church that satan set up —— 12 Feb. 09

About ten years ago, I was at a meeting of Christian businessmen in a hotel.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit flowing at those monthly meetings was sometimes extremely tangible.

I remember times when I looked at the floor, it was as if there was thick golden oil flowing in swirls all over it, and I had to sit with my feet (minus shoes) on the bar of the chair. If I put a foot on the floor, I would fall off the chair under the anointing of the Spirit!

On this particular occasion, I had taken an old prophetic friend who had not been before. He was sat at my right side around the table talking to another, and I had my back to him talking to the man on my left. I had no idea what his conversation was, nor do I remember mine before that point.

My friend suddenly nudged me in the back, and as I turned to him he said, “give me a definition of the church”.

I opened my mouth and out came these words.

“THE CHURCH IS AN INSTITUTION THAT SATAN HAS SET UP TO PREVENT CHRISTIANS DOING THE WORK OF THE LORD.”

I was taken aback.

My friend very firmly said, “THAT is the rhema word of the Lord.”

I knew, without question, that the Lord had just spoken through my prophetic answer, but I was nevertheless shocked at the clarity of the unexpected answer.

I started to consider the words and the seriousness of them.

Yes, the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1cor14v32), and I could have kept my mouth closed. However, as already stated, the power of God was tangibly over the meeting.

The words didn’t come out of nowhere though. God had been working on me for a number of years about the false leadership structures in the church.

We must not be confused over prophetic words. Responsible prophets tend to only prophesy within the level of their faith. Therefore, God has to constantly challenge their personal faith through revelation and scripture in order to move the church forward.

Prophets frequently end up standing well out on a limb from the main church. This is because the church at large is thrill seeking rather than following God. (If Christians were truly following God, then not just a few prophets but all the five-fold ministries would be in abundance throughout the church)

When a prophet misses the mark, the church is the first to demand his stoning.

Shame on you weak, impotent men of God!
You Churchgoers!
Get off your butts and start chasing after God, rather than your Christian heroes.

However, this prophetic word was absolutely of God, and it hit at everything many hold dear. The response when I mention it is either anger and offense, or a realistic recognition of the actual words spoken.

The clue is in the word “institution”. Sadly, this includes virtually all churches.

The church of Jesus Christ was an organism. Man has exchanged this for an institutional organisation with an earthly system of hierarchical government.

It is this which gives rise to the rebellious idolatry of, “I must obey my pastor”.

This attitude cuts the believer off from any clear personal hearing of what the Lord might call him to do.

There is no precedent in the bible to expect one man to be able to give direction to a whole load of other Christians as to what God calls them to do in their lives.

Placing a pastor, or any man, between ourselves and God is an abdication of personal calling and a working of the spirit of antichrist.

Antichrist simply means “another anointed”. ie. a substitute for Christ.

THIS IS WHAT THE PASTOR SYSTEM IS: A SUBSTITUTE FOR CHRIST!

“But the Lord loves his bride,” you say. I’ve got news for you. The church out there is not the bride. It may contain the bride, but that is all.

Therefore, I will reiterate the prophetic word that the Lord gave me -

THE CHURCH IS AN INSTITUTION THAT SATAN HAS SET UP TO PREVENT CHRISTIANS DOING THE WORK OF THE LORD.

1 Corinthians 14v29
“. . . let the others judge.”

I challenge you readers – do not simply read and pass by. Write your considered discernment in the Spirit in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.