The Surpassing Greatness of His Power
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Surpassing Greatness of His Power "MINISTRY IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT" R i c k J o y n e r Copyright O 1996 by Rick Joyner. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. International Standard Book Number 1-878327-50-X. Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, by The Lockman Foundation. Scripture quotations marked [NKJV] are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Scripture quotations marked [NIV] are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®, NIV®, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Scripture quotations marked [KJV] are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Italics in Scripture references are for emphasis only. Acknowledgments Special thanks to the editorial staff for all the hard work and long hours that went into making this book possible: Dianne Thomas, Julie Joyner, Steve Thompson, Becky Chaille, Terri Herrera and Felicia Hemphill. Other books by Rick Joyner: Epic Battles Of The Last Days There Were Two Trees In The Garden The Journey Begins The Harvest The Harvest Volume II The Passover Leadership, Management and the Five Essentials For Success The World Aflame Visions Of The Harvest Combating Spiritual Strongholds Series: Overcoming The Accuser Overcoming Racism Overcoming The Religious Spirit Overcoming Witchcraft Call 1-800-542-0278 to order or for a free catalog. CONTENTS Introduction 10 Charity With Wisdom 10 Spiritual Socialism 11 An Impending Catastrophe 13 The Trap Can Be a Door 14 1The Majesty Of The Call 17 The Greatest Gift 19 2The Crown of Glory 25 The Glory of Preaching 25 Only One Yoke 26 True and False Ministry 29 Start at the Beginning 32 3The Seven Basic Truths 35 Foundations Are Critical 37 The Shackles of Sin 37 Pain Is a Friend 39 A Barometer of Our Condition 41 Building on the Foundation 44 4Resurrection Life 45 The Forge of Faith 46 Faith Makes the Way 47 False Faith 49 Faith Is Power 51 The Test of Faith 52 The Father of Faith 53 5God's Ultimate Plan 59 The New Creation 59 Why He's Coming Back 62 The Nature of Leaders 63 God's Primary Business 64 The Highest Calling 65 Restoration Is Not Optional 66 The Reward 67 6The Message 70 The False Hope 70 The Proceeding Word 73 Signs Are Messages 74 New Covenant Prophecy and Teaching 76 The Source of False Ministry 77 Motives and Spiritual Gifts 77 7Words of Life 81 Words Are Treasures 82 Christ In You 84 The Power of Truth 85 Only Patience Bears Lasting Fruit 87 We Have a Higher Power 88 The Greater Wisdom 88 8Our Ministry as Priests 90 The Foundation of All Ministry 90 The Foundation of the Priestly Ministry 92 Light Brings Unity 94 The Altar of Incense 95 The Place of Sacrifice 97 Love, The Foundation of Authority 101 A Costly Presumption 102 The Main Thing 104 9Wisdom for Building 106 The Honor of His Presence 113 PART II 10Kingdom Authority 119 Men Were Created to Walk In the Supernatural 120 The Test 121 The Foundation of Spiritual Authority 125 The Gifts Are God's Love 126 True Maturity Is Love 128 Authority for Healing 130 11Counterfeit Spiritual Authority 132 Our Advantage In the Battle 133 What Is Witchcraft? 134 The True Seat of Authority 135 The Gift of Discernment 137 Spiritual Maturity 138 Self-Promotion Leads to Divination 139 The Fear of Man Leads to Witchcraft 140 Crossing the Line 140 The Deadly Trap 142 The Responsibility of True Authority 143 The Safety Net 144 12Our Shield Against Witchcraft 146 Flattery Will Get You Nowhere 146 Resisting Witchcraft 148 Understanding New Age Witchcraft 148 Seeking Rightly 152 Truth and Power 153 Discerning Counterfeits 154 The Power of Cowards—Black Magic 157 13The Systematic Attacks of Witchcraft 158 Blind-siding Yourself 170 14The Jezebel Spirit 172 Deliverance from Jezebel 173 Hope for Jezebel 175 15The Control Spirit and Legalism 177 The Nature of Obedience 179 Worship from the Heart 180 His Sheep Know His Voice 182 16The Modern Pharisees 185 False Brethren 187 Each Must Gather His Own Manna 190 Hermeneutical Problems 191 The Highest Form of Unity 193 Summary 194 17Our Greatest Power and Our Greatest Enemy 199 The Spirit of Poverty 202 Truth Can Kill 204 Love Covers 206 PART III 18The Quest 216 The Plan 217 God's Second Book 220 The New Covenant 222 The Unholy War 223 Is There Nothing New? 224 Satan's Cord of Three Strands 226 Resisting Religious Socialism 228 Living in the NEW Creation 229 The Boast of Satan 232 Born for Greatness 233 19Catching the Wave 235 Looking Back to Look Ahead 235 Paddling with the Wave 237 Wait for the Big One 239 The Opposition 240 A Higher Way 241 Obedience, Not Sacrifice 243 Summary 245 Introduction This is the most extraordinary time ever to be alive. To know the Lord and serve Him in these times is possibly the greatest privilege that has ever been offered to any man or woman, and it has been offered to you. However, with this great privilege comes great responsibility, and with the great opportunities have come great difficulties. In fact, it is probable that it has never been more difficult to be in the ministry. This book was written to help illuminate the honors and responsibilities, the difficulties and the opportunities facing those in ministries today. Change is now coming upon the world so fast that the only thing we can now count on is change. The foundations of every religion, philosophy and system of government are being shaken. Should we resist change, or help set its course? The answer is both. If we do not resist the changes that we should resist, we will become subject to changes that we do not want. As the old proverb goes, "The ship in the water is okay, but water in the ship is not!" Much of the church has been sinking under the influence of the humanistic forces she tried to influence when she should have taken a bold stand against them. Very soon the church will be faced with possibly her greatest test in how she relates to the world. Those who do not understand the changes that are coming will be swept away by them. Those who do understand them will be in a position to help direct them. The need for prophetic clarity has never been greater. Charity With Wisdom It may be hard to understand now, but one of the Introduction 11 greatest attacks coming upon the church will gain entry through her compassion. I must emphasize "her" compassion and not God's compassion. One of the enemy's primary strategies is to wear out the saints. He is doing this by releasing a horde of "false brethren" to steal the children's bread. He will use these false brethren to absorb most of the time, attention and energy of the leadership of the church, so that they will not have anything left for God's people. These people will be the first in your prayer lines, and try to consume so much of your time and energy that you will not have anything to give to the others. These will crowd around the pastor after every service so that he does not have time to talk with anyone else. They will call you and demand attention at the most inappropriate times, and no amount of attention will ever be enough for them. These people are not consciously evil, and probably have no idea that they are doing this. Many are just wounded people who need constant affirmation and attention. There is a great danger that once we see this, we will allow ourselves to become hardened to the genuine needs of people. We must walk in discernment or we will constantly be distracted from the ministry God has called us to. Beware of those who are taking most of your time, attention and strength, but are not really changing. Spiritual Socialism The above briefly describes Satan's strategy against individual ministers. The following describes a major strategy by which he will seek to entrap the entire church. The whole world is now beginning to understand that socialism does not work. Socialism conditions people to depend on the government to meet their needs. This can be tolerable at first, but as the people gradually lose their 12 The Surpassing Greatness of His Power sense of personal responsibility (which inevitably happens under socialism), the government starts to get blamed for every problem, and demands are put upon it to meet every need and want of the people. Soon even hideous crimes are blamed on the social environment, which, of course, is the government's responsibility. It is impossible for any government to sustain these pressures, so it will ultimately collapse. Possibly the last major institution to understand that socialism will not work is the church. In one sense this is understandable, because we know that God supplies all of our needs. The error is that many have interpreted this as the church supplies all of our needs. This delusion will cause the collapse of those who succumb to it. The church is here to help men restore their relationship with God, not take the place of that relationship. The church is not here to meet the needs of the people, but to connect them to the only One who can.