Kingdoms in Conflict

Passing from the old into the new.

As we begin to explore our freedom in Christ and deconstruct the vines of the self-serving religious mindset from around our feet. It would be good to revisit issues and display the differences between the kingdoms.

I do find it very interesting that right now, God is sovereignly moving to expose every area of darkness within the Body of Christ. It is so incredibly obvious that you do not need to be prophetic, apostolic, or anything else to see it. The humorous side is that the current group of senior Apostolic and Prophetic leaders, like Lance Wallnau, can not see it and have declared this move to be a demonic spirit. The fact that the senior leadership can not see it means they are currently failing the biggest open-book test the Lord has ever conducted. They are failing because “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” James 4:6 Can you imagine failing an open book test?

It is their own pride that has closed their hearts to wisdom and their eyes to kindness. This has set up a time unlike any other in modern Christian history, and the Lord is moving forward for His people. “therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.” Ezekiel 34: 9-10

A verse later the Lord makes it very clear what he will do with the flock the Shepherds have taken advantage of, “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.” V. 11 This is the moment many of us are heading toward, and in this upcoming New Expression of the Christian faith, it will be populated by the Lost, Hurt, and Lonely who will learn to move forward in boldness.

The New

These are “symbolically” the Aragorns who have come out of exile to take their rightful place in the Kingdom. But first, they must defeat the shadow both in their own lives and in the lives of the people around them.

Long ago, in mid-1980, I heard a prophetic word from Margaret Moberly who has now died. The Lord had shown her the coming leadership he was bringing to His Body. This message took place on a football field.

The Lord went to the first string and gave his orders, but the first string refused to follow. So time and time again the Lord tried, and time and time again they refused. So the Lord went to the second string and did the same thing. Because the first string refused the second string followed the actions of the first. So in his anger, the Lord declared, “ I am against the first and second string for they have refused my wisdom, away with these leaders for they shall never lead again. Bring me the third string; I will put my heart in them, and they shall follow my wisdom in the earth.”

Pondering this old word, here is my question, if you know football: "What kind of quality is the third string?” It is often not very good. So, all I can say is… if you don’t feel qualified for the job ahead, well then welcome to the third string. The Lord needs you.

Kingdoms of Wolves and Sheep

Wolves hunt in packs, sheep graze in flocks. Wolves often pick out the weakest, slowest, or the young as they quietly follow the sheep at a distance. Using wisdom, they often travel downwind so that their sent does not alert the flock to danger. All though rare, if the flock is small enough and the pack is large enough, they will box them into a place of no escape so that their food source will last a long time.

Sometimes, in the attack, the victim will only see one or two wolves. But once the attack has started, the whole pack will join in, attacking from every side. The most common attack point is either under the neck or the back leg before the rest of the pack rips the victim apart. This is of course symbolic of destroying a victim’s ability to speak or to walk by faith.

Sheep travel, eat, and do almost everything together in the flock, except for lambing season, when the young are hard to control. The older members are often on the outer edge, watching, guarding, and ready to alert the flock. Older Rams are very territorial and will defend their flock, sometimes at all costs.

I once watched a Ram use strategy against a neighbor dog who was going after a newborn lamb. With caution, the dog crept forward like a wolf, getting ready to attack. The Ram acted like nothing was going on, but each time the dog crept closer, so did the Ram. Once the Ram was close enough that he knew the dog could not get away, he lowered his head and charged at full speed. You could hear the crunch of the rib bones on impact as the dog screamed and dragged himself away.

The flock hardly moved as the Ram stood confidently watching the dog. In time, he went back to eating as if nothing happened.

In our modern-day world, narcissism is now the power behind the pretenders in the pulpits. Here are the characteristics of narcissism and the Kingdom opposite we are called to live in.

• An inflated sense of self-importance. Kingdom says… “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Roman 12:3

• A need for excessive admiration by the flock. Kingdom says… “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Matthew 6: 28-29

• A belief that they are unique and deserve special treatment. Kingdom says…. Job 38

• A lack of empathy for others. Kingdom says… “If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:16

• A preoccupation with power, beauty, or success. Kingdom says… “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” Isaiah 53:3

• Arrogance. Kingdom says… Proverbs 16:5: "The LORD detests the proud; they will surely be punished"
  Proverbs 8:13: "I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech"
  Proverbs 11:2: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom"
  Proverbs 16:18-28: "Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall"

• Self-centeredness. Kingdom says… “Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” Matthew 16:24

• A disregard for others' feelings and perspectives. Kingdom Says… “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” 1 John 3:17
  

The ways of the Kingdom do not rape the flock or take advantage of the new lambs. Those in leadership for several generations now have acquired much, while those under them have struggled for basic care. I have seen this happen in many places, including my former employer, Morningstar. These simply can not be the characteristics of what the Lord is bringing forth on the earth; he will not allow it.

As an example, my wife and I knew of a young couple at Morningstar who had been married less than a year. They were struggling to be dedicated to the system to the point of poverty. We gave them all our fishing equipment after I learned that after the long hours, they put into the kitchen, every night, they would go to the local river with a fishing line tied to a stick to catch dinner. if you have spent time fishing, you know that sometimes you don’t catch anything. That means they had some hungry nights. Question: Does this sound like an Acts 2 environment or an Ezekiel 34 environment?

In fact, I believe we are starting to see the first transitions from the old ways of leaders to the new. Now, if you have been paying attention, then I will ask this question. Concerning what happened to TD Jakes and Todd Bentley, with both of them collapsing at the same time. Is this the first shadow of Acts 5:1-10 coming to pass in our times? And if so, shall we see more?

Sheep

The general nature of sheep is one of openness; they don’t like to travel into confined areas with limited viewing. They will often graze in big open pastures. We, the sheep of the Lord’s field, are no different. Feelings of being “boxed in,” confined, and unable to be free make us unsettled and nervous. Although some have fallen into the traps of legalism, most who are free of such things want to get far away from the smell of danger.

That is why it is so hard for the pretender to get a flock back once distrust is found in the congregation. Once the smell of distrust is in the air, the sheep will stay far away. The followers of Christ, once awoken to the truth, become a powerful force that spiritual wolves can not stand up to. In fact, some of the largest flocks in the world may have 20, 30, or more Rams. In such environments, Wolves have been killed by the powerful team-up force the Rams provide.

This is symbolically what true Eldership can do and should have been doing in the last few decades. This is the power (the horns) of this office that can happen if allowed to. This upcoming New Expression of the Christian faith the Lord will be building, will require elders of strength to provide true protection for the community. (1)

Of course, the older systems will scream and denounce the new; this is to be expected, and I will be covering aspects of this in future Substack posts as we look at various factors in our quest for true freedom in Christ.

But for now, I want to leave you with a thought to ponder; “In the last few decades, we have all seen great examples of how not to do certain things. What shall be our model for the right way to do things in this new season?”

Next Week, “What are we holding on to?”