Remember: New Levels, New Devils!

We are living in an exciting time. The testimonies we hear on Sundays are astounding--healing from emotional wounds of many years, liberation from suicidal spirit to giddy joy, prophetic words that breaks open closed hearts, etc. And these things are happening regularly now. We are almost living the Book of Acts. We are grateful.

At the same time, great challenges have come upon several. Near experiences. Violent clashes with parents, and a house being robbed. How often do these things happen in the life of a church. And all these have happened in just this past 2 months! We are living in an unusual time.

Remember: New Levels, New Devils. With the spiritual upgrading, so do the challenges. BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID. God is still in control. God does not allow anything apart from our benefit. The challenges will expose the hidden in our soul and if we would respond with faith, make us more whole. Trials pass, and if we respond right, character remains. If not, we fall away. A month ago I spoke about the time of shaking that is upon us. It is. It is no time to fear. It is rather the time to press on even more into Christ. The devil will not have the last word. He will be vanquished by the faithful with the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Be on guard, and always respond forward into Christ.

Answers to Questions about Assurance of Salvation

A few weeks ago I spoke on "False Assurance of Salvation." Since then I asked people to send me questions about the sermon and I would respond. Two questions came. First was about clarification of the necessity to bear spiritual fruit: "Unless your life bears spiritual fruit, you are probably not saved." Answer: The statement was made to address false assurance of salvation. In short, "just saying the prayer" does not make you saved as though the prayer is an incantation. Rather, if the prayer was genuine, it would be followed with a life of pursuit after God and His righteousness, which will naturally bear spiritual fruit like love, joy, peace, kindness, etc. Salvation is an organic process; if the salvation is genuine, it will show in life. The statement was not made to turn salvation into salvation of works--that we have to prove it. Rather, if the salvation is genuine, its effect will show. The questioner suggested, would it not be more helpful to say, "you can not be sure of salvation unless there is fruit, so please reexamine your life and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior?" I completely concur.

Second question concerned "people who accepted Christ right before they die (e.g., at a hospital). Are those people saved?" Of course, they can be. The criminal who died next to Jesus on the cross entered Paradise! There is no time to examine whether that person's confession of faith was genuine. We can only hope.

At the end, we must examine our lives. Are we saved? When we received Christ, did we really mean to follow Christ as our Lord? Are we following Christ now? Did we in any way fall away from Christ and need to repent and get back to Him? Paul told the Corinthian believers to "examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5). He was saying it to those who went to church! We must examine ourselves.

New Levels, New Devils

There is an increase of activities of the Holy Spirit at JOY. At the same time some people have mentioned how they have experienced increased level of spiritual attacks, whether in the forms of direct attack such as "physical" oppression (choking sensation with a clear presence of a demon/s) or through people's criticism or opposition. When such attacks come, those who are inexperienced can get discouraged: "I am seeking God hard. Why are these things happening to me?" These attacks, however, are signs of encouragement. They show that you have caught the devils' attention. They consider you a threat, so they come against you. The Bible promises that if you resist the devil, he will flee from you (James 4:7). So that's another encouragement. In other words, the attacks will not last forever. After a season, the devil has to flee.

When I experienced an increased level of attack one or two years ago, Bob Hartley mentioned, "New Levels, New Devils." That is easy to understand, isn't it? You move up the level spiritually, and your opponents will be stronger too. However, be encouraged instead of being discouraged, for that is how we grow. God strengthens us further so that we overcome the new devils, and we move up and up and up.

God's call for us all is that we be fully mature and make differences for His Kingdom. The increase of attacks? These are good news. Let's continue to pray.