This message was shared by Pastor Carol with family as they met together Sunday March 22.
God is wanting the body of Christ to be awakened like never before. He’s looking for a gathering together in a spirit of unity. I feel that the Lord is saying we must remember that the body of Christ is not a building but a body, and we are all over this globe!
Also, I believe the Lord is saying that like our enemy Satan, this Coronavirus is no respecter of persons. The poor, the rich, every Nation is being hit. We’re dealing with something the enemy has caused, but I believe, God has
permitted it and is allowing a shaking and a sifting. Just like Peter was brought into a deeper repentance through his sifting, so are we being brought into deeper repentance. He came to realize that just because he saw healings and miracles and received revelation from Father God that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, God still permitted Satan to sift him. Peter represents the church and Jesus said to Peter, “I have prayed for you”, and He also said to Peter, “Peter, upon you I shall build My church”. Jesus is our Rock, the Chief Cornerstone on which we are standing.
I believe I’ve heard David Demian, leader of Watchmen For the Nations say, even though he said he may not be totally theologically correct in saying this because Scripture doesn’t specifically say it, that he believes Satan heard what the Lord said to Peter, and knew that he was going to be able to sift Peter in such a way that Peter was going to deny the Lord. And in so doing, he believed he would destroy God’s plan. And I truly believe this myself, as well. God’s enemy and ours, Satan, is always wanting to destroy God’s church. But he cannot destroy it, because God alone gives permission for the enemy to do anything, for the earth belongs to God and the fullness of it.
I believe also that God is saying that the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And I believe the glory rests in the body of Christ, which God has placed all over this earth. And I truly believe, as others are also saying, there’s going to be a global harvest of souls in the midst of this. I believe there’s going to be such a revival, numbering in the thousands, and as it has been said before, even a billion souls.
During the Global Prayer Communion Service that took place online on March 19th, I heard John Arnot say, “Why does it need to be one billion, why can’t it be two billion?” I feel he was saying, let us not limit God, but let us believe that there’s going to be a great global harvest of souls. It is God’s will that none should perish but that everyone should have everlasting life (John 3:16). And Jesus Christ alone is the door. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the One who did it all for us on the cross, and we give Him praise and honour and glory. Death and the cross could not hold Him! He rose from the dead! He said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25). And so, people will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, in this great harvest, through Jesus Christ, who is the doorway.
After His resurrection, we know that He travelled the earth and ministered to His people, a gathering of 500, for 40 days. In Acts 1, it says they were all gathered together, and they saw the Lord ascend up to heaven. But before He went up to heaven, He told them to tarry until they were endued with power, until they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. One hundred and twenty of them went into the upper room and in that upper room, for 10 days, there was a pause that took place in their lives. And after those 10 days, they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2 says, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?” And then it mentions all the people that had come from all the different nations. “And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity,” as it says in verse 12, “saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others were mocking and saying, ‘They are full of sweet wine.’ But Peter taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: ‘Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: …” We know, because the Word of God says tells us, that Peter preached with boldness because after everything that he had gone through, he knew that he was forgiven. God forgave him when he denied Him. We don’t want to believe that maybe we have denied Jesus. But I think that there have been times when we, as God’s people, have been embarrassed to speak up for Jesus, to share the gospel and tell people about Jesus. And even if people say they don’t agree, it’s up to us not to back off but to love them. We mustn’t question ourselves that we have done something wrong because they are offended. Or we mustn’t become offended because they don’t agree.
Jesus never offended anyone. It is really people who took offense to what Jesus Christ said.
I truly believe that in all this shaking that’s taking place, the Lord is going to empower us like never before. And there’s going to be such a boldness in Christians, the redeemed and blood-bought ones that love Jesus with all their heart, mind, soul and strength; for those of us who will love our neighbour, who will pray, who will continue to ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness’ and believe that ‘all these things shall be added unto us’. None of us really know all that’s going to take place through this time, but I do know that we must stay in faith and stay in the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, because He is in the boat with us. And through these storms we are facing, we must not be afraid because Jesus has been telling His children to rest in Him. And as we rest in Him, we can still allow the Holy Spirit to make intercession in and through us. We can stand and war in this spiritual warfare, just as it says in Ephesians 6, keeping on the whole armour of God and not submitting in any way at all to the wiles of the devil. But we are to remain seated in that heavenly place with Jesus Christ, just as He is with the Father in that heavenly realm, for Jesus said He has seated us there with Him (Eph. 2:6). And so, may we remain in that spiritual heavenly position, with the mind of Christ, so that we will continue to praise Him and do the will of the Father, for as long as we remain here on earth.
And if we know anybody who has a need, we are to try to meet that need. Even I, as a Pastor, will do the same for the family of Jehovah Jireh Christian Ministries, as much as I am able to, and even beyond JJCM. This is what God has called us to do, as His children. So, may we continue to arise and shine, for the light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us! Even though, as I said last Sunday in church, I sensed that this dense darkness has come upon us, a dark cloud, we are not under that dark cloud, because we have been crowned with the favour of the Lord! We have not been crowned with this coronavirus, but we are crowned with God’s favour! He is the glory and the lifter of our heads and so let’s continue to push back this dark cloud. Let’s rejoice in the Lord, as the Lord has been saying to us in this church. The joy of the Lord is our strength and our salvation.
God has been asking us, as He questioned us even a year ago in March, “Who do you believe in?” He has again brought that back around, even through Pastor Ted as he has been preaching, “Where’s your belief? Who do you believe in?” We believe in Almighty God. And we believe we are under the shadow of our God, as Psalm 91 says. We will remain under the shadow of the Almighty, for we have declared He is our God, and God looks after His children.
And even if Christians get this virus, it doesn’t mean there is sin in their lives. All it means is that we are human; we are not God. God is our Refuge and our Stronghold and as the Word of God says, we have nothing to lose but everything to gain in Christ, because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. God has said that we will have tribulations while we live here on earth. We will go through adversities because we have an adversary. But the truth is, sin no longer has power and dominion over us. And our adversary does not have any power over us if we continue to remain with our eyes fixed on Jesus and having faith and believing in who He is and what the Word of God says.
So, may we continue to be encouraged, and encourage one another, knowing God is on our side, and that we will get through this. May we continue to pray for all of our families and loved ones, and for all the people in all the nations, that God in all His mercy and grace through Jesus Christ, will bring comfort and peace. Let us continue to pray that people will call upon the name of Jesus, so that they may obtain salvation and come into God’s Kingdom and receive eternal life. We are eternal beings and must remember that eternity lives inside of us and that we will spend eternity in heaven, if we choose Jesus Christ. But people who do not choose Jesus Christ will, sadly, spend eternity in hell.
God is moving so powerfully right now, and we pray that He continues to move powerfully, in Jesus’ name. We bind the spirit of fear, we bind the spirit of this Coronavirus, and we bind the spirits of infirmity in the name of Jesus Christ. Christ has given us authority to bind up the enemy, and we declare that Satan is underneath our feet in Christ Jesus. We declare Jesus Christ is Lord and He has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore and we will continue declaring this.
We will continue getting stronger each day as we serve Jesus, because Jesus is causing the body of Christ to arise ‘in such a time as this’. He’s calling the five fold ministry to arise and be the leaders that He has ordained them to be and to help others in His sheepfold, the body of Christ. He’s calling them to preach the Word, the Gospel, in love and truth and let God do what He does best, which is to change the hearts of people, and cause them to rest in Him.
I thank you Lord Jesus, for everything that You are doing in the lives of Your people, the whole body of Christ, and I pray Lord, that they will stop being scared of these high waves of this storm, for God, You are not sleeping. Where many may be saying “God, why are you allowing this to happen?” just as the disciples said when they were in the storm in the boat, “Save us, Jesus, don’t you care? Aren’t you going to save us?” But God, we thank you that You never slumber, You never sleep. God, You are awakening your sleeping church, your spiritual giant. You are awakening her like never before and so Lord we thank you, in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and our Saviour. Amen!
- Pastor Carol McLean