Download PDF Version:  The Way Forward is to Come Out!

The Spirit of Jesus grieves over His Church as He views the desolation and destruction of His flock.  With grace to see as He sees, we would see malnourished souls that appear as concentration camp victims that fill the seats in “churches” all across America.  These are churches that have left the path of following the Holy Spirit and yet proclaim that they have the answer.  There is no Church without the leadership of the blessed Holy Spirit; there is no truth without the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth; there is no fruit of the Spirit without the Holy Spirit; there are no gifts of the Spirit without the Holy Spirit.  Apart from the Holy Spirit we can do NOTHING (John 15:5)!  Yet, leaders have attempted to shepherd the flock of Jesus Christ with a man-made, gear-driven system that does not, because it cannot, feed His sheep.

The curse that the Lord describes through Haggai has deeply affected the modern-day Church.  Many church leaders, as well as believers sitting in the pew, see the devastation of His people but do nothing about it.  The Lord has opened their eyes, but they are more committed to the gear-driven system, full of man’s traditions that keeps the “church” running, rather than submitting to the Holy Spirit.  They will keep it running at any cost, while the true temple of the Lord, His people, stand in ruins.  As a result, a curse has fallen upon us as it was upon the exiles who came back to Jerusalem and spent their time building their own houses without focusing on rebuilding the temple:

Haggai 1:2–7 (NASB95)

² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ” ³ Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” ⁵ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! ⁶ “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways!”

The time has come for those who see the problem clearly to take their place in the new wineskin and in the rebuilding of His temple.  They have been prepared and stirred by His Spirit for a great work.  The Lord is calling you and I forward; He is calling us out of the old wineskin.  We must understand there is no fixing the old wineskin; that is not the Lord’s intent.

If you have seen the desolation of His House, you cannot deny it.  The Spirit of Jesus, has given you “eyes to see” the reality of the problem.  To deny what you clearly see is to walk in denial – a lie; Jesus doesn’t walk there.  Accept the truth of what you see and arise in the power and strength of His Spirit – “Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:13; emphasis mine).  Do you want revival?  Then it is time to be intentional to secure it – by, in and through Jesus Christ.

Let’s go further.  So-called church leaders have prayed and organized years of prayer meetings calling for the Lord to pour out His Spirit time and time again, but the Lord speaks through Haggai to all of us today saying, “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. “Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. “I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands” (Haggai 1:9-11; emphasis mine).

Many of us, invested in the current form and structure of the Church week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, supporting a system that is completely broken.  It is a system where largely the sinner is not convicted, the sick are not healed, the lost are not saved, the captives are not set free and the Gospel is not faithfully proclaimed coupled together with the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit.  Why do we waste our time attempting to fix the system, supporting those who run it, who actively destroy the sheep of His flock by not following the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit?  It is time for us to come out of the system that many believed the Lord would save!  The system has become an idol and He will not save our idols!  He will not save our traditions while we allow the apostate, the lukewarm and the backslidden to run rampant within what is nothing less than a demonic (full of deceit and deception, half-truths, devoid of the Spirit’s power, carnal, fleshly and dead), gear-driven system!  Come out from among them and the Lord will receive you!  THE SYSTEM YOU ARE SUPPORTING IS NOT THE CHURCH!  The Lord’s flock is the Church!

The time has come for the leaders of the Lord, those who know the times and what should be done, to arise and let the dead bury their dead.  We cannot stand idly by, watching AND supporting “church” leaders who have long since left the path of righteousness and orthodoxy by not following the Holy Spirit.  This sin has led to the destruction of the flock; if we participate in or support their rebellion, we will be found guilty of their sin!  We must allow the Lord to stir us and stop quenching the Spirit and He will be with us (Haggai 2:4-5)!  To stand with the Lord in this hour requires obedience and bold action.  The time has come for many to leave the old wineskin and come into the new.

What will the Lord do and what is His end goal?  His promise is this:

Haggai 2:6–9 (NASB95; emphasis mine)

⁶ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ⁷ ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁸ ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ⁹ ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”

Haggai proclaims that the Lord will fill His house with glory.  Peter also proclaims that, “[We] also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5; emphasis mine).  The Lord is calling us to be intentional to secure the promise He made to Haggai, Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest in their day (Haggai 1:12).  The temple they rebuilt was ultimately destroyed by the Romans, but the Lord is re-building His House and it will be filled with His glory!  The Holy Spirit is inviting many to participate in the fulfillment of Haggai’s prophecy.

Surely the Lord will fill His House with glory, but He has no obligation to bless a gathering of rebels who stand against His Spirit!  If we walk in darkness, we will reap darkness; why suffer the same judgment that Jehoshaphat brought upon himself by partnering and aligning with those who resist the Holy Spirit at every turn (See 2 Chronicles 17-20).  Stop supporting them!  Why suffer judgement for unholy alliances.    If we walk with those who walk in compromise, we will walk in compromise; judgment will be the result.

These are the questions we must ask ourselves:

• Why would we settle for less than Biblical Christianity?!  Many know they are settling for far less, yet they are attempting to be part of a “church” they were never called to fit in.  When we settle, we take on a life filled with spiritual compromise and lukewarmness; it leads to spiritual death (Rev 3:16,19).

• Why would we continue to worship with those who are full of compromise, who have settled for far less than what is taught as Biblical Christianity, and expect the Lord to move in revival?

• Why do we stand with those who hate His Spirit and continue to rebel against Him?  We wish for the Spirit to move, yet those around us grieve the Holy Spirit habitually by not allowing Him to move.  If the Holy Spirit isn’t moving in a local church, it is because leaders, along with many in the pew, have made decisions not to allow Him to move.  They pray for revival and yet want none of it.

• Why do we believe that we will be blessed while giving His tithe to those who squander it and despise Him?  To support those who rebel against the Lord is to participate in their rebellion.  We look the other way and when we do, we become complicit in their rebellion.  This was the sin of Eli and Pontius Pilate; judgment begins in the House of the Lord (I Peter 4:17).

• Why do we settle and wait for the Lord to move, when He has called us to take action and come out from among them among them?

• Why do we think it really isn’t as bad as the Lord has revealed to us?!  It is THAT BAD and you and I aren’t the only ones that see the problem!

His sheep are being slaughtered in His own House (Ezekiel 34), while the leaders given the responsibility to care for them stand against the Holy Spirit and refuse to let Him minister to His own flock.  The Lord will move against them and they will perish if they don’t change; I speak by the Holy Spirit.  The time to cross the line into freedom and stand with the Lord is now!  Come out from among them!  Paul stated:

“Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, Says the Lord Almighty’” (2 Corinthians 6:16–18, NASB95).

Jesus said, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.  For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:24-26).

The way out of the bondage, death and decay, which is a prison we have labeled “the church”, has always been there but many of us have not had they eyes to see.  The door to the prison has always been open!  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; He is The One who makes a way where there is no way.  There are two significant changes coming to the Church which are nothing less than dramatic.  For those called forth as forerunners, the change is already underway.

First, the Lord demands that His leaders allow the River of God, the Holy Spirit, to minister as He sees fit; Church leaders have long attempted to limit or eliminate the move of the Holy Spirit through His gifts.  The message for current leaders, which is really for all of us, is simple – change or perish.  Second, the Lord is calling those who see the truth and understand what is happening in the pseudo-Church (which is driven by the wisdom of the world including programs, human & corporate systems, methods and procedures rather than being dependent upon the Holy Spirit on a daily basis) to come out and leave it behind in order for the Holy Spirit to form the new wineskin through us.

These two changes constitute the breaking up of the current form of the Church – that is, who is in charge, how it operates, how it thinks, and what it has settled for as normal Christianity.  The Lord is exerting His control through His Spirit rather than allowing the Church to suffer at the hands of man’s wisdom.  He is bringing her back to the model of New Testament Christianity filled with truth and power demonstrated through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The gifts of the Spirit are not optional equipment – they were not optional for the early Church and they will not be optional going forward; the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the revelation that only He can give are essential for the maturity of the Church.  This is a change that is required for the Bride to make herself ready for the coming of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The transition for those currently involved in what I call the “gear-driven” Church presents a sizeable challenge, but the Holy Spirit has demonstrated His ability to lead and provide for His people through dramatic transitions.  Examples include Abraham being called out of Ur, the Israelites being led out of Egypt, the forming of the Church on the day of Pentecost, etc.  The Holy Spirit will set His Church, the Body of Christ, free from the bondage and burdens designed by men.  Stepping into that freedom can feel as uncomfortable as what a prisoner experiences after years of incarceration; it’s awkward, a little frightening and even confusing, but it is FREEDOM.

What does the transition to freedom look like?  It starts with making the decision to leave the compromised-Church behind and submit to Jesus Christ who is the Head of the Church.  Many are already sensing the pull of the Holy Spirit as they begin to realize that there is no fitting into the old wineskin when we are called to be part of the new.  It has happened throughout history.  God has brought about dramatic change through men like Martin Luther and John Wesley, et al.  He is doing it again.  Many are struggling, bouncing from church to church attempting to fit in, ultimately concluding that they don’t fit.  Why?  Because they were never called to fit in.

Practically speaking, the Lord will and is connecting those He is calling out.  They will meet in homes allowing the Holy Spirit to lead, sharing the word, praying and ministering one to another following His leadership; in fact, many already do and have been doing it for years.  It is far better to sit around the table with others who desire to honor and allow the Holy Spirit to lead than to remain in the fellowship of rebels and the lukewarm.  If others will not join you, then sit in the presence of the Holy Spirit in your own home and ask Him to guide you to the others He is calling out.

Leadership in the new wineskin is critical and the Lord knows it.  New leaders are being equipped to take their place and are already operating in levels of Kingdom respon-sibility and authority; these are those called and sent by the Lord, not by man or the agency of men; these are those who know the ways of the Spirit – they know His voice and they follow Him.  In the new wineskin, good leaders are good followers of the Holy Spirit within the framework of Scripture.  They want the rivers that Jesus spoke of flowing in and through the Body of Christ (John 7:38), rather than settling for a trickle of water.

However, we must realize that we are not exempt from being in fellowship with other believers even though we are being called out of the old system.  If we are to be trusted with the building of the new wineskin then we must demonstrate good stewardship of our individual walks and adherence to Paul’s command, “Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25, NASB95).  Many leaders have leveraged this verse for their own purposes to prevent believers from leaving, keeping them imprisoned and governed by the ways of man, rather than operating by the Holy Spirit; they are the blind leading the blind.  Those who have understanding know that they can meet, worship, and be a vital member of the Body of Christ with others ANYWHERE while adhering to Paul’s teaching.

But for those who have ears to hear, the words of Jesus are just as true today as they were when He first uttered them.  Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last, first” (Mark 10:29–31, NASB95).  It is not a strange thing He is calling you or I to do.

This Lord is calling us back to the foundation of the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels and the building of the Church set forth in the Book of Acts.  This is the time for those called to the five-fold ministry gifts to make the decisions that must be made and follow Jesus.  What about those you are leaving behind?  The Lord will take back His flock and He will shepherd them into green pastures.  First, He will re-establish His leaders and reform the ranks.  Seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal to you what He is doing and partner with Him.  We must obey the voice of the Holy Spirit and surrender family and friends to Him.  They need the life that only the Spirit of Jesus Christ can give, but they haven’t left the system because many of us are still there supporting the system in which they are imprisoned!

The foundation must be laid before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit can come.  The Lord must prepare a place for His sheep to gather.  The model was established on the day of Pentecost; first, the 120 became the foundation of the new wineskin, then and only then was the wind of the Spirit released from Heaven to bring souls into the Kingdom.  Days of great victory for the true Church of Jesus Christ are at hand.  The gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18).  Lay hold of the Kingdom of God today and do what the Holy Spirit is saying!  Do not delay!

Your life and the lives of those around you have been, are now, and will be affected by your decisions.  The Lord isn’t playing games; He will re-build the foundations of the Church upon the Son of God, His Spirit and His Word.  The Glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the see (Habakkuk 2:14).  His promise will be fulfilled through us if we align with Him.

Mark Biteler