Breaking the Yoke

Over the past four years, research and progressive revelation had shown the following RELATED issues to be major problem areas in the Body of Christ in South Africa, and, to a great extent, worldwide:

1. Skew Foundations.
2. Misconceptions concerning Spiritual Authority and Covering.
3. Infiltration and Control by Secret Organizations.

Let's look at them separately:

1. Skew Foundations

The Problem:

Moving the Furniture
vs.
Digging out Foundations

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
(Eph. 2:19 - 20).

Scripture makes it quite clear that Christ himself is the cornerstone, as well as the foundation of the Church. But which ministries should lay its foundations? Likewise, Scripture gives us a clear answer: The ministries of Apostles and Prophets.
But who are the Apostles and Prophets?
Church history seems to tell us that the ministries of Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists went extinct shortly after the earthly departure of the original, Biblical apostles.
Hence, a well-known church doctrine, called "Cessationalism" denies the current-day existence of apostles and prophets (and evangelists). It only acknowledges the existence and validity of the ministries of Pastors and Teachers. Although this doctrine still has its adherents up to this day, the past 200 years had progressively proved it to be erroneous, since William Carey jump-started the Modern Missionary Movement in the early 1800's.
Since the times of Carey's pioneering work, the world has seen a missions explosion, and consequently the full restoration of the office of the Evangelist.
Since the late 1970's and early 1980's we have also witnessed the full restoration of the office of the Prophet. Although the worldwide prophetic movement currently faces various challenges from within and without, it is beyond question that handsful of these ministers have reputed, sometimes international ministries today - tested by time.
Currently, there is much controversy about whether we have, or have not yet seen the full restoration of the office of apostle. Without entering into this debate, we would merely comment that, if the Biblical guideline of "signs, wonders and miracles" (2 Cor. 12:12) be taken as the hallmark of true apostleship, this office still seems to be non-existent.

What does stand out like a sore finger in the current day Church, is that denominations and independent churches evidently stand on the spiritual foundations (which is Christ Jesus) which were (and still are) laid by the ministries of Pastors and Teachers (read "Theologians"). Many of these foundations were laid even before the restoration of the office of Evangelist 200 years ago!

The strength of any building's foundations determines its potential height. Now, if the building of the current day Church rests on the ministries of Pastors and Teachers, whereas it should rest on the ministries of Apostles and Prophets - then we have a serious problem: This phenomenon will restrict the potential height of our "building," and make it weak and prone to cracks and breaking. And even worse: It supplies a way of entrance into the Church to the evil spirit of Jezebel. This spirit is well known to be the spirit of the Biblical prostitute, which seeks (amongst many other vices) to reverse God's ordained order. By allowing Pastors and Teachers, instead of Apostles and Prophets (the other extreme of the "five-fold ministry" - Eph. 4:11), to lay its foundations, the Church had opened the door for this very spirit into her bosom.
Although the Jezebel spirit is generally associated with domination, manipulation and control, it manifests a myriad of wiles, causing sexual promiscuity, killing of the prophetic gift, apathy, lethargy, slumber, inability to discern, etc. - all of which are rife in today's church.
And no wonder - we stand on her foundation: a reversed one. When she moves, the Church shakes!

NOTE: This article, being prophetic and directive, could be expected to agitate the Jezebel spirit. This spirit's reaction would pursue the prevalence of apathy, lethargy and slumber of the Church in SA, and endeavour to kill this prophetic word (and the author's credibility!) by her well-known, notorious methods.
This does not mean that the content of this article is intended to be the last word on the matter, or above criticism. It simply means that there is a vast difference between healthy, compassionate criticism on the one hand, and demonic methods on the other. Please be on the lookout for these manifestations in yourself and your local church. And if you notice them, seek help!

The Solution

The structure:
Throughout the New Testament, God speaks of His Church as co-workers, employed to build His Kingdom (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor. 6:1; Col. 4:11). But a Kingdom structure looks very different from that of today's Church (Try to draw these organogram-style for greater clarity):
1. IN TODAY'S CHURCH, we have Jesus as the head of the Body, which we have split up into numerous denominations and other independent units. These have administrative umbrella bodies, like bishopries, dioceses or synods. These, in turn, split up into numerous local churches, all headed up by pastors or boards of elders. Each local church has its own ministries, usually headed up by laypersons, e.g. Prayer (prophetic), Outreach (evangelistic), Training (teaching), etc. This structure leaves absolutely no room for apostles. Moreover, every other ministry in the local church gets dominated by the pastoral - which is completely unbiblical. Even the prophetic (prayer) and evangelistic (outreach) people are axiomatically dominated by the pastor.
2. IN A KINGDOM, the King (Jesus) usually divides his kingdom into provinces, headed up by governors (Apostles). The king's spokesman at his office (Prophet) usually communicates the wishes of the king to the provinces. In the provinces, each governor usually presides over a cabinet of ministers, with typical portfolios like Foreign Affairs (Evangelist), Home affairs (Pastor), Education (Teacher). This structure puts Apostles first, Prophets second, and Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers all on the same level - which corresponds with the Biblical model of Eph. 4:11 and 1 Cor. 12:28.

The only viable way of achieving this structure in a practical way seems to be a system of HOUSE CHURCHES, where common believers once again take responsibility for the operation of the church, instead of a salaried pastor. Being a whole topic on its own, this operation will be discussed in a separate document.
A HOUSE church differs from a CELL church in terms of what happens when one unit (a house church or cell) grows too big, and needs to split into two separate parts.
In the case of a cell church, a new cell leader takes responsibility for the "split-off" part, while both cell leaders report back to a central structure, the "mother" church. Unity is maintained through structure.
In the case of a house church, the "split-off" part becomes a new, independent church on its own, with no compulsory reporting functions to anyone. Unity is maintained through relationships.

The Jehu anointing:
In order to break the yoke (Is. 10:27) of Jezebel, a very specific anointing is needed - the anointing of Jehu (2 Kings 9:6). The prophet had specifically anointed Jehu to kill off Jezebel and her whole family (v. 7, 10). This anointing is somewhat unpopular and unwelcome one in today's pacifist church - the very pacifism caused by the evil spirit of Jezebel.
This violent anointing (Mat. 11:12) needs to break down the skew building which had been built on Jezebel's weak, skew foundation. They need to be dug out, and Jezebel's spirit cast out. This will allow the prophets and apostles (who are unable to minister unless they are recognized) to lay the cornerstone and foundation of Jesus Christ unhindered - properly according to His will and order (Jer. 1:10).
It is important to recognize that
1. The prophetic word might never conquer this spirit. Elijah never succeeded in dethroning her.
2. Jehu didn't kill Jezebel himself: She got killed by eunuchs who submitted to Jehu's anointing. And so shall it be with the Church: This spirit shall be cast out by those whom it had castrated and robbed of their spiritual manhood who submit to the Jehu anointing.

Comments

The inherent weakness of the Pastor/Teacher foundation seriously inhibits the height unto which God can build His church. Maybe He wouldn't build any higher on a foundation which He knows will crack up as soon as the pressure starts to mount. Could it be that He is waiting for us to let go of our old foundations so He could build His victorious church?
In the past, we used to shuffle around the furniture inside the church structure whenever we wanted to change something. We have never had the courage to actually tackle the entire structure, break it down, and dig out its foundations. Three principal things withheld us from doing that:
1. Comfort (The opposite of suffering and perseverance).
2. Money (The substitute for character).
3. Securities (The substitute for hope). See Rom. 5:3 - 4.
None of these are good reasons! True intimacy with God is only possible when we let go of these three items on our priority lists. To do what needs to be done, we will have to erase them completely.
It's significant that NONE of the cities in the world that had gone through "Transformation" are Gateway Cities, like Cape Town happens to be. Non-gateway cities could probably still get away with their old foundations, but gateway cities (due to their much more complex spiritual realm) will not!

2. Misconceptions concerning Spiritual Authority.

(See also Spiritual Authority and Submission - Watchman Nee)

The Problem

The concept of "Spiritual Authority" could easily be viewed as the most important theme of the Bible. (God had sent Christ to establish His authority on the earth!) Yet, in the Church today, we find a myriad of perceptions and confusion concerning the related issues of:
1. Spiritual Authority.
2. Submission to this authority.
3. "Covering."
Most Christians have some vague perception of the existence of a Biblical basis for these concepts, but are sadly clueless concerning its foundations and mechanisms. A number of factors greatly contribute to this dilemma:
1. Lack of knowledge of the Scriptures concerning Spiritual Authority.
2. Erroneous, controlling teachings, as well as practices in churches concerning Spiritual Authority and Submission to it.
3. Confusing different concepts with one another: "Leadership Ability" and/or "Appointed Position" are often erroneously equated to "Spiritual Authority."

The Truth

All authority flows forth from God the Father:
After His glorification, all authority in heaven and earth was given to Christ (Mat. 28:18). The question is, where did He receive it from? Obviously from the Father (… and the head of Christ is God. (1 Cor. 11:3)). So all authority flows forth from the Father.

Christ establishes the Father's authority in two areas: Society, and the Church:

1. Society:

God delegates mere positional authority to some offices in the World. This means that God delegates His authority to a person (whether saved or unsaved) merely because of his position. In other words, God delegates His authority not to the person himself, but to the position which the person fills. If this person loses the position, the person loses his delegated authority as well, whereas his successor gains the delegated authority:
1.1 Towards the Law:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Rom. 13:1)
Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. (1 Pet. 2:13 - 14)
God commands all citizens of a country, saved or unsaved, to submit to the Law.
1.2 In the workplace:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. (Col. 3:22)
God expects of employees, saved or unsaved, whether they get paid or not, to submit to their employers, whether they are saved or unsaved.
1.3 In the family:
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Eph. 5:22 - 24)
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honour your father and mother" - which is the first commandment with a promise - "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Eph. 6:1 - 3)
God expects of wives, whether saved or unsaved, to submit to their own husbands, saved or unsaved. Children should submit to their fathers and mothers, whether saved or unsaved.
1.4 Generational:
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. (1 Pet. 5:5)
Young people, whether saved or unsaved, should submit to older people, saved or unsaved.

2. The Church:

There is absolutely no Biblical evidence that any POSITIONAL authority exists in the Church.
2.1 Anointing:
The only standard, and measuring tool of Biblical authority in the Church is ANOINTING.
But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD's anointed (1 Sam. 26:11)
David asked him, "Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?" (2 Sam. 1:14).
What is anointing?
Possible definition: Anointing is God's manifest confirmation of His choice of a vessel to carry His authority (e.g. Saul, David, Jehu, etc).
In the Old Testament, this was a physical confirmation - a visual ritual of physical anointing with oil. In the New Testament, this had become a spiritual confirmation - an invisible, but discernible manifest presence of the Holy Spirit, and goes hand in hand with invisible spiritual power.
Spiritual Authority, bestowed by God on individuals, and manifesting as anointing, is something totally different from Leadership Ability (which can be taught and learnt) or Appointed Position (which usually takes place according to the reasoning of man, and includes "qualifications" like leadership abilities, learnedness, influence, connectedness, talents, clout, financial ability, etc). We are not even commanded to PRAY for people in LEADERSHIP, but for persons in AUTHORITY (1 Tim. 2:1 - 2). In the Church, proven anointing should precede appointing.
Whom does God choose to anoint?
2.2 Obedience:
God anoints those whom He could trust to carry His authority.
Only because of Christ's obedience can He say through the prophet: "the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor" (Is. 61:1). Paul says: "He humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8).
As imitators of Christ, He could, or could not, choose to anoint those whose OBEDIENCE He had thoroughly tested, and who had proved themselves faithful. Our first ever act of obedience is to submit to Christ's authority when we get saved. After that, we also submit to God's delegated authority in anointed people. Wherever God's authority is submitted to, there is God's Kingdom. But how do we learn obedience?
2.3 Suffering:
Jesus Christ had to learn obedience through His suffering:
Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:9).
Likewise, we learn obedience through suffering, because "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master" (Mat. 10:24).
Even so, suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character (Rom. 5:3 - 4).

In a nutshell:
All authority flows forth from God the Father. He establishes His Kingdom by His direct authority, as well as His delegated authority. His primary delegated authority is Jesus Christ. Wherever Christ's authority is submitted to, there is God's Kingdom. Christ requires us to submit to his delegated, positional authority in the world, as well as His delegated, non-positional, authority in the Church. In the Church, His delegated authority manifests as anointing. Anointing goes hand in hand with manifest spiritual power. He anoints those who have learnt obedience. They learn obedience in suffering. THOSE are the ones whom we should submit ourselves to.
There is no Biblical requirement to submit (in the Church) to LEADERSHIP, POSITION or INSTITUTION. (Not even Heb. 13:17 (NIV): "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority." The word leaders (Gr: hegeomai) translates as: to go before, to rule or command, to have authority over. Thus these leaders are "rulers," i.e. men in authority - anointed ones). We merely have to submit to authority, as manifested in ANOINTING, which goes hand in hand with SPIRITUAL POWER (which is hard to fake!) This spiritual power is unseen, but its fruits or effects are perceivable and manifest. THAT is the absolutely required (and only) "covering" we need!

Comments:

God's Kingdom is based on the principle of "Authority and Submission," whilst that of Satan is based on "Control and Subjection." It is sad to see how the latter abounds in today's Church. Once again, that represents the principle of Jezebel, on whose foundation the modern Church was built.
"Control" speaks of a lack of, and acts as a demonic substitute for, Godly "Authority."
It's a sad day when the Church needs to make use of Satan's principle to "do God's work."

3. Infiltration and Control by Secret Organizations

The Problem:

Diagnostic Spiritual Research has shown unequivocally that the Church in SA, since its inception in 1652, has never been rid of the infiltration of Secret Organizations (especially Freemasonry). The very first Church in SA, the Dutch Reformed Church (which had been the only church to be allowed for 128 years since 1652) had been planted by a Masonic Organization, the DEIC (Dutch East India Company). This Company had appointed, and paid the first pastors. It also sat in on all church meetings and strictly controlled all church operations according to the Company rule book. And since those early days, the Church in SA has never been without this evil. Today, EVERY church denomination in SA has been infiltrated by these organizations, and is riddled with their vices. (Although Freemasonry overtly exists only since 1717, it had been a covert organization since the time of the Knights Templar).

What is Freemasonry?
It is a secret organization which operates under the guise of a welfare organization, but is really the chief preserver of the occult knowledge of the Babylonian Mysteries, as portrayed predominantly in Egyptian, Roman and Greek mythology. Their chief doctrines centre on an enigmatic figure, Hiram Abiff who, if investigated, turns out to be nobody else than the first Babylonian king, Nimrod (Gen. 10:8 - 10). Nimrod and his wife and queen, Semiramis, were the founders of the Babylonian Mysteries and the occult knowledge on the earth, after the flood of Noah.
Many Freemasons (especially those in the lower degrees) are naively oblivious of the fact that they act as the very priests of almost every vile occult spirit known in the Western World. The main controlling spirits in Freemasonry are Baphomet (a hideous, hermaphrodite being), as well as the Queen of Heaven (a feminine evil spirit, known in Freemasonry as Faith, Hope, or Charity).

In our churches, many pastors, reverends, ministers, fathers, dominees and elders are members of Secret Organizations. These shepherds thus secretly serve as priests for the ancient demonic entities of Babylon, whilst they should rule against the land of Nimrod with drawn sword (Micah 5:5 - 6). Hence, their disobedience leaves them very little or no spiritual authority. Consequently, they implement in the Church the principle of the Evil One: Control and Subjection. These leaders are the main cause for the prevalent presence and stronghold of Jezebel (an aspect of the Queen of Heaven) in today's Church.

Sadly, research also shows that the worldwide network of Masonic lodges are used extensively as the primary infrastructure which the Lawless One (2 Thess. 2:8 - 9) employs to usher in the New World Order - the end-time governing body who, according to Biblical prophecies, will be responsible for the persecution of God's people during the Great Tribulation.

The Solution:

Because of the thick demonic veil which blinds the spiritual eyes of members of Secret Societies, it is only by God's powerful intervention that they are able to see the evilness of their own organization. (Most Freemasons are sincerely under the impression that they serve an excellent cause, and that the doctrines of Freemasonry assist them in becoming better people! If challenged on this, the challenge is usually met with hardly controlled anger - which is really the evil Masonic spirit raising its head). Hence, it is extremely difficult to convince these people in a worldly way to turn away from their sin.

The most obvious solution would be that Church Leadership, who had brought this evil into the bosom of the Body of Christ, would publicly repent of their sin and turn from their wicked ways. In the light of the above, it is highly improbable that this would ever happen. What else then, could be done?

Five times in the Bible, the Lord speaks to His people (in other words, to Christians in churches - not to unbelievers!) and commands them to flee out of Babylon (Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; 2 Cor. 6:17; Rev. 18:4), unless they would share in Babylon's judgment. Unfortunately, the evil domination and control of Babylon, as manifest in Freemasonry, are prevalent in the top echelons and structures of most of our churches today. If the above commands to get out of Babylon do NOT mean that Christians should flee out of these structures to save their own lives, then what DO they mean?

If Christians spot these people in their leadership, and leave, where could they go to for fellowship?
The unbiblical church structure as discussed in Section 2, had been invented roughly 4 centuries after Christ, when the persecution of Christians had stopped under the Roman rule. Only then the concept of a "church building" (or cathedral!), headed up by a pastor, became established. Prior to that, believers gathered in homes, synagogues and public open spaces for fellowship - a house church system.
We seriously encourage believers to take own responsibility, and start to establish house churches. How to start? Get a few Christian friends together, start a fellowship and pray at your home. That's a house church! (Leaving a wineskin does not mean you're leaving the church - YOU are the church!).

Comments:

The House Church System also makes a lot of sense in terms of counteracting the New World Order:
The New World Order is based on centralization: One World Government, One World Currency, One World Police Force, One World Language, etc. To get to this goal, every institution needs to be centralized. As far as churches are concerned, the centralized structure of denominations suits the New World Order like a hand in a glove. It simply infiltrates the governing body, as well as the training institutions, and from there start to dominate and control the entire denomination.
Furthermore, the current day church is known to consist of two different aspects: The Organism, as well as the Organization. The Organism consists of believers, knitted together by love-relationships and guided by the Holy Spirit. The Organization consists of the statuary structures, existing primarily for administrative purposes.
Now, the Masonic and Broederbond spirits are notorious for its cunning in wielding its power at executive meetings, whilst they are also notoriously uncomfortable with entering into one-on-one relationships with radical, born-again believers. Executive meetings take place mainly in the Organization part of the church, whilst one-on-one relationships are established in the Organism part.
Thus, the more the Church can tone down on its overhead structure (Organization), and can tune up on its living body (Organism), the less of these members of secret organizations it will harbour in its bosom. They will leave of their own accord.
Moreover, the history of nature has taught us that, when environmental circumstances change, smaller organisms survive much easier than the bigger ones. Dinosaurs become extinct, whilst insects survive.
One sure thing about the future is that changes in the church environment will occur at an ever-increasing rate. In order to meet and survive future challenges, it makes a lot of sense to transform from "dinosaur" churches to "insect" ones - creeping into every crevice of society.
The House Church System (although it has several other challenges) suits the above scenario perfectly. It has minimum structure, and maximum life. And it is completely decentralized.
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[This article represents a drastically edited and reduced version of about 10 hours of teaching. There are, of course, countless other shades of and angles on the above issues. To get to the heart of the matter in a user-friendly way, we had to cut away most of the explanations and verifications (for the sake of brevity). My prayer for you, the reader, is that the Holy Spirit will fill in whatever gaps exist.]
EBEN SWART