Volume One, Issue Eight
8/98
It’s good to be back!
We had a great deputation trip in the U.S. for three months. Some truly miraculous events took place while I was there. I traveled to many States and had many meetings in churches, small groups and with individuals. We are now back on Guam with preparations to preach the gospel in Micronesia this fall and next spring. The Lord has been doing a work in Micronesia this this summer 1998. I praise the Lord that He allowed me to have a hand in bringing two major speakers out to Micronesia and Guam. Luis Palau was in Palau and Guam. There were purportedly 300 people who professed Jesus Christ as Lord in Palau, and 400 that rededicated their lives. This statistic comes from Marcellus Ngiraingas, who was one of the main people involved in the crusade in Palau. I was told the Guam “affinity” meetings went well also, as well as the Ipao meeting. Rev. Ron Susek went to the Marshalls, Pohnpei and Chuuk. God did a work in the hearts of pastors all across Micronesia. We will be traveling together in the spring of 1999 to follow up in those islands.
FEATURE ARTICLE
The featured article in this newsletter is a recent August 1998 article by Jacob Prasch, an A/G Pentacostal minister, called “House of David: House of Saul”. The reason I chose the following article to send to you is twofold:
(1) In view of the issues raised recently in Micronesia by Luis Palau with regards to how to approach Catholics with the gospel and (2) Because this article expresses my views on a wide range of issues that are still playing themselves out in Guam and Micronesia.
I was glad to hear of many people who heard the gospel from Luis Palau. I am told he was uncompromising in the presentation of the gospel message.
However, I was troubled to hear that Luis tried to woo Catholics by saying something to the effect that “we all have the same basics, it’s just that you need to take it a step further”. This is a paraphrase and I am open to correction on this. This type of technique is now becoming prevalent with many major Christian speakers. I do not agree with this.
The reason is because Roman Catholicism has been apostate for many centuries, practicing and teaching many heretical doctrines, and which it continues to teach and practice. Here are just a few of the heretical doctrines of the Catholic church, some of which go against basic doctrines of Christianity:
Tradition Is Equal With Scripture Interpretation Of The Bible Is To Be Done Only By The Pope And Bishops
Mary is: Sinless, a Perpetual Virgin, the Mother of God, the Queen Of Heaven, the Co-Redeemer with Christ Doctrines of the Rosary And Prayers To Mary Salvation Only Comes Through The Catholic Church All Grace Comes Through The Catholic Church No Christian Unity Apart From The Catholic Church Salvation Includes The Muslims The Doctrine Of The Supremacy Of The Pope Prayers From The Dead Prayers For The Dead Salvation Comes Through Baptism Infants Are Born Again Through Baptism Penance Necessary For Salvation The Church Can Forgive Sins Doctrine Of Purgatory Doctrines Of Indulgences And Good Works For The Dead Sacraments And Liturgy Communicate Grace Sacraments Are Necessary For Salvation The Mass Is A Re-Sacrifice Of Christ The Mass Is A Conversion Of Bread And Wine Into The Very Christ Priest Has Supernatural Power To Convert The Bread And Wine Into Christ Mass Conducted In Communion With The Dead Elements Of The Mass To Be Worshipped And Carried In Processions All Sins Must Be Confessed To A Priest Forgiveness Of Sins And Escape From Purgatory Through Indulgences Salvation Through The Good Works Of The “Saints” Veneration Of Relics Veneration Of Images
For an excellent article on what the current Catholic catechism teaches and how far it is doctrinally from Scripture, check this out:
http://www.hsv.tis.net/~ke4vol/scroll/rc/cat-ndx.html
How much further from the gospel can you get than teaching, in your catechism, that the only way to salvation is through the sacraments of the Catholic Church? What kind of “Jesus” do people come to believe in if they are taught these lies on a regular basis? What hope do they have of finding the truth through the teachings of the Catholic church if they are not encouraged to either change the church or get out of it? What will happen to Catholics who accept Jesus Christ as Savior through grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone then go back to a church that teaches works salvation?
If the Catholics are truly our brothers in Christ, then we must follow Scripture by sharply rebuking their heresies. If they are not, then they should be treated as pagans and we should preach them the gospel, not pretending that they are our brothers, making the gospel of no effect.
Worse than this, we have many Christian leaders who are not only wooing the Catholics this way by ignoring basic doctrinal issues, but are now wooing other religions as well. Read this unfortunate interview by Robert Schuller with Billy Graham in May 1997 if you doubt what I am saying (as quoted by Paw Creek Ministries -http://www.pawcreek.org/monthly.htm )
—
Schuller: Tell me, what do you think is the future of Christianity?
Graham: Well, Christianity and being a true believer-you know, I think there’s the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ. And I don’t think that we’re going to see great sweeping revival, that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. I think James answered that, the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said that God’s purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that’s what God is doing today, He’s calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think that they are saved and that they’re going to be with us in heaven.
Schuller: What, what I hear you saying that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?
Graham: Yes, it is, because I believe that. I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they’ve believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they’ve tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.
Schuller: [R.S. trips over his tongue for a moment, his face beaming, then says] I’m so thrilled to hear you say this. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy.
Graham: There is. There definitely is.
—
It would be far better to avoid wooing Buhdists, Hindus, or Catholics with half-truths and stick to the simple truths of the gospel than to try to win people to Jesus through deception. It is one thing to use good illustrations that people can relate to. It is another thing to try to “sweet talk” people into salvation. “Salvation” that results from lies is not a true salvation at all. In fact it further enslaves. Paul used the “unknown god” as an illustration when he spoke to the Greeks. He did not compliment the Greeks on that fact that since they were worshipping an unknown god (along with hundreds of others) that they had a lot in common!
It is far preferable to be excluded from “unity” for the sake of the gospel and of Jesus Christ, than to be in fellowship with the house of Saul!
Please read the following article with these things in mind, as well as the problems with the Third Wave.
In Christ, DITC
NOTE: Those of you without a browser that can read HTML pages, please write back to me and I will send you a text version of the following article.
——————————————————————————————————
AUGUST 1998 No. 6
MORIEL - GOD IS MY TEACHER
PRAYER and NEWS LETTER
House of David : House of Saul
by Jacob Prasch
————————————————————————————————————
HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD, you who tremble at His word: Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name’s sake, have said, “Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.” But they will be put to shame (Isaiah 66:5). When your brethren hate you and exclude you for the sake of the Lord’s name, your life becomes difficult.
The worst war The book of Judges is a book about wars. It is Jews fighting Amalekites, Canaanites, Philistines. It gives all the statistics of how many were killed, how many were captured. The worst of those wars was the last war in Judges. And the worst war, the bloodiest war with the most fatalities, was not against Amalekites, Canaanites or Philistines, it involved Jews fighting other Jews. What caused Paul the most consternation? Was it being dragged before the Roman authorities, flogged in the synagogue, attacked by mobs in Ephesus? Read his epistles, these things did not cause him the most grief. Persecution is not what distressed him. Rather, it was false brethren, false teachers and false prophets trying to seduce the churches that he planted. I am not afraid of going against Freemasonry, or Rome, or Orthodox Rabbis, or Islam, or New Age, or the homosexuals. The kind of war I dread is when you have to fight against your brethren. In the last war in Judges, they had no choice. A woman’s body was hacked into fragments, and divided. And the Body of Christ in the Western world is being hacked to death and divided. We have no choice but to pick up the sword, the body is being hacked to death.
False teachers, false prophets E. W. Kenyon was the patriarch of the “Jesus died spiritually” doctrines that are being taught today. He said that Jesus did not win the victory on the Cross. Jesus said, “It is finished,” but, according to Kenyon, that was not the victory. Jesus died and rose again, but Kenyon says that Jesus descended into hell and became of one nature with Satan. Jesus was born again in hell — that is the ‘gospel’ of Frederick K. Price, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin and Benny Hinn. They believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross, but the victory over sin and death was not accomplished on the Cross. The Body is being hacked to death. “You don’t have to suffer, God wants you rich.” By virtue of the fact that you live in a Western democracy, you are rich. You are better off than at least two thirds of the people in the world. The body is being hacked to death by a gospel of mammon which calls itself “Faith Prosperity.” But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith… (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Hebrews 11, the ‘faith chapter,’ talks more about faith than all the rest of the New Testament put together. It does not mention money once, only alluding to wealth to tell you about those who could have had it, but turned their backs on it for the sake of the kingdom (Hebrews 11:26). The body is being hacked to death. It is very difficult when you have to lift your sword against your brother.
A long war Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the House of Saul grew weaker continually (2 Samuel 3:1). David and Saul both had a common enemy, the Canaanites and Philistines who were overrunning the land. The enemy prevailed because the leadership of Israel had become so corrupt. David could do nothing about it until the leadership was replaced. He could not replace the leadership because Saul was God’s anointed. He was stuck in a situation where wickedness was prevailingand God’s people were being defeated, just like today. God’s people are being defeated and there is going to be a long war between the growing house of David and the failing house of Saul.
Believing a lie If you want to, you can have your ears tickled with blabit-and-grabit, Western consumerism, which is all the ‘prosperity gospel’ is, people trying to redefine the truth of the Bible in light of Western consumerism. The people who subscribe to these errors do so because they want to believe lies. They did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11). But there is something much more difficult and much more painful than that here.
The Jonathan tragedy We all know the story of King David and how Saul hated him and tried to kill him. The one sticking point was Jonathan. Jonathan loved David. Jonathan knew that Saul had become corrupt and lost God’s calling and blessing. Jonathan knew his father was no good. He knew the house of Saul was under the curse of God. He knew David was right. He knew David was an innocent victim who was being persecuted. He knew David was God’s chosen. He knew it all, but Jonathan was too cemented to the house of Saul to make the break. David is always a type of Jesus. Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). That alludes to the situation of Jonathan. Are you part of the house of David or the house of Saul? To be part of the house of Saul does not require you to believe false doctrine yourself. It just means that you are committed to established structures, churches and denominations that have gone into this error. Is your denomination more important to you than what God is saying?
Beginning in the Spirit Then Samuel took the flask of oil, and poured it on his head, kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over His inheritance?” (1 Samuel 10:1). Remember different liquids represent the Holy Spirit in different aspects. In this case it is oil, which speaks of the anointing. The Holy Spirit really was poured out on the house of Saul. It was authentic, but if something ends in the flesh, it does not matter if it began in the Spirit or if it was always in error to begin with. I do not doubt for one second that thirty years ago there was a genuine outpouring of God’s Spirit. I know that was true, but I am just as convinced that it went into the flesh a long time ago. Every single Charismatic movement in the history of the church has ended the same way. The Montanists — experiential theology, Muenster Anabaptists and early Pentecostals — crazy doctrines, Quakers — inner light. It is always the Spirit and the Truth. But they said, “Give us the Spirit, we don’t want the Truth.” The word of God tells us what is flesh and what is Spirit.
Ending in the flesh As you did not obey the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, so the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel along with you into the hand of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the Lord will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines (1 Samuel 28:18). Saul lost his anointing. He started out with the calling, with the anointing, but God rejected him. Go, strike Amalek… Then Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey’” (1 Samuel 15:1-3). But Saul did not do it. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night (1 Samuel 15:9-11).
The ancient enemy Amalek, also known as Agag, was an ancient enemy. The enmity goes back to the time of Moses; it resurfaces in the person of Haman, a descendant of Agag, in the book of Esther. This enmity had persisted over hundreds of years, back to the Babylonian captivity. The old enemy remains the enemy. It does not change. Saul was told what Moses was told, what Joshua was told: These are your ancient enemies, get rid of them. Who are our ancient enemies? We are told in the New Testament that we struggle not against flesh and blood. As Christians, we love our enemies. There is a big difference between loving people in false religions, and loving the false religions. We are to hate idolatry, sin, and superstition. I hate Roman Catholicism because it is leading people to hell by the tens of millions. Saul tried to keep the parts he thought were acceptable. Saul tried to make peace with the ancient enemy. When you try to make peace with your ancient enemy, the ancient enemy comes back and devours you, just like it did in the book of Esther. You can look back and see in history that more Bible believing Christians were killed by Papal Rome than were killed by pagan Rome. John Bunyan called it a “Two Headed Giant” — one called Pagan, and the other called Pope! You may say, “They did that five hundred years ago, they did that sixteen hundred years ago, but they would not do that in the 20th century!” Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels were all Catholics, and most of Hitler’s deputies were Jesuit educated. Franz von Papen, vice chancellor to Hitler and a privy chamberlain to Pope Pius 12th, said, “The Third Reich was the first power in the world, not only to recognize, but also to put into practice the high principles of the Roman Catholic Papacy.” Joachim von Ribbentropp, Hitler’s advisor in foreign affairs and Papal Envoy, said, “Adolph Hitler is the envoy of God.” Some believe that they would not do that in the 20th century. Saul thought that Agag would not do what they did in the days of Moses. Esther did not think that Haman would have done it either. The Roman Catholic Church condemns those who say the Church must not use violent force. There are pictures of nuns marching with Gestapo officers to get Jewish children and take them out to be killed. The simple basic constitutional principle of Roman Catholicism is always the same. Rome has not changed; Agag has not changed.
Come out of her, My people The first mistake of the Charismatic Movement was experiential theology. The second was failing to drive out the enemies of God. When the Charismatic Renewal happened in the Roman Church, the Holy Spirit was calling God’s people to come out of false religion. “Ho there! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord, “Ho Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon” (Zechariah 2:6-7). And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, My people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities (Revelation 18:4-5). It does not say they are not God’s people. But to be His people and stay in a church that says you are going to burn in Purgatory for your own sins, when the Bible says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins, is sin. The Hebrew word for ‘to worship’ is the same word as ‘prostrate, genuflect.’ It is the same exact word. Praying to the dead and genuflecting before statues (practicing idolatry) is sin. Praying to the dead is contacting a familiar spirit. It is a sin. You cannot practice Roman Catholicism without sinning. Praying to the dead is sin. Idolatry — Mary worship, kissing statues — is sin. The Roman Catholic Church has a history of murdering true Christians and, if they get their chance, they will do it again. Babylon cannot be healed.
Inventing doctrine Saul’s second mistake was his failure to go to the Word of God. The Torah showed clearly how to get rid of Amalek. But Saul invented his own doctrine and his own code of practice. As a result, he lost his anointing and calling. The Charismatic movement has done the same thing. They did not go to the Word of God, but invented their own doctrine and code of practice. Thirty years ago the Charismatic movement happened in the United States, and other places around the world. The Charismatic Renewal was supposed to bring spiritual and moral restoration to the British Isles, and bring reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants. They were going to win the country back for Jesus. The Charismatic renewal was going to bring spiritual and moral restoration to the USA. Is there less crime, less divorce, less homosexuality, less substance, less racism now? No, there is more of all of it! The Charismatic movement has not been able to renew the church, let alone the country. It has not moved the church to repentance, let alone the nation. Thirty years ago you would not have found Anglican Bishops denying the Virgin Birth or the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, nor Hindu gods being worshiped in Anglican churches, nor professed homosexuals in a Methodist pulpit. Not only is society worse off than it was before the Charismatic Renewal, but the Church is worse off.
We are all priests Every Christian is a priest. We are all supposed to bring a sacrifice of praise, and lay our life down, not loving our life in this world. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). I have dropped my cross many times. I thank God for Jesus, who helps me pick it up again and keep following him. My old nature and my flesh do not want to. So far, seven bishops and hundreds of clergy have either walked out, or are planning to walk out, of the Church of England over the ordination of women priests. When the Virgin Birth was denied, no one walked out. When the resurrection of Jesus Christ was denied, no one walked out. When Bishops began laying hands on homosexuals and consecrating them for the ministry, no one walked out. When Hindu gods were worshipped in Canterbury Cathedral, no one walked out. These people do not care about God’s Word or God’s Truth. They do not care about God’s Son. They only care about their religion.
Self-preservation The house of Saul is always bent on one thing, self-preservation. And he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. And Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal (1 Samuel 15:8-12). Saul set up a monument for himself. The Sauls of the modern church are also busily engaged in setting up monuments for themselves. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” But Samuel said: What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” (1 Samuel 15:13-14). The house of Saul thinks it is in God’s grace, God’s favour, God’s blessing, until the real prophetic voice comes and tells them the truth. And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed” (1 Samuel 15:15). “There are good things in the Roman Catholic Church that we can draw from,” say some people. But if you knew something was part rotten, would you eat it? Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!” And Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel… (1 Samuel 15:16-17). The people asked for a King. They always want a flesh leader instead of looking to God. “Give us a leader, or give us a king.” When people ask for a leader or king, there is always something wrong with their relationship with Jesus. People refuse to understand that they can only follow a human leader as far as that person has a relationship with God, not one bit further. If that leader has no relationship with God, then you will be in the same confusion and doubt as the leader. What did Paul say? Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Follow me, agree with me, trust me to the exact extent that I am following Jesus. No more. We have a King; we should not try to make other people into our king. The Lord sent you on a mission, and said, “Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.” Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord? (1 Samuel 15:18-19). We are showing our treasures to the king of Babylon. When you send converts back to the Roman Catholic Church, as Billy Graham is doing, you are showing your treasures to the king of Babylon (2 Kings 20:12-18). When you do this, it is only a matter of time before the king of Babylon will come and take the treasure.
Doctrine divides And Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me…” (1 Samuel 15:20). They always defend their actions. They insist they are obeying the Lord, they insist they are following him. But the Word of God says differently! They say, “Do not talk to us about doctrine, doctrine divides.” The New Testament contains twice as much exhortation to right doctrine as it does right conduct. Why? If we do not know right doctrine, we will not know right conduct. Jesus said it would divide. That is exactly the purpose of doctrine!
Bad leaders blame the people “But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:21). The bad leaders always blame the people. “The people took the spoil. We cannot control the people.” Those in leadership were given a job to do and they are responsible. They are supposed to be God’s authority in that relationship. And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:22- 23). They will bring a sacrifice of praise, but they will not obey the Bible.
Return with me… Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:24-26). Once people have openly rejected the teaching of the word of the Lord, you can go no further with them. You have no basis of fellowship. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3). We are talking about basics — salvation, the authority of scripture, the person of Christ. The Bible says if people predict things that do not happen, get away from them. When people prefer the teachings of Toronto/ Brownsville, despite knowing the contradiction between what the Bible says and what their leaders do, we should get away from them. People who will not listen to truth are in rebellion, and rebellion is as witchcraft. These movements openly defy the clear word of God.
Rejecting the word of truth There are have been a number of predictions made by people like John Wimber, Paul Cain and Gerald Coates, predictions that did not happen. Their false predictions were published in newspapers and on secular television, resulting in brutal mocking of Christians when they failed to happen. When Gerald Coates was challenged over his false prophecy, he refused to take any responsibility for his actions. Both Rick Joyner and John Kilpatrick have made major predictions that failed to happen and people still follow them. This is rebellion, the same sin as witchcraft. The people who follow Coates, Joyner and Kilpatrick cannot dispute that their leaders have predicted things that did not come to pass. They cannot dispute that the word of God says we should not follow them. But they do not want to obey the word of God. They prefer rebellion, witchcraft. Once they reject the word of the Lord, there is no basis for Truth, no fellowship to be had with them. Bible teaching in the Charismatic Movement has been so shallow that most of these people are doing it out of ignorance rather than willful rebellion.
But it is different with the leaders. They should all be called to repentance. They should not be allowed any form of ministry. They have deceived and mislead so many people.
A faithful shepherd So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind (1 Samuel 15:28). And He has still not changed his mind. When the house of Saul goes wrong, God begins to build the house of David. God began teaching David from the time he was a little boy. God trains people for the extraordinary in the ordinary. How was David able to kill Goliath? When he was a shepherd boy, he went around with his slingshot killing wolves that attacked the sheep. A faithful shepherd [same word in Hebrew as ‘pastor’], will be given more responsibility by God. For some of these men today, the sheep merely represent stepping stones for advancement on the speaking circuit. The first lesson David learned was not to wear Saul’s armour. Those who will be in the house of David have to learn the same lesson. You cannot wear Saul’s armor, it is too cumbersome.
Hearing from God Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.” And David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.” Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa. When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim nor by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said, “Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor” (1 Samuel 28:1-7).
Listening to witches Saul stopped hearing from the Lord. Today the Charismatic leaders are really afraid. Why were Wimber, Paul Cain and Gerald Coates wrong? They talk big, but they are afraid. They know their own track record. They know they have been around thirty years and things have gone from bad to worse, and from worse to worse yet. That is why they need one gimmick after another, like the ‘laughing revival,’ to keep people unknowing as to what is really going on. These people stopped hearing from the Lord a long time ago. Benny Hinn said that he goes to the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, to commune with the dead. He gets his ‘anointing’ off the dead bodies of Aimee McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman. When you do not hear from the Lord, you go to witches. That is what happened then, and that is what is happening today.
The house of David But the house of David grows stronger and stronger. How does it begin? ‘Davids’ are shepherd boys. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much (Luke 16:10). Christians who are already faithfully taking care of those God has already given them — good husbands, good fathers, good pastors, good house group leaders — are the kinds of people God is going to use to take care of the whole flock. God trains people for the extraordinary, in the ordinary. The last thing Goliath would have expected was a teenage boy who was a dead aim with a slingshot — the one thing that could have stopped him. The kinds of people God is going to raise up will be people that Islam, New Age, Rome, homosexuals and Freemasons will never expect. These are going to be people God has been training for a long time. Dead shots with a sling. And then God will begin to build his house. One gets stronger while one gets weaker. He takes his calling from the house of Saul, but it runs on inertia. It has lost the anointing, but God leaves it to run on for a time until the house of David is built. When you see the present spiritual seduction taking place, you can be sure of three things: 1. God will raise up prophetic voices against it. They might not be listened to, but they will be heard, the same as with Samuel. 2. There will be a faithful remnant. The remnant will hear, they will listen and respond. 3. God will build a new house.
The outcasts of Israel And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him (1 Samuel 22:2). The outcasts of Israel gathered to David. I do not expect the pastors of the bigger churches or the members of Executives to join the house of David. Very few of them will join. At best, they will be Jonathans. It will be people like us — losers, outcasts, nobodies, the unfashionable. We are nothings now, but what were we before? We have nothing that is not the result of Jesus having saved us.
The mighty men of David These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite; because of eight hundred slain by him at one time; and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn. He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the Lord bought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain. Now after him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory (1 Samuel 23:8-12). So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Beth-Lehem which is by the gate, and took it and brought it to David (1 Samuel 23:16). The so-called mighty men of Israel today, the great Christian leaders, run away from homosexuals, run away from New Age, run away from Roman Catholicism; they run away from everything. They do not have the necessary courage to fight. God is going to raise up little boys with slingshots. God is going to gather the mighty men. But who are these mighty men of David; who are these commanders? They are the same ones mentioned in 1 Samuel 22.2 — those who were in distress, who were in debt, who were discontent, the nothings and the nobodies. God takes the losers and makes them winners. He takes the nobodies and makes them commanders. Where did He do it? Where did He teach them how to become the great men? Where did they learn how to become generals?
In the wilderness Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph, at Horesh (1 Samuel 23:15). There are two kinds of trials in the Bible: the valley and the wilderness. The valley is a short trial, but the wilderness is a long series of trials, like the Jews wondering in the wilderness for forty years. The wilderness, by nature, is a place of death. That is why the second generation entered the holy land. The first generation died in the wilderness. Only the new creation could go to heaven and to the promised land, not the old one. God uses the wilderness to destroy the flesh, to burn off the old creation. It was a long war, David became stronger, Saul became weaker. But God did not remove the house of Saul altogether, until David was ready. Those who are to be made into the mighty ones of Israel, whom God will use to rebuild the Body of Christ in this country, are already going through a long sojourn in the wilderness.
The Lord’s anointed? “And the Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed” (1 Samuel 26:23). So what that Benny Hinn communes with the dead? Don’t touch God’s anointed! So what that Oral Roberts said God would kill him if he didn’t raise seven or eight million? Don’t touch God’s anointed! David did not touch Saul because he was God’s anointed, but did God ever stop Samuel or David from telling the truth about Saul? The verse is not even concerned with what they are are talking about. “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him [Jesus] both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). ‘Christ’ in Greek is ho christos, in Hebrew is hamashiach, and in both languages means literally ‘the anointed one’. There is only ONE ‘anointed one’ in Scripture and that is Jesus.
Prophets, priests and kings — types of Christ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is, for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes (Psalm 133:1-2). Aaron, the high priest, was an Old Testament type of Jesus. He was anointed — the oil was poured on his head, then it ran off onto his body. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church (Ephesians 5:23). We are the Body of Christ. To be ‘anointed,’ we must be attached to the body and under the head. Jesus is the anointed one. We have no anointing, except under his headship, as members of the body. These people proclaiming themselves to be ‘anointed’ are not attached to the body and they are not under the headship of Christ. Before Jesus was anointed for power, for dominion, for victory, Jesus was anointed for burial. Before anyone is anointed for ministry, they are first anointed for burial. Paul said the proof of his anointing was not that he did miracles, signs and wonders, or that he planted churches or that he wrote half the New Testament. Rather, I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17). Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body (2 Corinthians 4:10). Because he was anointed for burial, God could anoint Paul for power.
Demonic deception Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorised him (1 Samuel 16:13-14). At best, much of the hyper-Charismatic phenomena you see today is soulish. Some of it is demonic, evil. Healings claimed to be by Mary are not from God, who will not give His glory to another. There is no doubt that Saul came under some demonic deception and I am sure it is working again today.
Envy, hatred, murder And David was prospering in all his ways for the Lord was with him. When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him (1 Samuel 18:14-15).
A time will come when the house of David will begin to emerge from the wilderness, and the house of Saul will become envious. They are going to despise you, hate you, and want to kill you. By that time you will be dealing with something openly Satanic, an evil spirit tormenting. Remember, the house of Saul is only concerned with one thing, self preservation. Then David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Wilt Thou give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand” (2 Samuel 5:19). There will come a time when the house of David will do the things the that Charismatics and Pentecostals cannot do. They cannot attack New Age, ecumenism, homosexuality, or Islam, they do not have the courage. They only care about preserving their positions, their little empires. When the house of David is built, there will be people that know how to slay eight hundred. They will know how to go up against New Age, homosexuals, Rome, Islam, and the Lord will give them the victory.
The place of fellowship Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron [place of fellowship] and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who lead Israel out and in. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.’” So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-3). There will come a time that these people will arrive as refugees to the new house. They will come to the place of fellowship because the house of Saul will have been destroyed. The ones that have remained faithful are going to join themselves to the new house when the time comes.
The Jonathans With one unfortunate and tragic exception. This will be the most difficult thing to come to pass in the next few years. They are the Jonathans. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul (1 Samuel 31:2). Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathon and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword (2 Samuel 1:11). This will be the most difficult aspect — the Jonathans. Jonathan knew David was right. He knew David was commissioned by God, that he was innocent and righteous. Jonathan knew his father’s house had gone wrong. He knew his father was corrupt. He knew the land was being over run, and they were losing everything because of his father’s house. But Jonathan could not break with his father. There are people out there today that know things are wrong, but they cannot leave. Those people who attach themselves to Saul, and cannot leave, will die on Mount Gilboa. That will be the most difficult thing to face. There are people whom you know and love, who are fed up with what is going on, who can see all this error for what it is. But they do not have the courage of their convictions.
Which house will you join? Which house are you going to join? You will be of the house of Saul or the house of David. You will have to come into the wilderness, where God is building it. You have to expect that the house of Saul is going to hate you and persecute you. You have to understand that you cannot wear Saul’s armor. You will have to understand that these people are still our brethren, for better or worse.
Touch not God’s anointed. You can tell the truth about them, but only God can remove them. We have to endure the pain and anguish that David experienced over Jonathan. A time will come when the house of Saul will fall. How much longer can it keep going? It lurches from one gimmick to another, one trend to another, one line of hype to another. David’s house will stand. It will stand at Hebron, the place of fellowship, and then others will join themselves to it. When that day comes, the Lord will give the victory over the Philistines, the Amalekites, the Canaanites, Islam, New Age, Freemasonry, Rome, and homosexual lobbying. The house of David or the house of Saul? There is plenty of room in both. The choice is yours. If you want to join the house of David, now is your opportunity.
————————————————————————————————————
The Moriel Prayer and News Letter is published in the USA by: Moriel USA PO Box 11536 Pittsburgh PA 15238 Phone: (412) 793 8894 Fax: (412) 798 2254 E-mail: moriel@sgi.net The Moriel News and Prayer Letter is provided free of charge to those who request it. While there is no charge, the costs of publishing are substantial. Thank you for your support. Your donations make this work possible. © Jacob Prasch 1998