The Three Temptations - Part 10
We must all learn to wait on God and not to jump ahead of Him. On the other hand, when God moves, we must move with Him so that we are not left behind without the presence of God—and outside of His will.
God gave us the perfect example of this with the children of Israel in the wilderness. They had to follow the presence of God that was manifested in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They stayed in one place only until they saw the pillar of God’s presence begin to move. When they saw God move, then they packed up everything and moved with God, wherever He led them. Anyone who stayed behind was in deep trouble because God’s protection and provision was only guaranteed as they obeyed and moved with God.
This is a picture of the history of the Church since the Reformation in Martin Luther’s time.
The basic history of the Christian Church since the Reformation is a story of a series of moves of God that restored foundational truths that had been lost since the time of the early apostles. Some people accepted these truths and moved on with God. Others did not, and they were left behind without the presence of God. This was experienced by individuals, by churches, and by whole denominations.
In the time of the Reformation, truth began to be restored to the Church. God restored the truth of justification by faith. Then Protestant denominations were formed around this truth. Many in the Catholic Church rejected this move of God and chose to stay where they were.
Then God restored the truth of believer’s baptism through the Anabaptists. Some believers accepted this truth and moved on into this new move of God. New denominations were formed with believer’s baptism as a core belief. Others rejected this move and decided to stay where they were, not moving on from the truth of justification by faith.
Later, God moved the Church into the restored truths of sanctification, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and other truths. Some believers moved on with God, others did not.
God’s revelation of truth is progressive. Paul exhorts us to never feel as if we have “arrived” with nothing more to experience, but to continue to be alert to God’s moving, and to always follow Him in obedience.
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.”—Hebrews 6:1-3 (KJV)
If we will do this, we will be conformed more and more into the image of Christ through His progressive revelation.
“And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, **are progressively being transformed into His image **from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.”—2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMP)
“[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.
“So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.
“Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
“For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.”—Ephesians 4:13-16 (AMPC)
When truth is restored in God’s time, and He moves the Church into experiencing these newly revealed truths, some people move with God, entering into these newly restored truths of Scripture, and others refuse. Those who refuse are left behind, without God’s presence, without God’s protection, and without God’s provision.
Because they are left to their own devices, these Christians often adopt the ways of the world in order to survive because they are living outside of God’s protection and provision. To the extent that these Christians have rejected the moves of God and the restored truths of Scripture, they tend to become worldly in their approach to life, and are often not much different from unbelievers in their thoughts, actions, words, and attitudes.
When whole churches reject the moves of God, and chose instead to stay where they are, clinging to their religious traditions, God’s Spirit moves on, leaving them behind, just like the Spirit of God moved on from Saul after he fell to the 2nd temptation. (See 1 Samuel 16:14; 18:12; and 28:15.) That is why so many churches seem to be “dead.”
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”— James 2:26 (KJV)
When God restores a Scriptural truth to the Body of Christ, such as divine healing or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it is not OK to reject that truth. God considers that to be rebellion. The Gospel is not offered to us on a cafeteria plan where we pick and choose the doctrines that we want to accept. When we esteem our religious traditions more highly than the truth of Scripture, God considers that to be idolatry.
As God said to Saul when he fell to the 2nd temptation, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:23 NKJV)
“Now God said plainly that there are two things (other things may fall under those two categories), but two things that will take man out from under the covering. It’s not that God removes the covering or that He goes down to look under it. But there are two things that cause man to remove himself. One is rebellion. And the other is idolatry. If you look in the life of Israel, you’ll find that whenever God had to smite them and punish them, it was because of rebellion and idolatry… . When you are in rebellion or idolatry, it takes the covering away from you and you stand exposed and naked before God.” (Buck)
Tragic Consequences of Not Moving on with God
There have been many ministers who have chosen to stay put when God moved on. This may be, in part, what diminished Bill Gothard’s ministry. He used to fill huge convention centers in the 1970s. But years after the peak of his ministry success, in a much smaller meeting in a side room of a suburban convention center, I heard him make a comment about people in church services who claim to fall under the power of the Holy Spirit. “That’s not the Holy Spirit.” He declared.
“Uh oh!” I thought. “That may be why he’s no longer speaking to large audiences.”
A ministry cannot prosper if the minister speaks against the move of the Holy Spirit.
Since then, Bill Gothard has been forced out of the ministry organization that he started, and he has basically been relegated to ministering out of his home.
This is very sad to me because many of the basic principles that Bill Gothard taught in his seminars were fundamental for me. He taught me to seek wisdom as the principal thing. He taught me that problems in our lives can be traced back to our violations of Scripture. He helped to make the Bible come alive for me. I will be eternally grateful to him.
Ministers may choose to stay where they are because of their reputations, making a conscious decision to choose respectability over the anointing that comes with the presence of God.
“Saul answered, ‘All right, I sinned! But please come back with me. Show me some respect in front of the leaders and the Israelites. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.’** **Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.”—1 Samuel 15:30-31 ERV
When David danced with all his might, giving worship to God, his wife Michal criticized him, telling him that what he had done was embarrassing and shameful.
Because of this criticism, Michal’s womb became barren. She died childless. Her life bore no fruit. (See 2 Samuel 6:12-23.)
“Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”—John 15:4 (ISV)
In 1936, William Branham was very new to the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. There were a lot of things that this young minister didn’t understand, and yet, because of a miraculous series of events, he suddenly received several invitations to speak in churches around the country.
Branham had decided to follow God’s prompting to quit his job and become a full-time preacher. His wife, Hope, was in agreement with his decision. He just needed to let his mother-in-law know about their plans, and then the Branhams could be on their way.
Unfortunately, their meeting with Hope’s mother did not go well.
Mr. Brumbach frowned. “William, I’ll give you to understand that I’ll never give my daughter permission to go out with a bunch of holy-roller trash like that.”
“Oh! But, Mrs. Brumbach, this is the happiest bunch of people in the world. They’re not ashamed of their religion. I like that.”
“Trash,” she insisted, ”they’re nothing but trash! Don’t you realize that those are just people that the other churches have kicked out? I’ll never give you permission to drag my daughter out amongst backwash like that. The very idea!”
“But Mrs. Brumbach, down in my heart I feel that the Lord wants me to go with them people.”
“Trash,” she repeated. “William, why don’t you stick with your church until you get it paid for; then get yourself a parsonage and act like somebody that has some sense. Do you think I could be happy knowing that you are dragging my daughter across the country — today she eats and tomorrow she doesn’t; never having a change of clothes or a decent dress to wear?”
“Mrs. Brumbach, this isn’t a dress proposition. The thing of it is, I feel that God wants me to do it.”
“No, indeed, never will I permit my daughter to go out into such trash as that.” Here, Mrs. Brumbach turned and glared accusingly at Hope. “And if she does go, her mother will go to her grave with a broken heart.”
Hope gasped. “Mother, do you mean that?”
“That’s just what I mean.”
Hope cried. Bill put his arm around her. “But, Mrs. Brumbach, she’s my wife.”
“But she’s my daughter.”
Bill said, “Yes, ma’am.” He stood up and walked off the porch towards the car.
Hope came running after him. “Billy, regardless of what Mother says, I’ll stay with you.”
“Oh, that’s all right. Let’s just forget it.”
“But, Bill, if you feel God wants you to go, then you should go.”
Bill sighed. “Honey, I guess I’m carrying water on both shoulders, but I don’t want to hurt your mother’s feelings. What if something should happen to her while we were out on the road? Then you’d spend the rest of your life wondering if you broke your mother’s heart. Let’s just put it off for awhile.”
So Bill ignored God’s first call to worldwide evangelism. It turned out to be the worst mistake he ever made in his life — a mistake that would soon have disastrous consequences. (Jorgensen, p.142-143)
In October of that year, Hope gave birth to their daughter, Sharon Rose. That winter, Hope became gravely ill with pneumonia. She was sick for the entire month of January.
As Branham prayed for his wife, he saw a vision of a black sheet falling in front of him, like a curtain coming down. He gasped in horror at this response from the Lord. Then he saw gray clouds block out the sun. Then he saw his town flooded with water 22 feet deep.
Branham took the curtain to mean that something had separated him from God. He didn’t feel that God heard his prayers anymore.
Later that same month, a storm moved into his town, flooding it with water 22 feet deep in places. In his public service job, Branham helped with the evacuation efforts, rescuing people from the flood waters.
Flood waters separated William from his wife and baby for three days. He finally found his wife in a makeshift hospital that had been set up temporarily in a Baptist church building. Hope looked much worse than she did the last time he had seen her.
A doctor informed William that his infant daughter also had pneumonia.
Hope hung on for five torturous months. As she lay dying, she said, “You know why I’m going, don’t you?”
William nodded, unable to speak.
“We should never have listened to mother,” Hope whispered. (Jorgensen, p.165.)
Hope passed away peacefully a few moments later, escorted by two heavenly people that she saw dressed all in white.
A short time later, William’s daughter developed meningitis. Sharon Rose died the day after her mother’s funeral.
Did God kill Hope and Sharon Branham? Of course not! God is not a murderer. The Bible is very clear that God is love. It is the enemy, Satan, who comes to “steal, kill, and destroy,” as we are told in John 10:10:
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (NLT)
When Branham made his decision not to follow God, but to obey his mother-in-law instead, he moved out from under God’s protection.
This lesson is clearly shown to us in the lives of Israel in the wilderness. As long as they moved with the pillar of fire and cloud of God’s presence, they were protected, and everything they needed was provided for them miraculously. When they refused to obey God’s leading, they were no longer protected.
When God moves, we must move with Him. In His presence and in His will are all of the protection and provision that we will ever need. Outside of His will, we are left to fend for ourselves without the help that He provides for us in His will.
“You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot follow me unless you love me more than you love your own life.”—Luke 14:26 (CEV)
References:
Buck, Roland. (1977). When God Says Thanks! audio recording. Central Assembly of God, Boise, ID. Retrieved from https://angelsonassignment.org/sermons/index.html
Jorgensen, O. (2019). Supernatural: The Life of William Branham (Vol. 1). Supernatural Christian Books.