Flee from molten calves and idols in the house of God
Prophetic message for the children of God
Flee from molten calves and idols in the House of
God
The other day (during December 2009) , the Holy Spirit gave me a clear vision which is given below.
A prophetic vision
I was in the midst of some servants of God giving them a prophetic message. In that message, I was narrating on the life and ministry of my spiritual mentor late Brother Glady Easwarraj through whom the Lord had put me into a prophetic ministry way back in 1981. Brother Glady Easwarraj did not leave behind any worldly asset or any church or ministry building when God called him home in the above year. He told us that God had enabled him to build the spiritual lives of people to whom he was called to minister and not to build any building for His ministry. When I was with him in the ministry, we did not have any permanent place of worship. In the vision, I mentioned the names of some servants of God in Tamil Nadu and myself whom Glady Easwarraj had mentored in the Lord. While giving the prophetic message in the vision, the servants of God who were listening to the message felt greatly disturbed and did not relish the message. I perceived two kinds of expressions on their faces. One facial expression showed that they did not take this message very seriously in the busy schedule of their ministries. The other facial expression showed their anger at me.
The vision of Ezekiel
Let us now go prophetically with Prophet Ezekiel to the land of Israel and be seated with him “upon a very high mountain” (Eze.40:1-4). Let us see “a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed” standing in the gate. Now this man tells you, “Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee: for into the intent that I might show them unto thee art though brought hither; declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel”. In the chapter 40th onwards, we find this man measuring the breadth and the height of the building, thresholds of the gate, every little chamber, etc, etc. God shows in that vision a new Temple and its area. The New Temple Area covers the east gate to the outer court, the outer court, the north gate, the south gate, gates to the inner court, the rooms for preparing sacrifices, the rooms for the priests and the Temple. In the chapter 41, the man takes us to the Temple and measures the posts, the door, and while measuring, he utters “This is the most holy place” (Verse 4). He measures everything in the Temple. In the chapter 42, he takes us to the outer court. He measures everything in the outer court. In the chapter 43, he takes us to the gate and shows us “the glory of the God of Israel” coming from the way of the east and His voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with His glory (Vs.2). According to Ezekiel, the vision was like the earlier vision of God which he saw when he came to destroy the city. It is thus seen that God gives visions to His people before His acts of destruction by judgment. Ezekiel then held the glory of the Lord filled the house. The Spirit took Ezekiel up and brought him into the inner court and the glory of the Lord fills the house and Ezekiel heard the Lord speaking to him out of the house and the man stood by his side. The Lord said unto Ezekiel,
“Son of man, the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and My Holy Name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcasses (dead idols) of their kings in their high places.
In their setting of their threshold by My thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between Me and them, they have even they have even defiled My Holy Name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.
Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcasses of their kings far from Me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
Thou son of man, show to the house of the Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern (the design of the temple – its arrangement, its exits and entrances – its whole design and all its regulations and laws).
And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof; and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house. ….” (43:7 – 10-12).
After the measurements were made by that man, the glory of the Lord entered the Temple and God gave a very clear message of judgment upon the house of Israel. The divine measurements revealed that the kings of Israel had set their threshold by the side of God’s threshold in the Temple and their post by the side of God’s posts in the Temple. In making such settings, the kings deviled the Holy Name of God with the result that God consumed them out of His anger. Their carcasses lay by the side of the Temple. It was for the children of God who had witnessed such a divine judgment to put away their whoredom and to cleanse the House of God by removing the carcasses of their dead kings. The children of God who were taught and mentored by these kings have to separate themselves from the carcasses of their dead kings and to put away the idols served by their kings. Then only the Lord would dwell in their midst. The Lord has made it very clear here that He did not want to live in the midst of the children of Israel so long as they continued with the past practices taught by their kings.
The Lord then asks Ezekiel to show the children of Israel their iniquities and to let them measure the pattern of the House (the design of the temple – its arrangement, its exits and entrances – its whole design and all its regulations and laws).
A linen cord and a measuring rod for judgment
The Lord has given us prophetically a line of flax (a linen cord) and a measuring rod. The linen cord is used for measuring the small portions and the measuring rod for measuring the big portions. Paul says that the Holy Spirit teaches us comparing spiritual things with spiritual; but the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man….” (1 Cor.2:13-15). We are supposed to discern every thing spiritually, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Whatever is written for us in the prophetic book of Ezekiel is meant for us because they are spiritual things. We have to compare these spiritual things with the spiritual in the Body of Christ. Every ministry, every activity in the Body of Christ, needs to be compared, discerned and judged according to the design of the Temple as shown to Ezekiel. All our New Testament ministries need to be built according to the design of the Kingdom of God as laid down by Jesus and His apostles who had received the special revelations about the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of Christ Jesus. Every ministry needs to be measured by the linen cord and by the measuring rod. No ministry is exempted from this judgment or spiritual discernment. Even the Most Holy Place in the Temple where the glory of God was manifested under the Old Covenant was not exempted from this measurement. The Altar on which the sacrifices were offered was also measured.
Ezekiel saw that man measuring all these spiritual things in the land of Israel. That man had no name or a title. Ezekiel saw everything as measured by that man through his own eyes, and heard everything as spoken by that man with his own ears, and set his heart upon all that as showed by that man. Then Ezekiel was supposed to declare all that he saw, hear, to the house of Israel.
Measuring Rod in Revelation
John writes in Rev.11:1-2, “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out and measure it not; for is given unto the Gentles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months”. The Temple of God under the New Covenant is the Body of Christ. The altar symbolizes the sacrifices made by the people of God for God and the worshippers are those who are made worthy to worship God having been through the Blood of the Lamb of God. The outer court of the Temple given to the Gentiles symbolizes a place where the unsaved people get in touch with the priests. Under the New Covenant, the priests are those who are saved through the Blood of Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. Under the New Covenant, we do not have the ministry of Levites or the Old Testament priests. There are five types of New Testament ministers i.e. Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers and Pastors who are visible in the Body of Christ and there are many other categories of ministers who are not visible in the Body of Christ. Every member of the Body of Christ does perform his/her own ministry. Let us read Chapter 12 of I Corinthians I.
The holy city was desecrated by the Romans, the Gentiles and the Temple destroyed by them. Prophetically, the outer court of the Temple was given to the Gentiles. Under the Old Covenant, the Gentiles were forbidden from entering the Temple. But under the New Covenant, the Gentiles and the Jews were brought together and the Body of Christ was formed in one single body. There is no “holy city” for us because it was trampled by the marauding Romans for a short period of time. In place of the holy city, we have the Kingdom of Christ. It cannot be trampled by any human being or by any evil spirit.
The Outer Court
The outer court in the Kingdom of God represents those peoples who have not heard the gospel or who have not accepted Jesus Christ after hearing the gospel. The New Testament priests minister to the unsaved souls in the outer court. The unsaved people hear the glorious gospel and become children of God in the outer court. After becoming the children of God, they enter the spiritual Temple not made with men’s hands and become members of His Body. Though the outer court in the book of Ezekiel was measured, according to the book of Revelation, it should not be measured because it was given to the Gentiles. This shows that under the New Covenant, the outer court has become the active place of activities under the New Covenant which has to be measured. John says that we should not measure the outer court. This clearly shows that the unsaved people who are ministered to by the New Testament priests are not to be judged in the outer court. But those who have entered the spiritual Temple through the Blood of the Lamb ought to be judged by the measuring rod. The sacrifices being made by them should also be judged or measured by the measuring rod.
If God performs through the hands of a New Testament priest miracles and wonders so as to win the multitudes in the outer court, this does not mean that the Holy Spirit affixes His approval on the acts of unrighteousness or the iniquities of the New Testament minister concerned. The New Testament priests are supposed to build the Kingdom of Christ on the pattern shown to them by Jesus and His apostles. Their lives should be in accordance with the gospels or the New Testament standards. The conduct of the New Testament priests needs to be measured by the measuring rod whereas the conduct of the unsaved people who seek the ministries of the New Testament priests should not be measured or judged by the measuring rod. In other words, God does prove Himself through the ministry of a New Testament priest but does not justify his conduct and life which do not fall in line with the New Testament doctrines. When the Holy Spirit saves a person through the ministry of a New Testament priest or when He heals the sick or when He performs a miracle, it becomes an act of the Holy Spirit. A New Testament minister does prophesy, does heal the sick, and does perform miracles in Jesus’ Name. The acts of the Holy Spirit in the outer court ought not to be judged. But the ministry of the person concerned which does not conform to the New Testament doctrines and his life which does not conform to the New Testament standards need to be measured in the spiritual Temple. Judgment begins at the House of God. God showed a model Temple in its design to Ezekiel.
Molten calf in the land of Israel
In Exodus 32:1 to 9, we find the rebellion of the children of Israel when they saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount. They asked Aaron to make “gods” who would go before them. Aaron coveted the precious belongings of the children of Israel and the children of Israel broke off their golden earrings and brought the same to Aaron. The children of Israel sacrificed their ornaments for their security because they did not feel God’s presence in the long absence of Moses. Aaron collected the ornaments and fashioned it with a graving tool (mould). He made it “a molten calf”. The children of Israel said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt”. Then Aaron built an altar before it, and proclaimed a feast to the Lord. Then the people rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. Then they sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. The wrath of God was kindled. The children of God did see the miracles through their own eyes and felt His presence. But they chose a molten calf in place of God. The molten calf was made by their priest Aaron. Any material object which is acquired with the precious, sacrificial offerings of the children of God and which leads to creation of an altar for sacrifices by the children of God which are ultimately appropriated for his/her exclusive enjoyment or for his/her family members is an molten calf in the eyes of God.
What constitutes an idol?
Any earthly possession i.e. any church building or any special type of building which is claimed to carry or possess the presence of God or bring down the presence of God even in Jesus’ Name constitutes an idol. Any individual who becomes an idol in the hearts of the children of God and who claims to possess the power of God exclusively in his/her body so as to attract the children of God towards his/her image is an idol.
Priesthood of the New Testament
We can learn a great lesson here. Today, the children of God in the Temple approach the New Testament priests, forgetting that they are also priests before God. After experiencing the salvation and the miracles from the God, they sacrifice before the New Testament priests in token of their gratitude to God. The priests receive it in their own hands and fashion a molten calf by their graving tools. They build up their own kingdoms bearing their names. The churches or the buildings built by them with the sacrificial offerings of the children of God have over the time emerged as “molten calves”. The children of God visit such “molten calves” for receiving God’s blessings. They feel insecure in the Kingdom of Christ and want to depend upon the visible ministers in His Kingdom. The children of God do not minister to God but minister to the visible ministers in the Kingdom of Christ, forgetting that they are also members of the same Body. The New Testament priests who are elders in the Body of Christ are supposed to mentor and equip the children of God in the Body of Christ for ministry in the outer court or for ministry in the Temple. But they covet the offerings of the children of God who have entered the Temple and who have thus become members of His Body. They lead luxurious lives; build buildings bearing their own names or the names of their family members, for serving “the God of Israel.”. Once they receive the golden earrings from the children of Israel and fashion it in their graving tools, the molten calves come up. “The graving tool” is the same in the hands of all such New Testament ministers. The graving tool can be a magazine ministry or a television ministry or an evangelical dais or a music/CD/Video ministry. The graving tool moulds the golden earrings and turns the same to be “assets bearing their names”. The children of God, who have made such sacrifices, presume that God is tabernacled in their ministries because they feel secure in their ministries. No doubt, the children of God continue to receive the blessings from God through their ministries because such activities take place in the outer court. God does hear the intercessory prayers of a New Testament priest and blesses His children in the outer court of the Temple. But this does not mean that the children of God should continue to be “Gentiles” in the outer court and to forget their priestly functions inside the Temple. When they minister to God inside the Temple, they do receive much more blessings from God because they have entered the Most Holy Place where they can have face to face fellowship with God. The god of this world has blinded their eyes because they still thank that they live in the outer court. Though God has brought them inside the Temple, they are deceived to think that they are in the outer court. What a pity? Who is responsible for the deception of the children of God? Do you exhort the children of God through your pulpit messages to seek God’s blessings in the outer court?
Aaron‘s altar
A molten calf does emerge from the offerings made by the children of God who stand in the outer court, offering their sacrifices to the “priests”. After making the molten calf, Aaron made an altar before the idol. The altar provided a way for the children of Israel to make further sacrifices through burnt and peace offerings. The altar became a stumbling stone for the children of God. In fact, the making of burnt and peace offerings were the Lord’s ordinances to the children of Israel. No doubt, God does bless a child of God in response to the intercessory prayers of a New Testament priest. And the child of God concerned, out of a grateful heart, does minister to the New Testament priest concerned. There is absolutely nothing wrong in the act of the offering by the child of God blessed through the ministry of the minister concerned. A New Testament minister does live by the gospel of Christ and he or she is worthy of his/her wages in God’s vineyard. God blesses a New Testament priest through the bountiful offerings of the other members of His Body only. A New Testament worker has to accept with a thankful heart the free will offerings from the other members of the Body of Christ.
God said that the Levites or the priests of the Old Covenant should not possess “any asset” because God was their possession. God gave them the best of all the offerings made in the Temple for the livelihood of the Levites. But they had no “inheritance” in the land of Israel (Eze. 44:28-30). The tribe of Levi was not counted amongst the 12 tribes of Israel. Similarly, we, the New Testament priests, have no “possession” on this earth. I do not want to say that we should not possess any movable or immovable assets. We are supposed to work with our own hands and to earn and save money. We are supposed to make provisions for the future of our spouses and children. Whatever we possess here, it is on behalf of our Lord and for His ministry. But when I receive the offerings from the people to whom I minister in the Body of Christ, I should be very careful in spending their precious offerings and no idol should emerge from such offerings.
Spiritual discernment of idols in ministries
I pray that the Lord may set you upon “a very high mountain” in the Body of Christ for this spiritual discernment. You should not be influenced by any prejudices against any particular minister of God. You should not be driven to this spiritual discernment out of jealousy on that particular minister of God. It is a very high mountain in the spiritual where you are seated with Christ Jesus to behold the spiritual things. It is the measuring rod that is based on righteous judgment that you have to discern or judge with the spirit of judgment.
In the background of the above vision, I am led by the Holy Spirit to give the following message.
We have to discern every ministry so as to warn the children of God whether any idols have emerged from the ministry. If a mega church or a popular evangelical dais attracts the children of God through the image of the pastor or the evangelist concerned, the image of the servant of God concerned becomes an idol in the hearts of the children of God. However, if a popular evangelical ministry attracts a large number of unsaved souls which results in the salvation of individuals, the ministry of the evangelist concerned would not become an idol in the hearts of the saved souls so long as the evangelist concerned does not entangle the saved souls in building his ministry. If the image of any pastor or an evangelist grows in the heart of the children of God through a public ministry like television programs, crusades, etc, the pastor or the evangelist concerned should train and equip his co-workers for the public ministry and the former should remain in the wilderness, equipping the latter for the ministry. John the Baptist cried in the wilderness that Jesus should increase and that he should decrease. When Jesus begun His ministry, the disciples of John forsook him and followed Jesus. Any pastor or any evangelist who keeps himself the Lord’s flock for making use of their sacrificial offerings does build an image for himself even unknowingly though his intention may be to glorify God. However, the servant of God concerned can take the freewill or the sacrificial offerings of the Lord’s flock for his livelihood but should not covet the same.
Thresholds of kings and of God
We have to ascertain whether the servant of God concerned has set his threshold by the side of God’s threshold in the Temple and his post by the side of God’s posts in the Temple. There is a clear line of demarcation between the threshold and the posts of a minister of God and the threshold and the posts in the Temple of God. I should keep my own dwelling far away from the house of God. In the Ezekiel’s vision, there is only a wall that separates the palace of the king and the holy Temple.
My dwelling unit means my personal belongings or assets, movable or immovable, that I earn or accumulate through my work in His vineyard. I should have a decent living but not a luxurious living. When the children of God sacrificially make their offerings on their altars for my ministry, I am supposed to use the same for His Kingdom. If I make a trust in the name of my wife or my son so as to be inherited by them after my death, it is tantamount to misappropriation of God’s money. It should be a public trust and not a private trust. The proceeds of such a trust should go to the children of God or the Body of Christ. The New Testament disciples had held everything in common after disposing of their own assets.
Every servant of God should be very careful while acquiring assets even for promoting his ministry for God. He should not leave behind a curse for his family through such assets. God’s judgment fell on Ananias and his wife when they wanted to misappropriate a part of the sale proceedings of their own land. If we study the life of Ananias and Sapphira, they had every right to keep a part of the price of their land for their future family. But Peter said that once the land was sold, it was not under the control (Acts 5:4). Similarly, once the children of God sacrifice their belongings on the Altar of God by parting with the same, the offerings belong to God alone and the donors have no control over such properties. And the recipients have to make use of such offerings for the whole community of the House of God. The assets in the form of houses and lands were sold by the disciples and laid at the feet of apostles so that the same would be distributed to each as any had need (Acts 4:34-35). The principle is very simple. Anyone who is needy in the community should get a portion according to his/her need.
The New Testament priest should set apart some money or savings for his spouse or children after his home call. He should not mix the money for the maintenance of his family with the money that he earmarks for the ministry. There should be two accounts. He can withdraw the money for his own maintenance or for the future maintenance of his family from the ministry funds. If he acquires assets even for the construction of churches or for any building for the ministry, he should ensure that his descendents do not inherit the same for their own use. The assets should be incorporated in a public trust and the purposes of utilization of such assets declared in the will or the deed. Any of the trust members should not be related to the servant of God by blood or otherwise. The trustees should be men of God of proven integrity, not related to him and should not be his wife or children. There should be 100% transparency in his ministry. His own threshold and posts should be far away from the Temple. When the children of Israel dwelt in their camps, their camps were far away from the Tent of the Tabernacle.
My personal testimony about some servants of God in India
I visited a dear servant of God in Chennai whom I love in the Lord in the year 1982 or 1983 when he had begun his ministry in a humble manner. I prophesied that the Lord would use him mightily and that he would be very busy in his ministry. Really the Lord used him mightily in his magazine/book ministry. When I visited him, he had only his office room in his house. Today a magnificent church building was built by him and he is aspiring to make it a mega church. This church was built at a huge cost, may be, involving a few crores. To meet the huge cost for erecting this building, he became desperate and persuaded the children of God to buy items of merchandize from the church premises. If we build any earthly building and dedicate to God in the Name of His Son, this becomes the Prayer House. It should be sanctified through the prayers of the saints and we should not make it a den of thieves by way of commercialization of His premises. The wrath of Jesus, “the Prophet of Nazareth” was kindled against those who traded in the premises of the Temple, though the items of merchandize were required for the people of Israel for sacrifice in the same Temple. “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Math.21:13).
With the initiative and help of this dear servant of God, a very big hall was also built in a town in Tamil Nadu to gather the people of God for prayers for revival in India. I believe this huge building was built with the sacrificial offerings of God’s people during the early 1990s. This servant of God had a real hunger in his heart for building this hall on the pattern of a prayer hall of another servant of God in South Korea. This beloved servant of God is a very sincere worker in God’s vineyard and keeps himself very busy in His Kingdom even at the cost of his health. He undertakes frequent tours to foreign countries and holds meetings in many cities and towns in Tamil Nadu. He has written many books and publishes a monthly devotional in Tamil which is read by many thousands of people.
There are many servants of God like the above servant of God in my home state, Tamil Nadu. They are also equally talented and gifted and are burdened with a heart for revival. Nobody can find fault with the above ministers of God in their labor for God and their commitment to God’s Kingdom. Some of them have also risen up some buildings in Tamil Nadu and their motives cannot be questioned because they want to train God’s people for ministry, to use such buildings for intercessory ministries, etc.
All the above servants of God used to hold revival meetings together using a common dais in Tamil Nadu. Every year, they hold such revival meetings in the big hall constructed in a particular place in Tamil Nadu as mentioned above. Let us appreciate their unity and their close fellowship for God’s Kingdom. Of course, many people who have attended their meetings have received spiritual food. They also hold frequently “fire camps”, “anointing sessions”, etc. Many of them appear in television programs, and give gospel/revival messages spending huge amounts of money.
When I was pleading with the Holy Spirit not to undertake such a spiritual discernment and told Him that these servants of God are in fact working hard, round the clock, in His vineyard, the Lord simply reminded me about my ministry calling and about the vision I had a few days ago.
Earthly Tabernacles for God
Let us now compare the buildings built by us on this earth for doing God’s ministry with the spiritual lives that we build of the children of God. Do we need a magnificent building to worship God under the New Covenant? Can we build a building around God to bring down His presence or to confine His presence? “But Solomon built Him a house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build me? Said the Lord; or what is the place of My rest? Hath not My hand made all these things? Ye, stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye (Acts 7:47-50). Even under the Old Covenant, God did not dwell in the Temple built by Solomon. As such, under the New Covenant, building any building for bringing down His glory is unscriptural. If some servants of God shout at the top of their voices, “The glory of the Lord is here”, it is nothing but sheer hypocrisy and emotional outburst which has nothing to do with the spiritual. They are in fact stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart. Whether can we gather the children of God in a particular building for worship? Yes, we can gather them in a particular building not only for worship but mainly for fellowship. If we go to mega churches just to worship and hear the messages and not to have close fellowship, we can have the tape recorded/video recorded messages of the speakers and the worshippers in our houses and we need not attend such church services.
Today many pastors and servants of God do attract the children of God to their buildings just to hear “God’s messages” and to worship “in their buildings” whereas the children of God are deprived of “fellowship with one another”. The children of God are not exhorted to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. On every New Year, the children of God are exhorted to attend their church services to receive “God’s blessings” or God’s promises. Some New Year calendars are being “sold” to them. During the early apostolic period, the disciples had close fellowship by breaking of bread and prayers. We have now pastors and evangelists who insist on church attendance and on feeding them with “God’s messages”. THEY ARE THUS DOING ONLY THE OLD TESTAMENT, LEVITICAL MINISTRIES. They want the children of God to come to them for God’s messages. I found that a founder of a mega church appointed some “prophets” to give God’s messages on the New Year. Here, we find clearly that this dear servant of God wanted the Holy Spirit to speak to the children of God through some prophets. He also ordered his pastors to take fast for about 21 days to minister to the children of God who thronged for worship in his church building. Is it a ministry under the New Covenant?
When we do not have the Temple in our midst, why should we have the Temple worship? No pastor can please God by making his congregation worship Him when they i.e. the congregation are being misled and are being made dependant on him.
The early disciples were mentored by the apostles and the elders. The new believers were not made dependant on the elders all the time. In Delhi, I was mentored in the fellowship of late Brother Glady Easwarraj, the man of God, mentioned by me in the vision seen by me. We had a church fellowship of about 40 to 50 people of God. On every Sunday, after the worship service, we used to go in for gospel outreach. We had real fellowship with one another. We used to pray for one another and used to physically help those who were needy. But, in a mega church attended by me in Bangalore in 2008, there was a big crowd and it was very difficult for the people of God to have close fellowship with one another. Instead of gathering the thousands of God’s children in one particular building on Sunday, we can open many local churches in many localities and the children of God can be equipped and trained to minister to one another. In this manner, we can avoid the children of God making the popular pastor as an idol in their hearts.
The earthly buildings built with stones, mortar, etc, will be destroyed. But the spiritual lives of the children of God will not be destroyed if they are built on the Rock of Ages. Some months ago we visited Subathu, in Himachal Pradesh where Sadhu Sundar Singh lived. I had a great desire to see the house where Sadhu lived and the places where Sadhu stayed. The house where Sadhu lived was sold to some Hindu gentleman in Delhi. The church attended by Sadhu also was greatly altered and a new beautiful church was constructed. Anyone visiting these buildings would not come to know of the life of Sadhu Sundar Singh if there is no memorial there. But the life of Sadhu Sundar Singh still speaks to us even after his home call.
In India, there are still thousands of villages where we do not find any church buildings. The new believers in our mission fields need the places for worship. But the pastors or the ministers of God who build churches and buildings in towns and cities already reached by the gospel are merely wasting their God-given resources.
If we do not need buildings for worshiping God, do we need the same for His ministry? Yes, we need buildings for orphanages, schools, bible colleges, gospel ministries, mission offices, etc.
I find some evangelists spend crores of rupees on raising up buildings for their ministries for purposes of prayers. Prayer Warriors do not need tall buildings or towers. They have a heart to pray with a burden. Today, we have reached a situation that for every prayer, the children of God seek the prayer ministry of some evangelist or pastor. Many of the children of God are being taught to seek intermediaries and not the Lord for prayers. During the New Testament period, the disciples assembled for prayers in their houses or in Jewish synagogues. At best, we need some roof over our heads when we come together for prayers. We do not need towering buildings for prayers.
Do we need a building for training the children of God? Yes, we need the same in a place where such a building is required.
Do we need a building for Christian seminars? Yes, we need the same in a place where such a building is required.
We do need modern technologies in preaching the gospel.
Revival or fasting meetings/anointing sessions by some
evangelists in India
The above-mentioned evangelists used to assemble in a big building constructed for revival meetings regularly. They hold “fasting prayers”. I saw to my great astonishment in a notice published by them that the children of God attending such special fasting prayers should not bring those “who are sick, who are demon-possessed and who are below 12 years of age”. I also found that they did not want those who are aged above 60 years to attend their special meetings. Is it scriptural? This shows that many demon-possessed people or sick people were brought to their special meetings. Since they were not healed or delivered, they thought such people should not be brought to their meetings. Let us read the Acts. Peter and John went to the Temple for prayers. There a crippled man was there begging for alms. The lame man was healed there and that led to a great revival. Thousands of people accepted Jesus as their Savior. These evangelists seek revivals and want God to send a great revival to the land of India. They pray, “Oh God, bless the nation of India”. At the same time, they ask the unbelievers not to attend their special meetings and do not want to cast away the devils in the Name of Jesus Christ. They want the Holy Spirit to heal the sick and to cast out the evil spirits only when they desire. In other words, they tell God indirectly, “Do not now heal the sick. Do not now cast out the evil spirits. Do not now bless the children below 12 years or the old people above 60 years”.
These evangelists limit the Almighty God. They deny His power of healing in a particular place where they assemble for “prayers”. They want the Holy Spirit to act in accordance with their directions.
In this building, they hold special “anointing sessions”. I cannot understand how the Holy Spirit anoints the people to whom they minister in such meetings when the power of the Holy Spirit is denied by them. They want the Holy Spirit to anoint those they want to attend such meetings. They do not want the Holy Spirit to heal or deliver the small number of people who want to attend such meetings expecting miracles or healings.
The Holy Spirit had arrived about 2000 years ago and is here to anoint His people for various kinds of ministries. But the people “anointed by the Holy Spirit” do not know what type of ministry they have to perform after attending such meetings. In such meetings, the emotional outburst of the children of God is viewed as anointing. Of course, there might be some people who have really received the anointing. It was not because of the ministry or preaching of these evangelists but because of the promise of the Lord in His word and because of the hunger in their heart to receive His anointing for the ministry. God anoints His people not just for talking in tongues or not just for bragging to others that they are some special people worthy of such anointing. Under the Old Covenant, the priests, the prophets and the kings were anointed with oil for service. Similarly, under the New Covenant, the children of God who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and received the Holy Spirit are being anointed by the Holy Spirit for ministry. There is no such “fire” falling from the heaven upon such people. In many revival meetings in the west and the America, the children of God had reportedly witnessed the fall of gold dust and the filling of teeth with gold particles. But the gold received by them was not there as it was an illusion or a fake miracle. Our God does not work through illusions. He is real. He is the truth.
In today’s context, the word “anointing” has lost its meaning. I came across many matrimonial advertisements in our Christian magazines about Christian brides and grooms seeking “saved, baptized and anointed” mates.
For two decades, they have been praying for revival in India. But the revival to be sent by God eludes this land. They want God to meet their conditions for revival. Where the images of these servants of God are displayed as idols, no revival will break out. Instead, briers and thorns have come out. Molten calves have appeared in their ministries. Let us read the revival account of Welsh and other accounts.
Today, many pastors or ministers of God hold “anointing sessions” or “fire camps”. But during the New Testament period and during the ministries of Sadhu Sundar Singh, Jonathan Edwards, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, etc, no such “anointing sessions” or “fire camps” were organized. The Holy Spirit was with these servants of God in a mighty manner.
Television ministries through measuring rod
We are disillusioned with many television ministries these days because the images of these popular servants of God have become idols on the television screens. If a servant of God has been blessed with abundant resources for the television ministry, why cannot he choose the pastors or the evangelists who are serving God in the wilderness for giving gospel messages? There are multitudes of servants of God in the Hindi speaking belt in our nation who can give wonderful messages and powerful life-changing testimonies than these servants of God. But these servants of God do not want to give away their television pulpits to others or even their co-workers. They covet the same. They do not want to “decrease” but to “increase”. I find that the one thing a pastor does not give up is his/her pulpit on Sundays. Brother Glady Easwaraj, my spiritual mentor, used to encourage his co-workers to give messages on Sundays and to preach in gospel meetings.
A minister of God had published some materials against some television evangelists to prove that the latter had committed some unscriptural acts. But the television evangelists conducted a special program to repudiate and to ridicule the ministry of the servant of God concerned before the eyes of thousands of people who watched their television channels. The televangelists concerned could have called the servant of God concerned for a live telecast interview and presented their views to the public for judgment through the measuring rod. Instead, both the televangelists used their television channel to give their one-sided version. They tried to prove that the “watchman” ministry of the servant of God who had criticized their television programs was wrong and that under the Old Covenant, the prophetic or the watchman ministry was meant only for those outside the land of Israel and not for those inside the land of Israel. The watchmen on the wall of Israel were, according to them, supposed to prophesy to those outside the land. But I find that the prophetic ministry of the Old Testament prophets was mostly confined to the land of Israel as they prophesied against the House of Israel, their kings, etc.
Many molten calves or idols have emerged from many Christian channels today.
Does God use lifeless idols?
Whenever I hear some popular servant of God through some television channel, I am prophetically discerning the dead idol or the dead corpse which has already been judged by God. The Lord said in Ezekiel 43:8 “So I have consumed them in My anger” because they had defiled His Temple by their harlotry and corpses. Even then the dead idols minister to the people in the outer court. This is the secret of the glorious gospel. It is the power of the gospel that saves the sinners, heals the sick. It is an act of the Holy Spirit in the outer court which we should not measure. But the revival like the Welsh Revivals will not break out through such idol ministers. Such New Testament priests who are the dead idols in the Promised Land need to be revived after judgment.
Pew and Pulpit
The pew and the pulpit are of the Old Testament levitical ministry. In a vision, the Lord had shows us a cluster of chairs placed in U shape. The pulpit is missing. All the New Testament priests are supposed to learn from one another in the U shape setting. Let the popular ministers sit in the pew and learn humbly from their “congregation”. Let the unpopular in the pew come out of their hiding places and speak the “word” for those entrenched in such pulpits. We cannot expect revivals through the popular ministries. The revival will come out from the wilderness. God is preparing a small army of soldiers in the wilderness through the furnace of afflictions. They do not have names or titles. They will be led by the Holy Spirit. They are not like the present day ministers who dictate terms to God and who wants the Holy Spirit to work as per their directions. God is sovereign. Let us not limit Him. Let us not dictate our terms to Him. This is the writing on your wall. It is high time you had examined your ministries so as to be evaluated through the measuring rod.
Entertainers on stages?
Many of our preachers who covet to preach on stages have become entertainers on the stage and they make the children of God laugh through their jokes. Though they preach wonderful messages, yet their messages touch only the outer part of a person emotionally stirring up the soul but not transforming the inner man. After hearing such wonderful messages, we go home, appreciating the preachers concerned. Only our head knowledge increases and our live remains the same. Let the preachers stop preaching what they do not practise. Let them equip the children of God by becoming role models. Let them take pains in teaching the children of God in small U shaped groups. Let the man-made stages give place to U shaped bible study groups.
Man-made stage through measuring rod
You may be a talented preacher or an experienced mission leader. But if you display your talents and the Biblical knowledge on the stage and gravitate the children of God to your ministry without personally interacting with them in small groups, you will be wasting your energy and time. Equipping the children of God does not mean merely giving some messages or adding up some Biblical knowledge to their heads from a man-made stage. Jesus did not equip His disciples through preaching. He had fellowship with them by living with them, teaching them through parables, and eating with them. You cannot equip the Lord’s flock in a very big crowd or a mega crowd without knowing their names and their individual problems. Revival will never come through your stage. Revival is the work of the Holy Spirit when you obey Him. You have to meet God’s conditions.
Using buildings for other ministries
If God has blessed your ministry with a building for His work or if you are presently engaged in constructing a building for God’s work, you should use this building for promoting the ministries of other evangelists, especially, those who work in places in the face of tremendous opposition and hardships. Do not form any trust to perpetuate your name on this building. It is made out of the “earrings” of the children of God. If you do something to perpetuate your name, definitely a molten calf will emerge and it will become a stumbling bloc for the children of God who may desire to sacrifice on the altar. You can use a part of this building for the hostel of the children of the poor saints or the missionaries working in distant places or for taking care of the old missionaries who have no dwelling units.
Whatever you build for His Kingdom, it should be a part of the Kingdom of Christ and in accordance with the design of the spiritual Temple as shown to Ezekiel which you are I are supposed to build. We should flee the idols in the Body of Christ. God may use the idols (carcasses) of such ministers in the outer court for winning the multitudes for Christ because our Lord is a sovereign God. But, we have to remove such idols inside the Temple. As a New Testament priest through the prophetic eyes of Ezekiel, you have to describe the design of the house, its structure, its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes and all its laws (Eze.43:11). The Lord will send a revival to our nations by dwelling in the midst of His people under the New Covenant only if the idols are put away.
Let us take the warning of the Holy Spirit in Eze.43:7-8 very seriously by applying this spiritual thing to the Body of Christ today. The kings in the land of Israel had defiled their land by whoredom and by their carcasses. Today none can claim to be reigning in the Body of Christ as a king. Every minister is a servant.
How to remove the idols in the Promised Land
The children of God saved through the precious Blood of the Lamb of God have entered the Promised Land. No idols should be worshipped in this land. Every idol or molten calf needs to be destroyed. This does not mean that we have to demolish such buildings or properties acquired by the pastors or the evangelists concerned by spending the precious money of the children of God. Let them remove their names or the names of their spouses/children from such possessions and use the same for the benefit of the Body of Christ, promoting and helping the ministries of those servants of God who are poor and needy in the same Body. Let these servants of God who have become idols go into the wilderness or remain in the background equipping their coworkers or other members of the same Body. They should know that the Holy Spirit who works through their ministries can also work through the ministries of their co-workers.
We find that many evangelists and pastors take upon themselves all the responsibilities of their churches or ministries without delegating the same to their fellow workers with the result that they physically and spiritually exhaust themselves in God’s vineyard. They do not have good health. They do not enter into God’s rest after ceasing from their works. (Heb. 4:8). “They shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat” (Eze.44:18). I find that many evangelists, taking upon the entire burden of their ministries on their heads and straining every nerve to work in His vineyard without giving physical rest to their bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Spirit. They are not supposed to serve God through their sweat. Jesus sent His seventy disciples to perform His ministry. They have no time to take care of their children and their spouses. Since they do not trust their co-workers or since they do not develop the second line ministers, they tend to fall into the temptation of being “popular” and thus becoming idols in the hearts of the children of God. They are also afraid of losing their funds to be entrusted to their “unfaithful” co-workers. Jesus entrusted the offertory box to Judas, knowing that he was a thief. Let them build the ministries of their co-workers and form a team ministry. If one of them becomes unfaithful, let the other co-workers warn and correct him/her.
Whether God blesses those who sacrificially offer to such
molten calves?
The children of God do offer their sacrifices on the Altar of God when they donate to the ministers of God in the Name of Jesus Christ. God does bless them because these offerings are made in the Name of His Son. God might have blessed some children of God with new houses when they had sacrificially given to the building projects of the ministers of God concerned. This does not mean that the ministers of God concerned who are wasting the sacrificial offerings by erecting buildings which are part of the visible Babylonian kingdom which is known for popularity and which is attractive in the eyes of the children of God are doing the will of God.
Whether the ministers of God have the testimony of Jesus?
Many servants of God claim to have received visions and revelations from the Holy Spirit for erecting such huge buildings for their churches and ministries which perpetuate their names for ever. No doubt, many missionaries came to India from the west many centuries ago and built beautiful cathedrals, schools, hospitals, etc. Today such buildings glorify the name of Christ Jesus because no descendants of these missionaries had inherited these lands and buildings for their own enjoyment. Though some churches are named after such great apostolic ministers, none of their descendants is enjoying the fruits that come out of such assets. Such assets belong to the invisible Body of Christ. Sadhu Sundar Singh did not own any property in his own name. He did not leave behind any asset or building in his memory. But his very life is before us and the same testifies to us even today. Will the lifeless buildings bearing their names testify to the testimonies of the builders after their death? When John fell at the feet of the angel to worship him, the angel warned him telling “See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev.19: 10). In the prophetic vision of John, the messenger of God who gave him a word of prophecy was mistaken by John to be the Lord Himself. The messenger of God was none but a fellow servant and of his brethren. These days, the prophetic messages are given to us by our own brethren and sisters in the Lord. You may find them on your church pews. But they are likened to the angels of God. What matters here is not the person of the messenger but the prophetic word of the messenger. Our brethren and sisters in the Body of Christ whom we do not see in the public ministries but give us timely warnings do indeed “have the testimony of Jesus”. They exhort us, “Worship God alone, and not the messengers”. Do the lifeless buildings have the testimony of Jesus? No. But the children of God who give us timely messages of warnings and exhortations do have the testimony of Jesus.
Do the buildings carry the testimony of Jesus? If a building is used for evangelizing those places not reached by the gospel or if church buildings are erected in places where the children of God worship God in thatched houses or where no such thatched houses do not exist, the buildings constructed in these places, towns and villages will “have the testimony of Jesus”.
Where is the spirit of prophecy? The spirit of prophecy cannot be separated from the testimony of Jesus. Where there is the testimony of Jesus, the children of God do have the spirit of prophecy. You cannot bring the spirit of prophecy on a man-made stage because the spirit of prophecy is of the Holy Spirit. We can hear a wonderful message from a church pulpit or an evangelical dais. But the spirit of prophecy may not be there because the spirit of prophecy does not rest on the life of the minister concerned or because the testimony of Jesus is not intertwined with the life of the minister concerned.
The children of God should discern the spirit of prophecy or the testimony of Jesus in the life and ministry of any servant of God. The servant of God concerned can still brag on his testimony concerning his salvation or the miracles performed by God through him or in his/her own life but the testimony of Jesus may not be there with him/her today. If the testimony of Jesus is not there, we can be assured that the spirit of prophecy is also not there. No doubt, he (the preacher) may still give wonderful messages on the glorious gospel and may win multitudes for Christ because the gospel he/she preaches is the power of God unto salvation. As such, by the outward ministry or by the signs and wonders of the preacher concerned, we cannot come to the conclusion that he or she has the testimony of Jesus.
Any ministry that eclipses the full glory of God from the view of the people and that appropriates a part of His glory does not have the testimony of Jesus. The spirit of prophecy does not mean the gift of prophecy or the prophetic ministry. It is the very life of Jesus Christ intertwined with the life of the minister. People saw Jesus Christ in the life of Sadhu Sundar Singh and in the lives of CH Spurgeon, John Wesley, John Hyde, Hudson Taylor, etc. Can the children of the world see the life of Jesus in us today?
Whether the pulpits of individual ministers have the testimony of Jesus today? We can certainly say that the pulpit of Sadhu Sundar Singh or the pulpit of John Wesley did have the testimony of Jesus and that the spirit of prophecy was there. You have to take the measuring rod in your hand and judge their life styles and their spending styles of the resources that belong to the whole Body of Christ. How do they live? How do they spend the sacrificial offerings being made to them on the Altar of God?
In the Old Testament Temple, the offerings were burnt and the best offerings were given to the Levites and priests for their livelihood. Today, those New Testament priests who work for their ministers round the clock are worthy of double honor and of due wages as a reward for their hard labor in God’s vineyard. They should give the best education to their children and should have the best vehicles for their own use or for their ministries. They should have the best houses to live in. They should make sufficient provision for the future living of their spouses and children after their death. Many servants of God who were physically poor in their early days of their ministries were no doubt blessed by God subsequently and they should lead the best of their lives, and not luxurious lives. I want to make out a difference between the best and the luxurious. The best means those facilities we need for our own consumption. While we consume out of the abundant provisions given to be us by God, we should always share the same with those children of God in the same Body of Christ. The luxurious means those facilities we do not need but acquire so that we can have a name. These facilities can be forgone for the sake of the children of God who do not have the basic needs being met in the same Body of Christ. Acquisition of these facilities creates an impression in the mind of the children of the world that we are of this world. If I take the sacrificial offerings of the other members of the Body of Christ just to possess more than what I need for my best use, I am simply building a molten calf. The ministers of God should not make any molten calves out of the offerings made by the children of God which would perpetuate their names for the future generations and which are likely to be used as idols for receiving miracles even in the Name of Jesus Christ.
I request the ministers to be very careful when they take the sacrificial offerings from the children of God who are none but the members of the same Body of Christ.
Ministry to the lost and to the children of God
When we minister to the lost world in the outer court by preaching the glorious gospel, God is pleased with us and saves the children of the world and blesses our ministries with abundant resources. The people who have been saved or blessed through our ministries offer their thanksgiving offerings. Do not go to them with your begging bowls coveting their purses. Such abundant resources should be used for preaching the gospel in places not reached by the gospel, and not for building our own empires having our own names.
When we minister to the children of God who have already entered the Most Holy Place, we should be very careful in dealing with them because they are co-workers with God and fellow ministers or priests in the Temple. We have to disciple them for Christ Jesus and to equip them for the ministry. We should not keep them in the outer court just to take their sacrificial offerings. We should not merely pray for God to bless them materially in their lives. Of course, God hears our prayers and blesses them materially. Above all, we, the elders, should train them for the ministry and prepare them for a life of sufferings and persecution. Do not squeeze them for tithes and offerings because they are fellow priests in the same Temple. You have to minister to the other priests with your money if they are poor. If you lead a luxurious life and acquire assets bearing your own name, the offerings taken from the children of God will become a trap for the devil to entangle you in building the Babylonian kingdom. The Babylonian kingdom is seen pervaded in a visible and magnificent manner. This Babylonian kingdom is a fallen kingdom already judged by God. Your ministry will become a part of this kingdom only and not of the Kingdom of Christ. It is built with men’s hands. The Kingdom of Christy Jesus is spiritual and invisible. It is seen pervaded amongst the members of the Body of Christ. It is the spiritual Temple, made by God through His own hands.
If the children of God flock your ministry meeting in a large number, please note that there is something wrong with your ministry or that you are not supposed to minister to them with your evangelical ministries. The children of God need to be mentored through pastoral, apostolic and prophetic ministries. Just read the Old Testament books to know how God judged the kings, the priests and the prophets for misleading the children of Israel. If you mislead the children of God who are in the spiritual wilderness without making them enter the Promised Land, God will judge you terribly.
Let not the children of God who look to your ministry for guidance and help be misled by your messages. Do not believe in the emotional outbursts of the children of God in your midst on seeing the golden calf that has come out of their offerings. For bringing to birth the molten calf, have you ever squeezed the children of God for their earrings? The children of God may shout and worship God in your mega church or in your church buildings. Do not think that God is pleased with your ministry. So long as they remain in the outer court to be ministered to by you, they are yelling to the molten calf that has emerged out of their earrings. You want them to attend your church every Sunday and to receive God’s blessings in lieu of the tithes and offerings that they offer to the molten calf in the name of Jesus Christ. The children of Israel believed in the molten calf made by Aaron and thought that they were their gods. Their refuge was the golden calf in the absence of Moses. Has your ministry become the refuge of the children of God? Do you present yourself before them as the one who is qualified and competent to lead them to Christ Jesus whom they have already accepted as their Savior and Lord? You should consider yourself as a servant to them. If you are a servant, why do you stand on an erected stage before them, just to give God’s messages? If you are a servant to them, you are supposed to be with them for the ministry. God has not put you on any stage before them. You have chosen this man-made stage.
If the children of God invite you to teach them, go to them humbly as their servant and teach them. Teach them. But do not preach to them. Today we have an abundance of preachers and not ministers (servants). We love to preach and not to teach them. Jesus taught to the people individually and in small groups. Jesus taught the multitudes that followed Him. He deputed the seventy disciples to minister to the people. He did not gather people around Himself but the multitudes followed Him. Today we do not teach but preach to the children of God on a lifted stage. Have U shaped small groups and teach them. Depute your co-workers who have been trained by you to the multitudes. If the children of God covet your ministry by invitations, then remember that you are becoming a snare unto them. It is time for you to go into the wilderness so that your co-workers, who are “elders” in the House of God, may minister to the children of God who are younger in the House of God.
Jesus Christ went to the wilderness and remained there for 40 days to perform His ministry of three and half years. Many evangelists and pastors even after performing their ministries for more than a decade have never gone to the wilderness even for a week, except going in for vacations. They have never given their pulpits to their co-workers on Sundays. They have never encouraged their co-workers to preach in television programs. How many times you had gone to the wilderness to be alone with God, equipping your co-workers for the public ministry in your stead? If God has blessed you with a television ministry and you have become very popular in the House of God, have you ever gone into the wilderness even for a small period of time so that some other evangelist in the nearby village or a poor pastor may appear on the television screen on your behalf? You presume that your very presence on the television channel brings blessings to the children of God thus becoming an idol or a demigod for them. Just because God has blessed some children of God or used your television ministry for winning a large number of people for Christ, do not presume that you need not go to the wilderness at all.
Wilderness is the place prepared for you by God so that you may have close fellowship with Him away from the tumult of this world and God gives you a vision for your future ministry which will be on the next level of power. You are on the same old ground. Your establishment might have grown over the years. The fruits of your ministry as expected by God with the abundance of His resources entrusted to you are not forthcoming because you are content with the present level of your ministry.
Are your feet beautiful on the mountains for preaching the good tidings as described by Prophet Isaiah? How many times you have gone to the mountains of evangelism, the hard and difficult places, in your nation with your own resources without expecting any invitations from the churches or the people of God who live in such places? You might have gone abroad umpteen times in response to invitations because the people of God there give to your ministries in dollars whereas you do not go to the difficult places in your own nation just because you have not received invitations from the churches there. Have you ever gone to these mountains, spending your own money and resources? In the North India, there are still thousands of villages and towns where no gospel meetings were ever held and where no churches are there. The churches in these places have either no pastors or deacons. No evangelists who have been given the abundance of resources are visiting these villages but concentrate on cities and towns in response to invitations. You are holding the so-called revival meetings or “anointing sessions” in places already reached by the gospel or for people who have already heard the gospel umpteen times but have not gone to His vineyard.
There are many denominational churches like Church of North India, Presbyterian/Baptist churches in the states of North India. The evangelists or the pastors who have been blessed with the abundance of resources can approach these churches for holding revival meetings in their churches or for holding evangelical/healing crusades in their towns without expecting monetary help from these churches who have no income. When Brother Glady Easwararaj was alive with us in the late 70s, we used to approach these churches for conducting gospel meetings and we used to meet the financial needs of such open air meetings. I find most of the evangelists in Tamil Nadu hold revival or gospel meetings in the same metropolitan cities and towns again and again but do not hold meetings in the nearby villages.
Let your television ministry continue to preach the gospel to the lost souls because God has chosen this tool for reaching the multitudes in places not accessible to you. Make use of the Swarthik or local evangelists to speak to the people in their own languages. Do not waste the precious time in the television by translating your message into the local or the language spoken by the unsaved majority.
If God has given you a prophetic ministry for ministry to the children of God, do not take up a television ministry which is viewed by the unsaved majority. Minister to a small group either through a fellowship meeting or through an internet group. Do not preach to them but teach them. Do not always prophesy to them but exhort them to prophesy. Listen to them individually and clarify their doubts. I find some prophetic ministers who love to preach but not to teach.
If you are an apostolic minister, having established mission fields, you should share your experiences with the children of God (who have no knowledge about cross-cultural evangelism and missions) so that they may have a burden to help preach the gospel in places not reached by the gospel. You have to prepare those who have the same calling so that these young apostles may go to places not reached the gospel and establish/plant churches in the same manner as you have done. Do not just gather the children of God to become popular amongst them because apostles are appointed by God to be spectacles to the whole world by way of sufferings and persecutions. They bear the marks of apostleship on their bodies by way of sufferings and persecutions. They are appointed in the first place in the Body of Christ above all the other categories of ministers. They are the custodians of all the churches of God. They have to deal with the false doctrines and to pay a price for exposing false brethren and false apostles/false teachers. You are not called to preach but to teach them. Teaching takes a long time or a season but preaching takes only one or two hours. The children of God need sound doctrine and sound teaching through your ministry. Merely publishing CDs/Audio CDs will not help them much. Let your publications be a teaching aid to them. Do not replace your personal ministry to them with your publications. Your publications will merely increase their Biblical knowledge and will enlarge your image before them in your absence. You should be available to them for face to face interaction. In case you are physically old and are not able to undertake this great ministry, you have to go into the wilderness and depute your co-workers with the same vision. You are not a CEO of a company but a servant to the children of God. Even the CEOs of many MNCs have delegated their functions to the Board of directors. Paul dwelt for two whole years in his own hired house and ministered (Acts 28:30).
In Delhi, I know an apostolic minister who had served the Lord in many North Indian mission fields and he went to be with the Lord two years ago. He was working in a missionary organization in India who have sent a large number of missionaries in places not reached by the gospel. But the mission leader did not give an interview to this dear servant of God because the former was very busy in seminars, etc. He wanted to say something to the mission leader but he was not heard by him before his home call. The mission leaders should consider themselves as servants to those apostolic ministers who are appointed by God in the first place.
Preparing the way for the Antichrist
Please note that whatever you build on this earth promoting your own ministry is of the fallen Babylonian kingdom. The spirit of the Antichrist who is already in this world promotes the Babylonian kingdom through his emissary, the false prophet. When he will be manifested, such a manifestation will take place through the fallen Babylonian kingdom only. Many saints of God who were entrusted by God with evangelical ministries of great power have been brought down from the heavenlies where they were seated with Christ. They continue with the same ministries of great power even after their fall. God is still using them for winning the multitudes for His Kingdom. You may read my messages on the Antichrist and the false prophet at http://sites.google.com/site/antichristexposed
There was an evangelist used of God mightily in winning multitudes for Christ Jesus. Two years ago, God called him home. I still love this dear servant of God because he had a heart to serve Him. I did minister to him about 20 years ago. He also loved me very much. God had enabled him to start a prayer ministry in a humble manner in a metropolitan town by establishing a prayer tower. Afterwards, he functioned in a stereo-type manner establishing many prayer towers in many cities in India and even abroad at huge costs. Such prayer towers helped assemble the prayer warriors to intercede for others and God did perform signs and miracles through such prayer ministries because of the burden of the prayer warriors who had spent their precious time in praying for others. After his home call, his son took over the ministry. Whenever I read his magazine, I used to come across the wonderful testimonies of people who have been saved/blessed through his multi-faceted ministry though he promoted his own ministry through the various buildings constructed by him at huge costs.
Recently, the Holy Spirit brought my attention to a recent issue of his magazine which fell into my hands by His providence. He exhorted the people of God to contribute to his building projects for erecting a prayer tower in Jerusalem and for building a Hall of prophets in a land acquired by his organization in the prime locality of the metropolitan city at a very huge cost. He said, “Build God’s house, God will build your house”. Can we build the God’s house with men’s hands under the New Covenant? This means that any person who donates his money towards his building project is considered to be building the God’s house on this earth. He sought the offerings of the children of God for building “Jerusalem Prayer Tower which would prepare the world for His Second Coming”. Many years ago, some servants of God were misleading the children of God in Tamil Nadu promising God’s blessings upon them through visits to the “holy land”. I had opposed their doctrines tooth and nail but in vain. I published an article through my internet ministries under the topic “False doctrine of visit to the Holy Land at http://sites.google.com/site/antichristexposed/holyland
This evangelist further writes, “The Lord spoke, “Last year I took you to the city of Jerusalem along with the officials of your ministry. Did I not show you a building that time? You must establish the Prayer Tower in that building which is situated at the centre of Jerusalem. You must also train prayer warriors who would prepare the people for My Second Coming and announce it prophetically from the Prayer Tower…” According to him, “the owner of the building has quoted a very heavy prize for that. This building is very close to the house of David as well as the Upper Rom where the disciples received the Holy Spirit…..It will be a prophetic tower. Saints of God shall keep prophesying from that place (Rev.5:8, 8:3). Then you shall see the signs of the Second Coming of the Lord appearing all over the world and in Jerusalem…..We are establishing the Prayer Tower to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps.122:6). Then there shall be peace, prosperity and health in your home. ……Then the Lord shall reveal the power in every country. He shall again bring His healing and prophetic power in the lives of millions of people…..”
This is a great deception about which the Holy Spirit is warning us. He has twisted the words of Jesus Christ in the gospel about His Second Coming just to exhort the people of God to give sacrificially to his building project in Jerusalem. He has exalted his “molten calf” and presented the same as an historical event of the Bible Prophecy about His Second Coming. He gives an impression to the whole world that the molten calf that would emerge from the sacrificial offerings of the children of God would hasten the Second Coming of Jesus Christ through the prayers of the saints who would assemble themselves for prayers in that particular building. What a great deception! According to him, if the prayer warriors to be chosen and appointed by him do not pray and prophesy from that particular prayer tower, the Second Coming of the Lord would not take place. According to him, establishment of the Prayer Tower in Jerusalem in the close vicinity of the house of David and of the Upper Room where the disciples of the Lord had received the Holy Spirit will be a prophetic event that will herald the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. He says, “Then you shall see the signs of the Second Coming of the Lord….” According to him, the Lord spoke to him and showed him that particular place. LET US TAKE THE MEASURING ROD AND TEST HIS STATEMENT WITH THE SCRIPTURES CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING. You will definitely agree with me that it is not the Holy Spirit but the spirit of the Antichrist who had spoken to that dear servant of God. God has not promised in His word that an earthly structure would be raised in the heart of Jerusalem for preparing the people for the Second Coming of the Lord. According to Him, upon establishment of the prophetic tower in Jerusalem, through the prayers of the saints, the Lord shall reveal His power in every country and He shall again bring His healing and prophetic power in the lives of million of people.
“If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Rev.22:18-19) We should be very careful in interpreting His Word of Prophecy in the Bible. If any person adds anything to His word of prophecy or takes away from the words of the book of the prophecy, God will add unto him/her the plagues written in this book, will take away his/her part out of the book of life, and of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
He is not going to build a simple prayer tower to gather the prayer warriors to intercede for others. He is going to build a tower of Babel for the manifestation of the Antichrist. The children of God who are going to donate to his building project in Jerusalem cannot escape the judgment of God upon the fallen Babylonian kingdom.
Let them who have the ears take heed to the warning of the Holy Spirit in these last days. Let us flee all these molten calves and idols in the house of God and keep ourselves pure from the pollution of such ministries in these last days. If we sacrifice before such molten calves and idols, God will judge us. Are you for the Kingdom of Christ or for the fallen Babylonian kingdom which stands judged by God? Let us pray for these ministers of God with a great burden and warn them.
Governance in God’s vineyard
These days, the Corporate Houses are constantly reviewing their performances after getting feedbacks from their clients. By delegating responsibilities and powers, they are reaching new milestones in their business endeavors. The CEOs are giving places to their second line business partners and going into the wilderness. But in God’s vineyard, every minister is working in his own ways without keeping the interests of the whole universal Body of Christ in mind. There is no unity amongst pastors and evangelists in India. But there is unity amongst the evangelical missions in India with the result that each organization works in tandem with other organizations so that its jurisdiction may not overlap with that of other organizations. They ensure that their missionaries are not sent to the same mission fields where missionaries of other organizations serve the Lord. But the pastors establish their own churches in the same towns and places where there are already a number of churches. And the evangelists preach in the same towns and places where the other evangelists have already held a number of crusades. Most of these pastors and evangelists do not bother to work in the nearby villages or in those places where the people perish without hearing the glorious gospel.
There are very good guidelines, rules and regulations and code of conduct for the top managers, the Board of Directors and the other categories of employees in the Corporate Sector. But in the God’s house, whatever the evangelist or the pastor plans, he simply tells the children of God, “God has spoken to me” or “I am led by the Holy Spirit” and do not take the views of other members of the Body of Christ or the children of God to whom he is ministering all these years. Have you ever sought the views of the people who read your magazines or view your television programs? Have you published the views of those who have disagreed with your articles? The servants of God are supposed to follow the Code of Conduct as laid down in the Word of God. No principles of equity are applicable to them as they have two standards of yard sticks. Their office staff or ministry staff are not treated at par. They expect these staff to work for them without expecting salary. We find in many of the magazines published by evangelists inviting applications from the people of God to work “sacrificially” or “voluntarily” for their organizations whereas they themselves live comfortably out of the offerings of the children of God. Some evangelists pay “stipends” or transportation fare to their prayer warriors who pray in their prayer towers round the clock. These prayer warriors pray with a great burden and miracles or healings take place and the people who have experienced miracles or healings send donations to the evangelists concerned. These prayer warriors are given instructions not to socialize with the people who seek their prayers.
Every Corporate House is vying with one another in bringing about total transparency in their functioning and fixes responsibility on those who implement their goals. There is accountability at every level. But in the God’s house, nobody takes the responsibility for the failures because there is “no body” except the evangelist or the pastor at the helm of affairs. Do the evangelists and pastors make their financial accounts available to the children of God who sacrificially offer their hard-earned monies? The missionary organizations publish their audited accounts every year. Maybe, the evangelists and the pastors engage the chartered accountants to camouflage their dollars or their unaccounted donations to evade income tax. How many of the pastors and evangelists know the names of those precious people of God who have given their sacrificial offerings for their ministries? They cannot remember their names because they had received more than they needed and because their ministries have become big empires not controlled by them. Maybe, you remember those who donated very large amounts for building your churches or ministry buildings. Do you remember those “poor widows” who had cast all their mites kept for their future into the offertory boxes of your ministries out of their love for the One Who gave them all? Paul remembered the people by name that ministered to him and to the poor saints, in response to his appeal. You cannot remember them in prayers because a molten calf has emerged from your big ministry in the form of an establishment that needs to be maintained by you at a huge cost through the further sacrificial offerings of the same people of God whose names you do not remember. If you do not remember their names, how can you pray for them with a real burden? By appointing prayer warriors who have not taken the offerings of the people of God, do you want God to bless those who have donated to your ministries? God will judge you. God cannot be mocked.
Young or new ministers to be insulated from corruption
The molten calves and the idols have corrupted the Kingdom of Christ. It is very difficult to find a ministry which has not been tainted by the Mammon of Unrighteousness or the image-building exercise. Let us protect the young and the new priests in the Body of Christ from the influence of such molten calves and idols. I may not succeed in demolishing the molten calves and the idols with the help of the servants of God concerned. But I can succeed in insulating the young or the new ministers by way of warning and exhortation for fleeing the idols in their infant ministries. I can definitely persuade a young pastor or a young evangelist or a new minister from following the footsteps of such idol ministers. God has still preserved a remnant ministers in the Body of Christ by taking them through a furnace of afflictions and persecutions. Let us reach out to this remnant and equip them for the New Testament ministries. It is a great work which requires our urgent attention.
(The above message is attached below in a pdf format).