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The sons of God has been sensing a shift, transition,
and changing of the guard (watchmen) during this past season. Names in the bible carry significant meaning and speak of the
nature and character of the person. There is a rush of a mighty wind blowing all over the land as the fire of God consumes
everything in its path. When the fire of God is unleashed, the efforts and works of men will be tested. Much of what appears
to be spiritual activity and effort, is exposed to be nothing more than the fleshly machinery of man and is burned as wood,
hay, and stubble. When the fire of God, blows upon our traditional manmade methods and programs all will yield to His Lordship
and rule. When the fire of God reign, there is love, life, peace and reality. A transformation is taking place in all our
lives. The truth is, we're being transfigured by what possesses us. We're becoming the very things that occupy our minds.
Our character is being influenced and impacted by whatever has taken hold of our hearts and thoughts.
I Kings 22:1-2 “Josiah was eight (number of resurrection
and a new beginning) years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked
in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” This is the beginning of
a new year filled with the resurrection life of Christ. Many who sleep will hear his voice and come forth from their tombs
of death and despair. Listen to one of the messages preached by Malachi in his day.
"But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand
when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,
and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years." (Malachi
3:2-4 )
Today, just as in Malachi’s day people seemed
to be impatient, they are anxious for God to bring judgment on their enemies and those that don’t believe as they do.
But Malachi points the finger at them and says that they themselves need to be cleansed. The Message, announced by the "messenger"
of verse one, he will be like a "refiner's fire", He will purify the people.
I Kings 13:1-3 “And, behold, there came a man
of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against
the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house
of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's
bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold,
the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.” In other words he was saying, "altar,
you have been found wanting. There is coming a man named Josiah (meaning fire of God), and he is going to burn men on you."
To burn the bones of a dead person on an altar was to desecrate and pollute that altar for good. So this man of God said to
Jeroboam, "Your altars or order of fleshly worship have seen its last days. So he cried, three hundred years from now, a man
is coming by the name of Josiah who will dig up dead bones and burn them all over your altar (2 Kings 23). Three hundred is
the number of completion or perfection. Josiah is the coming perfection of God.. He will burn the dry bones of men and bring
life to a people yet sitting in darkness.
A man of God went from Judah (the land of praise) to
Bethel (the house of God) to prophesy to Jeroboam who is a type of the old man identity. This young prophet had no name, but
the bible tells us he came from the land of Judah (meaning Praise). He speaks of the new order, he cried to Jeroboam. What
was his cry? “And he cried against the altar (their fleshly order of worship and praise in that day) in the word of
the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by
name;” I want to look at the cry he made. The man of God cried that Josiah who speak of the Christ mind or new man,
is a child of the house of David, would come and offer the priests of the high places upon the altar. Everyman must pass through
Josiah or the fire of God. Once the fire has come and done its work ashes remain. It is ongoing. He is purifying the desires
of earthly man that the heavenly reality can be fully manifested. He will purify everyman until He looks into us and sees
His reflection. He won’t be satisfied with less. When the fire of God falls, it consumes everything that is unholy,
earthly, or temporal. The fire of God purifies, purges, melts, devours, for "our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29)
and as He is in the world so are we.
From the look of things, there were no qualified messengers
(Josiah’s) within the northern house of Israel. This is the sad spiritual state of Jeroboam's kingdom. There is no life
or fresh word in Bethel. Bethel is a place of manmade machinery, motivated by enticing words of man’s wisdom and cunning
craftiness of men. If you know the Lord, then you have already heard his voice, because it was the voice of God that speaks
in you and it is this same voice that brought you to Him in the first place. So dismiss any doubts or fears your minds which
may be saying, "I wonder if I have actually heard the voice of the father?" The answer is that you have, otherwise you would
not be here. More importantly, we should be asking ourselves: "When did I last hear father‘s voice?" This young prophet
heard the voice of the father. He spoke of the ones to come. He was the voice of one foretelling those yet to come. The bringers
(censers) of the fire of God.
Now king Jeroboam while he was yet burning incense to
the Lord tried to seize this young prophet because of the word he brought forth and his hand withered. The hand speak of the
five fold ministry of man. Whenever the five fold ministry tries to take hold of the message of Josiah it will wither and
die. To revive the fivefold ministry will take a prophet of the new order to restored it to wholeness. After praying for the
King his hand was restored like the other. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself,
and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go
in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place. "For so it was charged me by the word of the Lord, saying,
Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way, and returned not by
the way that he came to Bethel. This young prophet did well to refuse. He did not minister for price or for gain. Joshua tells
us we have not come this way before. This is new territory, a new way, one where only the father knows the way. There are
no maps to show the way just our compass which is Christ." Only, a distance is between you and it, about two thousand cubits
by measure; ye do not come near unto it, so that ye know the way in which ye go, for ye have not passed over in the way heretofore.'
(Joshua3:4).We will do well to heed this warning from the man of God and not return to eat and drink and partake of the house
of the old order. He was steadfast in his decision, "Even if you would give me half of your kingdom I would not." He wanted
no part of the kingdom of King Rehoboam. Not only must we determine to leave the old ways, we must not even return by the
same way we came.
"Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons
(forms of affection and desire) came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words
which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. In this day all eyes are on the messenger and the
message. And their father said unto them, What way went he? This is interesting that this old prophet did not know this new
way. For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass.
So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, and he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak: and
he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said unto him, Come home with
me, and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water
there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest." "The old prophet said unto the man of God, I am a prophet also as
thou art (meaning also from Judah); and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into
thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. I want you to pay close attention to the end of
that verse. It said, “But he lied unto him.” This young prophet was given his instruction by the WORD of the LORD
which is CHRIST, while the older prophet said, “an angel (meaning his sons) told me.” This young man was told
of the place where not to fellowship or have communion. This is very important for us as sons of God. His instructions were
specific.
Hearing of judgment on Bethel, the house of God, the
sons of the prophet (messengers) went and told their father (the old prophet) all that the man of God had prophesied against
the altar at Bethel. This man of God refused to return to Bethel in its present state, desired to go on in Christ another
way, a new way, not yet traveled. When you’ve gone as far as you’re going under this present man-made system.
You either get in the will and plan of Christ, or plan on staying in your present state and realm.. If you experienced the
living Presence of the Christ to any greater degree than you now have, you’ll have to come into the new order which
has already established and ordained by God for you to walk in.
The sons of the old prophet saw the new way by which
the man of God went., but they did not KNOW the WAY! This is very important, it is not enough that we see this way (message
of life, sonship, third day etc, call it what you may) is about but that we KNOW the WAY, TRUTH and LIFE is Christ in us.
We must come to KNOW him as I AM in our lives for ourselves. When the old prophet heard these words, he saddled his ass, and
went to find this new thing. This old prophet even had his own means of getting there. The Scriptures reveal the old prophet
found the man of God sitting under an oak. So this young prophet went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank
water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back.
And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth
of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread
and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not
come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers."
Where was the young man of God? He came to a place of rest beneath
this oak tree, partaking of its life source. Isaiah said of us, "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of
the Lord for the display of His splendor." Isaiah 61:3b. This young prophet listened
to the voice of the old prophet. The old prophet represents the old order in the earth today. He was very convincing speaking
with enticing words of man’s wisdom and was taken in by his fancy speech and eloquent words and he died in Bethel. How
tragic, this un-named young man was taken away by the old order of lies, deceptions and organized machinery. After all, in
this twenty first century we’ve built more churches, called more missionaries, have larger bank account, printed more
bibles, written more books and broadcast more sermonettes than any other "house.“ So I guess we can stop here for a
while and count the stars in our crown.
How tragic, this young man left the spice of life and
the fruit of the Vine to partake of food and drink that is lifeless. Not only must we leave the old order of yesterday and
go on into the new things of God. What lies ahead for the son of God who allows himself to be snared into returning to the
old prophet's house?
"And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and
after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone,
a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood
by the carcass. This is so important, the lion met him by the way, not in the way. Isaiah tells us that no lion can be found
there.
And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast
in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when
the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the
word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the
word of the Lord which he spake unto him. And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. And he
went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten the carcass,
nor torn the ass. And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and
the old prophet came the city, to mourn and to bury him. And he laid his carcass in his own grave; and they mourned over him
saying, Alas , my brother! And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead,
then bury me in the sepulcher wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:"
Any man leaving the place of rest and praise, and allow
themselves to be snared by the old prophet's words, and return with him to his house, to eat bread and drink, the same fate
awaits them. Men (natural, physical man) will always pass by the way but will never enter. The lion speak of the carnal mind,
overtook this man of God and slew him. Isaiah 35:8-9 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the
WAY of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not
err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed
shall walk there: The scripture is merely saying that there will be no MAN there with lion-like natures.
It is interesting to note that neither the beast nor
the body of the man of God were eaten by the lion. There is no flesh or beastly appetite in this way or realm. Nor shall any
ravenous beast go up thereon." There will be no giants of mega churches incorporated, organized religion of slavery for selfish
gains, or individual interests at the expense of the people of God found here. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain" (kingdom) saith the Lord. (Isaiah 11:9). The old prophet came and placed the body of the man of God upon his
own ass of burden and took him to his own grave, or house of the dead. This is the fate of men today who return to the old
order. They too will die and be carried away on the beast of burden of that order. They too will lay in death next to the
old order prophets who speak lies and death. This is interesting that the old prophet got the body of this young man and return
to his realm of destruction and death. This is a word of wisdom for this hour. God has given one place, and only one, where He would meet with man beyond the vail into the Holiest
Place, and it is from there we must live and function in all our daily life and living. Every time the name of Josiah is mentioned,
the “fire of God” is burning, purging and consuming everything in its path, leaving only that which is pure. The
Josiahs’ of today need to arise with healing in their wings. The clarity of this new day is breaking forth. Joel 2:2,
"A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great
people and a strong; there has never been the like, neither shall be any more after it…A fire devoureth before them;
and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as THE GARDEN OF EDEN before them. "Doesn’t Malachi say, "When He comes,
He is a purifier of Silver?" Who shall abide the day of His coming?
Fifty years ago the most popular chorus was,
"Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion
and purity,
Oh, Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,
‘Til the beauty of Christ is seen in me,”
May the beauty of Christ be revealed in you in all his
fullness.
Namaste,
Winston & Sarah
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