Finding Freedom From The Spirits Of "Revival" The blood of the Lamb of God has purchased you and you are His possession. You may fall for the wiles of the devil, but a true child of God will "hear" the persistent promptings of the Holy Spirit within and sooner or later realize he has taken a wrong road. Many believers who have stepped onto the road of deception have all had thoughts or doubts about what they were doing. They have thought thoughts like, "Something seems wrong though it seems so right" or "I am not sure about all of this. I need to be cautious." In spite of these checks in one's spirit, many persist and even go up for prayer during "revival" services. But, through it all, God is there, prompting one that something is wrong until the realization hits that this is not of God. When it does, he must gird up his faith that though he has committed a grievous offense in his ignorance, the blood of Jesus still avails for him: 1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Notice the words "if we walk in darkness." That's what has happened to you when you were deceived into the "revival" and all it entails. You turned from walking in the light of God to walking in darkness. It may have looked like light, but it was darkness. It may have looked like truth, but it was a lie. It may have looked like God and His workings, but it wasn't. It was darkness, and Jesus said, Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! This leads to another area of repentance and a turning to the word of God. Being deceived into the "revival" lead you into a fellowship that is totally contrary to the fellowship described in 1 John, yet Scripture says, 2 Cor 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? When you caught on to what you were following, you started to come out of what you were entering into. You started to return to the true fellowship God has ordained for His people, fellowship with Himself and His people. The blood cleansed your conscience from these dead works and the word in its proper context once again was the light that got you back on the narrow road. As I stated before, some have a hard time getting free of what they have experienced, but not all do get out. I have run across four kinds of people concerning the current "revival": 1. Those who get so involved, they are absorbed into it to the point where their "faith" will never be shaken. I believe Hebrews 6:1-8 can be applied to some who have fallen for the "revival" teachings, even though these verses in context speak of Jews returning to the Old Covenant: Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, I don't believe in judging whether God can turn a man from evil when he goes astray, but there are some powerful implications in these verses. I also believe God does all He can to pull a wayward one back to the foundation which is in Christ, but it is the man who has to chose to repent and return. 2. Those who leave because they have been hurt or damaged and consider true Christianity a farce and leave it altogether 3. Those who come out of it immediately because the light of God's word and conviction by the Holy Spirit is so clear 4. Those who come out of it, but struggle to get rid of the oppression and experiences and feelings Regardless, God's mindset, if you will, is to bring all into a relationship with Himself. His forgiveness is readily avaiable. He still wants to establish all in His truth and in Himself. Yet, it is the heart of the individual that limits to what extent God can work to fully restore them. But, know this: God wants to ESTABLISH you again in His truth and He has the total power to do so if you will return to the faith you once followed: 1. God desires to establish you again according to His gospel through your obedience yto the faith it presaents to you: Rom 16:25 Now to him that is of power to STABLISH YOU ACCORDING TO my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 2. God wants to establish you in holiness by ridding you of the deceptions you fell for: 1 Th 3:13 To the end HE MAY STABLISH YOUR HEARTS UNBLAMEABLE IN HOLINESS before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. 3. God wants to establish you in good works once again and deliver you from the works of darkness: 2 Th 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 4. The Lord will establish you and deliver you from those who have not faith according to your faithfulness in doing what the word of God says. As you are faithful to His word, He is shown to be faithful to his word and will keep you from evil. Many think God will protect them from evil even when they are not responsible toward the word of God. He will certainly warn you, but He cannot force you to be faithful to His word. That is why when coming out of the "revival," you must return towards a faithfulness to the word of God: 2 Th 3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: 5. As I said in Part 1, there are reasons to rebuke the devil, pray and fast, but what is crucial is your faithfulness to the word of God, to study it, meditate on it, and know Him in it in full reliance on the Holy Spirit because the adversary's main goal is to get you to depart from the word of God in its true context. If you do depart from it in ignorance, know that that effort is the advsersary's work to destroy you spiritually. But, through it all, God is prompting and warning and disturbing you that something is wrong and you should immediately check things out in His word through reading the Scriptures and prayer. The following verses has to do with persecution and trials because of preaching the gospel, but they also apply in this case: 1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Notice: God WILL STABLISH you once again and SETTLE YOU. I say that because many get really unsettled when they realize what was happening to them. Notice, too, the meaning of the word SETTLE: SETTLE 2311. themelioo, them-el-ee-o'-o; from G2310; to lay a basis for, i.e. (lit.) erect, or (fig.) consolidate:--(lay the) found (-ation), ground, settle. Notice the very last word in these definitions: foundation. God will return you to your true foundation, Jesus Christ, according to your response to His trying to save you from going too far down the road of "revival" to the point that you cannot hear Him at all. I don't totally understand why some have such a hard time getting free of the manifestations they submitted themselves to, but I do know that it is only through the truth of God's word that they can persevere to the point of ridding themselves of them. Jesus said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). One final note for this Part is that many people struggle to get OUT OF what they have brought themselves into with very little vision of getting BACK ONTO something. For some, the effects have been so devastating that all they can see is what has happened and is happening to them and that is what they emphasize. What they need to do is to set their eyes on the narrow road they desire to start walking again and keep the emphasis there. There has to come a point where they do what Paul says: Phil 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, There is a life and walk and a call on the Christian and after realizing one's waywardness, one should also keep his eyes on the following as he does all he can against the oppression and then stands against those evils. Those things are described in Ephesians 6: Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. One word of caution here. I have heard many people say things like, "When I get up in the morning, I put on my armor. I pray, 'I put on my righteousness and the belt of truth, etc.'" One gets the impression that this is just ritual and method and words rather than a realization of the realities of what the armor is. Check yourself out on this one and ask yourself if you do that, and then study what the following verses mean and that every one is a spiritual reality centered in Christ. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Having returned to the word of God in its true context, you can now say you have "loins girt about with truth." You have again placed your faith in the blood of Christ and your conscience is now clean. Hopefully, you didn't go on and on confessing how wrong you were over and over again, and that you didn't go on and on pleading the blood of Jesus. You only need to confess your sin once, and God said when you did, the blood did its work in your conscience. Don't get hung up in trying to feel forgiven or feeling the blood cleansing you. It doesn't matter how you feel. What matters is you simply believe God's word concerning your confession of sin and the immediate cleansing of your sin. Go over the basics of the gospel once again because what you've been through has placed teaching in your mind that sounded like the gospel, but wasn't. Gird yourself with the basic truths of God's word and God's gospel concerning His Son. Realize, too, in God restoring you that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is yours, that Christ's righteous is still yours through your faith in Jesus and His finished work. Such a realization gives great strength against the wiles of the enemy to accuse you and oppress you. 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Your going over the basics should be refershsing to your spirit, and it will help set your mind on one of the purposes God has for you: to present that message to others. 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. The truth of God's word is restoring you and your faith will increase as you spend time in it. I mentioned in Part 1 about going over, only as necessary, the steps which led you into apostasy so you can replace those lies with the truth of God's word concerning who He is and what He does. This truth then becomes your shield against the fiery darts of the enemy. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: You are now on the road of maturity again, having left the road of apostasy. You are walking again in the truths of the gospel. You know what those truths are, having refreshed yourself in them. All the lies have pretty much been dealt with through the word of God, which has now restored your mind in the true knowledge of Him. The gospel and the lies you once accepted have now been destroyed and you realize that these things are the helmet of salvation, the truth of God's word protecting you against the lies of the adversary. 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Prayer now becomes a very important part of your restoration to the truth, interceeding for others caught in the trap of the evil one. You also persevere in prayer as you watch for the wiles of the enemy and pray for God's wisdom, strength and truth to deal with them in patient and sure manner. 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, You are now realizing your freedom from that which had almost engulfed you, and you pray for boldness to be a witness to the true Gospel and the true Jesus Christ.
Part 1: When Evil Perseveres
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