Every Plant Which My Heavenly Father Did Not Plant Shall Be Uprooted

I am convinced that Christmas is not part of the unshakeable kingdom that we are receiving. It is a made thing; a shakeable thing. When the Lord Jesus Christ suddenly comes to His temple, His refining fire will burn away Christmas along with all the other dross.

But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD. Mal 3:2-3

Christmas celebrates the unholy alliance that exists between the Church and the world. It is a celebration of compromise and mixture. That's its root. Like Easter (a movable feast on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar), Christmas is a 'holy season' that assumes worldwide obeisance and yet bears no apostolic seal, mandate or authority. None. It will be uprooted and cast into the fire at Christ's appearing. It will be removed.

This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken - that is, things that have been made - in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Heb 12:27-29

This is the second year my family have enjoyed complete freedom from the spirit of Christmas. We feel like absolute strangers to the world as we do this and we embrace that identity. As disciples of Christ, we have been called to strangeness and other-worldliness. 

When offered the obligatory and cheery Christmas greetings at this time of year, we seek to gently and humbly and joyfully let people know that we're "non-participants." The look on their faces is priceless. Often it is one of shock; sometimes it's one of pity. On occasions, a longing appears in their eyes as they imagine a December without the pressures and consumerism of Christmas. For most people – Christians and secularists alike – it is inconceivable that one could live through December without offering at least some token of participation at the altar of Christmas. I have chuckled to myself while progressing in the supermarket queue toward the cheery, Santa-hat-clad checkout operators. Surrounded by tinsel and evergreens and with the sound of carols ringing out, I have wondered, 'Is it even legal to opt out of Christmas?' The herd phenomenon at Christmas time is intense. Yes, my family and I are strangers indeed.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. 1 Pet 2:11

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Heb 11:13 

Much has been written exposing the pagan origins of Christmas (and Easter). Origins are important. Jesus declared that "every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted." (Matt 15:13). The One whose face is like the sun shining in full strength (Rev 1:16) will not share His glory with Satan and his corrupt, world system. Holy things must not be mixed with the profane. To mix holy and profane is to create confusion – spiritual Babylon. When the Roman Catholic Church instituted Christ's Mass (i.e. Christmas), they did exactly that. And Watchman Nee spoke truly in the early 1930's when he denounced Christmas as an unclean bird that "flew from the Roman Catholic Church into the Protestant Church." (King and the Kingdom of Heaven, 1978, p.170). The Christmas 'tree', with its roots in the blood lust and debauchery of Winter solstice paganism, will surely be cut down and cast into the fire when the Son of Man comes with His angels in the glory of His Father.

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth forth not good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Matt 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 2 Pet 3:10

As citizens of Heaven, sojourning on the earth, let us wean our souls and separate from that which the world loves and celebrates and is not from the Father (1 Jn 2:15-17). What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? What fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? (2 Cor 6:14-15). All such mixture is Babylon. There is fast approaching a day that will test every man's work and reveal, by fire, that which is gold, silver and precious stones and that which is wood, hay and stubble. (1 Cor 3:10-17).

Take heart, strangers and pilgrims. Be of good courage, overcomers. We are about to receive a kingdom! Look at what we're gaining! It's other-worldly! Our God is about to make His dwelling among us and walk among us! We're talking transfiguration! It's close now. The Day is about to dawn – here comes His radiant glory!

And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2 Pet 1:19

Related Writing:
Learn Not the Way of the Heathen

I Have Laid Help Upon One Who Is Mighty

I am writing to build your courage as you stand in the fire of resistance at this time. Reading Hebrews 12:3-4, we eat words like, “endure”, “hostility”, “struggle”, “resist”. These are comforting words for those who understand that to serve our Lord Jesus Christ is to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12) and to endure hardship as a good soldier (2 Tim 2:3).

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Heb 12:3-4

Brothers and sisters, see this time as a gracious opportunity to step into suffering and reproach for Christ’s sake. If we desire to reign with Him, we must suffer with Him. If we desire the Spirit of glory and our God to rest upon us, we must be prepared to bear His reproach.

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him he will also deny us. 2 Tim 2:12

If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 1 Pet 4:14

Many of us talk big but when the opportunity comes to step into the fire we choose to save our lives instead. Jesus and His reviving presence is always found in the extra-hot fire of resistance – He is never found in the bowing of the knee in compromise.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matt 16:25

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Dan 3:24-25

The LORD of hosts is still looking for men of war – as He always has. He is searching for men of war, that He may lay help upon them.

Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty [NIV / NLT – a warrior]; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him. Psalm 89:19-20

David was a man of war. Saul may not have recognised this (1 Sam 17:33), nor Goliath (1 Sam 17:42-43). But the Lord did. Even as a young shepherd, David was seen by God as a king and as a man of war. His warring experience was not with sword and spear but with the weapons that truly counted.

“…Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 1 Sam 16:1b

One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” 1 Sam 16:18

Gideon was another man of war that the LORD searched out and laid help upon. Before Gideon ever led the charge against the Midianites, he was a man of war. He was a warrior even as a thresher of wheat.

The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” Jud 6:12

Jehu was another man of war that the LORD of hosts found and laid help upon. 

When confronted with talk of peace through compromise, Jehu knew only the way of struggle and war in honour of the Lord’s name.

When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?” 2 Kings 9:22 

What then is it to be a man of war? Many lay claim to being a warrior for the Lord and of being a soldier in His army. But what does it really look like to be a man of war, a valiant warrior? What does it look like on earth? There were 32,000 soldiers that gathered for battle in Gideon’s day but there were only 300 men of war that the LORD of hosts was willing to lay help upon.

A man of war knows what it is to ascend in worship and descend in war. A true warrior knows what it is to pursue the heart of God and do all His will on earth. The 'doing all His will' is the warring part.

And when he had removed him [Saul], he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Acts 13:22

To love God and gush over Him in worship does not mean much if we are not prepared to take up our cross and do all His will on the earth, in the face of persecution and rejection and reproach. Persecution is actually a good measure of how much we walk out His will on the earth.

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2 Tim 3:12

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

If we have not experienced rejection and persecution and reproach, we have been travellers on the path of peace through compromise. We, like King Ahab, have been trading with that cursed Canaanite princess, Jezebel.

And there shall be no trader (lit: Canaanite) in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day. Zech 14:21b 

We must be men of war to walk out God’s will on the earth. Why?

1) Separation from the world and idolatry is not achieved without a battle. Read 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 and then read Judges 6:25-32 to see what it looked like for Gideon to walk this out. Take time with this. Meditate on it. Put yourself in Gideon’s shoes.

2) Truth must be contended for against theft and persecution and allurements. Read Mark 4:1-20

3) Soldiering is different to civilian life. Read 2 Tim 2:3-4.

It takes courage to be a man of a war, to be a king, to be a judge. It takes a life of personal cleansing and purging (2 Cor 7:1; 2 Tim 2:19-21). It attracts the wrath of the god of this world (Heb 11:27). But we are not alone in this. The Lord Himself lays help upon us!

But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet… Jud 6:34

But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might [NASB – courage], to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Mic 3:8

Are we men of war or are we men of peace through compromise? Are we soldiers or are we soft-clothed diplomats of compromise? Are we warriors or traders? 

The Lord still searches for those who are warriors that He might equip them with His anointing and authority in a mighty way ... in order to establish His Kingdom on the earth.

The Spirit of Rapture

Watchman Nee (1903-1972) is remembered for his leadership of an indigenous church movement in China, as well as for his books, which continue to enrich Christians throughout the world. Beginning in the 1930s, Nee helped establish local churches in China that were independent of foreign missionary organisations and were used to bring many into the Kingdom of God. From these roots sprang many of the house churches that continued to meet after Western missionaries were forced to leave the country during the Cultural Revolution. Arrested in 1952 and found guilty of a large number of false charges, Watchman Nee was imprisoned until his death in 1972. 

This from the well of Watchman Nee...

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"One other facet of the normal spirit needs to be discussed besides those features mentioned already. This one we would term the spirit of rapture. Christians ought to have a spirit which is perpetually in an out-of-this-world and ascending-into-heaven state. Such a spirit as this is deeper than one of ascension, for those who possess the former not only live on earth as though in heaven but also are truly led of the Lord to wait for His return and their own rapture. When a believer's spirit is united to the Lord's and they become one spirit, he commences to live in the world as a sojourner, experiencing the life of a heavenly citizen. Following that, the Holy Spirit will call him to take one further step and will give him the spirit of rapture. Formerly his impetus was 'Go forward!' now it becomes 'Ascend up!' Everything about him rises heavenward. The spirit of rapture is that spirit which has tasted the powers of the age to come (Heb. 6-5).

Not all who accept the truth of the Second Coming possess this spirit of rapture. Men may believe in the Lord's return, preach His Second Coming, and pray for His return and yet not have this spirit. Even mature ones do not necessarily possess it. The spirit of rapture is the gift of God. It is sometimes dispensed by God as He pleases and sometimes granted by Him in response to prayers of faith. When possessed of this spirit the believer's inner being seems always to be in a state of rapture. He believes not only in the return of the Lord but also in his being transported. Rapture is more than an article of faith; it is to him a fact. Just as Simeon, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, trusted that he would not taste death before he had seen the Lord's Christ (Luke 2. 26), so believers should have the assurance in their spirit that they will be transported to the Lord before they die. Such faith is the faith of an Enoch. Now we are not being stubbornly superstitious here; but if we live in the time of rapture, how can we be lacking in such faith? Such belief will help us to understand more of what God is doing in this age as well as obtain heavenly power for our work.

In other words, if the spirit of a Christian is in a state of rapture he will be more heavenly and will not think his way to heaven must necessarily traverse the valley of death.

How frequently God's child, when engaged in spiritual labor, entertains many expectations and plans. He is full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom and power; he believes God will greatly use him; and he looks forward with anticipation that before long his labor shall produce much fruit. However, in the very midst of prosperity the hand of the Lord suddenly sweeps down upon him, suggesting to him that he must conclude all his undertaking and be ready to take another course. This comes as a genuine surprise to man. He naturally asks why it must be so. Is not my power for working? Is not the profound knowledge I have for helping people? Need everything be closed in and cold? Nonetheless, under guidance of this kind the believer learns that the purpose of God for him is an alteration in his course. Previously everything was going forward; henceforth it is to ascend. It does not signify there is no more work; what it does mean is that that work can be concluded at any time. God continually has employed such circumstances as persecution, opposition, plunder, etc., to cause saints to comprehend that He wishes them to have the spirit of rapture rather than to make progress in the work on earth. The Lord desires to change the course of His children, many of whom do not realize there is this far better spirit of rapture.

This spirit has its definite effect on life. Before one secures it his experience is bound to be changing constantly; after he receives the witness and assurance of rapture in his spirit, however, his life and labor will be sustained on a level worthy of this kind of spirit, thus preparing him for the Lord's return. Such preparation includes more than outward correction: it is making the spirit, the soul, and the body of the believer wholly ready to meet the Lord.

Hence we should pray and petition the Holy Spirit to show us how to obtain this spirit of rapture and how to retain it. We should believe and then be willing to eliminate all obstacles to the realization of such a spirit. And once we have appropriated it we should habitually check our life and work against it. In case we lose this spirit we should determine at once how it was lost and how it can be restored. Such a spirit once obtained can be easily forfeited. This may be due chiefly to our ignorance (at this stage of life) of how to preserve such a heavenly position through special prayer and effort. We must therefore ask the Holy Spirit to teach us the way to retain this spirit. Such prayer usually leads us to seek 'the things that are above' (Col. 3.2), and this is one of the requisites for preservation.

Since he now stands at the door of heaven and can be transported at any moment, the Christian should choose to wear the heavenly white garment and perform heavenly work. Such a hope separates him from earthly matters while joining him to the heavenly.

The fact that God wishes a believer to look for rapture does not suggest that he should be concerned only with his rapture and forget the remainder of the work God has appointed him. What God actually designs to convey to him is that he should not permit God-given labor to hinder his rapture. In both his walk and work, heavenly attraction should always be greater than earthly gravitation. The child of God should learn to live for the Lord's service, but even more so for the Lord's receiving him. May our spirit be uplifted daily, looking for the return of the Lord. May the things of this world so lose their power over us that we do not in the slightest wish to be 'worldly'; nay, we even delight in not remaining 'in the world.' May our spirit daily ascend, asking to be with the Lord earlier. May we so seek the things above that not even the best Work on earth can distract our hearts. May we henceforth pray in spirit and with understanding, 'Come, Lord Jesus!' (Rev. 22.20)"

From: Nee, W. (1968) The Spiritual Man, New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers Inc, pgs 417-419.

If Baal Is A God, Let Him Contend For Himself

Praise God for the safe arrival of our fifth child, Lillian Joy, on 2 December. From very early in the pregnancy, Fiona and I had a sense we would be receiving a little girl and we soon had a name chosen that speaks prophetically to us personally and to the Church corporately. Glory to God!

For the LORD shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Isa 51:3

It has been some time since I posted a word. There is much percolating in my spirit that I will write, when time permits. In the meantime, the following has been adapted from a word I wrote and posted in November 2011, shortly after the birth of our fourth child, William. Its message is as pertinent today as it was then…

If Baal Is A God, Let Him Contend For Himself

Many of us have longed for revival for this land; we have prayed and fasted and we have implored the Lord to pour out His Spirit on our dry and thirsty land. Our hearts have broken for the lost; we have seen their desperate need and, at the same time, sensed our lack of the yoke-destroying anointing of Jesus Christ. "When Lord?" we have cried. "When will we return to Eden where by evening we worship and commune with you and by day we bring all things into subjection to your will and purpose?" This has been our heart’s cry. With the prophets of old we have asked, "How long, O Lord?" Inasmuch as we have His heart, we have grieved for the ruin of Joseph (Amos 6:6). When will Your beautiful Name be revered among the nations? When will You be glorified through Your Bride? As the wife crowns her husband, when will the glorious Church arise and distinguish her lovely and majestic God? Revive us, O Lord!

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband… Prov 12:4

Gideon was a man called to deliver his people from the oppression of the Midianites. His is yet another story of God's willingness and ability to deliver His people with impossibly small numbers and resources. Gideon’s victory is yet another demonstration that El Shaddai takes no pleasure in the strength of the horse, neither does He delight in the strength of men’s legs (Ps 147:10). Hand-picked by the LORD of hosts, Gideon checks and double checks his calling and then goes on to build a company of warriors to mete out God’s judgement on Israel's oppressors (Jud 6-7). With three hundred radical believers, Gideon leads the charge against the 100,000 plus Midianite army and the LORD of hosts delivers salvation to His people.

Yet another powerful testimony of deliverance and of our LORD’s faithfulness to summon His power in response to the cries of His people. But what’s missing from this recount? What’s missing is the first part of Gideon’s assignment – the destruction of his father’s idols! 

When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And after they had searched and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing." Jud 6:28-29

Mighty moves of God follow hard on the heels of wholesale repentance. The weighty side of longing and positioning for revival is that revival begins with repentance – repentance from the idolatry and worldliness that have crept into our lives and churches.

If my people, which are called by name, says the LORD, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chron 7:14

Gideon is a heavenly man; he knows that no part of the pattern can be left undone. No ingredient can be left out of God's recipe for deliverance. And so he carries out what is the precursor to any major move of God; he takes an axe to the idols that have ensnared and enslaved his countrymen.

No easy task, no walk in the park. No warm fuzzies with this job. Gideon carries out this first assignment as a nobody, as a member of the weakest clan in his tribe, and as the least important member of his family (Jud 6:15). He wields his axe at night because he’s wise enough to foresee that not everyone will respect his consuming zeal for God’s house. Gideon puts his life on the line and, sure enough, he is confronted by an angry mob who wants to slay him for his heavy-handedness. However the fire of truth that Gideon walks in also protects him and God uses the words of Gideon’s repentant father to spare his life. His father somehow persuades the angry crowd that if Baal is truly a god, surely he can arise to his own defence and contend against Gideon.

From then on Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means, "Let Baal defend himself," because he broke down Baal's altar. Jud 6:32

As God's consecrated vessel to bring deliverance to His people, Gideon knew he couldn’t avoid the hard part, the dangerous part, the 'tough love' part. There are wounds from a friend that are actually faithful and there are kisses of an enemy that are actually deceitful (Prov 27:6). We too can’t avoid the difficult roads, the dangerous valleys, and walking in tough love if we are to be carriers of revival and useful vessels in the Master's hands. Jeremiah lamented the lack of prophetic courage in his day and the same temptation exists today.

Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading. Lam 2:14

Gideon had his commandment and he kept it. Young Samuel had his word from the LORD and he faithfully declared it to Eli (1 Sam 3:18). David was not only known as the man after God's own heart, but also the man who would do all His will.

… "I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all my will." Acts 13:22

Revival starts with us, brothers and sisters. Revival will come to this nation as we lead the way in repenting from our idolatry and as we fan into flame the fire of our first love. How much do we truly want revival? Are we ready for our iniquity to be exposed? Are we truly lovers of Truth? Are we willing to learn and submit to His ways? Are we ready to leave Egypt? Are we ready for our wilderness journey? The Joseph era fades and the Moses era begins…

But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph … At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight… Acts 7:17-18, 20