blessings

Entering into God’s rest, the Promised Land

Better Covenant for us

In the 3rd chapter of Hebrews, we study the ministry of Moses under the Old Covenant and the ministry of Jesus under the New Covenant. Moses as a servant was verily faithful in all his house. But Christ “was counted worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch as he who hath buildeth the house hath more honor than the house” (3:3). Christ was faithful “as a Son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end” (3:6).

Under the New Covenant, we are the house of God built by God, Jesus being the Chief Corner Stone. We would remain as the House of God if we hold fast our faith till the end.

God wanted the people of Israel to enter the Promised Land (the land of Canaan). It was not His will that they should remain in the wilderness over a long period of 40 years, just with their seeing His works by way of miracles.

Evil heart of unbelief

They had “an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (3:12). God was grieved with them because “they do always err in their heart: and they have not known My ways” (Vs.10). God swore in His wrath, “They shall not enter into My rest” (Vs.11). The land of Canaan was a place of rest for the people of Israel.

Sin of unbelief

“But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Vs.13). Unbelief is a sin. These days, the people of God do not take God at His Word. They have fallen into the trap of the Devil through unbelief. Jesus could not perform miracles during His earthly ministry on many occasions because of “unbelief” (Mark 16:14). Today also, the people of God harden their hearts through the deceitfulness of sin. The Devil makes the people of God doubt the promises of God so that they do not hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of their hope firm unto the end. Do you have “an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God”? If some miracle is not performed by God in the manner we want it, or if there is some delay in receiving some blessing from God, we fall into the temptation of departing from the living God. We do not hold Him firmly till the end. Half-way through, we leave Him and go our way. The Devil rejoices over this. Backsliding or departing from the living God takes us backward from the Promised Land.

Being partakers of Christ

We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end (Vs.14). Our confidence in Jesus should be unshaken and firm. It should be steadfast unto the end. We are made partakers of Christ in this very world. The people of this world would find Christ in us. These days, the people of God want to receive only some morsels of blessings from God through miracles like the people of Israel under the Old Covenant. Have you ever thought of being made partakers of Christ?

Remaining in the wilderness all the years

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses….. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (16-19).

Similarly, not all the people of God redeemed by the precious Blood of Jesus enter the Promised Land. They want to remain in the spiritual wilderness being satisfied with the morsels of divine healing or some miracles. They do not know that there would be “showers of blessing” in the Promised Land (Eze.34:25-26). They are grieving the Holy Spirit by their unbelief. If they remain in the wilderness for a long period, they will also perish as the people of Israel did. The people of Israel had encountered a physical death in the wilderness because they grieved God by unbelief. Similarly, we also face a spiritual death in this wilderness if we do not enter the Promised Land.

Rest for the people of God

Let us now proceed to the chapter 4 of Hebrews. In this chapter, the Holy Spirit teaches us in detail of the rest for the people of God under the New Covenant. All the people of Israel could not enter the rest because of unbelief. This place of rest is none but the Promised Land. The gospel concerning the Promised Land was preached to the people of Israel also in the same manner as the gospel of Christ is preached to us today (4:2). But the word preached to the people of Israel did not profit them, “not being mixed with faith” (4:2). The gospel of Christ does not end with our acceptance of Jesus as our Savior and with our receiving some morsels of blessings from God. In many churches, they claim to preach the “full” gospel, whereas the word “full” is not mentioned as an affix to the word “gospel”. We find “the glorious gospel”, and not “full gospel”. It is the gospel taking us to the glorious land.

God did rest the seventh day from all His works (4:4). There was “another day” for the people of Israel under the Old Covenant (4:8). “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day” (Vs.8). That was a day of rest in the Promised Land.

We have to rest in the perfect work of God’s redemption for us through the Blood of Jesus as God rested from His perfect work of creation. It is our faith in the finished work of salvation for us through Christ Jesus. Christ will not again go to the Cross for saving us from sin or for healing us. “There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God” (Vs.9). In this place of rest, we have to depend upon God 100%, and to have fellowship with the members of the Body of Christ, the Church.

Ceasing from our own works

“For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Vs.10).

Entering into rest does not mean physically resting from God’s ministry. Here, we have to do what God wants us exactly to do in His vineyard. We should not do more than or less than what He wants to do. If you are an evangelist, you should abide in your calling. If you are a prophet, you should abide in your calling. You cannot be both a prophet and a pastor of some local church. If you are an apostle, you cannot confine yourself to the pastoral functions of a local church. You should not be an all-rounder.

Here, you have to cease from your own works. Doing your own works means taking on your shoulder many responsibilities which are meant for the other members of His Body. It is a body ministry, each one of us performing our individual role as a team.

“Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Vs.11).

Blessings for the People of God in the Promised

Land

Let us meditate on the words of prophecy in Eze.36:16-38 and Jer.32:37-44 concerning the wonderful blessings of God for the Church. What was lost under the Old Covenant is being restored under the New Covenant. What was wounded under the Old Covenant due to divine judgment is being healed under the New Covenant. The people of God held in captivity under the Old Covenant are being released under the New Covenant. The people of God scattered all over the world during the Babylonian reign are gathered together in the Body of Christ under the New Covenant. What was destroyed during the Babylonian rule under the Old Covenant is being rebuilt under the New Covenant.

Children of Israel Vs Children of Judah

The prophetic books refer to two groups of the people of God under the Old Covenant. They are the children of Israel and the children of Judah. In the 49th chapter of Genesis, we find that the descendants of Jacob, consisting of 12 tribes are blessed by Jacob through prophecies. The blessings conferred on Judah are outstanding in that we find that he is the one “whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee….The scepter shall not depart from Judah…” (Vs.8, 10). In I Sam.11:8, we find that the children of Israel numbering three hundred thousand outnumber the men of Judah numbering thirty thousand. Christ, the Messiah, came out of the tribe of Judah. Under the old Covenant, both the children of Israel and the men of Judah were in captivity during the Babylonian rule.

Similarly, under the New Covenant, we find two similar categories of the people of God. A large number of people call themselves as believers and a small number of people as ministers. The truth of the gospel is that under the New Covenant, all the children of God redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ are indeed ministers of God because the Levitical priesthood came to an end with the rending in twain of veil of the Temple.

The moment Christ died on the Cross, the physical nation of Israel and the gentile nations merged together by breaking down the middle wall of separation (Eph.2:14-18). The physical Jerusalem which had the tabernacle of God under the Old Covenant ceased to exist as the tabernacle of God under the New Covenant. Instead, the Church, the body of Christ became the tabernacle of God. Those who accept Jesus Christ, whether Jews or non-Jews, become the children of God, the children of the promise under the New Covenant. The moment the Holy Ghost was sent to the world on the day of Pentecost, the spiritual Israel, the Church was born. The line of demarcation between the children of Israel and the children of Judah that had existed under the Old Covenant was done away with when the Church was born on the day of Pentecost. The captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel under the Old Covenant were caused to return on the day the Church was born in Christ Jesus and the desolations caused during the Babylonian rule are rebuilt as at the first (Jer.33:7). The two different categories of the people of God became one in the body of Christ.

Gathering of the people of God

“For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land” (Eze.36:24)

The above prophecy was literally fulfilled for the people of Israel under the Old Covenant when the nation of Israel was born on 14-5-1948. But for the Church, the spiritual Israel, this prophecy began to be fulfilled as early as the day of the birth of the Church. It is being fulfilled even today. The children of God scattered all over the world during the Babylonian rule under the Old Covenant are now being gathered together in the Body of Christ. Today we find the children of God living in different nations with barriers of race, nationality, language, culture, etc. They live amongst those who have not accepted Christ as their personal Savior. There is a promised land for them under the New Covenant. Christ has brought them into this Promised Land. But the devil has blinded our eyes so that they may not behold and appropriate the wonderful blessings that are in store for the people of God. We can inherit these blessings through fellowship with one another. Christ has brought you into this glorious land. But you do not believe that you have entered this glorious land. The people under the Old Covenant could not enter in because of “unbelief” (Heb.3:19).

The early apostles continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers so that fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were performed by the apostles in the Name of Jesus (Acts 2:42). If we have to perform many wonders and signs, we have to continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. Paul and Barnabas prospered in their ministry because James, Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship (Gal.2:9). The church of Macedonia entreated Paul and his team to receive the gift, and take upon themselves the fellowship of the ministering to the saints (II Cor.8:4). We should not “forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is…”(Heb.10: 25). Fellowship means pooling and sharing material things in common, bearing one another’s burden and praying for one another. A group of people should come together for ministering amongst themselves with the sole aim of glorifying Christ through their lives, and with the vision of revival in the churches and of evangelism in the entire world through their common ministry. They have to pool and share their resources in common for the ministry.

Even during the Old Testament period, David sang the beautiful song in Psalm 133:

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments:

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for every more”

Aaron is typical of the body of Christ. As the members of the body of Christ dwell together in unity, a precious anointing of the Holy Spirit comes on them, in an overwhelming manner. It is also as the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descend upon the mountains of Zion. Upon the mountains of Zion, we can experience a mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit if we dwell together in unity. The Lord commands His blessing there on the whole body of Christ – more than the blessing to be poured on individuals. We get an abundance of life on the mountains of Zion.

Gospel of the Promised Land

The gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard. For we who have believed do enter that rest (Heb.4:1-3). There is a rest for the people of God in this wonderful land. The gospel of Christ does not merely mean acceptance of Jesus Christ, receiving the Holy Ghost baptism, and receiving certain physical blessings and healings. It is much more than that. We have to enter the Promised Land by faith. In this land, the works of the devil stand destroyed through the Blood of Jesus Christ. The powers of Satan cannot touch or overcome you. We find a strong arm of God being ministered to us through the five kinds of New Testament ministers i.e. apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors. We are not in the kingdom of Satan or the Antichrist but are in the Kingdom of Christ. We have all the resources of this world at our command because we are of the Kingdom of Christ. We need not go with begging bowls seeking funds for our ministries.

The strangers and aliens shall serve us here. Strangers would feed our flocks i.e. the flocks of the great Shepherd (Isaiah 61:3). The financial institutions of this world that do not know Christ and His body would give the finances needed for us. The sons of the foreigner are our plowmen and our vinedressers. They would give us the very resources of this world, which are owned by those who do not know Christ, for rebuilding the ruins. Those who do not know us would supply the manpower needed by us. You have to simply command the doors of these financial institutions to be opened in Jesus’ Name for financial assistance. You have to simply command the resources to be made available to you in Jesus’ Name for building your church buildings or prayer halls. We should now claim the above word of prophecy and appropriate it for ourselves.

It reminds us of the great deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh and his army. While delivering them, the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. (Exo.12: 35-36). The children of God received articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing. Dear Minister of God, the institutions of this world or the government of your nation will serve you. Because Jesus has given you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, whatever you will loose in earth will be loosed in heaven and whatever you bind in earth will be bound in heaven (Matt.16: 19).

Sanctification through the Holy Spirit

God has sprinkled clean water upon us by sending us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit sanctifies us through the Blood of Jesus Christ and through the Word. Christ in us cleanses us of all our filthiness and idols (Eze.36:25)

As the children of God in the Promised Land, we have received “a new heart” and “a new spirit” (Eze.36:26). Our old man stands crucified with Christ Jesus and our new man has a new spirit. God has taken away the stony heart and given us a heart of flesh in its place. There are many children of God in our midst who have still the stony heart though they claim to have accepted Christ. Let them go to Calvary daily to look unto the Crucified Christ so that their stony heart turns into a heart of flesh. In the Promised Land, we always behold the two-fold vision of Christ i.e. Crucified Christ and Glorified Christ. As we look at the Crucified Christ, our stony heart is broken to smith screens. As we look at the Glorified Christ, our stony heart is transformed into a heart of flesh through the power of resurrection. Our inner man thus puts on a new spirit.

Health and healing and abundance of peace and truth

In this land, God restores us health and healing which were lost under the Old Covenant and God reveals us the abundance of peace and truth (Jer.33:6). We receive both health and healing. When the dreaded diseases stalk the children of the world, we get insulated from these diseases through the Blood of Jesus Christ in the Promised Land. In our old age, we get divine health. In India, I came to know of a Muslim man who cures all the kinds of diseases through the powers of darkness. I was told that he simply touches the affected parts of the human body and removes the kidney and gall-bladder stones without any surgery. He heals the heart diseases by his touch without cardiac surgery. He reportedly displays in his hands the internal organs taken from the bodies touched by him. People are flocking to him in large numbers. He reportedly owns a helicopter to go all over the country and to visit abroad also. God is sending a great delusion in these last days so that even the elect may also be deceived. Let us pray that the ministers of the gospel may be endowed with the power of God in such a manner that the powers of the Devil are destroyed. Let us pray that supernatural miracles take place through the hands of the ministers of the gospel. I believe that we, standing in the Promised Land, can perform greater works of God in the Name of Jesus Christ than the Devil and his Antichrist. We can restore health and healing to the people to whom we minister.

God reveals to us the abundance of peace and truth. Standing in the Promised Land, we can command peace to flow in Jesus’ Name wherever there is strife or violence and can preach the truth to the world that is deceived by the Devil.

Holy Spirit indwelling us

God puts His spirit within us and causes us to walk in His statutes, and we keep His judgments and do them (Eze.36:7). Many of the children of God find it difficult to obey God’s commandments because they do not realize that after they had accepted Christ as their Savior, the Holy Spirit begun to indwell them. It is not by your will-power but by the indwelling Holy Spirit that you have to observe God’s statutes. The Holy Spirit is our Companion and Partner. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to overcome sin and to obey God. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Christ in you is the hope of glory. Though the Old Testament saints like Moses, David, Isaiah, etc. wrote the wonderful Old Testament books, yet they did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.

We now dwell in the land that God gave to our fathers. We are now His people and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has become our God (Eze.36:28 & Jer.30:22).

Multiplication of our seeds

In this land, God now delivers us from all our uncleanness and calls for the grain and multiplies it. He does not bring famine upon us (Eze.36:30 and 34:27). Whatever we sow, we reap it in multiplication. We do not suffer famine, physical and spiritual. Whatever you give to God through the work of your hands, God multiplies it and blesses you. In my ministry, I have experienced this. Whenever I ministered to some poor saints, God multiplied what I gave and returned it to me.

Repentance of sins and iniquities

In this glorious land, if we commit iniquities and abominations, we should remember our evil ways and our deeds that were not good. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and unrighteousness and we loathe ourselves in our own sight. God cleanses us from all our iniquities (Eze.36:31 and Jer.33:8).

In this land, God cleanses us of our iniquities through the Blood of His Son and enables us to live in the cities and the ruins are being rebuilt (Eze.36:33). Cities mean spiritually prosperous places. The ruins caused in the physical Jerusalem under the Old Covenant due to divine judgment are being rebuilt in the spiritual Jerusalem.

Habitation of shepherds and flocks

The desolate land of the Old Covenant is now being tilled by the New Testament ministers. The land where we dwell now has become like the Garden of Eden and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now being fortified and inhabited. The cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that were desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, are now being restored in the Church. The habitation of dragons stands destroyed here (Jer.33: 10-11-12, Eze.36:34-35, Joel 2:3).

In the Promised Land, the dragons’ habitation is transformed into a land of grass with reeds and rushes (Is.35:7). So long as you dwell in the world, you are prone to the attack of the devil. However, once you are transformed to be the citizens of Zion (the Promised Land), the Devil’s power on you stands destroyed. Here, you will fight the devil with the Sword in an offensive war, whereas in the world you have to be in the defensive war against the devil. In Zion, we will not find the habitation of the devil and his evil spirits because the devil stands stripped of his power through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus, with the sin having no dominion over us (Rom.8:37). We have dual citizenship i.e. one in the world and another in the Promised Land.

In this place, we have now a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. The flocks of the Great Shepherd lie down in green pastures. The Lord leads them beside the still waters. When the children of the world do not find peace and green pastures, we find abundance of peace and green pastures in the Promised Land where we find the Lord as “my Shepherd”. Here, we have a personal Shepherd and we shall not want (Psalm 23:1-3).

God set up one Shepherd over His people the moment Christ died on the Cross and rose from the dead (Eze.34:23). Through the Cross of the Lord Jesus, God made both the Jews and the Gentiles one by breaking down the middle wall of separation (Eph.2:14-18). There is now one Shepherd over His people, irrespective of whether they are the Jews or the Gentiles. Seeing Christ through his prophetic eyes, King David said in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd”. All the children of God redeemed by the Blood of Jesus have one Shepherd only, though they belong to different denominational churches, nationalities or races.

If you know the truth that Jesus is your Shepherd, you “shall not want” because He Himself feeds you. God supplies all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19). In the past, you had sought human help for supplying all your need. Confess through your mouth today that Christ Jesus is your Shepherd and that you shall not want.

As the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church, is being restored to glory, all the nations around this spiritual Jerusalem shall know that “I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.” The ruined cities are now being filled with the flocks of men. When the Heaven-sent revival takes place, thousands of people would be born into the Kingdom of Christ (Eze.36:36-38).

- Job Anbalagan

Blessings under New Covenant/

Gospel of the Promised

Land

Entering into God’s rest, the Promised Land/Blessings for the people of God in the Promised Land

GOD’S BLESSINGS FOR HIS PEOPLE UNDER THE NEW COVENANT

God has in store great blessings for His people in the Promised Land under the New Covenant. All the promises of God given to His people under the Old Covenant can be inherited by His people under the New Covenant. We, the members of His Body, are the children of promise, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, who was the father of faith. Let us now meditate on the 34th chapter of Ezekiel. The Lord commanded Prophet Ezekiel to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel because the Levitical priesthood failed to deliver goods to His flock. Instead, the priests suppressed and drove away the flocks under their care. The flocks were finally scattered abroad. God judged the shepherds of Israel through the hands of their enemies. At the same time, God gave promises of restoration and blessings to His people under a new covenant of peace (Vs.25). God is today gathering His people scattered abroad under the new covenant in the one Body of Christ.

His promises of restoration and of blessings in verses 21 to 31 are for us, and not for the people of the physical Israel who rejected Christ and the new covenant of God.

God promised through His prophet in verse 22, “Therefore will I save My flock….”. This promise is being fulfilled in the ministry of Christ Jesus. God is saving His flock from the four corners of the world through the Blood of His Son.

In verses 23 and 24, God referred to “My servant David”. This prophetically refers to the ministry of Christ Jesus, the Seed of David, and not to the earthly rule of King David. These promises of God were not fulfilled during the rule of King David because there were wars, violence, sin, insecurity, judgment of God, etc. prevalent in the physical kingdom of David.

In this background, I am led by the Spirit to give you an insight into the blessings of the Kingdom of Christ.

“Therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey: and I will judge between cattle and cattle…..” (Eze.34:22).

If you are saved by the Blood of Christ Jesus, you would join His flock. His flock shall no more be a prey. Under the Old Covenant, the people of Israel became a prey to their enemies as and when they forsook the ways of God. The enemies of the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant were termed as heathens, whereas the enemies under the New Covenant are the Devil and his unseen rulers.

The Lord does not want His people to become a prey to the Devil under the covenant of the Blood of Christ Jesus. People who are ignorant of the truth concerning the Blood of Jesus fall a prey to the Devil.

Under the Old Covenant, God did not have the personal fellowship with every cattle of His flock. Instead, He chose leaders like Moses, David, etc. to rule and judge His flock. Even when these leaders failed to obey God on some occasions, the judgment of God devoured the flocks under them. However, under the New Covenant, God knows each and every cattle of His flock so intimately that He calls them by name. God can thus judge between cattle and cattle.

If you know the truth, the truth will set you free today. Please remember that you are no longer a prey to the Devil or anyone in this world. In Christ Jesus, you are complete. There is no spot in thee. Thou art fair!

Confess through your mouth that you are not a prey to the Devil who has brought this disease to your body. Command the sickness in your body to leave you under the Covenant of the Blood of Jesus Christ. Command the unhappiness in your family to disappear in the Name of Jesus Christ. Command your strained marriage to be restored in the Name of Jesus Christ.

In the Promised Land, you should command all the curses brought on your family through the sins of your forefathers to be removed from your house through the Blood of Jesus.

“And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My servant David: He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd” (Eze.34:23).

God set up one Shepherd over His people the moment Christ died on the Cross and rose from the dead. Through the Cross of the Lord Jesus, God made both the Jews and the Gentiles one by breaking down the middle wall of separation (Eph.2:14-18). There is now one Shepherd over His people, irrespective of whether they are the Jews or the Gentiles. Seeing Christ through his prophetic eyes, King David said in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd”. All the children of God redeemed by the Blood of Jesus have one Shepherd only, though they belong to different denominational churches, nationalities or races.

If you know the truth that Jesus is your Shepherd, you “shall not want” because He Himself feeds you. God supplies all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19). In the past, you had sought human help for supplying all your need. Confess through your mouth today that Christ Jesus is your Shepherd and that you shall not want.

“And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them: I the Lord have spoken it” (Eze.34:24).

The Lord of the Heaven and the earth has become our personal God under the New Covenant. And His Son Jesus has become our Prince in His Kingdom. What a privileged people we are today! The God of the Old Covenant, Whom the people of Israel were frightened of, has become our personal God. The God Who judged His people instantly when they rebelled against Him has now become a forgiving God. The Word became flesh and dwells among us, and we behold His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14-17). Whenever we backslide in our spiritual life, His grace upholds and restores us. He does not condemn us but chastens us out of His fatherly love (Heb.12:7-11).

If you know the truth that you have a personal God and that Christ is your Prince in the Father’s Kingdom, no power on this earth can overcome you.

“And I will make them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.” (Eze.34:25).

God made a covenant of peace with the people through the Blood of Jesus Christ and caused the evil beasts to cease from the Promised Land. The Promised Land under the New Covenant is not a physical land or a physical kingdom. It is a spiritual life intertwined with the life of Christ and with the lives of the other members of His Body, the Church. It is a spiritual place where we find the Tabernacle of God in our midst. On the Cross of Calvary, the works of Satan were destroyed completely so that he could no longer put the people of God in bondage to sin and sicknesses. The evil beasts symbolical of the satanic powers were stripped of their powers on the Cross itself so that the people of God could live a life of victory in the Promised Land safely, even in the wilderness. The Antichrist and the False Prophet who are described as beasts in the 13th Chapter of the Book of Revelation have no power or authority over you if you have entered the Promised Land under the New Covenant.

There is indeed a wilderness in the Promised Land. Often in our spiritual life, we are driven to a wilderness where we suffer loneliness or fear or insecurity. However, in this wilderness, the Devil cannot overcome us because Christ our behalf not only overcame the evil one in the wilderness after his 40 days’ fast on our behalf but also finally triumphed over him and stripped him of all his power through the blood of the Cross. Whenever we face the wilderness experience in our life, we should not get disheartened but remember that the Devil had lost all his power over us when Christ died for our sin and rose from the dead.

Since many of us are ignorant of this truth, we tend to give a place to the Devil and thus allow him to tempt and oppress us in the wilderness. If you know the truth, the truth will deliver you.

We can dwell safely in the wilderness and also can sleep in the woods. Normally, nobody would like to stay in a jungle surrounded by wild beasts. Since the Devil has been stripped of his power in the Promised Land, we can sleep in the spiritual jungle of the Land. All of us do sleep in our spiritual life at one time or the other. But the Devil has absolutely no power over us. He cannot annihilate us spiritually during our spiritual slumber in the comforts of our life.

At times, we rest from our labors in the Vineyards of God. A weary minister may go on a short vacation along with his family. A minister may not be spending much time in his prayer at times due to his bodily fatigue or due to some other reasons. But the grace of God surrounds him. The powerless Devil cannot attack him during this period unless he gives a place to the former.

The preachers often quote the instance of Peter’s slumber in the garden of Gethsemane as the reason for his denying Jesus. According to them, if Peter had prayed for an hour, he would not have fallen into the temptation. Peter denied Christ not because he could not pray but because the prophecy of Jesus at the time of the Last Supper had to be fulfilled. Jesus had prophesied that Peter would deny Him thrice that night before the rooster crew much before they entered the garden of Gethsemane.

By imploring Peter to pray for at least one hour so that he should not enter into temptation, Jesus revealed to Peter the secret of prayer that in order to overcome temptation, he needed the spiritual strength from God so that he might not enter into such temptation in his life. Jesus did not mean the temptation of Peter to deny Him at that particular time but the temptation Peter would face in his entire life towards the lust of the flesh and the lust of the world, especially after the ascension of his Master into the heaven. Prayer prepares us in our spiritual life so that we may not enter into temptation at all. These days, we do not pray before entering into temptation but pray only after entering into temptation.

No doubt, one should spend more time in prayer for his spiritual growth and for his effective ministry. But at the same time, let us bear in mind that even we cannot pray for some reason, the Devil has no power to attack or oppress us because the Blood of Jesus around us had stripped the Devil of all his power. In other words, the covenant of peace through the Blood of Jesus had destroyed his power.

“And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing” (Eze.34:26).

Under the New Covenant, God has made us and the places all round His will (Zion) a blessing. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph.1:3). His very presence i.e. His Tabernacle is in the midst of us, the members of the Body of Christ. Every spiritual blessing means all blessings and does not exclude “physical blessing”. God’s blessing touches our spirit first and then percolates down to our body. When we get saved in our spirit by the Blood of Jesus, the curses of sin in our body also disappear. Some preachers wrongly say that spiritual blessing does not include divine healing or financial prosperity.

God did not create the spirit and the body of Adam separately. God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul (Gen.2:7). God first made the body of man and then gave him the breath of His life. The breath of life given by God to Adam became a living soul. When Adam committed sin, his living soul became dead. The dead soul of man was restored to the life in God through Christ Jesus. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior become living souls, having been quickened together with Christ Jesus (Eph.2:5). When a man is saved by the Blood of Jesus, his whole man is blessed by God. This is the truth. If you know the truth, the truth will deliver you.

God has caused showers of blessing to come down in their season. Why do not we receive “showers of blessing” as promised by God? God’s promise is always true.

The heaven-sent revival or the latter rain would have broken out long ago. But it tarries. The showers have been withdrawn and there has been no latter rain (Jer.3: 3). Who is blameworthy for this?

As far as God is concerned, He is not to blame because He has appointed for us seasons for the former and latter rains and seasons for the harvests (Jer.5: 24). Alas, no harvest is in the offing and the appointed harvesting seasons are almost past. Heed to the prophetic message from God by His prophet Jeremiah who bewailed, “your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you” (Jer.5: 25). God’s eyes are upon all your ways; they are not hid from His face, neither is your iniquity hid from His eyes (Jer.16: 17).

Why does revival tarry? Why our prayers for revival have not yet been answered? Is God to blame for this? Is the Lord’s hand shortened, that He cannot save our nations from peril and disaster? Is His ear heavy, that He cannot hear our prayer for revival? No! Then, who is to blame if your nation is lost? It is your iniquities – the iniquities of the chosen people of God –, which have separated you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear (Is.59: 1-2).

Unless we repent and turn to God with a humble heart, we cannot receive the showers of blessing that God intends to send us.

Many of us in our churches sing at the top of our voices, “showers of blessing we need”. But we do not repent of our trespasses and backslidings. If God wants a nation to be blessed, the national leaders of that nation should repent and turn to God. If they have killed their enemies or destroyed their nations through their might, they should repent in sackcloth. God will not bless their nation if they simply pray, “God bless our nation”.

For a revival of the Church, individual members of the Church, the Body of Christ should humble themselves, and pray, and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways; they should repent and return to God (2 Chr. 7:14, Hosea 6:1-3 and Rev.2:5).

“And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them “ (Eze.34:27).

In our mission fields, though our evangelists work to bring a few people to the saving knowledge of Christ, yet their trees do not yield their fruit in the absence of showers of blessing. Under the New Covenant of peace, through the showers, the Lord is prepared to pour out His Spirit on our mission fields. Let us beseech the Lord to fulfill His promise of showers in place of a few drops here and there. I believe that the Lord will fulfill His promise of blessings because He has already broken the bands of our yoke, and delivered us out of the hand of the Devil and his forces through the Covenant of the Blood of Jesus Christ.

When God fulfills His promise of showers of blessing, there would be such an abundance of divine blessings, both material and spiritual, especially in the lives of the children of God that, on seeing their prosperity, the other people would glorify God. This world is to be blessed by God only through you and me, the members of the Body of Christ. The whole earth will yield the increase when the world-revival breaks out.

Let us believe that God will send “showers of blessing” in the Promised Land.

“And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid”.

“And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more”.

“Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them and that they, even the house of Israel, are My people, saith the Lord God”.

“And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God” (Eze.34:28-31).

In the Promised Land, there is a plant of renown. This is the five-fold ministry of the Body of Christ which was born on the day of Pentecost. This plant was planted by Christ on the day of Pentecost. The five types of ministers as ordained by God under the New Covenant are the servants to the other members of the Body. They serve and feed the people of God in their spiritual life in the Land so the latter need not suffer hunger any longer. Through this wonderful ministry of these five types of ministers, the people of God would receive abundance of blessings and would not bear the shame of the heathen any more. The people of this world cannot suppress the people of God in the Promised Land. In the Promised Land, they are well protected by the Blood of Jesus Christ and are fed by the plant of renown.

We thus know that the Lord our God is with us in the Promised Land and that we are His people of the New Covenant. We are the flock of His pasture. Amen.