When you obey the Lord to walk into your calling, be prepared to be stretched, crushed, broken, and tried before you drape the mantel. God will turn on the fire of trials, test, temptations, and our lives will heat up. When we have reached the ‘boiling point,’ two things will result:-
1. Sin and self are purged away.
2. God's power begins working in us and through us with exciting supernatural consequences.
When we obeyed the Lord to set up this radical ministry to cleanse, refine and purify the Body of Christ through the Baptism of Fire, we went through rejections, betrayals, and severe difficulties. We were discredited and criticised, and some distinguished pastors used their influence to isolate us.
Once, we were having our meeting, and a young pastor led a group of Church leaders, came and disrupted the meeting. They were aggressive, and attempted to take the microphone to speak, and even tried to press their hands on our co-workers including our keyboardist and young preacher heads.
Some years later, I perceived in my spirit the need to reconcile so I invited this pastor to our ministry’s anniversary celebration. He did not respond to my invitation. On my 2nd attempt, he bluntly turned it down. Sadly, 3 weeks later while having lunch with two medical doctors in a Church camp, suddenly he collapsed and died.
Never dishonor the Lord by rejecting His grace and mercy, if He desires to bless and restore you.
A man of God prophesied to Eli in 1 Samuel 2:30, “Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and your father’s house would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.”
Never dishonor God by touching His manifest glory, especially when God is resting His manifest glory on His earthen vessel. When the Lord said in 1 Chronicles 16:22, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm,” He meant not to touch the instrument or vessel that is hosting the manifest presence of His glory.
The manifest presence of God’s glory was hosting upon the Ark and Uzzah died because he touched the Ark.
1 Chronicles 13:9-10
“When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’S anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.”
Every disciple is a believer but not every believer is a disciple because sonship to obey and do the will of the Father is the mark of true disciple of Jesus. Such instrument will be used as a vessel of honour to manifest the glory of God. The Lord said in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show (manifest) myself to him.”
As such, a man of God wrote:- “Glory is the manifested presence of Jesus. Revival is filled with stories of His manifest presence resting upon His people. HE lives in all believers, but the glory of His presence comes to rest on only a few.”
Nothing in all creation can be hidden from God’s sight and never do evil to deceive or touch especially when the manifest presence of God’s glory is resting upon his vessel. Peter was God’s most highly anointed and full of the Spirit. Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, fell down and died when they did evil and lied to Peter whom the manifest presence of God’s glory was upon him (Acts 5:1-11).
Mordecai was God’s anointed, called and chosen to save the Jews. Haman plotted evil to destroy Mordecai whom he absolutely hated. In Esther 6:13, his Advisors and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him–you will surely come to ruin!” God would not allow his people to be annihilated. Haman reaped what He had sowed, and He was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.
Daniel was another of God’s chosen vessel to work with Him. In the Old Testament, King Darius was surprised and overjoyed that the lions did not harm Daniel when he was thrown into the lions' den. When asked by the king, Daniel replied, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." (Daniel 6:21-22).
Daniel 6:24
“At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.”
In Acts 5:38-39, Gamaliel a learned teacher of the Law and full of wisdom, addressed the Sanhedrin, “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
Fighting against God is disastrous and catastrophic as no one plotting evil, can ever win a war against our almighty God unless of course, God permits it for His purpose.
Isaiah 63:10, “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.”
I have witnessed ministers of God either being struck with sudden illness and died or their ministries greatly affected for their wicked deeds of scheming against God’s anointed. Some were being humbled.
Proverbs 24:8, “He who plots evil will be known as a schemer” and Proverbs 3:33: “The LORD’S curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.”
We must always guard our mouth too, as in Proverbs 3:34, “He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.”
Proverbs 21:23, “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.”
To God be the honour and glory!
Dr Paul K P Ang
Arsenal of Fire Ministries, California
Arsenal of Fire Global
www.aofglobal.com
May 27, 2021
