance".

You could exchange "material" for "organisation" or even "church". One of the frustrations of my job is planning for something you don't quite know when it will come. I was walking and praying and thinking about my longing for an unsurpassed move of God - for revival itself - and I found God directing my thoughts to my job. To the job of my boss - the "Emergency Resilience Planning Manager". My boss spends his entire working week planning for something that he doesn't quite know when will come. And even IF it will come! Yet he plans and makes the hospital as ready as he can.

And I found God asking me what the "resilience" of the church is like. Are we actually READY for a "disturbance" of heavenly proportions?

My last post was one of Ern Baxter's classic long sermons from the Dales Bible Week 1976. I made a comment that Ern wasn't listened to. He brought a prophetic/apostolic wake-up call to the church - to the Charismatic Movement - and pleaded with them not to rest where they were and enjoy the experiences but take it to a waiting and desperate world. Pastor/teachers went home with their churches and carried on as if life had never changed. And within a decade the Charismatic Movement was on the wane. The effects are still felt today for which we thank God. But the spiritual life and vitality of renewal has all but gone.

One of Ern Baxter's comments during the sermon was this;

"The people that are most vigorously opposed to the newest move of the cloud, are the people who moved with the cloud last. And you may be that people tomorrow".

I've learnt in planning for pandemic flu that there is only so much you can plan for. There are so many policies that you can write. Only so many exercises you can practice. After that - you have to wait for the unknown! I think that's one of the most important lessons that we need to absorb into our planning and preparation and "digging ditches" for any supernatural move of God. That we don't know what's coming. We don't know what God will do. We don't know how God will do it. But we know He IS God and we know He IS amazingly good.

But another point in our planning - is that church history makes it clear that when the church is revived - the nations WILL come. The problem is - I don't think that a lot of churches actually WANT the nations to come. During the Welsh Revival 0f 1900-1902 a lot of drunk miners were saved and I am willing to bet that they didn't change over night. I'm sure they started going to church - a lot of people weren't very happy with the way they were. I wonder how long it was before the church started to try and mold them into becoming "respectable".

THIS is why the grace revolution that men such as Rob Rufus, Bill Johnson and others are teaching is so crucial. Because God isn't satisfied anymore with the lost being saved and being transformed into "religion". Being saved and being transformed into a legalistic poor counterfeit. It makes my blood boil seeing passionate new converts who came into the church so full of fire - and you look at them now and they are "talking the lingo" and buying the required books and quite possibly vying for the pastor's approval and maybe - if they are lucky and related by marriage - a place in the required college of their denomination to get ahead.

What on EARTH has that got to do with the real and glorious Church? "Resilience" means that the church can cope with any disturbance that heaven brings. And I am persuaded that resilience can be taught and learnt from the gospel of true and glorious grace alone - the facts of the matter. That God in Christ Jesus has reconciled us to Himself and has given us the only gift of righteousness we need - His and His alone. Only grace will prepare us for the glory of His coming.

It's Better to Receive Than Give ...

This post was generated by a comment that my friend Julie Morris - the grace champion - sent me on Facebook. I was feeling pretty grotty and miserable. I've had a week where I've leant loads of money to people and just generally felt used and abused. So very much in the flesh, I wrote my status as saying something rather grumpy like "whoever said it's better to give than receive obviously never gave!". But Julie brought it back to God and all day I've been thinking as to actually is the proverb; "It is better to give than receieve" - an Old Covenant statement?

Is the essence of the New Covenant that God wants us to realise that actually it's more blessed to RECEIVE (from Him) than to try and give to Him?

All day I've been thinking about the Cross. And all the brilliant Cross-centred quotes I've heard have been going through my head. Here's a few;

"Love constrained the Son of God to go to the Cross" - John Hosier

"What is the obvious clear message of what happened on the Cross? Simply this - that Jesus was crushed so that God would never crush you. Jesus was pierced so that God will never ever pierce you with sorrows or with sickness or with poverty. Jesus was punished so it is a guarantee that God will never ever punish you! Jesus was made a guilt offering by God so you will never feel guilty" - Rob Rufus

"Paul gloried in the ‘old rugged’ cross not in nostalgic reflection but in triumph and glorious emancipation" - Terry Virgo

Everything that happened - everything Christ did on the Cross was for US. Why does Christianity persist in refusing to accept that? Why has law so successfully ingrained in us that we somehow have to "pay God back"? I wonder why Jesus spoke in the Gospels about "becoming like children". The funny thing about children is that they never have any trouble receiving gifts. Just watching my beautiful nieces and nephews at Christmas proves that! The smiles that light up their faces just does something right inside me when they rip open the paper!

I was driving back from work listening to CCK Brighton's latest wonderful album; "Have You Heard" and the most heavenly song by Paul Oakley and Lex Loizides hit me like an Exocet missile. Funnily enough Julie's latest post bemoaned the lack of true grace songs. I think this beautiful song - "This is for Me" - will fit the requirements Julie! I can't urge you enough to get this album and listen to this song again and again. Even better CCK have made this particular track available free off their website.

Here's the words;

"How can I resist, this love that draws my heart,

This Voice that calls my name, I'll never be the same again,

And how could I deny, this King who took my place,

The One who bore my shame, I run into these arms of grace;

How can I refuse? I choose to follow You!

This is for me, this blood of Christ, washing all my stains,

Breaking all my chains! This is for me! This death He died,

Taking all my sin - giving me a chance to live again.

I choose to follow You! You gave Your life for me - I choose to follow You!

Jesus I believe".

I remember when I was in my home church in Dunstable a number of us wanted to see Darlene Zschech's song; "My Jesus, My Saviour". The elders (rapidly becoming anti-charismatic at the time) wouldn't allow it to be song because it was "too personal". Sadly they missed the whole point. The whole point of the Gospel. The whole point of everything. Another line in the same CCK album by Stuart Townend and Keith and Kristyn Getty says;

"Creation gazed upon His face, the ageless One in time's embrace.

Unveiled the Father's plan of reconciling God to man".

I wonder still on Julie's post whether the reason why there are so few "grace" worship songs is because the church has embraced the "debtor's ethic" worldwide and is suspicious of any songs that sing of our feelings and our emotions that are evoked at the wonder of the Gospel. Maybe song-writers and theologians need to learn how to become like children again and learn;

The joy of receiving.

The Power, Terror and Danger of Fear

A while back I once did a Bible study for my mum on how many times the Bible commands that "we do not fear". I can't quite remember the exact amount but I know for a fact that the Bible verses stretched to at least four A4 pages. That means that when Jesus said "Don't fear" - it was a command that carries the same weight under law as other more popular commands such as "do not murder". So essentially if you are living under an Old Covenant mentality or a mixture of law and grace - if you fear ANYTHING then you are as guilty as though you had murdered or committed adultery.

So thank God we are no longer under law!!! Because I don't know about you - but I fear ... frequently!

Why is fear so absolutely powerful and terrible yet so against all that God is? I learnt something about fear this week. I've been working at the Children's Hospital on the Swine Flu response team - and it has involved taking a multitude of phone calls from worried and sometimes frantic parents, staff and children who "fear" that they may have come into contact with swine flu, who "fear" that they have caught swine flu, who "fear" that if they have swine flu then they may die - a multitude of fears! And I confess I caught something of that burden upon them. Each individual I spoke to broke my heart hearing the worry and the concern in their tone. One person rang back frequently throughout the day desperate for an answer as to whether they were swine flu positive or not.

My dearest friend Ursula describes fear so vividly;

"I looked around and on about half of the church were these black demons. I'm going to try to describe it here. They were almost tar like, sticky, and they held onto the upper half of the peoples bodies. They clung with their legs around the bodies of their victims, their faces plastered over thier victims faces, covering their faces with black tar like goo, and their hands were plastered over their ears. I was so confused, and really concerned. I cried out to Jesus, "Jesus, what is this!!" ... Then the Holy Spirit answered me, in His beautiful voice of rushing waters He said to me, "Ursula, that is fear". I was like, "WHAT?". He explained to me that the demon I was seeing was fear. It clung like sticky tar, and stuck to everything that touched it. It was contagious. Transferable and imprisoning His people".

Ursula then went on (I believe) to prophesy;

"God is raising up a people who will throw off the shackles of fear, who are allergic to fear".

I think I sensed that today and quite surprisingly. I always wrongly imagined that getting rid of fear would involve "discipline" and "Bible study" and "quiet times". Pete Day blogs only when he has something to say - and boy did he have something to say about the glory returning! The same principle is true of getting rid of fear. I was driving through the torrential Birmingham rain home and I was listening to the Prom Praise album featuring Keith Getty. The assembled Royal Albert Hall crowds were singing the glorious hymn; "And Can It Be?". And the words blasted out (I never have my music quiet in the car!);

"I woke, the dungeon flamed with light - My chains fell off! My heart was free! I rose, went forth and followed Thee! No condemnation now I dread! Jesus and all in Him is mine! Alive in Him my living Head and clothed in righteousness divine! Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own!".

Not familiar with it? Here's a choir singing it;



And I felt an awesome sense of light flaming the car as I drove. Suddenly I realised why the devil hates and fears the truth of grace so much. "Perfect love casts OUT fear". Once we grasp exactly how much the Father loves us so unconditionally and irrationally - then fear cannot keep it's "tarry, sticky" hold on us anymore. It just lets go. Why else does the Bible say; "Keep yourself in the love of God?". That's not a legalistic command! It's a life-saving call! Love isn't a nice, sloppy sentimental option! Love casts out fear. Love and fear cannot co-exist. If we know God's love, we just will find fear grows less and less.

How many of us can claim that we boldly approach the eternal throne and claim a crown!? To all those out there who like me have felt the sticky, revolting touch of fear and long for the dungeon to flame with light and find our chains are OFF and our hearts are FREE!!

Ever Wished You Were a Robot?

I know that's a very odd question. Hear me out! I've been enjoying one of the features on my Ipod Touch - which is the ability to watch TV programmes in high definition and one of them is the "Sarah Connor Chronicles". One of the key characters is a female robot (pictured) and I found myself musing on the benefits of having absolute control over emotions. Being able to make clinical judgements and not being affected by emotions or affections. Funnily enough another film I quite enjoy focuses on a world that has alienated emotions called "Equilibrium". The intentions of such alienation are that emotions are dangerous and create war - which of course is true. But the film graphically highlights how boring and dull a world is without the benefits of emotions - love, romance, joy, tears.

I have been having a rubbish week to put it mildly. Maybe some of you remember I hinted at some serious problems with my former employers - Acorns Children's Hospice. I had to leave due to homophobia among the staff and am currently enduring an extremely prolonged grievance process which inevitably is looking like it will have to be followed by an employment tribunal. It's particularly difficult because as a Christian (still struggling with Old Covenant legalism) I feel guilty for having those feelings anyway and in some strange sense - almost like the homophobic members of staff are justified in treating me as they did. Those set free 100% by grace won't understand a word I just said there - but maybe those still struggling like me will!

Anyhow the first part of the internal investigation arrived earlier this week and a key piece of evidence was based on the final meeting I had with the Head Nurse (my line manager) back in January. She tried to persuade me that this meeting was an "informal, nice" meeting and one that was designed to get me back to work after I had been off ill. Fortunately I took along representation but the meeting was not minuted. As she had no strategies or ideas to deal with my difficulties at Acorns and due to some other information she gave me I felt I had no alternative but to resign. I told the grievance hearing this.

I found to my dismay and shock that the Head Nurse had blatently lied in her meeting and said that she had said something totally different and this could be "substantiated by minutes". Minutes I should add most certainly were not taken during the meeting! So my only conclusion is that she wrote these minutes sometime after my meeting and to which I was never sent a copy. Sadly the so-called Investigating Officer didn't bother to interview my representation to verify the difference of opinion and took the Head Nurse's word for it. So a decision has been made against me - based on a lie.

My point in all this - I have been scared once again by the anger and the rage that I got consumed with by the fact that this woman (a manager allegedly responsible for her staff) lied to protect her own back. I understood why Jesus said in the New Testament that if you felt anger towards someone that much (under Old Covenant law) you as good as murdered them already.

And here's the point where I truly wished that I could be a robot and switch that anger off! It reminded me unhappily of a few years ago when I felt the same anger and rage towards my parent's SGM pastors for the lies and the behaviour they exhibited.

So where does the message of grace fit into all this? How does allowing the gospel of grace to reign in my life change this? As regular followers of my blog know it took me 2-3 years to even come close to forgiving the SGM pastors (and I still won't go near that church). That can't be God's ultimate design or His best surely! To be consumed by anger! This time I want to learn! I texted Pete Day this morning and said pretty much the same thing. I can't and won't afford another 2-3 years of hating Acorns and the lying management there. I have got better things to do with my life!

So here's a few reflections on how grace changes utterly EVERYTHING!

1. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (!!!).

So I shouldn't feel guilty and condemned for feeling angry whatsoever. God sees me as 100% ++ clothed, robed and in the righteousness of His one and only Son so therefore He does not hold my anger against me! I have not murdered anyone because of my rage - I am free, innocent, loved and accepted!

2. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (!!!).

So it doesn't matter that the Acorns management lied to make themselves look better and myself look worse. The only opinion that matters is God. He knew the truth while I was an employee there. He knows the truth now. I won't try and pretend that I have "forgiven and forgotten" when I haven't - because even though I may deceive you the readers of this blog - I am typing it in the Presence of the Holy Spirit! I live for the Audience of One!

It was being accused by a so-called friend of immoral behaviour that made me realise that actually there is no benefit to trying to make myself look good in the eyes of Christians. It was that accusation that actually made me write my testimony thus far! So I am not about to change now and pretend I am not angry! Because God knows and accepts me despite!

3. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (!!!).

It is the very fact that I am seated on high with Jesus Christ that gives me hope that I do not have to resign myself to another 2-3 years of trying to swallow bitterness and pretend that everything is "fine" when it is not. No! The very awesome truth and revelation that I am totally 100% accepted in heaven and the unfolding revelation and realisation of what that actually means is going to change me and is going to transform me without me having to lift a finger!

I used to be very much in the Puritan tradition of "mortifying sin" - but clearly I wasn't very good at it. Because I don't think anyone actually really knows "how-to" mortify sin! And now I realise that actually there's a far better way.

Ryan Rufus said;

"Holiness has got NOTHING to do with sinning or not sinning! If that is what we think, then we think WE are the cause of our holiness and I am telling you there is only ONE Person who is the cause of our holiness and His Name is Jesus Christ!

If you are in Him, then YOU ARE HOLY! You don't have to try and be holy or get holy - you ARE holy!"

Once we start realising that fact - that we are holy, we are accepted and can come boldly into the throne room of heaven then suddenly EVERYTHING changes! Not only did I feel guilty before that I had this uncontrollable rage against these people but I felt doubly guilty that I was doing such a bad job of mortifying that rage! And then I felt angry that I was so useless at mortifying anger and felt guilty at that anger against that anger! And so on! The perils of living under law!

Now I can release them. And even as I type this I feel actually quite sorry for these individuals. This woman who felt she had to lie to protect herself, her reputation runs in fear clearly. Because she knows that the truth will come out one day.

4. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (!!!).

And lastly because I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus I can feel angry at what they have done just as it was okay to feel angry at the SGM pastors for what they did. They were all individuals in places of responsibility and were responsible for people and they all abused that trust. And that was wrong! But that's where my anger can finish and I can let it go! Because as Rob Rufus said in his sermon last Sunday;

"Don't give these people the power over your life to make you angry!".

They aren't worth it! To be angry is to admit that these people matter whereas indifference is surely the more appropriate response! And (I may be wrong here) but I also feel that because I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus I should not feel guilty for allowing the employment tribunal process to go ahead. It doesn't matter what the issue was - employers don't have the right to treat any employees as they did and that should be addressed. Externally if they will not admit it internally.

So I praise God for my emotions! I praise God for joy and laughter and angry and crying and sadness. They are God-given and given for a purpose for His glory and for His praise! And because I am clothed and robed in His righteousness I can sit and rest absolutely secure this morning that He will mould and form and make my life into what He wants in His timing. There is no ridiculous talk of "just get over it" from Heaven this morning! Just love and acceptance!

Do I want to be a robot? I did last night - but now? No way!

The 10 Ugly Faces of the Grace-Hating Spirit!!

I recently heard about someone talking about legalists and they were saying how we should be "gentle" with them. Yes in a sense there is a degree to which our actions towards everyone should be filled with love and mercy. But the key question is - how did our great role model behave? How did Jesus treat legalists - such as the Pharisees and Sadducees? One of the latest teaching messages available from Rob Rufus deals with this; "10 Ugly Faces Of The Grace Hating Spirit" on the 23rd March 2009. I think this was some teaching he gave at the Island Getaway (It turned out to be about 7 Ugly Faces because he ran out of time!).

Here it is;

"This feels like military training where you have been going for days and days and you think "We need to stop and have a break and fellowship!". And someone else says; "Nah push on!". I just want to finish this session so we can finish and go and have lunch. We need to finish at 12pm and I don't like working within schedules. The Holy Spirit seems to work a lot better when there are no schedules. I don't know many miracle ministries that don't have hours of meetings. This is what I believe. When we bring the whole church into grace - miracles will start breaking out in the opening of the service. The reason these meetings take so long to get miracles is because you have got to clear the unbelief away - the condemnation - the confusion and it takes 2-3 hours to get that off God's people. That's why I love local church! I have preached on platforms of multiple thousands and it is an incredible privilidge and an amazing honour but I don't find it flattering at all to my ego. I am enjoying this little church in Hong Kong - small little church at this stage! I believe we will grow into the thousands but I am enjoying this little church because it is the feedback of seeing lives changed through this message of grace. It is just so wonderful.

For me apostles don't go for a weekend here and a weekend there and a weekend there. I don't see that! I think the shortest trip may have been 3 weeks to the Thessalonians but other places - 2 years here, 3 years here. In Ephesus Paul preached every single day. He didn't fly out here and there but preached and stayed every single day for 2 years in the hall of Tyranus. Apostles are not just goers. They are sent ones. But they are not butterflies. I was sent to Australia and I stayed there for 12 years. I was sent to Hong Kong and am staying here! Paul stayed and he shared the grace of God with them and said don't get carried away by this and this - it is the grace of God that can give you an inheritance amongst those being sanctified.

That's what he was doing - preaching grace for 2 years! That is a man caught up in the 3rd heaven and got his message of grace from the Father and he took 3 years to unpack it. In that space of time it says the Gospel went throughout all Asia Minor but Paul didn't go. The fallout of this message gave an inheritance. You can't go - "Well I preached six weeks on grace!". All you did was introduce people to the shallows. "I didn't have anything else to preach - I did everything I knew on grace". Well start at the beginning and preach it all again. You are dealing with more than 1500 years of Dark Ages. The Reformation has only been 500 years but even top evangelical theologians are going back to a Roman Catholic understanding of justification by faith. Top evangelicals! Just read John Piper's books! Justification by faith is under attack again. And Christians are very shallow on their understanding of this.

You don't bring the church out of 1500 years of Dark Ages by a six-part series on grace! It takes years to transition people out!

Just to throw in something here for questions and answers. Abraham got grace. Galatians 3 says that God preached the Gospel in advance to Abraham. Then it was ratified in Christ. It says that the law came 430 years after Abraham but it says when the law covenant came it did not nullify or set aside the covenant of promise that God made with Abraham. So when Jesus arrived on the earth the covenant of grace and the covenant of law were there available for Israel. At any point Israel could have said; "We repent of saying give us the law - we will do what it says! We want what Abraham had!" and they could have come straight back into that. So when people repented and saw grace Jesus called them "sons and daughters of Abraham" and He only said that to two people.

Who were the people who had the greatest faith in all of Israel? Those who had never been under law! The Syro-Phonecian woman and the centurion.

So you have got to understand that by the time Jesus arrived to Israel - grace and the revelation to Abraham was almost completely gone. Abraham brought the key to knowledge - which is the nature of God.

What is the key to knowledge? I believe personally it is the nature of God. When the nature of God is revealed as goodness and grace - that is the key to knowledge!

I do have a history degree although that doesn't mean much because it was so long ago. It's history! This has fascinated me how civilisations have formed and secular historians will say that it was the Reinaissance that brought an acceleration of knowledge, inventions, arts, science and political freedoms. No - if you study Francis Schaeffers book on; "How Then Shall We Live?" - it is the Reformation - the revelation of the nature of God. Justification by faith that God is a good God that justifies the wicked and accepts them and loves them. That's where knowledge is! The nature of God and the revelation of God's nature is the key to knowledge. So once justification by faith came, that is when the church came out of the Dark Ages and you can trace from the Reformation advancements in science - because the religious church was wanting to put to death people that advanced in science! When Galileo was trying to say "No the whole universe isn't rotating around the sun" - the church under law said "We will kill you!". So science was surpressed because they had taken away the key to knowledge which is the nature of God.

Arts began to increase and everything began to explode. Human rights began to increase and civilisation came! That is why Europe was the cradle of civilisation because of the gospel - human rights etc - and now they have got a flimsy frame because they have taken away the foundation! They have taken away the key to knowledge. The church! Not the secular world!

The secular world almost seems to understand more about grace than the average fundementalist Christian.

So we are on about something more than just feeling secure - personal peace and prosperity. "I want to have a happy little church where we all feel happy and praise and worship". No! It is about transformation of the way society thinks. We are meant to have the key of knowledge which is the revelation that Abraham got. Let look here - I am going to look at 10 Ugly Faces of the Grace-Hating Spirit. If you do not understand what I am going to give to you now - if you go into this as a cute, sweet little pastor - then don't even start! Because you will be eaten for breakfast by the grace-hating spirit. You will be so confused and come under such demonic confusion that you won't know whether you are coming or going. You have got to know that Martin Luther nearly lost his mind many times and he was depressed for a long time! Can you imagine when one man stepped out and said "No!" to centuries! There was always a line who believed in justification by faith - but a small little thread here and there. So here is one man that stood out and took the whole thing on. It is not against the Catholic church but against a SPIRIT! I love Roman Catholics, I love Muslims and Hinduis.

2 Corinthians 5:9; "God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD to Himself - NOT counting MEN'S sins against them!". It didn't just say "the church's" sins against them. The world!

So we are involved with more than just sweet little churches that are happy because they are in grace. This is something that changes the globe. It is because of legalism that we have international wars, ethnic violence, religious wars.

Legalism makes people angry, harsh, mean, judgemental, full of selfish ambition, gossip, slander - you cannot trust legalists!

One of the mistakes the devil made when he began to attack us was that he overshot - some of the Chinese people in our church when I began to first preach freedom from the law were completely shocked! They just said "Oh my God he has gone made! If we are not under law what are we under?!". The Holy Spirit! "You mean there's no 10 Commandments anymore!?". I am not blaming them! I love them! I am blaming their teachers.

So those of you who have already started transitioning your churches will know that there are some things that happen. Sometimes it is not even through people - it is an invisible hatred that comes on your mind - an invisible hostility.

I remember I was in Hong Kong for at least a year and then I preached on the finished work of the Cross and got the devil so by surprise that it just flowed and everyone received it and it was wonderful. I stepped out the pulpit and went home and was so happy and then suddenly bang! The heavens closed! Without one second reprive it was a spirit of heaviness! Hong Kong wasn't used to hearing this message! There came a reaction! Please don't be confused. Don't think of human beings - think of a spirit behind human beings. Love the human beings - show mercy and kindness and don't react - that is exactly what part of the tactic is that you get bitter against the opposition and start fighting the opposition and start preaching to prove they are wrong and you are right. No Jesus preached very strongly at the Pharisees and warned them. You need to have those kind of guts and get up and warn and rebuke to their face people who preach the opposite in your church. Peter came to Paul's church in Antioch and Paul had the right to confront Peter to his face.

Shepherds you need to safeguard the church from legalism! That is your main responsibility to keep the church free from the law! You can't rely on apostles to do that because many of them aren't! They are under the law themselves - I am sorry to say that but it is the truth.

I was under the law and I preached law and grace mixed together in Australia and South Africa. I am doing my best to not preach any mixture anymore. When you start that - this is the way that Paul described some of the grace-hating spirit. "Spies, bewitchers, fearmongers, agitators, dogs, evil men, mutilators of the flesh, deceitful schemers". That is what you are dealing with! It can be a face that smiles at you because the legalist face is a nice face and it is sweet when it smiles as it cuts you. Please don't think most legalists to their face are these mean-hearted people. They are sweet and disarming! But they will disarm you from grace into law. It is cunning and clever and deliberate and intentional. Be aware!

What I learnt in the military was if you are going to succeed then know your enemy and know his strengths and weaknesses otherwise he will take you out. Do not try to transition into grace naively thinking "This is such a wonderful message and everyone is going to be happy!".

There is a way to transition without hardly losing anyone. I believe good leadership can transition a church without hardly having to lose anyone. Look quickly at Luke chapter 11. Jesus had just read "How to win friends and influence people" so He starts with "Woe to you!". (v52); "Woe to you experts in the law because you have taken away the key to knowledge". What Abraham saw - they took away. "You yourselves have not entered". In other words you haven't stepped into the glory - you haven't stepped into the power and the favour and blessing of God the way Abraham did. You yourselves have not entered and; "You have hindered those who were entering". That is what is happening in the earth. There are leaders who are hindering their people entering because they themselves don't enter and they are preachers of a mixture of law and grace. (v53); "When Jesus left there the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose Him".

1. Ugly Face No. 1: Opposition to Grace.

Jesus is grace! The law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came in Jesus Christ. The law is impersonal. It was given through a mediation of angels through Moses but Jesus who is grace came personally to the earth. Grace is not a doctrine - it is a Person. His Name is Jesus! That is His Nature! That is the key to knowledge; God is a God of grace. God never intended to bring the law and never wanted to bring the law. If you study Galatians 3 and other passages of Scripture like Hebrews 10:8 you will see that He brought the law because of Israel's unbelief.

2. Ugly Face No. 2: Fiercly.

"Oppose Him fiercly". There is a grace-hating spirit that really is fierce!

If you have not yet felt it then you have not yet been preaching grace the way that Paul preached it.

They began to oppose Him fiercly.

3. Ugly Face No. 3: Beseige.

They will set up siege against your ministry. A siege is when an opposing army camps around your city and tries to stop supplies coming in and things going out.

Stop people listening to your website. You won't get invited to our camp. This will close doors to you. I think they are doors that should be closed! They beseiged Him. "Well if we were politically correct then those doors would be open". You shouldn't be going through some doors through the power of political correctness because you are not coming with the gospel anymore! "Besiege Him with questions". Questions are good but questions within questions are not good. (v53). That's why when people ask Jesus questions sometimes He answers them beautifully and sensatively and graciously and sometimes He answered with a baseball bat and smashed the living daylights out of them! He was not going to be a politically correct diplomat because this was too important. (v54);

4. Ugly Face No. 4: Waits to Catch You.

The Pharisees caught that woman in adultery. It wasn't something they stumbled on. I believe they set it up. I personally think one of the Pharisees or indeed they may have paid someone to have adultery with her. They paid him to set it up and they caught her! When you start preaching this grace message you think "I could be caught - I could fail - I could get into serious sin and if they caught me what is going to happen to me?". Then they really can control me! I wonder if it would have been different for Jimmy Swaggert if he was in a community of grace.

Legalism makes sin go underground and then they catch you. Grace makes sin come out into the open because there is an environment of safety, accountability and kindness and there is an openness.

Who could Jimmy Swaggert really have gone to? He is preaching grace now but it took going through hell. He was preaching law back then and judging everything.

You will preach more and more law when you feel more and more guilt and the more guilt you feel the more law you feel. You see how happy the grace people are and you are jealous of their happiness and you don't want them to be so happy because you are trying to do things to earn God's love. They are waiting to catch you. Grace communities should have this attitude - we are not looking to catch people or be suspicious. "Ooh there is probably sin in their lives". Well there probably is! Look at yourself! Catch yourself!

That thing about logs and eyes and specks has some relevance. We ought not to be trying to catch people in sin. And if we do - then Galatians 5 says you that are spiritual should restore them gently. So we should have this attitude that if someone does fall then they are not "caught" - they are a comrade. They are together. There are certain sins you don't need to go public with! You just go to the Father. It does say confess your sins to one another but only if you have done something against the other! On a horizontal level. To the Father it is all gone and forgiven anyway!

Paul never speaks about confessing sins - once! They are already gone! But on the horizontal I need to confess my faults or apologise to people I do wrong. I find it so easy to say sorry when I know that he accepts me. The grace-hating spirit is trying to catch you, trying to besiege you, oppose you and is doing it and when you first start transitioning your church into full grace it will intensify for a while. Eventually when your church gets more and more established in grace then tyranny becomes far from you, no weapon formed against you can prosper and no tongue raised up - God will start giving you a legacy that your righteousness is from Him and God starts fulfilling those conditions of a people established in grace.

Let's have a look at the next one;

5. Ugly Face No. 5: Spies.

I could just say these things but let's look at them. This is not a preaching on a platform to produce miracles - this is teaching.

Spies are secretive. They hide. They move from a place of duplictity. They are double faced and come amongst you for a reason - to hide their real agenda and look for faults. To exploit any opportunity where you are vulnerable and make you a slave to the law and to their control.

Paul went around releasing people from religious handcuffs and spies came right behind Paul and put the handcuffs straight back on again. They brought "balance". You cannot balance grace with law! They neutralise one another! There is no middle ground! It is either all law or all grace and no middle ground! "This is a radical message!". Yes of course. "Rob's preaching a radical message" - no Paul did!

Have you ever thought how radical the law is? These people who preach law and grace are actually just compromisers - they are like the Pharisees and don't preach it at it's full power. If you are going to preach the law then do it properly. Then try and balance it with grace and see where you get. The law means cut your hand off! When guys drive planes into towers in the name of their god - they are being absolutely faithful to the law! Under the law - kill anyone who doesn't keep it! In fact if you go read the law properly if you kids don't keep the law then you must stone your own children. Grace is radical?! The reason why people say grace is radical is because the law is not being taught properly.

God gave me two years to go study the law about seven years ago. I used to sweat every day! Guys use it in evangelism as a schoolmaster to lead people to Christ but I tell you - the law is frightening! It is extreme! That is why Christians shoot people at abortion clinics! They are being consistent to what they believe. They are being faithful to what they believe! The rest who preach law and grace are all compromisers and all backsliders of the law. They just preach partial law! You cannot preach the law in all it's fullness and then balance it with grace! The answer is they water down law and water down grace so people don't know the difference. Preach the law properly and then preach the fullness of grace and see what your people will do! They will say "I am out of here - this is a schizophrenic". These things are so radical that they cannot meet! Because the church for centuries has watered down law and watered down grace - the people sit there like frogs in water slowly heating up.

A few fools for Jesus are going to have to stand up and address this grace-hating spirit. Like Martin Luther took it on, I am taking it on! There are many times that Glenda and I have fallen into each others arms and wept. There are times when Glenda has said; "Oh Rob please stop you are calling fire on our heads". I said; "I don't want to!".

Martin Luther didn't have a choice. Once he saw it, he was finished. Once you see this - you are finished. You are ruined forever.

I have been to law conferences and have heard law preachers and I sit there and think "I am so sorry but I am getting angry - I repent, I repent - look at all these people getting under confusion!". I can't sit there anymore! Either I have to go to the leaders and say "Look guys - do you know what you are doing?" or don't go back again! I pray that all law-preaching and preaching a mixture of law and grace will see this revelation and repent to their people.

Otherwise I pray that God will pull the finances right out of their systems and let them go under. I know that's harsh but I mean it.

(Galatians 2:4); "Some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves". That is their goal and their agenda! Spy on our freedom and make you slaves. Isn't that beautiful? Notice the apostolic passion of those days. "We did not give in to them for a moment!". Why? "So that the truth of the gospel might remain in you". Why mustn't you give in even for a moment? So this gospel will keep on remaining. I preached in Cape Town to 2000 people a night last year in July and there were hundreds and hundreds of hungry people there but there were spies in the camp. Spies coming to check me out. I said to the brothers to whom I was accountable; "Don't let me get naughty on this platform because when I find spies out there ... you know those destroyers that send down depth charges and it goes "ping" ... when I am preaching prophets feel this all the time. They nearly go mad because they can feel where the submarines are - the spies and can feel them out there. Jesus could! He said "Knowing what they were thinking, He said ...". So I could feel the spies there and some of them shouldn't have been spies! God even shows me who they are sometimes!

I am not talking about people sitting there exposed for the first time to the message of grace and are sitting there analysing and trying to work out. That is fine! I am talking about them sitting there trying to catch you and waiting for you to say something that they can twist and distort. Those are spies! So I said to the brothers I was with; "Now listen if I preach in Hong Kong then I can be as naughty as I like - that is my turf and my jurisdiction". But when I am on someone else's platform I am responsible to those leaders and I can't do anything I want to. I hope you understand that authority is exercised differently in different contexts. "If I start getting naughty because of spies out there then show me by code signals. I want to cross every T and dot every I theologically and leave no gap for these spies to seize". Bonnie came to me afterwards and said "Dad you are so tame - what's wrong? You are so nice!". So I said; "No - this is a different context". So I went to the team I was with - and teams form and de-form - they are dynamic and fluid - and said; "Guys is there anything I should have done better?". They said; "Rob we have never heard it so clear - faultless and clear". The elders at the church had problems with some of the grace message and said "That is it - we can't argue".

Some spies came out of that and went back to their home churches and said "Rob is preaching that you don't have to submit to leaders and you can sin as much as you like". Then I realised that this is not a rational thing but a grace-hating spirit. They don't know what they are doing to their congregations. Members of those congregations who had known me for years emailed me and said; "Our pastor is saying this - is it true?". We wrote back and clarified and they said; "We always believed that what our pastor said wasn't true but we just wanted to check with you". These leaders that are fighting this message don't know that they are fighting God. They are not fighting us - they are fighting God. We must be accountable - we can be in error! I say to my local leaders in this church; "If I am getting too harsh ..." - I asked that after the first session. I am an accountable man. I want to be! But you have to be bold.

6. Ugly Face No. 6: A Bewitching Spirit.

Galatians 3:1; "You foolish Galatians - who has bewitched you?". That word there can be elaborated into; "With occultic power". That is witchcraft! Witchcraft is being preached in our churches around the world. Hopefully not in our churches but maybe still. Witchcraft is like the sin of rebellion.

Christ died to remove the law forever and when you preach law the Holy Spirit is not empowering you to preach something that Christ has removed. Another spirit is - a spirit of witchcraft.

The disciples wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans and Jesus said; "You are of the wrong spirit". The legalists will call fire down on the world and will say God is killing and judging and smashing. He isn't! There is a day of judgement coming but "in the last days I will pour out My Spirit - for salvation - on all flesh!". He goes on and speaks about miracles, signs and wonders happening because you believe the message of grace and not observing the law. You are dealing with occultic powers here that are in the church. The devil doesn't dabble much with those on broomsticks etc - that is his hobby. Witchcraft in the church to come back under law is the main agenda. He is the accuser of the brethren. And if he accuses you enough - if you are under a little bit of law he will condemn you enough then think you must come under more law to improve and so condemnation will go. It's called witchcraft.

Let's do one more and then we will close.

7. Ugly Face No. 7: Fear.

Go to Galatians 2. The next one is fear. I have been enjoying grace and then someone maybe I respect or know who preaches a Pentecostal/Holiness (which is not real holiness at all - it is still law dressed up as holiness) and you are going along happily and the power of God is flowing and there is joy and then someone comes among you and you think they are holy because they don't go to movies or don't drink wine. And you feel fear! And start agreeing with them and their standards! And you start becoming a hypocrite and you start rebuilding the law over your life and then you make out that Christ is the one rebuilding the law over your life and that Christ is causing the sin of the law and you become a hypocrite and confuse those in freedom because you change your behaviour when certain people are in your midst. Certain leaders that are respected.

If Peter who had visions of heaven and revelation could go back under law and be afraid of the legalists then we ought to know that we are dealing with a fear spirit. A bewitching spirit, a fear spirit, a control spirit. (v11); "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face". Peter was one of the big boys! "He was clearly in the wrong!". (v12); "Because he was afraid of those who belonged to the Jewish group ... so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabus was led astray .. in front of them all I said; "How is it that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs"?".

He isn't just talking about the way you come into the kingdom but the way you live! Don't let people tell you it is all about justification.

(v18); "I prove I am a law-breaker .. might live for God". In the next session we will talk about the other things and transitioning through.

"We ask that you will establish righteousness as a revelation in our hearts and we will discern what we are dealing with and we won't be naive or cute or politically correct or diplomatic but truly apostolic, discerning legalism from a mile away and protecting the church. We ask the Holy Spirit to brood over us. Help us to ask the question why every movement that has started in grace and freedom ended in law and institution and control? Because the leaders were naive about what they were up against. The Ugly Face of a Grace-Hating Spirit that took them out because they were unaware and not protected by a true apostolic ministry. We pray across the planet as we see grace revolution gathering momentum for more apostles to emerge that will be faithful to the gospel that Paul was faithful too and will be willing to confront those who preach a mixture. Deliver us from this niceness that Jesus never had. Help us to be willing to die to personal reputation - no matter how many doors are closed! They should be closed! We thank You for the multitudes waiting to hear this message!"

The Cause of Legalism and Control

I've been reading Ryan Rufus's awesome new book; "Sanctification by Grace". Here's a quote;

"I believe that the cause of so much of the legalism and control in the church today comes from a failure in "seeing our salvation". If you haven't seen your salvation then you haven't seen that your spirit has been made perfect and complete in Christ and that nothing else needs to take place.

Unfortunately many haven't seen that so they're busy trying to complete their salvation. They're trying to complete their righteousness, complete their holiness, complete their death to self, complete their worthiness to receive blessings from the Father, complete their right to come boldly before God.

Many Christians are confused about this. They think we still have a sinful nature and are under the law! So they are trying to control something they don't have, by using something they are no longer under. In other words they are trying to control (or die to) a sinful nature they don't have by using God's law that they are no longer under! That is called sanctification by law and it is totally weak and useless".

Let me repeat that. They are trying to control (or die to) a sinful nature that they don't have by using God's law that they are no longer under. Afraid that grace will lead to licence? Oh give over. You're sinning already one way or another. What have you got to lose?

My Soul is Purchased with His Blood!!

Okay the more theological snobs are going to have to forgive me for this - particularly the ones more grounded in grace than I am. But I am amazed and thrilled at how God suddenly speaks through the most unlikely means! And hopefully this small example of God's grace may help those of us not quite so academically minded!

I was just driving up to my local pharmacist to pick up my antidepressants and other medication and in the UK there is a £7.10 charge. Unfortunately as payday is next week my bank account is empty due to various reasons. Boots - my local pharmacy - runs a "Reward Card" scheme where you collect points every time you shop. I am in Boots quite a bit for toiletries, pharmaceuticals etc and always use my card but never cash in the points until Christmas. When I use the said points to buy presents for my rather large and extended family! So needing my pills I asked the pharmacist if I could take it off the points if there was enough.

She put my Reward Card in and laughed at me (they do that a lot at my pharmacy). She actually laughed at me! She said; "Wow - you have got more than enough. There's £165 worth of points on this card!". So I was able to get my medication virtually free! As I was walking away from the pharmacy I heard the inward audible voice of God speak and He said;

"You know son, so much of my church is like you just then. They approach the throne of grace guilty and trying to confess their latest sin and they ask "Is there enough of the blood of Christ left?". When the ridiculous reality is that not only is there MORE than enough grace and forgiveness for every sin that individual committed or may commit till the day they die - but there is also MORE than enough grace and forgiveness for EVERY person in the ENTIRE world who EVER lived!

Why else do you think that I said I am not willing that any should perish? The grace is there! The bank account is full to overflowing! The Reward Card scheme is loaded with bountiful - stupidly abundant, ridiculously more-than-enough plenty of points! The problem is that My church isn't cashing in on the bounty that is available and they're keeping away from intimacy and fellowship with Me because they're listening to doctrines of demons telling them they still have sin in them!".

I got back in the car and wonder of wonders this wonderful, amazing, beautiful song happened to be on and this verse in particular;



"Behold Him there the Risen Lamb! My perfect, spotless righteousness!

The great unchangeable I AM! The King of glory and of grace!

One with Himself I cannot die! My soul is purchased with His blood!

My life is hid with Christ on high!".

So if God the Son has purchased ME (or you) with His blood and the Spirit is a down-payment proving that then how dare I or a church pastor or my father or a demon DARE suggest that some act that we do may prove to be just a little bit too much for His boundless grace? And if God be for us (which He is - oh so much!) then bold is the abusive church pastor, abusive husband or father who dares oppose God!

As Rob Rufus puts it so well - when we were in first Adam there was NOTHING - NO righteous act that we could do to get ourselves out of our dead spiritual state. Now we are in last Adam there is NOTHING - NO sinful act that we can do to get ourselves out of our state of life and grace and glory!

Ern Baxter on Righteousness and EXPERIENCE!!

Here's the third video clip that I've got so far. I do apologise for the poor quality - for some reason the DVD wouldn't play on the TV so I had to try it out on my laptop. I think the essence of the message comes across though. Once again Ern is just so naturally funny (unlike other preachers who seem to "try" just a bit too hard) - and it really brings the whole message to life!

But he notes an important lack in charismatic life - that sometimes the essential doctrines of justification by grace alone through faith alone can get neglected for the enjoyment of experience. Historically the church has indulged in two gross errors. One is to despise the charismatic neglect of such doctrines and revert to a dead, dry formalism where grace is really a misnomer and legalism tends to creep in. The other is to despise the doctrines of grace and enjoy the day to day experience. The truth that Rob Rufus among others are restoring to the church is that these doctrines bring life and freedom and liberty and actually release a greater glory of experience that lasts!

Ern Baxter on Romans and Righteousness!!

I've been thinking quite a bit about this blog and it's direction particularly as the majority of my time is taken up with Rob Rufus's ministry and transcribing his sermons over here. My initial attraction to Rob Rufus's ministry in July 2007 in Brighton was how he reminded me of Ern Baxter. I was thrilled therefore to find that Ern was one of Rob's heroes! And while I've tried to publish and transcribe a lot of Ern's ministry there is still so much more to share and be heard and not be forgotten.

So I have got out a box of Ern's video sessions at the Anglia Bible Week in 1985 (I was merely 8 years old!). He brought a series on the first few chapters of Romans upto chapter 8. A lot of the material is extremely theological and deep but I want to publish video clips that mark and highlight and back up this outstanding message and walk of grace many of us are on.

The first is a clip where Ern is talking about righteousness and it's inevitable triumph. But he begins by speaking about how wrong it is and what a blasphemy to the Cross it is to remain pseudo-humbly thinking of ourselves as "worms" and focusing on our sin. Now I understand the word "righteousness" as "right standing with God", it is possible to hear this clip in a new wonderful light!

Taking Away the Veil!

I don't normally publish Rob Rufus's transcripts both here and on the "Rob Rufus blog" unless I can't resist. This was one of those I couldn't resist. All week I have been struggling with the fact that I can't go to Hong Kong and have been in a tension between passively accepting "it is God's will" and furiously rejecting it. Which I am and I do. Scott was coming with me this year to Hong Kong and he had faith to believe that he would be healed of a life-long skin problem he has had. Last "Glory and Grace" I saw in the heavens a new suit of skin that I know that I know heaven has got for him. So I refuse to accept it was God's will that "this wasn't the time". We WERE meant to be there. I know God will cause all things to come together for good - no doubt! But I want to learn from my unbelief in this - still wearily refusing to accept that God's passion is to bless me. And I want sanctified revenge on the devil for his part in this by publishing more of the gospel and message of grace than EVER before!

So this sermon 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!