Thin Places and 24/7 Prayer

My friend John Stevens, a biology teacher did a one week fast openly and all blogged up here:

http://thinplaces-ao.blogspot.com/

But at the bottom of his blog he expalins the double meaning behind thin places.

During the summer I read a number of books doing the rounds such as Blue Like Jazz (which I enjoyed immensely) and The Irresistable Revolution (which I admired). T.I.R. attempts to recapture the radical monastery life of centuries ago and re-package its call and relevance for us in the 21st Century. It tells us the Celts located their monasteries in places were the presence of God seemed unusually real. And that communities grew around these sites. What a refreshing modus operandi that could be for current town planners to consider!The Celtish Christians called these 'thin places' where the normal divide between earth and heaven seemed to grow thin.

So just about the time that us charismatics/pentecostals/Norman Grubb readers satisfy ourselves that God is to be experienced everywhere...and is the same everywhere...just then we read in Acts that people are healed by the shadows of apostles as they walk past...by handkerchiefs anointed with oil....then certain places as I describe below on John Stevens blog


Oh and.....regarding thin places...they really exist. A client who is not overly spiritual says that he knows when he is near a closed order monastry on the way to Henfield Sussex, because the whole area feels different.Dunno about that. it's not my patch. but even I experienced this a bit at last year's RiverCamp see 2009 http://www.river-camp.co.uk/ It is on some land that has been used continuously for prayer....including as a Christian healing centre for decades...and it's that much easier to hold Christian events here!!!!

Then as if that is not enough, Theresa in Havant Church goes into Sacre Coeur at Place du Montmartre, Paris and is overwhelmed by the sense of prayer in that place. Nuns have been offering up prayers continually here since well over a hundred years ago.

Grace people in general don't talk much about discipline. This word covers a lot of things. But here it refers to a repeated activity. Self-control is a Holy Spirit fruit...and you need a bit of that when undertaking anything in a continued and persistent fashion. The idea of crafted prayer...or a prayer like the prayer of Jabez...is a prayer that is formulated hopefully in the Presence of God, then prayed consistantly until a change occurs. Actually The Lord's Prayer is such a prayer. These type of prayers , because they originate in God, actually themselves, unfold like a snail shell, and are packed with meditation power....unfolding and unfolding.

All this to say that the Moravians who had a 100 year prayer meeting were the inspiration for a movement originating here in Chichester called Prayer 24/7.

Over this weekend Havant church are setting aside a room for 24/7 round the clock prayer from tonight until Tuesday. As I was struggling with a seized up lock on a piano...I was hit by another example. A lock that is repeatedly used locks easily and smoothly. If people regularly walk across a strip of grass, a pathline emerges. So I guess in the Spirit, that is the secret behind an Open heaven being over certain places...or being experienced in any of our houses....wherever Kingdom activities are being conducted...wherever heaven is being accessed.

Pray for us....that we do access heaven...and may it have effects for you.

Iggy Rocks In

This post takes its title from the writer of Emerging Thought In Montana see blog link.He is called Iggy...though his first name is Carlos...which is a lot more subversive sounding. Iggy runs an internet readio station called Iggy Rocks.

Two of his last posts are well worth a read http://wordofmouthministries.blogspot.com/
Grace: Falling Forward - Monday March 09
The Wages of Sin - Tuesday March 10 09

I commented that they were very much in keeping with what others were writing and preaching. He replied that he has been preaching much the same for over 20 years. Which is a bit how I feel when people reply to my blog...only minus the preaching. God has only let me prophesy. No other openings have ever come in 36 years.

However , contrary to Iggy's reply I have since heard a couple of the latest Rob Rufus sermon's
particularly this one:http://www.citychurchinternational.net/mp3_2/2009_02_15.zip
Faith is conducting Heaven's Influence Into The Earth:Part 1 Becoming a Lightning Conductor

And I would say there is a prophetic edge to what Iggy has written whether he appreciates that or not. As the 3rd Level Church arises in the Earth there seem to me to be two main strands:

We have to change our believing
We have to allow this believing to penetrate the depths of our being.

The last posts here have been about opening those gates within us that were slammed shut in the Fall. Helen's message was about knowing who we are...and waiting before God to let Him establish this in us.

Rob Rufus brings fresh revelation to what went on in the Garden by showing us we received a spirit that DENIES the GOODNESS of GOD. This denying spirit acts as a barrier to God's supernatural restorations, miracles and healings. So you can see - Iggy too - this is not grace business as usual...this grace message has a new edge to it. It is actually warfare as we seek to restore the supernatural to the Church and out into the world.

On Wednesday night we had a Healing Rain meeting here in Havant. This is where we are seeking to press in to open the wells of healing...that ofcourse have been always there for us in God. I got a revelation as we were waiting before Him...which I briefly prophesied out. It was so clearly impressed upon me that God is always broadcasting on His frequency. In this frequency there is en endless supply of supernatural healings and miracles. Waiting on God is simply us tuning into this frequency rather than spending much of our days listening to other traffic in the airwaves. "we cast down false speculations and everything that is exalted above the Name of God"

As we catch hold of this ...miracles will not be a strain. They are the natural stuff of this frequency...this River that comes out of God's throne.

Helen Rubio and the Russian Dolls

This post is not Helen's latest chart-topping CD with a backing band from Moscow...this is her message which came more or less after Peter Stott's block buster on the 17th May at the Conference last year.
It throws up a link between 3rd heaven and 3rd level. About 2 years ago I was talking with Peter Stott after a Key of David meeting...and he made the link between what I refer to as 3rd level living and the 3rd heaven. I was not sure about this at all. I could not comment. What I'd received from the Lord 20 years ago was all I'd received...and I was just getting on with it. How it flowed with anything else I hadn't a clue and I could not be responsible for...because I'd received nothing on it.
But through Dan's input last year...and him pointing to Rob's Church in Hong Kong...and being introduced to the sessions with Josh Mills which anyone can download from the City Church archives 2008...this and Helen's own admiration for Josh Mills...this forced me into seeking to get light on things. A few posts ago I put up the results of my musings...to see that all these things are mirrored by the furniture in the Holy of Holies. Josh Mills takes us into the glory Presence of God and often experiences visible gold dust falling on his body straight out of the heavenlies. This is like the glory Presence above the Mercy seat and between the cherubim. The 3rd level living that I am talking about is like the furniture below this...The Mercy Seat in which is the Ark of acacia wood covered on the inside and out with gold. This is us living Christ as Me...in my form...in my shape...with our inward believing of who we are in Christ. It is not an intellectual knowledge. This is revelation to our insides. Now Helen at the moment would not talk about 3rd level living as a phrase....but in this message you can see where she's going. And she does make the direct link between 3rd heaven and our walk on Earth. I include this post for all the comments it will hopefully provoke...which I was going to discuss here...but it was a 2 track CD message...so I guess it will have to be another post. So, please feel free to comment about anything these last 5 Conference posts throw up...things you find good...things you are not so sure about...sometimes the problem areas force greater understanding.
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What I’ve been feeling in my heart as I’ve been preparing for the conference is very much part of my journey…..I love sitting and hearing Peter and others preach. That today was just like hearing Peter declare prophetically what is happening in the church. But I am the sort of person that will go and say, “Where does that leave me in the middle of that?”….”When I go out of here now and I go home…what does that mean??” So it is in my heart to share some keys….. to share some tools with you.
maybe this is little faith, but I believe that is the extent of it…but I believe it is very important. These are keys and these are tools that I have kind of tested over the last couple of years. I am not 100% proficient in them , but I am learning.

Do you remember either last year or the year before we talked about the journey of ascension through praise and worship? First heaven, second heaven and third heaven and the journey of praise. (Chris:For blog readers…I have not covered this yet, but you can get the outlines in Peter’s message preceding this post : Lift Up your heads 1-4)
We had praise gathering type songs in the first stage, we had spiritual warfare going on in the 2nd heaven and then we have the 3rd heaven where God inhabits. he is ofcourse everywhere, but His natural habitat , where His throne is , is the 3rd heaven.
The heaven of heavens. What we have discussed is that as we go in worship to that place, the 3rd heaven begins to be manifest in the Church…we begin to see the supernatural we begin to see manifestations of the supernatural Presence of God.We begin to see healing, we begin to see really effective intercession because we are interceding (from our true position) of heaven back down to earth.

But I was thinking about all this…we often think of it as an outward journey.here we are the Church… the congregation…we are on this journey…this ladder…(like Jacob’s ladder) into the Presence of God…and it’s external. in my head that’s how I visualise it.

But I felt that God showed me there was a correlation between this journey and our own spiritual being. And what I saw is that right in the middle there we have the spirit. Then here we have the soul, the will and emotions…(Chris writes, I’ll come back to that). and outside you have got the physical body. So the body is kind of like the first heaven where we dwell in our physical reality…The emotion or soulish area is relates to the area of spiritual warfare. Then the spiritual area of me is where God dwells. But it is not an outside place. It’s an inside place. So the same way I need to make this journey of ascension , this outside journey, my journey in this life is to make an inward journey all the time. And just as where we’ve lived for a long time as churches is …here (the outer levels), in our outward physical things and in our emotions and in our soul. And where God wants to teach us to live from is there…in our spirits. But I would go so far as to say that our ability to operate as a church here…moving in the 3rd heaven…relates consistently to our ability to live here…from our spirits. So our journey as a congregation or as church together is directly related to our ability to live from our spirits.( Chris says he can feel the grace hackles rising here…so we’ll come back and look at this…panic not!! Don’t excommunicate Helen yet!) She continues: All very good…in theory!!!

I was thinking about Brother Lawrence, (reference to Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)bless him (said with meaning) and I said to the Lord…because I have these frank discussions with Him… and I actually said to Him, “ It’s alright for Brother Lawrence! if all I had to do all day was to stand and do the washing up…I reckon I could have a pretty good stab at focussing on being in the Presence of God all day.I think I could probably do that…at my kitchen sink….looking out the window… I could be in the Presence of God. Thanks to my mum I have a dishwasher now…so I don’t even get that time now…

I get up, I get the breakfast, I get the children ready for school, I get myself ready, I get myself off to work, I teach young people with challenging behaviour most of the day…(said at lightning speed) then I go home do the cleaning the cooking look after the car look after the house look after the garden do the worship team do the music da da da… da da da….when do I get time…in my understanding of what living from my spirit means WHEN DO I LIVE FROM MY SPIRIT? I’m so caught up with what I have to do all the time. When do I live in that authority? When do I live in that Presence and Power of God? How do I do that? how do I really do that?

I have really struggled with that. (Yup…and I bet many reading this blog would identify. See, it’s easy for the secular person and the cessationist Christian. You don’t know the power of God can actually surge through you today. So for you there is no option. Once you discover that yes….the Holy Spirit is still around doing what He did in the gospels and Acts…this presents a major problem!!! John Cleese said,”Despair I can live with. It’s the hope I can’t take!!”)

And I’ve spent the last few months up until a couple of months ago getting an understanding of it…but not completely… So I would be thinking “I’ve gotta make time…to access the Presence of God…I’ve gotta make time to understand that authority and understand His Presence…and I need to find time and that’s what the answer is. But ofcourse my life on days gets busier and busier. And when I wasn’t getting that time I was getting frustrated. Oh that means I’m not living from my spirit. I’m not being a spiritual woman. All this….condemnation…..you know…

I had a revelation one day. It was very interesting because Kaye (Gill…the one referred to in Havant Parchment) prayed for me a few months ago. As she prayed she said shefelt something shift in my head – (Probably my brain just getting into gear!!!)
And nothing much happened after that. and a couple of months ago I’d got to the point where I’d actually taken a couple of weeks off work. I was really having such a difficult time. I just got before God…and as I was doing this I got this revelation.
It was from John 14 …and I just felt something in my brain just shift!!! have you ever had that? When you get a revelation. if you haven’t ever had it then begin to seek God for it because there is truth in the Bible that God wants to reveal to you..and we need to give time to that…and when it comes…when it clicks…you’ll know! And you’ll know that you know that you know!!!

I could suddenly see that I had a place of abiding in Christ. I want you to turn to John 14 and I am going to bring out somebody to help me. I could do with a few volunteers……….

You know God’s way of doing spiritual warfare is radically different to the way we think spiritual warfare is done. I have been in so many meetings where there is lots of shouting…and I’m not saying there isn’t a place for that…but in those days that was all our understanding of spiritual warfare was. I want to read you what I believe is God’s definition of spiritual warfare. Jn14: 9Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? (M)He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
10"Do you not believe that (N)I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? (O)The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
11"Believe Me that (P)I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise (Q)believe because of the works themselves. Then in the next verses He speaks about the works and the greater works….he’s been talking about how He is in the Father and the Father is in Him…..but He is saying all this in the context of spiritual warfare and authority. So Jesus sees that the Key to both these things is the Abiding in the Father. Now this is where I need some helpers. Quick quick quick.
You’ll have to give me a bit of poetic licence here. This is God the Father…..Disguised cleverly as a Russian doll….just try and imagine…(said with intent)
This is Jesus. And then I need one more person. This is me. There you are mother. And this is the Holy Spirit. Thanks Emma.
Now Jesus says I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit. So that’s me with the baby Russian doll inside – the Holy Spirit. This is not a magic trick by the way. I am not going to magic a dove out of thin air! Right. OK.
Then it says I am in Jesus. See. Then Jesus says I am in the Father. Where are you in the middle of all of that? What does the Enemy see when he looks at you? Not a Russian doll…thankyou Clive. (Jackson of Shaftsbury who should know better - Lots of laughter.) How to ruin a good sermon!
When the enemy looks at you he sees the Father!!! If we remain in Him. Wow!!
But Jesus has done the work. He didn’t say…once you’ve done this, and once you’ve done that…and the other…when you come to church every Sunday…when you pray for an hour every day…then that’ll mean you remain in Me. He just says “I am in you. And I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. It’s all there!!”
So what’s the point of me spending time with yYou then, God? I don’t mean to be heretical…I was just following a train of thought. Why do I find that need then to come and spend time? And I just felt the Holy Spirit say really clearly, “When you come and give that time to Me, you begin to experience that abiding. You begin to experience all that that means.You begin to connect with it and then begin to receive all the benefits of that. You receive the love. You receive the comfort. You receive the strength, the joy the peace. Everything that you need.”
“But when you move out of that place, nothing has changed. Your position has not changed.You’re still abiding . You are still in that place. But you just plug into it for that time.”
And so the challenge then is to know that we are abiding for all that time, and by abiding, we have that authority. How do we stay conscious of that…in all the busyness and activity?
One of the keys is to just keep coming back. ( In returning and rest you shall be saved) And the other key is to just turn our minds…just say “ Lord I thankyou that I am abiding in You.I am in You” and to thank Him for that.
But there are certain keys that enable us to go deeper. Because the biggest amount of daily warfare that goes on in our lives, is not against huge demons and principalities and powers. The biggest battle that goes on is here …pointing to the soul realm. Over my flesh (sinful pulls) my soul, my emotions. How I actually am. So we are on this inward journey…so how do we stay inward?
These are five things that I find useful
quiet
contemplation and meditation
worship and beholding
discipline
waiting and soaking
Proverbs 3:5-6 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. This is about us coming and doing these seemingly insignificant things…yet we trust that God is the One who is in us doing the things He needs to do.
He KEEPS US ABIDING…we keep trusting He keeps us abiding. The more that we understand that we are abiding…that we’re in Him that He is in us…that therefore we have His authority. Therefore we can deal with all the things that come up in my life…in my flesh…in my job..in my family.
Quiet. So very quickly…it says in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.
And here I mean Quiet. A lot of us have got into using Cds …but I believe there is a place for quiet…. it’s an outward silence…but what needs to happen is that there needs to be an inward silence. And if you start to practice this…the first thing you will notice is the amount of noise there is – inside. As you keep going with it…eventually you learn to still all that internal noise. Just be patient. we used to call it Quiet Time. Listening. Jesus constantly took time out in a quiet lonely place. Solitude is really important.
Contemplation and meditation. ps 119 I meditate on your statutes. It’s about understanding the ways of God.
A lot of people have heard the prophecy about the Unknown Way. I call you to a way that is unknown….Quite often on this journey, we don’t know what is happening on the next day.But if you know your God…if you know how He works…how He thinks…you will be secure. use crafted prayers. When you hear something from God…write it down…then maybe later when you don’t feel in the same place…use what has been written down before.because this lines you up with what your spirit is saying…not what your changeable emotions are saying.
Worship and beholding
If you play an instrument. if you sing. Sing! put on a cd. At home . In the car. Sing in tongues. become focussed on the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you.That you can gaze upon Him. That you can behold Him. Because that really is the place of transformation. And we become part of that circle of intimacy. we love the Father. the Father loves us. The Father loves Jesus. Jesus loves us…..
Discipline
Discipline is a key to authority. Not as a heavy religious thing. But as a pursuit out of desperation to see something different in my life. making time to pursue this inner journey. A commitment that is carried through with persistence…as with anything we undertake in our life. Maybe a commitment to a regular 10 minutes. A lovesickness.We make dates and appointments to be with special people in our lives.Make appointments to be with Jesus. Nope…sorry I’m busy then…I have a prior appointment …with Someone Important!!
be aware that IT IS A JOURNEY. It is a process. God said to me the other day “I am not preparing you for an encounter. I am preparing you to understand how you live with My Glory” So many of us are looking for that encounter, that experience…that moment … but actually God is training us to be a people that know how to live and work and move in His glory. So if you think this is all taking time…it’s because this is not just for a quick encounter…this has got to be something that is sustainable. and the more that you go on this journey…you will find there is a hunger arises in you. be prepared as he is training you for this spiritual authority…the first thing He is going to deal with…IS YOU. So all the things that you have kept hidden away. all the things that you have got away with over the years.The first area that God wants to establish dominion is in your heart, your house…your family.We say oh the church…the church…but who is the church. We are.
It is a hidden way. Sometimes for long stretches you will not feel anything. This is where trust is important. He is working!!!
Waiting and soaking.
God is after our hearts not just our emotions. Be content sometimes to just wait!!!!
When you are in a marriage you are in it for the long haul…even if on some days you feel quite cheesed off with each other.
Showing the Russian dolls…this is not process…this is fact…we are hidden in Christ. The process is for me to bring my will and my emotions into line so that I live this stuff! hen we begin to live experiencing these already established truths then everything that Peter was preaching this morning will begin to manifest. But this takes obedience to step out in faith with what God shows us to do.

Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates part Four

This is the final Part of this incredible message which attempts to break down for us the power of Psalm 24 for today's church. I believe, in revelation terms it is the direct sequel to the mountain top we were left on by Ern Baxter's "Thy Kingdom Come " message of 1975.Peter Stott in last May's Conference here, is coming in at a different angle to either Rob Rufus, or myself on the rest of this blog. But to me, it is all so exciting...because Rob is talking about a completely different way of living and relating with the Lord, based entirely on a grace walk. I am wanting to take people back to the knot that was tied in the Garden...of the false delusion of the independent self...which is also what Peter refers to as the ancient doors which slammed shut when we literally invited Satan into this Earth realm...and which Psalm 24 refers to as needing liftingUp. But all in our own ways are proclaiming a different season in the church. A season where we walk!!! As you received Christ as Lord...(which was all by a gift of faith) so now walk in Him! Peter is also taking the words of the Lord's prayer "Your Kingdom come,your will be done,in earth as it is in heaven" and putting more flesh on these words.


Peter continues:
Take a look at this picture( picture of a saint on her knees praying…then all around her mighty, mighty forces of angels being released into activity)… here’s a simple saint….. evidently praying. Somebody said one Christian with God is a majority.
God….help me with this bit……
Can we turn to the book of Esther for a moment. Esther chapter 4:13 to 5:3
Ch4: 13Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews.
14"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and (H)deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"
Esther Plans to Intercede
15Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,
16"Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; (I)do not eat or drink for (J)three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish."
17So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
Ch5: 1Now it came about (A)on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood (B)in the inner court of the king's palace in front of the king's rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace.

2When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court,(Peter is weeping as he reads this) (C)she obtained favor in his sight; and (D)the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.
3Then the king said to her, "What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? (E)Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you."I take it you know the story of Esther…that is the beauty of a conference like this…most of you know where we are coming from.
Now I want to say this : Who you are determines your authority. Who you are determines your access. And I said to you earlier God has put in place certain legalities. One of them is that he has given government of the Earth to the human.
The other right or exousia…is the right of entrance into the very Presence of God by a new and living way, because of who we are there are certain rights which are implicit in that.



My dad was a director of a fairly large public company and sometimes when I was coming home from school I wanted to go in and see him in the office…. it was a fairly awesome building. And you went past the receptionist and that wasn’t too bad. she knew who I was so she’d just wave and I’d go up the stairs to the director’s suite, go through the big doors and head for my dad’s office. But I couldn’t get there without passing the secretary. It’s a fearful thing falling into the hands of the Living God….but this secretary would rank a close second!!! But anyway whatever was going on I could go into my dad’s office and just sit there. When I walked in he used to have a huge smile and say “ Sit down boy.” When we were very small he used to pull out a string of paper clips and say “Play with these” and we used to play with them for hours. But always always always we could go and see Dad. Why? Because of the relationship. Because of who I was to him I had access. And no one could deny me that access because he would grant it me.That’s just a simple thing, but I want to tell you that in Christ you have access.


Here we have Esther. God I thank you our relationship is far more than legal. You see Esther said it here…she said to her mates…you fast and I will go into the king- which is against the law…and if I perish, I perish. In those days if you went into the court without invitation you were liable to the sentence of death. It was that strong. So she goes with a certain amount of temerity and fear and arrives at the gateway, the doorway to the throneroom.
And you don’t know what was going through her head even despite the relationship she had with the king. Do you identify with that …sometimes? When there’s such an awesome sense of God’s Presence you think, “who am I?” But the bit that is so wonderful is the King looked across and she caught his eye (lump in Peter’s throat).
(Dan Bowen has alluded to pretty much the same phrase in Song of Solomon : You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes" (Song of Songs 4:9).)
and I just want to tell you although he was this powerful, awesome ,majestic personality…his love for her touched his heart; and he beckoned to her. The warrior Bride! beneath his breathe”Oh God” as in how wonderful You are…


You see the whole thing of intercession is totally changing!!! (Chris’s note: I have yet to do a post on intercession from a 3rd level perspective….but imagine the difference between rattling off prayers in tongues in a meeting…and selling up all you have to go and bring up orphans in Jerusalem like Lydia Prince….or announcing by faith to an unbelieving nation’s press that the Dictators were defeated already in 1943 knowing everyone would call you mad…as did Rees Howells by the obedience of faith in Britain during the 2nd World War…when things were far from finished….. and you start to get an idea of the difference between the levels of operation.)
Peter continued: Sitting on Earth. Reading out shopping lists of prayers. Praying out good ideas….(sound effects:three great big raspberries). True intercession comes from intimacy. Clive said something yesterday, which I’m going to put in my notes…it was a corker!!

He said “One of the foundations of intimacy is self-disclosure”. And I want to tell you that the King on His throne wants to disclose some things to you….of His affection…of His love…but also the secrets of His heart. So Esther finds herself drawn, welcomed…Legalities all forgotten…they were there…but hearts had been won!
The place of true intercession is the place of heart communion and worship. You cannot separate them.
It’s a place of revelation. True intercession comes from revelation. Then an invitation comes. It’s just awesome stuff. Esther reach out your hand and touch the sceptre.
What was the sceptre? It was the sign of government, rulership, authority and majesty. Esther , touch the sceptre my dear. My friends there is an authority in intercession that God wants to release to us. When we know who we are. And out of the intimacy and self-disclosure and sharing of heart…..


Do you know…I don’t know about you but it says at one point that Esther was weeping in the presence of the king who was her husband. What husband is there that is not moved by the tears of his wife? And your heavenly Bridegroom , who is the Lord of Hosts, who is the King of Kings, who is the Commander of Heaven’s armies, who is your lover is moved with what touches your heart…because you share a heart with Him. And you share His heart and He shares your heart. So when you weep you touch His heart…you know what’s on His heart…so you weep…and you move His heart.
By the grace and favour of the King she found herself in the place of the most incredible influence….because she had touched the heart of the King. But she’d gone through the purification…months of the stuff. Oils poured all over her…the beautification…you read it all.So her heart was pure. she was not coming with agendas…mixed motives…she was coming with one desire…for the Kingdom.For the will of the King to be done on the Earth as it was in heaven. And she recognised that she was an instrument of letting the King of Glory come in.





God needs a human channel through whom to release His glory and His power and His authority into the Earth. I haven’t got time to go through it all…but that kind of intercession is in an incredibly safe place. There was huge warfare represented in this scenario.It was the warfare for a nation. For a nation that was in bondage. It was huge warfare involved. But do you know what she had such favour with the king, such audience with the king,such access to the king, such security with the king that the enemy Haman was present …but could do nothing. And he went out shamefaced.
And there’s a place of intercession in the secret place of the Most High. There is a place of intimacy where huge warfare is done…for the battle is His not ours. And it is warfare right in the face of the Enemy. But when we are in that intimate place with the King the Enemy cannot come near because He will not approach the Lord of glory. Oooh…glory.
What is your request? It shall be given to you ..up to half the kingdom. Because they shared heart. He knew he could trust her. He knew that what she’d ask for was from a place of sharing his heart. And then the most amazing thing happens. Not only is there an enduement of favour. Not only is there access. Not only is there the instruction to touch the sceptre….the impartation of power and authority from the king. Not only is there the request to make petition. But then there is the right of decree that is given.




Then the king said to Esther and Mordecai the Jew…surely I have given Esther the house of Haman, the house of the enemy and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. Now you write to the Jews as you see fit, in the king's name, and (I)seal it with the king's signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's signet ring (J)may not be revoked." Esther 8.8

The Psalm 24 theme is reprised and continues on  here 

My friends this is a season where out of the intimacy of the throneroom, out of the revelation of the heart of the King there is coming a prophetic anointing and a mantle of decree that is coming to the church of Jesus Christ…..please handle this with care.. we cannot go making decrees in our own…. (right) these are things that come from the throne of God. There is coming a time and it now IS when intercession ill still need to continue in the way I’m describing but there is going to come a moment when God will release authority to make decrees into the Earth. Why am I saying that? Because WE have been given the Earth. We have authority in the Earth. And when we speak under the anointing of the Spirit. When we speak according to the Word of God, we are releasing His Power His Word into Earth realm. AND IT WILL HAPPEN.



Let me give you an example. When Elijah was faced with his nation in the lowest point of its spirituality. there was more evil being done in the sight of the Lord than at any time, and God raised up the prophet Elijah. He raised him up initially as an intercessor. And it says that Elijah prayed that it would not rain. And I don’t think this was a little petitioning. I think this went on for months and months…it says in James..effective fervent prayer…”He was crying out “God will you dry up the heavens” Why? Because God had given him the strategy. He said what I am going to do is to dry up the heavens and cause drought. I am going to cause an economic famine in the nation so the nation will turn back to me. Does it sound familiar? And He was crying out and crying out and crying out. And then the Word of the Lord came to him saying “Elijah, go and show yourself to Ahab.” And intercession changed to decree. And he stood before Ahab…which I think was a pretty scary thing to do…and he said..Ahab, your time’s up mate.He said there will be no rain in this land according to my word.Yeah? He had touched the throne. He had touched the sceptre. He had been given the right of decree.And he went into Earth realm and made a decree and from that nanosecond the heavens dried up and there was no rain for three and a half years. Intercession changed into prophetic decree and declaration.




Could we have the other picture up please. I want to finish with this. Just look at that for a moment. It’s David and Goliath…but these are not the garments of a shepherd boy. This is like a 20th century young person. Haircut. Clothing.Hoodie? Goliath representing the strongholds who are over the land. The little shepherd boy.David.Who had learned intimacy. He’d learned how to worship. He’d learned how to move the heart and the hand of God.
I want to finish by talking about something that is written in the pages of scripture…but I want you to be very careful with this.I am going to make the statement…but first of all before I say anything…Paul says our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers in the heavenly places…the dark places…the second heaven…wherever…and I want to say this very very carefully…




Oftentimes the scenario of warfare that is played out even in churches is flesh against blood.



Many times splits, contentions, strife that goes on in the local church is the playing field…but behind it is a lot more. Yeah? I’m going to tell you a story about our church in a few minutes…but….we wrestle not against flesh and blood. A principle of Biblical interpretation is this. What is often natural in the Old Testament speaks of the spiritual in the new…cos you can have all kinds of bother in the Old Testament. People’s heads getting cut off…goodness knows what…you know.And the kind of language used by David in intercession would scare the living daylights
out of you…”God crush the Enemy Lord. Lord break his teeth. And I read this stuff and I thought…What!!!?? Can we just leave that for a moment. Because what I believe is natural in the Old Testament is spiritual in the new. And I want to talk to you just for a moment about imprecatory warfare. What do I mean by that? It is seeing God’s wrath meted out among His enemies. And when I am talking about enemies I am not talking about people. I am talking about spiritual forces which may control people, may control churches, may control nations…whatever. The battle is not ours it is His. but because we have access to the King…to the the throne…we have the right of access and we have influence with the Lord of Hosts to actually mobilize the armies of heaven. He commands them, we don’t. And I’ve found myself praying in recent weeks over a number of issues that we have seen dramatic change in.




I said” Lord I bring this to You…I know there is something going off here…that is not just about people. This is about a spiritual influence that is coming and I don’t want it anymore. And I’m not going to get into all this binding and loosing stuff…I’m just going to let You loose…because You know who the Enemy is…I know where the battlefield is..I tell you where it needs to go and I am going to watch what happens. And I found myself in the study on my own…and I’m not taking on national things..just local issues which I think I have faith for…and I’m just saying to the Lord of Hosts…will You send your troops and will You slaughter the beggar that is behind this.I can see a manifestation of something that is not You. And these people do not want to behave like that …but they are under the influence and control of something.




This is Biblical ...please. Jesus actually said to Peter – “Get behind me Satan.” Why? Because the enemy was manipulating Peter to try to distract Jesus and get Him off course. Now I’m not getting silly and being over demonic or anything…or giving a principle of life…but I am just chucking out something for you if you want to look at it. And I’ve found incredible things have begun to break out…even over individuals. Changes that are happening. Why? Because a warfare is being waged in heaven. God knows who the Enemy is…and I think I know the scenario…but I’m not going to go there…I’m not going to get tangled up with these beggars…I say Lord You know it…I can see it. We need to have discernment. Don’t go and read all the books and then go popping stuff off just cos it’s fun. We need to have revelation from God. There is going to come a spiritual discernment in the church because as our spirituality increases…you know the higher the level the bigger the devil. We are going to need to see more about what is going on in the spirit realm at large and God is going to raise up people who have spiritual discernment so we’re not having all this rubbish and stupid nonsense about this and that…we’re going to have clear revelation from heaven. We are going to know where we target but it’s not for us it’s for HIM. But He needs our co-operation to release this into Earth realm. This is what this is all about…am I making any sense?




Now intercessors for a long time have been “watchmen”. Standing on the city walls. And a lot of it has been about warning. - “I’m warning you that the enemy is coming!!” I get fed up of warnings. I want to get to grips with the beggar . I don’t want to be just warned that he’s coming! Yeah? And a lot of it has been about defensive warfare. Just to say to you…if you have stood through the last two decades, you’re a victor! That was all you were required to do. Having done all to stand!!! BUT NOW. IT’S CHANGING.The season is changing and it’s a time for us to see the Kingdom begin to advance. The end of all spiritual warfare is for the salvation of human beings. As they come into full salvation, they then take their place in government in the Earth under God.
This is the time of offensive warfare so two kinds of people will emerge in the intercessory realm. One will be spies. Who will go in and look at the land and will come back and say this is the territory we are going to take. And these are the giants that are in the land. Lord raise up the spies to go in.
And there’s another crafty little group that are going to get raised up…and they’re eavesdroppers. I like the eavesdroppers…they’re there in scripture, I am not making this up.Gideon sent his eavesdroppers in to listen in to the Midianites. And they returned and said…”Actually we’ve caught the mood of the enemy. The enemy is terrified of us.Because of the sword of the Lord and Gideon. They had this dream of a big loaf of bread which rolled into the camp etc etc.
And the other event was actually the thing that invoked the Syrians to come against Dothan…which I mentioned before. The King of Syriah said there must be someone passing the info on…cos every time we go anywhere the Enemy know about it and are there ready. And one of their guys said well actually the problem is their prophet Elijah who hears everything that is spoken even in your private bedroom.He hears all the battle plans and tells it to the army and they just go out and do it.




I tell you there’s going to come eavesdroppers.We need that kind of intelligence.We don’t want to beat the air. We want to see some battles won. Because we are hitting real targets. Lift your hands up a moment!
Lord, I want to pray in Jesus Name that you will raise up from amongst us…not just watchmen who warn us…but I want to pray for those who will be eavesdroppers and spies…who will give us spiritual intelligence Lord God so that we will know from heaven what You want us to wage war against on the Earth. Right now release that anointing across the Body of Christ Lord, I’m tired of mumbo jumbo…of all this if but and maybe.Where we can say by the mouth of two or three witnesses..THIS IS THE LORD. Lord the Enemy tries to conceal himself but I decree that in this time he will be exposed in the places that he needs to be.Because Your people will be given discernment Lord, Divine revelation and understanding.Thankyou Lord. Hallelujah.
So…in this next season as we begin to engage in the Kingdom.. as we ascend the hill of the Lord…that place of intimacy with the King..as our eyes begin to behold the Lord of hosts the King of Glory the Commander of heavens armies…Lord I thank you that You are going to release to the Body of Christ the authority that is hers. Lord and as we look at this picture we thankyou that this uncircumcised Philistine fell to the stone of a young lad.Lord that you train our hands for war…and that where the enemy comes against us one way…I want to see them flee by seven…because YOUR HOSTS have been released Lord.We declare your glory right now. We declare your victory.We declare that You have never been defeated and You never will be Lord.And I pray Lord God that You will mobilise us Lord …that we will see the strongholds torn down Lord…not by our imagination but by revelation of the Hoy Spirit…and Lord I pray that thousands of men and women will be tipped into Your Kingdom…because the god of this world is being blinded himself…In the Name of Jesus , thankyou Lord!
End


Peter Stott is currently with Mariette in the USA for 2 weeks, in Chicago and Paduka,Kentucky.He can be contacted here: admin@portsdowncc.org.uk and the web address for Portsdown Community Church which I refer to most often as Havant is here http://www.portsdowncc.org.uk/.





The Psalm 24 theme is reprised and continued here

Lift up your heads O Ye Gates Part Three

This is the next in the four part series which begins here.... actually it was originally one message. This part conveys the two aspects of God...the Father and the Commander.
Just to say also after some great Sunday meetings last Sunday ...the morning one being a fresh revelation of the Father being for us....and the key of David meeting in the evening being about the new pattern of ministry and corporate anointing in the Body.....Peter and Marriette Stott were prayed for and left for 2 weeks ministering in new Life Church in Chicago..to the leaders and wives and moving on to Paduka ,Kentucky.

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Peter continues : I felt the Lord say to me the other day "The Enemy cannot create anything, he only counterfeits what I've done." For example the other day we were praying around the town here because there is a psychic cafe open down there.....Because there are all these services that they offer - mind you - we could do quite well on that one, couldn't we? Maybe we would charge a quick £10 a prophecy...what do you think?




There was dream interpretation....you know stuff like all of this.You could read it all up in the window. I thought,"Ha Ha .What a counterfeit of everything that heaven downloads to us by the Holy Spirit." The Enemy cannot create anything, he can only copy what God has done. Now listen some of you need to take this and study it. I haven't done it yet, but it's just a revelation...at least I think it's a revelation. You test it.If you want to think about the Kingdom of heaven and how heaven interacts with earth - yes - what is really the name of the game? The name of the game is this : that God wants to bring the earth back under the government of heaven and there is a whole heirarchy that exists in His rule - there's a whole kind of thing a structure of authority that exists in His rule. But I want to tell you that the Enemy has counterfeited it...so if you want to track what the Enemy is doing just unearth what he is counterfeiting. Because what he is trying to do is to bring the Earth under his control - from the second heaven - the place of principalities and powers and God wants it to come under the 3rd heaven(where His throne is)...and you'll find there is a similar structure operates in the realm of darkness as there operates in the Kingdom of God - yeah?. This is undeveloped and I am going to go there one day. If we could unpack that, I think there would be some keys as to how we tear down some of the stuff he's erected.....Just a thought...anyway.


So the battleground is the one I've described.What I want to very briefly look at is some of the players.I don't want to say much about the Enemy because I really don't like him.I don't . I really hate the beggar...you know the reason he can't work on the basis of self-revelation is that he is so ugly and undesirable...nobody would want him if they saw him.And why does God work on the basis of self revelation? Because He is so lovely and so attractive that when He is revealed in us and through us, the world will come.


So let's think for a moment about the players. Who is the King of Glory?The Lord strong and mighty...the Lord in battle. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Hosts He is the King of Glory.

When we start to talk Kingdom language , God will start to give us revelation of the King we serve.You see God has many many sides to Himself which often reflect human realities...and we looked at the Father yesterday. And I just want to say that is foundational. I don't know how I would cope facing the King if I didn't know my security as a son.Honestly...






The revelation of the Fatherhood of God which has come to me in lots of peeled off layers over the years. And I just love the fact that I am totally loved by the Father. He told me a few years ago....Peter I like you.And that was revelation to my heart. Because I hated myself.I despised myself. I was ashamed of myself.And God said "I like you Peter." "What me?"



Then two weeks later He said "Peter, why do you have such a problem with Me liking you?"






I said "Well God, because I don't like myself.How can You? I am this loud, extrovert,wild unpredictable sort of character..." He said "I made you like thatand I love it!" He said "I watch you sometimes and I get such a kick out of it."


This was revelation. This is not head knowledge.Later my mind was processing it. I began to get scriptures like "As a Bridegroom rejoices over a bride so I rejoice over you."Yeah? It's the Word and the Spirit coming together.


But the revelation of the King is something altogether different.Let's just think of the Lord of Hosts for a moment....turn with me to Isaiah 6.In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"


A familiar text....but often we miss things in the overfamiliarity.When you examine how Isaiah was in his reaction to this... I think it would be fair to say that he was scared spitless!!! I think this would be an adequate way to say it. But you know in Revelation when John looked at the throne...it was the same throne...and he saw the same figure on the throne but what he saw was the Lamb.


Do you know the Lamb Jesus is the only mutilated Being in heaven.Because He eternally bears the marks of His suffering and death for us.And before I say anything else can I say that He has gone right through into the heavens to enter the Presence of God for us,and eternally before all of heaven there is a reminder of the atonement He made for us . Otherwise there would be no possibility of us standing before the throne.



And you are positioned in Christ. So when heaven and the Father look at you...who do they see?



They see Jesus...and you are hidden in Him. You see the Lamb upon the throne is eminently approachable...I want to say this....Why? Because He like you and I was tempted in each and every point....and the mystery of mysteries is this that He the sinless Son of God became sin for you THAT YOU MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.That is an incredible mystery.

I don't know how to say this because it sounds heretical....but He was tempted in every way that you are. And it wasn't a charade. When He was tempted in the wilderness He had a will like you've got...He could have failed .....He could have let Satan in...we can't even go there...but it wasn't a charade it was real!!It was a battle. A cataclysmic battle went on in that place.It was the same battle that I talked about earlier. But whereas the First Adam fell the second Adam prevailed.

But in Christ heaven looks at you.The Father looks at you. Jesus understands you....Isn't it wonderful to be able to come to what is also a throne of grace...to a High Priest who is sympathetic with our weaknesses.Why..because He has been there...(He has bought the T shirt)... I don't know even if this is sound theology, but when it says He became sin ...I don't know what that means...I cannot get my head around it. The fact that He was prepared to do what He did and cry out "My God My God...why have you forsaken Me?"


It was for you and me. So that we could have access...talk a bit more about that later.But that's the legal ground on which we can come to the throne room.

So please when you read this stuff that is going on at the moment...oh we can't go on to the throne room I want to tell you...Why on Earth did Jesus die for less than that?

Anything that is in the scripture is available for you. And if John in the New Covenant saw heaven...then why on Earth can't you?The Apostle Paul said "Whether it was in the body or out of the body I know not"...it's in the book.

But what Isaiah saw is what I call the "raw" glory of God.And in the grace and the love and the acceptance and the warmth of God's Fatherhood...which as I said in the first session is really the foundation of our life in Christ.But there is a revelation of the King...and it will invoke different responses.And different reactions and different emotions. But for goodness sake, find your security in the Fatherhood of God before you start going here.

You see, what Isaiah saw, and what the seraphim proclaimed , and the language surrounding the throne...from the angelic it is "Holy,holy,holy,"from the human around the throne it is "Worthy,worthy,worthy." whoooo God

It is amazing. Every tribe tongue and nation were singing "Worthy", the angels were singing "Holy".
Do you know there is going to come a throne dimension to our worship?There needs to come a Christ-centeredness even to the songs that we sing. I am sick of some of these me songs...if we could write them out of the book we ought to do it.It's all about Him.It's all about obeisance before Him.It's all about adoring Him. The focus is His glory. It's not about me.

What the seraphim decclared....Holy Holy Holy...all the Earth is filled with your glory...Isaiah picks up...woe is me for my eyes have seen the King...he then uses the same title again...the Lord of Hosts. If you look through scripture the title the Lord of Hosts is used very frequently.Particularly in the Old Testament...there are references in the New Testament...some direct...some oblique.... it was Jehovah Sabaoth, which literally means the God of heaven's armies. This is God the Commander. It was the revelation of God that Joshua worshipped just before taking the Land.

And a precursor to taking the Land in terms of warfare is worship of the Commander of heaven's armies. You know...the effrontery of Joshua when he said

Are you for us or against us? Well actually mate...I am the Commander of heaven's armies.And Joshua fell on his face and worshipped.

Now listen I am not taking away the love the intimacy, the relational security...that is all bound up in it...yeah?...But God is going to restore something to the church of a sense of his honour, his glory...and I want to say this we are going to learn that the fear of the Lord is clean.The kind of the fear of the Lord that I am talking about has nothing to do with terror..nothing to do with negatives.The fear of the Lord is clean.And it has everything to do with His majesty.See the God who on the one hand is our Father( I love Him) on the other hand He is the Lord of Hosts...He is the Lord of Glory..He is the Commander of heaven's armies.He sits at the head of all rule, might, government , power and authority and He directs the affairs of the whole universe. He's answerable to no one. He is equalled by no one. He is unique.We stand in awe and we sing "Worthy"simply because of what He's done. So that we could even dare to approach Him.Let alone behold Him.

(Speaking quietly)Just want to say this...the charismatic church needs to learn to honour the Presence of the Living God. I am appalled as I go around and I see people picking their noses, going to the toilet,talking in the midst of worship...this offends me hugely. Because if we don't discern....I tell you what....(thinking of an example)
Jacob had that incredible revelation of the ladder going up to heaven,of the Lord standing at the top with the angels coming up and down.....and he made this statement...” Behold the Lord is in this place and I never knew it...” One of the things that is going to come to us is a heightened discernment of God's Presence.


Jacob learned to discern the Presence of God. Samson did not notice that the Presence of God had left him.I just want to say I ...I...I'm done with gatherings of God's people where there's no Presence.It's like the worship of Moses Tabernacle that continued for decades after the Ark ofthe Covenant had been removed. It's a form. We were talking about it yesterday. Clive (Jackson of Shaftsbury) said I'd rather be washing up...that's quite a statement isn't it?





Lord we want to honour Your Presence. I am not talking religious...I am talking about the Presence of the Holy Spirit...and He is the Holy Spirit. The fear of the Lord is clean.And the fear of the Lord ties to intimacy in the context that I am talking about.


I love these conferences because I love tensions of truth. i maean what I am saying is apparently diametrically opposed to what we were hearing yesterday...it isn't...it is the same God!But it is how He chooses to reveal Himself. And I am saying to you when we start talking Kingdom this is where we come.





He is the Commander of heaven's armies.Now you will hear a lot about angels at the moment. And some two years ago the Lord said to me to start looking at and studying angels.And you know I had a real problem with it because ...well I'm a Brethren boy! Ha ha ha!.I'd also wandered around some American Christian bookshops...there's no Americans here is there?


And the cringe factor is about 900!!You know...and there are all these little cute blessed things...if I could just bin them...burn them...they are such a misrepresentation...you know these fat cheeked fat bottomed cherubs...I can't stand it...I hate the things. But I tell you it sells...and that terrifies me....that there are Christians out there that will buy these things...they are almost like charms!!God, what are we into?And I want this morning that we rid our minds of any concept of fat cheeked fat bottomed cherubs....please for goodness sake! (Laughter.)


No these guys....pointing to a painting of fierce warrior angels...these guys are the warriors of heaven.





I believe the European church needs to be like Elisha's servant. If we knew what was on our side


we would view the battle very differently.Do you remember when Elisha and his servant were in Dophan and the Syrians were coming against them...it's in 2 Kings somewhere and the Syrians were surrounding the city because they had heard that the prophet was there and they thought they could do away with him....and the servant went up to take a look and was being overcome by fear...Look at the armies of Syria! So the prophet put his hand on the prophet...I see him put his hand on his head and pray - God just open his eyes.Tell him what the reality is.And suddenly his eyes were open and what did he see...?He saw the armies of heaven surrounding the Syrians and Elisha was just standing there...as though this was the best thing ever.Just watch what is going to happen!!!( Actually reminds me of prophet Bob Jones's matter of factness)





And I want to say that God wants to open the eyes of the Church to the hosts of heaven!!!Yeah?


And there was an amazing statement : there are more for us than there are against us.And I tell you there is a cataclysmic battle going on in the heavenly realms for the Earth.But I want to tell you there are MORE for us than there are who are against us.And as my good friend Graham Cooke often says.."When Satan fell he took a third of the hosts with him. But this is good news, because it means that the ones who are left outnumber them two to one.


Now I'm not going to get all freaky and spooky...all frilly and charismatic...and all that nonsense but I just want to tell you that there is a harsh reality that our God is a warrior. Our God is on the throne. God is the Lord of Hosts. He is King of Kings.He commands the armies of heaven.


And I tell you what He has never lost the victory.And He never will.


And on the Cross!...The Cross was a declaration of War!! And Colossians tells us that there and then God DISARMED the Principalities and Powers!Yeah? And He triumphed over them.


I want to tell you the victory is won but it now needs to be enforced by us! Because we enlist as part of the army of heaven to see the Kingdom of God on the Earth established...and the reign of our God and of His Christ come from heaven to Earth. That is our business!





The Open Heaven existed in the Garden of Eden as I said earlier, because there was no barrier between heaven and Earth.The secondheaven was not in existence then.(i think...Ha!)It was like heaven was open over Eden. And Adam and Eve were in direct relationship and intimacy with their God...but they were also under the Command of heaven and they obeyed heaven on the Earth.The Kingdom of heaven was on the Earth as it is in heaven! And God is going to have it back again..But we need to understand our part in the enforcement of that.And so we are engaged in this cataclysmic battle. And the Lord of Hosts sits at the command hopefully of His Church, but certainly at the head of the armies of heaven. And the angelic activity that you see in the Old Testament...Can I say to you that the New Testament is enacted on better promises than the old one!!!So anything that is in the old will always be better in the new. Yes?if you go through the Old Testament and you see the number of the saints of God ...or maybe they weren't saints, maybe servants of God who had angelic visitation...were comforted, helped sustained by angels...I want to tell you they saw a spiritual reality that most of us need our eyes opened to see!!And it's all over the New Testament as well.Jesus saw angels. Mary saw an angel. Joseph saw an angel. Peter saw an angel. Paul saw an angel. John saw an angel.And it goes on and on and on.





Now the thing about scripture is that it doesn't give us the whole 9 yards on everything...and I'm grateful..Thank goodness it doesn't tell us how to conduct the Church.Because we, little legalistic, European,Greek-minded people would set the blessed thing in concrete like we tried to do. All it's talking about is principles.And modes of operation. When we clap it into a formula it becomes religion- it never was meant to be-it was meant to be a flow of life in the Spirit. But our God is the Mighty Warrior. The Warrior King. he has engaged battle for this Earth and He will not lose it.The Power and the glory and the victory are His! Without question. That is the God whom we serve.





But just to say a little more about the angels, if you study them you will find that there are angels who are messengers...there are angels who are ministers of God who come to minister to the saints, there are warrior angels who appear. I mean some of the things you read...like the walls of Jericho....was that the angels pushing that wall over in direct response to the shout? I dunno. Perhaps all God needed was our obedience on the Earth so he could release a legion of angels to just push the wall.I'm not saying that's what it was but as you look through there are many things you can't explain. They were holding a prayer meeting in the early church for Peter who was in prison. And God sent an angel to unlock the gate and bring him out.





You could say...we don't need angels because now we have the Holy Spirit. Let me just throw a thought to you.Angels don't operate on the inside of you...the Holy Spirit does.And that is one of the facets of the New Covenant that is altogether better.because He was with us and is now in us.Christ within us. Our bodies being the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Presence Power and Glory of God is inside us IN OUR BELLY! But the angels are external to us.And they are under the Command of heaven. We don't command angels. They come under the command of the Lord of hosts.He can move His troops as He wants to. And it was Rachel Hickson if you know her who saw a picture a few years ago into heaven...of all these angels sitting around yawning...and she said "God..what's that about?" And He said"Because My saints on Earth don't know how to mobilise Me to get this going, they are all sitting there waiting."





Well I want to tell you that day is over!


And so I want to say we are not at the mercy of the Enemy.Dynamically the Enemy is at our mercy.

Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates Part Two

This is Part 2 of Lift Up Your Heads O You Gates as preached by Peter Stott in last year's May Conference 08 Part 1 is here. In this part you will learn how there are some things God cannot do...which you and I can. You will see our awesome responsibility here on Earth. And it finishes by tackling the question of a right militancy in the Body of Christ.
Part Two
Psalm 24
The King of Glory Entering Zion.
A Psalm of David.
1The (A)earth is the LORD'S, and [a]all it contains, The (B)world, and those who dwell in it. 2For He has (C)founded it upon the seas And established it upon the waters…..
(strange because it’s almost like he loses his head and goes off somewhere ) 3Who may (D)ascend into the (E)hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy (F)place? 4He who has (G)clean hands and a (H)pure heart, Who has not (I)lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not (J)sworn deceitfully. 5He shall receive a (K)blessing from the LORD And (L)righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6This is the generation of those who (M)seek Him, Who seek Your face--even Jacob. Selah.
Seek your face. Absolute key. seeking the face of God.

And let me just chuck in I do not believe those who say that what it says in scripture
about beholding the face of God seeing as in a mirror as of the glory of the Lord…that this is purely allegorical. It is the privilege of every believer to have revelation of the face of God. We have this treasure in jars of clay. What is this treasure. It is the LIGHT of the KNOWLEDGE of the GLORY of GOD in the FACE of JESUS CHRIST.
My friends God wants to bring revelation to our hearts….Just to say this..It is not what you know in your mind that will change you. It is what is revealed to your heart that will make the transition. And some of you yesterday came into a revelation of the Fatherhood of God. it was something you knew in your Napa…but now it is revealed to your heart. As a man believes in his HEART, so is he. And the place you receive revelation is your heart not your mind. Your mind needs to be renewed in the revelation that you have received in your heart. It’s WORD and SPIRIT. Both and….
Before I go any further I want to say this. Everything that is in this Book can happen..is available to you. I stand on the Word of God . I am a Brethren boy. I was brought up in the stuff. And for me the Word and the Spirit is absolute(ly) KEY . And I’m not one of those that want to find it in the Word first..I’ll jump in and fall of a cliff if I do… but then I want to find a theology for it afterwards ..I want to be sure that I am walking in something that’s in here (Bible)..that’s what I’m talking about..yeah?
You see this is the menu…this bible tells you what is available. But because you’ve read it, because you’ve read the menu, does not mean that you have tasted the meal!!! Does it? You just know what is available.
And I know so many Christians that have just read the menu. And they say” OOOh there’s a fantastic cuisine down there and I’ve been there!” And I think “Yeah and how much of it did you eat?”
What God wants to take is the menu and get us to digest it and ingest it and let it become PART OF US.Yes?

That’s why I have trouble with the name it and claim it boys. Just shout scripture loud enough and you’ll get it! I’m with Clive. There is nothing wrong with confessing scripture but I want to tell you that when you confess scripture when it is under the anointing and it is living in your heart and it is revealed to your heart…THEN IT PRODUCES. Yeah?
I want to say this with great reverence. I honour the Word of God ..but this is print on paper. Yeah? It BECOMES living reality when it is revealed to my heart by the Holy Spirit. And so Lord I want to pray today that we will be able to receive Your Word
differently Lord. God, don’t let it be head knowledge. Let it impart something to our hearts that will change the way we are the way we think and what we know we can do. Thank you Lord.
How far did I get??? Oh yeah…

Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O [b]ancient doors, That the King of (O)glory may come in! 8Who is the King of glory? The LORD (P)strong and mighty, The LORD (Q)mighty in battle. 9Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O [c]ancient doors, That the King of (R)glory may come in! 10Who is this King of glory? The LORD of (S)hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.
I want us to begin by looking at the scenario of war that we are in.You see from the day that Adam and Eve allowed the serpent to slither into the garden gave him permission up until Revelation 20 when he is to be bound and thrown into the Lake of fire the context of Christian living IS WARFARE in one of its dimensions. Don’t be kidded.
You were born for battle!
We are the warrior BRIDE.
There is no extension of Kingdom without warfare.
And yesterday Clive (Jackson of Shaftsbury) said something which I totally agree with..he said “warfare is always for territory.” I want to say to you that there is a cataclysmic battle going on. Ever since the proclamation in Genesis 3 when he talked about…you know….er…I’d better read it..trouble is you get to an age when you get a bit senior….
Yeah…Genesis 3:15.”.I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall crush your head and you shall bruise his heel..”
And in that I believe there was a scenario of war that was declared.
Let’s look at the bigger picture…because you and I are part of a much bigger picture.
Your life and my life are just one segment of a much greater picture. What is it?
Well it’s this. When God created the Earth and populated it we had a situation where you could say the Garden of Eden was an Open Heaven. There was no blockage between heaven and Earth. Adam and Eve walked in fellowship with God. God walked with them in the cool of the day and He has actually spoken those kind of words to us in the conference….and Adam and Eve walked in obedience to the will of heaven and the result was that there was heaven on earth.I believe that the expression of the kingdom of heaven on Earth was the Garden of Eden. Because everything on the earth was in harmony with heaven…there was harmony…there was accord…everything worked as it should do…it was exactly to the Creator’s design and methods of operation…it was there in the Garden.And at the end of the 7th day He looked back and said “It is good”.
But then that day came when the serpent slithered into the Garden and I want to say right away that Adam and Eve had absolute authority to shut the gate. They did not need to let him in. This was not some cruel scenario where they were in some fatalistic play that there was no way out of. they had authority to stop the serpent at the gate. And they chose to disobey God and let him in.
And that which God created for His Glory, that which was in perfect harmony with heaven; that which reflected His creative heart and Glory was brought into corruption, and has lived in corruption ever since.
But I want to tell you this God has an agenda. He has an agenda for this planet. Because God is a God of restoration. And God is determined that He is going to HAVE BACK what He had in the beginning….Now whatever your theology might be about the new heavens and the new Earth, Revelation tells me that we as the saints of God , the redeemed, will rule on the Earth. And I believe that is where we are heading. God is going to bring back on the Earth His government through us and there will come a point when heaven and Earth will totally reconnect. That is the BIG scenario.Yeah? That’s where we are heading.

I just love the fact that we are about destiny- we are part of a great Eternal Plan that God has….your life is not haphazard. You fit into this amazing strategy - and there is a part in this that you can play - and this IS YOURS ALONE….and I’ll say this right now
There is a destiny that you have in the Earth that is given to no one else…and if you don’t fulfil your destiny…and those guys out there don’t get saved and fulfil their destiny there’ll be one part of it that doesn’t get fulfilled until Jesus comes back and wraps the whole lot up…..Yes?
But you are purposefully made…you are born for such a time as this
You are a Kingdom person
There is a destiny over your life that God purposed and planned for you before the foundation of the world.
There are good works for you to walk in that He has already planned for you. They are Kingdom works. (That is) they are walking in the Glory they are walking in the obedience to heaven…yes?
Whoooo!

I just want to say if you are taking notes just put headings…cos there are quite a lot of mature people in this room (You’re not kidding writes Chris…I remember listening to Kitt Mason’s cassettes when I was still 16, I’m now 50…and he’s quietly listening to this for example) So I’m not going to qualify everything I say…I’m just going to chuck it out and I want you to do the Berean thing and search it out in the scriptures. if I give you rabbit trails to go up…then go up them and find them and study them.

That’s the big picture . So we’ve basically got 3 players in this. And the territory is the Earth. I would be sufficiently stupid to believe that it’s just possible that this is the only planet in the whole of God’s creation that is in rebellion against Him.Ha Ha Ha..it could be…I dunno…can’t prove it, but I just had a thought
Or maybe this solar system…and that’s all fallen…there’s a lot more to it than that. Yeah? But anyway…what this is about is the redemption of the Earth. The restoration of the Glory..and the Kingdom…and the Rule of God in the Earth.

Now we need to look at the end of Psalm 24 to really understand this.
Lift up your heads O ye gates and be lifted up you everlasting doors.
AND LET THE KING OF GLORY COME IN.

What are these gates? What are these doors?
Beloved – WE ARE THE GATES INTO THE EARTH.

The humans are the gatekeepers into the Earth. Even the King of Glory needs our permission to come into the territory of Earth.
Eh?
There are some things that God cannot do…and I know there is a theologian or two here this morning and you are going to get a bit twitchy…but I want to explain what I am saying. There are some things that God cannot do. And one of them is this.He cannot deny Himself. And He is not a man that He will lie. So that when God sets something in order and makes an edict - an eternal edict – He cannot go back on it.
So in some senses He becomes the victim o f the edict and the decision that He has made.

And one of those edicts and decisions was this one. When he expressed His intention to create the human, He said “Let Us make man in our image and after Our likeness.And let them have dominion over the Earth.” And it says it twice between Genesis 1:26 and 28. And then it says in Psalm 8 “What is man that you are mindful of him for you have made him a little lower than the angels…”
In the original it means a little less than God. “And you have crowned him with glory and honour”… and I used to think when I read that that it has to be Jesus…no it isn’t..it’s referring to us. He has crowned us with glory and honour. And He has put all things under our feet. Read it! It’s exciting reading.

What did God do in that creative edict? He gave us government and guardianship of the Earth. There’s a psalm - I cannot place it - which reads “The heavens are yours…but the Earth you have given to the sons of men” and there is a delegation to us as the human…of authority in the Earth, an authority that Adam and Eve abused…because they did not need to let the beggar in…because they were the ones that were custodians of the Earth because they could have made decision to obey God and kept the enemy out yeah?

Both God and the Enemy needed the same thing…they needed a human channel..because the Earth belongs to man. (Chris thinks: this makes an awful lot of sense of Norman Grubb’s inverse truth…that we are containers…and NEED to be powered by spirit…whether God or Satan. And that the concept of an in between existence of us existing as independent beings…is an absolute delusion peddled by Satan the arch peddler of lies….sorry to butt in)
So the Enemy has to get man’s permission
and God needs to get man’s permission
Have you got it? Check it out! This is awesome stuff. “Lift up your heads o ye gates and be ye lifted up you ancient doors that the King of Glory may come in.”
We’ve got this cataclysmic battle going on for the Earth and if you want to put the two opposing forces into the picture - we are talking about the Lord of Hosts, the Lord God Almighty, Our God…the One that we have worshipped this morning on the one hand, and the Evil One Satan - on the other. And I just believe we have become so sophisticated in our 21st century living that we think this raw stuff about the devil is a bit medieval and a bit mystic. Can I blow your brains out! It is NOT. It is the reality that we live in.
Please….I tell you there is a profound difference between the way God operates and the way the Enemy operates. Although their end intention is probably the same thing…to govern the Earth..yeah?
Satan seeks to conceal himself and God seeks to reveal Himself.
And because of Satan’s concealment we are oftentimes in a battle that we don’t recognise. And my friends many of the things that we are up against in our lives we just put up with. but we’ve actually got authority to do something about because we are being INVADED by the Enemy. And I want to EXPOSE that now in Jesus Name.
He doesn’t come along with horns and say” Hi I’m here.” He conceals himself behind all kinds of things. He conceals himself behind the spirit of the age and we buy it all in…we take on the values.
What is the world? (world system) The world is the friendly face of Satan.
It negotiates with our mind…it sets up…..(breaks off)
I tell you for one instance, we live in a culture yeah? And if you imbibe Political Correctness and stuff into you, you are going to get infected with it. And you know one of the things in our culture is this:
I stand for my rights!!!
We have become a culture that has exalted individual rights above corporate responsibility.And we are seeing the breakdown of a society because of it. The Kingdom is the exact opposite. It is : I lay down my life for my brother. Yes?
We imbibe that stuff off the TV and media every day. We were only saying this morning over breakfast…you know when you get these awful murders. Do you know they interview the parents…and I have huge sympathy…but they are all seeking revenge. They are all saying, “I won’t be able to sleep until the guy’s behind bars.”What difference is that going to make?
The only way to get free is to forgive. And we are ingesting this stuff all the time. Even Christians begin to get a revenge culture.But I tell you God wants to renew us in the spirit of our minds.
Who is the perpetrator of all evil? He is the Evil One and and will masquerade in all kinds of ways…he will try to infiltrate our minds and get us to think how he wants us to. Rather than have our minds transformed by the spirit of the Living God. My friends this is a raw battle and we need to expose it.

We have become too….(breaks off)
Do you know the Lord spoke this to me a few months ago, I believe. He said, “Peter, I “I want to restore to My Church a sense of militancy.”
I can remember in the early days of the charismatic movement we had a militancy, but I am not sure it was quite right. But the answer to the abuse of something is not the NON-USE…..but the correct use. And God wants to restore a spiritual…say spiritual..militancy to the people of God. We’ve been robbed and plundered. I want to tell you…sickness does not come from God.Now I’m not going into the theology of healing but I just want to say to you as Bill Johnson said the other day, “You know God can’t give you cancer, because He hasn’t got it.” Ha! I rather like that.
You know I think we are sitting under all kinds of stuff that we’ve actually got the authority to do something about. Yes?

And God wants to awaken the Warrior Bride. That sense of militancy that says…Enough is Enough!!! You know because of the way that the Enemy conceals himself.We get kind of cooked like the frog…slowly in a pan of water as it heats up to the boil. The water is nice and warm. We get acclimatized to it and fall asleep, then die!
End of Part Two…