Culture Changes and Demon Chasers

by:  Lonnie Lane

According to Jewish customs, there is a time of betrothal, or a
covenant agreement to become husband and wife, in what we call an engagement
period. During that time, the man prepares a house for his new bride, often a
wing or an adjunct part of his family home, while she prepares herself by
making what she will need as a homemaker as well as sewing her bridal garment. Before
the Lord returns for His purified bride, there is also a time of preparation.
Yeshua said before He left for heaven, “In
My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have
told you; for I go to prepare a
place for you” (John 14:2). Sounds rather bridegroom like, doesn’t it? His
Father’s house is the family home of every believer that ever lived. What fun
that will be. Think of all the people throughout history we get to be with. I sometimes
tell God of people I’d like to meet when I get there. Not just Biblical people,
but historical people. Who would you like to meet and get to know? How about
the past generations in your family who walked with the Lord over the
centuries?  

As you see, Yeshua went to prepare the family home in which we
will live with Him forever. The
bride, on the other hand, is preparing lovely as well as practical items for her
new home and the crowing achievement, her bridal gown. This is what the Bible
says about the preparing of the bride of Yeshua:  “It was given to
her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the
saints” (Revelation
19:8). She, that is to say we, are given the material with which we are to
clothe ourselves. The material which
we are given is the righteousness of God. If we weren’t given this
righteousness, we would have none, but God “made
Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2
Corinthians 5:21). The fine linen is
what the priests wore when serving the Lord. She is given this “fine linen” as a symbol that she has been
ordained by God as “holy unto the Lord”
(Exodus 28:36), just as the priests were. The
bride of Messiah ought not take this lightly or glibly. We have been called to
be holy unto God! While there is much joy in the calling, it is not to be
regarded as anything but a supreme privilege and treated with the utmost
respect that God has called us to Himself. (Some of us may need to make a bit
of an adjustment in this regard.)

That
we are given righteous garments and promised the return of our Bridegroom is not
the end of the story. There is more.
There’s His part and then there’s
our part in this preparation of the bride for the coming of our magnificent
bridegroom. It is for us to take this righteousness we have been given and
clothe ourselves with it. He gives is to us, we do the clothing ourselves. We
have to put it on, to wear it so that we are identified as being clothed in
righteousness. That is to say, we are maintaining a state of having been
cleansed of and forsaking all unrighteousness so that we are seen by others as
bearing the righteousness of God. But still there’s more. 

Notice
it says, “righteous acts”
which is also translated as “deeds.” For us to sit all nice and clean and
comfortable, wrapped securely in His righteousness, but to do no “righteous acts” with the righteousness
we’ve been given is not preparation as the bride. If we’ve been saved but are
stuck in a do-nothing apathy while people around us are perishing, we’re not
preparing ourselves for His coming. Not infrequently when I write these
articles, writing what I believe God is saying, I have the distinct sense that
God is speaking to me first and holding me accountable too. So I’m speaking to
myself here, not just you.  He gave us
the garments of righteousness, but unless we make use of them, we are not
acting wisely. Now before I go on, I want you to know I’m not saying, well, you,
or we, better just get up and start doing something for the Kingdom. I’m not
meting out condemnation or judgment here either. What I am saying is that I believe
with all my heart that God is about to make some major paradigm changes in His
people, changes that will bring about a readjustment in our Kingdom
perspectives that will be of Biblical proportions! We could try to do these
things, but unless we are under the anointing of God, it won’t work. The changes must come from God. We begin to
cooperate with God to position ourselves for these changes by putting our trust
entirely in Him, for only He can do it.

These changes will
be preparation for the days that may be ahead of us and for the soon coming of
our King and Bridegroom. We are not ready for Him yet. We are not presently a
suitable Bride for Him. We are too world-ridden and compromised. We are not
lights in the darkness as we likely will need to be in order to be able to know
where He is in the darkness. People get confused in the dark and don’t know
which way to go. We don’t always know where safety is when we’re in the dark.
We can trip and fall. Believers too can get confused about what truth is in
times of spiritual and moral darkness. But there is a way out of the darkness,
even if it’s all around us. There’s
a way to avoid falling. Because where He is there is no darkness: “Even the darkness is not dark to You, And
the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You” (Psalm
139:12). 
If we are maintaining our trust in Him and continuing to act
righteously, we will be where He is, and we will be able to see clearly and
understand correctly what is going on and what the real issues at hand are.

Okay,
maybe this is the worst case scenario, but I’m using it to make a point. Daniel
is talking here about the coming of the anti-Messiah (anti-Christ) in the last
days. He says, “By smooth words he will turn to godlessness
those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God
will display strength and take action. Those who have insight among the people
will give understanding to the many” (Daniel 11:32, 33). What this says
is that a covenant exits, presumably the covenant of God, the Bible, but the
anti-Messiah is able with his seductively enticing and right-sounding words, to
turn, it appears, people to godlessness who might not have turned to
godlessness previously. This leads to acting wickedly – and not just wickedly,
but wickedly against the covenant. I’m reminded of where Yeshua, in talking
about persecution of the believers, said, “…an
hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God” (John
16:2b).

It
would seem that these people are sufficiently deceived as to believe they are
acting in ways that are godly, or at least right or why would they? Who does
what they know is flat out wrong? It’s not rational, so evidently these people
are really misperceiving right from wrong. BUT, in the midst of all that are “the people who know their God.”  These
people are taking action –  righteous
action in the face of profound unrighteousness. Under the anointing of God,
they display the strength He gives to them and act righteously. In the midst of
great confusion and the distortion of truth, they are able to provide godly
insight and understanding so as to rescue others from the darkness. Now, if
that’s an end time scenario God allowed Daniel to see and write, then should we
really be in the end times, or even if we’re not, we would do well to give
ourselves to God for Him to make us the people of light regardless of what
darkness may come. We hear about the glory of the last days church. That is really likely to be us. We may be the people
the church has been waiting for two thousand years. We are also hearing the
words of many prophets today that are speaking of God’s preparation of His
people, of a maturity and glorious effectiveness that God is about to unleash upon
His people, that we will be the lights in the darkness we were created to be.

Perhaps
these acts of righteousness are like the oil for the lamps of the Ten Virgins,
only half of whom had their lamps full of oil so only half of them were ready
when the bridegroom came. Do you remember the story? “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable
to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five
of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their
lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along
with their lamps” (Matthew 25:1-3. Note: The
Kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven refer to the
same realm of God.)  To be prudent is to
employ a good use of judgment or resources. The
Holy Spirit is the best “resource” I can think of for anything. The oil is representative of the anointing of the
Spirit of God which is given for the work of service in the Kingdom. To be
prudent then is to put to use that which we receive through the Holy Spirit,
such as gifting and His empowering to accomplish Kingdom business. The anointing of God is the most powerful resource
for doing that work.

It
further seems the prudent had lamps which represent the word of God, as in “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to
my path” (Psalm 119:105). These
people acted on the word of God to bring the Kingdom to others. But what was lacking
in the foolish virgins, even though they had the word so they knew what was
expected of them, was the oil of the Holy Spirit that is given when needed for
ministry purposes. A dormant gifting is as useless as one you never received. So
there is no further oil of anointing poured out to us if we are not using what
we’ve been given. The foolish
virgins, even with their Bibles in hand, were without sufficient oil so that
even their lamps were in darkness. So they were in the dark when the bridegroom
came and couldn’t see to get to Him. The
wise, on the other hand, had much oil to keep their lamps lit so even though it
was dark, they had a sufficiency of the Spirit of God to be able to meet the
Bridegroom when He came. The foolish,
who were not accustomed to receiving instructions from the Holy Spirit, or
making use of Him as their  resource for
doing the will of God, did not have what it took to get them to the Bridegroom
when He finally came. The word is
not enough to enable us to negotiate the darkness; we need the anointing of the
Spirit of God to illuminate the word and show us the way to go, so we know how
to get into His presence even in darkness.

This
causes me to soberly consider the various references in the Bible to times of
spiritual and moral darkness that would come upon the earth before Messiah
returns. Yeshua couldn’t have made it clearer that His followers are to be a
light in the midst of darkness. Nor could He have made it clearer that being
that light is a series of acts, of Kingdom manifestations, not just being
passively “Christian” hoping someone will notice. Perhaps you’ve heard the
quote often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
who is reported to have said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary use
words.” I don’t see that as Biblical. Yeshua said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). In order
to preach, we must use words. But words weren’t all He meant either.   

As
Yeshua was righteous in Himself, so we have been made righteous in Him. But as
Yeshua fulfilled the will of His Father in proclaiming the Kingdom and bringing
people to God, so are we meant to be as He was. The
followers of Yeshua were never meant to be sanctioned away and cloistered among
ourselves or ineffective so that we have no influence on those around us. Nor
were we meant to be indistinguishable from the ungodly, any more than He was.
We were meant to be status quo challengers, culture changers, and demon
chasers. Add to that, word-of-God preachers and power wielders. That is His
power in love, power to heal and deliver and set people free. All of which take
words: “Be healed”, “satan be gone”, “Stand up and walk,” “In Yeshua’s name…” That
was the plan. It still is.   

But
I’m not a preacher, you say. Have you ever tried? Every one of us can speak the
word of God in what it means to you. If you’re Yeshua’s you have a testimony,
probably a whole lot of them, of where He has affected your life for good, of
where He has protected you, rescued you, helped you in some way, and made
Himself real to you. When He chose the twelve, “He appointed …that they might be with Him, and that He might send them
out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons”
(Mark 3:14, 15). It wasn’t just to preach, but to do what He did and preach
about what He preached about, which was the Kingdom of God.  Then
He demonstrated it by healing sicknesses, casting out demons. They go together.  The
Kingdom of God has no sickness and no demons. So
when He, and then His disciples preached and acted accordingly, it brought Kingdom
reality. These were acts of
righteousness. Perhaps you’re saying, “Yeah, but they were the disciples, the
Apostles, not little ole’ me.” Well, that’s true, but they were just the initial
disciples whom He called, and He called them first of all to “be with Him.” That’s the first
prerequisite: being with Him. He may have made the twelve His closest
compatriots in the Kingdom, but they were to disseminate all they had learned
from Him and take it to “all the world.”  That includes you, doesn’t it? Remember also,
that the acts of righteousness among the believers were to share with those in
need, to feed people, to meet needs in very practical ways. Sometimes just
kindness is an act of righteousness that can greatly affect another person’s
life. Just as the bride took her prep time to make things of a practical nature
for her marriage, so we too are involved in things of a practical nature that
can equally be acts of righteousness as healing and deliverance.

I’ve said all this to say, that those of us who comprise the bride are in a significant time of that
preparation.  We must come to understand
what God considers as a bride worthy of Him. Not just any bride will do. She
must be a suitable bride for the Master of the Universe! All brides take much
care as to what to wear on their wedding day. We see the first people who make
up their part of the bride, His early disciples, fully clothed in the “linen robes of righteous deeds.” The joy and the power that characterized Yeshua’s
life was, in the same way, lived out by His disciples. And I don’t mean just
the twelve, or the seventy, or the hundred and twenty, but the thousands who came
to faith in Him as they were “praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord was adding to their number day by
day those who were being saved (Acts
2:47).  I long for days when that will
happen again.

Just as Yeshua walked in the peace of God, so did they. Just as He
interacted easily among the people, ate with them, sat with them, taught them, told
them stories, prayed for them, laughed with them, healed them, performed
miracles among them, fed them, loved them, and enjoyed them, so did His
followers. Just as He embraced children, and reached out to the demon
possessed, the lepers, the prostitutes, the hated tax collectors, just as He
blessed the needy and the greedy, so did His followers. No one who wished to
come to Him was in any way rejected. No one! He was a delight to be near, and
so were they. If they weren’t, there wouldn’t have been such a dramatic increase
in their numbers. As Yeshua had exhibited God’s love and power to make people
whole, so did they. As He lived in God’s presence, so did they. Most of us
today have not experienced what the first believers did, neither in our
effectiveness nor the joy, because they go together. When we do what He did, we
share in the joy of heaven.

We may have before us the greatest opportunity to be free in
Messiah Yeshua and to welcome Him, as the bride who has properly prepared
ourselves with what He has given to us. Let’s begin with this challenge. We
hear much talk of the darkness that is manifesting in the world today. Worry,
worry, worry! We really cannot differentiate between what is true and what is
not; lies abound. None of it is sure. None of it can be. Only the word of God
can be sure.

The
following prophetic word was given by Paul Wilbur recently: “Our enemies are
fear, doubt and unbelief. They come
to destroy. Give them no place, no thought. Only consider what is above, what
is written, what God says. The word
of God is sure and certain. Below is unbelief and instability. For the enemy
wages war with uncertainty, with what might happen, with worry. War against
this with a spirit of praise and confidence in who I am, says the Lord. Only
what I have said are words of certainty and I will establish what I have said.
That which is unshakable will be established. Keep your mind on My word which
will be established for eternity. Meditate on My word and you will stand on
solid ground, and in a stable place in times of instability, you will not be
moved. Lay hands on the sick and they will recover. The
prayers of the righteous avail much. Through them you can overcome the
instability of wickedness. Saturate your minds with the word so you are
anchored in it as your homeland, and you will not be destabilized when times of
difficulty come.”

Reprint of this article is permitted as long as you use the following; Use by permission by Messianic Vision, www.sidroth.org, 2011. 

Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.  All rights reserved. Used by permission.