Bible Study With Jairus

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 9

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 9

 

The Threefold Office of Christ in Leviticus 9

 

My heart was stirred and inspired by Leviticus 9, which begins in verse 1 with the powerful statement that, “On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the Elders of Israel” (English Standard Version). The subsequent parts of Chapter 9 detail Moses’ induction of Aaron into the Priesthood and his instructions about the offerings and sacrifices to God, and it ends with the appearance of the Glory of God, which consumes the burnt offering. What stands out in this chapter is how the three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, – which, up until this point, had all been held by Moses, – are divided and appointed to separate people. In Leviticus 9 we see those assignments broken down by Moses in the office of Prophet, Aaron as Priest, and the Elders of Israel as King, all of which work together to demonstrate God’s authority and usher His people into His Glory.  

 

Each part of the Threefold Office serves a distinct function in the Old Testament, long before the birth of Christ, just as it did during Jesus’ earthly ministry, when He ultimately fulfilled these roles. The separation of these offices and their duties is similar to the United States Government’s separation of powers into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Moses represents the Prophets that receive God’s Law, which can be likened to Congress’ legislative responsibilities in establishing laws and the Constitution. Aaron represents the Priests, whose mandate is to interpret, explain, and apply God’s Law in the country, comparable to the judicial role the Supreme Court plays. Finally, the Elders of Israel represent the Kings that execute the Law, similar to the executive function undertaken by the President and the Cabinet.    

 

The Threefold Office Exemplified in Moses

 

Every Christian should recognize the threefold responsibilities they possess. Like Moses, we ought to draw close to God daily to know His Law and Statutes. Even though we may not experience God’s Law in the same way, we should remember Moses’ role as a Prophet, who was in direct contact with and received messages from God – with the charge to relay them to others. Although God appointed Aaron as Priest, whose role was to minister to the Lord, especially in the Holy of Holies, Moses also performed these roles, as seen in Numbers 7:89: “And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.” Moses performed the functions of a Priest before Aaron did, and was the one who taught his brother how to be a Priest. The way Moses represented the office of a King can be seen in a couple of ways that are worth noting: first, in how he administered judgement on cases before eventually following his father-in-law’s suggestion to appoint officials who were God-fearing and trustworthy men to serve as judges for the people; and second in his role as an Elder, such as when he led the Israelites out of Egypt. The office of King was later transferred to the Elders of Israel when Moses cried out to God that the burden upon him was too heavy and, “the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders” (Numbers 11:25a).

 

 

Moses possessed within him the three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. He was like a single fruitful seed that grew into a large tree with multiple widespread branches. The roots, branches, and leaves, though they developed from the same seed, performed different functions, just as Moses’ roles as Prophet, Priest, and King, while stemming from the same individual, served different purposes for God’s plans to yield His Fruit. And just as the responsibility to bear fruit is not put solely on one branch, but is divided between all the branches of the tree, so God allowed Moses to share these responsibilities with others, such as sharing the Priesthood role with Aaron, the Prophet role with the rest of Israel (Numbers 11:29), and the Kingship role with the Elders.

 

The Threefold Office Since the Time of Moses

 

After Moses’ death, the threefold offices became increasingly subdivided and specialized, hence only a select few could undertake such responsibilities. For example, only Aaron’s descendants could perform the role of the Priesthood. However, a radical shift took place in the New Testament, when everyone could now participate in the roles of Prophets (1 Corinthians 14:31), Priests (1 Peter 2:9) and Kings (our identity as children of the King of Kings), just as Moses did. As Christians charged with these duties, how do we effectively employ the three offices to glorify God in His fullness?

 

Christians are called to prophesy, to recognize and speak God’s words into whatever situations people are in. In the role of a Priest, Christians are to draw close to God, pray for others, and offer sacrifices to Him. While bringing the reality of God to others, it is also important to bring others into His presence and help them draw closer to Him as well. Christians are called to Kingship, to display God’s authority and power, wherever they go.

 

Returning to our earlier analogy of the small seed that grew into the fruitful tree, in its initial stages, all branches stemmed from the main trunk. However, as the tree grew, these branches continued to split and spread out, and grow further and further away from the trunk. Similarly, the Prophet, Priest, and King roles first branched out from Moses to the people nearest him, such as Aaron (who was both Priest and Prophet according to Exodus 4:16) and Miriam (a Prophetess according to Exodus 15:20). God spoke to them both through dreams and visions, though He only spoke to Moses directly (Exodus 33:11).

 

By the time of the Prophet Elijah, the roles of Priests, Prophets, and Kings had become more distinctive and clearly defined, like branches growing increasingly distant from the main trunk, and each other, as a tree grows. As seen again and again throughout the Bible, the Prophets advised Kings against sin, and evil Kings often attempted to get rid of Prophets. Kings who went against the authority of the Priests were also severely punished by God, clearly seen in the case of King Uzziah, who was a good king who grew prideful and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense, despite knowing this could only done by Priests, and was then struck with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:19). However, in the case of King David, he also served in the roles of Prophet and Priest.

 

Distinctions and Similarities in the Roles of Priests and Prophets

 

Leviticus 8 informs us that Moses followed God’s instructions to prepare Aaron and His sons to be consecrated and ordained for their duties as Priests. This was immediately followed at the beginning of Chapter 9 by Aaron presenting the sin offering, burnt offering and peace offering to the Lord on the eighth day, affirming the close relations between Priesthood, Prophecy, and Kingship.

 

Priesthood leads over the office of the Prophet. Why do we say that? Priests serve and draw close to God, while presenting offerings and sacrifices on behalf of man to Him, allowing God to pardon the sin of man and allowing man to draw close to God. This is the essence of the Law of the Old Testament, which was given through Moses (John 1:17). God first told Moses the Law, but when the Israelites sinned against God by worshipping the golden calf, it was Moses who pleaded with God to not destroy the Israelites by reminding God that He brought them out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand. Moses also asked God, “why should the Egyptians say, ‘with evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth?’” (Exodus 32:12). The Lord then relented from the disaster he had spoken of bringing on the Israelites. This is the role of the Priest, to plead on behalf of the people. Indeed, Prophets also play similar roles, as in the example of Prophet Abraham pleading on behalf of Lot. However, the role of Priests is still higher than that of Prophets, as seen by Prophet Abraham offering sacrifices to Priest Melchizedek. In Leviticus 9, Moses, serving as both a Prophet and Priest, is clearly in a position of leadership over Aaron as both a Priest and a Prophet.

 

There are many overlapping functions of Priests and Prophets, such as knowing God, drawing close to God and man, and using knowledge of God and the Law to serve people by helping them get to know Him more intimately. Jesus serves as another example of a Priest being more important than a Prophet. Jesus is both the high priest (1 Timothy 2:5) and a prophet. Without prophecy, we would not know God and His Law, but without a Priest, the Great High Priest of Jesus mediating between God and man, we would never be able to bridge the gulf created by sin, making Priesthood responsibilities of top priority for believers.

 

Our charge as Priests is to serve as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). As such, the job of a Priest is to draw man close to God through offering and sacrifice and to serve as a mediator between God and man. In the Old Testament, the daily blood sacrifice only temporarily covered sins, but did not take them away completely. However, Jesus provided the sacrifice required “once for all” when He died on the Cross for our sins (Hebrew 7:27). While Christians are neither Christ nor the Old Testament Priests, we are still duty-bound to intercede on behalf of others who have sinned, praying for them to receive salvation bought through the Blood of Christ.

 

 

Priests Atone for their Own Sin First

 

Leviticus 9 records the details of the instructions Moses gave Aaron to follow in offering sacrifices when he inducted him into the Priesthood, which sheds light on how we can better serve as Priests to God and our fellow man, and cross-apply these learnings into our roles as Prophets and Kings as well.

 

The first thing that Moses told Aaron to do was to take for himself “a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord” (Leviticus 9:2), which is the first responsibility of a Priest: to use a blemish-free animal to atone for his own sin. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the perfect, blemish-less Sacrificial Lamb that atones for the sins of Christians.

 

Next, Moses instructs Aaron to say to the people of Israel, “take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord is going to appear to you” (Leviticus 9:3-4).

 

The Lord’s Glory was to appear to the Israelites. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called “the radiance of the Glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). For the Glory of God to emanate from man, man needs to be free of sin, as there is no room for sin in a perfect God. In the Old Testament, sin was atoned for through sacrifices, and in the New Testament, Jesus’ blood atones for believers’ sins. On the one hand, God offered a single sacrifice for all sins for all time through the death of Christ, but on the other hand, our flesh and soul continue to be sinful, which requires daily confession, repentance, and cleansing of sin. This necessitates that we delve deeper to better understand the different aspects of sin atonement through the different sacrifices. 

 

Leviticus 9:8-14 details how Aaron presents sacrifice for himself, including: 1) killing the calf of the sin offering, 2) pouring the blood at the base of the altar, 3) burning the fat, kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering on the altar, 4) burning the flesh and skin outside the camp, 5) killing the male lamb for the burnt offering for the Priests, 6) spilling blood against the sides of the altar, 7) piece by piece burning the burnt offering on the altar, and finally, 8) washing the entrails and legs and placing these parts on top of the burnt offering at the altar. These are the details of the sacrifices made by Aaron himself, which are important, as they reflect the many different parts within man’s fleshly body and soul that need to be cleansed of sins. While believers have received Christ in our hearts, our hearts are not entirely Holy because there are many parts that have not yet been yielded to Christ. For example, our thoughts, emotions, and self-will are three significant parts of our lives that need to be surrendered to Christ to experience His Grace and forgiveness. Emotional aspects such as unforgiveness, not loving our neighbors as ourselves, hatred, and envy also need to be transformed by the grace of God.

 

Dissecting Ourselves First in Order to Minister to Others

 

The issues of the body, soul, and spirit are often intertwined, which further highlights our need for Christ to be our Great High Priest. In Hebrews 4:12 it says, “for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The author of the book of Hebrews is using the analogy of the knife the Priest utilizes to dissect the sacrificial animal to describe the Word of God that pierces and examines our innermost being. This dissecting is meant to help us better understand ourselves and better appreciate the saving grace of God. For example, when we first believed in Christ, there were some things that we repented of, but as time goes on, we may be suddenly reminded of an old offence we committed against someone. This could be the prompting of the Holy Spirit that reminds us to deepen our repentance in a particular area.

 

To offer a sacrifice, a Priest needs to understand how to use the knife to dissect the sacrificial animal for the offerings. Before they can treat patients, a doctor must first dissect a cadaver in order to understand the interconnected parts and functions of the body. Similarly, to fulfill the role of a Priest according to the New Testament, we need to be able to dissect ourselves thoroughly, experience the full grace of God, and be transformed from the inside out, in order to be in a healthy position to help others do the same.   

 

This is also why Aaron had to first offer sacrifices for himself before he could do so on behalf of the Israelites. Now, we look at how Aaron presented these sacrifices. Once Aaron experienced the dissecting of the sacrifices that he had offered, he was then in a better position to dissect the sacrifices for the other Israelites. In the New Testament, the Priest’s role is likened to that of a doctor’s, recognizing our own sinful nature and need for a savior, and then helping others to see the same within themselves and turn to God. A person who has not undergone the process of dissecting oneself spiritually would not be able to help other Christians on the same journey. Remember, grace is from God, but different people experience the same grace to different degrees.

 

Leviticus 9:15-21 details the offering of sacrifices done by Aaron on behalf of the Israelites. The details include: 1) killing and offering the calf and lamb for the sin offering, 2) scattering the blood on the altar, 3) cutting the parts to be burnt at the altar, 4) killing and presenting the goat as a sin offering, 5) presenting the grain offering, 6) killing and presenting the ox and ram as a peace offering, 7) throwing the blood against the side of the altar, 8) removing the fatty tail, the fat which covers the entrails, the kidneys, and the long lobe of liver, and then putting them on the breast and burning the fat pieces on the altar, and lastly, 9) using the breast and right thigh as a wave offering.  

 

 

When reading God’s word, we need to avoid getting lost in the details of scripture, but instead identify the key learning points from these details. The different parts of the animals presented as sacrifices represent the different problems that people bring to God. If anyone seeks help from us (in our roles as Priests), they may not feel able to fully share their issues. Therefore, we should be able to see beyond their words and understand the situation at a deeper level through the power of the Holy Spirit, which requires the development of yet another area that Christians have access to – the gift of prophecy.

 

Understanding the Gift of Prophecy

 

If God’s desire is to cut to the heart of our innermost thoughts and being, this spiritual dissection is achieved not merely through the dismembering and offering of sacrifices, but also through the work of prophecy. God uses His Words, spoken through His Prophets, to divide the issues of men like a knife divides the parts of the sacrifice; not only through His written (Logos) Word, but also through Living (Rhema) Words that release the knife or sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).

 

God’s Law and Word were first shared through Moses, and many more of the Old Testament books were written by the Prophets. Even Prophets who did not pen any Books of the Bible still received Rhema Words. If someone claims to be a Prophet but does not possess Rhema, nor have a deep or even supernatural understanding of their own self and others, it is unlikely that they are truly a Prophet. They need to understand the internal workings and even hidden thoughts of people, to allow them to be vulnerable and wholeheartedly entrust their worries to God. Prophets need to know the Logos Word of God, but also possess the Living Word of God.

 

I had the opportunity to participate in Global Awakening’s Prophetic Certification Course. Randy Clark, the founder, shared his testimony during one session. At first, Randy did not believe nor accept that the modern Church could still have Prophets. However, things changed when he was praying for a sister in Christ at a Toronto Blessing gathering. His prayer had little impact. One of his fellow travelling companions, a Prophet named Larry Randolph, then offered to pray for the woman. While praying, he prophesied something that the sister had kept secret, causing her to finally open up emotionally and receive the prayer, which went on to have a profound effect on her life. This incident impacted Randy tremendously, and it became the driving force behind his ministry to promote prophecy.  

 

 

In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses told the Israelites that the Lord would raise up for them a Prophet like himself from amongst them. Most of the time, it is interpreted that Moses here refers to Jesus Christ, and that He is also a Prophet. However, Moses also said that all the Lord’s people can be Prophets (Numbers 11:29). In Acts, Peter quoted the words of Joel’s prophecy that, “‘in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). While this shows the presence of Prophets in the New Testament, many traditional Churches are still unable to accept this. Of course, not everyone is called to be a Prophet (1 Corinthians 12:29), but all Christians have the ability to prophesy by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:31).

 

 

Even though Aaron was a Priest, he was also a Prophet, likened to the Prophet of Moses. In the words of God, Moses was like Aaron’s God, and Aaron was like Moses’ Prophet. The role of the Prophet links closely to the role of Kingship. For example, King Saul and King David were both appointed by the Prophet Samuel. The functions of Prophets and Priests overlap in many areas and are often interlinked. When both offices are fully developed, a Christian is better able to lead a spirit-filled life and glorify God in all aspects. He or she can be a co-king with Christ and subdue the earth.

 

 

Leviticus 9:22-24 writes that after Aaron completed the offering ritual, he lifted his hands towards the people and blessed them. The glory of God then appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and pieces of fat on the altar. When the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. This image is glorious. As the Church and Christians use their Prophetic, Priesthood, and Kingship giftings, one day the Glory of God will descend and be seen throughout the Church.

Bible Study With Jairus - Acts 11

Bible Study With Jairus - ACTS 11

Acts 11 tells three stories. In the first, Peter takes six fellow believers to Cornelius’s home to bring salvation to Cornelius and all his household. He also baptized them with the Holy Spirit. The second story talks about the advancement of the Gospel by those who were suffering because of the persecution that arose over Stephen. Barnabas also went to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch. In the third story, a prophet named Agabus foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over the entire Roman world.

Our focus today is that we should pay attention to the working of the Holy Spirit, especially the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We also need to pay attention to the ways that the Holy Spirit communicates with us, including visions, dreams, trances, and so on. Before we talk about this, I want to provide a personal point of reference for this discussion. Let me start by explaining how our Bible study group operates in hopes that it will be a help to others who lead Bible Studies.

Our Bible study is usually led by a man or woman who gives a brief summary of the Scripture in the beginning. Everyone takes a turn leading in order to achieve a better understanding of the Scripture as well as to give everyone a chance to practice speaking for God. Leading a Scripture reading session causes the leader to prepare for sharing in two ways. The first is summarizing the background and the basic information of the Scripture to share with the group. The leader may also add some thoughts that they learned from other Bible teachers. This step is very helpful for both the new believers who do not have much Bible knowledge and for those who wish to grow in their knowledge of the Bible. Those who wish to grow can learn to lead a Bible study and share what they have learned from this chapter. Their sharing will help those who are new to the Bible. This also helps those who are sharing to realize they need more understanding.

The second step in preparation, which is a more advanced aspect, is to pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit to give you new understanding and thoughts about the Scripture. The unfolding of God’s words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130) In other words, I try to help the group leaders to grow in their understanding of the Bible and receive Rhema words from the Holy Spirit. [“A rhema word is a specific word which the Holy Spirit quickens in our hearts and minds at a specific time and for a specific purpose. We receive a rhema word from God when the Holy Spirit specifically reminds us of a particular Bible verse or promise, and drops that “word” into our heart.”- Kenny Gatlin] I often show them an example of how to do this. We often get timely Rhema words from the Holy Spirit in our reading sessions.

Providing a Scripture summary in the first step gives newcomers a good introduction to the Bible. And in the second step, the illumination of the Holy Spirit is a fresh bread of life for mature Christians who may find that a basic introduction of the Bible is not enough for their spiritual growth. Most of them have heard the same Bible stories many times already. After the beginning part led by a man or a woman, we will start to discuss our weekly Bible reading with a Q & A session. Sometimes the leader provides a topic and we write down our thoughts based on the topic; otherwise, we write down questions and discuss them together. The following question is a question that was asked by a new believer. He asked, “Why were the disciples first called Christians in Antioch?”

It seems like a simple question- the answer is that the word “Christian” had a negative meaning in that time.

This question did not contain any inspiration from the Holy Spirit at that moment. It was just about historical knowledge. Since the new believers did not have that knowledge, we explained a bit. We have discussed many questions at this level to help the new believers gain more Bible knowledge.

The next question is why does it say Barnabas “was” a good man. (Acts 11:24) My answer is this. The Bible does not tell what happened to Barnabas after he had a disagreement with Paul. Luke, the author of Acts, was one of Paul’s disciples. Arguments between Christian leaders will often have a strong impact on their followers. It is true today and it was true in Bible times. It is my suspicion that Luke might have known more about Barnabas’s weaknesses than he wrote about here. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is kind; He does not want to mention man’s weaknesses unless they are helpful to later generations. (God recorded various sins as lessons to believers, such as Moses hitting the rock a second time and David’s sin with Bathsheba).

I mentioned in another Bible study that Barnabas’ calling was to help Paul and to bring him center stage. The Bible mentions that only Barnabas accepted Paul when he was converted (Acts 9). It was also Barnabas who went to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch (Acts 11:25-26).

Kindness is also one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If we look closely, we can see that many things were dealt with in the same way in the Bible. I don’t think Barnabas made a huge mistake when he had a disagreement with Paul. But it was his time to leave the stage and let Paul become the leading apostle. God used Barnabas as a transition and his duty had been fulfilled. Another example is John the Baptist ushering in the ministry of Jesus; when Jesus started his ministry, John’s mission was fulfilled.

When this second question was asked, I tried to share some inspiration I received from the Holy Spirit instead of just presenting knowledge. However, it was the last question asked that is the main focus and inspiration we got from this Bible study.

The question was “Was [Peter’s] trance a soul out of body experience or a spirit out of body experience in verse 5?” We were reading the Chinese version of the Bible during our Bible study. The version we used renders the word “trance” as a “soul out of body experience” and it is how “trance” was commonly translated into Chinese. However, this brother saw some comments online in Chinese that this should be translated as a “spirit out of body experience.”

Let me give you another example to illustrate this question better. I heard Pat Robertson answer a question on his program the 700 Club. One listener asked if our soul will go to heaven as well. Pat answered that our soul will not be in heaven as we are a spiritual man. Pat is a respected man of God. However, I don’t agree with his view on this. Our soul is valuable and will enter into heaven. Our soul is so precious that Jesus gave up his soul life to save our souls’ lives. If our soul will not go to heaven, why bother paying such a high price to save our souls? Yes, we are a spirit and we have eternal life in our spirit. But our soul will be transformed just as our body will one day be transfigured. We will become a new tripartite being once we are in Heaven.

I understand this is a controversial topic in American Christianity. But as an example, let me present the value of our souls in dreams and visions. I think we have to use both our spirits and souls to receive revelations through trances, dreams, and visions. Why do I say this?

Let’s talk about the difference between dreams and visions. The book of Daniel says dreams are night visions (Daniel 7:2). Visions include internal visions, or the images from inside your head, and external visions that can be seen by your eyes. I have never experienced external visions, but I experienced internal vision once during the day. In 2013, my wife had new job opportunities open up in different cities. We were seeking God’s guidance on whether we should leave Maryland. One day, we were driving to New York to visit a traditional Chinese medical center. My wife was not able to conceive during that time. On the way to New York, I suddenly saw a flow of water come out from between us and rise in a spiral up to the sky. It was like a tornado. I felt it was God telling us to stay. He later told me that there would be a revival in Maryland and that this revival would spread out from us in the future.

I have also had more prophetic dreams, or night visions. I will give two examples. In one of the prophetic dreams, I took my wife to look for her father in a strange place. We went to a place that looked like a Chinese style temple. The people there were very welcoming. My wife walked inside to look for her father and left me outside talking to an elderly lady at the entrance. I asked the lady where I was: was this place a pagan temple where people worshipped idols or a church type of building? She showed me she was studying a large print Chinese Bible. My father-in-law died from a cerebral hemorrhage suddenly when my wife was in college. I never met him. My wife had some arguments with him before he died. She was not a believer at that time. His sudden passing was very traumatic for her and she worried her father would be in hell. This prophetic dream brought much healing to her heart.

I remembered all the details in the dream after I woke up so I wrote them down. Interestingly, my wife dreamed of her father on the same night. She was so happy to see him in the dream, even though she did not remember other details.

I had another prophetic dream in which a couple from my Bible Study group and I were taken by the Holy Spirit to Heaven. The wife had a big house there. The house was surrounded by grape trees and every tree was fruitful. A grape vine grew on the wall and became one with the wall. We picked some fruit while the wife was showing me around her home. There was a music box on the wall besides the main door that could play beautiful music. I later told this woman of how I was taken to Heaven in this prophetic dream to see her house there. She told me she saw the Lord in one of her dreams around the same time, but she did not see the details I described to her.

As I was telling her what I saw in my dream, I told her that this was possibly a dream about Heaven. The house was her house in Heaven, but not in the world. She was very encouraged. She loves music and listens to music every day. Like my wife, she does not remember any other details from her own dreams, but was encouraged by the details in mine.

 

Unlike the experiences of my wife and this woman, my prophetic dreams (night visions) always come with many details. Apart from praying that God would speak to me through dreams before I sleep every night, I also train myself to wake up and record the dreams immediately once I have them. I sometimes get up a few times to record my dreams because people normally forget dreams in five minutes. The fact that my wife and this woman did not remember much of their dreams does not mean their dreams weren’t prophetic. As I saw in my dreams, they were taken to those places with me. God may allow me to remember these details but sealed the specifics for them. Job 33:14-18 says, “For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.” It is possible that many have dreams but don’t remember and understand them. This happened to both Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar.

Many times people just forget their dreams because they did not write them down immediately. They could also just sleep too deeply to remember what God has been telling them in their dreams. Personally, I have been practicing to keep alert while sleeping and trying to record all the dreams.

Many of our prophetic dreams can be spiritual encounters that are happening in spiritual realms. If our soul is not participating in our dreams, we will not be able to remember anything. The Bible tells us that we were chosen before we were born. This means that our spirit already existed before our soul and body were even created. The Bible also tells us that we have been raised to Heaven with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places (‎Ephesians 2:6). But why do most of us not feel that we are seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places? Most Christians do not have experiences of seeing themselves seated together with Jesus in the heavens, though some have prophesied that it is so. It is because God has not activated our prophetic gift to see this in our spirit. But also our soul is not allowed to remember these experiences even if we experienced them in the spirit. My point is that we must involve both our spirit and our soul to experience what happens in our spiritual encounters.

Joel chapter 2 says the Lord will pour out the Holy Spirit on all flesh, old men shall dream dreams, and young men shall see visions.

Our sleep can be seen as another form of “death.” God took out Adam’s rib to create Eve while he was in a deep sleep. God also spoke to Abraham while he was in a deep sleep. God told him that his descendants would be enslaved for four hundred years in Egypt. Our dreams can be happening in a junction of soul and spirit, as well as in the spiritual and physical worlds.

We need both our spirit and souls to remember the dream. We may have experiences in the spiritual realm, but we need dreams to remember them. Why does God speak to us through dreams? One of the reasons is that we are over occupied during day time and there is interference from the world so that we are not able to hear God clearly. The other reason is that we have worldly responsibilities such as our work. For instance, if God speaks to you or shows you a vision while you are driving, it may cause trouble.

Some Christians in the Charismatic church often practice waiting on the Lord. They wait to hear from God through worshiping, praising, and praying in tongues to exclude external interference so that they are able to see visions. I heard a testimony from an American prophetic teacher when I was taking a prophetic course. He said he often saw visions while waiting on the Lord and became half awake.

One assignment that our teachers gave us during the prophetic course was praying in a quiet place and using our imaginations to see a treasure box that was full of God’s gifts. We were to describe what gifts were in there. I was saved in the Local Church Movement where the focus was more on growing as a Christian and study of the Scriptures. What I learned at this prophetic course was too new for me to understand at first. I was not able to see the box from God at all the first few times I tried. It was during a holiday, but since I was under the pressure of the due date, I decided to kneel down and pray again. After a while, I saw a bed sheet come from Heaven and someone passed me a sword. I recorded this initial vision for my assignment. My teacher was a prophet who advised that the bed sheet represented rest and peace and the sword represented war. She believed that God’s Word for me was to rest in Him; He would give me the weapons I needed to win the spiritual battle.

The reason I am sharing this experience with you is to prove that we are able to connect with the spiritual world, and to show that we can get to know more about the spiritual world through certain prophetic practices. With the prophetic class I took and the help of the Holy Spirit, I gradually opened up more to the spiritual world. Since taking the prophetic classes, I have seen angels and evil spirits, had encounters with Jesus in heaven, and so on. I personally think some of them are real experiences that happened in spiritual realms. They are not only dreams.

What does this have to do with the book of Acts?

Many people have a tendency to focus on the chronicles of Paul or other stories related to evangelism when they read the book of Acts. However, this book also contains miracles, visions, angels, prophecies, and healing which are not discussed at many traditional churches.  However, they play important roles in this book too.

A woman said she could not fully understand most of the context of Acts. For instance, Jesus’s disciples seem weak in the Gospels but they accomplish such great things in the book of Acts.

The focal point in the book of Acts is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can really change a person. As we all know, God formed man of dust from the ground. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of God, and the man became a living soul. The word “breath” can also be translated as “spirit.” Therefore, we can also call our soul the mixture of the spirit of God (or the breath of God) and our flesh. Our first breath was given by God in creation of us, and our second breath will be given by the Holy Spirit when we receive him in our regeneration. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and changes our inner self when we become Christians. And the third breath is the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is not talked about much at some churches. Most of the disciples in the book of Acts have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This experience does give us another level of the breath of God.

Our soul is a form that connects our spirit and our body, so our souls are affected by both our spirit and body. For example, if someone falls down when sick, the physical body affects the soul. Our soul also experiences changes and transformation when our spiritual men are regenerated. Our souls get damaged or even demonized by attacks from evil spirits.  However, there is another kind of change in our soul when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Many churches nowadays are not discussing much about these changes. But there are several examples in the Old Testament, such as Saul who had a life change by the empowering of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says Saul had a new heart and became a different man after the Holy Spirit was upon him. Since this was in the Old Testament, it was not the Holy Spirit in his heart (1 Samuel 10:9). It was the Holy Spirit coming upon him.

I was part of a church that traditionally focused on the growth of our spiritual life. These traditions teach the believers to overcome sin and self through the power of the cross. However, they do not talk about or promote the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I was zealous to pursue spiritual growth and overcome all my sins and weakness through denying myself and practicing bearing my cross. However, I found that many people, including myself, could not overcome certain weaknesses no matter how hard we tried. Later I realized that this was not an area only related to my sins or flesh, but also to the strongholds set up by evil spirits. For example, many Chinese families traditionally worship idols, which brings generational curses to our family lines. In my church background, we did not talk much about deliverance ministries. However, when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I found myself delivered from some of these strongholds or generational curses by the sovereignty of God.

Another story from Randy Clark will also help to illustrate this point. He said he had some sexual sins when he was a young believer. He later repented and regretted his behavior. However, he did not realize he had a need to be delivered from evil spirits until the day he met some deliverance ministers who helped to cast out some demons from him. He then realized it was NOT ONLY his personal weakness in the flesh, but a generational curse or the work of the evil spirits who worked in his family line. He found that many in the past few generations of his family had this similar sexual sin. Once the evil spirits were cast out from him and he went through the deliverance ministries, this generational curse was removed from his family line. He testified that his son and daughters no longer repeat the sins he and his previous family members had committed.

When I reflected on my own experiences, I had much failure in overcoming certain weaknesses or my flesh when I was practicing bearing the cross in my previous denomination. I found myself and many others saying the words, “I was crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) but in reality, we still could not overcome certain issues in our souls. You get to know each other very well once you have been in a local church long enough. You will know many people have never overcome certain issues in their life though they try very hard to bear their crosses. Through my own experiences in both the Local Church Movement and Charismatic churches, I found that both aspects (bearing the cross and the baptism of the Holy Spirit) are needed. As He lives in us, The Holy Spirit can work within us to lead us to experience the cross internally. However, we cannot overlook the fact that the empowering of the Holy Spirit can help us to be free from demons and strongholds when we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We need both the inner working of the Holy Spirit in us and also the empowering of the Holy Spirit upon us. The Holy Spirit will empower us to overcome more of our weaknesses or flesh if we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is not as many people think- that it only empowers us with gifts of the Holy Spirit outwardly to do miraculous things.

You simply cannot leave the Holy Spirit out when you read the book of Acts. You cannot ignore the fact of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You cannot downplay the visions and dreams recorded in the book of Acts. One third of the Bible is about visions and dreams. Many traditional churches do not give room to talk about visions and dreams or the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Teachings and doctrines control the podium instead. This will eventually suffocate the church from having the supernatural experiences recorded in the book of Acts, and even hinder people from growing spiritually in the Lord.

Today, churches are separated by how much they know about the Holy Spirit and how much they are willing to allow the work of the Holy Spirit. We need to give room to the operation of the Holy Spirit and heed the ways that the Holy Spirit uses to convey his message to us. Visions, dreams, and trances are great tools God can use to talk with us. It involves both our spiritual man and our soul to receive this message.

Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 3

Unity and Humility in the Body of Christ.

Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 3

Have you ever wondered why Paul seems to expect Christians to leave behind spiritual childhood, while Jesus expects Christians to become like little children? Paul asked Christians not to be “infants in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1), yet Jesus commanded us all to “turn and become like children” (Matthew 18:3)

Which is it? Does God want us to become mature in Christ, or does he want us to become like little children?

The difference between spirit, soul, and body

To understand the answer to this question, it’s important to understand the difference between the spirit, soul, and body. To grow spiritually, our soul needs to be transformed, but that does not mean our physical self—mind, will, and emotions--remain immature and childish. Our will, along with our IQ and EQ, will continue to grow and develop as we mature.

What is important is for us to maintain “child-like innocence” in our hearts. A person controlled by the Holy Spirit should be very innocent. In other words, Jesus calls for our hearts to remain pure like the heart of a child.

Paul, on the other hand, encourages us to grow and mature, so that we do not remain immature, like an infant. Our souls need to experience transformation and renewal through Christ.

This discussion relates to a correct understanding of the heart, soul, spirit and body, and the ways they are perceived differently by different churches.

In the Local Church Movement (LCM), I was taught that a person has three parts – spirit, soul and body. A person’s soul consists of his mind, emotions and will. A person’s spirit consists of his conscience, fellowship, and intuition. A person’s heart consists of the spirit’s conscience and the soul’s mind, emotions and will.

Whether or not these definitions are complete is a discussion for another time. However, by using these definitions, we can focus the discussion on the difference between spirit and soul.

The founder of the LCM, Watchman Nee, preached that a person has three parts, spirit, soul and body, while other famous preachers from Chinese Churches hold the viewpoint that the spirit and soul are inseparable. One of the most famous preachers who holds such a viewpoint is Indonesian Pastor Stephen Tong. This discussion is present throughout the Western Christian community, where different theologians hold differing viewpoints. However, for today, we will focus on the differences between the teachings of Pastor Stephen Tong’s and those of the LCM.

Pastor Stephen Tong denies the three-part being (spirit, soul and body) and claims that spirit and soul are one. This teaching is more in line with the Chinese culture, and hence more widely accepted by Chinese Christians. Because Chinese culture does not differentiate between spirit and soul, many Chinese Christians have been influenced by this teaching.

 The LCM, on the other hand, believes that Tong’s beliefs are not scripturally sound based on mainly two Bible passages. First, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The original Greek text clearly lists the spirit (‘Pneuma’), soul (‘Psuche’) and body (‘Soma), which are three distinct words in Greek. Second, Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Again, two distinct Greek words, ‘pneuma’ and ‘psuche’, were used to describe spirit and soul. From these two passages, spirit and soul are indeed distinct. 

Pastor Stephen Tong does not agree that Hebrews 4:12 highlights the difference between spirit, soul and body. Instead, he believes that this verse is highlighting the power of God’s word in a metaphorical way. Personally, I tend to agree more with the LCM’s belief on this topic.

Teachings that do not differentiate between the soul and spirit lead believers to identify with their soul but not mature in their spirit. Many first-generation Chinese-American pastors have noticed that first-generation Chinese churches often devolve into a social club, where believers build friendships, share their culture, or even network for business. However, they are often lacking severely in spiritual growth. From my personal observation, this issue may be related to the lack of teaching on the difference between the spirit and the soul.

Watchman Nee’s nephew wrote a biography of his uncle, in which he admits that their teaching on the spirit life is an important strength of the LCM movement. Though the biographer disagrees with the One-City-One-Church principle of LCM, he admires their emphasis on spirit life. He admits that many other Chinese churches tend to be more worldly in their outlook and behaviors.

The LCM is a movement that originated in China but has now spread all over the world. In this discussion, however, I will be mainly referring to the Chinese segment of the LCM movement.

Spiritual exercise

The LCM teaches that we can grow up spiritually and train our spiritual being through “exercising our spirit.” Just like we strengthen our muscles and increase their functionality through physical exercise, we can grow “spiritual muscles” by exercising our spirits.

There are many ways to exercise your spirit. One of the most common ways is to “Call Upon the Name of Jesus” and read God’s word meditatively and prayerfully. After I received Christ, these two methods helped me experience tremendous spiritual growth. However, the reputations of these two methods have been tarnished outside of the LCM. For this reason, people outside the LCM have not had the opportunity to reap the benefits of learning and practicing these spiritual disciplines. At LCM meetings, discussions center around spiritual matters, avoiding the problem of “social club” that many other Chinese American churches are facing. 

Many mainstream American church teachings also adopt the viewpoint that a person has three parts: spirit, soul and body. However, the LCM is unique in several ways. The LCM not only differentiates between spirit and soul, but also between our human spirit and God’s spirit. The LCM is unique in its emphasis of practical ways to exercise and strengthen our spirits. The LCM teaches believers to cleanse their consciences, deal with the flesh, and remove external things that suppress the spirit, thereby achieving breakthrough and growth in the spiritual life. Such an emphasis on exercising the spiritual person is something that I have rarely seen in mainstream American churches. Certain methods of spiritual growth, such as meditation and speaking in tongues, are promoted by preachers in both evangelical and Pentecostal churches in the US; however, the majority of believers in the US do not actually incorporate these practices into their daily lives. However, the LCM helps the believers to put these disciplines into rigorous practice.

 

A very important analogy that we can use to illustrate the LCM’s teaching is that of an apple tree. An apple tree does not need to try hard and exert extra effort to develop apples. It is part of its nature to grow apples. No matter how hard it tries to grow pears, it will not be able to do it.  

However, in the growth process, the tree still needs to be cultivated. If weeds are not removed, fertilizer is not used, and branches are not trimmed, the apple tree will not reach its full potential for producing apples. In the same way, a spirit-filled life can be developed through trimming away things that hinder its natural growth, in order to allow our spiritual growth to reach its full potential. Just like weeds and wilted branches hinder the growth of the apple tree, our sin, guilt, and the flesh hinder our spiritual growth. Through the power of the Cross, we can remove these weeds and live an overcoming life that glorifies God.

Just like the apple tree’s nature is to grow apples, we have Christ’s nature within us, enabling us to live out Christ’s love, light, holiness and righteousness. Hence, we do not need to ‘make extra effort’ to live out these attributes of Christ. But we do need to remove the weeds and wilted branches that hinder the development of the spiritual life.    

Renewal and transformation of the soul

Besides teaching the difference between spirit, soul and body and promoting the exercise of the spiritual man, the LCM also emphasizes the renewal and transformation of the soul. Besides the external factors that can hinder our spiritual growth, such as our sinful, fleshly self, a lot of hindrances also stem from the unrenewed mindset of the soul. As such, the LCM emphasizes the transformation and renewal taught in Romans 12:1. This verse teaches us to offer our bodies as a sacrifice and be transformed through the renewal of our minds.

Difficulties encountered in the soul will ultimately affect our spiritual progress and development. For example, when two brothers fight, their conflict is taking place in their souls. Both men harbor feelings of unforgiveness and the unwillingness to compromise and be united in their minds. However, when both are willing to come before the Lord to pray, they exercise their spirit and are ministered to by the Holy Spirit. As they unite their spirit with God’s, they recognize that the conflict is taking place in their souls. Through prayer, they exercise their spirits and recognize their ability to forgive and accept each other. As each man repents and both reconcile, the issue that they were fighting over gets resolved.

The LCM teaches believers to break free from their natural soul, exercise their spirit, and unite their spirit with the Holy Spirit. Believers in the LCM strongly encourage each other to break free from the natural soul and exercise their spirit-man. It is often said that the soul is the “city of problems,” a place full of problems that are difficult to resolve. However, the spirit is a “city of no problems,” where difficulties faced by the soul can naturally resolve.

Pastor Stephen Tong has sharp criticisms for this belief. He believes the LCM overly emphasizes spirituality, neglecting rationality. “I don’t know when it started,” he says, “but I do know that the Church in China is facing a catastrophe. Reason is seen as part of the soul, emotion is part of the soul, will is part of the soul. Believers are taught to only be spiritual, and to abandon anything related to the soul. So, everything related to thought and rationality is said to be part of the soul! Since the arrival of this catastrophe, intellectuals have left the church. The church is full of fools. The more anti-knowledge and anti-cultural Christians become, the less they are able to gain a reputable standing in the midst of global changes.[1]”

From my personal experience in the LCM, I would counter that the LCM focuses on the transformation and renewal of the soul. The teaching emphasizes that as the spirit grows and changes, its benefits will overflow into the soul for its transformation and renewal. The LCM teaches that transformation in the spiritual realm will naturally lead to renewal of the soul. Hence, to solve problems in the realm of the soul, we would first need to grow in the spiritual life.

The LCM also teaches the removal of hindrances such as earthly sins and worldly distractions, so as to allow for the change of the soul. The LCM focuses on the shepherding  of one’s soul, with special emphasis on helping new believers shepherd their souls and open their hearts to receive the life in the spirit.

The LCM teaches us to deny the natural soul life, since that represents our old life apart from Christ. But it does not teach us to deny the functions of the soul, such as the mind, emotions and will. They teach that the stronger our spiritual life is, the more our souls will be transformed. As we lead a spirit-led life, our thoughts will be clearer, our will stronger, and our emotions more filled with love. In my experience, the LCM has never denied rationality. Instead, they encourage believers to diligently study the Bible and other spiritual books. My personal experience of the LCM does not match Pastor Stephen Tong’s observations. Tong does not paint a full picture of the LCM’s beliefs, and his criticisms are overly harsh. As a result, many Chinese Christians have been discouraged from accepting the good teachings of the LCM.

 

Some drawbacks to the LCM’s teachings

While we can learn a lot from the LCM’s teaching on the spirit and soul, there are limits to the helpfulness of their stance. At times, the LCM neglects the care of the body and soul by over-emphasizing the growth of the spiritual life. For example, the LCM discounts miraculous healings because they believe Charismatics over-emphasize healings to the detriment of spiritual growth. However, many LCM believers struggle with physical pain and do not get the healing that they so desperately need.

For example, my wife and I struggled with infertility for 10 years while in the LCM movement. They were not able to help me in terms of praying for a miracle. I had to seek help from the Charismatic movement. There, through the gifts of healing and prophecy, a divine intervention occurred, and God gifted me a miracle baby.

Although many miraculous healings from the Charismatic movement may be questionable, my years of observation and learning in the Charismatic movement have led me to believe that more real miracles occur in the Pentecostal movement than in evangelical churches. I have personally witnessed and heard of many miracle healings and other miracles in the Charismatic church. God’s word says that “By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The LCM teaches believers to exercise their spiritual muscles, but it does not teach believers to exercise their faith to receive miraculous healings through the word of God. Therefore, their spiritual faith muscles remain underdeveloped, and they see few miraculous healings.

There are many sick believers in the LCM who do not get the help they need, which is a great loss to the LCM. This loss is not restricted to the LCM, but also exists in many other evangelical churches. After I left the LCM and posted a testimony of the miraculous healing God granted me, I received private messages from believers in the LCM who were sick. They were wondering how I received the miraculous healing. While I could not completely help them resolve their issues, most have admitted that the LCM provided limited help in this area of miraculous healing.

Secondly, the LCM also neglects certain areas of the soul. While Pastor Stephen Tong’s criticisms of the LCM were too harsh, he has an important point. They often over-emphasized the spirit.

From what I have observed, there is indeed an issue of over-spiritualizing things in the LCM. While there, I actively read my Bible, exercised my spirit, and sought spiritual growth. I did indeed encounter major changes in my life. However, my pursuit of spiritual growth did not resolve some issues that arose from within the soul.

To a certain extent, the seeking of spiritual growth was an excuse for me to avoid dealing with issues pertaining to the soul. For example, my father and I had issues with expressing our emotions and showing care for others. In my growing up years, I always witnessed my father’s coldness towards others and my mother’s anger towards him. As I imitated him, I also became a cold, unfeeling individual.

After I got married, I realized that the same issue that I’d witnessed between my parents was playing out in my marriage. Arguments between my wife and I often resembled those of my parents. I neglected my wife’s feelings, she became angry, and I felt hurt. This vicious cycle continued unabated in my marriage. Coupled with the inability to conceive, my wife and I went through many trials and difficulties. I tried my best to follow what the LCM taught, to diligently grow spiritually: to pray more, read the Bible more and take up my cross. Although it was helpful, it did not completely resolve our problem. We were then led by God to enter the Charismatic church, where we learned about deliverance ministries (casting out of demons) and inner healing ministries.

These ministries that the LCM neglected have really helped us. First, with the help of the Charismatic church, we were blessed with a miracle baby, who provided much healing in our marriage. Second, the Charismatic church’s teaching about inner healing and casting out demons was very helpful. Through Global Awakening, I took several certified, advanced courses on deliverance, miracle healing, inner healing, and prophetic training. In addition, I read extensively on the topic of inner healing and deliverance ministries. Through practical and hands-on learning experience, I have learned that when we see a cyclical pattern appearing in our lives, repeating through several generations, it is often due to generational curses that require the casting out of demons and inner healing. The Charismatic movement’s focus on inner healing and deliverance ministries is often done together with the gift of prophecy, where servants of God receive supernatural revelations from God to help fellow believers who are plagued with issues pertaining to the soul.

In January 2016, I attended a prophetic conference in Oregon. While there, I prayed for God to speak to me and give me healing as well. At the conference, I met a believer who was a former member of the LCM. She is Korean and had left the LCM and has attended a Charismatic church for many years. She shared that she left the LCM because of their unbelief in current-day miracles. At her Charismatic church, this sister received an obvious gift of healing and a prophetic gift.

I watched her praying for the sick. Rather than asking about the person’s condition, she received revelations from God as she spoke to him in tongues. She prayed for me in the same way. After the prayer, she shared that there was conflict between my father and I that drove us apart, and that I needed to forgive him. She also shared that my father was unable to show his love, not because he did not love me, but because he was being spiritually attacked and was bound by generational curses. She added that because I was called by God, Satan was torturing me by punishing my father, hoping that this would stop God’s call in me. She told me to forgive my father and pray for him, speaking out about the deepest pain in my entire life, which was hidden in my heart. I had never met her before, nor had I mentioned any of these secrets to her before her prayer.

God gradually healed the problems that I was facing. Through receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, deliverance from demons, and healing ministries, God provided the growth that I needed. I would not say that I am completely free of problems, but I do know that I have achieved a breakthrough that I never experienced while in the LCM movement.

Many Christians deny the fact of demon influence in Christians’ lives. Often, the life of Christ in the believer has not permeated throughout our inner being. Demons can take advantage of areas of our life that Christ has not fully occupied. 

In the past, I thought that through reading God’s word, prayer, and exercising my spiritual man, I would be able to resolve all the issues that I faced. While these disciplines are important and useful in achieving growth in my spirit, they had limited effectiveness in resolving the issues in my soul. Issues of the soul must be managed directly, which the LCM is hesitant to do. For example, the LCM does not provide marriage counseling, since it is associated with issues of the soul. Many people in the LCM have diligently pursued spiritual growth, but still struggle in their souls. The LCM does not recognize the importance of ministries that address the struggle of the soul.

For example, the LCM neglects the gift of prophecy, which can effectively minister to the soul. (The LCM does focus on the forth-telling aspect of prophecy, but they do not believe in foretelling the future through prophecy.) In the Charismatic movement, the gift of prophecy is not restricted to predicting what is to come, but also includes visions, dreams, and revelations, helping believers understand the hidden difficulties of their souls. A minister from the LCM shared that in his many years of prophesying (in a forth-telling way), he has never witnessed a scene similar to the one depicted in 1 Corinthians 14:25, where “the secrets of his heart is disclosed, and so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.” However, this is a common sight in the Charismatic movement. Many times, I’ve seen a brother fall on his face crying as the secrets of his heart are shared through prophecy.

I spent many years in the LCM, where I grew spiritually, increased my Bible knowledge, and received much loving help from many brothers and sisters in Christ. However, I never have met anyone who helped me like the Korean sister in Christ who revealed the secret hidden in my heart. Many in the LCM could benefit greatly from her gift if they were open to it. Many LCM believers continue to bury their problems under the guise of pursuing spiritual growth. Neglected bodily ailments can also negatively affect some believer’s spiritual growth.

Randy Clark of Toronto Blessings further illustrates the importance of prophetic and deliverance ministries. Randy shared that several generations of men in his family have been involved in promiscuity and other sexual sins. He also sinned in this area, even after accepting Christ as his savior. Even though he had repented, he did not recognize a need to cast out a demon from his life.

Eventually, he met some believers with the gift of casting out demons. Through revoking the generational curses and casting out the demons, the spirit of promiscuity was chased away from his household. He then recognized that generational sin in his family was not a coincidence or his own weakness, but a generational curse. He testified that his son and daughters are not continuing in this generational pattern of sin.

Another time, at the Toronto Blessing conference, a sister in Christ was unwilling to open up and share her heart, and Randy felt like his prayer was going nowhere. Another prophet, Larry Randolph, offered to give it a try. When Larry started praying, he used the gift of prophecy to speak of what the sister in Christ was keeping inside. As a result, this sister opened her heart and received the encouragement of Randy’s ministry. These two examples convinced Randy Clark to strongly promote the ministry of casting out demons and prophecy and to create courses to train others in these areas. I have learned a lot from his courses.

In addition, LCM has the tendency to lean towards over-spiritualizing. The LCM denies the physical aspect of heaven, teaching that heaven is a spiritual new Jerusalem, a mutual dwelling place for God and men. After my prophetic gift was activated in 2015, I experienced many visions of heaven, where I have seen architecture with glass, libraries, animals, gardens, many different types of transportation, various houses, fruits and vegetables that are found in heaven. Combining what I have read with the heavenly accounts of other prophets such as Choo Thomas, Kat Kerr and Lai-Wang Xiulan, I realize heaven is a real world, with mountains, seas, plants, houses, activities and gatherings. Heaven contains all the wonderful things of earth. It is not a purely spiritual realm with no physical things. Based on the words of Kat Kerr, heaven is unlike what people think. Many people think of it as flat, but it is round, like earth—just way bigger than the entire galaxy. In my prophetic encounters of heaven, I often saw different sizes of houses: some were small, and some were large. Kat Kerr believes the sizes of our heavenly homes are determined by how we live for Christ on this earth.

 

The LCM also tends towards speaking in absolutes. Pastor Tong shares his critique of the movement: “The faults of the LCM can be summarized in this way: they speak in absolutes about things that are often not absolute.”[2]

Personally, I came to know Christ through a LCM church and have been blessed tremendously by them. I may be emotionally biased towards the LCM. I do believe Tong’s criticism of them is overly harsh and that he fails to take into consideration the positive teachings there. For example, the LCM invited Pastor Stephen Tong to study their teachings in greater detail, and to have a conversation with the LCM. However, Pastor Stephen refused this invitation. Pastor Stephen Tong made some sarcastic comments about the LCM and was reluctant to humble himself, converse with the LCM, and better understand them. He said that if the first bite tasted bad, he did not need to take a second bite. The LCM’s attempts to dialogue with Tong have not reaped positive results.

While I cannot completely agree with Pastor Stephen Tong’s criticism toward the LCM, I can admit that they have the tendency to perceive things in an absolute manner. The LCM is unwilling to accept the teachings of other Churches, and often does not venture beyond the framework of Watchman Nee’s and Witness Lee’s teachings. After leaving the LCM and joining the Charismatic movement, I have learned many new Bible truths, which helped me grow in areas that the LCM is weak in.

For example, the LCM speaks in absolutes about Christmas. It teaches believers not to celebrate this holiday, since the Christmas holiday originated in the worship of the sun god. They also teach that Jesus was not born in December. The shepherds would not have been out in the field during the middle of December, so Christmas is not the right time of year to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Other churches may concur with them on this point.

However, according to Choo Thomas’ book, “Heaven is So Real,” Jesus celebrated Christmas with her when he appeared to her. Also, American Prophet, Kat Kerr, had thousands of encounters in heaven, where she witnessed the presence of a Christmas town in heaven. In the town, Saint Nicholas was stationed to welcome children who wished to meet Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas used to give children gifts on Christmas, and the legend of Santa Claus is based on his life.

I attempted to share such testimonies with believers attending the LCM churches, but they usually reply with a standard answer: “We speak only of the Bible in the LCM.” The LCM is unable to accept prophetic and spiritual gifts; thus, they would rarely accept such testimonies. However, while these testimonies are not from the Bible, they do not deviate from the Bible. In other words, it is extra-biblical but not unbiblical. Those who have been truly saved will one day see for themselves what heaven is like. God has prepared a real world for believers in heaven.

Through these two examples about Christmas and heaven, we can see that the understanding of the LCM is limited. All of us have limited understanding, and we need to have humble hearts so we can learn and accept what God wants to communicate to us through other believers and other ministries. When we are unwilling to openly learn from others what God has in mind for us, we are unknowingly perpetuating factions amongst believers. We are claiming, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12).

I love my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from the LCM, and I know that they follow the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee out of reverence for God, rather than idolizing these two men. Many Chinese churches criticize the LCM for idolizing Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, which the LCM denies.

Many churches also criticize the LCM for being the most closed-up faction of Christians. The LCM denies it is a faction of its own. However, when we are unwilling to learn from others, we are naturally creating factions among believers. In effect, they are claiming, “I follow Watchman Nee” or “I follow Witness Lee.”

Similarly, many brothers and sisters in Christ from many other Chinese churches are not open to receiving the teachings of the LCM. Due to criticism from famous preachers such as Pastor Stephen Tong, many do not try to understand what God has given us through the LCM, nor do they try to understand the helpful practices that they teach. This is also equivalent to saying, “I follow Pastor Stephen Tong” or “I follow XXX preacher”. I know that there are many Chinese churches that are against the teachings of the LCM and those of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, especially Witness Lee. However, things are not as simple as they seem. I admit Witness Lee is not perfect, but I have learned a lot from his teachings.

We need to “rightly explain the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), objectively understanding and analyzing God’s word and the teachings of his servants, including Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. It is not wrong to be critical of their teachings. While I do not agree with Pastor Stephen Tong’s criticism, I do think he has the right to criticize.

Besides criticizing the LCM, Pastor Stephen Tong is also critical of the Charismatic church. Historical differences, as well as conflict between the LCM, the Charismatic church, and other Chinese evangelical churches, have prevented the uniting of the Chinese Church as one. After identifying the issues at hand, the Chinese Churches should learn to accept the differences and learn from each other, thus unifying the Chinese Church as one. Adopting a punitive, critical approach will not solve the issues.

God has indeed used the LCM to teach much truth related to spiritual growth. However, if we do not critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of the LCM, many people outside may treat them as heretical and refuse to listen to their teachings. As a result, believers like you and me will suffer.

In 2015, God led me to learn from the Charismatic movement. I have discovered that the teachings of the Charismatic Church and those of the LCM can complement each other. My doctoral thesis at the United Theological Seminary discussed this very point. Not only can the Charismatic Church and the LCM help each other, but other Chinese evangelical churches can also benefit from learning from the Charismatic Church and the LCM.

For example, the Charismatic church has been criticized for its over-emphasis on gifts and for neglecting the teaching about growth in holiness. This is precisely the area where LCM can be of assistance. The LCM can complement the Charismatic church by teaching on spiritual growth and holiness. However, many Chinese Charismatics have been influenced against Witness Lee by Steven Tong and others. They perceive Witness Lee and the LCM as heresy. Thus, they are not open to his teaching, and they miss out on an important opportunity to grow in their spiritual lives.

 

God has given me many revelations and visions of revival in China. In order for China to usher in this great revival, Chinese Christians need to be unified, especially on doctrinal beliefs. The LCM, Charismatic churches, and other evangelical churches need to work through their historical differences and doctrinal deviations. I believe that we need to work for unity so God can usher in the revival of the church in China.

Spirit and Soul

Pastor Stephen Tong discussed the issue of the soul and the spirit. He said, “The LCM attributes the mind, will, and emotions to the human ‘soul.’ May I ask for a scripture reference that backs up this point? There is no Biblical text that supports such a theological theory. To say that reason, emotion, and will are in the ‘soul,’ and that the spirit is not the same as the soul, is completely out of line with the Bible’s teachings. God is a spirit. Does God have reason, emotion, and will? Does God have a soul? If reason, emotion, and will are in the soul, and if God is a spirit, does God lack reason, emotion, and will?

“In reality,” Tong continues, “God not only has reason, emotion, and will, but his will determines his decrees. God's decrees come from his will, God's love comes from his emotions, and the truth of God's revelation comes from his reason. Therefore, God is the source of reason, the source of emotion, and the source of will. God is not a soul, but a spirit.”[3]

 

Pastor Stephen Tong rejects the separation of soul and spirit, but his argument above is illogical. We will not discuss whether God has a soul. However, humans, as God’s creation, do have a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Even though we were formed in the image of God, we are not God. Even if God is a spirit, and not a soul, that does not prove that human souls do not have reason, emotions and will.

We have a spiritual body within our physical body. People with prophetic gifts often have the prophetic experience of seeing their spiritual body walking outside of their physical body. Many prophets testify they have seen a spiritual body leave a person’s physical body at the moment of his or her death. They saw that these spiritual bodies have arms and legs, just like the physical body.

Likewise, there is a spiritual person in our soul-person, and the spiritual person may have the same function as the soul-person. Our spiritual man may also have mind, emotion and will, just as our soul has. Just as we are shadows of God, our souls are the shadows of our spirits. Kat Kerr shared that God clearly told her that his omnipresence has many “layers.” Similarly, humans have many “layers,” just as our soul does. Many prophets have the experiences of being transported. When they are asleep or in a trance or vision, their souls (not just their spirits) are brought to other places to minister. (Philip was even taken into other places physically.) These events take place not only in their spirits, but also in their souls. The mind in our soul recorded these experiences in dreams or visions. I have experienced similar situations multiple times in prophetic dreams. If a human’s soul can have many different “layers” that can enter different dimensions of time and space, I suppose there are even more “layers” in a person’s spirit, which function similarly. For example, when I am sleeping and having a prophetic dream, I could be brought to a different place, to testify to others about my testimony of having a miracle baby. Not only can I speak to an audience, I can also interact with them, and even see their tears. This is not just a dream, but my spirit and soul being brought to different places to testify. Hence, prophets can shed light on truths that were never known before. Possibly, when a person’s spirit matures, more layers can be developed. I understand it is still a mystery to us, just like no one knows where our spirit dwells, even though we all know we have a spirit.

However, practically speaking, it is difficult to separate soul and spirit, especially for less mature Christians. A seed contains the life of a tree inside just one seed. The seed can be said to have many “layers,” but is has not fully developed. Paul explained that “The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.” (1 Corinthians 2:15). He also said, “But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually” (1 Corinthians 2:14, Recovery Version).

Some Chinese versions of the Bible translate this verse as “soulish man,” but since English does not have a category for “soulish man,” most English translations say, “Natural person.” However, in the original Greek, the word “Soul” modifies the word “man.”

While we cannot fully or clearly split the soul and spirit, it is important for us to learn and understand the differences between the two. This is something that Pastor Stephen Tong and many other Chinese preachers have missed, which I believe is a major cause of the tendency towards creating a “social club” in the church. It is a mystery for us to divide the spirit and soul, but we know for sure soul and spirit can be and should be separated in our spiritual experiences.

Both the LCM and Charismatic churches, as well as other evangelical churches, preach on the difference between soul, spirit and body. For example, a leader of the Modern Faith Movement, Kenneth Copeland, said, “We are a spirit, we have a soul, we live in a body.” He also focuses on teaching believers to receive healing and develop their faith through the Word of God.

John Sandford is a Charismatic leader who specializes in casting out demons and prophecy. He is also a pioneer in deliverance ministries. He has a strong prophetic gift and was considered a prophet in Charismatic circles. Often, in the process of casting out demons and inner healing, he receives prophetic revelations from God. He uses these revelations to help those who are suffering to receive inner healing and be free from demons. He can use his prophetic gift to pinpoint a hidden, secret problem in the soul or find out what demons are inside.

Jon Sandford has coined a term, “the slumbering spirit.” Through his many years of ministry in casting out demons and inner healing, John Sandford has learned about the important relationship between a person’s spirit and soul. When a child is young, if the child does not get sufficient affection, his spirit will not be able to develop. His emotions and thoughts (in his soul) will develop abnormally. Hence, in his ministry of healing and casting out demons, Sandford would first awaken the slumbering spirit in people, connect with them through their spirit, and slowly awaken their heart and emotions. Then he would be able to heal them. A lot of research has shown that when orphans who live in the orphanage do not receive sufficient hugs, their emotional and mental development is hindered. With sufficient hugs and through allowing them to experience God’s love in their spirit, their spirit would slowly become complete.

Sandford realized that if people only settled issues of the soul and did not resolve issues of the spirit, it would be challenging to resolve the issues of the soul. This point is similar to the teachings of the LCM, which teaches believers to exercise their spirit and receive God’s divine life to renew the soul. However, the LCM misses out on other aspects of John Sandford’s teachings, which is using the prophetic gift to reveal the innermost hidden problems of the human soul.

Issues relating to the soul are often messy, but God is all-knowing. Through the practice and development of the gift of prophecy, we can work with God to resolve the issues pertaining to the soul.

A Korean prophet prophesied over me, saying that God wanted to use me to bring healing to people’s spirits, souls, and bodies. He has given me a holistic, wholesome healing ministry. I respond to God’s call with a hearty, “Amen,” since God has allowed me to experience this kind of healing in the spirit, soul and body. I want to help others receive the same healing.

My father had challenges in building relationships and expressing emotion, which also hindered my own emotional development. Even though I actively pursued spiritual growth and Bible reading in the LCM, they never offered help in the area of emotional development. However, the Charismatic movement’s teaching and practice on inner healing, deliverance ministries, prophecy and the encounters with God, brought a greater breakthrough in these areas. My wife and I had a miracle baby, which provided tremendous healing for us emotionally.

The LCM focuses on the three-part distinction of spirit, soul and body. It emphasizes the exercise of the spirit and the soul’s renewal and transformation but does not focus on physical healing or inner healing and deliverance ministries. While the LCM focuses on the impact of spiritual growth on the soul, it does not focus on recognizing and resolving issues in the soul. It lacks tools in helping people resolve these issues.

The LCM also lacks in knowledge and practice pertaining to the gift of prophecy. Pastor Stephen Tong may be right that the LCM over-spiritualizes things, but his own complete denial of the separation of soul and spirit has also affected many believers negatively. His teachings lead to a lack of understanding of the difference between soul and spirit, a lack of spiritual growth and exercise, and the lack of assistance with issues in the soul. My personal experience of the LCM, my interaction with believers influenced by Tong, my subsequent experience with the Charismatic church, Randy Clark’s testimony on the gift of prophecy and casting out demons, and the teachings of John Sandford have all influenced and shaped my beliefs. These examples show that there are things to learn from the LCM, the Evangelical Church, and the Charismatic Church.

Paul reproached the Corinthian believers for claiming to “belong to Paul, belong to Apollos, belong to Cephas.” At the end of 1 Corinthians 3, Paul writes, “So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).

I prayed through this verse meditatively, as taught by the LCM, and the Spirit gave me an inspiration. The Holy Spirit impressed on my heart the words “so let no one boast in men. For all things are yours.” The Holy Spirit highlighted the word “for” in the verse. The reason why we say that “we belong to Paul, we belong to Apollos or, we belong to Cephas” (and the modern Chinese churches equivalent, “we belong to Watchman Nee, we belong to Witness Lee or we belong to Pastor Stephen Tong,” etc.), is because we have not recognized that “all things are yours.”

All things are God’s. All God’s things are for us, and we should be thankful to receive these blessings. Later, when talking about food sacrificed to idols, Paul instructed believers to receive all food from God with thanksgiving. Every denomination has received certain aspects of God’s truth. We must practice these aspects of truth, not so our denomination can be superior to others, nor so we can put down another denomination. Instead, we should be filled with gratitude and humility and seek to learn from one another. We should not flippantly judge others as heretics. We should not assume that we ourselves are completely right while others are completely wrong.

The Holy Spirit impressed upon me that we should not revere people. Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, the future--all belong to us, who belong to Christ, who belongs to God. Everything works together for the good of those who love God.

In the same way, Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, Pastor Stephen Tong—all of these belong to us, and we should learn from each of them. We belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. God has raised up different shepherds and servants, just like He has raised up Paul and Apollos. Each of us are called to different ministries by God. Some are called to plant seeds, some to water, and some to teach God’s word, all for the good of believers.

If we recognized “the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints” (Ephesians 3:18), we would not be tempted to revere or idolize any man. They all have limitations. However, each of them plays apart in God’s kingdom. We should help each other for the benefit of those who love God. If we recognize the goodness of what God wants to share with us through others, we will be able to grow in Christ and not remain spiritually immature.

Some remain immature spiritually, because they only accept the teachings of their own denomination instead of learning from others in other ministries. Just like cross-pollination increases the quality of the plants and flowers, “cross-pollination” in the church would help us mature in our spiritual lives. We need to overcome the differences between denominations and learn from each other, so we can leave spiritual infancy far behind.

In this message, I have shared about the LCM, the Charismatic church, and other Chinese evangelical churches. We all need to be humble and learn from each other. Many readers or listeners may not be familiar with these three denominations that I have mentioned or with the Chinese church at large. But they can still agree with the principles of humility and unity.

In a prophetic dream, the Lord showed two rivers flowing towards convergence. While the Lord did not specify which two rivers these are, I believe that in our generation, different denominations or streams are going to come together, just like river waters that flow towards the ocean. In this way, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Let us humble ourselves to learn from others in the body of Christ!

 

 

[1] https://congfang.com/2826/

[2] https://congfang.com/2826/

[3] https://congfang.com/2826/

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 19

God’s Purification System

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 19

After God’s discipline on Korah and others (Numbers 16), His warning to the Israelites through the budding of Aaron’s rod (Numbers 17), and His command to Aaron and his sons to bear the iniquity involving their priesthood (Numbers 18), we can see that the content of Numbers 19 explains how to use water to cleanse the impurity of the Israelites.

The Symbolic Significance of Cleansing Rituals

The design and objects of the tabernacle in the Old Testament are very good pictures of our New Testament spiritual experience. For example, we know that the Israelites used the bronze altar to offer sacrifices for their sins. There, in front of the tabernacle, they were forgiven by God. In the New Testament, this represents that Christ is our sin offering to reconcile us with God.

Another item in front of the tabernacle was the laver. This is where the priest washed himself so that he could enter and serve in the sanctuary. In the New Testament, this represents our experience of "washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (ESV, Titus 3:5) and "washing of water with the word" (ESV, Ephesians 5:26). The symbols in the Old Testament and the reality in the New Testament tell us that after we experience salvation, we must undergo further renewal and changes before we can be priests and serve God. We must reconcile with God, experience redemption, and cleanse ourselves in order to serve Him.

Numbers 19 makes this point clear. God’s purpose in leading the Israelites out of Egypt and allowing them to experience trials in the wilderness was not only to save them and free them from Pharaoh's yoke, but also to make them holy. He wanted them to become His royal priests. The Book of Numbers describes how God trained the Israelites in the wilderness. They constantly had to free themselves from the residual impact of Egypt. As they were changed by God’s holy nature, he fashioned them into a holy kingdom of priests.

If we understand this background, it will help us better understand the picture in Numbers 19. The Lord told Moses and Aaron to prepare a red heifer without defect, on which a yoke has never come (ESV, Numbers 19:2). Speaking of red heifers, I remembered a story shared by a Christian brother. He read an article saying that the Israelites successfully bred red heifers and offered them according to the requirements of the Bible. The article said that this red heifer has been lost for many years, but has recently been bred successfully. I did not check the authenticity of this story, and this is not the focus here.

Instead, we want to focus on the spiritual significance of the red heifer as a sacrifice. After the red heifer is burned, the ashes of the heifer must be gathered and be kept for the purification water. This is a sin offering (ESV, Numbers 19:9). Whoever touches a dead body or something unclean should use this water to cleanse themselves. Verse 12 (ESV) says, “He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. ”

We do not interpret the Bible word by word. Instead, we record the questions we ask when we are reading the Bible and the inspiration we receive from the Holy Spirit when answering the questions. A man in our study asked, “Why does verse 12 say that you must cleanse yourself on the third and on the seventh day, otherwise you will be unclean? What does this mean? What if they do not follow the prescribed time schedule, would there be no ashes of the heifer at that time?”

The Bible does not mention a problem with regards to the availability of the ashes of the heifer, so we assume that there is no situation in which the ashes are unavailable. Instead, the people who did not follow the prescribed time schedule for cleansing would have to pay a great price. Verse 13 says that those who did not cleanse themselves must be cut off from the Israelites. It seems that this is a very serious matter.

The Bible also describes other situations in which an individual would become unclean. Someone who touches a dead body or even bones in the open field would become unclean (Numbers 19:16). These people also must cleanse themselves on the third and on the seventh day; on the seventh day he would be clean (Numbers 19:19). Those who didn’t cleanse themselves would be cut off (Numbers 19:20).

This man said, “Why is the timing of the third and seventh day so important?” First of all, this is God’s rule for Old Testament rituals. But we can also draw an analogy to our current-day experience as Christians. The third day represents resurrection because the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day. The number seven is the number of perfection, indicating completeness. The seventh day represents a period of completion. God has given us a period of time in which to cleanse ourselves. Maybe after this period, we will have missed our opportunity. We often refer to the grace period, a metaphor which points to the special period of salvation and repentance that God has given. When the Lord Jesus comes again or when the Millennium Kingdom comes, the perfect time to be saved may have passed.

How do these Old Testament truths remind us of our everyday experience as Christians? The burning of the red heifer to ashes signifies the death of Christ (Hebrews 9:13-14). He died to accomplish our salvation. Mixing the ashes of the red heifer with water to create a purification water reminds us of the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit after we believed in the Lord (Titus 3:5). The Lord Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago. He does not need to be crucified again for everyone to be saved. He was the sacrifice of God once for all, just like this red heifer. His salvation is represented by the ashes of the red heifer. They are mixed with water (representing the Holy Spirit) before they can be applied to people for cleansing.

After a person is saved, he needs to continue to experience the cleansing work and renewal of the Holy Spirit. We must avoid contact with dead things in order to maintain our cleanliness before God and maintain an uninterrupted fellowship with Him. If we do come into contact with dead things, we need to cleanse ourselves by experiencing afresh the salvation accomplished by the Lord Jesus on the cross. The Holy Spirit cleanses us and restores our fellowship with God. Otherwise, our fellowship with God will be broken. Although we will not be cut off from God, we will lose our intimate fellowship with the Lord in the spirit.

Brother Witness Lee, one of the founders of the Local Church Movement, gave an example of this very truth. He said that when he was serving in a church in Shanghai, he often took a bus from one church in Shanghai to another. Both of these churches are in Shanghai, but in different places. As he travelled, he started to casually read some advertisements on the bus. At first, he ignored them because of their inappropriate and unclean content. But by the time he arrived at the other church, he felt that his spirit had been defiled. When he preached, he felt that he was not in the presence of the Holy Spirit. So he learned his lesson. When he took the bus again, he closed his eyes and prayed, contemplating the word of God. When he arrived at the other church, he found himself filled with the Holy Spirit. He also found that he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit when he was preaching.

This is an important story. Although we are not defiled by literal dead bodies like the Israelites in the Old Testament, our spirit can be defiled through contact with unclean things. For example, how many Christians find that they stumble spiritually and lose their power to pray after watching worldly TV programs? If you have had such an experience, you have been defiled by your contact with dead things, and you need God’s cleansing.

How do we experience spiritual cleansing?

First, we must avoid defilement. The world we live in is full of filthy and spiritually dead things. Much of the news we see every day is full of false and filthy things. If we watch too much news without thinking critically about what we see and hear, our minds will be defiled. After our mind is defiled, it will gradually affect our emotions and our will, tempting us to love the world and not God. It will also weaken our will and we will lose our ability to passionately love God. These things will gradually penetrate our spirits, making us weak and prone to stumbling.

Many Christians pray for direction, but they still don’t know understand God’s leading. Their natural soul (personality) and their spirit (connection with God) are tangled together in a mess. They can’t distinguish between the voice of the soul and the voice of the spirit. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (ESV) If we want to hear the voice of God, our soul needs to become quiet. If our flesh is too active and our minds are filled with external noise, our spirits will be unable to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is the defilement by the dead. Our soul and spirit become indistinguishable from each another and our fellowship with the Lord in the spirit is cut off.

The second way we can experience cleansing is to eliminate the influence of filthy things in our lives. After we eliminate external noise and the influence of filthy things from the outside world, we need to further cleanse these influences out of our souls. For example, if you have seen a filthy picture, you may not look at it again next time. But this picture may still be imprinted on your mind and continue to affect your soul. You need the ashes of the red heifer, representing the blood of Christ and the cross. In addition to the red heifer, the purification mixture also contained cedarwood, which represents the noble humanity of Christ. In addition, the mixture contained hyssop (represents the humility of Christ), and scarlet yarn (represents the salvation through Christ) (vs. 6). The ashes have many components and are full of Christ's redemptive power, but water (represents the Holy Spirit) must be added in order to manifest the redemptive effect. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot experience the reality of salvation.

 

God’s Ready-Made Cleansing Solution

This red heifer used for purification must be pure and unblemished, a heifer on which a yoke has never come (Numbers 19:2). This pure heifer represents Christ, our flawless lamb. The priest Eleazar dipped his finger into the blood of the bull and sprinkled some of it seven times in front of the tabernacle. Then people burned the ox before his eyes, and added the cedarwood, hyssop and scarlet yarn mentioned above. Verse 7 specifically mentions that the priest would wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and be unclean until night. The one who burned the heifer would also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and be unclean until night (Numbers 19:8). Afterwards, a man who is clean would gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. The ashes were kept for the water for impurity; it is a sin offering (ESV, Numbers 19:9). The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer would wash his clothes and be unclean until evening (ESV, Numbers 19:10). The priest, the one who burned the heifer, and the one who gathered the ashes of the heifer were all unclean. This shows that because the ashes of the red heifer were a sin offering, they had replaced the people’s sins and were therefor sinful. When these temple workers came into contact with sinful things, they would naturally become unclean.

After the ashes of the red heifer were combined with fresh water (Numbers 19:17), it was filled with cleansing power. This cleansing water points to a spiritual reality in the New Testament. The redeeming power of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, provides us with cleansing. We should allow the Holy Spirit to release Christ’s redeeming power in us through our prayers, so that we can receive complete cleansing.

Traditional Chinese medications are boiled and distilled from many Chinese herbal plants. These different Chinese herbs have many different components, and each component has a different therapeutic effect. After being boiled and refined, the pharmacy will make them into granules. When I take the medicine, I dissolve it in water so I can drink it. I often find that cold water has a hard time dissolving the granules, so I add hot water to dissolve them. After I drink the dissolved granules, the effects of the ingredients in these traditional Chinese medicines will be broken down in my body and play a therapeutic role.

The fresh water in this chapter is like the hot water in this illustration. The ashes of the red heifer can be compared to the traditional Chinese medicine granules. When the ashes are mixed with fresh water, it has a therapeutic effect, like the dissolved granules.

God’s salvation and cleansing power are all contained in the ashes of the heifer, but we need fresh water, signifying the Holy Spirit, to release the therapeutic effects of the ashes of the heifer, the cedarwood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. In Psalm 51, David requests that the Lord use hyssop to cleanse him from sin. In the same way, Rahab, the prostitute, was saved because of scarlet yarn. The benefits of these beautiful illustrations will be released to us through the application of the Holy Spirit.

The red heifer has already been burned, and the ashes have already been made. The Chinese medicine has already been boiled and refined, and the Chinese medicine granules are ready-made. God has already accomplished salvation through Jesus Christ, and His salvation is prepared. For our convenience, God’s salvation comes to us ready-made. But we need to release these effects through the work of the Holy Spirit.

The third and seventh day also have an important spiritual significance. The third day represents Christ's resurrection from the dead, accomplishing our salvation. He has already prepared the ashes of the red heifer. We can use them anytime to cleanse ourselves.

In Christ, all believers have participated in dying and rising with Christ on the third day. Therefore, all those who have been chosen by God have experienced the cleansing of Jesus in their spirit. But we also need to cleanse ourselves on the seventh day. If we sin after being saved, we need to repent at the right time. Otherwise, our sin will bring regret.

The seventh day representing a deadline from God is just my personal understanding; it’s not the most important thing in this passage. What is important is that we make the most of every opportunity and lose no time in cleansing ourselves.

Discerning God’s voice

In the recent US elections, some Christians supported Trump, saying he was chosen by God. Other Christians said that they also received revelation from God saying they should choose Biden. Sometimes, Christians can be very confused by these differences in opinion. Does God say different things to different Christians? I said to myself, “No, one of the two groups of Christians must be mistaken in this area.”

The results of the election will eventually come to light, but this is a good opportunity to learn to verify the voice of the Holy Spirit. I tend to believe the prophecies of those who thought that Trump was chosen by God. But the media in the United States has presented a different side to the story. I personally think that many people in the media are under the influence of the evil spirits in the air, bombarding believers with false information and spiritual death. We must use spiritual discernment to learn to cleanse ourselves and to keep away from dead things.

Such a situation is described in the book, The Final Quest, by the American prophet Rick Joyner. He saw a discouraged army of God. The crows, which were evil spirits, flew over their heads and spewed filthy things, deceiving the army of God. When Rick Joyner observed this situation in his prophetic vision, he thought that if the armies of God had wielded the swords in their hands, they could have killed the crows flying overhead. Instead, they put the swords in the ground. In another prophetic vision, Rick Joyner saw a massive enemy army coming against him. But when it got closer, he saw there were many Christians among their ranks. The Christians were deceived by the enemy and had joined the enemy's army to attack God. One of the two sides is deceived by Satan, and we must pray for God’s wisdom to make sure we are not fighting against the will of God.

This prophetic vision is a good reminder for us. If we come into contact with spiritually dead things and do not cleanse ourselves, we may lose our intimate fellowship with God. More importantly, we may even be deceived by the enemy to become one of his tools in attacking God. Let us pray and search his word for wisdom as we live in these difficult times.

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 15

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 15

Levels of Spiritual Growth

In Numbers 15, God gives instructions to Moses about the different levels of sacrifices they were to offer to God after they entered the Promised Land. In this passage, the Israelites are still in the wilderness. The last chapter told the story of Joshua, Caleb, and the twelve evil spies, and how God disciplined those who did not have any faith. At the beginning of Numbers 15, the Lord tells Moses how the Israelites should offer sacrifices after they arrive in the Promised Land. Later, the chapter tells two additional stories. The first story is about a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day and was stoned to death. The second story records God’s commands to add blue tassels and cords to their garments so they can remember the Lord’s commands. The next chapter, Numbers 16, tells the story of Korah’s rebellion.

The difference between the different levels of sacrifices lies in the amount of fine flour, oil and wine, and in the size of the animals used. Basically, the larger the animal is to be sacrificed, the more fine flour, oil and wine will be used.

The first level of sacrifices is recorded in verses 4-5. A lamb and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour are presented as an offering. One ephah is about 22 liters in today’s measurements. The people were to offer about 2.2 liters of fine flour. A quarter of a hin of oil, which is about 3.66 liters, would also be offered. A quarter of a hin is about 0.915 liters. These two were to be mixed as a grain offering. Finally, a quarter of a hin of wine, which is 0.915 liters, must also be prepared.

The sacrificial system represented salvation, so these lambs represent Christ’s sacrifice for us. The salvation of Christ remains the same for each person, but the degree to which we personally experience his salvation different. The lamb (meaning “young ram” in Hebrew) of the first level, the ram of the second level, and the bull of the third level represent salvation. Depending on their willingness and ability, Israelites brought differing sacrifices to God. However, if the size of the animal sacrifices they offered was different, the amount of fine flour, oil and wine would also be different.

Animals, fine flour, oil, and wine all represent Christ. It’s just that they represent different aspects of Christ. Animals represent the salvation of Christ; the fine flour represents the humanity of Christ; oil represents the Holy Spirit of Christ, and wine represents the uplifting power of Christ's life. For example, the Lord is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The fine flour is made by grinding wheat, and Christ is a grain of wheat that falls into the earth to die for us (ESV, John 12:24). Therefore, the fine flour represents the death of Christ on the cross and his sacrifice for humanity. Oil represents the Holy Spirit. This is widely recognized by Christians, so there’s no need to say more. Wine represents uplifting people's lives. The Lord Jesus turned water into wine, bringing joy to the wedding guests. Like the good Samaritan, who bandaged the wounds of the man attacked by robbers by pouring oil and wine on them, Jesus brings healing to our souls. There are many more examples of how these elements represent Christ, but these will suffice.

The second level of sacrifice is recorded in verses 6-7. The animal offered here is a ram, which is a bit bigger than a lamb (or young ram). Spiritually, it represents a greater experience of Christ’s redemption. Let me repeat, Christ’s redemption is the same for everyone. But you can continue to experience Christ’s redemption in new and greater ways. At this stage, you have to offer two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, (4.4 liters), a third of a hin of oil and a third of a hin of wine (1.22 liters). Not only did the amount of flour increase, but the amount of oil and wine also increased.

This represents the different stages of God's salvation and the filling of the Holy Spirit that we experience. When you are first saved, you rejoice that you will not go to hell. You start reading the Bible, going to church meetings, and praising the Lord. When you praise the Lord, the sacrifice you offer is like the lamb or young ram. The amount of change, and the amount of Christ’s redemption that you experience is still very limited. At first, you didn't seem to feel any different about the bad things you used to do before you trusted Christ. When you became a believer, you suddenly realized these things are wrong. But the experience of Christ's tender humanity is not enough. You don’t manifest the life of Christ in your own life as much as you would like to.

But God is patient with you as a new believer. The elders in the church are also tolerant of you, and they do not place high demands on a new believer. You may also have many personality flaws. This means that your fine flour is not as much as it will be in the future. The filling and anointing of the Holy Spirit you experience is also very limited. If the elders let you preach or share, you’ll often find that there is not much to say. And it seems that there is not a lot of the presence of the Holy Spirit. This means that your oil is limited. You’ll also find that although you are willing to help some people, you can't do much about it. This is because your wine is limited.

As Christians begin to pursue spiritual maturity and change, you begin to experience Christ more and more, and his life in you grows stronger. It is as if you have presented a ram as an offering. The ram is a bit bigger than the lamb. You have dealt with some sins, and you are more enthusiastic about serving than you were when you were first saved. You are also willing to help other unbelieving friends. When you first became a believer, you only felt that you were a sinner and you had sinful behavior. But you begin to discover that your sinful disposition is actually inside you. Often, you don’t want to lose your temper and do wrong things. But you feel that you can’t control yourself. Slowly, you also begin to discover many flaws in your character. You’d never noticed that your character was so bad, even after you became a believer. At this time, you need more of Christ’s redemption of your nature, which is represented by the fine flour, and more filling of the Holy Spirit, which is the oil. Gradually, you will be able to produce more wine in your life, which can uplift other people. Others will begin to praise you, saying that you have grown spiritually and changed, and you can begin to shepherd young believers.

The third level is recorded in verses 8-10. The bull is larger than the lamb and the ram, so the amount of fine flour has increased to three-tenths of an ephah, or 6.6 liters. The oil and wine also increase to half a hin, which is 1.83 liters. This represents that the life of Christ you experienced has increased in you. The degree to which you are filled with the Holy Spirit, as well as your power to produce and supply life to others, has also increased. You grow to be a more mature Christian, taking on more spiritual responsibilities in the church. You have a lot to offer spiritually to younger believers.

The three levels of sacrifices described in verses 1-16 are thank offerings given willingly to the Lord. Verse 3 says that whether an individual offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice, or fulfills a vow or freewill offering or offers a sacrifice at an appointed feast, it should be a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Verses 20-29 talk about the sin offering for unintentional sin, while verses 30-36 talk about the results of sinning deliberately. All of these spiritual sacrifices can please God.

In Numbers 14, God disciplined the evil spies and those who could not enter the Promised Land. The words about sacrifices in Numbers 15 are for Joshua, Caleb, and the others who would be allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Christians often use Joshua and Caleb to represent faith, and the ten evil spies to represent an evil, unbelieving heart. In the New Testament, Paul also thinks that way. First Corinthians 10:5 says, “With most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” (ESV) Therefore, it is not unreasonable for us to use sacrifices in Numbers 15 to represent the different stages of the Christian life. The Old Testament is a picture, while the New Testament is the reality. It's not that we cannot interpret the words of the Old Testament spiritually, but that we must use the correct spiritual reality to interpret these pictures.

After talking about these different levels of sacrifices in verses 1-16, the Lord goes on to give instructions on presenting a loaf of the first of their dough as a contribution when they enter the Promised Land of Canaan (vs. 17-21). We know that wheat represents Christ, and flour milling represents the milling on the cross. We should follow the example of Christ, know the power of his resurrection, and become like him in his death (NIV, Philippians 3:10). As we saw in the previous section, we must become like Christ in our daily life, becoming like him in his death. Then, we will also be part of His resurrection. We must let the life of Christ have a chance to grow in us, so that we can continue to experience Christ’s redemption, the changes he brings, the filling of the Holy Spirit and the increase in power.

But in the process of pursuing spirituality and spiritual maturity, we often encounter our own weaknesses and failures. Verses 22-31 describe two situations of sin and weakness. First, when the Israelites sinned unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation should offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, with its grain offering and its drink offering, and one male goat for a sin offering (ESV, Numbers 15:24). Second, if one person sinned unintentionally, he should offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering (ESV, Numbers 15:27). In this way, their collective sins or personal sins would be forgiven. But if they sinned deliberately, they must be cut off from their people. After giving these instructions, God records the story of a man who was caught violating the Sabbath. The Lord told Moses that the Israelites should stone him to death. Obviously, this person is reckoned to have sinned deliberately, so he was severely disciplined.

This is closely related to our experience of growing in the Christian life. We often have no intention to sin, but we still sin. As long as we confess our sins and repent, taking Christ as our sin offering, God will forgive our sins. As John the Apostle said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ESV, 1 John 1:9). We must always confess our sins so that God will forgive all our sins. As we do, we will once again enter the cycle of fellowship of the divine life, and continue to change to be more like Him. But if we do not confess our sins, we will be cut off from the cycle of fellowship of the divine life. As the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (ESV, John 15:6).

How do we abide in the Lord? We need to let the word of the Lord abide in us. This is what Numbers 15:37-41 is saying. In this passage, God commanded the Israelites to make tassels on the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel to remind them to remember God's words and commands. This is also our experience in the New Testament. For example, the Lord Jesus said in John 15:7 (ESV), "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

Our relationship with the Lord can be compared to the relationship between the branches and the vine (John 15:2). The branches abide in the vine, allowing the sap of the vine to circulate throughout the vine and branches. The sap of the vine represents the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord abides in us, just as the sap abides in the branches. The Lord Jesus said in John 6:63, "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (ESV) The word of the Lord, which is the sap of the vine, is life. We must use all our wisdom to let the words of Christ dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16).

Before I had a smartphone, I used to write Scriptures and hymn stanzas on note cards and carry them in my pocket. When I had time, I would contemplatively read and sing these words. In this way, I abide in God’s word actively throughout the day, filled with the Holy Spirit.

An older lady whom I know from the Local Church Movement is actively pursuing spiritual maturity. She told me that for many years, she would copy out hymns, especially the chorus of the hymns, on a piece of paper. She would sing them from time to time while she rode the bus. She lived a very joyful life, filled with the word of the Lord and the Holy Spirit.

This practice is worth promoting. Now that we have smartphones and everything is easily available, it is even more convenient for us to practice these spiritual habits. Unfortunately, many people are inundated with messages in WeChat and Facebook on their cell phones, and they have very little time to practice spiritual disciplines. When the word of the Lord stops moving through us, like the sap moves through the branches, we will wither spiritually. Then, we will be cut off. Of course, many of us will not lose eternal life. But we have lost the joy and peace that comes from our fellowship with God.

God’s words in the Old Testament and the New Testament are consistent. The Bible says we have only one God (1 Corinthians 8:6) and that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His method of speaking changes with the target audience, but the spirit of speaking and the inner meaning are consistent. The Bible says, “God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2, ESV) We need to learn to be a spiritual person who judges all things (1 Corinthians 2:15).

Numbers 15 paints a picture of how we as Christians can abide in the Lord, allowing his words to flow through us so we can remain in the fellowship of the divine life. As such, we will be a branch that bears much fruit. If we as branches do not bear fruit, the natural consequence is clear. “The Father is the vinedresser. Every branch that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (ESV, John 15:1-2).

 

 

Bible Study With Jairus - Numbers 11

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 11

This chapter begins with the Israelites complaining and arousing God’s anger against them, which resulted in some of the people being consumed by the fire of God.  They also complained to Moses about how they craved the leeks, cucumbers, fish, and meat back in Egypt.  God told Moses he would give the people meat, but Moses’ response was a bit confusing.  He said, “The people among whom I am   number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’  Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them and be enough for them?  Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them and be enough for them?” (Numbers 11:21-22, ESV).

A woman in our study said that Moses’ response was baffling.  God had led the Israelites out of Egypt with many signs and wonders.  Why would he doubt God’s ability and power to provide meat for the people? It didn’t seem to make sense. Moses even begged God to kill him because he was so overwhelmed by the demands of such a great number of people and didn’t want God to see his wretchedness.  God told Moses to appoint seventy elders to help him.  He took the spirit of Moses and put it upon the elders.  The woman asking the original question also asked if the Spirit of God on Moses would be lessened if it was put on the seventy elders or would Moses possibly be estranged from God.

After the Spirit of God was put on these elders, the Bible states that "As soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it." Why did they begin to prophesy, but then they didn’t do so anymore afterward?

Later in the chapter, a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Joshua, Moses’ assistant, wanted Moses to stop them. Why? Moses' response was very positive. He said: "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (ESV, Numbers 11:29).

In the end, God’s judgment came upon those who craved meat in the form of a plague. This raises another question. Since God proposed to give meat to the Israelites, why would He kill them? Isn't this entrapment?

These are the questions that came up at the beginning of our Bible study.

One more question was asked regarding verses 1-3. God’s anger was kindled when he heard the people’s complaints. He "burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp" (Recovery Version).  A woman noted that the translation of the Chinese Union Version reads, “When God heard them, his anger was aroused. Then fire burned among them until it reached the outskirts of the camp." The question is, did the fire burn some people at the outskirts of the camp or only the tents at the outskirts?” She thought this was a warning from God.

We have no way of knowing, but we know the history of the Israelites. When the Israelites later rebelled against God even more, especially when they worshipped the golden calf, God’s anger was kindled toward them. The Lord let Moses go out to the tent of the meeting, which was outside the camp (Exodus 33:7). Then the pillar of cloud would fill the tent of the meeting. The pillar of cloud was with the Israelites whenever they camped (Exodus 13:21).  But here in Exodus 33, the pillar of cloud only filled Moses’ tent outside the camp. It meant that the Lord’s presence was mainly with Moses now. It may indicate that God’s presence was temporarily withdrawn from the majority of His people.

Of course, we know that God’s presence was always with the Israelites during their journey to the Promised Land.  However, it doesn’t mean that God can’t remove His presence temporarily or chastise His people.  It is also true in the New Testament sense. Sometimes we may sin and feel the loss of God’s presence.  But once we confess our sins, we can regain the presence of God.  We know Jesus will be with us always until the end of the world, but sometimes we may not feel His presence (Matthew 28:20).  Why? God wants to be present with us, but He will also chastise us by removing His presence if necessary.

Whether it burned the tents on the outskirts or some of the people, it indicates that God’s presence has not left the main areas of the tabernacle where the Israelites are. Later the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down (ESV, Numbers 11:2).  So this was indeed a warning.Verse 4 (ESV) says, “The rabble that was among them had a strong craving.  And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “oh that we had meat to eat!”  The question was asked, who is the rabble?  The note beside the word rabble refers to Exodus 12:38 (ESV), which says, “A mixed multitude also went up with them and very much livestock, both flocks, and herds.”  At that time, the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they let them have what they asked (Exodus 12:36, ESV).  It could be that the “rabble” were those didn’t trust in God but were caught up in the Israelites favor and enjoying plundering the Egyptians.  They probably didn’t understand what it would cost them to follow the Israelites into the wilderness.  The same can be said when Jesus came to Earth.  Many of His disciples, including Judas, expected Him to be King over Israel, which would undoubtedly bring glory and wealth to them.  However, they soon discovered that Jesus was taking the path to the cross, leaving them at a total loss.  In the end, Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.  Jokingly, I said that if Judas looked at following Jesus as a gamble or some sort of investment, when he saw Him about to be crucified, he thought that he made the wrong choice and sold Jesus at a meager price.The “rabble” in verse 4 represents our flesh.  They came out of Egypt, which represents the world.  There were still parts of Egypt in them. As the Israelites were going through God’s trials in the wilderness, it can be likened to the transformation of the soul.  Moses represents the human spirit.  His job was to draw near to God, yet when he faced pressure in the flesh, his human spirit was suppressed and weakened.  This is a good spiritual picture of what Paul was talking about in Romans 8:6 when he said that setting the mind on the flesh is death, but setting the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Verse 4 says that the “rabble” were the first ones to complain about their cravings.  Then the Israelites also wept and complained about who was going to give them food.  It definitely looks like the Israelites were influenced by the rabble.  God’s purpose for providing heavenly manna, which represented His Spirit, to the Israelites, was to help them break away from the influence of Egypt and taste of his heavenly food, which would change them from the inside out (Jesus refers to Himself as the food from Heaven).  Unfortunately, even though they left Egypt, they were still under its influence, craving fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, and garlic.

Watchman Nee said that Satan is a deposed king who can only use his power through our flesh.  He attacks us from the outside to influence and control our mind, will, and emotions known as our soul, and attempts to suppress our spirit.  God works from the inside out, giving us life through the Holy Spirit represented by the manna, to change our soulish nature and body to glorify him.

I was discipling a fellow believer for several years, hoping to help him grow spiritually.  He loved the Lord and was faithful to attend meetings, and enjoyed fellowship with other believers.  I was encouraging him to go deeper in his prayer life and Bible study.  Unfortunately, he was so busy with school that experiments and thesis dominated his mind.  He wasn’t committed to prayer wholeheartedly.  I suggested that he take time to pray as he was walking to school from his dormitory, and I tried to train him to pray-read scripture, calling on the name of the Lord and singing praises while he was walking home from school.  He never did apply these things.  Later, I told him that it wasn’t because he didn’t have time to practice; He just wasn’t motivated.  His mind was too occupied with school, and his spirit was suppressed, keeping him from prayer and praise.  He has since moved on from our fellowship, but I hope he has made progress and had some breakthroughs.

Many Christians experience the same thing as the man in the story above.  It’s not that we don’t have time to pray but that we get easily distracted, or our minds are too occupied with other things.  Often our spirit is too suppressed to overcome the domination of the mind and flesh.  We should take time to eat a little manna every day like the Israelites.  Read God’s word, pray and slowly allow our spiritual life to grow to a place where it will overcome the suppression of our soul and the control of the flesh.

When Moses realized how angry God was about the Israelites complaints, he got mad too and complained to God how overwhelmed he was with the job he was expected to do.  A man in our study noted that Moses’s complaining was different than the Israelites.  Their complaints were against God, but Moses just wanted God to kill him, relieving him of the burden of his job.

At this time, God's response was to take His spirit that was on Moses and put it on the 70 elders. What was His intention? Remember what I said earlier about Satan stirring the intense craving of the "rabble"? Rabble represents our flesh which prompted the Israelites to complain, representing our flesh stirring our soul.   Together they suppressed Moses, who represents our spirit, making Moses feel weak and overwhelmed. What was God's solution at this time? It was to increase Moses’ spiritual power.

There is a teaching in the Local Church Movement that there should be more Christians during evangelistic meetings than unbelievers so that there is an atmosphere of faith and evangelism can be effective. If the unbelievers outweigh the believers during meetings, the spiritual air is thinner, making evangelism difficult.

This is a true statement. It can also be applied to Moses’ experience in Numbers 11. Many of the Israelites lived in the flesh and in the soul, while only Moses had the spirit of God, which made him feel lonely and weak. When the spirit of God was put on the 70 elders, Moses’ "spiritual environment" changed. Like the example I gave earlier, when there are more believers in the meeting, the spiritual air is thick, making the gospel easier to preach.  In Moses’ situation, when the spirit of God was also put on the seventy elders, it changed the atmosphere and made things easier for Moses, releasing him from suppression and making him happy.

Verse 25 specifically mentions that as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it. A question was raised as to why they did not continue doing it. My guess is that the moment the Holy Spirit was being poured upon them, they prophesied under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they may not have received the gift of prophecy. Verses 27-28 specifically mention that Joshua asked Moses to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying in the camp when the spirit rested on them.

It could be that they received the gifts or calling to be a prophet when the Holy Spirit filled them.  None of this occurred to Joshua, and he asked Moses to stop them.  Moses wasn’t about to stop them.  He realized that if more people were filled with the spirit, his job would be much easier.  Moses represents the life of God in our spirit.  If our soul gives Him a chance, He will become greater within us.

Moses didn't stop them because the Lord had helped him change the spiritual atmosphere. Instead, he said he wished that all of the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them (Numbers 11: 29). This prophecy is also confirmed in Joel 2:28, which says: One day God will pour His Spirit on all flesh. Joshua didn’t realize how Moses felt or God’s will for the situation.

At the end of the chapter, God killed some of the people who craved other food. This is about dealing with the flesh. God put his spirit on Moses and strengthened him in the spirit.  He also dealt with the outward behaviors of the flesh.  We experience this in our lives today.  God fills us with the Holy Spirit, but he also uses our circumstances to discipline us.  Numbers 11 is a good picture of how Christians experience dealing with the flesh, changing the soul, and growing spiritually.

Every Christian should also pursue the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I was saved in an evangelical church and had some knowledge about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but that wasn’t enough.  I eventually left the Local Church Movement to pursue the baptism of the Holy Spirit and learn more truths in the Pentecostal Movement.  When God filled me with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I fell and could not stand for quite some time.  I’m not saying this happens to everyone, but it is a manifestation of His power.  After the initial baptism, I experienced several other manifestations.  I would sometimes feel like electricity was running through my head, leading me to be more courageous.  I also received wisdom and gifts of the Spirit as well as healing in my body.  I have experienced demons being cast out of me.

There are many believers in evangelical churches that have varied views and prejudices about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Through my own experience with the power of the baptism, I realized that my efforts alone to grow spiritually and learn His truths were not enough.  Although we tried our best in the Local Church Movement to exercise the spirit and deal with the flesh, it came up short. The baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers us to stand against the attacks of the flesh and Satan. This is what Moses experienced in this chapter.  If we look at the Israelites as one collective person and Moses’ life as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we can see that the spirit expanded to the seventy elders, which equates to our soul being expanded by the spirit, increasing our power and ability to withstand attacks from the enemy on our flesh.

This point is crucial. I know that many people long for spiritual growth. They work hard to exercise their spirit, but we need God’s strength. This is what the baptism of the Holy Spirit can do.  Sadly, many have misunderstandings about the Pentecostal Movement and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, leading them to miss out on God’s blessings. When Moses was experiencing this, he was baptized by the Holy Spirit once again. After this baptism, not only did he gain strength, but it also spread among the Israelites. In our spiritual experiences today, we can also receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit at different times and in other ways as well.

In the Local Church movement, we work hard practicing the process of entering the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies from the outer courtyard by dealing with the sins of the flesh and the impurity of the soul and slowly coming near to God in the spirit. This method is from the outside to the inside. But the filling of the Holy Spirit is to allow the Holy Spirit to come out from the Holy of Holies to pass through the sanctuary and the outer courtyard. This method is from the inside to the outside. The two should complement each other to make us more spiritually mature.

I know that many people in the Charismatic Church have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but they are not necessarily spiritually mature. Why? They pay too much attention to the gifts of the spirit flowing from them and lack the discipline of dealing with the sins of the flesh on the outside.  There must be a balance of allowing the Holy Spirit to flow through you as well as you taking the time and discipline to read, study, and meditate on His Word.  

When John the Baptist announced Jesus, he mentioned two things.  Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29) which represents the work of the cross.  We can apply the work on the cross to deal with our flesh and soulish sins so we can come near to the Holy of Holies to fellowship with God.  The second message John the Baptist mentioned about Jesus is that He will baptize us with the Holy Spirit. This represents the work of the Holy Spirit. These two different works complement each other.  You cannot ignore either one of them.

The work of the cross was a one act event for Jesus, and he accomplished it on the cross. But for us, it is a continual act.  When we first believed Jesus, we received the work of the cross by faith. But it should not stop there.  Many believers have stopped there.  We should continually apply the work of the cross to deal with our flesh and soulish sins so we can become the same image as our Lord Jesus Christ.

Likewise, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is also not only one act or event. We must continually receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit indwelling in us as the life of God described in John 20:22 is one level of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 brings us to another level of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  The first case is the Holy Spirit as life in us and the second case is the Holy Spirit as power on us.  Many people have stopped with the first level. However, we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many people think the baptism of the Holy Spirit only gives us power and gifts outside. No.  Not only does it bring power and gifts outside, it also gives us power within to overcome the weakness in our soul or the strongholds in our flesh (2 Corinthians 10:4).  Once I read a parable about prayer.  Many people thought their prayers didn’t work and God didn’t hear them.  This parable says our prayer is like the worker digging a tunnel under a rocky mountain.  If you dig one foot on one side, then God will dig another food on the other side.  Eventually, if you keep digging, you will meet God in the middle.  But if you give up, God won’t do your part, so you will not meet Him.  It wasn’t God who wouldn’t answer your prayer; it was you who stopped praying.

This parable is a good illustration of the relationship between the work of the cross and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  We need them both.  Jesus did His part on the cross, and we need to apply His work in our experience by faith.  When we apply the work of the cross to deal with our flesh and sins in our souls, the Holy Spirit who lives in us will work on the other end to help us.  He helps us by strengthening us with more power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  If we deny the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are basically refusing the help from the Holy Spirit.  I understand the Holy Spirit has other ways to help us, like groaning and interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:26) or convicting our sins (John 16:8), or reminding us what Jesus has said (John 14:26).  However, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a very powerful way for the Holy Spirit to help us.

Unfortunately, some camps or denominations of the body of Christ do not pay attention to the continual work of the cross.  They only take this as one act or event when they received Jesus as savior.  The result of doing this is to remain fleshy or soulish in our spiritual lives.  Although all of our flesh was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), Paul charges us to “by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body” (Romans 8:13).  Then we will live.

Other camps or denominations only pay attention to apply the cross but deny the fact of the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  They claim that all believers are baptized once and for all when the Holy Spirit was poured out in Acts 2.  Or they argue over the manifestations of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, especially the validity of speaking tongues but avoid pursuing the baptism of the Holy Spirit itself. They also often use the immaturity of believers who were baptized in the Holy Spirit to argue the validity of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

There are two sides to one coin.  We need both.   If you were baptized with the Holy Spirit but lack holiness in your life, begin to apply more of the cross.  If you have weaknesses and strongholds that you can’t seem to overcome by applying the work of the cross, seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit.   The Holy Spirit will help you.  This was the case for Moses in this chapter.  When the rabbles (flesh) aroused the Israelites (soul), it eventually brought harm to Moses (spirit).  But when God baptized 70 elders with the same Holy Spirit Moses had, it relieved Moses's pressure.

This is why Moses wouldn’t stop those who were prophesying.   He even went so far as to say that he wished God would put His Spirit on all the prophets (Numbers 11:29)!  We all face strongholds as Moses did here, and we need the Holy Spirit’s help to deliver us.  Take time to pray and ask God for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.   You may be surprised that this experience may not be what you were thinking or were taught.   I pursued this truth when I was involved in the Local Church Movement but didn’t receive it to the level I experienced in the Pentecostal movement.   There are many books and teaching on this subject.  I challenge you to look deeper so that you can experience what I and many others have.

Prophetic Dreams About Donald Trump

Prophetic Dreams About Donald Trump

Many Christians who yearn for the return of the United States to its Christian foundations support Donald Trump as a president because they see that Trump acknowledges God and supports and agrees with certain Christian values and principles. However, disheartenment and disappointment swept across believers’ hearts when election results surfaced. I was also very surprised. Yet, some prophets hold to their conviction that God will supernaturally intervene in American politics to bring President Trump back into the White House. I have been following these prophets closely and I believe their words are from the Lord. One such prophet even mentioned that God is confirming these words by giving other believers across the world dreams and visions. I believe I am one of these people whom God is speaking to through dreams about Trump, and that is why I am still standing with the prophets who hold to this view.

 

It’s About God

In actuality, it’s not about Trump. It’s about God and the revival he wishes to bring to the earth. Nowadays, people are debating whether or not God has handed us over to the enemy because we haven’t prayed enough. Although this was sometimes the case for the Israelites in the Old Testament, I don’t think it applies to our situation today. Through my own prophetic dreams, I have discerned that our current situation in America is instead heavily tied to the spiritual state of America, and God’s plan for it and the world. I believe Trump is only the tip of an iceberg of change. If he were in office, we would have an administration that promotes the Gospel. An administration that does the opposite is comparable to a train going in the wrong direction. Either way, the problem does not lie in the politics of it all. It’s that one kind of leadership is aimed at stopping the global revival that God is planning to release on this earth, and the other is willing to go along with it. I believe this is why the enemy fought so much to stop Trump’s re-election.

It is not just about Trump.

There is a decisive battle at play between Christian freedom in America and the future of America and the world. God has shown me many visions of a great revival that will come to the United States, China, and the Middle East. In a strange dream, God took me to Trump's office, and I felt God's presence abiding there. I discerned that this was God’s sign of approval that Trump was His chosen one for this season. I am convinced that the re-election of President Trump will be a divine intervention to prepare the international political environment for a future revival.

 

Fishing Dream, January 5, 2021

The morning after election results were released, I had a dream. I dreamt about a person fishing. I saw a mysterious person holding a fishing rod, but I couldn't see who he was. A fish had already been hooked, but the person holding the fishing rod was sliding the fish. A child in front of him held the line to help slide the fish. Fish-sliding is a common method in fishing. After a fish is hooked, the fish is not taken out of the water immediately. One first slides the fish so that the fish's strength gradually diminishes. Only then does the fisher find a suitable opportunity to bring the fish up out of the water. If you bring the fish up immediately after it is hooked, the fish can easily unhook itself and swim away. The revelation I received from the Holy Spirit regarding this dream was, “Do not be anxious, the fish has already been hooked, but you should slide it for a while before you bring it up.”

I think this relates to the recent election between Biden and Trump. Many Christians prayed for Trump to be re-elected. When they discovered that Trump had failed to win, they began to wonder whether or not it was really God’s will to re-elect Trump. Some believers even started to criticize certain prophets for making false prophecies and many prophets apologized for making such “false prophecies.” However, other prophets and Christians did not revoke their prophecies. They look forward to the time when God miraculously intervenes and brings Trump back to the White House.

Recently, I was listening to a program on the Victory Channel called Flash Point. The host interviewed Pastor Bill Johnson and his wife Beni. Beni mentioned that when she prayed and sought God about the election, God told her to wait. Beni and Kat Kerr both believe this battle is not over. Kerr even said that God took her to the future where she saw that Trump had eventually won and God's chosen people went out to the streets to cheer. She also said that God told her to eat cake and celebrate this victory.

When Trump was in the White House, many people were against him and betrayed him. Many things did not go smoothly for him. Although God raised up Trump to help Christians and America return to faith in God, Trump could not and cannot solve all our problems. Let’s consider his re-election: if Trump is successfully re-elected and if the leftists still make things difficult for him, how much will he be able to do in the next four years? Or, if Trump is successfully re-elected and the Church is not revived after four years, won’t those on the left side continue to oppose God? Won’t they get stronger?

Unfortunately, Trump cannot be president another four years after that, so who can American Christians rely on? We must turn to God. Trump was and is simply a judge for a time. Just as God raised leaders in the Old Testament, Trump was raised up by God to free God’s chosen people from control and turn their face back to the Lord. We should certainly thank God for raising up the judges because God used them mightily to save the Israelites and bring justice. But let us not forget the fundamental reason why the Israelites were handed over to the enemy. It was because they turned away from God and worshipped idols.

 

Fierce Spiritual Battles, March 15, 2021

In some dreams, the Holy Spirit invites me to participate in spiritual warfare. From the evening of March 14 until the morning of March 15, I remained in a spiritual battle. First, I was fighting with a spirit who declared himself as a political spirit. Then I rode in a strange-looking war vehicle to fight with other enemies. This special war vehicle was like an army tank. As we rode, I fired toward the enemy. The unique part of the dream is that I was not fighting alone. I was fighting along with other tanks as an army. The tank I rode in was moving very fast and it went across different terrains such as ones with rivers and rocks. The spiritual warfare that night was very fierce. A great battle had been fought in the spiritual realm. After this dream, I heard testimonies from other prophetic people that they had difficulty sleeping that night.

 

Trump “second,” March 29^th, 2021

On the morning of March 29, 2021, I had the following dream about Trump. In the dream, I was sitting on a broad hill watching a movie. I sat below the hill facing the higher part of the hill. The movie’s name was “Donald J Trump Jr.” I noticed the suffix “Jr.” at the end of his name, but I did not know what it meant. What trigged my interest most was that the star of the movie was an African American boy. I did not see President Trump in the movie nor the boy, but I was told the movie featured this boy. Suddenly, I saw an airplane in the shape of a hummer car fly over the space where I had been sitting. Instead of watching the movie, I entered it. In the skies, I saw many eyes looking here and there. They appeared to be the eyes of a band of angelic armies and while they searched and watched, I did not see any battles take place. I discerned the battle was won. Then I realized it was a movie.

God often speaks to me like this in my dreams. First, I see a movie playing on a screen and then I will enter the movie for some time. Afterward, I will come out and return to seeing it playing on a screen. Sometimes the dream language is personal in that God speaks to me using language I am familiar with. Some messages are like word plays from the Holy Spirit.

For example, in Chinese, the words “black horse” refer to something out of the blue, or unexpected or sudden. Also, the vehicle brand “Hummer” translates to “strong horse.” I felt by combing the African American kid with the hummer- shaped airplane and the movie title, “Donald J. Trump Jr.,” God was meaning to show that something unexpected regarding Donald Trump is about to happen. This may happen suddenly like a black horse. I think the word “Jr.” from the movie title is not referring Trump’s son but instead means “second.” I feel it means that Trump will appear to the public a “second” time.

What stood out to me the most in this dream were the searching eyes and the revelation that the star of the movie was an African American boy. I felt the eyes may have represented angelic armies that accompanied the airplane. I got the feeling that Trump was inside the plane, but I did not see him. Nonetheless, I feel there is a protection from a heavenly army  upon President Trump when he returns. The eyes could also be representative of God searching for hearts who still believe for Trump’s return.

It’s possible an African American boy plays the important role in Trump’s movie because of the role Donald Trump plays in supporting the black community. Trump is sometimes portrayed by the media as a racist; however, some African Americans have vocalized their support of Trump because of his proactive work among their community and race like helping with prison reform. Perhaps God will turn the heart of the African American community toward Trump when he returns to the White House just as God turned the hearts of the ten tribes of Israel to David, even afterward anointing him to be King over all of Israel.

Two final things I’d like to share is the sensation I had during the dream, and the airplane. When the airplane rose over the hill, it came with great force. Airplanes can represent ministries, or they may symbolize the rising of the Church. Lastly, I felt joy and celebration. As Kat Kerr said, we will celebrate greatly when Trump returns. Perhaps one day we may see an African American man act as the star of a movie called “Donald J. Trump Jr.” or “The return of Donald J. Trump.” Whatever God’s purposes are, I pray that they will be brought forth. Let it be as we stand believing for this prophecy of Trump’s re-election to come to pass. May God have His way as we await the sudden return of Donald J. Trump again.

 

Bible Study with Jairus - Comparing Local Church Movement and Pentecostal Movement

Bible Study with Jairus - Comparing Local Church Movement and Pentecostal Movement

 

SYNERGY PAPER

 

Introduction

The literal interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 has shaped the general attitude toward prophecy in many modern evangelical churches. Verses 8-10 state,

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.^[1]

 

Those who deny modern-day prophets, or that prophetic gifts exist today, argue that “when the complete comes” refers to the canonization of the Bible. That is, giving and receiving revelation like that which occurs when someone prophesies came to an end after the Bible was written and compiled.

Individuals who adhere to this belief are called Cessationist. Dr. John F. MacArthur, a Calvinist pastor and teacher, is one of the leading voices today in support of cessationism. MacArthur supports his view by commenting on what he believes is the conclusion many scholars have reached regarding the meaning of “perfect.” He states, “Significantly, though these scholars disagree on the identification of the “perfect,” they all reach the same conclusion­­—namely, that the miraculous and revelatory gifts have ceased.”

 

On the contrary, there are others who claim that prophets exist today. In fact, in many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches prophets speak to congregants and prophecy is given in the church setting. I was not brought up spiritually in either of these movements. Rather, I was saved and spiritually educated in the Local Church Movement (LCM) associated with Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. In this denomination, the leaders do not recognize the kind of foretelling prophecy like that which is practiced in modern prophetic movements and Pentecostal/Charismatic churches. They do advocate a form of prophecy though. The LCM practices a unique form of “prophesying.” They practice what is called forthtelling. Charismatics understand prophecy to be foretelling.

Nee and Lee’s form of prophecy is supported by the interpretation of two scriptures: (1) “Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:4) and (2) “For you can all prophesy one by one” (1 Corinthians 14:31). The LCM rejected “speaking in tongues” since the Scripture suggests “those who speak in a tongue build up themselves.” They believed and encouraged everyone to prophesy so as to build up the church rather than self, just as the second part of the verse states. The LCM uses the acronym “PSRP” (Pray Reading, Study, Recite and Prophesy) to teach their members how to effectively prophesy.

While many believers were positively impacted by the LCM’s style of prophecy, their understanding and practice of prophecy does not form a complete biblical picture of prophecy because they overlook the aspect of “foretelling.” They also do not promote the baptism or gifts of the Holy Spirit. I learned many things about prophesying from the LCM that helped me grow in my spiritual life, but I also learned a lot from Renewal denominations on how to connect to the supernatural realm through the gift of prophecy. Leading a disciplined and biblically knowledgeable life are essential just as foretelling and moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit are essential Christian experiences/tools that I had been lacking for many years. My experience has shown me that there exist many genuine prophets and Holy Spirit-led prophecies among persons of the Modern-Day Prophetic Movement.

Caution can be given to both kinds of churches—LCM and renewal churches—so as not to become false prophets but neither neglect the gift of prophecy that is still alive today. Among those with a genuine prophetic gift, some may lack a strong basis of biblical knowledge and discipline which could help them understand more of the Word of God systematically. Among the LCM, they have extinguished the flame of the Holy Spirit. Both parties­­ would benefit from embracing each other’s practices. This would enhance prophecy for the Charismatic because they would have a more solid understanding of the Word and perhaps more precise interpretations to offer. The LCM, on the other hand, would experience a more abundant life as a congregation and encounter living in greater power.

The Lord showed me in a prophetic dream that these two rivers outlined above (denominations/streams) would converge, and a new movement would begin. Combining these two ways of prophesying will bring a convergence of Holiness with Power or Word with Spirit to usher in a new age in church growth and bring revival to China and the rest of the world.

This paper will discuss my personal experiences with prophecy in both the LCM and modern-day prophetic churches. The context of the LCM church and my involvement with them will be outlined. My journey into Pentecostal and Charismatic congregations will also be shared. A synergy of the context and my experiences form the basis for this project: that prophecy and the gifts of the Spirit are necessary components for ushering in revival to the body of Christ, Chinese congregants in my context, and the nation of China. 

 

Context

 

The Local Church Movement

The Local Church Movement began with Watchman Nee in the 1920s in China. It was one of the most controversial Christian movements in modern Chinese church history. It is considered by some the only denomination that originated from China and spread all over the world. Though its numbers of congregants are still small compared to many mainline churches, it may be the only denomination that spread outside of China that has a relatively large number of believers who are not Chinese. Watchman Nee’s writings also influenced many denominations in the West and other parts of the world.

 In later years, Nee’s coworker, Witness Lee, established more Local Churches in Taiwan and in the United States. Local Churches spread to many other parts of the world. In 1952, Watchman Nee was put in prison and later sent to a labor camp until he died in 1972. Watchman Nee allegedly entrusted the leadership of LCM to Witness Lee.  However, some coworkers of Watchman Nee did not agree with Witness Lee and, therefore, accused him of teaching heresy. This accusation was further exacerbated when many other allegations regarding the LCM were published in the West in the 1970s. These publications included the infamous books, The Mindbenders and The God-Men.

In these books, the authors defamed the LCM by accusing them of several things. Aside from being labeled one of the most dangerous cults in America, they were also charged with engaging in “deceptive, coercive, and destructive practices.”^[2] Other accusations included brainwashing, mind-bending, and fear tactics to keep members. The Defense and Confirmation Project of 2017 stated,

The first edition of The God-Men [italics mine], written and self-published by the Spiritual Counterfeits Project (SCP), contained gross misrepresentations of the teaching of Witness Lee concerning such things as biblical authority and morality. It also sought to associate Witness Lee and the local churches with mental manipulation and Eastern mystical practices.[3]

 

In this wave of criticism, the Christian Research Institute in the United States also published an article claiming that the LCM was teaching heresies in the 1970s. The Local Church responded by filing lawsuits against these two books. The Local Church won the lawsuits.

In China, people still saw Western and American Christianity as the authority in terms of judging whether a group was heretical or not. As a result of this article and other books originating in the West, the Chinese authorities, despite the court ruling, considered this group heretical and cracked down on some of their meetings. Many Chinese believers in this movement suffered severe persecution in the 1980s. This experience also had damaging effects on the believers who lived in the United States. In early 2000, Christian Research Journal, led by Hank Hanegraaff, held an investigation on the Local Church Movement. They issued a special publication named “We Were Wrong,” as a way of apologizing for their careless article in the 1970s. They accepted the LCM as a genuine Christian movement henceforth.^[4] Many other Christian organizations, like Fuller Theological Institute, also issued similar statements declaring the LCM a genuine Christian group.^[5]

 When the apologies surfaced, I tried to share them with my Chinese Christian friends who thought the LCM was heretical. It seemed other Chinese Christians did not care about this though. Many people today still hold a critical view against the LCM and/or do not care about them. American and other Western churches showed diminished interest in LCM because they did not keep momentum in growth in the United States in the 1970s. Even if the LCM is a genuine Christian movement comprised of genuine believers, some of their teachings and practices are indeed controversial.

Although practices of this group may be controversial, there are some positive things that can be highlighted. Rick Joyner, a well-known American prophet, comments in one of his blogs on prophecy that he considers it important to learn from the differences of others that exist within the body.[6] The evidence that God used the LCM or was present in their meetings and years of ministry is clearly seen in the number of conversions they produced, and in the strong centering on Jesus and authority of God’s word that it produced. Afterall, the LCM was the only movement that originated in China and spread to the West and the rest of the world. Based on this evidence, I argue that God’s Spirit did bless their movement and spread it. The question now is, “What message did the Lord want to bring to the churches in the West and the rest of the world through the LCM?”

 

Function and Practice of the Local Church Movement

The Local Church Movement refers to themselves as the Lord’s Recovery. They believed their calling was to recover all the truths that were lost among many generations of the Church. It has been said that Watchman Nee had a vast amount of knowledge from reading a lot of Christian literature throughout history and from reading the Bible hundreds of times. He gleaned a lot from different eras of Christianity. Members of the LCM believed their organization succeeded due to the degradation of Western churches. Some may be offended with this idea, but there are many Christian leaders in the West who agree that there are problems in Western Christianity that prevent the body of Christ there from advancing in spiritual things. 

Many teachings and practices from this movement have already impacted Western churches. For example, it was the Local Church Movement thatirst started the model of cell groups or small groups, even as early as the 1940s under the leadership of Watchman Nee. Witness Lee further developed these in Taiwan. In following years, these cell groups were instituted by the famous Korean evangelist David Yonggi Cho and they circulated in Korea. Many western churches also later adopted this model. Nowadays, cell groups or small groups are common in almost every American church. The LCM cannot take credit for being the originators of such groups, but they were pioneers in reintroducing, practicing and promoting small groups to make up for the lack of intimacy in large church gatherings.

Other examples of how the LCM functioned are provided. The LCM strongly opposed the typical laity system in Christendom. They removed the position of pastors because they believed every believer should function as a priest to God. Since there were no pastors in the meetings to preach the sermons, the meetings were open to every believer to speak or “prophesy” for the Lord. This was based on their understanding that “you can all prophesy one by one” (1 Corinthians 14:31).

The LCM also placed a lot of emphasis on Ephesians 4:12 which says, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” To them, this meant the body should not be seeking personal gain, but instead seek to build up the church. They encouraged all to speak as a pastor or a professional speaker on behalf of the Lord to edify the congregation. The church developed many practical ways to help people commonly called “lay members” in mainline denominations, to speak the truth of God. They also helped many lay members like me gain biblical knowledge and develop teaching gifts. These opportunities for growth may not be possible in a traditional church setting where only the designated members do most of the speaking.

The leaders in the LCM understood that unless every believer immersed themselves in the Word of God and spent time in prayer, one would hardly have anything to share that edifies the church. In the 1940s, an elder in a church in Shanghai Yu, Chenghua, under the leading of Watchman Nee, translated a book called A Short and Easy Method of Prayer into Chinese. In this book, Madame Jeanne Guyon briefly explains how believers may enter the presence of God by praying the Word of God. Her book greatly influenced the Local Church Movement^[7]. Witness Lee further developed Guyon’s teaching and called it “pray reading.” This was his most impressive practice in the LCM, as commented on by Hank Hanegraaff when he conducted his investigative research into the LCM in early 2000.

Pray reading is the first of the four steps developed by the LCM to prepare believers for “prophesying.” The other steps, study, recite and prophesy, form PSRP. In the LCM, prayer and meditation were given top priority. Pray reading is a unique practice, similar to the Catholic Church’s practice of “Lectio Divina.” In Protestant terminology, this refers to meditation. Pray reading actively combines both the written Word of God and prayer to God into one practice. It is a simple practice and very easy to employ. Members are encouraged to repeat a single verse or multiple phrases of a verse in prayer, either silently or out loud, for a certain period of time. Believers are encouraged to speak louder than softer when reading.

The LCM believed that once a person opened their mouth to make a vocal declaration, it would help them move past the distractions in their mind and engage with their spirit-man more easily. Wesley Campbell, who is a prophet in the modern prophetic movement, teaches something similar. Wesley taught that once a person opens their mouth, their mind does not work. This habitual practice helped members enter the presence of God and receive spiritual revelation.

The LCM also practices “calling on the name of the Lord.” This can also be practiced both silently or out loud, though practicing it out loud or vocally was more encouraged to exercise the spirit. Paul teaches that there will be life and peace for the one who sets their mind on the Spirit; death for the one who sets their mind on the things of the flesh (Romans 8:6). A lot of “spiritual death” in the modern church is due to believers setting their minds on the things of the flesh. Teachings like “calling on the name of the Lord” and “pray reading” were developed and promoted to help believers get out of their minds and engage their spirit-man.

Christians also claim they do not have time to read the Bible. If they do read it, they often scan through it quickly. It is very hard to absorb Scripture into one’s spirit when little is masticated. Many Christians do not experience more spiritual growth, even though they attend church every week and even read the Bible, because they are not meditating on the Word. Members of the LCM encouraged believers to digest the Word of God like a cow digests its food. A cow first takes in the food into its stomach and then regurgitates it many times before fully digesting. In the process of regurgitation, the cow chews its food several times. In this way, the body receives more nutrients from the food.

A prophet of the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement (AP), named James Goll, wrote a book called, The Lost Art of Intercession. In it, Goll describes the meditation of the Word of God as a lost art. This seems especially true for many Protestants who abandoned teachings in Catholicism that embraced this practice. Although modern-day church leaders like Goll may think this practice was lost, I do not believe it was. It was greatly endorsed and practiced among the LCM.

The LCM understood the importance of filling one’s spiritual car with fuel. Diligently studying and reciting the Bible and other spiritual books were greatly encouraged. These represent the next two practices of “study” and “recite.” LCM leaders believed that mental capability was created by God so that one can learn from others alongside receiving inspiration directly from God. They believed that if a person could not remember a quote or took a long time to find the right verse, this would impair one’s ability to become a good speaker and hinder the presentation of the Gospel. Instead, if believers committed the Bible to memory, like a pharmacist places and labels all their drugs in order, one could find what they need when the time comes. The LCM even conducted Bible reading competitions and prizes were given to the winners. These prizes included free Bibles, spiritual books, and free airline tickets to join denominational conferences.

The last step of PSRP is “prophesy.” This practice in the Local Church setting does not include “foretelling.” The Modern-Day Prophetic Movement recognizes “foretelling” as biblically “prophesying,” but does not only attribute it to the prophets in the Bible. They believe laypeople can also participate in this kind of prophecy. The LCM does not recognize or promote modern-day prophets or prophetic gifts. Their understanding of prophesying is “speaking for God, speaking God forth, and ministering God and Christ into people.”^[8]

The LCM believes that “speaking God forth” means no one should speak about trivial things. It rather means that one should spend time in prayer to receive revelation from God so that their speaking is indeed a revelation from God. The phrase “minister and dispense God and Christ to people” is measured against its effectiveness. A member, for example, cannot just say they spoke and therefore fulfilled their obligation to build up the church. They must measure their effect by seeing if the message edified other members.

To assist in the practice of PSRP, a book called Morning Revival was compiled weekly to give members written material for pray reading and spiritual reading. It also contained suggested Bible reading plans. Members are encouraged to have daily morning prayer time and study the material to prepare for their speaking on Sundays.

By using the PRSP model, many members in the LCM learned to speak eloquently and to encourage, edify, and build up other members and the church at large. This practice caused many members to grow up spiritually, because the Word of God was given space to transform their lives. However, this was as far as prophecy went in the LCM. The LCM held caution and neglect toward foretelling prophesy. For my wife and I this was a great disappointment because no one in the LCM was able to predict if we would one day have a child. This was a personal inquiry that I sought answers to after ten years of barrenness.

 

Ministry Journey

 

Personal Involvement with LCM

I never planned to become involved with the Local Church Movement. I was born and raised in China to a family that worshiped Buddha. My father was an atheist and my mother was a devout follower of Buddha. My great grandparents and grandparents worshipped another local idol. Our house was built on a former Buddhist temple which was demolished during the Cultural Revolution. Reflecting on my early experiences, I now see that God spoke to my heart and led me on a journey to know Him even though I did not realize it at the time. 

A Korean prophet confirmed this in 2017 when he told me that the Holy Spirit had been leading my steps onto a path to know Him. I believe this to be true. In high school, I started to sense that I had a calling on my life to do greater things, beyond what I could imagine at that time. I started to prepare myself. The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart concerning which college to attend after I took the college entrance exam. He also placed a strong burden on my heart to study in the United States after graduating. When I failed to be accepted into my college graduate program, I understood it was the Lord closing the door to stay in China. This forced me to go on a journey to the United States but by first studying in England.

While I was in my first year of graduate study at the London School of Economics, I had an encounter with God. The weight of the Lord came upon me, convicting me of my need for Him, and I accepted salvation. With three hundred dollars in my pocket and a one-way ticket, I went to the United States for my second year of graduate study at the University of Southern California. I had no money to pay for tuition and no place to stay. After spending a whole day outside the registration office struggling with what to do, I decided it would be better to return to China. In desperation, I prayed, “God, I am such a sinner. Do you still remember me?”

 Not too long after, I met a Chinese Christian in the street who was a member of The Church in Los Angeles. He invited and led me to their facility called Brother House. The Brother House was located near my school campus, and there I received practical help and spiritual training. It turns out that all my contact with other ministries during this time of my life were with groups associated with the LCM. According to Jesus, nothing happens if the heavenly Father does not permit it (Matthew 10:29). I believe these occurrences were not a coincidence but a divine setup. It was God leading me. Many other members of The Church believed that I was sent by God to join them.

I was astonished by how this time of despair in my life turned around. While living at the Brother House, I saw God’s favor. They allowed me to stay there for free the first year. Nobody ever asked me to pay rent. When I started to work a year later, I began to pay rent and gradually pay back what I gained via donations. A lovely Chinese Christian, affectionately called “Grandpa Chen,” led this on-campus group. The group operated in love, and people who opposed Witness Lee and his teachings were also members of this congregation. In this context, even though I was aware of different opinions against the LCM, I was still willing to learn what Watchman Nee and Witness Lee taught.

During the first two years of my Christian life, I was very lukewarm and often did not have much to say when it was my turn to “prophesy” in our congregation times. Sometimes I said nothing or said something very shallow. In 2004, I had an encounter with the Lord. Jesus appeared to me during a conference through an internal vision and told me that He would come back once the body of Christ was built up. After this vision, I became enthusiastic in practicing the PSRP steps. I made them a habit in my life. One day when I finished pray reading a verse, I went back to work feeling as if I were walking down the stairs into a cloud. I realized I had entered the presence of God unknowingly by immersing myself in His Word and meditating on it.

I am thankful that God used my time in the LCM to develop my teaching gift and a prayer life. Although I enjoyed my time with the LCM, I came to understand that the kind of prophecy taught in the modern prophetic movement is not an incorrect form of prophesying, but biblical. In 2015, I became connected with churches outside the LCM. This is how I became aware of ministries like John Wimber’s Vineyard Movement and Randy Clark’s Global Awakening. Wimber’s teaching on “do the stuff” encouraged everyone to pray for the sick and do the stuff that Jesus taught. Randy Clark’s “little ole me” is another saying used to equip many to practice healing. Randy emphasizes that if God can use him, who is just a regular guy, God can use anyone. I began to believe that God wanted to use me in a greater way.

 

Validity of the Modern-Day Prophetic Movement

By 2015, my wife and I had been married for ten years. Although we wanted a child, we were unable to have one. We started to think something might be wrong when we realized we were not getting pregnant without prevention. From 2010 to 2014, we attempted in vitro fertilization (IVF) five times. All our attempts failed. Our IVF journey ended when top medical professionals diagnosed my wife with premature ovarian failure. This meant that we would never be able to have a child naturally. During this time, we also tried Chinese herbal remedies, but they too failed. I felt completely hopeless. Even our egg donor bailed at the last minute.

I began to consider that the Lord may have another way of fixing our barrenness. I desired divine healing and prophetic words from the Lord about this. I decided to reach out to the older, more experienced believers in my denomination. They were loving and caring toward my wife and I, but they did not have a vision or prophetic word from the Lord to give to us. Some members said that it was the Father’s will for us, and we needed to accept it. Others said that it was God’s wisdom for us to have more time to serve Him. We could not help but think it was either our sin or ancestral sins that prevented us from having children. With all their biblical knowledge, my church elders still could not prophetically nor supernaturally minister to us. They could not tell me when or if I would have children, or if there was a reason I did not have them. I came to understand that they could not do this because they did not believe in these practices. I was desperate to hear what the Spirit of God was saying about my situation.

Like many other evangelical churches, my wife and I had no interest or knowledge about the Pentecostal movement or AP during this time in our lives. We had general impressions or thoughts about Pentecostals such as, “speaking in tongues may be from the devil,” “false prophecies,” and “deceived by the evil spirits.” Although these negative labels could have given us false impressions, our experiences eventually showed us a different perspective.

One preacher in our denomination commented that in his many years of “prophesying” in Local Church settings, he never saw what is described in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 happening in the LCM. Verse 24 and 25 state, “But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all. After the secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship him, declaring, ‘God is really among you.’” This preacher was commenting on the fact that he had never seen people bow down during LCM meetings claiming that the Lord was truly among them because of a prophecy. I, on the other hand, did see this happen when I later participated in prophetic meetings in Pentecostal/Charismatic churches. I came to realize this preacher’s observation pointed to the reality that something was missing in the way the LCM prophesied.

In 2014, I made a vow to God that I would never stop praying that year unless I received healing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Lord had put a strong burden on me to receive His baptism, but I did not know how due to a lack of teaching and understanding. I would go out every afternoon to a park to pray until I hit rock bottom in the later part of 2014. At this time, the doctor gave us the final diagnosis that we could not have a baby naturally. I had lost all hope in modern medicine, and none of my prayers had worked thus far.

This disappointment became a spiritual turning point in my life. I realized the way I prayed might be lacking something. As the Bible says, God’s people went to captivity because they lacked knowledge (Isaiah 5:13). I did not know how to receive healing, prophetic words, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but I gradually began leaving my denomination and turning to other churches to seek help. I started to listen to teachings on healing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit on YouTube.

I began listening to healing evangelists such as Norvel Hayes, Kenneth E. Hagin, and Benny Hinn. I learned there are many healing evangelists nowadays and there were many healing revivalists in the past. I also learned from Andrew Wommack, Derek Prince, Reinhard Bonnke, and many others that being baptized in the Holy Spirit gives a believer access to speak in their own prayer language, tongues. Andrew Wommack states it this way:

There are other believers who acknowledge a second experience with the Holy Spirit which releases power, but they refuse the part of speaking in tongues, or at least say it’s not for everyone. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is like a pair of tennis shoes: It always comes with tongues.[9]

 

As I read more books about the Pentecostal movement and listened to preachers connected to this denomination, my spiritual eyes were opened.

I attended as many healing services as I could. In October 2015, my wife and I went to New York to attend Benny Hinn’s healing service. They spent a large portion of the service asking for donations. There was also a “prophet” who allegedly sensed and called out people’s first names to keep encouraging the audience to give one thousand dollars to receive blessings. After the healing service finished, we were very disappointed. However, during the meeting, Benny Hinn called out a word of knowledge that a lady named Elizabeth was there and that God would give her a child. Though skeptical as a medical professional, my wife said to me that if her name was called out, she would believe all of it was true. Unfortunately, Benny Hinn only called out a lady named Elizabeth. Although reluctant, I still persuaded my wife to stay until the end to receive prayer. When this did not result in anything miraculous, my wife further doubted these healing services. This was our first healing service in a Pentecostal church, and we had put so much hope in it.

 Whether my wife believed for it or not, I listened to many teachings from Kenneth E. Hagin and was amazed by his gift of healing. When I heard Hagin’s son, Wayne, was having a meeting in New Jersey, I also went there. I asked Wayne to pray that I would have a healing anointing. He said it was up to God, but he still prayed that if God were willing, He would give me a healing anointing. In the evening, I had a dream where Jesus appeared to me and told me that he already gave me a healing anointing. I replied, “No, you did not.” In the dream, Jesus asked me to raise my right hand. I raised my right arm and it felt like it was burning. Then He asked me to raise my right hand again and my right hand burned. I understood that this gift did not manifest in the day service, but in the dream in the evening Jesus showed me that He had given it to me.

I came back telling my wife I had a healing anointing to pray for her. I started to pray for her every day. Unfortunately, my wife did not believe me. She told me she did not believe that I could heal even a mosquito. Soon enough, I came across a man named Randy Clark on YouTube. He said a man named James Maloney had the gift of healing and when he prayed, even metal in pacemakers dissolved.

I listened to James Maloney and was amazed by his prophetic gifting. When I learned that he was going to take a sabbatical for a year, I decided to fly to his last service in Kentucky. However, when I arrived, I discovered that James had sprained his ankle and did not show up for the meeting. I was so disappointed. One of his associates, who is also a graduate from Randy Clark’s supernatural school ministered in his place. I had brought an airplane pillow and asked him to pray over it to heal my wife. This did not seem to work. This man called out many words of knowledge, and one of them was related to nose congestion. I stepped out in faith to claim this healing for myself. It did not come true for me either.

Despite these failed attempts, something did happen at this meeting. For the first time, I felt a physical tingling sensation on my face. I was told by a lady who had a connection with Global Awakening that this was the Holy Spirit. When I went back to Maryland, I found a local church to join that was associated with them. While there, I felt an even stronger sense of tingling on my face during worship. I understood this was a confirmation that God wanted me to stay at this church. This is how I became more involved with Global Awakening.

During the trip to Kentucky, something else important happened. When I went to the altar to receive prayer from the pastor, I received my first prophetic word. The man said,

Brother, you will begin to flow. You are getting an understanding of this. You are going to pray for the sick. You have compassion and deep compassion for sickness and people that are hurting and have no hope. The Lord says, “I will raise you.” You are going to have a voice, and God says, “I am going to use you.”

 

I never dreamt that God would give me a ministry, especially because in the LCM we were not encouraged to have our own ministries. They taught us to carry out the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee to help spread the truths God gave to them. I did not know God had plans for my life. Even though the prophetic word sounded simple, my teacher, Kim Maas, from my prophetic class at Global Awakening, encouraged me by saying, “this is a powerful prophecy.” I started to wonder what my future would be like and what that word meant. I began to eagerly pursue the gift of prophecy. I attended more prophetic conferences, read books, and took prophetic certification classes at Global Awakening.

In October, I convinced my wife to join me for another trip to North Carolina, to receive prayer from Mahesh Chavda. I had read an article that he once prophesied to a woman, and that woman conceived a year later.^[10] He even jokingly says in his own preaching, “When Mahesh comes to town, every woman gets pregnant.” Before going, I told his staff we were coming, through an email. To our surprise, they treated us like VIPs. Not only did they reserve us a front-row seat, but another leading person in his ministry took the initiative to look for us. He arranged both a prophetic and a healing team to pray for us at the same time.

He told us he saw a vision of “two lines crossing together” and it could represent a convergence point. That is, the Lord led me to this place and it represented an intersection or convergence point for my life. He said he strongly felt that the Lord was leading me in a different direction. The Word made sense to me because I was secretly learning from the Pentecostal movement but had not officially left my denomination. I was experiencing a lot of internal struggle about leaving the LCM because many believers there helped me.

Another man with a prophetic gift told me he saw me with the gift of healing. He told me it was the Lord’s will for me to practice healing prayers on my wife, and that the Lord would heal my wife through my prayers. This was my exercise. He confirmed what I experienced in the meeting with Hagin. Another lady saw a vision of the Lord using a sword to cut off the dragon in my wife’s family line, removing the ancestral curses. Later, Andrew Canon White and Chavda prayed for us with anointing oil. The prophetic lady said she felt whatever needed to be taken care of in the spiritual realm had been completed, but that it often takes ten months to a year to manifest in the physical realm.

This trip blessed us, but we were still unsure if anything would change. When I came back from North Carolina, I joined my first Global Awakening conference called Cultivate Revival in Pennsylvania. At that time, I already experienced a breakthrough in speaking in tongues and received the baptism of the Spirit to some degree. In this meeting, when two Global students prayed for me, the Holy Spirit fell on me as well as two of them, and none of us could stand. We backed up a dozen steps and fell on the chairs behind us. A student prophesied over me as I tried to support a woman receiving prayer while waiting for my turn. I watched her receive deliverance from a demon. It was the first time I had seen anything like this. She kept coughing, and then the demon was gone. The student that prophesied over me said,

You are a warrior. You come from a lineage of warriors. The Lord wants you to take the authority that has been given to you while you are in this revival meeting because you are a very powerful man. When you came to pray for this young lady, you brought a force that enveloped her. I felt this, and I can even smell this and taste this. However, I don’t know if you can tell what is happening. Man, God has this gift of healing for you, and this is going to come more and more, and become something you can have more confidence in because it is so strong on you. He is assigning this to you right now. Your hand is so mighty in healing and brings freedom and breaks off chains from people. It is all over you, man. He trusts you with His mysteries because you dare to stand before the throne of God and dispel the things that were spoken when you were a young lad. You have come to understand not only the kingdom of God. You have reached the throne of God. Now you have come here to receive the outpouring God has downloaded to you. It is so amazing. God wants to expand His territory in your soul. He is always there in your spirit. He wants you to begin to be there in the morning to see your territory because he is expanding it more. He wants you to feel His presence. He might come and stand beside you. He might stand behind you. He might stand to the side. But He wants you in that territory, so you look out and see the fact that even heavenly hosts come to your territory to find solace from the battle. Even the heavenly hosts come from heaven to your territory to get away from the battle. They come so they can receive the refreshment God has placed in your territory. I know it is deep, but this is what God is telling me. In you, He is providing a place where souls can come to find sanctuary from whatever is going on, to receive refreshment so they can regain strength and go to battle again. In your territory, He is expanding it and making you aware of more and more of this universe that is in you.

 

I was amazed by these words. I came from an evangelical background where I heard accusations about the prophetic movement that said these prophecies cater to our self or ego. In other words, these so-called prophecies make someone feel awesome about themselves but are from the soul or even of devilish deceit. They supposedly promote a believers' ego, but it does nothing beneficial to their spirit and may even harm their spiritual growth. I was not sure if the prophecy I received was true. Even the student who prophesied told me that it might sound too good to be true to me, but he said it was what the Lord was telling him at the moment.

Though I received prophetic words that God would use me greatly, I still did not have many prophetic words regarding whether I would have a baby or not. One Sunday in December the senior pastor of the church associated with Global Awakening suddenly became filled with the Holy Spirit while preaching and prophesied over me saying “your quiver is full.” He quoted this from Psalm 127:3-5:

Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

 

He explained to my wife and I that we would have a child, and that the Lord would make us have more than one child because God was declaring my quiver to be full. I was greatly encouraged but was still not quite sure if it was true because I did not personally hear God telling me this. I continued searching. I discovered that the Elijah List Conference would be held in Albany, Oregon in January of 2016. I went to this conference to seek healing and words from the Lord. Before this trip, I read a book by Chuck Pierce, one of the speakers at this conference. In his book, Chuck wrote about the Lord visiting him in the 1980s. The Lord told him that China would have a great revival, and that this revival would spread to the whole world.^[11]

When I arrived at the conference, another prophet named Dutch Sheets was speaking. In the end, full of the Holy Spirit, he said, “Today you come here not by coincidence. It is God who leads you here, and from today on, you will hear God speaking to you like you never have before.” I was greatly encouraged, so I went out during the lunch break to ask the Lord to speak to me. When I sat down in a chair outside of a Christian bookstore, my eye caught a 2016 calendar. The cover of that calendar said, “2016 Plan Your Family.” Suddenly, I heard God speak clearly: “2016, plan your family; you will have a child this year.” I was astonished as I had never heard God speaking to me so clearly, and He just said I would have a child this year. I immediately called my wife and told her what I heard. I finally received my prophetic word from God! It was the most powerful thing I have ever experienced.

I went back to China to visit my family in February 2016. My mother, who still worshiped Buddha, had been desperately praying to all kinds of idols to help us to have a baby. I had been trying to preach the Gospel to her since 2003 but had seen little effect. Since I heard God’s voice clearly saying I would have a child this year, I boldly told all my family members. I even prayed for my two cousins who could not have a baby. My mother was displeased with my behavior. She commented that I should not share such nonsense with others since I could not even take care of my own family matters. Though, I continued to believe the Word I received.

When I came back from China, I attended the Voice of Prophets conference held by Global Awakening in May 2016. There were many prophetic people there who gave me words from the Lord without knowing who I was. One day during worship, a lady from England approached me with a word. She said, “At one point in your life, you always went out to pray and dedicated yourself to the Lord, and God the Father was very pleased with you.” This brought tears to my eyes because only God and I knew that I asked Him every day in 2014 if He heard my prayers. I often cried out, “God, where are you?” or “God of Abraham, who can create things out of nothing, where are you?” After these prayers, I would confess my sins and dedicate myself to God and to His calling, even though I did not know what it was.

Her words were God’s delayed response to those prayers. I experienced 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. The hidden secrets in my heart were revealed and I cried and bowed down to God, amazed that this woman was hearing from Him. God is certainly among these groups of prophetic people. She even saw a vision of a male child running when I asked her to ask God if I would have child. I still hold this word with caution since we only currently have a daughter.

The words did not stop there. Another lady saw me with a quiver of three arrows on my back, which matched the prophetic word from my pastor in December 2015. One guy told me that God would use me greatly and he later returned to hand me a key as a prophetic action of God giving me the key to bring many into the Kingdom. I counted these words as true after the Holy Spirit told me the same things in a prophetic dream where I visited heaven. In this dream in 2017, Jesus himself told me He would use me greatly. Though all of the words I received were encouraging, I was eager to receive the fruition of having a child. I became desperate.

One day I said to the Holy Spirit,

In the Charismatic circle, people always teach that we should have an intimate relationship with you. I have prayed to Jesus and God, the Father, many times and I do not know when this is going to happen. Can you ask the Father and Jesus for me when this [pregnancy] is going to happen?

 

On the night of May 12, 2016, shortly after this prayer, I had a weird dream. In this dream, a woman (I figured it was the Holy Spirit) pointed to the back of a male figure (I figured it was Jesus). She asked me, “Did He not tell you that you will have a child next month?” I said in the dream, “No, I only sensed in my spirit it was coming soon, but I did not know it was next month.” I told my wife about this dream afterward, but she again had a hard time believing me.

Satan launched another fierce attack on my wife and I to make us quarrel. We did not talk for two weeks after I told her his dream. We only reconciled once she found out she was miraculously pregnant on May 28, 2016. Our baby was born healthy in early 2017. My mother was stunned and turned away from her idols that she had worshipped her whole life. She put faith in Jesus Christ, and I baptized her and my father when I came back to visit China in 2018. Ten years of persuasion and preaching could not change my mother’s heart, but one prophetic word from God turned things around. This event became a turning point for the salvation of my family members. My older sister also confessed belief in Jesus Christ. Later, the Holy Spirit told me through another prophetic dream that what He did in my family, He would do in many Chinese families through my ministry.

 

God Gives Me A Ministry

In 2016, at the Elijah List Conference, I received another prophetic word from God. This time it was about the ministry I would have. God said to me, “Jairus Bible World Ministry is from me.” At that time, I had begun this ministry in secret as my denomination did not encourage people to have ministries of their own. I used the name “Jairus” as a nickname to spread the revelations that I received from God in an online format. It was mainly directed toward Chinese audiences. When I received the prophetic word, I understood that God spoke this to help me overcome the fear of man so that I could walk in my calling and fulfill my destiny.

Upon leaving my LCM community, I struggled a lot. I recalled that they treated me kindly and helped me greatly during difficult times. Many believers there were like family members to me. I was very troubled thinking that I might be harming the unity of the body of Christ upon leaving. I realized afterward that the body of Christ was and is much bigger than just my denomination.

To help me through this struggle, the Lord gave me a prophetic picture. He showed me one stream of the Yangtze River, which is in western China. Then He showed me another stream in eastern China, which also flows into the Yangtze River. He reassured me that it was Him who put me in the first stream and now He was taking me to another stream. If I followed His leading, I would remain unified with the body of Christ. This comforted me. In another prophetic dream, the Lord appeared to me and there were two rivers behind Him. He told me these two rivers would converge in Maryland where I live. I received many personal prophecies about this too; words about convergence. I heard prophetic proclamations that “holiness and power” and “Word and Spirit” would converge together during this age and it would represent revival.

One day, after coming back from the Elijah conference, I was walking down the street pondering the revival in China that Chuck Pierce talked about in his book. Suddenly, I heard the Holy Spirit ask me, “What is a big revival?” I immediately answered back, “I heard that in China one out of ten people have received the Lord. Is this not a great revival already?” I answered this way because I had no special burden for China at the time. My burden was mainly for the Chinese students overseas. I did not have plans to go back to China to minister there.

The Holy Spirit promptly asked me another question, “How about two out of ten?” I was stunned. I quickly calculated that it would be another 100 million people saved. I believe the Holy Spirit was not meaning to limit salvation to only two out of ten Chinese people. Instead, He was trying to challenge and stretch me in my thinking. I had a burden for China after this encounter, and I started to have hundreds of prophetic dreams about a great revival coming to them. In these dreams, I was even brought to future events. I saw the nation change politically after this great revival. Many prophetic words were released over me from other prophetic people saying that I would travel to China extensively in the future to minister to different groups there.

 

The Synergy and Conclusion

It is believed that half or even more of Chinese Christians in China are meeting in Pentecostal or Charismatic churches. If they are following this pattern, I wonder if it is true among them also, that they prophesy well but lack discipline and understanding of the written Word. My assertion may be correct since many of these believers never had the chance to benefit from Witness Lee’s teachings or the practice of PSRP, since they had been labeled heretical and were banned.

God used the LCM to help me settle into the United States and build a strong life and foundation in the Word of God. I received a teaching anointing in the LCM, and I am a mature, discipled man of God because of them. Their emphasis on holiness prior to engaging in forthtelling ensures spiritual growth and readiness before jumping into making erroneous declarations. To become mature sons and daughters of Christ, ones who partner with God in His Kingdom, we must learn to be intimate friends with Him. This requires us to be holy, disciplined and knowledgeable in His Word.

On the contrary, God used Pentecostal and Charismatic churches to help my wife and I receive a breakthrough in healing and teach us about the charismatic gifts. We had a miracle daughter as a result of this, and these churches helped activate my prophetic and healing gifts. Prophecy has been extremely important to my journey of spiritual growth. Even when I was having a difficult time deciding whether I should continue with this doctoral program, God used a woman sitting behind me in a prophetic conference to say, “God wanted you to finish this degree, and He will use this as a knocking brick to open the doors for you to minister in the future.” I cannot imagine where my life would be without prophetic ministry.

The synergy of this paper is formed in these two conclusions. I believe my calling is to continue to spread the truths I learned from both the LCM and the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. I admire the LCM’s diligence to the practices of PSRP. It is my conviction that their model of PSRP could help recover a sincere devotion and commitment to knowing God’s written Word, that which sometimes feels lost in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. Also, PSRP affords the body of Christ more opportunity to practice public speaking in the form of prophesying.

Comparatively, the LCM and other evangelical churches need to awaken to recognize that God has used modern Pentecostal and Charismatic churches to recover and revitalize the prophetic gifts. These churches have embraced Paul’s teachings and have stirred the flame of God into action. They have honored God by honoring His desire to pour out His manifest presence in the form of many gifts to the body. A prophetic word can change a person’s life and can change one’s direction for life. A genuine prophetic word can also turn a whole family from worshiping idols to worshiping God. A prophetic word from God can even turn a nation around.

This thesis project focuses on holiness and prophesy. It is my attempt to be part of the new movement where Word and Spirit meet; holiness and power surge. The American prophet Larry Randolph said he felt what he could do for God is comparative to a drop of water in the ocean. Although so tiny, God still includes us in his plans. He does not need us, but He still gives us the grace to cooperate with Him.[12] This project is about me doing my part in the body of Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Allan, Stuart and Lynley. No Longer Barren but Fruitful in “Spread the Fire,” (January 2007). In Canada’s Christian Library Online. Accessed March 9, 2020. https://www.christianity.ca/page.aspx?pid=10596.  

 

Defense & Confirmation Project. “Contending for the Faith.” Defense & Confirmation Project. Last modified 2017. Accessed April 11, 2020, https://contendingforthefaith.org/en/the-mindbenders-history/.  

 

MacArthur, John F. Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2013.

 

Miller, Elliot. “We Were Wrong. A Reassessment of the ‘Local Church’ Movement of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.” In “The Local Church,” edited by Hank Hanegraaff. Special issue. Christian Research Institute 32, no. 6 (2009): 2-52. Accessed on November 27, 2019. http://www.equip.org/PDF/EnglishOpt.pdf.

 

Fuller Theological Seminary. An Open Letter from the Local Churches and Living Stream Ministry Concerning the Teachings of Witness Lee. DCP & Living Stream Ministry, 2017. Accessed November 27, 2019. https://an-open-letter.org/PDF/Fuller%20Theological%20Seminary%20Statement%20English.pdf  

 

Guyon, Madam Jeanne. A Short and Easy Method of Prayer. Edited by J. Scott Husted. Online Self-Publishing Book Company: Lulu.com, 2011. Accessed April 6, 2020. https://jesus.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/short-and-easy-method-of-prayer.pdf.

 

Goll, James. The Lost Art of Intercession. Video training. No public link available.

Accessed November 27, 2019. https://agodman.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/to-prophesy-is-mainly-to-speak-for-god-and-to-speak-forth-god-into-people/.  

 

Joyner, Rick. “The Application of a Prophetic Word, Part 3- Prophetic in the Body of Christ.” Rick Joyner’s Word for the Week, April 26, 2011. Accessed April 11, 2020. https://publications.morningstarministries.org/word-for-the-week/application-prophetic-word-part-3-prophetic-body-christ.  

 

Lee, Witness. The Practice of Prophesying. Anaheim, California: Live Stream Ministries, 1990. Accessed March 18, 2020. Living Stream Ministry. https://www.ministrybooks.org/SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=33E313DFCF.

 

Pierce, Chuck. God's Unfolding Battle Plan: A Field Manual for Advancing the Kingdom of God. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2007.

 

Randolph, Larry. “Recognizing Revial” (video teaching). MorningStar Classics. October 22, 1996. Accessed April 11, 2020. https://www.morningstartv.com/morningstar-classics/recognizing-revial.

 

Wommack, Andrew. “Holy Spirit.” Andrew Wommack Ministries. n.d. Accessed April 24, 2020. https://www.awmi.net/reading/teaching-articles/holy_spirit/.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Pub., 2004). Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible references in this paper are from the NRSV.

[2] “Contending for the Faith,” Defense & Confirmation Project, last modified 2017, accessed April 11, 2020, https://contendingforthefaith.org/en/the-mindbenders-history/.

[3] “Contending for the Faith,” Defense & Confirmation Project.

[4] Elliot Miller, “We Were Wrong: A Reassessment of the ‘Local Church’ Movement of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee,” in “The Local Church,” ed. Hank Hanegraaff, special issue, Christian Research Institute 32, no. 6 (2009): 2-52, accessed November 27, 2019, http://www.equip.org/PDF/EnglishOpt.pdf.

[5] Fuller Theological Seminary, An Open Letter from the Local Churches and Living Stream Ministry Concerning the Teachings of Witness Lee, DCP & Living Stream Ministry, 2017, accessed November 27, 2019, https://an-open-letter.org/PDF/Fuller%20Theological%20Seminary%20Statement%20English.pdf.

[6] Rick Joyner, “The Application of a Prophetic Word, Part 3- Prophetic in the Body of Christ,” Rick Joyner’s Word for the Week, April 26, 2011, accessed April 11, 2020, https://publications.morningstarministries.org/word-for-the-week/application-prophetic-word-part-3-prophetic-body-christ.

[7] Madame Jeanne Guyon, A Short and Easy Method of Prayer, ed. J. Scott Husted (Online Self-Publishing Book Company: Lulu.com), 2011, accessed April 6, 2020, https://books.google.com/books?id=R7YAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.

[8] Witness Lee, The Practice of Prophesying. (Anaheim, California: Living Stream Ministries, 1990), accessed March 18, 2020, https://www.ministrybooks.org/SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=33E313DFCF.

[9] Andrew Wommack, “Holy Spirit,” Andrew Wommack Ministries, n.d., accessed April 24, 2020, https://www.awmi.net/reading/teaching-articles/holy_spirit/.

[10] Stuart and Lynley Allan, No Longer Barren but Fruitful in “Spread the Fire,” (January 2007), in Canada’s Christian Library Online, accessed March 9, 2020, https://www.christianity.ca/page.aspx?pid=10596.

[11] Chuck Pierce, God's Unfolding Battle Plan: A Field Manual for Advancing the Kingdom of God, (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2007), 273.

[12] Larry Randolph, “Recognizing Revial” (video teaching), MorningStar Classics, October 22, 1996, accessed April 11, 2020, https://www.morningstartv.com/morningstar-classics/recognizing-revial.

Bible Study With Jairus – Numbers 22

Bible Study With Jairus – Numbers 22

Finding Truth Amongst False Prophets and News

Numbers 22:1 (ESV) records, "The people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho." This verse paints a perfect picture of the Israelites (who represent our spiritual life) being disturbed and attacked by the Moabites (who represent our flesh) before they captured Jericho (which represents strongholds of the evil spirits). God loves the Moabites, so He ordered Moses not to attack the Moabites (Deuteronomy 2:9). But due to fear, the Moabites were stirred up by the enemy to disturb and curse the Israelites and resist God's move through the Israelites.

Let me first talk about the Israelites. Of course, they are God's chosen people. He dwells with them and walks among them. In John 1:14 (ESV), it says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." The dwelling is Jesus Christ, and He is Immanuel which means that God is with us.

 

The Relations Between the Moabites and Israelites

Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 10:4, "They all drank the same spiritual water; what they drank was the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." We can see that the rock that followed the Israelites was Christ. So, Christ, the spiritual rock, went wherever the Israelites went. God's dwelling went wherever the Israelites went.

Thus, the Israelites' process of leaving Egypt, passing through the wilderness, and entering the Promised Land was to defeat the Canaanites who occupied God's Promised Land. The Canaanites represent the evil spirits and the strongholds they set up in us. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:4 (ESV), "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." Although the Israelites camped in the plains of Moab and were so close to Moab, the Israelite's battle was not against the Moabites but the stronghold of Jericho.

Deuteronomy 2:9 (ESV) records what God said to Moses. Moses said, "The Lord said to me, 'Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.'" This verse clearly shows that God does not want the Israelites to fight against the Moabites. Why? As this verse indicates, the Moabites are descendants of Lot and relatives of Abraham, so God does not want a war between the Israelites and Moabites.

The second is the spiritual reason I mentioned above. God knows that Israel's enemy is Jericho, the Canaanites and the evil spirits, and the power of the ruler of the air represented by the Canaanites. As Paul said, our enemies are the spiritual forces of evil. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (ESV, Ephesians 6:12).

But why is it that the Moabites were afraid and even hired Balaam to curse the Israelites? Deuteronomy 2 did not specifically mention the reason why when God told Moses not to attack the Moabites. But it noted that they would feel fear when God ordered Moses not to attack Edom. Deuteronomy 2:4-5 (ESV) records that, "Command the people, "You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession." This verse clearly shows that Edom and Moab could not help but be afraid because there were so many Israelites. For example, it was recorded in Numbers 22:3 (ESV) that "Moab was in great dread of the people because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel." Fear often propels us to make wrong decisions. It also makes us lose our peace and faith and even lose our ability to understand and accept God's words.

 

Fear Can Be Stronger Than Faith at Times

If the Moabites lived in faith and not fear, they should know that God loved them. If they knew what God was telling Moses, they shouldn't be fearful. Instead, they would feel grateful for God's love and mercy. But fear will make us do things that are out of the ordinary. The Christians of today are much like the ancient Moabites when it comes to fear affecting decision-making. How many times have Christians made wrong choices or missed God's Word because of unnecessary fear?

In other words, Moab doesn't need to be afraid. I've said many times before that God's intention is to kill all of the evil spirits represented by the Canaanites.  Part of this is to take a detour and slowly deal with the Moabites and the Edomites, who represent the mortal flesh. The former is the work of the deliverance ministry, and the latter is the work of the cross. You can cast out the evil spirits, but you can't cast out the flesh.  The flesh needs to slowly be changed by the work of the cross.

 

God's Love for the Moabites

If you read the latter judgments against the Moabites in the Old Testament, for example, Amos 2:1 (ESV) says, "Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment." We see that God wants to judge or deal with Moab instead of killing them all. Jeremiah 48:11-12 (ESV) says, "Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so, his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed." Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces." This verse means that just like winemaking, the dregs can only be settled by pouring into wine bottles continuously. But Moab had been at ease for a long time, so the dregs were not removed. So, God wants to deal with Moab, just like pouring wine into wine bottles to settle the dregs.

From these two verses, we can see that God loved Moab and hoped to deal with it. God loved Lot, and He also loved Moab, Lot's descendant, even though God said, "No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever." (ESV, Deuteronomy 23:3). Since the Moabites cursed the Israelites and they sinned by fornication, we know that Ruth, the descendant of the Moabites, became the ancestor of Christ.  We understand that God loved Moab but hoped to deal with it. This led to why God allowed the Gentile prophet Balaam to prophesy in Moab.

 

Balaam Is Allowed To Travel to Moab

A lady asked, "In Numbers 22:12, God ordered Balaam not to go to Moab to curse the Israelites, but why is it that in verse 20, it says that Balaam was allowed to go with them, but he could only do what God told him? Later in verses 22-34,  why did God try to kill Balaam on the way? God said He would kill Balaam, but why didn't He kill him in the end? Why  did he allow Balaam to go with them in verse 35?" Logically, this sounds a bit confusing, and this lady was looking for answers.

I said, "I will explain this from two perspectives. The first is:  God definitely told Balaam not to go, warning him the first time. But Balaam's heart already wanted to go, so the Lord allowed him to go the second time. It may be likened to Christians today. Sometimes we have already made up our mind in the flesh, and then we pray and ask the Lord whether we can go. One attitude is to humbly wait before God and seek His leading. The other attitude is: I have already decided. I'm just informing the Lord when I'm praying. In this case, the Lord may not hinder you. But God still stopped Balaam on the way, which was tantamount to warning him again that he could only say what God wanted him to say.

The other perspective is deeper - God loved Moab. Thus, He was willing to speak to Moab through Balaam. I cited a personal example. When I was learning about the gift of prophecy in the Prophetic Movement, the teachers who taught the gift of prophecy often cited some movies to illustrate how God speaks through movies.

Media Can Speak to Christians and Non-Believers Alike

Movies such as "The Lord of the Rings" or the film and television series adapted from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by the well-known British Christian writer C.S. Lewis were the ones cited by them. God often speaks through worldly media or movies. For example, many Chinese people have seen "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Forrest Gump." These two movies have inspired many Chinese people, including believers and nonbelievers, to have hope, but the movies may not mention God in them. There is even cursing in these movies, but many people have received great encouragement from them. I feel that God speaks to many people through these two movies.

There are two scenes in "Forrest Gump" that left a deep impression on me. The first was when Forrest Gump was a child and had leg braces, but he broke free of his braces while running away from neighborhood bullies.  The second was him as an adult running with the football for a touchdown.  I feel like God was telling me that one day I will be free from all kinds of shackles holding me back, and I will run and fly in freedom!   These scenes deeply inspired me.

God can speak to unclean people through unclean media or channels.  Before I was saved, the media I came into contact with and the friends around me were all opportunities for God to speak to me. A friend said that his wife often watched a variety of films and television series and found that the Lord often spoke to her through them.  

He said that many religious people might be critical of Christians who watch so many movies and TV, but his wife gets spiritual inspiration from God through it.  I know his wife and can attest to his words.  She often takes what the Lord shows her and shares the gospel with her Christian friends.

The Tragedies of Balaam

Why would God use Balaam, a Gentile prophet who was flawed and even greedy for wealth later, to speak to Moab? Because this was a way for Moab to trust. God wanted to speak to Moab, but there was no Israelite prophet that had spoken to Moab, and there was no prophet in Moab, so God had to speak to Moab through Balaam, a Gentile prophet. Just as God told Moses directly, He would not give the Moabites land to the Israelites; God also told the Moabites through the Gentile prophet Balaam that Israel was a treasure in His eyes.

The Moabites were told not to curse the Israelites, but they didn't listen to what God told them through the prophet Balaam.  Instead, they tried their best to curse them.  In the end, through deception, Balaam enticed the Israelites and Moabite women to commit adultery (Numbers 25:1). God judged Moab by allowing Moses to kill Many Midianites (Numbers 25:17).  Through this attack, Balaam was also killed alongside the five kings of Midian.

All of these are a tragedy. Balaam might not have been killed, and the Midianites could have been protected against attacks. Moab could also have avoided the curse of the Lord for ten generations. But all this happened. Why? They didn't hear what God said through the Gentile Prophet Balaam.  President Trump often refers to Left media such as CNN as "Fake News," but if "fake news" is the only media you listen to, God can use it to speak to you. But you will hear many lies from the enemy as well. The key is how you hear the Holy Spirit's voice and distinguish the voice of God from the voice of the enemy.

 

Prophets in the Modern Church

For example, there are many prophets in Charismatic churches. In the past, some prophets prophesied that there would be an earthquake, rapture, or great spiritual revival at a specific time, but it did not happen afterward. Many churches, including the Local Church Movement where I was saved, closed the door on such prophets and prophecies. They think they are unreliable, so they are not taught and promoted in the church. This is a wrong attitude. After I left the Local Church Movement to study in the Pentecostal Movement in 2015, I found that some people in the Pentecostal church did have the gift of prophecy, but some may be false prophets.

Some people who have the gift of prophecy also might make some wrong prophecies. But we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Instead, we need to listen and distinguish God's voice in their prophecies. Balaam here is a Gentile prophet. The Bible calls him a false prophet or a person who betrays for profit, but God still used him to make Israel's most beautiful prophecy. Numbers 24:17 (ESV) even prophesies that "a star shall come out of Jacob." This refers to the prophecy of Christ's coming. You can see God's genuine prophecy through a false prophet.

If God can speak through Balaam, He can also speak to us through film and television series and through secular media. God can speak to us through unclean people and things in the unclean environment where we live because He is over all and through all and in all (ESV, Ephesians 4:6). Although the things God uses are unclean, God can speak to us through them. God can also use imperfect people, including Balaam or Trump, to speak to us.

 

God Speaking Through Trump

We cannot disregard God's words from people because the people God uses -like Balaam or Trump-are imperfect. We must draw lessons from the Moabites in this chapter. Although Trump is imperfect and has many flaws, he is someone who God uses somewhat to suppress the political tendency of the left. Trump was also used to bring the United States back to the foundation of a Christian nation so that churches have room to breathe.

They can use the opportunity to preach the gospel and spiritually grow, and truly revive American society. This is the message that God wants to send to us through Trump. However, if we are hung up on  Trump's flaws or hindered by our preconceptions (for example, the Moabites hope that Balaam will curse the Israelites), it will prevent us from seeing or hearing God's prophetic voice through Trump.

Unfortunately, many Christians committed the same mistakes as the Moabites. They did not see God's will. What is the reason for this? The reason is that they live in the flesh like the Moabites. Their motives and intentions (cursing the Israelites) became their veil, but they did not see God's blessings to the Israelites and how God would bless all nations through the Israelites.

Of course, all nations include the Moabites. Paul said, "So that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." (ESV, Galatians 3:14). This is what God said to Moab through the Gentile prophet Balaam. In everyday English, what God said was, "Moabites, don't curse the Israelites because the Israelites are blessed. One day a star shall come out of Jacob - Christ. He will become salvation for all nations.

The blessing of Abraham in Jesus Christ will come to all Gentiles, including you Moabites. One day, you can receive the promised Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. Moabites, don't be so stupid; I am blessing you. But I must bless the Jews first. Please listen to what I said to you through Balaam, a Gentile prophet!" But the Moabites' strong desire and motive to curse the Israelites became their hindrance, preventing them from hearing what God said to them through Balaam. Many Christians' dislike towards Trump or have different political views than Trump has become their hindrance, preventing them from seeing God's move on Trump.

 

Imperfect People, True Prophecies

God can speak valid prophetic words through false prophets. God can use unclean people to speak holy words. God can use the imperfect people around us to complete His perfect plan. Let's open our eyes and listen to God's words in everything. On the contrary, because there are too many unclean people, things, and social media channels around us, we must urgently strengthen our fellowship with God. We need to live in close fellowship with God, constantly get rid of false prophets and "fake news" brought by the enemy, and listen to God's voice.

I said in the meeting that the American church's situation is like the Moabites – it's mixed with a lot of things in the flesh. Whether it is the church as a whole or individual Christians, many people live in the flesh.

On the one hand, we are affected by a lot of "fake news" and are deceived many times by evil spirits. On the other hand, because of our flesh - the pain we suffered in history and our bitterness and unforgiveness the evil spirits are given a stronghold, causing many Christians to fall into this situation. Some consider Trump as God's chosen instrument, but others cannot accept him. Trump's imperfections, coupled with their preconceptions, such as being portrayed as a racist by left-leaning media, have made some believers unable to accept God's choice.

 

Spirits, Not the Flesh, Is the True Enemy

At the end of our meeting, I briefly mentioned that our enemies are not people in the flesh.   They are the evil spirits that often influence our flesh to oppose our spirit and God Himself, who lives in our spirit. Therefore, we must enhance our experience of the cross's work to deal with our flesh and strengthen our spiritual warfare to defeat the Jericho-strongholds. Usually, the place where the enemy distorts us the most or where our flesh is the most attacked becomes the place for us to rejoice after victory.

An example is Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho. She became a prostitute on the wall of Jericho. She was tortured and humiliated, but then she became the one who saved Israel's spies and a breakthrough in destroying the city of Jericho. She became the ancestor of Christ and married one of the spies, later giving birth to Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was Jesse's father, and Jesse was the father of David. Jesus Christ was the descendant of David.

I also shared that just as God loved the Moabites, they were also relatives of Israel. Similarly, although God chose Trump, Biden and others are also created by God in His own image. Even if the enemy used many leftists, they are not our enemy. Our enemies are spiritual -evil spirits and dark forces. Those who are used and deceived by the evil spirits urgently need our prayers.

We should pray that God will be able to have mercy on them and that they can repent and eventually enter the Kingdom of God. We must not curse them. Even if some people are sent to prison for committing crimes, we must not kick them when they are down. Instead, we must pray for them. God's great love has blessed not only the Israelites but also the Moabites. God's great love not only blesses those who He uses but also saves those who once opposed Him.

Conclusion

This is the inspiration I received from reading this chapter of the Bible. We must draw lessons from the Moabites and be able to hear what God says to us through the unclean or imperfect channels He uses. We must remove our prejudice so that we can hear God's words through people we may not like.

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 21

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 21

Numbers 21 tells the story of Israel getting back to the starting point after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Forty years ago, they sent twelve spies into the Promised Land. In the end, ten were evil spies. They saw that the Canaanites were of great height, so they became frightened and forgot about God’s promise of bringing them into the Promised Land. God, in His wrath, let them wander in the wilderness for forty years corresponding to the 40 days they spied out the land (Numbers 13).

We often say that the wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness represents the wandering of Christians in their soul. Egypt represents the world that the Israelites and Christians leave behind when they make their faith commitment to follow Christ. The Promised Land represents our entry into the abundant life and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The Canaanites represent the enemies occupying and preventing the Israelites from entering the Promised Land. When talking about a Christian’s spiritual experience, the Canaanites are a representation of evil spirits and the various strongholds we may face.

If we want to receive the spiritually abundant life God has for us, we must defeat the enemies who are hindering us. God can easily defeat His enemies. But to train us, God needs us to defeat them. God’s destiny for us Christians is to enter the abundance of life and the experience of spiritual victory. This is just like the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land in the Old Testament—this was God's destiny for them. But does this mean everything will go smoothly if something is God’s destiny for us? No. Often the enemy will do everything possible to hinder the good things God has ordained for us. Therefore, heeding the words of God’s prophecies and promises, and defeating enemies in battles should be our attitude.

If we cannot defeat the enemy, we will continue wandering in the wilderness. What is the wilderness experience? The wilderness experience is when you cannot go back to Egypt, nor can you enter the Promised Land. In today's Christian experience, it represents a period of struggle where one has not yet experienced spiritual victory in areas of their lives after being saved.

Our enemy is very large. We cannot defeat the enemy by ourselves. Therefore, faith is extremely important. God hopes that in our process, we do not look at the size of the enemy and the difficulties of our situation, but instead think of His promise that we will be victorious and that He is with us. Basically, we defeat the enemy through faith. God's purpose is not only for us to defeat the enemy, but that our faith in Him would increase in the process. In other words, God is using the circumstances and battles to increase our faith and to teach us how to better understand His greatness.

The first generation of Israelites completely failed. After seeing the height of the enemy, they utterly forgot God's promise. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Wandering in the wilderness also represents God's discipline. God will bring us into the wilderness experience to discipline us so that we can mature. There, He will also provide us with heavenly food, such as manna, so that our strength and faith may increase. Gradually, we gain the strength to fight the enemy.

At the beginning of Numbers 21, the Israelites learned their lesson and grew in faith in God after forty years of discipline. Verses 1-3 (ESV) state, “When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. And Israel vowed to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.” And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.”

These verses included the first generation—Moses, Caleb, and Joshua (Miriam and Aaron already died in Numbers 20), and the second generation of Israelites. Their attitude changed from one generation to the next. The second generation was no longer afraid. Instead, they entreated the Lord that if He delivers them into their hands, they will destroy the Canaanite’s cities. In other words, they asked God to help them win this battle and then they would destroy the Canaanites. Because the Canaanites’ measure of sin had reached its full measure according to God, they prayed according to God’s will. This was a huge spiritual advancement for the second generation of the Israelites. God also has a promise for us to defeat our enemies. Remember though, faith plays a significant role in their defeat. If we have faith in God, anything is possible.

Unfortunately, the Israelite’s victory this time, although it was an improvement, did not last long. Verses 4-5 record that the Israelites set off from Mount Hor and walked along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Moses asked the king of Edom to pass through his territory, attempting to find a shortcut. The king of Edom firmly refused and was even willing to fight against the Israelites. Thankfully, God ordained that the Israelites would not fight with the Edomites. Instead, they had to make a detour by the way of the Red Sea, which is the direction toward Egypt. At this point, it seemed that going south would bring them back to where they started, so the Israelites became impatient. They spoke against God and Moses, accusing them of leading the Israelites to die in the wilderness. They also complained that there was no food or water, and they were already tired of the manna. The Lord responded by sending fiery serpents among them. They bit the people, and many died. After God’s discipline this time, the Israelites repented and asked Moses to pray and ask God to take away the serpents. God did not take away the fiery serpents. Instead, he instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent, and those who looked at it would live.

One interesting point to note here is that the Israelites prayed that God would take away the fiery serpents, but the Bible does not record that God would take them away. Instead, it says that God prepared a bronze serpent. For us, the fiery serpent represents both the difficulties of our situations and God's discipline. While the “fire” may still be present, God has prepared salvation for us, which is represented by the bronze serpent. If we look at it (the bronze serpent), we will surely live. John 3:14-15 (ESV) says, “As Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him will have eternal life.” Our world is full of suffering. Although the suffering has not been removed, we can look to Christ who has been crucified on our behalf. This experience taught the second generation of Israelites to learn to look only at the salvation God prepares and not at the lack in their circumstances. Their experience taught them how to have faith.

We will become whatever we behold. The more we look at our suffering, the more we will be frightened; the more we look at our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the salvation He provides, the more our faith grows to trust Him and we are saved. The Lord Jesus himself said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV, John 16:33) Paul also said, “We all, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (ESV, 2 Corinthians 3:18)

A lady in our Bible study experienced some trials and tribulations. This day in particular, she received a revelation from the Father. She knew the story of the testing of the Israelites was the Holy Spirit's timely words for her situation to bring comfort to her heart. Although she experienced some trials of physical illness,  God had already given her His Word, telling her she would be healed. Unfortunately, setbacks in her process still left her discouraged. She asked God, “Why is it like this?” When I shared about the Israelites, I mentioned that not only does God want to heal her body, but He also wants to strengthen her faith through these trials so that He can use her in the future. She testified that many people had said the same thing to her. Therefore, she was willing to continue to lean upon God's promises and look to the healing that He offered through the cross instead of paying too much attention to her difficult circumstances.

After the story of bronze serpent, the Israelites move forward on their journey, passing through many more places. Verse 16 specifically mentions a place called Beer. Many people are not sure about its location, but it is recorded that this place is the well of which the Lord say to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water" (ESV, Numbers 21:16). This raises some questions. Is this the place where Moses struck the rock for the first time? No, that was in the Wilderness of Sin (Exodus 17:7). Is it referring to the second time Moses struck the rock twice by mistake? No, this was in the Wilderness of Zin in Kadesh (Numbers 20:1), so it could not have been this place either. It must be referring to another time when God spoke to Moses.

Water often represents the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Let’s review God’s supply of the water in these chapters. The first time God supplied water was when Moses struck the rock to produce water. The second time was when God asked Moses to speak to the rock so that water would pour out. (Moses instead struck the rock twice.) The third time refers to when the leaders of the Israelites and the nobles of the people dug a well with the scepter and their staffs. Now, the first strike on the rock represents the work done by Christ on the cross so that we can have the Holy Spirit; speaking to the rock (the second time) represents receiving the Holy Spirit by faith; and digging the well (the third time) represents our cooperation with God and an experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. These three examples represent three stages of our Christian life. We must remember that Christ accomplished everything so we can receive the Holy Spirit. While it is Christ’s work alone that saves, we must apply faith to receive the Holy Spirit to obtain life and power to overcome. Lastly, as we overcome our flesh and sins, the Holy Spirit can have preeminence in our life and ministry.

I once received an explanation from the Local Church Movement about the water flowing out of the well, and it left a deep impression on me. That is, the well is like the Holy Spirit. The living water is already in us, but the living water in our well may be stopped up by mud and stones. The mud and stones symbolize the sins of the world, our flesh, etc., and we must dig them out with the scepter and staff to remove them.

Just like the picture in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, there will only be food if Adam cultivates the ground. Adam did his part and he trusted God to supply the water (mist) necessary for the ground to yield a harvest. Similarly, Christ has already accomplished salvation on the cross. While the Holy Spirit already lives in us, our well of water may be blocked by all kinds of filth. If we are willing to dedicate ourselves and deal with the sins and filth within us, the living water will more easily flow out. On one hand, the flow of living water is entirely the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit; on the other hand, our cooperation is extremely important.

Verses 21-32 record the story of Moses' victory over Sihon, the king of the Amorites. Just like last time when they were passing through Edom, Moses also asked Sihon to let the Israelites pass through their territory. Moses again promised that they would not enter their fields and vineyards, nor would they drink water from their wells. They would just go by the King's Highway. However, Sihon refused to allow them to pass through his territory. He even gathered people to attack the Israelites. Strangely, it is not recorded that the Israelites prayed to the Lord before killing Sihon. But later in verses 33-35, when the Israelites fought Og, the king of Bashan, the Lord told Moses that he would give King Og of Bashan into their hands, just as he gave Sihon to them.

The Bible specifically records that King Sihon once fought against the king of Moab and took a lot of his land. A poem was recorded to describe this situation. It mentions in verse 24 that the Israelites continued to attack the Amorites until they reached Ammon because the border of the Ammonites was fortified. The original meanings of Ammon and Moab are “born from relatives” (Ammon) and “born from the father” (Moab). They are both descendants of the incest between Lot and his daughters. Let’s recall that because of Abraham's intercession, God saved Lot. 2 Peter 2:7 (NIV) refers to Lot as “a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless." Now, although the Moabites and Ammonites represent our flesh, they are still the descendants of Lot whom God loves. God loved the Moabites and Ammonites.

Imagine that Moses and the Israelites are examples of our spirit man. Sihon and Og represent the evil spirits and strongholds in our lives. What then are the Ammonites and Moabites? Of course, they represent our flesh. How can evil spirits control us? They do so mostly through our agreement with them in the flesh. Now, think about Paul’s experience in Romans 7 and 8. Why did he exclaim that he was a “wretched man” (Romans 7:24)? Because in his mind, he wanted to be a slave of the law of God; but in his flesh, he was a slave of the law of sin (Romans 7:25). In our story, the law of sin is the work of Satan and his evil spirits—Sihon and Og.

When we try to fight spiritual things like evil spirits, our flesh loses because it cannot sustain such a battle. The same is usually true for those who want to overcome their failures or sins—they often fail because the power of the sin is stronger than one’s will to overcome. This is illustrated well in Romans 7 by Paul. The battle between Moab and Sihon is a picture of this. The Moabites, who represent the flesh, will never win the battle against Sihon, who represents evil spirits. We need the help of our regenerated spirit man to save our flesh, just as the Moabites needed help from Moses to escape the tyranny of Sihon. It is not coincidence that God records the battle between Sihon and Moab here. It has significant meaning. One of God’s plans was to liberate Moab. Moses and the Israelites were God’s tools to liberate the Moabites from Sihon. In the end, Moses’ victory over Sihon and Og can represent the defeating or casting out of evil spirits from our lives.

The next chapter, Numbers 22, tells the story of the king of Moab employing the Gentile prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. But in Deuteronomy, God ordered Moses not to contend with the Edomites, the descendant of Esau (Deuteronomy 2:4-8), not to harass the Moabites (Deuteronomy 2:9), and not to contend with the Ammonites (Deuteronomy 2:19). Yet, the Moabites in Numbers 22 hired Balaam to curse the Israelites, similar to how the king of Edom in the previous chapter attacked the Israelites (which led to God’s judgment). The Moabites also incurred God’s judgment. Remember, the Moabites and the Edomites are relatives of the Israelites, but descendants of Lot and Esau respectively. They represent the flesh of Christians. The flesh is part of us. Although it’s not an evil spirit, the untrained flesh can and will cooperate with evil spirits to hinder the work of the Spirit of God in us.

When I took deliverance courses, I learned that evil spirits are to be cast out through deliverance. The flesh, since it is not an evil spirit, must be dealt with by the cross since your flesh can’t be cast out. One particular teacher clearly taught this because he discovered that there is a commonality among charismatic churches—they accept deliverance ministries more than evangelical churches, but they tend to go to the extreme. That is, they think that after experiencing deliverance, everything will be fine. The work of the cross is not emphasized enough. This teacher, therefore, emphasized that although we should accept deliverance ministries, we must also realize that our flesh must be continuously submitted to the cross. Just as charismatic churches may tend to deemphasize the work of submitting our flesh to the Spirit, some churches only emphasize dealing with the flesh and they do not recognize the necessity for deliverance ministries. The Bible teaches that these are two different things, both of which need to be taught in churches.

In the end, we learn from this chapter that God’s intention towards the Amorites (representing evil spirits) was to exterminate them. His plan regarding Edom and Moab (which represent the flesh) was to take the Israelites on a detour and deal with them slowly as would be the Christian’s journey of training the flesh. The judgment on Edom and Moab later recorded in the Old Testament proved that they were dealt with in this way. The Book of Amos records the judgment on Edom, Ammon, and Moab. Amos 1:11 (ESV) records the judgment on Edom as, “Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.” Amos 1:13 (ESV) records the judgment of the Ammonites: “Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.” Finally, Amos 2:1 (ESV) records the judgment of Moab. It says, “Thus says the Lord: ‘For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment because he burned to lime [ashes] the bones of the king of Edom.’” Right after these verses, the judgment on Judah and Israel was recorded. Although they were also disciplined, they were not exterminated. This is the difference between dealing with evil spirits and dealing with the flesh.

We will discuss further how God dealt with Moab in our next chapter of study on Numbers 22. We conclude with a summary of what we learned today. God wanted the Israelites to pass through the land of Moab to bless the Moabites, but Moab did not receive their blessing. God even spoke to Moab through the Gentile prophet Balaam that the Israelites are blessed because Christ would be born from their lineage to bless nations, including them. However, Moab insisted on cursing the Israelites and they eventually lost their opportunity to receive God’s blessing. Please make sure to check out our Bible study on Numbers 22 to find out more. There, we shared more about the Moabites and how we can learn from their experiences today.