Coming Out Of Darkness Part 6 of 7 - Gary Sigler
God still speaks to His people today through prophetic words. I love to hear the word of a prophet, and I especially like to hear the word of a prophet without conditions. There are times when God will say to you, "If you do this, then I will do that—and if you don’t do this, I’m not going to do that!" So I always listen for conditions when I hear a prophet prophesy. When there are no conditions, that means that God has given a promise which He alone will fulfill.
This reminds me of what He said to Abraham. When God called Abraham, He said, "I am going to make you a father of many nations" (Gen. 17:4), and God promised him a son (Gen. 17:19). Then we read the story of Abraham and see that Abraham failed miserably many times. He lied, and he did all kinds of things, but I want to tell you something. When God makes you a promise, you can take it to the bank! And, like Abraham, when God gives us a promise, we tend to do everything we can possibly do in the natural to make it happen, and all we produce are Ishmaels. That is all we can produce in the natural.
But God has a Son of promise. And God made His covenant with the Seed of Abraham, which Paul tells us is Christ (Gal. 3:16). Therefore, that covenant between God and Abraham was really not with Abraham, although Abraham participated in it. The promise was to the Seed, which is Christ. I want you to get that! The promise that God gives to me is not a promise to Gary Sigler. He doesn’t have anything for me. He says, "You know what, Gary? You’re good for only one thing, and that is to give yourself up unto death. But I have a promise, and I have a covenant with the Seed, and I placed that Seed in you."
Has God made a covenant with you? No! He has made it with the Seed. Therefore, even though we talk a lot about obedience, we had better be careful what we are thinking. The reason we want to become an obedient people is so that the Seed of God can swallow us up. But the natural person is not to be the one obedient unto Christ. In other words, Gary Sigler has nothing in himself of obedience to offer unto God. I may want to try. I’ll try with all my heart to fulfill what God has promised me, but I can’t, and I need to find that out. That is the experience of Romans chapter 7. We all need to go through that experience. You need to find out that you can’t maintain that perfect obedience which will cause the Seed of promise to come forth and appear in you. But because you can’t, that doesn’t mean that God throws you on an ash heap. All it means is that He will throw you into the fire of His presence, and you’ll burn! The promise is not to you, but to the Seed within you.
The Appearing of Christ
I want to speak here about the appearing of Christ. What I say will probably be a little different from what it has been tied in with before, but nevertheless we all know the goal is the appearing of Christ. Paul said something very interesting. He said, "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh" (2 Cor. 5:16). He says that today we don’t even want to know Jesus Christ after the flesh, but that we should learn to know every person by the spirit. So let me give you a few verses on the appearing of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 says, "He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Can you imagine that? The God of Heaven is to be admired in you! Can you look at your sisters and brothers, and see Christ? Well, it may be pretty easy in an environment where we all are in worship and fellowship together, but if you get around them on their job, or in their homes among their family, you have to be able to look beyond what you see in the natural. You have to look into them and see Jesus. You have to admire in them that which He is.
Psalm 102:16 declares, "When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory." We know that Zion is the City of God, and is He not beginning to appear in Zion? No one who has been in fellowship with His people for any period of time could deny that God is beginning to appear. I’m sure all of you are like me in this—we have desired for so long to see the beauty of Zion, the City of God.
Colossians 3:4 states, "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory." These are some verses that I have clung to, sometimes without any hope, sometimes in despair, sometimes in utter depression. I’ve held on, knowing that there will come a day when I shall appear with Him in glory—not because I’ve done anything in myself, but because God has covenanted with the Seed. I have within me, and you have within you, the most precious essence of His being. That is where that covenant stands.
1 John 3:2 reads, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." When you really see Him as He is, you will be like Him. Why? Because you will see Him in yourself and in others! And I want to take this one step further. You won’t see Him only in Christians. You won’t see Him only in the glorious Church which is going to be manifested. You won’t see Him only in His special saints, but you will see Him in all of humanity.
Mother Theresa today is taking a lot of flak from the Christian world, which is saying that she is trying to bring in a New Age Gospel. But I saw a video of her once, and it wrought some real change in my life. It showed how she would go into the hospitals. One scene I remember very plainly was when she walked into a certain hospital where there were the sick and the dying, and there was a man in bed. Those in attendance said they didn’t know how long he could last. He just shook and shook, and you could tell he was in great agony. And this poor, tiny little lady walked over to him. She laid her hand on his head, and she just patted his head, and immediately the shaking stopped and the peace of God came to him.
Oh, people, don’t talk to me about New Age! If that is New Age, then I will be a part of the New Age to bring God to people. Don’t misunderstand me when I say that, but we just cannot ignore the principles of God. We cannot see someone who is so full of the love of God that they would go among lepers, they would go among the filth of the world and hug them and love them, and call that New Age. We have churches all across America today who are saying that is a New Age Gospel, and I feel sorry for them. She was asked, "Sister Theresa, how can you do this? How can you go to the scum of the earth? How can you reach down into the pits of India, and pick up the filth and hug them, and cry, and love them, and pray for them?" Her answer was this: "Because I see God in every person."
"We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." When you see Him as He is, you will be like Him! But I was taught, when I first went into Pentecost many years ago, that there is going to be a day when we’ll all be raptured into the heavens, and we’ll look at Him, and when we look at Him, we’ll be changed into His likeness. That is a fallacy! I wish it were true. But there are other verses we need to remember. As John said, "Beloved, you had better abide in His anointing, so that when He does appear you won’t fall on your face in shame before Him at His coming" (1 John 2:28). The "fly-away" Christians better wake up!
The truth is seen in Zechariah 14:5, "And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: and ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee." When Jesus comes in His physical form in the heavens, you will probably be right along by His side! 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, "To the end that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." God’s goal is to call out a people unto Himself, that He may, by the power of His Spirit, the drawing of His Spirit, the workings of His Spirit, work into that corporate group of people His Life, His nature, and His character—that they may stand upon the earth not as Baptists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, but that they may stand upon the earth as one new man, to bring forth judgment unto righteousness.
God’s True Business
I literally weep in intercession when I see some of the things that are on so-called "Christian" television. For instance, not long ago there was an example of the concept that every believer will be suspended in the air for seven years, and then God will pour out great anger and wrath and horrible tortures and judgments upon humanity. Now I know that concept, but I just can’t imagine it. I have experienced the depths of the love of God, and I have been into some of the heights of the love of God, but I cannot find a God who is so angry that He would want to pour out a vengeful wrath upon His people. Yes, the wrath of God is coming. Yes, judgment is being poured out. But you know, Jesus Himself tried to destroy that concept of an angry, vengeful God. He said, "It has been written in your very own law . . ." (He did not deny the law of the Old Testament). He said, "It has been written in your very own law, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ I know what is there. But I say to you, love your enemies! Do good to those who despitefully use you! I know what is written in your law. You would like me to take this prostitute and stone her" (Mt. 5:38-44, John 8:3-11).
Christians all over the world today would like to stone prostitutes and homosexuals. We would like to get rid of sin in the manner of some of the other religions of the world. We’d like to see a cleansing take place. That’s our concept of God, so that’s easy for us to accept. But Jesus revealed a different concept to us! "It is written in your very own law—but you had better listen to Me. You know, you run to the Scriptures, because in them you think you have eternal life, but you won’t come to Me, because when you do, I’m going to tell you some things, and I’m going to reveal to you an understanding of God and the Father-heart of God that you’ve never had. And because it doesn’t fit with what you have been taught in the past, because it doesn’t fit with the law that you have received, you will reject the love of God. That is why you cannot have the Logos in itself" (John 5:39-40).
You can take the Word of God and justify the most heinous, horrible crimes with it, and people have done so, thinking they have done God a service. But God is in the business of restoring humanity back to Himself. He has no thought of destroying, but of uplifting. Yes, there is judgment. Yes the fiery indignation and wrath of God is on the earth and is coming to the earth. But it is a righteous judgment! There is passage in the Old Testament where God says that when He brings judgment, He will take into account where a man was born (Ps. 87:4-6). What does that mean? It means He will take account of where you were born. Were you born in India where you had no knowledge of God? Or were you born in America where you’ve had nothing but religion, and you’ve rejected not God but that which religion has said He is? (I rejected Christianity 20 years ago, but I didn’t reject God, and I never would.)
Yes, there is judgment. And yes, you need to fear God, because when He appears, who can stand in His presence? When He appears, if you are full of greed, if you are full of back-biting, if you are full of envy, if you are full of jealousy, if you are full of competition, I feel sorry for you! Yes, you will be judged, and I guarantee that you will pay to the very last farthing. But I can also guarantee to you that the covenant is with the Seed of God within you, not with your human, natural personality! That thing is going to fall into the ground and die. It’s going to be consumed and burned up. And out of the rubble, out of the ash heap, out of the pain and the suffering that you may experience, will come the gold and the silver and the precious stones.
You must realize that God is God. We speak about the sovereignty of God, but even that is not understood. I’ll tell you what the sovereignty of God is. It means that He is El El Elyon, He is the Most High God. And if He has decided to place His Seed within you, if He has decided to make yyou a son of His glory, if He has decided that there will come a day when you will manifest to the world His glory—guess what? It’s going to happen. Say no to God all you want. Cause yourself such suffering and agony that words cannot describe it. I am an example of this, and I know what hell is. I’ve been through hell. I know what it is to get into disobedience to the uttermost. But I also know El Elyon, the Most High God! I know a Father who loves me so greatly that I could turn my back upon Him, I could swear at Him in the heavens, I could even walk away and say, "Never again do I want anything to do with that God," but He is El Elyon! And He would say to me, "Gary, I have a covenant, and you have nothing to do with the covenant of My Seed that I have placed within you. And I say unto you that judgment will come. I’ll throw you into a fiery furnace. I’ll cause whatever it takes, but I guarantee you that I am your Father, and I love you with an everlasting love. And because I have the heart of a Father, and because I love you so dearly, I know how to make you submit."
We have to let God be God! It’s not just a theory. God is God! You can’t get away. I’ve tried. You know, if you really want to get away from God, and if it’s really in your heart to go back into the world and to give up on God, you should do that, and then you’ll find out that what I’m telling you is the truth. He is El Elyon. He has called you. What do we do with this verse: "He is the author and He is the finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2)? It took me years to find that out. I had nobody who would tell me, "Gary, be at ease. God will work it out." We don’t even like to hear that. But if the responsibility for the Christian life is on Gary Sigler, I’m in a whole lot of trouble, and so are you.
The reason we have so many problems in the Church is that we have not understood the Father’s heart. We have thought, and we have been taught, "He loves us unconditionally," but yet there has been that undermining concept that if you get into disobedience, if you don’t do exactly what He says, then even though He still loves you, He can’t help you any more, because your will will nullify His ability to help you. If that is the truth, I wouldn’t be here today. You have to realize that Jesus is your Redeemer! Do you want to know what the penalty for sin is? Read it in the Bible. Do you know who paid the penalty for sin? He bore the iniquity of us all, and with His stripes, we were healed. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world! He took it, He took your judgment!
Eternal Is Not Forever
There is a word in the New Testament, and I’m not going to elaborate on it here, I’m just going to throw the thought out to you (I have loads of material I can refer you to on it.) It is the word "eternal" in The Revelation, where it talks about "eternal torment" (Rev. 20:10). The word has been grossly misinterpreted. All Bible translations have their errors, and the word "eternal" has been one of the most mistranslated words. The words aion and aonios, are sometimes translated "eternal", but they literally mean age (eon), a finite period of time with a beginning and an end. There is no concept in the mind of God to throw somebody into an eternal torment, an endless anguish of fiery indignation and wrath. That’s not our Father, but that is the God of some Christians, and that is the concept of God in the King James Bible and most other translations. (There are some translations which render those passages properly, and I can refer you to them.) Is there a hell? Absolutely! And you either have experienced it, or you will. There is a passage in The Revelation (21:8) that says all liars, murderers, and unbelievers will have their part, or a portion, in the Lake of Fire. You better believe, Christian, that you are going to be judged! But in that judgment, God will bring forth sons to His glory. You need to experience judgment now, and it will surely come (if it has not already done so), but it will not be eternal. It will not be done in vengeful wrath, it will be done in love.
Let’s just remember to continuously seek God and go before Him with these concepts. Ask Him about His heart. Go to God and ask Him if He could toss someone into a fiery, unending torment. If a man has lived for seventy years and been the most vile sinner, would God be just, causing him to suffer eternal torment because of seventy years of sin and disobedience? I don’t think so.
Why the Church Is In Darkness
I can’t tell you how many years I sought after God with wrong concepts. Because I have always been very honest and open, I would go to pastor after pastor and I would confess, "I do this, and I do that." But all I was told was, "You know, you have a free will. It’s your choice, Gary, so if you are going to continue to do this, then I can’t help you and neither can God." And that’s why this country is in such a mess. There are a lot of Garys out there in the world who have tried religion and found that it doesn’t work. We don’t all have strong characters and strong wills. We’re not all able to whip our flesh into line and be righteous and good Christians, but that is the requirement you have out there. You have the survival of the fittest. The honest heart, the heart admitting its inability to transform itself, cannot make it in religion.
I’ll never forget when I first experienced the Lord and wanted to join an Assembly of God church. The pastor gave me a card (I’m sure many of you have seen it) and on the back of the card it said, "I promise I won’t dance, I don’t smoke, I won’t drink, I won’t go to movies." But I often tell people, "Do you know what Jesus would do ttoday, if He came on the scene? (I can see this so plainly, and all you religious devils can just go ahead and scream.) I can see Jesus going down to the corner pub. I can see Him pulling up a bar stool and ordering a cold beer. I can see Him taking a sip of that beer and turning to the fellow next to Him and saying, ‘You know what? This is good, but I’ve got something that is so much better!’" You say He wouldn’t do that? Well, I do that, and I never lose His presence—in fact His presence becomes sweeter. Now, if you want to misinterpret that and imagine that I am saying that drinking is okay (I know what the flesh does) that is all right. You see, you cannot withhold the truth because of being afraid of what God’s people will do with it. That’s why the Church is in darkness. I know pastors who know the truth that I preach, but they will not preach it, because they say, "If I taught that to my church, I’d have chaos on my hands." That is because these pastors don’t know how to build their people up, and they don’t know how to minister by the Spirit. They have to keep them in darkness in order to keep them.
Walking In the Love of God
I recently participated in a week of wonderful worship and fellowship in the Lord. We can easily get the concept that these are special times, and they are; that this was a special visitation, and it was. But then we have to go back to our jobs. In fact, somebody asked me the other day, "Can we keep this? This is wonderful, but what happens next week?" I used to ask that same question. I’ve been going to these kinds of things for about thirty years. I used to go to two or three weeks of meetings at a time and be in the glory, and then go back to work and immediately fall into depression. "My God! I’ve got to face the world again!" But there comes a day in your life when there are no more highs and lows, when you just begin to walk in the love of God, come what may. Today at work, when my wife and I walk into the dining room, people just love us. We don’t preach to them (although I do hold meetings there on Sunday evenings, and any of them can come up and listen). I don’t preach to them, but they just love us. But if I were typically religious, they wouldn’t even like us. I can guarantee that, because I hear them talk about religious people.
It cannot be what you say, it has to be what you are! We have a message, but it is not a message of mere words. You know, God gives you a message, and then you go out, and it’s just like the Abraham and Ishmael process—you go out to give the message, and all you do is create chaos. When God gives you a message, it can take years, because you have to become the message. And if you don’t, the message that you give will not help anyone. People tell me all the time, "You speak with such boldness!" Why? It is because I know what I am saying; I’ve heard God speak these things to me. The things that I’m teaching today, God revealed to me twenty years ago, but I never taught them. Then, about a year ago, the Lord released me to start teaching some of these things. I had pastored a church for 3½ years, and if you go back and listen to my messages, you’ll hear in seed form that which I’m teaching today, but I didn’t have the liberty to bring it out fully then.
I can remember that when I was saved, I wanted to be a pastor with all my heart. When I was eleven years old, I told my mom that I wanted to be a pastor. And in time, I applied to the Lutheran seminary, because that is what we were. I wanted so much to be a pastor, because I already had told my mom that when I grew up, I would not be going to church. You see, my concept was that if I became a pastor, then I could maybe bring some change to the Lutheran church. But my family had no money to support me in that field, and the seminary would not accept me without finances (bless God), so I couldn’t go. But I wanted all my life to work for God. And when God finally called me into the ministry full time, it was to a church in Springfield, Oregon. After years and years of prayer and seeking God, and knowing that I had been called to go into the ministry, I knew that this was it. I’ll never forget the first time that I walked on the church property and God spoke to me. I knew I was coming there! I had a vision burned within me of what God wanted to do in that place. But when I went there, you cannot believe the hell that my wife and I went through! I had thought pastoring was going to be just the greatest thing in the world, but we had folks tell us, "We don’t like your music; we don’t like what you teach." They went just a little bit short of saying, "We don’t like you, either." But my wife can tell you, I never got angry. Honest to God, I never got angry; I didn’t get upset in the presence of people. You know what I did? I went into my room, and I fell on my face, and I wept, and I said, "God! Help me! I know what You have placed within me, God. Help me. Give me the expression, because I know these people. If I can have the expression, and if I can give them the understanding that you have given me, they’re going to love the Word."
Rejecting False Concepts of God
People react against you because they don’t understand. People rail against the Gospel because they are in darkness. It’s not because they are mean and hateful (although some are) but because they are in darkness. But if the rest of the people of the world could have the vision and experience the love of God as I have experienced it, there is no way that they would reject Him! People today are rejecting the concept of God that America has given them. I don’t want that God either. I don’t want a God I have to be in fear of all the time, thinking that I might serve Him for twenty years, and then I might hit a weak point, I might backslide and get into sin, never come out, die, and then have to face an eternal torment. I don’t want that kind of a God! I want a God I know is my Father. Yes, He may throw me into a fiery hell of His indignation, but no matter what it takes, it is going to be for correction, it is going to be for reproof, and it is going to be for my good. That’s the only kind of God I know. I don’t know the God of so-called "Christianity", I don’t know who He is.
I know we all get our concepts from the Bible. But Jesus Himself said, "I know what your law says [Lev. 24:19-20]—if somebody kills your brother, you just take him out and kill him," but Jesus said, "Listen! Something is wrong with that concept" (Mt. 5:38-42). Am I saying that the Word was wrong? I will tell you this: Some of the concepts that we thought we saw in the Word were not godly concepts. I know what your word says, and I know there are Christians who even delight to think that there are people who are going to suffer eternally in agony and torment—because "they deserve it". There are Christians like that, and there are people like that, because they think God is like that! And whatever you think God is like, you will feel justified in being.
You need a much bigger God than that. You need a God who is able to save you to the uttermost. You need a God who is able to reach down into the depths of your despair and your disobedience. You need a God whose arm is not shortened that He cannot save, who will reach down and lift you up—yes, a God who will correct you in His righteous indignation and wrath, but only because He loves you, not because He is angry. If we get an understanding of the heart and the love of our Father God, we will turn this world upside-down. And you who think that you are on the verge of being manifested as a son of God should know that you will never be a manifested son of God until you understand these concepts and get to know the heart of God—until you realize that He is not one who is vengefully angry, but who seeks only to do you good.
Don’t you need that kind of a God? I do! As much as I have sought after God, there are still things in my life that pop up occasionally that I haven’t been able to deal with fully. I need a Savior. I need to know that what God desires more than anything else, what He desires even more than our obedience, is a heart that seeks Him! That’s why I used to go out in the desert, and say, "God . . . God! I don’t have the will to serve You." (I both did, and I didn’t. You know what I mean.) My flesh simply could not help me. I needed Him!
Today God is permitting this message to come forth. The Church is coming out of the wilderness, but when we come out of the wilderness, we cannot come out with those old concepts that have kept us in there. We have to have another Gospel than what we have had in the past. In fact, there is even a verse in The Revelation which speaks of an angel flying and having the everlasting Gospel to preach to the world (Rev. 14:6). Believe it or not, that is the Gospel that is beginning to be declared to you in these days. And not only by me—there is a whole group of men and women on the earth today whom you need to hear.
God’s Loveliness Leads to Repentance
We are coming up out of the wilderness, and we are going to be a people, you and I. We’re not going to have a critical eye for anyone; we’re going to be able to see with eyes of the spirit. As I shared before, we’re going to be able to look into the eyes of a prostitute and say, "There will come a day when you will shine forth in the glory of the Father, because He has decreed it to be so." And when you learn the heart of God, and you begin to speak words like that, you will find that the words you speak will create and generate life in the hearts of those to whom you speak. It’s not a matter of their obedience. It’s a matter of your understanding that you can speak to the Seed of God and cause it to come forth from within your innermost being. Do you realize that you have the Seed of God? Do you realize what that means? I can guarantee you, friend, there will come a day when you will be so filled with God and so richly blessed—not because you have been a good child, but because you understand and have had revealed to you the love of God. And you won’t have to wait very long! That love will make you a good child, if you are not one. It will make you a good man or woman. Does not the Word say that it is the love of God that leads us to repentance?
The Revelation says that men will see the judgments of God and they will curse God rather than repent (Rev. 16:8-11). But when men see the loveliness of God, when they understand why the judgments are coming, they will repent in sackcloth and ashes, even those as wicked as the people of Sodom. You will remember that Jesus said to a certain group of people, "It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorra than it will be for you." He said that in two different instances (Mt. 10:15, 11:24)! Could that possibly mean that Sodom and Gomorra may have a chance? Is God going to throw them into an eternal, fiery hell simply because they did not have the knowledge that would have caused them to repent? I don’t think so! You need to think about these things. Jesus said, "If the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Sodom and Gomorra, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt. 11:21). So the reason they didn’t repent was because of the darkness. They had not the knowledge of God that came through Jesus Christ. That’s why John says, "The law was given by Moses," (and Christians today still want to live by the law) "but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). If you understand the true concept of our Father God, you will become a most obedient person through the love and the drawing attraction of His Spirit. The Christian life is effortless—because it is His life!
Transformation
It is just natural for you to live the human life, is it not? You don’t have to get up in the morning and figure out how you’re going to be human today. And when God begins to arise in you, you do not have to try to figure out how to live the godly life. Out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water, and everywhere that river flows, it brings life and healing and restoration. Do you have sin in your life? You can either fall under condemnation, or you can seek God until the river begins to flow in you. If you are under condemnation because the sin is there, and you feel that you are cut off from God because of your sin and your disobedience, you will never experience the flowing of His river. You must realize that no matter how far into sin you may go, no matter how much disobedience you get into, no matter how far away from God you may fall, if you can but find within yourself the faintest cry, "Oh God!" He will run to you, and out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.
The Spirit is represented, beginning in Genesis, by the flowing of a river, and there are precious stones in that river—which simply means that as the river flows, it causes the stones to be transformed into precious gems. And that doesn’t happen today; it doesn’t happen tomorrow; it doesn’t happen next year. Transformation takes a very long time. What you need is not condemnation for the way you are. You are what you are, and you cannot change that. But if you get into the river, if you learn how to release from the very essence of your being the flowing of His Life, it will bring life not only to you, but to everyone who comes into your presence. You will bring life and healing and restoration.
In the river of life are the precious stones. So all the years that I’ve sought after God, year after year, sometimes being in hopeless despair of ever becoming what God wanted me to be—all the time that I was seeking after Him, unbeknownst to me, the river was flowing. There were times when I would experience the joy of God. We all experience it from time to time. But the river was flowing, and in the flowing of the river is the transformation process of the spirit. And if you realize that it is not your obedience, it is not your effort, but that through the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will also realize that you can do that only in His presence. And again, if you have the concept that sin separates you and keeps you from His presence, you cannot be helped. But if you realize that there is nothing in all of creation that can separate you from the love of God, no matter how great your sin and failure, then all you need is to turn to God with an honest heart and say, "God, I need your help!" We need a Savior every day. And He is available to us every day. And my friends, if the Life of God never arises in you, your enemies will never be scattered. But oh, it will arise in you if the Sun of Righteousness appears with healing in His wings! Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered! In the presence of your enemies of anger, and bitterness, and resentment—in the very midst of those enemies that beset you and torment you, there is a table spread out before you.
Prayer: To Experience the Love of God
O Father, we ask for the fire of Your Spirit. O God, I am so glad that You have changed my concept of an angry, vengeful, wrathful God into One who is a Father, who loves beyond all comprehension. And Father, I ask that each of us may begin to more deeply experience Your love.
Prophecy: If You Turn Unto Me . . .
And I say unto you that if you turn unto Me in the midst of any situation and any trial, if you will but turn to Me in the very midst of sin and depression and anger and hatefulness and bitterness, and cry out from deep within, "O God! I need You!", out of your innermost being will flow My transforming power. So come unto Me, all ye that labor. Some of My people have labored so strenuously to enter into My rest, but I say to you today, that it is so easy to enter into My rest. All you have to do is to cease from your own works. And realize that I am El Elyon, the Most High God, and that I have a will, a plan, and a purpose for your life. And I say to you, because I have covenanted with that Seed that is within you, I look far beyond your mind, your emotion and your will. I look far beyond that natural person that you are, and I see deep within the center, the very core of your being, and I see that Seed of My Life that I placed there, and I say to you, that the Seed of My Life shall come forth. The Seed of my Kingdom shall reproduce within you, and you shall manifest My glory unto this earth.
This reminds me of what He said to Abraham. When God called Abraham, He said, "I am going to make you a father of many nations" (Gen. 17:4), and God promised him a son (Gen. 17:19). Then we read the story of Abraham and see that Abraham failed miserably many times. He lied, and he did all kinds of things, but I want to tell you something. When God makes you a promise, you can take it to the bank! And, like Abraham, when God gives us a promise, we tend to do everything we can possibly do in the natural to make it happen, and all we produce are Ishmaels. That is all we can produce in the natural.
But God has a Son of promise. And God made His covenant with the Seed of Abraham, which Paul tells us is Christ (Gal. 3:16). Therefore, that covenant between God and Abraham was really not with Abraham, although Abraham participated in it. The promise was to the Seed, which is Christ. I want you to get that! The promise that God gives to me is not a promise to Gary Sigler. He doesn’t have anything for me. He says, "You know what, Gary? You’re good for only one thing, and that is to give yourself up unto death. But I have a promise, and I have a covenant with the Seed, and I placed that Seed in you."
Has God made a covenant with you? No! He has made it with the Seed. Therefore, even though we talk a lot about obedience, we had better be careful what we are thinking. The reason we want to become an obedient people is so that the Seed of God can swallow us up. But the natural person is not to be the one obedient unto Christ. In other words, Gary Sigler has nothing in himself of obedience to offer unto God. I may want to try. I’ll try with all my heart to fulfill what God has promised me, but I can’t, and I need to find that out. That is the experience of Romans chapter 7. We all need to go through that experience. You need to find out that you can’t maintain that perfect obedience which will cause the Seed of promise to come forth and appear in you. But because you can’t, that doesn’t mean that God throws you on an ash heap. All it means is that He will throw you into the fire of His presence, and you’ll burn! The promise is not to you, but to the Seed within you.
The Appearing of Christ
I want to speak here about the appearing of Christ. What I say will probably be a little different from what it has been tied in with before, but nevertheless we all know the goal is the appearing of Christ. Paul said something very interesting. He said, "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh" (2 Cor. 5:16). He says that today we don’t even want to know Jesus Christ after the flesh, but that we should learn to know every person by the spirit. So let me give you a few verses on the appearing of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 says, "He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Can you imagine that? The God of Heaven is to be admired in you! Can you look at your sisters and brothers, and see Christ? Well, it may be pretty easy in an environment where we all are in worship and fellowship together, but if you get around them on their job, or in their homes among their family, you have to be able to look beyond what you see in the natural. You have to look into them and see Jesus. You have to admire in them that which He is.
Psalm 102:16 declares, "When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory." We know that Zion is the City of God, and is He not beginning to appear in Zion? No one who has been in fellowship with His people for any period of time could deny that God is beginning to appear. I’m sure all of you are like me in this—we have desired for so long to see the beauty of Zion, the City of God.
Colossians 3:4 states, "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory." These are some verses that I have clung to, sometimes without any hope, sometimes in despair, sometimes in utter depression. I’ve held on, knowing that there will come a day when I shall appear with Him in glory—not because I’ve done anything in myself, but because God has covenanted with the Seed. I have within me, and you have within you, the most precious essence of His being. That is where that covenant stands.
1 John 3:2 reads, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." When you really see Him as He is, you will be like Him. Why? Because you will see Him in yourself and in others! And I want to take this one step further. You won’t see Him only in Christians. You won’t see Him only in the glorious Church which is going to be manifested. You won’t see Him only in His special saints, but you will see Him in all of humanity.
Mother Theresa today is taking a lot of flak from the Christian world, which is saying that she is trying to bring in a New Age Gospel. But I saw a video of her once, and it wrought some real change in my life. It showed how she would go into the hospitals. One scene I remember very plainly was when she walked into a certain hospital where there were the sick and the dying, and there was a man in bed. Those in attendance said they didn’t know how long he could last. He just shook and shook, and you could tell he was in great agony. And this poor, tiny little lady walked over to him. She laid her hand on his head, and she just patted his head, and immediately the shaking stopped and the peace of God came to him.
Oh, people, don’t talk to me about New Age! If that is New Age, then I will be a part of the New Age to bring God to people. Don’t misunderstand me when I say that, but we just cannot ignore the principles of God. We cannot see someone who is so full of the love of God that they would go among lepers, they would go among the filth of the world and hug them and love them, and call that New Age. We have churches all across America today who are saying that is a New Age Gospel, and I feel sorry for them. She was asked, "Sister Theresa, how can you do this? How can you go to the scum of the earth? How can you reach down into the pits of India, and pick up the filth and hug them, and cry, and love them, and pray for them?" Her answer was this: "Because I see God in every person."
"We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." When you see Him as He is, you will be like Him! But I was taught, when I first went into Pentecost many years ago, that there is going to be a day when we’ll all be raptured into the heavens, and we’ll look at Him, and when we look at Him, we’ll be changed into His likeness. That is a fallacy! I wish it were true. But there are other verses we need to remember. As John said, "Beloved, you had better abide in His anointing, so that when He does appear you won’t fall on your face in shame before Him at His coming" (1 John 2:28). The "fly-away" Christians better wake up!
The truth is seen in Zechariah 14:5, "And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: and ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee." When Jesus comes in His physical form in the heavens, you will probably be right along by His side! 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, "To the end that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." God’s goal is to call out a people unto Himself, that He may, by the power of His Spirit, the drawing of His Spirit, the workings of His Spirit, work into that corporate group of people His Life, His nature, and His character—that they may stand upon the earth not as Baptists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, but that they may stand upon the earth as one new man, to bring forth judgment unto righteousness.
God’s True Business
I literally weep in intercession when I see some of the things that are on so-called "Christian" television. For instance, not long ago there was an example of the concept that every believer will be suspended in the air for seven years, and then God will pour out great anger and wrath and horrible tortures and judgments upon humanity. Now I know that concept, but I just can’t imagine it. I have experienced the depths of the love of God, and I have been into some of the heights of the love of God, but I cannot find a God who is so angry that He would want to pour out a vengeful wrath upon His people. Yes, the wrath of God is coming. Yes, judgment is being poured out. But you know, Jesus Himself tried to destroy that concept of an angry, vengeful God. He said, "It has been written in your very own law . . ." (He did not deny the law of the Old Testament). He said, "It has been written in your very own law, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ I know what is there. But I say to you, love your enemies! Do good to those who despitefully use you! I know what is written in your law. You would like me to take this prostitute and stone her" (Mt. 5:38-44, John 8:3-11).
Christians all over the world today would like to stone prostitutes and homosexuals. We would like to get rid of sin in the manner of some of the other religions of the world. We’d like to see a cleansing take place. That’s our concept of God, so that’s easy for us to accept. But Jesus revealed a different concept to us! "It is written in your very own law—but you had better listen to Me. You know, you run to the Scriptures, because in them you think you have eternal life, but you won’t come to Me, because when you do, I’m going to tell you some things, and I’m going to reveal to you an understanding of God and the Father-heart of God that you’ve never had. And because it doesn’t fit with what you have been taught in the past, because it doesn’t fit with the law that you have received, you will reject the love of God. That is why you cannot have the Logos in itself" (John 5:39-40).
You can take the Word of God and justify the most heinous, horrible crimes with it, and people have done so, thinking they have done God a service. But God is in the business of restoring humanity back to Himself. He has no thought of destroying, but of uplifting. Yes, there is judgment. Yes the fiery indignation and wrath of God is on the earth and is coming to the earth. But it is a righteous judgment! There is passage in the Old Testament where God says that when He brings judgment, He will take into account where a man was born (Ps. 87:4-6). What does that mean? It means He will take account of where you were born. Were you born in India where you had no knowledge of God? Or were you born in America where you’ve had nothing but religion, and you’ve rejected not God but that which religion has said He is? (I rejected Christianity 20 years ago, but I didn’t reject God, and I never would.)
Yes, there is judgment. And yes, you need to fear God, because when He appears, who can stand in His presence? When He appears, if you are full of greed, if you are full of back-biting, if you are full of envy, if you are full of jealousy, if you are full of competition, I feel sorry for you! Yes, you will be judged, and I guarantee that you will pay to the very last farthing. But I can also guarantee to you that the covenant is with the Seed of God within you, not with your human, natural personality! That thing is going to fall into the ground and die. It’s going to be consumed and burned up. And out of the rubble, out of the ash heap, out of the pain and the suffering that you may experience, will come the gold and the silver and the precious stones.
You must realize that God is God. We speak about the sovereignty of God, but even that is not understood. I’ll tell you what the sovereignty of God is. It means that He is El El Elyon, He is the Most High God. And if He has decided to place His Seed within you, if He has decided to make yyou a son of His glory, if He has decided that there will come a day when you will manifest to the world His glory—guess what? It’s going to happen. Say no to God all you want. Cause yourself such suffering and agony that words cannot describe it. I am an example of this, and I know what hell is. I’ve been through hell. I know what it is to get into disobedience to the uttermost. But I also know El Elyon, the Most High God! I know a Father who loves me so greatly that I could turn my back upon Him, I could swear at Him in the heavens, I could even walk away and say, "Never again do I want anything to do with that God," but He is El Elyon! And He would say to me, "Gary, I have a covenant, and you have nothing to do with the covenant of My Seed that I have placed within you. And I say unto you that judgment will come. I’ll throw you into a fiery furnace. I’ll cause whatever it takes, but I guarantee you that I am your Father, and I love you with an everlasting love. And because I have the heart of a Father, and because I love you so dearly, I know how to make you submit."
We have to let God be God! It’s not just a theory. God is God! You can’t get away. I’ve tried. You know, if you really want to get away from God, and if it’s really in your heart to go back into the world and to give up on God, you should do that, and then you’ll find out that what I’m telling you is the truth. He is El Elyon. He has called you. What do we do with this verse: "He is the author and He is the finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2)? It took me years to find that out. I had nobody who would tell me, "Gary, be at ease. God will work it out." We don’t even like to hear that. But if the responsibility for the Christian life is on Gary Sigler, I’m in a whole lot of trouble, and so are you.
The reason we have so many problems in the Church is that we have not understood the Father’s heart. We have thought, and we have been taught, "He loves us unconditionally," but yet there has been that undermining concept that if you get into disobedience, if you don’t do exactly what He says, then even though He still loves you, He can’t help you any more, because your will will nullify His ability to help you. If that is the truth, I wouldn’t be here today. You have to realize that Jesus is your Redeemer! Do you want to know what the penalty for sin is? Read it in the Bible. Do you know who paid the penalty for sin? He bore the iniquity of us all, and with His stripes, we were healed. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world! He took it, He took your judgment!
Eternal Is Not Forever
There is a word in the New Testament, and I’m not going to elaborate on it here, I’m just going to throw the thought out to you (I have loads of material I can refer you to on it.) It is the word "eternal" in The Revelation, where it talks about "eternal torment" (Rev. 20:10). The word has been grossly misinterpreted. All Bible translations have their errors, and the word "eternal" has been one of the most mistranslated words. The words aion and aonios, are sometimes translated "eternal", but they literally mean age (eon), a finite period of time with a beginning and an end. There is no concept in the mind of God to throw somebody into an eternal torment, an endless anguish of fiery indignation and wrath. That’s not our Father, but that is the God of some Christians, and that is the concept of God in the King James Bible and most other translations. (There are some translations which render those passages properly, and I can refer you to them.) Is there a hell? Absolutely! And you either have experienced it, or you will. There is a passage in The Revelation (21:8) that says all liars, murderers, and unbelievers will have their part, or a portion, in the Lake of Fire. You better believe, Christian, that you are going to be judged! But in that judgment, God will bring forth sons to His glory. You need to experience judgment now, and it will surely come (if it has not already done so), but it will not be eternal. It will not be done in vengeful wrath, it will be done in love.
Let’s just remember to continuously seek God and go before Him with these concepts. Ask Him about His heart. Go to God and ask Him if He could toss someone into a fiery, unending torment. If a man has lived for seventy years and been the most vile sinner, would God be just, causing him to suffer eternal torment because of seventy years of sin and disobedience? I don’t think so.
Why the Church Is In Darkness
I can’t tell you how many years I sought after God with wrong concepts. Because I have always been very honest and open, I would go to pastor after pastor and I would confess, "I do this, and I do that." But all I was told was, "You know, you have a free will. It’s your choice, Gary, so if you are going to continue to do this, then I can’t help you and neither can God." And that’s why this country is in such a mess. There are a lot of Garys out there in the world who have tried religion and found that it doesn’t work. We don’t all have strong characters and strong wills. We’re not all able to whip our flesh into line and be righteous and good Christians, but that is the requirement you have out there. You have the survival of the fittest. The honest heart, the heart admitting its inability to transform itself, cannot make it in religion.
I’ll never forget when I first experienced the Lord and wanted to join an Assembly of God church. The pastor gave me a card (I’m sure many of you have seen it) and on the back of the card it said, "I promise I won’t dance, I don’t smoke, I won’t drink, I won’t go to movies." But I often tell people, "Do you know what Jesus would do ttoday, if He came on the scene? (I can see this so plainly, and all you religious devils can just go ahead and scream.) I can see Jesus going down to the corner pub. I can see Him pulling up a bar stool and ordering a cold beer. I can see Him taking a sip of that beer and turning to the fellow next to Him and saying, ‘You know what? This is good, but I’ve got something that is so much better!’" You say He wouldn’t do that? Well, I do that, and I never lose His presence—in fact His presence becomes sweeter. Now, if you want to misinterpret that and imagine that I am saying that drinking is okay (I know what the flesh does) that is all right. You see, you cannot withhold the truth because of being afraid of what God’s people will do with it. That’s why the Church is in darkness. I know pastors who know the truth that I preach, but they will not preach it, because they say, "If I taught that to my church, I’d have chaos on my hands." That is because these pastors don’t know how to build their people up, and they don’t know how to minister by the Spirit. They have to keep them in darkness in order to keep them.
Walking In the Love of God
I recently participated in a week of wonderful worship and fellowship in the Lord. We can easily get the concept that these are special times, and they are; that this was a special visitation, and it was. But then we have to go back to our jobs. In fact, somebody asked me the other day, "Can we keep this? This is wonderful, but what happens next week?" I used to ask that same question. I’ve been going to these kinds of things for about thirty years. I used to go to two or three weeks of meetings at a time and be in the glory, and then go back to work and immediately fall into depression. "My God! I’ve got to face the world again!" But there comes a day in your life when there are no more highs and lows, when you just begin to walk in the love of God, come what may. Today at work, when my wife and I walk into the dining room, people just love us. We don’t preach to them (although I do hold meetings there on Sunday evenings, and any of them can come up and listen). I don’t preach to them, but they just love us. But if I were typically religious, they wouldn’t even like us. I can guarantee that, because I hear them talk about religious people.
It cannot be what you say, it has to be what you are! We have a message, but it is not a message of mere words. You know, God gives you a message, and then you go out, and it’s just like the Abraham and Ishmael process—you go out to give the message, and all you do is create chaos. When God gives you a message, it can take years, because you have to become the message. And if you don’t, the message that you give will not help anyone. People tell me all the time, "You speak with such boldness!" Why? It is because I know what I am saying; I’ve heard God speak these things to me. The things that I’m teaching today, God revealed to me twenty years ago, but I never taught them. Then, about a year ago, the Lord released me to start teaching some of these things. I had pastored a church for 3½ years, and if you go back and listen to my messages, you’ll hear in seed form that which I’m teaching today, but I didn’t have the liberty to bring it out fully then.
I can remember that when I was saved, I wanted to be a pastor with all my heart. When I was eleven years old, I told my mom that I wanted to be a pastor. And in time, I applied to the Lutheran seminary, because that is what we were. I wanted so much to be a pastor, because I already had told my mom that when I grew up, I would not be going to church. You see, my concept was that if I became a pastor, then I could maybe bring some change to the Lutheran church. But my family had no money to support me in that field, and the seminary would not accept me without finances (bless God), so I couldn’t go. But I wanted all my life to work for God. And when God finally called me into the ministry full time, it was to a church in Springfield, Oregon. After years and years of prayer and seeking God, and knowing that I had been called to go into the ministry, I knew that this was it. I’ll never forget the first time that I walked on the church property and God spoke to me. I knew I was coming there! I had a vision burned within me of what God wanted to do in that place. But when I went there, you cannot believe the hell that my wife and I went through! I had thought pastoring was going to be just the greatest thing in the world, but we had folks tell us, "We don’t like your music; we don’t like what you teach." They went just a little bit short of saying, "We don’t like you, either." But my wife can tell you, I never got angry. Honest to God, I never got angry; I didn’t get upset in the presence of people. You know what I did? I went into my room, and I fell on my face, and I wept, and I said, "God! Help me! I know what You have placed within me, God. Help me. Give me the expression, because I know these people. If I can have the expression, and if I can give them the understanding that you have given me, they’re going to love the Word."
Rejecting False Concepts of God
People react against you because they don’t understand. People rail against the Gospel because they are in darkness. It’s not because they are mean and hateful (although some are) but because they are in darkness. But if the rest of the people of the world could have the vision and experience the love of God as I have experienced it, there is no way that they would reject Him! People today are rejecting the concept of God that America has given them. I don’t want that God either. I don’t want a God I have to be in fear of all the time, thinking that I might serve Him for twenty years, and then I might hit a weak point, I might backslide and get into sin, never come out, die, and then have to face an eternal torment. I don’t want that kind of a God! I want a God I know is my Father. Yes, He may throw me into a fiery hell of His indignation, but no matter what it takes, it is going to be for correction, it is going to be for reproof, and it is going to be for my good. That’s the only kind of God I know. I don’t know the God of so-called "Christianity", I don’t know who He is.
I know we all get our concepts from the Bible. But Jesus Himself said, "I know what your law says [Lev. 24:19-20]—if somebody kills your brother, you just take him out and kill him," but Jesus said, "Listen! Something is wrong with that concept" (Mt. 5:38-42). Am I saying that the Word was wrong? I will tell you this: Some of the concepts that we thought we saw in the Word were not godly concepts. I know what your word says, and I know there are Christians who even delight to think that there are people who are going to suffer eternally in agony and torment—because "they deserve it". There are Christians like that, and there are people like that, because they think God is like that! And whatever you think God is like, you will feel justified in being.
You need a much bigger God than that. You need a God who is able to save you to the uttermost. You need a God who is able to reach down into the depths of your despair and your disobedience. You need a God whose arm is not shortened that He cannot save, who will reach down and lift you up—yes, a God who will correct you in His righteous indignation and wrath, but only because He loves you, not because He is angry. If we get an understanding of the heart and the love of our Father God, we will turn this world upside-down. And you who think that you are on the verge of being manifested as a son of God should know that you will never be a manifested son of God until you understand these concepts and get to know the heart of God—until you realize that He is not one who is vengefully angry, but who seeks only to do you good.
Don’t you need that kind of a God? I do! As much as I have sought after God, there are still things in my life that pop up occasionally that I haven’t been able to deal with fully. I need a Savior. I need to know that what God desires more than anything else, what He desires even more than our obedience, is a heart that seeks Him! That’s why I used to go out in the desert, and say, "God . . . God! I don’t have the will to serve You." (I both did, and I didn’t. You know what I mean.) My flesh simply could not help me. I needed Him!
Today God is permitting this message to come forth. The Church is coming out of the wilderness, but when we come out of the wilderness, we cannot come out with those old concepts that have kept us in there. We have to have another Gospel than what we have had in the past. In fact, there is even a verse in The Revelation which speaks of an angel flying and having the everlasting Gospel to preach to the world (Rev. 14:6). Believe it or not, that is the Gospel that is beginning to be declared to you in these days. And not only by me—there is a whole group of men and women on the earth today whom you need to hear.
God’s Loveliness Leads to Repentance
We are coming up out of the wilderness, and we are going to be a people, you and I. We’re not going to have a critical eye for anyone; we’re going to be able to see with eyes of the spirit. As I shared before, we’re going to be able to look into the eyes of a prostitute and say, "There will come a day when you will shine forth in the glory of the Father, because He has decreed it to be so." And when you learn the heart of God, and you begin to speak words like that, you will find that the words you speak will create and generate life in the hearts of those to whom you speak. It’s not a matter of their obedience. It’s a matter of your understanding that you can speak to the Seed of God and cause it to come forth from within your innermost being. Do you realize that you have the Seed of God? Do you realize what that means? I can guarantee you, friend, there will come a day when you will be so filled with God and so richly blessed—not because you have been a good child, but because you understand and have had revealed to you the love of God. And you won’t have to wait very long! That love will make you a good child, if you are not one. It will make you a good man or woman. Does not the Word say that it is the love of God that leads us to repentance?
The Revelation says that men will see the judgments of God and they will curse God rather than repent (Rev. 16:8-11). But when men see the loveliness of God, when they understand why the judgments are coming, they will repent in sackcloth and ashes, even those as wicked as the people of Sodom. You will remember that Jesus said to a certain group of people, "It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorra than it will be for you." He said that in two different instances (Mt. 10:15, 11:24)! Could that possibly mean that Sodom and Gomorra may have a chance? Is God going to throw them into an eternal, fiery hell simply because they did not have the knowledge that would have caused them to repent? I don’t think so! You need to think about these things. Jesus said, "If the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Sodom and Gomorra, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt. 11:21). So the reason they didn’t repent was because of the darkness. They had not the knowledge of God that came through Jesus Christ. That’s why John says, "The law was given by Moses," (and Christians today still want to live by the law) "but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). If you understand the true concept of our Father God, you will become a most obedient person through the love and the drawing attraction of His Spirit. The Christian life is effortless—because it is His life!
Transformation
It is just natural for you to live the human life, is it not? You don’t have to get up in the morning and figure out how you’re going to be human today. And when God begins to arise in you, you do not have to try to figure out how to live the godly life. Out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water, and everywhere that river flows, it brings life and healing and restoration. Do you have sin in your life? You can either fall under condemnation, or you can seek God until the river begins to flow in you. If you are under condemnation because the sin is there, and you feel that you are cut off from God because of your sin and your disobedience, you will never experience the flowing of His river. You must realize that no matter how far into sin you may go, no matter how much disobedience you get into, no matter how far away from God you may fall, if you can but find within yourself the faintest cry, "Oh God!" He will run to you, and out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.
The Spirit is represented, beginning in Genesis, by the flowing of a river, and there are precious stones in that river—which simply means that as the river flows, it causes the stones to be transformed into precious gems. And that doesn’t happen today; it doesn’t happen tomorrow; it doesn’t happen next year. Transformation takes a very long time. What you need is not condemnation for the way you are. You are what you are, and you cannot change that. But if you get into the river, if you learn how to release from the very essence of your being the flowing of His Life, it will bring life not only to you, but to everyone who comes into your presence. You will bring life and healing and restoration.
In the river of life are the precious stones. So all the years that I’ve sought after God, year after year, sometimes being in hopeless despair of ever becoming what God wanted me to be—all the time that I was seeking after Him, unbeknownst to me, the river was flowing. There were times when I would experience the joy of God. We all experience it from time to time. But the river was flowing, and in the flowing of the river is the transformation process of the spirit. And if you realize that it is not your obedience, it is not your effort, but that through the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will also realize that you can do that only in His presence. And again, if you have the concept that sin separates you and keeps you from His presence, you cannot be helped. But if you realize that there is nothing in all of creation that can separate you from the love of God, no matter how great your sin and failure, then all you need is to turn to God with an honest heart and say, "God, I need your help!" We need a Savior every day. And He is available to us every day. And my friends, if the Life of God never arises in you, your enemies will never be scattered. But oh, it will arise in you if the Sun of Righteousness appears with healing in His wings! Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered! In the presence of your enemies of anger, and bitterness, and resentment—in the very midst of those enemies that beset you and torment you, there is a table spread out before you.
Prayer: To Experience the Love of God
O Father, we ask for the fire of Your Spirit. O God, I am so glad that You have changed my concept of an angry, vengeful, wrathful God into One who is a Father, who loves beyond all comprehension. And Father, I ask that each of us may begin to more deeply experience Your love.
Prophecy: If You Turn Unto Me . . .
And I say unto you that if you turn unto Me in the midst of any situation and any trial, if you will but turn to Me in the very midst of sin and depression and anger and hatefulness and bitterness, and cry out from deep within, "O God! I need You!", out of your innermost being will flow My transforming power. So come unto Me, all ye that labor. Some of My people have labored so strenuously to enter into My rest, but I say to you today, that it is so easy to enter into My rest. All you have to do is to cease from your own works. And realize that I am El Elyon, the Most High God, and that I have a will, a plan, and a purpose for your life. And I say to you, because I have covenanted with that Seed that is within you, I look far beyond your mind, your emotion and your will. I look far beyond that natural person that you are, and I see deep within the center, the very core of your being, and I see that Seed of My Life that I placed there, and I say to you, that the Seed of My Life shall come forth. The Seed of my Kingdom shall reproduce within you, and you shall manifest My glory unto this earth.
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