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THE SPIRIT OF CONTROL
This book
has to do with control.
Many people are under this wicked
spirit, not knowing how to be set free.
This will affect you in your mind
and your emotions. Jesus is able
to set you free, if you cry out to
Him for your deliverance.
Control is real! It comes in various ways. Do you want to be controlled? Do you want to control anyone else?
Proverbs 16:32, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
We have to rule our own hearts. Instead of ruling and controlling someone else, we have to learn to rule ourselves. We know this by the power of God in us.
Proverbs 25:28, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
We know that if a city is broken down, and there is no wall, then the enemy comes and goes at will. It is the same in your life. If you let any Tom, Dick and Harry come along, they will control, if you let them. You and I better know what we are taking in and who it is from. That spirit of control is not only rampant in the land, but in the church, (also). We need to know that controlling spirit.
We know in the natural, music controls people, television controls, drugs, sex, politics, money, a lot of things control people.
The first
thing I want to show you is
if we lose the love of God, then control begins to creep in.
We need more love in our hearts. Romans 5:5 says, "...because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." Now, if I quit having a relationship with the Holy Spirit, then that love is being cut off.
John 14:21, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." We can see that those that love Jesus will keep His commandments or sayings or words, and He will manifest Himself to that one.
Revelation 22:14, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Those that do His commandments are those that practice His commandments. He said those that love Him keep His commandments, and here He is saying "those that are doing His commandments" may have a right, or privilege, or the authority to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Those who will practice God's commandments have the right or the authority to the tree of life.
The Lord impressed upon me, that if you do not have love, or if you are losing that love, you will be controlled.
1st John 2:4, "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Verse 5, "But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him." His words are His commandments.
The love of God is perfected in me and you, as we keep His commandments.
Revelation 2:4, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." I wonder what the Lord would say to us, today? I wonder what He would say to the church in Tulsa? I would imagine He would have a lot of things to tell us.
Verse 5, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Verse 6 (look at what had come in the local church), "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate."
It was a deed, here, and later it was a doctrine. In Revelation 2:15-16, the Nicolaitanes were the clergy or ministry that controlled the people of God. They were taking the place of the Holy Spirit. When God's people left their first love, this deed, or later, the doctrine of the Nicolaitan came in (Revelation 2:15), or the spirit of control, or dominion came in. When we lose the love of God, we are going to see this control creep in. Love is not a controller.
Verse 7, He is talking to the overcomer, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
What did we see in Revelation 22:14? We saw that those that practice or do His commandments have the right to the tree of life. So in the midst of even those who had left the love of God, and allowed this deed of the Nicolaitan to come in, there were still those that could overcome and be partakers of the tree of life. We do not have to be partakers of any of that Nicolaitan deed or doctrine. We don't have to lose the love of God. But if we do, then we need to repent. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves.
The second
point is that when there is control,
there is idolatry.
Some people want to be controlled. There are some people that want to be under someone's thumb. There are some people that do hot recognize they are under someone's thumb. Husbands control wives, wives control hushands, children control the parents, preachers control people, people control preachers, it can go up and down the ladder, either way.
There is idolatry. Turn to Acts 8. I want to show you, here, that when idolatry is involved, and someone is controlling you, what happens is that you begin to esteem (and) exalt that person too far.
Acts 8:9 (NIV), "Now for sometime a man, named Simon, had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great (he is lifting himself up; he is amazing the people), and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the great power." They followed him, because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic." But they believed Philip when he came and preached Jesus.
What I want you to see here is:
1. He began to amaze the
people.
2. He began to astonish the people.
3. He had occult powers, sorcery powers, magic powers.
4. He began to exalt himself; he began to boast in himself.
5. They began to give him their attention.
6. They began to exalt him.
THAT IS THE KEY!!
When someone is controlling you, if you keep giving them attention, then they are going to keep on controlling you.
This man, they said, is the divine power, known as the great power. They had followed him, because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. They gave heed from the least to the greatest. There is something here that he did. He bewitched those people. Twice in the King James, it says he bewitched them with sorceries. The word SORCERIES means magic, and it also means to be a wise man, but that was demonic influence. He bewitched them with sorceries. They had regard for this man.
What I am saying is that when you and I are under control, there is idolatry involved. We are putting someone in a place where Jesus should be. We have to recognize this. I think we all have allowed this to happen in our lives, and we need to take inventory.
QUESTION: Am I exalting a person that I shouldn't? Maybe that person is controlling you.
This word BEWITCHED means to stand or put out of wits, it means insane. There is a spirit of Jezebel which controls the mind and the emotions. It means to be insane or amazed, to become astounded. It means to throw one out of his mind. I wonder why some people lose their nund? Because they are under someone's control.
Notice how it affected the people. This spirit of control had come in. Look at verse 7 of Acts 8. "For unclean spirits, crying with loud voices, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed." Notice part of that verse: the demons that were in this man were transferred to the people. That spirit of sorcery, that spirit of the occult, that bewitching spirit had been TRANSFERRED TO THE PEOPLE! When Philip commanded the spirits to come out of the people, the spirits came screaming out. If you are under control, that Jezebel spirit, that controlling spirit will come screaming out. It is Scripture!
Galatians 3:1 (we are talking about the church here), "O foolish Galatians (if we are under bewitchment, we are foolish), who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth (this witch spirit causes you and I not to obey truth; this witch spirit is against truth), before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" What spell are you under? They had been bewitched in not obeying the truth.
BEWITCH means to speak ill of one, to slander or seduce, or to bring evil on one by feigned praise. It means an evil eye, to charm. There is a spirit of charm in the land. It means to lead others away by wicked arts; magic.
Remember what Paul told these people? "Have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth? (Galatians 4:16). So that bewitchment had taken place in the hearts and in the minds of the people. That control had come in.
So, we see, if we lose the love of God, we open up to the Nicolaitan deed aud doctrine. We see idolatry come in, and we begin to put a man or a woman on a pedestal.
Have you ever thought about beast worship? In Revelation 15:1-3, those overcomers did not worship the beast. There was nothing in them that was like the beast. If there is something in me that is beastly, then I am going to open up to that thing. We have to realize, there is going to be beast worship, devil worship. That is happening now, and it is going to increase. So, I must get idolatry out of my heart.
The third
point of control is
dreams, visions aud prophecy.
People use these three things to coutrol others. TIus kind of control must stop. It is a terrible thing to say, but this is taking place in the church in 1994.
Jeremiah 23:16, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord." People are looking for a word to come to pass that will never come to pass, because God did not speak it. It brings false hope; it is vain.
Verse 17, "They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you."
Verse 25, "I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed." You had better be careful about dreams, and I had better be careful about them. Sometimes, you eat too many hamburgers before you go to bed. There are times you and I had dreams, and we knew it was from God, and other times, we were not sure. We have to be careful with dreams.
Verse 26, "How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart." Verse 27, "Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Ba'al." Verse 28, "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully."
Verse 32, "Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet, I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord." In verse 20, it says it is going to happen in the latter days. So it is a latter day fulfillment, the dreams, prophecies and false visions. They have come to seduce God's people, to cause them to err because of lies. It is a lying spirit.
Isaiah 9:14-16, "Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed." This is a lying spirit; it is spirits of prophets that are lying to God's people. They are under the power of control here. They are going to be destroyed. If we are following lies, we might end up in the pile of destruction. Watch out for dreams, visions, and prophets. I do not care who prophecies; we have to judge things. We must prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.
The fourth
point is the ministry can dominate.
They can control.
Look in 3rd John 9. "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence among them…" The word pre-eminence means to be fond of; to be first, or it means ambitious of distinction. So there is ambition here. He is wanting to be first; he is wanting to be fond of. He wants to have the pre-eminence. He wants to be the leader. He wants to be recognized. "...receiveth us not." Notice that this ministry was not going to receive the Apostolic ministry. He was against the Apostolic ministry, and those that would travel with John.
Let me say it this way: in a lot of places we go, the people are usually open, but it is the leadership that gives us the most trouble. Most of the time, people are open to receive the Word, but it is the leaders that poison the peoples' minds. That is why Apostles and Prophets have to go, sometimes, outside the church. God leads them there.
Have you ever read the scripture in Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." We knock with the hand. What is the hand? It is the Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Shepherd and Evangelist. We know the Lord is seeking to get into the church through those tninistries, and come in and do a work. Yet, many times they do not open up.
Verse 10, "Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words..." That is hurtful words, lewd words, wicked words; it actually means words of disease; it is even a word for the devil. Malicious words began to come forth out of the leader's mouth, against the ministries God is sending in.
"...and not content therewith..." The word CONTENT means he does not have an inward sufficiency from God. There is no contentment in the heart; it means no sufficiency.
Look in 2nd Corinthians 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness..." The word sufficient means content. This man lacks a sufficiency within himself. There is a lack of sufficiency in Diotrephes, yet God says, "My grace is sufficient." "My grace will bring contentment within you." That is what we all need. There is an inward sufficiency we can have; whether we are in the five-fold ministry or not. We all need contentment. Paul said, "I have always learned in all circuinstances." Another translation says, to be independent of circumstances, to be content." We have to allow the grace of God to come in and work that sufficiency or that contentment within us. You have to know your limits in God.
Back in 3rd John 10... We have a man that wants the pre-eminence; he is attacking the ministry with malicious words; he is not content. "...neither doth he himself receive the brethren..." So, he is not open to the brethren, that are being sent into the local church.
"...and forbiddeth them that would." Notice, he will not receive, and now he is going to control the people, and say now you cannot receive them. That is total control, domination, that is a dictator. God hates this thing!! Why??? Because this man is takiug the place of the Holy Ghost. As leaders, we have to look inside and say, "Do I have control in me?" We have to be willing to say, "God, if there is control (or) manipulation in me, then I want you to rip that out of me." We all have to deal with that thing in our life somewhere. I believe all of us have to be cleared of that, before we can see it in others and help others.
"...and casteth them out of the church." He gives them the left foot of fellowship. Many have been cast out of the church, but it is their salvation. It is for their betterment. God has used it for their benefit. They would have never moved up into God without something like that happening. God uses all this.
Verse 11, "Beloved, follow not that which is evil..." So what is evil? That man in control is evil. God said it is evil. He said do not follow that. "...but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God."
Here is another man. Verse 12, "Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true." So there is one that is in control, and then, there is one in good report. That is just the way it is. We have to be able to discern and know and recognize both.
Look in 2nd Peter 2:1. "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them..." These people are not going to come right out and say they do not believe in Jesus. But the heresies they bring in deny the Lordship of Christ. "...and bring upon themselves swift destruction." Verse 2, "And many shall follow (that means they are under their control) their pernicious (destructive) ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." Here is the multitude following these false teachers.
They are following heresies.
They are following a spirit of sensuality.
They are following those "whom the way of truth is evil spoken of."
That means they come against those that have truth. They come against ministries aud men and women who have truth.
Verse 3, "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." They are out to get everything they can get out of you, through covetousness. They are greedy.
Jeremiah 23:1, "Woe be unto the pastors (shepherds) that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord." God is speaking of the shepherds here. Verse 2, "Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away..." They drove them out of the church. "...and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord."
Verse 3, "And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase." Verse 4, (this is prophetic) "And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking saith the Lord." God said He is going to feed His people, they will not fear nor be dismayed, and they will not lack.
Let us look at that word lack. Go to Titus 1:5. "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting..." The word wanting means lacking. So there is something lacking or wanting until...
"...and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee." Let me tell you, elders are not "yes" men. Elders are shepherds that must be appointed by God. Let me show you this in another scripture. Notice, here and in verse 8, he said bishop; it is the same ministry. We have hierarchy, we put the bishop up high, and the people way down. God is not in that. We may be called in the ministry, but we are one in the Lord.
Acts 20:17, "And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church." Notice, he did not say "the Pastor," he said the elders (plural) of the (a singular) church.
Verse 28, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves (the elders, the leadership) and to all the flock, (the church) over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers..." So, an elder is not only a bishop, but also an overseer. We saw in Titus, where the elder was called a bishop, and now he is being called an overseer. The word overseer means bishop.
"...to feed (this word means to shepherd) "...the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Verse 29, "For I kuow this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves euter in among you, not sparing the flock." So, who is going to get hurt? The flock!! That is who God is interested in.
Verse 30, "Also of your own selves (the elders) shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." The word draw in the Greek means drag. They will literally drag disciples after them. We are to set the peoples' attention on Jesus, not on ourselves, not on the ministry, but on Jesus. So he said what they are going to do is speak perverse things, and they will seek for men to follow them in the wroug way, and not the Lord. That is control. Paul said when he leaves, this is going to happen. Who is going to get hurt? The flock, the sheep!!
Turn to Ezekiel 34:4. Here the Lord is talking to the shepherds. "The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken (Jesus did all this when He came in Luke 4:18) neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force (here is the dominion, here is the control) and with cruelty have ye ruled them." So by force and by cruelty, they were ruled over, aud they were driven away.
What happens when you are under force and cruelty? Verse 5, "Aud they were scattered..." How did Jesus see the sheep in His day when He walked the earth? He saw them scattered, without a shepherd. "...because there is no shepherd: and they became meat (or prey) to all the beasts (here are the powers of darkness) of the field (the world), when they were scattered."
(In) Ezekiel 34:8, they became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd. "As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock."
(In) 1st Peter 5:1, Peter is an elder, and he is talking to the elders, "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder..." When Peter was out ministering as an Apostle, he did not come into the local church aud say, "Move over, I am going to take over the show." He came into the local group as an elder, like the other brethren who were elders. I do not see one big elder aud little elders; one may be more mature in the Lord. I believe there are elders among elders, and apostles among apostles, etc., but we do not say one is in a high place, and the other one is in a low place. The responsibility may be different, but the requirements are always the same.
"...and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:" Verse 2, "feed (means shepherd) the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind." Money is not filthy when you make it. Money is one of the cleanest things there is when it comes out of the mint. It is the way we use it that makes it filthy.
Verse 3, "neither as being lords over God's heritage, but beiug ensamples to the flock." Another translation says, "Don't become little tin gods." We can become a tin god; we can beeome a lord, and lord it over the people, and God does not want that. He is the Lord!!!
Verse 4, "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
Exodus 18:21, this is what God requires of elders, "Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; aud place such over to be rulers of thousauds, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens." Can you see the qualifications are the same, but the responsibilities are different? If I am over ten people, that is a whole lot different than being over a thousand, but the qualifications are the same.
We do not follow those that reach for authority, we follow those that reach for responsibility. Out of responsibility comes authority.
The fifth
point is (to) be aware of seducing spirits
aud their doctrines.
This is the spirit with the doctrine that is in Jezebel, over in the Book of Revelation. (In) two ways, she was coming against God's people:
by seduction and by doctrine.
1st Timothy 4:1, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times (we are in the latter times) some shall depart from the faith (that is the falling away), giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." Now, seduction opens you for other spirits.
Look at verse 2, notice
the control, "Speaking lies in hypocrisy (false pretense); having
their conscience seared with a hot iron."
Verse 3, "Forbidding to marry..." We do not have the right
to forbid anyone from getting married if they want to. The word forbidding means
"to prevent by a word or an act." It is either someone speaking
things, or there is action to stop people from getting married. It means "to
hinder or keep from, or not suffered, or to withstand" a person from
getting married. Even if a person marries a wrong person, it is their business
if they want to do it. You cannot stop them. You do not want that to happen
at all, but to tell people you cannot marry is wrong. Now, if a person is about
to marry a wroug person, Godly counsel is needed, but we cannot dictate to people
at all who they can or cannot marry.
Remember when the disciples were casting out demons? They said you cannot do that. It says they forbad them. Jesus said, "No man who cast out devils in my name can lightly speak evil of me." He said not to forbid him. They were forbidding the man to cast out demons. That is the same word we are looking at, right here. It would be like you seeing someone doing exorcism in the name of the Lord, and you say, "Hey, buddy, you do not belong to our group. You leave this guy alone, here; you cannot do that." That would be control.
It is the same word we saw in 3rd John, where he forbids them from receiving the brethren. lt is also the same word where Paul says, "forbid not to speak with tongues."
"...and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." We can control people by saying you have to eat this or that. Your conviction may not be my conviction.
Romans 14:13, "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Verses 14-17, "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
Verses 20-21, "For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." If I feel it would offend someone, and I would cause them to stumble, then I should abstain from food aud drink in their presence. (By the way, I do not drink wine).
So what am I saying? Back in Timothy, they are forbidding people to marry, and they are commanding them to abstain from certain foods which "God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."
Then it goes on to say in verse 4, "For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:"
Verse 5, "For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." You can pray over your food. Whatever you are eating, you can pray over it. You do not have to be afraid of it, unless God speaks to you.
Have you ever been told by someone else that you could not marry? Have you ever been told you could not eat any certain food? Go back to the Scriptures. Stand on it.
Turn to Matthew 20:20. "Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him." Notice the motive: they are coming; they are going to worship him, and they are going to desire a certain thing. We can even use praise and worship for wrong methods and means.
You can control people by prayer. Some people come into a meeting, and all they want to do is pray, and you know God is not directing it (fleshly stuff), yet it is a control to take the meeting in a certain direction, apart from the Spirit. I saw once, as I was ministering, that the people became upset, because the meeting was not going the way they thought it should go. They had been in a repentance meeting in one place, and decided to bring it to our meeting. It was just control. God was not going to have it. It did not work.
Verses 21-22, "And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able." We answer pretty quick, don't we? Sometimes, we do not kuow what we are talking about. He will put a silver cup in your sack pretty quick, like Benjamin.
Verse 23, "And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."
Verses 24-26, "And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Geutiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you..." He said do not exercise that dominion you see in the world over one another. That has to be broken in the church aud in peoples' lives. "...but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (servant).
Verse 27, "And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant (slave):"
Verse 28, "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." He is saying, "It shall not be so among you. Do not exercise dominion over your brethren like you see in the world. God is against that.
Turn to Genesis 3:16. We know the fall had taken place here, and the Lord says something to the woman, "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husbaud, and he shall rule over thee." In the home, we kuow the husband is the natural head over the physical house. But in the spirit, the husband is not the head -- Jesus is the head. In the home, we know there is the authority, aud we know the husband is head of the home; that does not mean he is a tyrant, but he takes his position as the head of the physical home.
But in the spirit, Jesus is the head. I kuow one couple, where the husband hindered his wife from prophesying, because she had the prophetic gift. Sometimes, husbands forbid wives from stepping out in the spirit. When they do that, they are overstepping their boundaries. The Lord is the head there. He is the one that commands aud directs.
Here in verse 16, it says, 'Your husband shall rule over thee." If you look that up in the Hebrew, it literally means dominion. After the fall, dominion caine in. Dominion came in through the fall. We know many have suffered down through the ages because of this. Some women have been treated like cattle; they have not had a place in the Lord. You see two extremes -- some that are kept under, and never are able to come out in ministry, aud then you have others pushing themselves way out there as Jezebels. You see men doing that, too. It works in both.
1st Samuel 8:9: God did not want Israel to have a king, but they were crying out to have one, like all other nations. The Lord told Samuel to show them what this king was going to be like. "Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." That is the responsibility of the leadership, to show the people what they were going to come under.
Verses 10-11, "And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horseman; and some shall run before his chariots."
Verse 13, "And he will take your daughters..."
Verse 14, "And he will take your fields..."
Verse 15, "And he will take the tenth of your seed..."
Verse 16, "And he will take your menservants..."
Verse 17, "He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants."
This man that was going to be put over God's people was not only a controller, but also a taker.
Verses 18-19, "And ye shall cry out in that day (because they will recognize what they have submitted to. Sometimes, people try to tell us what we are under, aud we will not listen) because of your kiug which ye have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel..." Who is Samuel? Samuel is the Prophet. "Obey the prophets, and you will prosper." Refuse to obey the prophets, and you will not prosper. "...and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us."
Why did they want a king? Verse 20, "...he is going to fight our battles." He is going to fight our battles. We can just sit (at) home aud watch television, and he will fight our battles. They went into battle to fight Goliath, and he did not fight the battle. David fought the battle and won it.
There are a lot of kings. And some say, "I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos." We have all these groups separated, whether it is "Faith, Sonship, Deliverauce, or whatever." "I'm under this person, or I'm over here." ...So what! Are we under the Lord?? That is what matters. We honor the ministry, but it is the Lord we must be under.
Revelation 2:6, "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes which I hate." If Jesus hates something, we better learn to hate it, as well. (The) Nicolaitan system is the ministry dominating and controlling the people of God. Again, that takes the place of the Holy Ghost, and God says He hates it. He says it is the DEEDS He hates.
Look down to verse 15. This thing has spread. It moved from deeds to a doctrine. Shepherding or control, we saw (it) come through several years ago. Elders and shepherds controlled the people by such dominion. The people could not make a move, unless they asked their elder. The Lord is the head!!!
Verse 15, "So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate." This is total control over God's people, and it can produce suicide spirits, insanity spirits, oppression, depression, etc.
Revelation 2:20, "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee (church), because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess..." This is the first step she is going to do... call herself a prophetess. I believe there are prophetess' of the Lord, and I believe there are prophets, but I do not believe we advertise.
"...to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication..." There are two kinds of fornication, spiritual and natural. "...and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." If you really look at Jezebel and Balaam, they both are alike in many ways.
Verses 21-22, "And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed..." Notice the word bed. The Greek says a sick bed. It is a bed of disease. If you are under Jezebel or control, you will come under sickuess, whether it be mental, emotional or physical. Let me tell you something else, the person that controls also will probably have the same thing. Some of you may be sick either mentally, emotionally or physically, because you are under control, yet if we are out to control people, then we are coming under the same thiug.
"...and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds." Verse 23, "And I will kill her children with death..." What does she minister? DEATH, AND HER CHILDREN ARE COMING UNDER DEATH. "...and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts..." The word reins in the Old Testament means kidneys, the inner most being. God said, "I am going to search that inner most being." He is looking for that nature, that divine nature He has put in us. Yet, He is seeing what is in our hearts. "...and I will give unto every one of you according to your works."
Verse 24, "But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden." Control is the depths of Satan.
The sixth point is religious fears.
Look in John 7:12. "And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people." That is religious fear. Are we afraid to speak the name of Jesus where we work or where we go, just because they do not like the name of Jesus? They will not let you pray at sports events any longer. You talk about control, the government has come right in, hasn't it? No prayer in school; abortion on demand. We have control in this government.
John 9:19, "And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? How then doth he now see?" Verse 20, "His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind." Verse 21, "But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself." Verse 22, "These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already (here is the religious control; hierarchy), that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." He would be excommunicated from the church.
John 12:42-43, "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Isn't that something? They did not want to be dealt with; they did not want to be openly put to shame. They did not want to leave the synagogue. They loved the praises of men more than the praises of God.
So, religious fears are powerful.
Look in Acts 17. The church of Thessalonica was born in persecution. In verses 11-13, "These were more noble (the Bereans) than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people." That jealous spirit, that religious spirit came and stirred up the people against Paul and the others.
The seventh point is the child shall rule the home.
Proverbs 23:13-14, "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." That means if I do not discipline the way I should, it could lead the child to hell. Sometimes, the rod is not always spanking; it might be putting them in their room for thirty minutes. It could be different things. On the other hand, you cannot leave the rod out. It is a little stick.
Proverbs 22:15, "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." Notice, it is the rod of correction; it does not mean you beat him to death. You spauk a child according to their age. You have to use wisdom.
Have you heard "spare the rod and spoil the child?" It does not say that in the Bible. It says, "If you spare the rod, you hate your child." All this time, until several years ago, I believed the other. It is true, you will spoil your child, but the scriptures say that you hate your child if you spare the rod.
In Isaiah 2, we are dealing with the last days. Notice, in chapter 3, what is happening. I believe it is happening today. Verses 4-5, "And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed (oppression comes when children or babes rule) every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable." Look in verse 12. "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." So many homes are ruled by children, today. The Bible talks about those who are disobedient to parents in 2nd Timothy 3 in the last days. I do not think children would be disobedient if we correct them right.
The eighth point is the occult.
Look in Nahum. I want to show you this control through the occult. Nahum 3:4-6, "Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well favoured harlot (we know there is a harlot church rising up today; she is full of whoredoms), the mistress of witchcrafts, she selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts." It is dealiug with nations aud families. "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock."
So through witchcraft, through occult, through whoredoms, God says "she selleth nations and also families through her witchcrafts."
How many families are under witchcrafts? How many families are under whoredoms? How many churches are under this mistress of witchcraft? How many churches are Jezebel churches? The greatest threat to America today is witchcraft.
The greatest threat to America aud the church is witchcraft. That is why the enemy does not want us to teach these kinds of things, because we cannot let anyone or anything control us, apart from Jesus Christ. In Luke 19, the people said this man will not reign over us. When you refuse Jesus' reign over you in life, then you open up to something else, or some one else to control you; beware.
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