 
# \- Full Salvation -

# The Lost message of Redemption

### A Biblical view of sin, repentance, forgiveness and healing

### sybrand van kwawegen

### Copyright 2020 sybrand van kwawegen

### Publisher - sybrand van kwawegen

### Smashwords Edition

### Smashwords Edition, License Notes.

# Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

# © King James Version Holy Bible (Authorised Version)

# Theological & Linguistic care: tiaan gildenhuys

# Front page: Painting by sybrand van kwawegen

# (Dewing Acrylic Painting),

#

### FOREWORD:

There is no doubt in my mind that throughout history, from the time that the Holy Spirit was first poured out on the disciples of Jesus Christ, that God wanted His true church to be a church that showed His power and majesty to the world. Not just through the preaching of the Word alone, but also by the healings and signs and wonders that He wanted to let flow through His church. Unfortunately, over the centuries, as a result of many churches being amalgamated with the states in which they were situated and becoming "state-churches", they lost the passion and the drive and the zeal that the first disciples had. Relationship with God was replaced with dead religious activities or with institutionalized religion.

In this book, my brother sybrand shows the heart love of our Heavenly Father, who still wants His church to be the same and do the same to this very day, by explaining in much detail what must be done by each and every one of us, to get out of the place of dead religion, and into the place of intimate relationship with God the Father.

May this book bless you and instil in you a new zeal to get closer to God, to repent of the things that need to be repented of, as my brother writes in this book, and to start to see the power of God flowing in and through you in your personal life.

tiaan gildenhuys

Authority in Christ Ministries

Pretoria, RSA

www.oicb.co.za

### Acknowledgements:

My first and foremost expression of gratitude for the writing of this book must undoubtedly be to the Lord God, the FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT for the revelation of the idea, the inspiration that kept me going and writing without fear or doubt while continuously revealing more and more new insights into the Word of God and developing ever deeper understanding of the need for a return to the fundamentals as revealed in the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit.

I owe a great deal of gratitude to Cynthia my wife for her patience with me while she spends many hours alone while I am writing, researching and listening to the LORD GOD. In addition for her way of always keeping me grounded in the daily reality of this world we are currently living in. Her unshakeable faith that's as innocent of that of a child is an amazing contribution to keeping things so plain that all can understand.

To my friend and mentor tiaan gildenhuys (no caps is his preference) whose books and videos have been an endless source of reference, teaching and example. I owe a very special thanks for his extremely in depth examination of expositions and illustration always patiently pointing out irregularities or illogical arguments and misapprehended facts as well as many grammatical corrections. Not least for his encouragement to publish for the sake of the salvation of the lost and the misled and especially those in need of healing.

# ###

# "We have come to a turning point in the road. If we turn to the

# right mayhap our children and our children's children will go that way; but

# if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for

# having been unfaithful to God and to His Word". —Charles Spurgeon

# 

#

### Contents:

### Introduction

### Chapter 1: Sin.

1.1 What Constitutes Sin

1.1.1 Definition

1.1.2 Old Testament

1.1.3 New Testament

1.1.4 Sin, Disease and Curses

1.1.5 Sin and Demonic Spirits

1.2 Sin's Affect on Salvation

1.2.1 From Eden

1.2.2 Israel Promised Exemption

1.2.3 Exemption Lost/Jew=Gentile=Egypt

1.2.4 The New Testament and Sin

1.2.5 Sins Of Fathers/Husbands

1.2.6 Sins Of Mothers/Wives

1.2.7 Breakdown in Relationship with -The Word:

1.2.8 Breakdown in Relationship with -Self:

1.2.9 Breakdown in Relationship with -Others:

### Chapter 2: Repentance.

2.1 General Introduction

2.2 Only Once For All

2.3 Repentance; Conviction and Condemnation

2.4 Repentance and Knowledge of Sin or Lacking Knowledge

2.5 Occultism

2.6 Self-Hatred

### Chapter 3: Water Baptism and the New Birth.

3.1 Gift of Faith

3.2 Acknowledging and Understanding the Witness of the Holy Spirit

3.3 Public Confession and Water Baptism

3.4 Baptism in the Holy Spirit

### Chapter 4: Root Causes of Disease - a Brief Synopsis
### Chapter 5: How and Where it all went Wrong

5.1 The First 300 Years Ad

5.2 The Dark Ages

5.3 The Reformation

5.4 Bible Translations

5.5 The Present Day Church

### Chapter 6: Back to Pentecost

6.1 Repentance Of Individuals And The Church

6.2 Commitment To The Word Of God Alone (Sola Scriptura)

6.3 Return To A Full Knowledge And Understanding Of The Root Causes Of Diseases

6.4 Re-Establishing The Role And Responsibilities Of The Clergy And Church Leadership

6.5 Temples, Tabernacles And Cathedrals Vs. Sharing Everything We Have

### Chapter 7: The role of laity in the health of the Church of Jesus Christ.

7.1 Mothers

7.2 Fathers

7.3 Children

7.4 Parents &Grandparents

### Chapter 8: Towards Sanctification and the Rapture

8.1 Pattern of Life; Bible Study, Prayer, Fasting and Poustinia

8.2 Assembling Together Of the Saints

8.3 House Cleaning

8.4 Obedience, Humility and Servanthood

### Chapter 9: conclusion and final appeal.

### Appendix

Bloodline Curses Resulting From Involvement of Families in Freemasonry

### Bibliography

### Further Study

### About the Author

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#

Introduction

There is an awful turmoil in the current state of physical and mental health of the Christian community. There is such a huge amount of sickness (disease) both on what we refer to as the physical level and on the psychosomatic level. Churches have placed the responsibility for healing of the sicknesses (diseases) almost completely in the hands of the medical practitioners of whom a large number are not even saved. In fact salvation is not even a requirement of the medical fraternity and generally the church has not said a single word about that. The little recognised fact that the root cause of almost every single physical and psychosomatic disease lies in sin and disobedience to the Law is not only untaught in the medical field but is unknown to the vast majority of the medical practitioners. The fact that the root cause of all diseases is explained in the Word of God is also almost unknown by the vast majority of clergy and laity alike. Why this state of affairs exists in an environment where both the church and the medical fraternity do not in general know the true causes of all disease, especially in the light of the fact that both are required to spend many years at universities and/or theological seminaries, is a thing that makes you see the deliberate disregarding of the Word of God. Yet our clergy spend countless hours in studying all kinds of all different theological theories (apartheid theology, prosperity theology, systematic theology, dogmatic theology and many more) different interpretations (Millennialism, Preterism, etc) all devised by mankind. They are taught in much detail as are the basics of false religions and they are required to adapt their theological thinking to all kinds of heresies derived from so called "human rights" by activists in this anything-goes-environment. Like the medical practitioners they know little about the root causes of diseases. So the clergy too are becoming incapable of dealing with the ministry of healing of the soul and the body for the same reasons, the failure of getting back to the fundamentals of the Church of Jesus Christ for lack of knowledge of the actual Word of God _(Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children)._

These fundamentals are the proper and complete understanding of sin, including curses, the influence of satan on the life styles and health of our brothers and sisters and the cumulative effects of sin, i.e. the way the sins of one generation can impact on the well being of the next generation and in the same vein how different types of relationships, or the lack of relationships will affect our lives. The lack of this fundamental knowledge is consequently responsible for a lack of understanding of the next fundamental of salvation which is the issue of repentance. Repentance has become watered down to little more than an "appropriately" worded apology, often to the wrong principal of the Trinity, with a blanket expectation that once we've said the "appropriate" words it will be done. The consequence of this is that the fundamentals of repentance are now becoming as confused as all the different theologies and salvation in the minds of the majority of Christians' opinion is about some kind of intellectual erasure of the crime statistics against us, with little understanding that salvation, the salvation that Jesus Christ brought and taught is about healing. The Forgiveness that we can get from Jesus Christ is about the spiritual, physical and psychological healing of an individual, i.e. spirit, soul and body. This lack of understanding in turn undermines the fundamental understanding of the New Birth and the ensuing lifestyle of the people that are truly saved by the gift of faith through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit and living as disciples of Jesus Christ in obedience to the Great Commission.

I have set about this work so that we may all gain a far greater understanding of what it was that resulted in the spectacular growth of the Church of Jesus Christ immediately after Pentecost and a very brief explanation of why that knowledge was lost, so that we can lead the church to repentance in the face of the impending rapture of the saints and to re-empower the people of Jesus Christ to renew their New Covenant relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and thereby to bring back complete healing (salvation and sanctification to the uttermost) to every man, woman, and child willing and able to understand and accept these truths and even bring relief to those so damaged by sin that they need us to act on their behalf. Also to explain and understand the importance of the role of the heart and the brain of the heart in this whole process of healing and how the Holy Spirit indwells mankind and communicates with us.

The overall and ultimate purpose is that this work will bring glory and honour to God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit alone. To Acknowledge the Lord Jesus, our Saviour as the head of the Church of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:22-23) and unite the multitude of born again believers into the one and only Church of Jesus Christ.

Finally and humbly on my knees I want to praise the Lord Jesus Christ for the redemption he brought to me and all mankind and to praise and thank the Holy Spirit for the guidance and comfort throughout the writing of this book, especially as there were many occasions that I had to stop and confess my own sins that were exposed during the writing of this book. I also thank and praise and offer glory and honour to God the Father for his unending grace and mercy towards a sinner like me and showing me his unending love for all mankind. Thank you also to the Lord God for His precious Word and those long gone visionaries that left us the King James Version of the Bible.

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Chapter 1: Sin.

1.1 What Constitutes Sin

1.1.1 Definition:

"The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. Sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts _(and thoughts remember become actions - Author's addition)_ purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God's commands or Law. (1 John 3; Matthew 15; James 4). Sinners neither enjoy the pleasures of nor the peace of piety, _(must be understood as the worship of and obedience to the Lord God - Authors addition)_. Among (divines) Jews and Christians, Sin is original or actual. Actual Sin, above defined, is the act of a moral agent in violating a known rule of duty. Original Sin , as generally understood, is native depravity of heart to the divine will, that corruption of nature of deterioration of the moral character of man, which is (supposed to be)(*parenthesis mine) the effect of Adam's apostasy; and which manifests itself in moral agents by positive act of disobedience to the divine will, or by the voluntary neglect to comply with the express commands of God, which require that we should love God with all the heart and soul and strength and mind, and our neighbour as ourselves. This native depravity or alienation of affections from God and his law, is (supposed to be)* what the apostle calls the carnal mind or mindedness, which is enmity against God, and is therefore denominated Sin or sinfulness. Unpardonable Sin, or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is (supposed to be)* a malicious and obstinate rejection of Christ and the gospel plan of salvation, or a contemptuous resistance made to the influences and convictions of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12." (Webster; e-Sword). _(Note that I am not certain what Webster refers to as "divines" but there are no such beings on this earth, but for the purposes of this work I would simply say that it must just be left out of any correct definition)._

Note a few points on this definition that should be added to make it complete in terms of the Word of God, when Webster says voluntary that must include also the words deliberate and inadvertent. Webster, by using the word voluntary, creates the impression that only some people are guilty of sin which is not according to the Word of God. Paul clearly and unequivocally states _(Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ;)_ Where Webster refers to sinners not enjoying the pleasures of peace of piety we must understand that sinners are utterly cut off from ALL the grace and favour of the Lord God and are condemned by their own actions to hell. A "known rule of duty" again tries to set some people apart, In the sight of the Lord God there are only three categories of people (Jews/Israelites, Church of God and Gentiles) and therefore the Original sin and the actual sin is applicable to all of mankind because (and again see Romans 3:23 above, there is no such thing as "known" being an excuse just as in Common Law ignorance of the law is no excuse and so therefore sin is not only a concept that applies to the Israelites and the Church of God, but to all mankind. (The importance of this will be seen later when we discus disease and see that believers and unbelievers, or Jews, believers in the Church of God and Gentiles suffer the same diseases). There is nothing vague about the "Original Sin" as Webster implies. It is simply the original sin committed by Adam and Eve by the act of deliberate disobedience of the command of the LORD GOD, YHVH (pronounced as "Yahweh"). That act had consequences which are confirmed and supported by modern medical research through the genetic structure of mankind that cannot be escaped. When Paul speaks of the carnal mind he is referring to the genetically and demonically altered mind of mankind which we now know as scientifically corroborated medical fact ( _Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.)_ The repeated use of "supposed to be" in the above definition is just another attempt to suggest that some of mankind are above or excluded from the concept of sin and that is a lie and is not from the Lord God.

Webster talks of heart and soul and strength and mind, and it is very important that this be properly comprehended. Mankind is made in the image of the Lord God _(Genisis1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: ...)_ , and as God is Triune (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) so man is made up of spirit, soul (mind) and body _(1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ)_ and when Webster quotes this text (Matthew 22:28 & 29; Mark 12:30 & 31; and Luke 10:27) he passes it very swiftly but we must understand that our worship of and obedience to the Lord God is not simply an intellectual matter seated only in the mind. Our, spirits, souls (minds) and bodies are indivisible as long as we are alive in this present world and just as the Lord God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit impact on one another and cannot be separated or act independently (with the exception of the 33 years when Jesus Christ was separated from the Trinity to walk on earth as man) The Holy Spirit indwells mankind while still remaining inextricably tied in the Trinity in a mystery that will only be revealed to us after the rapture,

1Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known) ,

1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

From this then we see that the spirit of the born again believer does not sin but the soul (mind) and the body can be disobedient and therefore become subject again to curses and satan and his evil spirits

My final comment on Webster's definition concerns the much vaunted opinions of the Cardinal or unforgiveable sin. I want to say that in my opinion the cardinal sin is little more than the sin in which our own spirit closes the door to the Holy Spirit which in addition to our already "sick" minds blocks out the witness of the Holy Spirit and by implication therefore cannot lead to salvation. That may be very simplified but it is in any event not that important a concept in the context of this book.

Now to the very observant reader that has begun to ask; "why, if you make so many corrections to Webster's definition do you use it at all"? The fact is that there is a great deal of misunderstanding of what constitutes sin and I am convinced that by starting with a definition like Webster's it gives us all an opportunity of better understanding the field I am covering in this writing. One of the issues caused by many of the current definitions and the general understanding of sin in present society is the effect that sin has on our whole being, how it is responsible for physical as well as psychosomatic disease, all forms of crime and corruption and all forms of breakdown in relationships and how each of these in turn impacts all the others. This impacting happens because of the creation of "false" neuro-paths in the mind, genetic deviation and spiritual captivity. It is this that forms an enormous contribution to the fading power of the modern churches and the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

(See also the Hebrew and Greek definitions of "sin" in the Appendix

Back to Contents

1.1.2 Old Testament:

The first and foremost verse in the Old Testament regarding sin is in _Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,_ and that constitutes then the sin of disobedience.

I want to digress for a moment here to explain that this writing is not going to be an exhaustive writing on every detail that arises out of every aspect of disobedience. My intention is to compose a work that will clearly and unavoidably lead us to reconsider the Gospel message that is being proclaimed by the majority of modern church denominations and independents and to bring back from the early Church of Jesus Christ the salvation that involved the healing of mankind on all three levels of our beings. This is as much the will of Jesus Christ as that it is necessitated by the ever increasing backlog in the medical field of relieving the symptoms of disease and their inability to cure diseases. Added to that is the more crucial fact (in case anyone thought I had a beef with the medical profession) that the influence of sin is leading the world ever deeper into a bottomless pit from which soon there will be no return because the increasing spread of disease is rapidly reaching a point where the current medical practitioners and hospitals are becoming grossly overpowered and insufficient. By awakening ourselves and others to the lost truths and wisdom of the Word of God we will hopefully be able to still bring salvation to a significant number of people before the impending Rapture. Then also to keep our brothers and sisters in good physical and mental health in spite of the failing medical industry.

Getting back then to the Old Testament. We will deal with disobedience, the Ten Commandments and Deuteronomy 28 to build up a basis of what the Old Testament commands, and the disobedience of which constitutes sin. The very first sin of mankind then was that of disobedience and it has become, as the Biblical record reveals, the basis of all other sin. From the earliest record of the behaviour of mankind towards the Lord God as revealed in the book of Job, there emerges significant evidence of the degeneration in mankind's health that resulted from Adam and Eve's disobedience. The first thing is that satan surfaces from oblivion to challenge both the Lord God and mankind.

Job 1:4-12. And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto satan, whence comest thou? Then satan answered the lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto satan, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then satan answered the Lord, and said, doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto satan, behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Satan, was in the garden of Eden as the Cherub that covered Adam and Eve in the usurped body of the snake. Ezekiel 28:13-15: these verses refer to Lucifer:

" _THOU HAST BEEN IN EDEN THE GARDEN OF GOD; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee._

Having once entered and having set in motion the degeneration of mankind satan was given permanent access to this world by being thrown down upon the earth. The implication of that and its ultimate effect on mankind is recorded in the book of Job and continued in Genesis from chapter 6 onward. From the continued disobedience of the sons of the wealthy Job, to Job's own ultimate capitulation to the wiles ( **temptation** ) of satan, history moves on to record how corrupt mankind became until the Lord God became so angry that He all but destroyed creation by flooding the whole earth with only Noah, his family and pairs of every living creature that were on the ark surviving and that because they remained obedient.

There followed another period of history that climaxed in the building of the tower of Babel. By that time society had again been corrupted to the point that God drove them apart by confusing their language. The hugely important part of this period of history is the rise to power of Nimrod, his wife Semiramis and their son Tammuz, all possessed by satan and satan's first attempt at copying the Holy Trinity. Their descendants are controlling the spiritual realm of satan to this day. They are satan's instrument of war against both the remnant of Israel and the disciples of Jesus Christ. They are the source of all lies and falsehoods being pumped into our ears and minds, they are, and they control the demonic realm and the evil spirits that penetrate the minds (brains) of mankind, then their spirits and then the bodies of mankind that result in disobedience of, and separation from, the protection of God the Father. The Old Testament moves on through the call of Abram, Joseph's imprisonment and rise to power, the migration of Israel to Egypt and 400 years of enslavement (i.e. their subjection to forced labour, exposure to false gods and diseases of a people unprotected by the Lord God). This meant that when the Father set His people free they had already been exposed to four centuries of corruption and temptation that had already resulted in terrible contamination of the mind, spiritual confusion and genetic degeneration.

That was the point at which the Lord God again intervened and confirmed the first covenant with His chosen people, the nation of Israel itself. This section of history is contained in the books of Genesis from chapter 12 (when God called Abraham and made a covenant with him) up to Exodus chapter 20, when God called Moses up the mountain and issued the Ten Commandments and instructed Moses on their detailed application (which is covered in the rest of the book of Exodus, and in the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The Ten Commandments: **Exodus 20:1 - 21**

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

The covenant or contract was made with great fanfare and the Lord God then said that if the people would accept the contract and obey it that He will continue be their God and would bless them, I.e. He would heal them and protect them from all those evil influences we mentioned above. That is what The Lord God details in Deuteronomy 28 the first 14 verses:

Blessings for Obedience

Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

This is where the terms of the covenant are set. The Lord God makes an offer to Israel that if they will observe ALL His Commandments (i.e. the Ten Commandments as explained and elaborated on in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), He would set them above all nations. Their acceptance of the covenant was to be "signed" by their obedience (i.e. voluntary acceptance of subjecting themselves to the Law of Moses, as the Covenant became known), and then the Lord God reveals how this contract will roll out, explains what "set above all nations" means.

Deuteronomy 28:2-4 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. (The word "blessings" is from the Hebrew word "berăkăh which means prosper, He would make them prosperous in ways beyond their dreams; "overtake thee"). 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. (That prosperity would cover industry and agriculture which is representative of all facets of societal existence). 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

Now we come to a vitally important paragraph in terms of the purpose of this work. And the key word here is " _fruit_ ". The original Hebrew pictorial word is symbolic of the hands (i.e. the body), the mouth (i.e. the heart) and the head (i.e. the soul or mind) We know that our genetic structure having been already compromised means that we cannot reproduce a new being with a perfect or better genetic structure (contrary to the implication of evolutionism). However this is exactly what the Lord God is saying, they will produce offspring that will be genetically like unto Adam and Eve, they would receive bodies free of and handicaps and the corruption of their minds would be restored to be free of all negative connections. For that to happen in terms of modern medical science means that those very people present at the inauguration of this agreement were also fully restored (have you ever wondered how it was that we never heard of any diseases while the people were in the desert until after they were disobedient for the first time, how in spite of the severe desert conditions in which they spent 40 years they became so strong and prosperous nation that others feared their very reputation? This is the explanation of it. In this Covenant God literally offers the people of the nation of Israel a restoration of spirit, soul and body free of the curses and diseases of Egypt!! What is more is that their livestock and their agricultural produce would be free of imperfections resulting from past agricultural malpractice (disobedience). Now in my humble opinion that really does "set" or elevate them to a plane way above where any other nation of that time was, they were as you might say a super nation, or as the Apostle Paul describes them the "elect".

(2Ti 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory).

Deuteronomy 28:5-6 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. (Industry would prosper) 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

That prosperity would follow them from the desert into the Promised Land and wherever they went. That indicates that the intention of the Lord God is to prosper His people always and without interruption while they perform on their side of the covenant. That is also an indication of the intention that it was meant forever because of the anticipation that they would spread far and wide across the world. My friends, this that we have seen thus far is of vital importance for us if we are ever to understand the New Covenant that Jesus Christ entered into with us, with the Jews and the Gentiles. This is the very essence of what the new birth (being born again) offers us and understanding how "forgiveness" includes healing on every level of our existence.

Deuteronomy 28:7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

The term enemy here refers to anything that opposes their prosperity and as we have seen their prosperity was given to;

Body \- (disease and handicap free, and invasion by foreign nations on a physical level).This means for example in our terms at the current time (April 2020) the Israelites would be immune to the Covid-19 virus, cancer, heart disease.etc The latter two are still the biggest causes of death in our time.

Soul 1 \- (freedom from believing the lies of satan {temptation crushed}, and being possessed by demonic spirits) That means freedom in the modern medical terminology from the genetic destruction of the body and destruction of pathways in the mind by disobedience that leads to all psychosomatic diseases such as dementia (Alzheimer's), ADHD (Where the introduction of the drug Ritalin has seen as much as 20% of the children that have been given this drug end up as drug addicts and in prison - Dr. MK Strydom). Look at what Isaiah said about captives in prisons, Isaiah 61:1

Soul 2 \- (protected hearts, the place from where the spirit of man receives guidance from above or is attacked by satan and his demons. Recent medical science has shown the heart to have a "brain" (soul) of its own and while that brain remains pure and protected that which flows from the heart to the mind will come out of the mouth {our speech and actions} as properly sifted information through our spirits from a clean mind) Preparing a place suitable for the presence of the Lord God or his Spirit (or in the New Covenant terms the Holy Spirit)

Deuteronomy 28:8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

More prosperity which means even greater protection, as if all the foregoing does not show the love and goodwill of the Lord God towards His chosen Nation sufficiently He reinforces that protection to yet another level higher. There is just no end in sight to the benevolence of the Lord God.

Deuteronomy 28:9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

"Holy", raises it to yet another level up, only the Lord God, Father Son and Holy Spirit are truly holy and yet that is what is included in this contract in exchange for nothing more than obedience.

Deuteronomy 28:10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

The word "afraid" means to "morally revere". That not only means that all other nations will attempt to live at peace with them but will in fact seek to be adopted by them. Is that not exactly what we see in the queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon? (1 King 10:1ff)

Deuteronomy 28:11-13 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

These verses essentially just reinforce all the blessings that we have seen.

Deuteronomy 28:14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Then the typical **BUT** of the Word of God. But all is subject to unwavering obedience.

When we look at all this we begin to understand some of the early prosperity of the nation of Israel and it makes us wonder why they were in fact not almost or actually invincible. The more we look at what they were given and what they undertook to accept the more puzzling the history of Israel becomes in the aftermath of this Covenant. That is until we read on and see there what the "penalty Clause" of the contract states for non- fulfilment of the contract entered into. That is what the Lord God spells out in the rest of Deuteronomy Chapter 28.

Curses for Disobedience

Deut 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:(emphasis mine).

This my dear brothers and sisters is what we have apparently lost sight of as so many seem to think that sin will have no consequences and we simply have to ask forgiveness every day and in general and all will be well. Clearly this is NOT so. The Lord God, Our Father in heaven to whom we by the instruction of Jesus Christ must pray, Our Father states clearly that disobedience _("will not hearken")_ will have consequences. When forgiveness is given the Lord God wipes the sin from our record and from the memory of the Father, but my dear friends that must not be confused with the consequences of curses. The problem is with the origin of curses, you see they are from the Father and then satan uses them against us as satan knows the Bible better than we do. Our sin provided a gap in our armour that left us unprotected from the intentions of satan and satan places that curse upon us. That is the first and crucially important fact that we must comprehend if we are ever going to fully comprehend and claim the salvation that our Saviour Jesus Christ came to proclaim, and that He gave His life for so that we could "be saved to the uttermost". Sin impacts us in spirit, soul (mind) and body. It is not that farfetched concept of taking something to the confessional booth, doing some ritualistic form of earthly penance, and all is over. Bear that in mind when in later sections we deal with the results and repentance

Deuteronomy 28:16-19 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field 17Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

In these verses the Father is explaining that these "curses" will affect us in every level of our existence in which previously the Father blessed us for being obedient. That means that there is no chance of escape from these curses. We will see confirmation of this in the New Testament but there is ample evidence in the Old Testament that the Israelites also just did not want to accept the reality of this warning. They dabbled in the worship of foreign gods, and partook in occultic festivals and largely ignored many tenets of the Law. I just wonder if they also used the same lame excuses we did? I've heard so many people use the excuse of "but the 25th December is not a pagan celebration for me, I only celebrate the birth of Jesus on that day", (note He was not born on that day but at least 13 Roman pagan gods (apollo, attis, bacchus. dionysus the son of zeus, helios, hercules, horus, jupiter, mithras) and the Tammuz referred to earlier were born on that day. Do the first four Commandments make any space for justifying a wrong by virtue of either ignorance or some "logical" process of justification? There's not even a hint of it only very specific prohibition thereof.

Deuteronomy 28:20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, (from the primitive root which means to execrate and that involves exorcism) vexation, (Strong 4103 -confusion or uproar: - destruction, discomfiture, trouble, tumult, vexation, vexed. - thus again clearly from the spiritual realm) and rebuke (i.e. reproof and this is what will come from God the Father in contrast to that which comes from satan), in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

As the Father is love and all good, the punishments that will come from the demonic realms are not from the Father but what this means is that sin or disobedience leaves us unprotected and because of that satan will have his way with us unhindered by the Father, and furthermore the Father warns (if left unchecked) this will destroy, completely destroy us until we are in total, utter desolation (perish). Have you ever seen the final stages of Alzheimer's disease? The memory has been so overpowered that the victim does not know who they are, where they are, where they are going to and have zero concept of taking care of themselves physically, hygienically or mentally, they are totally disorientated and absolutely desolate! In the same way dabbling in the occult has been linked to vexation and so called "incurable" diseases developing from self hatred and effects of the deaf and dumb spirit. The third way that sin will affect us is that the Father will "rebuke" or re- prove (reproof). God the Father will not only leave us unprotected because of disobedience but He will also act against us. Only the object of the "rebuke of the Father and the Curses and vexations of satan have a very different motive. The motive of satan is torment leading to and with the aim of the rejection of God, the Father's motive is correction leading to restoration (see James 1:2-4 when we disobey, fall, the Father will no longer lead us around the obstacle but He will walk alongside us through the obstacle showing us our faults so that we may grow in wisdom and understanding).

Deut 28:21-22 The LORD shall make the pestilence (disobedience results in fear, anxiety and stress that will remain in mankind as long as the disobedience is left unrepented for and will allow parasites, a fungus, bacteria or viruses to attack our systems) cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 22 The LORD shall smite thee with consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

"The Lord shall make ..." the diseases that are mentioned is the way that Scripture explains the consequences of the withdrawal of the protection of the Father against the onslaught of pestilences that result in the symptoms listed in verse 22. Modern medicine and medical doctors have not and are not being taught about the root causes of disease (Dr. MK Strydom) and they are focused only on dealing with the consumption, fever, inflammation, rashes ( **burning** ), pain ( **sword** ), anger ( **blasting** ), and degeneration ( **mildew** )". That means that they will only bring temporary relief, because these are only the symptoms of the disease, whether by old fashioned and outdated methods of the times in the desert and Old Testament (i.e. mainly herbal remedies and bloodletting) or those of modern medicine. Because they do not deal with the root causes they will be ineffective against the withdrawal of the Father's protection and the disease will remain and the symptoms will return thus creating a vicious circle of torment until ended by death ( **perish** ). Only the Lord God can change this and bring healing. This has been the case ever since the time of the Ten Commandments and that should raise awareness that there is something radically wrong with our approach to healing and by implication with our approach to salvation. We are not serving a God that lies and does not love; in fact they are the very supreme character traits of the Lord God. It follows that it makes no sense for the Lord then to heal and bless the nation of Israel if it is only so that they can be mortally wounded the moment they are disobedient, no friend that is not the Father of Psalm 23 or 91 or countless other testimonies to His love and mercy and lovingkindness. it is not the Father that says; _2Chronicles 7:14 " If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land"._

Deuteronomy 28:23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

We will be unable to seek the help of an effective "doctor" or of medicine men or even the mercy of the Lord God in any way because our prayers (cries for help) will be sealed (locked) in from above and below; their cries for help will bounce off the ceiling and the floors until they perish. There is a phenomenally important lesson here that is largely denied by the Christian teaching of our time. I do not have a problem with the grace and mercy of God but we do not seem to understand how the curses of satan can get such a commanding hold of mankind that by our own corruption we can reach a point of no return, a point where we cannot see the forest for the trees or where we cannot see the door to knock on. Satan and his curses have closed our minds with brass and iron so that we cannot see beyond our misery.

Deuteronomy 28:24-26The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

The Father underlines that there will be no relief and that in fact these things will just get worse and they will in time cause devastation to themselves (the diseases) and those around them (the external like the rain/drought). That must in those days have brought back visions of a return to the enslavement of Egypt because the drought brings famine and famine brought about their ultimate enslavement. Our people today become addicts enslaved to the drug trade in both prescription drugs and illicit drugs.

Deuteronomy 28:27-29 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. 28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

In addition to all that their persistent disobedience would bring upon them the diseases of Egypt. This is a further important concept to understand and also a quantum increase in the severity of persisting in disobedience. (Note that the key here is "persistent" disobedience. Disobedience has in itself no degrees of severity; disobedience is disobedience plain and simple. But what are these diseases of Egypt. They include leprosy (botch), Festering unstoppably ( **emerods** ), Scurvy ( **scab/malnutrition** ), rashes/shingles/stress ( **itch** ), the whole range of psychosomatic diseases ( **madness** ), all manner of sexual deviation and behavioural disorders and auto immune deficiencies ( **Blindness** \- which was then attributed, to sin (disobedience), and complete corruption of the person leading to murder, crime, violence and demonic behaviour ( **astonishment of the heart** , the innermost organ of mankind's being and seat of purity or corruption and thereby the home of the Holy Spirit or of satan respectively).

Deuteronomy 28:30-33 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. 31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them. 32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand. 33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

This is not simply a statement of another level of severity of the actual diseases but a forewarning of how all the hardships and disease and corruption will begin to impact on every facet of society. Morally there would be a breakdown that would see even the sacred bond of marriage falling away, there would be no more insurance that hard honest work would yield fruit because crime and corruption will take it away and injustice and fear would rule the day.

Deut 28:34-40 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. 36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. 38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

As the moral fibre of society would be destroyed so the economy would collapse and they will be left unprotected so that they will be taken into captivity (Babylon foretold) and ruled by foreign "kings" and gods" (the different empires that would suppress them later, including the Philistines, Moabites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and later the Roman empire and the Roman Catholic Church [RCC]).

Deuteronomy 28:41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.

This includes what we know now as inherited disease (genetic or bloodline diseases) and the children **going astray from the truth and being taken "captive" by satan in a variety of demonic ways.**

Deuteronomy 28:42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.

This has dramatic implications. Consider the report that Joshua and the others brought back from their expedition into the Promised Land and particularly the size of the bunches of grapes _Numbers 13:23 (And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.)_ Where would you find bunches of grapes like that. Disobedience has the effect of causing corruption which leads to greed and greed to a lack of taking care of creation and leaving the land fallow every seventh year. That rapes the soil and the quality of the fruit of the land is reduced resulting in poorer quality seed or vines or of the breeding stock. That leads to further deterioration and sets up a vicious circle of ever worsening deterioration. The human greed of mankind without the protection of the Lord God becomes all consuming ravishing everything in its path worse than any swarm of locusts. It will be worth your while to check out with Angus Buchan the amazing results obtained in his farm near Greytown, Kwa Zulu Natal, from leaving a seventh of his land fallow every year in a rotation style).

Deuteronomy 28:43-44 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. 44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

The stranger within refers to other nations that will be set over Israel who by lending them money will come to rule over who will ultimately so dominate them because of their disobedience that they will completely loose all sense of what they were or could be and they will be completely at the mercy of the whims and desires of the "loan sharks".

Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

Just look into those deeply into the whole New Age movement that have come to a point where they just cannot take in any of the truths of the Bible and we see them living with ever increasing borrowing to prove their self worth and status and they are totally reliant on their inherent abilities (disabilities) and at the mercy of their creditors. Outwardly they may not look like they are debt possessed, but their reactions cannot leave us in any doubt that they are captured to debt.

Deuteronomy 28:45-46 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

We must remind ourselves that we are dealing with the Old Testament at this point because these sort of verses have a way, with me at any rate, to begin looking at the present without learning all the lessons from the past that are left in the divinely inspired Word of God in which every dot and dash and every word is important and inspired with purpose. In the Old Testament we have seen the Israelites reel back from the consequences of the curses and come back and keep on moving like a yo-yo. But I am inspired to believe that what the Father means by _"for a sign and for a wonder"_ is not meant only as a message to His chosen Nation but as a teaching for us as well. There is no way on earth that we can deny that these curses have indeed materialised as a result of the breach of contract by the Israelites and that is there to serve "for ever" as a sign to me and you. A sign not only of the consequences of sin but also and this is the point that has been buried for too long, they teach us about the Root Causes Of All Disease And Affliction! The Word of God has therefore been thousands of years ahead of even the point where scientific medicine is today. The sign dear brothers and sisters is as much a sign to us now as it was to Israel then, the sign is that healing and salvation is about all the forms of mankind's existence, physically, mentally and spiritually (i.e. Biblically spirit, soul and body), and on everything impacted by mankind in any and all of these parts of our existence. And lastly about signs and wonders it is also important to note that in the New covenant the curing of the diseases and casting out of the demons is referred to also as sign and wonders _(Act 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles)._

Deuteronomy 28:47-64 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; 48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, 50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: 54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: 55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. 58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. 63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. 64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

In this last part of the chapter we can see again the escalating degeneration of mankind that brings with it increased distance from the Father and yet increases diseases of both physical and psychosomatic nature together with the weakening and degeneration of the economy and agriculture with nothing left untouched or free.

Deuteronomy 28:65-68 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease (alienation and isolation), neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest (restlessness and homelessness): but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart (lack of character, will and desire to live leading to suicide), and failing of eyes (death), and sorrow of mind (Diseases of the mind, or psychosomatic diseases): 66And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

At this stage I do not want to delve more deeply into specific modern understandings of all the curses than that which I have already had revealed to me and recorded here because the point of this book can be made from that which has been stated. The blessings and curses of the Old Testament, The Mosaic Covenant, clearly reveal that obedience is the key issue in terms of a prosperous relationship with the Lord God and that disobedience is the key issue in a breakdown of that relationship and that disobedience is the root cause of all disease and earthly misfortune of mankind.

When I look at the multitude of definitions available to mankind on the subject of sin then, apart from ending up so confused that I don't know what to make of it, there is one common thread that runs through almost all of them and that is the word "voluntary". In my entire search for a comprehensive understanding of sin I cannot find a link between sin, or disobedience, and the word voluntary. In fact in the whole King James Version of the Bible there are only four times that the word voluntary is used (Leviticus 1:3; Leviticus 7:16; Ezekiel 46:12; and Colossians 2:18) In the first three they refer to repentance and in the Fourth case the words "voluntary humility" would have been more correctly interpreted as a deliberate commitment or being wholly committed to which then again removes from the action the element of ignorance and, in fact in Leviticus 4:2,13,22,27 ignorance is specifically pointed out as not being an excuse for any person irrespective of their station in life.

I think that the time has come to define sin in more definite terms, in terms that even a child can understand and in terms that even the most intellectually advanced cannot abuse. I say that because the way that satan works in this issue is by using exactly the concept of qualifying a statement that he creates sufficient doubt to lead mankind into the abyss. So then my definition would simply be that sin is the disobedience of mankind to the Lord God. It has nothing to do with ignorance or voluntary or involuntary actions.

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1.1.3 New Testament:

Matthew 5:17-18 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil (i.e. not to take away, but to add). For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

It is so often implied in the teaching of the evangelical churches that the Old Testament has served its purpose and is replaced by the New Testament, and that the Nation of Israel in fact has been replaced by the Church and for many the whole of the Old Testament is relegated to the archives. Nothing can be further from the truth and very little can be more misleading and that is apparently the exact reason and purpose of these teachings. By this they say that Israel, or the Jews as we know them today, are no longer the Father's chosen nation because the "church" has taken their place. This confuses the understanding of the Word of God. If you hold that kind of thought then the understanding of Paul's use, for instance, of the term "the elect", leads to speculation and heresies. The 144000 witnesses become just as confused and so do large parts of the New Testament and particularly of the book of Revelation. I do not know either which church the denominations see as replacing the nation of Israel but it is decidedly not the Church of Jesus Christ Himself that I belong to and that was established by the Apostles after Pentecost. Most of all though it is Jesus Christ himself that clearly throws all these false teachings out of the window as we see in the quote above. Many have insinuated that what Jesus Christ says in Matthew 5:17-18 is overruled by the "two commandments" that He issued a little later _(Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.)_ That is false teaching and most re-born disciples of Jesus Christ, led by the Holy Spirit will proclaim with absolute certainty that can only come from the Holy Spirit, that the entire Mosaic Law (excluding the sacrificial Laws which were fulfilled by Jesus' death on the cross) is encapsulated in these words of Jesus Christ. There is only one notable change of the emphasis as stated in Exodus 20:6, which then serves not to negate but to place a new cause on the obedience to the Law. Those disciples born again and baptised in water by full submersion and in the Holy Spirit will also attest to the fact that under the gift of faith _(Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:)_ obedience to the Mosaic Law becomes an act of love rather than, as in Old Testament times, a contractual obligation.

It is this latter fact that adds a new and significant dimension to sin that is brought about by the New Covenant. For now I will skip over the need of all mankind to repent, to be saved and how it all happens and deal with the issue at hand from the perspective of a saved, born-again baptised in water and the Holy Spirit disciple of Christ Jesus. In those of us that share that common bond in Jesus and the Church of Jesus Christ our salvation brings about a vital change of heart. The reason for that may have been somewhat obscure to some of the "logical thinkers" among us until we consider some of the newest medical facts surrounding this issue and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Medical science is agreed that the heart has a brain of its own (Dr. MK Strydom). That brain has been shown conclusively to send messages (I am using layman's language rather than getting into the medical electronic brain transmissions and such like) to the decision making zone of our brain. We speak of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but to many it remains a mystery just where and how the Holy Spirit does that work. With this "new" medical knowledge and the new cause found in mankind in the New Testament for obedience to the Father (we will speak more about the reason for using "Father" later in this book) it now becomes clear that the Holy Spirit resides in the reborn heart of the reborn disciples. Now this is not just about creating a handle for the purpose of identifying how the Holy Spirit indwells mankind after salvation. Bear in mind that by confirming that the whole of the Mosaic Law (excluding the sacrificial laws) stands intact, Jesus Christ has in fact also invoked every blessing and every curse that emanates from the Law. We have seen that disobedience has a devastating affect on mankind's spirit, soul (mind) and body but now we must recognise that the heart begins to take on a special significance and that all those curses will now have an additionally disastrous effect on mankind, (for now just remember that heart attacks are still the number one cause of death in the Church Era). Now we have a situation where the seat of the love that motivates the behaviour of the saved in Jesus Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, is affected by sin, or if you like by disobedience.

Mat 4:4, 7, 10: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Then saith Jesus unto him, 10 Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

In the very first detailed teaching of Jesus Christ's public ministry we see that there too everything that is written in the Old Testament about obedience and the supremacy of the Lord God remains applicable to the New Covenant. (Let us not forget that it also means that all the yet unfulfilled promises made to Israel will also still be fulfilled and that is exactly why the theology that the church has replaced Israel, is a lie).

Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus makes a very important statement as He begins his ministry and we must take very careful note of the fact that the basis of a renewed relationship with the Lord God is _repentance_. It is from this that the vital teaching of Paul stems that _"all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23)_. We must remember that while we examine the New Testament for further clarification and understanding of sin it remains something that we are all guilty of and that ignorance will not serve as an excuse. This teaching is followed by the Sermon on the Mount with all those familiar "blessings". Remember now that we saw from Deuteronomy 28:1-14 that blessings were the result of obedience. The Sermon on the Mount, _Matthew 5:2-10_ , teaches us that disobedience or sin can spring as much from attitude or resolve as from deeds. That is a fact that I too had to learn and only found out about a considerable time after being saved.

Matthew 5:2-12 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

There's a critical lesson about sin in this. We have lived and grown up in a world where our thought patterns have become dominated by logic, all kinds of nonsensical rhetoric regarding "human rights", freedom of expression and all kinds of advertising and New Age philosophy about self realisation and ultimately that we are entitled to think however we like. The Beatitudes (i.e. the Sermon on the Mount), however, apart from many other teachings makes our thought life, an activity of our minds, an action that must be submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ _(2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;)_ The Word "thought" from the Greek noēma includes thought and disposition or attitude. Allow me to explain this with another statement from Paul. _(Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;_ _but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.)_ Now as an example let's assume that I've had some recent setback with many rejections and now I start hearing in my mind suggestions that I am useless and go and hide in the corner. The "useless" is a thought and the "hiding" is an attitude both of which are planted there by satan who knows we cannot think of anything from our own initiative _(2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God)_ and neither of those actions are the result of correctly dealing with our "thoughts" which as we see have only two sources; God or satan which means that only by taking them captive to the authority of Jesus Christ can I instantly decide how to deal with a "thought". I am His creation and He loves me and has a purpose for my life. That means then that my "thoughts" are potentially sinful, and that, from the Old Testament teaching, we saw was the cause of curses resulting from disobedience. Thus when I allow negative thoughts I bring demonic forces and diseases to bear on my own life by giving satan access and from that develops symptoms of which the best known in our present society is probably depression.

Jesus continues to teach about outward behaviour, anger, lust, divorce, swearing, retaliation, loving enemies and looking after the poor and the widows _(Matthew 5:11 - 6:4)_ and all of these are simple to interpret and understand in terms of obedience and disobedience. In His ministry Jesus throughout the Gospels teaches in fact lesson upon lesson about mankind's behaviour, thoughts and actions that are all very simple and that I will not repeat individually as that would make this work clumsy and too voluminous. Every believer has an instruction from God that every word in the Bible is useful in understanding sin _(2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:)_ and each of us has a personal responsibility for knowing the Word of God by reading and meditating on it continuously. There are however some implications of the teachings of the New Testament which have been so long ignored and or twisted that to the average person they have become almost indiscernible.

I will now use an example of New Testament teaching to illustrate this issue so that it may serve as a trigger in your own future reading and understanding of the Word of God. Again it is the apostle Paul that I will use when he addresses the Corinthians in his first letter to them. _(1Corinthians 6:1-4 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.)_. "To go to law before the unjust" means to go and have disputes between ourselves and others settled in what we know as the civil or criminal courts of justice; and not before the saints. Paul tells us that we should be settling these in the body of Jesus Christ i.e. His Church using Church members and the Lord God's Laws; **"we shall judge angels"** is telling us that we must realise that by the New Birth we should have received not only the ability to make these judgements upon each other according to the ways of the Father (in the same manner as when Moses appointed judges from the people to assist him), but even to judge the (fallen) angels of heaven (e.g. we have been given authority to cast out the demonic spirits - fallen angels), _"and set them to judge who are least esteemed"_ means that this ability should exist even in the least noticeable and the most humble of the disciples of Jesus Christ. Add to this the teaching of taking things to the elders of the Church _(1 Timothy 5:7)_. Now let me relate this to a present day scenario. My employer sells his company to another person that puts his own man in my position and I am simply moved to a completely different position in the company. Any lawyer will tell you that in common law this is loaded with grounds for legal action in civilian court and that is what most of us will do in this situation. One excuse that would almost immediately arise is that the people concerned are not themselves believers or Christians. Well that is too bad for me because Paul teaches that I must not be unequally yoked _(2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?)_. Furthermore is there any justification in setting the judgment of man above that of God? Then I may say but how else do I get justice? Now that question means that I have decided that I have the right to justice (remember the human rights I referred to earlier) but the Word of God clearly states that "vengeance is mine" (Romans 12:19), and that means that the exacting of justice is not for me to seek in a court of civil law but it is a matter for the Church to adjudicate an earthly settlement (i.e. restitution) as determined by the Law as the Lord God reveals in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and the consequences of my opponent's disobedience are for the Lord God to avenge. The matters raised in Romans 13:1-8 and Titus 3:1 with regard to allowing the civil authorities to decide on matters, in my humble opinion, mean that where there are instances that our brothers and sisters do turn to civil authorities to settle their disputes with us, then we have to respect that. To me the fact remains that as long as I have the initiative it remains my responsibility as a disciple of Jesus Christ to live within the Laws of God. Then the parameters of the Law as set by the Father will be sufficient for settling any dispute with a likeminded brother or sister. Likewise the way I conduct my affairs must first conform to the will of the Father and if they do they will not conflict with civil opinion except in such instances that we have to choose God's way. That would be as an example if a state law prohibits me from worshipping God alone or forces me to worship false gods then, like Daniel, I will have to be disobedient. A final objection may be that if I do not resort to the civil court for restitution then I may be at a very big financial disadvantage. Once again that was because I chose to be associated with Gentiles and if I have to resort to the courts it means that I am denying that God is my Provider.

But let me use the same instruction as above from 1 Corinthians 6:1-4 in a somewhat different example. Bear in mind how that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount about the impact of thought and attitude on disobedience and what we saw about blessings from Jesus' teaching and Deuteronomy 28. Apply then the scenario of turning to civil authorities instead of the Church or by implication to the Lord for insurance. I am getting into the field of medical insurance. Whether we take out medical cover voluntarily or by government legislation the fact remains that the whole concept of medical insurance belongs in the same basket as legal action. Who do our bodies belong to, who has our health in his hands? _(1Corinthians 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.)_ Yes I know this superficially refers to fornication but Jesus has taught us that we have to think further than our noses are long, and I think that the comparison of a harlot to the medical insurance industry (in fact any insurance industry and just for good measure add to that the pharmaceutical and private medical care facility industries) is quite fitting as both are corrupt to the core (Note that I am referring her to the industries as a whole and that I accept that there are individuals within those industries that will have integrity). The medical fraternity has never yet clearly identified the root cause of a single disease (Dr. MK Strydom), and they only focus on controlling the symptoms of disease. The insurance and medical facilities are therefore on a bandwagon that as far as they are concerned and because they have full control over it, is a bottomless pit. By our disobedience of the moral fibre of the fundamental laws of the Lord God we are financing witchcraft (apothecary ... pharmaceutical). Even when medical insurance is enforced by law as it is in many countries, we must be very careful of what our approach is to the insurance that results from our contributions. _(Matthew 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's)_ The only thing that our medical fund contributions insure is the pockets of the fund administrators and the shareholders and the only reason we as disciples of Jesus Christ contribute to the fund in cases where it is compulsory is because Jesus Christ deemed it more advantageous for his ultimate purposes to be obedient to civil authorities than to disobey them.

I must just sound a word of warning with regard to the above. If you do have medical aid and are planning to trust the Lord Jesus for your health I would suggest that you first do all the necessary repenting and casting out of bloodline curses, and demons and ensure that your system is up to scratch. There are some diseases that may in fact already be in your system without us even being aware of it yet and the moment you cancel all medical aid policies the devil will seek a place that he can still use to attack you and destroy our faith in Jesus. I would suggest for those that can afford it that they keep at least a hospital plan running until they are sure that they have a 100% clean bill of health, I have been left without choice in being dependant on government institutions and while they will provide minimum care at virtually no cost the conditions are pretty unsavoury. The complete distancing from medical insurance may well be something that needs to be implemented over two or three generations but I have no doubt that the Lord God will be satisfied with us if we are making a concerted effort in that direction.

So to wind up the understanding of sin in the New Testament we must firstly recognise that it includes everything we can learn from the Old Testament but that the New Testament goes way beyond the Old. There is far greater emphasis on thought life, attitude, distancing from foreign gods and festivals and seeking man made solutions. The more we yield ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, the nearer we approach the ideal of total surrender in exchange for holiness, the more we become aware of how every facet of our existence can bring about disobedience to the Word of God and how completely and utterly the ways of the Father are different from all that we are familiar with in our "zits im leben" (i.e. the actual situation that we find ourselves in taking all aspects of our lives into account). Note too that although there are many who at this point will question whether firstly it is then worth all this apparent "legalism" and many who will discard these truths for the kind of "prosperity" Gospels proclaimed by far too many denominations. I regret that there will inevitably be those reactions but I say with Paul, _2Corinthians 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth._ I must however, remind us all that this obedience we are discussing here (for that is the purpose of understanding sin) firstly comes with a mass of blessings that date back as far as Deuteronomy 28 and that the born again believer will WANT to obey (avoid sin) because of a love for making the Father rejoice and it will not be a burdensome thing at all.

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1.1.4 Sin, Disease and Curses:

In the foregoing pages I have mentioned both that the medical fraternity has not yet established the root causes of most diseases (Dr. MK Strydom; Henry W Wright) and that sin or disobedience brings about specific curses by the Lord God by the withdrawal of the protection of the Lord God, satan then comes and exacerbates these curses.

I have already quoted _2 Corinthians 4:15_ above that our bodies belong to God. Brother and sister that means that as long as our obedience is complete our relationship with the Lord God will be complete. In our own case when our children obey our laws at home and love and honour us as their earthly fathers and mothers, they are welcome in our homes and we will provide for their every need and protect them from every evil. When they disobey us then we will (and must) punish them and that means that our protection of them will be suspended. When will that protection be reinstated? If we answer "after the hiding is meted out" we are bluffing ourselves. Our relationship with the errant child will remain weakened until such time as they repent, i.e. until they accept that they were wrong and undertake not to do it again by formal apology. That as we well know does not always follow immediately upon the dishing out of the hiding and the longer the interim period lasts the more damaging the effect of the initial disobedience becomes. We then get "rebellious" teenagers that we can scarcely control and more and more these are falling victim to all sorts of worldly disasters and diseases.

That is exactly how sin works. Our disobedience results in immediate withdrawal of the protection of the Lord God of our "bodies" (which in this context means that the Lord God withdraws his protection from mankind's spirit, soul (mind) and body and, as it is a matter of the heart, (relationships are always a matter of the heart) the lack of protection includes the heart. That is what we see in the errant teenager that will not work at reinstating their relationship with their parents. They become hardened in the heart and that is a fatal mistake for them as well as anyone of us. The hardening of the heart is the result of the withdrawal of the Lord God from mankind in the case of Israel and the Gentiles and the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from the heart of the born again believer, and these conditions leave mankind exposed to the wiles of satan and he knows that as long as he can keep the heart hardened he will have another victim to dangle in the face of the Father. That satan will therefore make himself at home in the heart of the errant child or disobedient person stands to reason.

The child with the unrepentant or hardened heart, the disobedient man, woman or child, are at that point where all diseases find their root cause and this is increasingly being proved by medical research (Dr. MK Strydom) but the facts are very effectively being overpowered by those with vested interests in the status quo. The facts are however incontrovertible and these facts strangely enough are nothing new. They were clearly known at the time of the sending out of the twelve _(Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,_ _Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not_ _: Matthew 10:8_ _Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give_ _)_ , and it was known in the Apostolic era _(Acts 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and_ _many wonders and signs_ _were done by the apostles. Acts 3:2 And a certain man_ _lame from his mother's womb_ _was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;)_ and as we read through the New Testament we see continued evidence and teaching on the matter but above all let's not loose sight of the most important reference to the continued power for healing In the Great Commission _(Matthew 28:18-20)._

Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

It is also important that we recognise that disobedience or sin is not only the root cause of 87% t0 95% of all known physical and psychosomatic disease (Dr. MK Strydom) but that as in the Old Testament the disease will influence future generations. Apart from the lame man in the above verse from Acts there are also examples in the Gospels of inherited disease (Matthew 17:14-21, the boy with the deaf and dumb spirit and epilepsy) This was what the Lord God warned of _(Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.)_ and is still very much in evidence to this day.

As disciples of Jesus Christ it is crucial in the times that we live that we "rediscover" this fact, i.e. that the root causes of almost every disease is sin. It is vital in understanding the full meaning of obedience to the Word of God because not until we do that is there any chance of us experiencing the full blessings of obedience. The current teachers and preachers of the Word of God are very fond of proclaiming the blessings of obedience but very little is taught and even less understood about the consequences of disobedience. Little wonder then that we find every kind of disease that exists occurs almost as frequently amongst our "Christian community" as it does among the Jews and the Gentiles.

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1.1.5 Sin and Demonic Spirits:

_Mark 5:7-8; and cried with a loud voice, and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high god? I adjure thee by god, THAT THOU TORMENT me not. For he said unto him, come out of the man, thou unclean spirit._

Mat 17:17-18 then Jesus answered and said, o faithless and perverse generation, how long shall i be with you? How long shall i suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

I am here going to attempt a very brief summary of a major teaching that I would suggest that everyone needs to investigate in great depth and can do so free of charge by visiting the following website; http://www.oicb.co.za, by clicking on: "Resources" and then on YouTube videos tiaan. There you will find a teaching concerning "Bloodline or Generational Curses". Your first comment here may well be that that is not a biblical term and that is indeed true ... but, did you know that the word "Trinity" is also not found in the Bible? Does that mean the Trinity does not exist then? Or are there actually a NUMBER OF VERSES in the Bible confirming the EXISTENCE of the TRINITY" (tiaan gildenhuys)

An important aspect of ALL disease I stress again is that it affects generations continuously until the disease or curse is lifted. _( Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,_ _visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation_ _of them that hate me; Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands,_ _forgiving iniquity_ _and transgression and sin_ _, and that will by no means clear the guilty_ _; visiting the iniquity of the_ _fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation)_ _._ This means that, for example, if our great- great grandfather was in freemasonry, the occult or witchcraft (apothecary or Pharmacy - Dr. MK Strydom), then any of those curses that come from freemasonry will remain in the bloodline until lifted (see list of many of these curses in appendix.) These curses or diseases as I said do not "expire" and we have to make a conscious choice and ask the Lord God to lift the curse off us or heal us from the disease AND we must cast out the demonic spirit by the authority of Jesus Christ. Note too that we cannot repent and ask for the lifting of bloodline curses on behalf of our ancestors _(Exodus 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.)_. If either they or we ourselves do not repent during our lifetime we will go to the grave bearing that or those curses and their consequences. _Jeremiah 32:18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name, Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:_ The only people on whose behalf we can repent are our own blood children aged under twelve (Jesus showed that a child of twelve could take responsibility for their own spirituality from that age when he stayed behind in the temple and said to Mary and Joseph; _"wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business Luke 2:49?._

_Lamentations 5:7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities._ " Satan wants to bind and curse the descendants of the people that had something to do with the occult on an ongoing basis and note that these curses do not come from God but from satan, because God has withdrawn His protection as a result of our disobedience _(Ephesians 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil)._ It is our lack of repentance or persistent disobedience that leaves us vulnerable to satan. By resisting repentance we give satan access and as in common law what we give cannot summarily be taken back and we have therefore basically "contracted" (in legal jargon) with satan to allow him access into our beings. The Lord God wants the generations to be set free _(Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.)._ That lifting of the curse can only come from a conscious and humble act of repentance and ASKING THE LORD GOD TO LIFT THAT CURSE from the carrier (The same logic must be applied to the consequences of all acts of disobedience as the Lord God himself applies to the act of disobedience in tithing: _(Malachi 3:8 &9 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.)_

Before moving forward from bloodline and generation curses just two observations. Firstly these can be compared with genetic diseases that are passed on from generation to generation as for example phobias and fears. Secondly note that we have nothing to loose by asking for these curses to be lifted and it is only satan that will attempt to prevent you from doing so (not least by the words of other "believers" that try to convince us that these things are no longer applicable because they themselves are dying for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) and the fact is that the Bible clearly states that the curses will only end in the new heaven and new earth, after the 1000 year reign, as we read in Revelation 22:3. That is a 1000 years after the second coming when Jesus Christ establishes His throne in the new millennial temple in Jerusalem that will cover 509 hectares of land. _(Revelation 22:1-3 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.)_

Apart from these bloodline curses some of the other extremely active and destructive demonic spirits that we know of are the spirit of Jezebel _(1Kings 16:30-31, and Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.), the spirit of Ahab (lack of leadership, initiative and laziness)_ , the **Leviathan** spirit, the spirit of **Athalia** , the **Python** spirit, and many, many others

These spirits all operate on mankind by influencing mankind's behaviour and are all spirits that build distorted memory trees (files of negative memories) in the brain that store harmful information and cause genetic degeneration (by the secretion of harmful and or excessive hormones and stimulants) that worsens from one generation to the next (tiaan gildenhuys ) (Dr. MK Strydom)

The diseases that are associated with these include both Physical diseases (in the most common form by loss of resistance against viral infections) and psychosomatic diseases including ADHD, dementia, epilepsy and PTSD (Dr. MK Strydom). These are clearly illustrated in the Case of the spirit called Legion in Mark 5:7 above (dementia) and epilepsy in the boy in Matthew 17:17-18 with the Deaf and Dumb spirit.

In this chapter my purpose is to tell you that sin or disobedience impacts mankind in spirit, soul (mind) and body and that this is supported both in the Word of God and by modern scientific medical research. I am not going to submit detailed proof of that here as that would go beyond the scope of this book and be a matter of duplicating the comprehensive evidence that already exists in this field and to which I have listed ample references at the end of this book. To those who are prepared to accept the evidence contained here as sufficient I would suggest that they will get a far more detailed understanding of this subject by studying all the reference material particularly if you are called to be an active user of this information in your God given purpose. The reason for that is that we will be challenged and most vigorously so by those in leadership positions in the various church denominations in which we are active as well as those with vested interests in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

The sad fact is that before all this information will have significant influence over the church (i.e. if there is still enough time left before the rapture which is decidedly and clearly imminent) that many of those who are in the most dire need of this knowledge and the authority given to us by Jesus Christ to deal with the afflictions of our brothers and sisters as a priority and Gentiles as a command from the Lord, many of them are blinded to these truths by these very physical and psychosomatic diseases and more especially by tradition and false teaching. Tradition being largely that mankind has become convinced that the medical practice has greater authority than our heavenly Father, and teaching in that the bulk of modern "Christian" churches are teaching falsehoods such as that "Jesus conquered all the curses on the Cross" (quoting a pastor from the denominational church I attend), but forgetting that, that does not include the curses that come upon us from the Father that we can only have lifted by repenting and asking the Father to lift them. Note also that while Jesus overcame satan and his curses that means that Jesus has authority over satan and his curses. It does not mean that they have suddenly disappeared. They still need to be repented for and Jesus has given mankind authority to cast out satan and his Demons in His name _(Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.)_ The point though is that unless this information is going to be used purely for your own personal growth in your relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, you will meet stern resistance for which you will need extensive proof and knowledge of where to find that proof so that we may be led in our memories to those facts by the Holy Spirit when the need arises.

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1.2 Sin's affect on salvation

1.2.1 From Eden:

Mankind was created by the Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the image of the Holy Trinity (note "Holy Trinity" which from hereon I will call the "Trinity"). That and the fact that when He was finished the Lord God stood back and said of every facet of His creation that it is good _(Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31)_ , means that mankind was created without having any disease, physical or psychosomatic, without any genetic degeneration and without (obviously) any bloodline or generational curses and afflictions. Mankind in fact was created with their heavenly bodies that they will receive again at the rapture and like unto that body of Jesus Christ that was seen by the disciples after the Resurrection and before the Ascension. Mankind was created for eternity and the first act of disobedience by Adam and Eve caused a radical change in that creation. Disobedience from the very beginning has been the cause of both physical and spiritual disaster.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heal.

Among the first affects was a spiritual affect that determined all future relationships between mankind and satan to be loaded with enmity (i.e. hostility and hatred) We have been at war with satan and his mignons ever since.

Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

In addition there is a also an immediate physical affect of sin on mankind in that they immediately became subject to pain and particularly in the case of childbirth. We believe that the Lord God does not act without purpose so we can see that this punishment was given to mankind as a sign of impending danger, the pain of a burning coal protects us from fire, and the pain of childbirth serves to imprint on the mother her duties to protect the child in the child's growing years by leading them onto the paths of righteousness.

Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

From this we see that in addition an environment that was once friendly and yielded all the nourishment that mankind needed in unlimited amounts was now unfriendly and would from then have to be tended and preserved by hard and diligent work. The perfect garden of creation was closed to them and they were cast out into the East.

_Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them_. Finally we see that the disobedience or sin of Adam and Eve cost mankind their innocence! It's not simply about nakedness. This is about the mind of the creation of the Lord God i.e. the soul of mankind. A soul that was created for intimate relationship with the Trinity, with each other and their surroundings because everything that was perfect had been defiled and needed the protection of the armour of God. Note that the first clothes were given to mankind by the Father and not made by themselves as a foreshadowing of the armour of God.

I wonder now how anyone cannot at least begin to see a very huge connection between our disobedience to the Lord God and our complete well being. Right here already we have the answers to remove every shadow of doubt that anyone may ever have raised about the love of God for His children and the lack of protection that is the wage of disobedience.

That fallen condition of mankind saw such degeneration in the world that with very few exceptions (like Job and finally Noah) everyone and everything became so fouled up that the Lord God sent the flood and allowed only a minute remnant of creation to survive and start on a fresh slate. Again the population grew and clearly started down the same old path as before only this time the Lord God calls out the remnant of obedience in Abram to build for himself a nation that will be "his people and He would be their God" (Leviticus 11:45). First they had to grow in number though and spend 400 years in captivity before the Lord God formalised the covenant agreement with the descendants of Abraham that were by then a large nation of several million people. They too were a people that had been corrupted and defiled but the Father undertook to cover them from the time of the issuing of the Ten Commandments based on their obedience.

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1.2.2 Israel Promised Exemption:

We have already examined Deuteronomy 28 earlier and that shows that the Old Testament, i.e. the Old Covenant was also a type of salvation that applied specifically to the chosen Nation of Israel. They could come to salvation, by their works of obeying the Law and its full application as revealed to Moses and taught by Moses and the Levitical priesthood to the nation. In addition the blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1-14 shows that salvation included that they could regain full healing from spiritual AND physical, and genetic disease and degeneration.

This blanket act of salvation by the grace of the Lord God was accepted officially by the nation but again only after further dissention and consequences;

(Exodus 34:10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.)

An important command that still, even if in modified form, applies to the Church of Jesus Christ to this day, was issued concerning the feasts of the Lord. The first four of these feasts _(Leviticus 23 1-25)_ were the Passover (Pesach), the feast of unleavened bread (Hamatzot) the feast of first fruits (Yom Habikkurim) Pentecost (Shavuot) and these have all been fulfilled by, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at His first coming and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and our method of keeping these feasts has therefore changed from the way the Jews celebrated it to our reading of appropriate texts of the Bible and celebrating in the Lord's Supper with the members of the Church of Jesus Christ present, i.e. by us in our homes, or in dedicated assemblies but maintaining the calendar of the Lord God. The last three feasts are still to be completed and the last will only be completed at the end of the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ and these feasts we must continue to celebrate until then by participating in the Lord's Supper and reading the appropriate texts and observing the appropriate times with the Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

At this stage the importance of these festivals (i.e. from the Mosaic Law to the New Testament times) is that we must observe that the failure to carry out these ordained festivals by the nation of Israel and the mixing and/or replacement of these festivals had severe consequences on the people again both physically, spiritually and genetically as well as economically and socially. We see in the history of Israel diseases, droughts, pestilences, wars and civil wars, exile and enslavement and in fact a complete falling away that again saw another period of history of nearly 400 years that the Lord God seems almost to have written them off between Malachi and Matthew. God re-enters the lives of Israel in the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary where we see the people of Israel in a very religiously corrupted state under the domination of the tyrannical power of Rome. Although this event was prophesied it clearly spells out to us that the complete spiritual and moral decay of the Chosen Nation had reached a point of becoming completely unacceptable and they were given one more chance to be redeemed in spirit, soul and body.

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1.2.3 Exemption lost/Jew=Gentile=Egypt:

_Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,_ _Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not_ _:_ After the birth of Jesus John the Baptist prepares the way and many Jews are baptised after repentance. Then Jesus begins with His ministry and soon starts off the ministry of the disciples by sending them again first to the Jews so that they were the first to be offered a new chance at salvation and would not be able to say that the Lord their God had not dealt with them fairly. Many ultimately were saved and became "followers of the Way" i.e. disciples of Jesus Christ. It is of the utmost importance here to realise that the Bible is addressed to three groups of people. It addresses either the Jews (the Israelites, the people of the Lord God) or the "people of the Way", i.e. those saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and members of His Body the Church of Jesus Christ and lastly the Bible addresses the "Gentiles", i.e. the unbelievers or unsaved apart from the Jews. The Opportunities that were offered to Israel to redeem themselves and be raptured with the saints has now been lost except if they, like you and I accept salvation by the gift of faith and the blood of Jesus Christ. Their salvation under the Law has been placed on hold until after the rapture and they are still to face the wrath of the Lord God; according to the prophecies spoken over them by God Himself in the Old Testament.

As a result we see that they still suffer from a range of genetic diseases (all can be traced back to pre Christian era) the best known of which is probably Tay Sachs disease but there is also Bloom syndrome. (Babies with this disease are born small and remain shorter than normal as they grow) Canavan disease, Cystic fibrosis, Familial dysautonomia (FD), Fanconi anemia, Gaucher disease, Mucolipidosis IV, Niemann-Pick disease (type A), (en.Wikipedia.org and www.uofmhealth.org - Ashkenasi Jewish genetic Panel) This just proves again to those sceptics that attempt to relegate the affects of sin to the realms of the spiritual only that the effects are and remain as was ordained by the Lord God in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. If the disobedience of the elect (i.e. Israel) has led to disease that is both physical and spiritual and psychosomatic then it absolutely follows that the rejection of the Lord God by the Gentiles (i.e. all the people of the earth that are not born again believers or Jews) will indeed have the same and more severe consequences. As the protection of the Lord God is also withdrawn from the disobedient Jews to a very large extent (and such protection as they still enjoy from God is only because of the Abrahamic Covenant (that means all but the Messianic Jews)}, their exposure to disease is in fact almost as bad as that of the Gentiles and their previous exemption from the demonic sprits (diseases of Egypt) have all but vanished into thin air.

The significance of this we will see later in this book but just briefly the connection lies in the commands of not being unequally yoked and the celebration of false and pagan festivals.

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1.2.4 The New Testament and sin

We all know that sin is sin and therefore this new sub-heading may seem to be almost superfluous. The point of the chapter is however not so much about the actual act of disobedience as the two major changes, in defining sin, brought about by the Life, Death and Resurrection of the incarnate Jesus Christ. The Old Testament way to forgiveness was solely possible by specific actions or what we know as "works". These works involved a complete and utter obedience to every single Law and regulation from the Lord God that is recorded in the Old Testament and perfect obedience of every act of worship and sacrifice. We are blessed that the Lord God, in his mercy and out of His love for mankind, has graciously accepted that mankind in their fallen and degenerated present state are incapable of such adherence to His will and that obedience. _Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord_. There is therefore under the Old Covenant no escape because the sin is there. Mankind will no sooner do penance by offering the prescribed sacrifice than he will be bound to commit sin again and the "severity "of the sin is irrelevant.

The solution that the Lord our God gave us in grace and mercy was by coming to mankind, as completely man in the incarnate Son, paying the inevitable price of forgiveness by a once for all for all time perfect blood sacrifice, to earn the right of life and death over all mankind. Since that we are in a position to be forgiven our trespasses by humble acts of repentance before the Father through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who now owns our lives, and to be set free from the penalties of sin. I am sure that if you are reading this book that you will already have known this and will agree with what has been stated.

That brings me then to the second major change that the New Covenant has brought to bear on our lives. In addition to the fact that our salvation is now no longer dependant on our works, the Lord Jesus Christ has given us two very significant gifts that are indeed more precious than our lives themselves which are the gifts of Faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But with these comes a significant and vitally important and second major change to the Law of God, which is the motivation of every word and deed that proceeds from each and every one of us. This single addition is the distinguishing characteristic of the Disciples of Jesus Christ which is their **love** _(John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.)_ Both the motivation for the obedience and the mark of the disciples of Jesus Christ is love and this has enormous implications for everything that we have spoken about up to this point in the book. What this means is that to the disciples of Jesus Christ obedience to the will of God the Father is now no longer a duty or an instruction to be obeyed. It now becomes, by the grace of God, an inborn desire to know and do the will of the Father to make the joy of the Father complete.

As disciples of Jesus we, by accepting the freely offered gift of faith and the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Redeemer (Lord and saviour of our lives) our old selves are put to death and we are given a new life (born again) in which our spirits are restored and a process of renewal of the soul (mind) is set in motion by which our minds are enabled to develop a new basic route map for our mind process, _(Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world:_ _but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind_ _, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God)_. We must be clear about this thing that we term the "new birth" because it is responsible for a great deal of the misunderstanding that exists and the consequent wrong teaching that exists in our midst about forgiveness of sin and healing of spirit, soul (mind) and body. Paul makes it clear that the new birth is a renewal of spirit that enables us to journey through sanctification to a renewal of the mind and that we still need to "sacrifice" the body to the authority of Jesus Christ in order that our healing may be complete. Traditionally "sacrifice" was the method of repentance for sin or disobedience and so what Paul clearly states here is that the Lord will still heal the rest of all born again believers when by the renewal of their mind they are ready and willing to "sacrifice", or repent, and ask for healing and or lifting of curses.

There are those who will argue against this point firstly because they believe the lie that cannot be substantiated in the Bible that the curses were broken on the cross _(Revelation 22:1-3 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him)._ Then there are others that will argue against it because they just don't see the logical reason for it. The point is that by the healing of the mind or soul we will be able to realise when we are disobedient far more readily and because there is now a more easily applicable way of saving ourselves, through the blood of the Lamb, we can first get rid of the root cause of our physical and mental afflictions before getting rid of the symptoms. (In the medical industry the "symptoms" are essentially synonymous with the disease, and they deal in the suppression of symptoms rather than the elimination of the root causes - Dr. MK Strydom) That means that the medical fraternity's solution allows for the symptoms to return over and over while the born again believers first get rid of the curse, satan and or the demonic possession/oppression and cancel the contract giving them access to our beings, before the healing takes place so that once we are healed the symptoms cannot return. This in a nutshell is the whole and complete problem with the medical practices of today. They are all dealing with the relief of symptoms and not with the removal of the root cause (Dr. MK Strydom) and so it does not take long for the symptoms to recur and in fact to become more severe as the contract giving them access is still left open and the curse will return seven fold ( _Matthew 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation)_. That's the reason why viruses are getting more and more unpredictable and the lives that they have within themselves that enable them to constantly change their own genetics become increasingly difficult to suppress by medication (pharmacy - apothecary - sorcery) as is clearly seen in the current Covid-19 viral pandemic.

I will briefly explain what takes place by the renewal of the mind in the new birth from an adaptation from the medical parlance in scientifically supported evidence by Dr. MK Strydom. Mankind's minds have a section that is like a giant multimillion gigabyte memory bank with electronic paths connecting each memory file with the decision making part of the brain in the frontal lobe. These memory files in the upper part of the cranium (head) are of two types which we can describe as positive memories or negative memories. The "positive files" are comparable to softwood trees and shrubs with delicate and beautiful leaves and flowers, the "negative files" are comparable to dense bushes of impenetrable thorn trees. What happens to mankind as a result of the curses of disobedience is that the "negative files" become more and more, denser and denser, and in the process overcrowd the growth and the paths to the positive files. This is precisely the intention of the works of satan and his demons in us when they incessantly stream negative thoughts into our thoughts which if not captured become the vicious and fast growing thorn trees. Eventually the paths to the positive files are all or mostly "short circuited" until all reasoning processes and decisions are dominated by the false and destructive information in the negative files. These result in reactions such as fear and anxiety and many other factors that are responsible for a cycle of secreting ever larger dosages of harmful adrenalin and other fluids in the brain that ultimately affect us spirit, soul and body and impedes the ability of mankind to obey the Lord God or choose salvation through Jesus Christ and hence the gift of faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant. The New Birth then, is the renewal of the spirit that leads to the process of the renewal of the mind that enables us to make a full and meaningful about turn away from sin towards the Lord God and opens the door to complete restoration. This is also what explains the statement that Paul makes in differentiating between the minds of the Gentiles and of the disciples of Jesus Christ when he says _: Ephesians 4:17-18 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:_ (where the blindness of the heart is about the corruption of the heart's brain and the consequential absence of the Holy Spirit).

Now that we have a better understanding of what the change of emphasis and affect of the New Covenant is about I will examine a few examples of what this means in our ordinary lives so as to illustrate the principle of obedience to the Lord God in more detail in order that each of us may make a full application of this in every facet of our lives.

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1.2.5 Sins of Fathers and/or Husbands:

Ephesians 5:22-33 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the WIVES BE TO THEIR OWN HUSBANDS IN EVERY THING.25 Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and THEY TWO SHALL BE ONE FLESH. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she REVERENCE HER HUSBAND.

Let's just look at a few issues raised by the underlined portions of the text. "The husband is the head of the wife" is not a disputable proposition but a firm and binding command that is issued from the mouth and heart of the same Father that by His grace and mercy provided us with the New Covenant. It places the man in a position (just as we saw when God created man in the beginning), of responsibility by the command of the Lord God. If now prospective husband or wife or the in-laws or parents jointly or severally enforce an additional ante-nuptial contract, that in many instances is in contradiction to the Laws of God (such as where a wife is given authority over matters that God has given the husband responsibility for, like authority over step children or adopted children), they are jointly or severally disobeying the Father by usurping the authority of the Father and altering His divinely ordained bond. You cannot alter the command of God by "agreeing" to include or exclude terms and conditions to the marriage that are foreign to God's Laws (which are in any event comprehensive and complete and that is tantamount to giving ourselves greater authority than God??). Mankind is given the "authority of heaven" (see "kingdom of heaven" in 32 verses in the Gospel of Matthew), (my book "the Kingdom of Heaven - the Authority of Mankind" refers) with very specific conditions and that is God's plan that we cannot override. Thus marriage by "Antenuptial Contract (ANC), if entered into at all, is to be done with great care to remain within the Laws laid down by God. (As a further note here let me clarify that there are those who would have entered into an ANC before they were born again, that does not mean that they are now eternally cursed. As people we may not be able to alter the ANC but in the sight of God we can ask that any curses that may arise from the "pre-existing ANC" be lifted in sincere remorse and repentance with the appropriate setting aside of unscriptural conditions before God).

But let's move on, "as Christ is head of the church" is next in line. The Church is the Bride of Christ, Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for the Church, i.e. pleading for your and my forgiveness of sins and for our lives, Jesus lives in the bodies of His disciples physically and through the Holy Spirit _(Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.)_. Christ came and taught by word and deed how to take care of the Church (His Bride) and the instruction of the Lord is therefore that the husband should take care of his wife within the same style of servant leadership and humility and defence and copying every facet of the example of Christ Jesus and applying them to the marriage contract and to his bride. If this is so what good can any ANC achieve that has not been fairly and clearly defined by this? The ANC can in effect only be a watering down, a weakening and potentially evil influence on the marriage. Is the extraordinarily high divorce rate therefore any surprise at all?

In the next section I underlined we get to the word "love" or the Greek word "agape" which we all know is a term covering every possible form of care and nurturing and has nothing to do with "eros" or the erotic side of the marriage. Remember that earlier we spoke about this condition being an addition to the Laws of the New Covenant and that it required a mind superior to that of a sinful person. If that is the kind of relationship that the Father demands in a marriage the question arises as to how a man can seek to enter a marriage contract with a woman that is not herself born again (and I am of course here talking of a marriage where the husband is a born again believer) when the act of being unequally yoked is expressly forbidden _(2Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?)_ Such a marriage is starting on the wrong foot and will require very determined effort to get it to be blessed by the Lord God. Entering into an unequally yoked marriage is something that can only be put on track again by the Lord and would require a great deal of prayer and faithfulness from the saved spouse and or conscientious intercessor. It can be set right _(Matthew 19:25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible)_ but only by Jesus Christ. Bear in mind that while it can be set straight, the wording of Jesus is very apt. When you inspan a young ox for the first time it has to be trained by the older and experienced one next to him, i.e. unequally yoked with it. The experienced one will initially be doing the work of both while the younger one will constantly be working against the experience which means that the load is in fact tripled or quadrupled. It is also a fact that we need to be conscious of when leading a married but unsaved person to the Lord Jesus Christ. In this case if the couple are not led to Jesus simultaneously the one that is saved will be in that unequally yoked position and must be supported through the process of bringing the other to salvation.

Finally let us look at the last bit of underlining; _"washing of water by the word"._ To demonstrate that the Head of the Church came to serve the Lord Jesus washed the feet of the disciples with water in an act of submission and humility that did in no way take away His authority. That means then that the husband's position at the head of the marriage is not one of unquestionable _domination_ by fear and intimidation but one of engendering a trust and respect by demonstrating a willingness to _lead_ his bride up on high with the instructions and wisdom of the Word, to _lead_ the bride to the same respect and knowledge of the Word that the husband has and must acquire and to ensure that this is passed on faithfully to the children. As Jesus ensured the sound mission of the apostles, so the parents under the leadership of the husband/father must ensure that the children are in a position to take responsibility for their own relationship with the Lord God by the age of twelve (see motivation above)

Now as fathers and husbands we begin to see the impact that the New Covenant has on just one aspect of our existence and how we don't even need to have satan or freemasonry around for us to fall victim to curses and that not only for ourselves but also our wives and children. This same teaching applies to all facets of life, our employment, living standards, relationships with others, whether friend or foe, and our religious convictions. I know a good number of people that are very quick and fond of saying that we cannot leave it all to God but that we must put in our own fair share of effort and I will not differ with them on that score. The problem however comes in that too many take that philosophy too far and want to do it all their way and if one thing is clear from the role of fathers and husbands it is that we can no more be obedient to the 'New Covenant" in our own strength than the Jews could keep the Old Covenant. Jesus has given us the rebirth of our spirit, leading to the renewal of the mind by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and as we consider these things we begin to get a much clearer picture of the reasons for that. The new mind (the brains in the head and the heart) have created a temple for the Holy Spirit and a new and unobstructed/less obstructed pathway to positive reasoning and positive decision making. Husband and father I beg you to keep these facts intact so that you may be led by the Holy Spirit into all righteousness and so that you will be empowered to remain both obedient and blessed and that your brides and children may be blessed and so that ultimately all may be restored to full health of spirit, soul and body.

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1.2.6 Sins of Mothers/Wives:

" **Wives submit ... in everything"** Mankind has seemingly come to a point of degeneration where covetousness is one of the strongest motivating forces in our lives and whereas the majority of men seek after status unrighteously, so women seek after opulence and authority unrighteously. The entire emancipation of women is a cleverly structured attack by satan on the family as the basic unit of society from which all other stability must emanate. Undermine the family and society as a whole collapses into evil. I have heard so many women state that they "are not housewives but they are career women" that I've lost count (but in our world I would think that the number of women under the age of sixty that fall into that category is well over 75%) and for most of them the motivation would be control. They want to be in control of their spending, control of their lives, control of their desires and that is a dereliction of their God given commands. In the homes I know well, in the under sixty group, the number of households where the women are dominant are currently exceeding 50%. There is no question that they are completely ignoring their place in the marriage and have no conscience about the consequences. These wives, by usurping their husbands' authority, are promoting and giving free access to the spirit of lust to themselves, and their children. Unless their husbands are very well covered and protected by the Lord God, in them as well. Yes if you think that I am saying that the husband's unfaithfulness in the marriage is the result of the wife usurping his authority you are 100% right. That is if the husband does not allow his wife to usurp his authority but she overrides him, where the husband allows the wife to usurp his authority the husband will be responsible for allowing the Jezebel spirit access to the women in his house so we must distinguish between these two possibilities. What's more mothers, it will rebound on your daughters and affect their moral obedience to the Lord and make them unsuitable as marriage partners because the same spirit of lust that caused husbands to become unfaithful will make your daughter promiscuous. It will also have disastrous affects on your finances not least because of the access given to the Python spirit of laziness and comfort fixation. That spirit will find ways to pervert your sense of stewardship and finding excuses to spend beyond your means and will cause that spirit to find place in your children's lives so that they too will overspend until it leads to ruin in one way or another. These are the curses and more than that the fact that they have usurped their Husband's authority brings about a dereliction of duty on their part that will also have further and serious consequences in their own lives and that of their immediate family and generations to come. Dear sisters in Jesus Christ, when your spirits were born again and your minds started to be renewed you had an opportunity to re examine the norms and standards of the society we live in. It does not require any more than that to determine that the norms and standards of society are completely off the rail and contrary to anything contained in the Bible. Your new spirit had every opportunity to turn the tide and take up your rightful place alongside your husband, to be a wife and not a career woman, a mother and not an absentee mother and a daughter to your and his parents. You had every opportunity to set yourself values that were Godly and realistically attainable without sending twelve year old children into the world that are unsaved and unprepared to take spiritual control of their lives and inheriting a multitude of curses. You may say that is harsh, legalistic and unfair but I say to you with loving concern for you and your family that these are the truths and undeniable facts of the matter as revealed to us in the Word of God and your objection simply brings me back again to **Hosea 4:6**.

The next text that I made bold is **"the two shall be one flesh"** which is a reference to the "eros" love in a marriage. It is a part of marriage that is beautiful beyond description and was not only part of God's creation for reproduction but also because it addresses many other God created needs of both husband and wife. When the woman is so busy "building a career" that she neglects this part of the marriage then she will amongst others cause a detrimental effects on the self image of her husband that will in turn become either violent or self punitive. She will then become the victim of the husbands temper that will break her down either physically or mentally or both and though the husband (rightly so) will carry the blame in criminal law for his actions the root cause of it lies in the frigidity of the wife and the ultimate impact on the husband and his sons for generations to come will suffer from low self image to depression and suicidal tendencies (we make a huge mistake by thinking that those men that have to stand trial for the physical abuse of their wives and commit suicide before they are convicted do so out of shame and remorse when in fact it is a consequence of a psychosomatic disease and curse brought on by frigidity of the wife -i.e. unless the husband fails to exercise his authority by having and sustaining the Ahab spirit in himself.-In the book of 1 Kings 21 we see that Ahab had no objection to Jezebel's evil plans and actions).

Lastly the reverence for their husbands section I printed in bold. Reverence for your husbands is none other than the female counterpart of servant leadership. We love saying "charity begins at home" but this reverence is about the fact that respect and obedience begins at home. As the wife or mother represents the Bride of Jesus Christ that will be invited to the wedding feast as long as the Church remains obedient and repentant so the obedience or reverence of the wife is the condition for the marriage being a feast of blessing in the family and a vital teaching to the understanding of obedience in the children. An irreverent wife is by implication a disobedient wife to the husband or father and that is the example that the children will learn from and apply to their relationship to the Lord God and other people, and in their own marriages. A home of disobedient children is a home of chaos and strife between all parts of the family. A further disastrous effect of wives usurping their husband's authority on the children is that it develops in children (by the mothers' opening of the door and giving satan access to them) a spirit of division and manipulation. The children soon learn to divide their parents to have it their way which begins almost innocently and cutely but as they grow into maturity it has major ramifications. As an illustration the sort of thing that happens is that a child turning 18 will announce their intention to celebrate their birthday with friends in a local pub. The father will say "not if I can help it" but the mother will say "oh it is not so bad" and "she is (he is) a responsible child". By this stage the child is quite adept at manipulating and rather than facing a loss of intimacy with his wife that father gives in. Now the "adult" child has established a neuro path that is corrupt and blocks out obedience and humility towards all seniors that disagree with her and that will influence her future work performance and create in her a false sense of superiority. In the mother's relationship with the Lord God these are all disobedient and sinful behaviours that result in further curses on herself and her family. Without firm intervention the mother's disobedience can ultimately be responsible for her child ending up in hell. Note that this exact same train of argument can be applied to husbands/fathers and in their ways they can be just as responsible for their children ending up in hell, so this is not meant to be a chauvinistic illustration but merely a matter of illustrating biblical truths.

Finally let me end off this section on husbands, fathers, wives and mothers by suggesting that you read on in the book of Ephesians and consider the implications of disobedience to the relationships between parents and children. In part as far as children under twelve and the under eighteen are concerned we have already covered a fair amount of ground. What many however miss is that the instructions regarding parents and children also apply to "adult" children. Parents being disobedient to the instruction of not frustrating are causing curses upon themselves and their children. The disobedience of adult children to the Lord in respecting their own parents will have disastrous affects in bringing up their own children. By the dishonouring of their parents they will call upon themselves one of the oldest curses (where a curse is the opposite of a promise or a blessing _(Exodus 20:12)_ ) and that is of a shortened lifespan.

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1.2.7 Breakdown in Relationship with: -The Word:

Have you ever wondered at the incredible strength of faith and dedication to tradition that existed among our Jewish relatives? A Jewish home is still largely ruled by Old Testament standards and the early role of mothers in the lives of their children is still taken very seriously and the majority of Jewish children can practically quote the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) by the age of twelve. That most of us know but my point is it is the actual or original words that they know. By this I mean it is not the stories as painted in some "children's version" of the Torah or New International Version of the Torah. Just examine some of the stories in your children's Bibles and observe the extent of both false and also confused detail. The Jews are taught the details that are nearest to our King James Versions so that by the age of twelve they have a complete and "adult" understanding of basic Laws and genuine dealings of God with His chosen people and do not have to make a transition from "fairy tales" to the "Word of God".

This is a very real issue that the present day churches have to deal with. The type of Sunday school lessons traditionally taught to this day in the majority of churches create a situation in which certain impressions are left on the brains of the child in their formative years that they later have to be taught were lies or falsehoods. Now you see the problem! Let me illustrate this further. Sunday school stories using children's Bibles teach a romantic comedy version of the birth of Jesus Christ in the stable and they annually put on the end of year nativity plays in which the three wise men are part of the birth scene and the whole is sold to them as the reason for celebrating the 25th of December as the birth of Christ. This traditional "Christmas Lie" (see the video on http://www.oicb.co.za under resources - tiaan) is now a severe bone of contention that the majority of pastors refuse to refute and in so doing are leading their entire flock into celebrating the very false festivals the Bible strictly prohibits. I wonder whether these pastors are conscious of the fact that they are in fact causing curses and diseases that will fall over their sheep and themselves?

The "children" are now disillusioned and cannot adapt to the truth and they are then further confused by a ridiculous amount of "modern" translations of the Bible that are utterly distorted and in addition paraphrases of the Bible that are read as being the actual word of God. Then "believers" and satan together convince us that these versions only serve to make the Bible more understandable, which is a lie that actually means that the false text seems more attractive but there is no way the false text can make the true text "more understandable". By this stage those brain paths that we spoke about previously have been so blocked up under the influence of satan that he has made himself quite at home in the children's minds so that they are so tied up by curses that the Gospel cannot reach them because their brain functions now tell them it is all a lie. These people are now in a condition that can be described as being "out of relationship with the Word". When we are out of relationship with the Word, we are out of relationship with Jesus Christ and hence the Father and hence the Holy Spirit, We are in other words unprotected and those negative files in our mind are producing harmful chemicals in vast quantities because our genes tell us that something is wrong sending (by the overproduction of toxic chemicals in the brain), signals of stress and fear and anxiety. Our physical and mental bodies were not designed for this (hence the Bible tells us 65 times to fear not"). These toxins now act upon our human bodies producing symptoms that manifest in haemorrhoids, backache, heart attacks, and depression and many other psychosomatic diseases (Dr. MK Strydom). While medical practitioners now treat these symptoms they are failing to deal with the causes and thus healing is replaced with temporary relief and complete healing will not take place because the curse has firmly embedded itself and will remain until it is lifted by the Father.

The fear and other factors furthermore lead to multitudes of believers questioning why the Lord God is allowing these things to happen to themselves or their loved ones and God will not answer them because of their disobedience and the majority of clergy refuse to acknowledge these facts and the churches are emptied and false religions and prosperity religion takes over. Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. All because of a broken relationship with the Word of God and note very carefully that it does not end in the first generation but will be passed on down to the children.

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1.2.8 Breakdown in Relationship with - Self:

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

By "broken relationship with self" is meant a negative thinking about ourselves; "it is all my fault", or "I am useless", or "nobody loves me" (note that these thoughts are not from ourselves but from satan as all thoughts have their origin either in the Lord God or are from satan). These are the things that people often use or say in mockery and yet they are a very real part of the reasoning of a huge percentage of the population. In my years in full time ministry fully 90% of the people I counselled had a poor self image and because of that they ended up at the receiving end of the wrongs of others more often than not. Just consider for example that the majority of abused women will blame themselves for what they are experiencing when often the husband or some curse is the real cause. Most counsellors will very quickly tell them: "no it is not your fault and you need to improve your self image" and will try to teach them ways to do that. (This is not hearsay, it is a fact, it is what I did and it is what I was taught was the proper thing to do). Now ask yourself why in modern counselling practice so many clergy end up with a whole string of broken people dependant on them for their sanity. As soon as they try to stand on their own feet they "loose it again" and run back to Pastor "X" and that pastor soon becomes an idol in their eyes, a superhero in his own eyes, and together they give place to satan to bind them in different ways). Improving the self image may well be the result that must be achieved but the concern here is in understanding the root cause of the problem. Dealing with the root cause will remove the stimulation that keeps reinstating the poor self image. Only then can a victim successfully build a self image that corresponds with the image that God has of them which is a positive image. That way is very different from an eastern style mantra system of telling myself "I am good". Positive "self image" and a proper understanding of who we are in the sight of God may in the minds of some psychologists be the same thing but they are in fact worlds apart. For one thing the Image God has of us is always the same, and is perfect; whereas self-image is opinionated and destructible.

Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ we are not, never were and never will be unworthy. Jesus Christ is alive in us, the reborn disciples, how can that make us unworthy? God created us out of love, for a purpose and to be in relationship with Him. How can that make us unworthy? And also remember Paul's admonition in Romans 12:2 where he tells us to think of ourselves "soberly" or in other words as we really are, not inflating our opinions artificially but equally not belittling ourselves either. Humility is not grovelling; humility is the master washing the feet of His disciples without losing His dignity or authority!

But why is the Bible so against this negative thinking about ourselves? The reason is because it is debilitating and will lead to a complete breakdown of social integration beginning with our relationship with the Lord God. Those negative thoughts, like the breakdown of relationship with the word, have similar results psychologically and chemically and on our lives. People get to the point where they consider themselves so useless that they exclude themselves even from the possibility of a relationship with Jesus Christ and the psychological damage done by this form of disobedience on the human mind is life threatening and is in fact a factor that is found in almost every single case of attempted or successful suicide, and does not satan just love that! That demon has the victim separated from the grace of God and dead before the demon could be cast out, repentance being made and salvation brought to the victim so they are in satan's clutches forever, a permanent arrow in his quiver. I shudder to think how the teachers in our churches are one day going to be seen by Jesus Christ when they too stand before the judgment seat. But does their extreme guilt absolve me or you? According to my Bible I have also got a share in the Great Commission _(Matthew 28:16 - 20)_ and while I may not be officially classed as a teacher I will only escape double punishment for my share of negligence but not all the punishment. Does that make me all right? If I am sent to hell I am sent to hell, and being sent to hell doubly does not mean there is any difference between the place I may be sent to or they will be sent to. Brothers and sisters we must wake up!

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1.2.9 Breakdown in Relationship with - Others:

The affect of a breakdown in relationship with self leads on to a breakdown in relationship with others firstly on the grounds of where we ended just above here. We must realise that relationship with others, whether Jews, Gentiles or brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ is an unconditional command of the Lord God _(Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;)_ and specifically because we are part of the Great Commission and the "love" command Jesus Christ added to the Law.

As readers I am sure you can apply the same line of thought as in the preceding broken relationships. What I want to address here in addition is that as believers we have a very specific role to play. How often do we not hear the old saying of "if that's what Christians are like then I want nothing to do with them", and how often have we been the object of other people's disgust. Now the problem is compounded not only by the fact that we have lost the chances of a relationship with others which will have all the foregoing complications but I have now become an agent of the devil instead of a disciple of Jesus Christ. thus in one small step I not only lose the protection of the Father but I step straight into the occult and satan and his demonic forces will engulf us immediately and all manner of disease will break lose in us and our children. Example? Your associates at work get together for a "quick one" after work and persuade you to join them in the den of Bacchus (i.e. the organisation's bar or a public bar or tavern). We then are persuaded that rather than take a soft drink, to please Bacchus and just have one alcoholic beverage. That leads to another and eventually we disappear and another takes our place (that looks exactly like us) that behaves badly and causes the disgust. It was our responsibility in the first place to say a very firm but polite "NO" to the original invite. We have no business in those places under any circumstances or any excuses.

Proverbs 4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

Proverbs 4:15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

The problem is that the moment we overstep that line we loose the protection of the Lord God, we in our own strength cannot control our desires, and so we are in trouble and that just escalates. Consenting to go along is also tantamount to condoning what we know is unacceptable behaviour to the Lord. That is because of the duty of husbands to their wives and children to whom his first duty is after providing for them by a diligent days work. Socialising can and does take place during normal working hours and I have only seen trouble from those added hours of "socialising". Now we understand the fact how that will result in the curses of Deuteronomy 28 we again can see just how much of our struggles with diseases stem from sin and that the root causes are not dealt with by medical solutions and the subsequent need for a return to Biblical truths and authority.

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### Chapter 2: Repentance.

2.1 General introduction:

Ephesians 2:1-10 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

When I was studying these things it occurred to me that mankind has got a very limited understanding of what repentance embodies, I am not saying by that, what mankind generally understands about repentance is wrong, but rather than that I am saying that we are not going far enough, we are only getting a part of the whole. In one of the most commonly used definitions of repentance we say that it is a turning away from sin and our general understanding is that we need to do so in order to go to heaven rather than going to hell. Again I have no problem in accepting that none of those facts are incorrect. But if that is all then what does the apostle Paul mean when he says that we were "dead in trespasses and sin". The word dead (Greek - nekros) is exactly about being literally dead as in a corpse and so then by the above definition of repentance we will go to heaven as corpses or dead - a bunch of ghosts? Fortunately Paul goes on to say that, such a condition is due to our disobedience and the whole of chapter one shows us that our disobedience leads to physical and mental conditions, affects on spirit, soul and body, that not only cause dastardly symptoms but they separate us from God on every possible level and that means that to God we may as well be dead in spirit, soul and body. Then Paul proceeds with that big word in the Bible "BUT", so here comes something, as always after the use of that word that we must take very careful note of. What is it that this mercy of God leads to and why is it stated in such an obscure way? Let me answer the second question first by reminding you of the answer Jesus gave the Disciples when they asked Him why He spoke in illustrations (parables) that the majority of people did not understand. _(Matthew 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.)_ In other words Jesus is very conscious of the way people's minds work and that too much knowledge at the wrong time is very often counterproductive. In this case the "parable" that Paul uses is " _quickened us together with Christ"_ and that is a whole mouthful. As I proceed we will begin to understand why this does not become immediately apparent is because there is a great deal of understanding and responsibility required from mankind in order to deal with it properly. In much abbreviated terms what we see here is that repentance changes death to life. When we repent we are, like Jesus Christ was, quickened, and when we trace the meaning of that word in the original it means more than made alive, it means restored, restored as Jesus Christ was after the resurrection and before his visit to the Father after meeting with Mary Magdalene in the garden. Now let us look at that. The last time Mary Magdalene saw Jesus before His resurrection He had been mocked, spat at, whipped nearly to death, had a crown of vicious thorns hammered into his head and all his clothes torn off. Can you imagine the sight that must have been? His body was shredded to ribbons He was a mass of blood and gore, spit and dust mixing to soil his flesh and blood and face. Do you think that such an image of my or your master (and very close friend) can ever be forgotten? No not ever but, when Jesus appeared to Mary she did not recognise Him until He spoke. The reason for this is that the redeemed Son of God was set free of all the symptoms of his trial because He had overcome the root causes of His destruction. He had completed what he had to do to pay for my/our sins and "it was finished" (John 19:30) and He was therefore restored to His perfect glorified Spirit, Soul and Body, (and after that appearance to Mary Jesus Christ bought made a short visit to the Father to fulfil the Feast of the First Fruits.) What this tells us is that when we die to self and rise with Jesus Christ there is a whole lot more potential to that than what we generally are told about it just being a reconnection on a spiritual level with the Lord God. We are then told that at the same time as we do that and are baptised in water we are born again and then when people ask what that means and how they can know that they are "born again", then the general reply is "if you've done that all then just know that it is so". My friend if you are reading this and are in that position I can assure you that there is more to it than that, because upon baptism as I have said already one thing that happens immediately is that our spirits are re-born and in addition all those negative memory files, that have blocked your healthy memory files and the paths to them, are on the road to restoration or being re-opened. It is crucial that you know that and learn how to apply that new "mindset' to your entire process of salvation so that you and I can literally be like Jesus and be healed in spirit, soul and body. We need to know that the healing of repentance is not limited to a spiritual connection but is an opening of the door to full restoration of our entire health. We will deal with that in more detail in chapters three and four but first we must come to a proper understanding of repentance as it is the essential precursor to any and all healing.

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2.2 Only once for all:

Hebrews 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Amongst many other denominations the Methodists, based on the "Thirty Nine Sermons on Several Occasions by John Wesley", have developed a teaching that they extend to "once for all for all time" and on the basis of which they say that once a person is saved they cannot loose their salvation. That is a lie straight from satan and cannot be substantiated from the Bible. In fact the Bible teaches the exact opposite.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

In Romans 8:1 we see that there is no condemnation only for those that remain obedient. It is clearly stated that it does not apply to those that walk after the flesh i.e. return to worldly standards and that means being disobedient and they are not free from condemnation. (Note that the important part of this verse is missing in the NIV)

Revelations 2:4-5 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Here Jesus makes it clear through John that those that have fallen from grace (i.e. that were again disobedient and sinned) need to repent again as if they had never repented before and there is no doubt that this refutes the implication of once for all time. There is also no doubt that any return to disobedience or sin again separates a once saved person from the Lord God as he clearly states that that person's "candle will be removed" and not replaced until they repent AGAIN.

Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Here Jesus makes it very clear that there is no excuse for disobedience or denying Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour even if it costs us our lives. Only uninterrupted faithfulness (loving obedience) will be crowned with eternal life. Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, one thing we must understand and get a very firm grip on is that: "God is not mocked" (Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.) There is no way we can sow disobedience or sin and reap Life, (Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting). The Word does not lie or contradict itself _(Rom 6:23 For_ _the wages of sin is death;_ _but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.)_

Rev 2:14-17 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Many walk about believing they are saved but live governed by their idols and because of the lie of not being able to loose their salvation are convinced that as long as they are seated in their churches on Sundays they will be raptured or go to heaven when they die. Whether your idol is your body, that big luxury vehicle, money, false festivals, lust out of control or false doctrine if they do not stop it and repent it will remain on their record, they will not receive a clean slate (white stone) and will not be worthy of entering the ranks of the overcomers (the Raptured that will rule with Jesus Christ after the Tribulation). In this way we can go through the rest of Revelation chapter two and also chapter three but the point is that there is simply no truth that once saved equals always saved.

This is important for us to understand because it places a very particular emphasis on leading someone to repentance. "But isn't that the work of the Holy Spirit" some may say here and the answer is no my friend not even nearly.

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

We are called prophets, priests and kings and we can equate priest and preacher but the Holy Spirit is not a preacher to the unsaved, only a teacher and convictor but the Gentiles (who do not even yet have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit) cannot hear unless they hear from the disciples of Jesus Christ (or from reading the word and having it explained to them, or by praying for understanding. in this last case however there has already been a conscious shift away from the Gentile denial of the Godhead). It is important that when we do lead people to the Lord that we know and understand all the foregoing. Do not attempt to lead people if we are not properly equipped to do so.

Don't scare people into making a commitment with hellfire and brimstone (unless you have a very effective backup/discipleship programme in place), or _butter them up_ with a prosperity gospel of lies. There are sufficient truths that will draw the attention of anyone that the Lord shows us to lead to Jesus Christ and it is a far better thing to properly and truthfully preach the gospel than to have to set the record straight later.

2Timothy 2:24-26 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; (i.e. it is God the Holy Spirit that is the convictor) 26And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.)

This is what Paul is saying as well and Paul by saying do not "strive" means exactly what I have said that we must not use scare tactics or false promises and he goes on to say that gentleness (which is a matter of allowing enough time, not pressurising or rushing, and being qualified (apt) to teach. I have met so many fellow pastors over the years that have this tremendous drive for leading people to repentance but use these prohibited methods and then wonder why they have such a massive turnover in their church membership.

I was told that a certain well known charismatic church in our area where they preached almost exclusively a prosperity Gospel had a membership turnover of more than 100% every two years and I can well believe that. What I will also testify to is that those people that left those churches take an enormous amount of love and patience to again bring them to repentance because they have been placed under false illusions "by Christians before". That is where the "patience" that Paul requires comes in and I can witness that only the patience we receive from above will be enough to help us persevere with those that were "won" with falsehoods and have subsequently turned away.

Finally Paul requires "meekness" in instruction. Just because I am saved does not mean that I am better or that is a good enough reason for another person to come to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Himself was without sin, is the Son of God, is the King of kings but He nevertheless taught His disciples by washing their feet, including the feet of Judas Iscariot. Again from my own experience and I am convinced that many others if not all that have ever had the joy of seeing the fruits of their preaching lead to conviction and repentance have never tasted success from anything other than complete humility, passionate agape (which is love as defined in 1 Corinthian 13) and total commitment giving all the honour and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not by the foregoing want to scare anyone away from witnessing to the Gentiles and Paul does at least also encourage us in this way _: Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil_. No one ever learnt anything by doing it right and the first Person to acknowledge that, in terms of our human nature, is the Lord God because He knows us better than we know ourselves. He understands our hesitance to witness but has told us 65 times in the Bible not to fear because He is near, He will never leave you or forsake you when we are properly equipped _(Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.)_

As we learn from experience and "mistakes" we will grow spiritually until we are mature and able to eat "strong meat" - persuade the big fish - of discernment and wisdom. As Important as it is for us to lead men to repentance by a process of hearing, understanding, accepting and acting, so important is it for us to grow through this very process so that in time, with the elders, we will have grown into the gift of the discernment of the demons and curses that our family in Jesus Christ is afflicted with for their salvation. However we will deal with that in more detail in chapter four and others.

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2.3 Repentance; conviction and condemnation:

I have spent a fair bit of time showing that it is vitally important to let people understand exactly why, for what, and to what purpose they must come to repentance AND also to let them know and understand and accept what their responsibility will be after repentance (the latter being implied by the role you and I would fulfil in witnessing to the Gentiles in future). Many converts are led to believe that repentance is the end of the road whereas it is in fact only the starting line before the pistol is fired, the actual race only begins with repentance but will only end at the Rapture for those that are born again and really made ready for the coming of their Heavenly Bridegroom. _Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us._

I have also said that to lead anyone to real and affective repentance, repentance that will see people saved to the uttermost, (again this is something that from Wesley's teaching the Methodist church has interpreted in a purely spiritual sense but it actually means spirit, soul and body All restored to full health), repentance that a person will get up for and make public confession of at four o'clock in the morning, does not flow from my or our witnessing. (When the men and women at the pitheads of the coal mines would tell John Wesley that they were ready and wanted to repent after any of his sermons he would tell them to come to his house at four o'clock the next morning). True repentance comes from a conviction brought about by the Holy Spirit and when that happens the day and the hour will not matter. That person will want it like the eunuch at the first possible opportunity when there is water for baptism and public confession. If that comes to us from a sinner then let us learn this lesson before jumping into the sinners prayer to step aside and seek confirmation from the Holy Spirit that this is indeed what it seems to be. While we must not miss an opportunity to win another soul for Jesus, and while we can certainly trust in Jesus to complete a good work that he has begun, I believe that we must be certain that what we are seeing. And what the repentant sinner is saying, is from the Lord. To the experienced evangelist this is usually very clear but there are many times when the opportunity will arise before people inexperienced in ministry and still spiritual infants themselves and then they need to be able to ensure that there will be follow up and discipleship following on leading a repentant sinner in the sinner's prayer

But now let us look at condemnation, temptation and curses AFTER repentance and water baptism (conversion). Just recently a pastor said to me that all curses were cancelled on the cross and quoted Romans chapters seven and eight. We must not be confused by the fact that at the Cross Jesus Christ triumphed over satan and his demons and curses. That does not remove the fact that the Father's curses as written in the Word of God will still be applicable to us if we are disobedient and that those curses can only be lifted in repentance and prayer before the Father. Jesus Christ has authority over satan and in His authority we can cast out satan's curses but when we are disobedient and cursed for disobedience by the Father then satan will again ride in on the back of that to enter into us again. What I do find in those chapters is that the Law is still very much applicable in every detail and extended detail (love) and that failure to obey the Law is still disobedience and sin and is therefore still subject to the curse.

Then there are also those that teach that satan is also now no longer able to act upon mankind because he too was overcome on the cross and is now bound. Again what was overcome on the cross was death and the power of satan, but satan is very much still freely roaming around _(Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night_.- note this is still during the tribulation that this clear vision is given to John), and satan will only be bound after the Tribulation during the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ . _Revelation 20:1-2 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years_. (There are also those who, like Preterists, believe that we are currently in that 1000 year period but that is completely unscriptural and cannot be substantiated from the correct interpretation of the King James Version - and the evidence of the presence of satan is overwhelmingly against those teachings).

The understanding of this is of great significance in terms of being saved to the uttermost and the whole concept of justification and sanctification. All these big words are so bandied about by those of us who are or were in full time ministry attached to a denominational church and yet all we do is to confuse the people with them because all too often we do not understand them properly ourselves. Even to this day as my mentor will testify I am still tripped up at times by a too puritanical approach in a legal sense and miss the grace that is available to all when we sincerely repent and turn back to the Lord God.

It just seems appropriate to us that as clergy we should use these big words even if they just create the illusion of knowledge and holiness. I learnt the very hard way that this is fact. I also know that many are and many will be tempted to throw this book away at this very point because how dare I insult others like that just because I was a fool. Well before you throw the book away answer at least this question, Why are we seeing so very little healing of medical and psychosomatic diseases? (Less than 5% of those actually prayed for, and very few are ever prayed for to be healed of serious or "terminal" diseases)? Why are clergy so reticent about signs, miracles and wonders or lifting of curses?

Apart from saying things that may be regarded as being even more insulting and I certainly do not have any intention to insult anyone; the short answer to my question is in the foregoing. Firstly satan is still very much alive and active, secondly we do not or did not understand the full extent of healing brought about by repentance or that the root cause of (medically & scientifically proven - Dr. MK Strydom) 87% - 95% of all disease lies in sin or disobedience and lastly that not only is salvation not necessarily indefinite but that the conviction of sin, the promised curses of disobedience, are still very much active.

So we do not preach universal healing because of our lack of knowledge and let our people die **(Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.)** Now add to this that many of the afflictions of our sheep are generational or bloodline curses (and if you're in doubt yes that includes genetic deviation that causes both visible and imperceptible mental and physical abnormalities), that they therefore have afflictions that are not even or necessarily their own fault and you have more or less got the picture. Again I am not insulting anyone and admit that I myself was as guilty as the next person of this even when I was a full-time minister. The important thing now is that we urgently acquaint ourselves with facts and test them against the authentic and complete Word of God. The first reason for that is so that when we preach the Gospel to the sinner they may fully appreciate that their possible repentance involves a whole lot more than some emotionally inspired act of consent to become "a nice guy" (ok, or gal). People need to understand the _process_ that they are engaging and not the emotion or the hype.

Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

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2.4 Repentance and knowledge of Sin or lacking KNOWLEDGE:

Let me ask the question: "can we list every sin we have committed in just the past week? You will agree if we are brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, that, it is not very likely at all and fair enough if we live a life of continual and immediate repentance then it is in fact not necessary, or is it? What about the times we sinned without realising it, without our action being disobedient to the Lord in our own understanding (e.g. "thinking of ourselves more humbly than we ought (Romans 12:1-2), or those times of "righteous" anger, or covetousness when someone close gets something new and fanciful? If then we as children of God the Father, saved and born again, have a problem with either remembering or identifying with sin, imagine how impossible it is for anyone that is yet a Gentile i.e. a sinner to do so. I myself have had a lifelong (well almost) curse upon me as a result of a curse of low self image which was revealed to me (unwittingly) by a friend sharing some of the curses on his own life that he too had not been aware of until long after his salvation.

It is very important that when we "lead someone to the Lord" we make this aspect very clear to them. How often have I not seen, as just one example, an impoverished and struggling family come to salvation and only falling away eventually because of misunderstandings involving both curses and what we are healed to? Poverty apart from the evil in society is often the result of the husband being unemployed and when you go into their track record you find that they just cannot, even with the best intentions and determination, hold down any job for any length of time. Pastor, reverend, "dominee", there is a man standing in front of you about to convert or recently converted in a real struggle. In a recent incident of such a case that I handed over to one of the full time clergymen of a church I attend the reply I got was; "be careful of them ..." Well pastor, how sure are you that man does not have a demon of disobedience inherited from a parent or grandparent"? Unless that man is made aware of that scenario and has the curses lifted off him he too will soon join the ranks of the disillusioned and backslide and "the poor get poorer" because of our ineptitude. You see unless we preach the full Gospel and the Truth we may be responsible for emotional conversion that goes undetected until it is too late and in addition amongst the sheep in our churches the curses, diseases and suffering gets unnecessarily worse. In any event we must also examine ourselves when we say "be careful of them" and question whether that passes for loving our neighbour as ourselves.

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2.5 Occultism:

" _There are diseases that develop as a result of separation from God and His Word through involvement in occultism. Occultism includes being involved in Satanism or any other form of false religion that teaches anything other than the Word of God (the Bible) and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Occultism involves contacting mediums, consulting witch doctors, wizards or some other occultic practitioner, dabbling in sorcery and even contacting evil spirits by means of the ouija board game. What do you think makes that board move and spell out those words? It is the first medium of contact with Satan in children. Levitation, table tipping and spoon bending are all part of the kingdom and the power of Satan. There are even some healthcare .modalities that are part of the occult such as Eastern mysticism and yoga. This is based on the demonic foundation of Kundalini. Looking into the future or trying to control aspects of the future through a fortune teller or any medium instead of consulting God and His Word is idolatry and makes that person a "god" in your life that you trust. Involvement in occultism can open the door to the curse of many biological and especially psychological and psychiatric disorders.. Our knowledge and wisdom comes from the Word of God, not the study of creation such as the sun, moon, stars or what a diviner, astrologer or false prophet has to say about the past, present and future. If you have been involved in occultism of any form you have to come to a place of repentance before God. Past involvement or continued involvement in occultic practices, thinking or modalities of healing that are not of God can prevent healing (Dr. MK Strydom Pg. 52)."_

I do not know of any theological faculty in South Africa where this scientifically substantiated fact is properly taught or applied and biblically from as early as Adam and Eve, the history of Job and so on to the first Commandment in _Exodus 20:3_ we start seeing the warning signs and consequences that are still prominent in our world to this day.

What most of us do not realise is that the involvement with the occult can happen so easily, and even without us being aware of it or of the consequences (which often do not manifest immediately) through everyday "accepted" behavioural patterns. The Lord God (as an example) is the Creator of heaven and earth and everything in and about it. That means that the Father is in sole control of the weather and yet we put all our trust in the daily weather report on eNews. Why then do we pray and ask the Father to bring the rain and why don't we just ask the weather forecaster on the news to bring the rain. And one thing leads to another. From putting our faith in the weather forecast we move on to the increasing number of casinos and illegal gambling venues "just for a bit of innocent fun". Well if you are so keen for fun to pour the money earned by the sweat of your brow into a satanically rigged machine that will ultimately not only impoverish us but also thousands of others then I must say I think you have a strange sense of fun. Unfortunately for us once we have gone this far there are still a good many more practices that our people engage in that are directly linked to the occult. I am here referring to the celebration of the traditional festivals of the occult that include Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween and the 25th of December. If that is not enough we also have the veneration practice of "veneration of saints" such as mother Mary and Patrick Christopher and Peter and a multitude of others that are still practiced by vast numbers even outside of the RCC. Now do not tell me that is "veneration" (or just respect) and not worship because that is a very poor excuse for what in actual fact is so closely the same that there is zero practical difference between veneration and worship. Even if they claim that veneration is only "honouring" the memory of a person (which is a lie because the actual rituals performed such as praying to them are nothing other than worship). It is just another RCC lie just like the mother mary of the RCC is not the Mary that was the mother of Jesus Christ but a pseudonym used to cover up the fact that they are worshipping a member of the satanic imitation of the Trinity (Semiramis) and keep in mind that in any event both the worship and the "honouring' are in any event only due to God _(Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9)._ When people engage in these occultic practices they will amongst other incur the curse and or become possessed by the spirit of jealousy, fear, rejection, aggression, Jezebel, witchcraft, addiction, suicide, death and murder, self-destruction, infirmity, hatred and many more.

Numbers 5:14,30 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: 30 Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

As you can see the understanding of the occultic affect on our repentance is of huge importance lest when we are involved in leading a sinner into repentance we allow them to raise false hopes that are not met in time and that they end up deserting and being worse off than before; _Matthew 12:45_ _Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation_.

I have been confronted by at least one pastor that has asserted that he is too busy and really does not have time for all this "nonsense". Satan was overcome on the cross and that settles it. My friend as I have said before that is not what the Bible teaches and that a lot of evidence proves that satan and the occult are very much alive and active. Just call to mind a number of horrific family murders in recent South African history and the extremely occultic murder of fourteen people in Krugersdorp, South Africa (my son is on the police task force that brought these people to trial and he has firsthand experience and knowledge of the occultic influence on that series of murders) No pastor if you do not have enough time may I humbly suggest that you take a serious new look at your list of priorities and consider further the priesthood of all believers.

There is far too much subtle occultism (such as the ever popular wooden crosses that satanists also use as their symbol and they laugh at our churches when they see their symbols in our churches, then add to them the statuettes and iconic symbols, paintings that are lying because of falsification of Biblical truths are just some,) in Christian churches of today and that, it appears to me, is because the majority of pastors in established churches, especially the denominational ones, are more concerned with their own financial welfare and lifestyles than with their ministries and therefore although they are aware of these things they hide behind the excuse of not wanting to cause their churches to empty out by offending the people. I am not being overcritical dear brother if the shoe fits, nor am I being rude or unloving. I have been there, done it and got the Tee shirt so I am just as guilty and I am talking from personal knowledge and experience. Let me start off by saying to you that if becoming a Biblical teacher and insisting on a Biblical church causes the people that attend your church to leave, then it is probably high time that they do so. We must take ourselves into our personal deserts (uncle Angus's poustinia) with only our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and our genuine Word of God, we must ask for enlightenment, come to repentance and implore the Father to restore to us the "Authority of Heaven" (my book "the Kingdom of Heaven - the Authority of Mankind" refers and see also "Kingdom equals Authority - tiaan gildenhuys). Then return to our flocks and repent before them and get our churches in line with the Word of God. By the authority given to me in Jesus Christ and according to the Word of God I assure you that apart from a few that may leave (and should have left your church long ago) there will come a new and Pentecostal type rebirth in your church especially in the gifts of the Spirit and the obedience of your flock and now also in their health and independence of costly medical robbery. _(2 Corinthians 1:13 For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end ;)_

Clearly then also the influence on the act of repentance and the extent of our submission to the occult is of critical importance and it and has been responsible for a huge number of serious disappointments and "failures" in bringing souls to conversion. As I stated at the beginning of this section these facts are not taught or understood in any of the theological seminaries or faculties in South Africa that I know of so when you or I as a pastor feel ill equipped to deal with these biblical realities there is no need to stand back or feel ashamed for anything other than our own negligence in knowing the Bible.. In the case of lacking in the knowledge of the occult we have at least got the authority of heaven and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to help us until we have caught up with the lessons lacking in our formal education. I would however recommend that self study (and currently the amount of excellent material freely available on the internet and particularly what is available on http://www.oicb.co.za - go to "Resources", Go to YouTube videos - tiaan) will go a long way to fully equip us sufficiently in this much underrated discipline of ministry. Then there are also teaching programs available from tiaan gildenhuys at the same website. Tiaan has been awarded a Doctor of Divinity by Team Impact Christian University in the USA. for his studies and is a highly effective teacher employing participative study techniques to achieve extremely high success rates at equipping present and future leaders, a truly anointed teacher, intimate with the authority of heaven and with an agape love for God's creation that is astounding and yet ever and always humble to perfection and regarded internationally as an expert in this field. I will also assure you that when you get into God honouring ministry immediately you will find that the Lord will lead you to those men and women of His choice that will be able to assist you in the ministry of properly informed repentance and furthermore also the casting out of demons and healing of diseases or curses. The Lord God will only provide when we take the initiative in faith and not relying on our own strength.

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2.6 Self Hatred:

_Romans 12:1-3 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;_ _but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith._

I am pretty sure that I am not by a long way the only person that is or was involved in a counselling ministry that will say that self hatred (also known as low self esteem, poor self image and other fancy medical tags and not to be confused with humility) is a major manifestation in those that seek our help but I am also in the "fortunate" position that I was in that boat for far too long myself. Although when I review my own history I must confess that though by the grace of God there was a vast number of astounding achievements that most men would have loved and used very effectively in the furtherance of a list of careers as long as your arm, I always felt inferior and uncertain. What I can tell you is that my problem, as well as that of many others, was rooted in sin and yet the Lord worked miraculously in spite of that curse to nevertheless achieve His ultimate purpose and that becomes very relevant later in this book.

" _One of the most prominent causes of low self-esteem is an involvement in personal sin. Sin scars terribly. It is sometimes the case that one who loves God deeply, and who strives for spiritual maturity, will, in a moment of weakness, fall into some dreadful form of wickedness._

The crushing blow of such a transgression may have lasting effects that so debilitate the person that he has a very difficult time regaining a sense of Christian dignity, particularly if others have been privy to the transgression.

One cannot but be reminded of the agony of David's soul following his tragic moral lapse with Bathsheba. His body "wasted away" and he "groaned" throughout the day. There was no relief to his troubled spirit either day or night, until he acknowledged his sin and allowed God to take away his pain (see Psalm 32:3-5).

Yielding to evil can rob the conscience of that sense of well-being God intended us to have. But there is a remedy for sin that allows one the opportunity to recapture his sense of joy and purpose." www.christian courier.com by Wayne Jackson

Bear in mind that David's sin was visited upon his children to the third and fourth generations. My own origin of low self esteem was only revealed to me when a friend mentioned the demonic effects on his own life that were derived from ancestral shenanigans. In my case my paternal grandmother was very into discovering her family tree and found that we stemmed not to far back from Jewish roots and that in her bloodline (Dorethea) there is a Greek occultic bloodline. On my Maternal side my great grandfather had deserted French aristocracy of RCC persuasion to marry into protestant gentry and been disinherited (I too was disinherited for my Christian convictions) and my maternal grandmother was from German origin with freemasonry links going back to WA Mozart. If you have studied this field at all you will immediately see how vast a range of curses I could have encountered and there are still possibly some that I have not yet become aware of and have not yet been lifted. Again I have testimonies of men who only discovered some of the curses on their own lives when they travelled to countries abroad for the first time. Before I move on I also want to tell you that for most of my life, in spite of having a very blessed counselling ministry, I did not recognise my own self hatred but found all kinds of irrelevant excuses for events in my life. Many of the people I counselled were almost offended and would have been offended but for the grace of God, when their problem was first revealed to them for such is the nature of the beast.

This is an affliction that few if any very successful salesmen have. Many people are astounded by those salesmen that can sell ice to the Eskimos in winter by the ton and then a certain group of observers will be heard saying I am not a sales person at all. It is this latter group that our focus is on at present. Their response typifies the person with a low self image. An image that has its origin in the sin of David or the sins of the fathers (i.e. personal sin involving integrity or the occult or ancestral sins of integrity or the occult).

A major manifestation of this disease from disobedience is an inability (as opposed to an unwillingness) to repent of all sins because just as satan's demon has caused us to try and hide our complex, so together with that satan causes us to cover up our sins so that we do not become "even more useless than we already are". Now it does not take a genius to see what an enormous impediment to repentance this problem becomes. Where the super salesman will probably confess nonexistent or imaginary sins, the self image afflicted will only be able to remember what to them their most heinous sins is. That not out of unwillingness I say again but that is a symptom of the disease over which they have no control. Now we are approaching the essence of the problem in terms of repentance in the way we approach the throne of grace offering our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. Remember how the Old Testament sacrifices always had to be perfect and the best of the crop or flock and how in the New Testament Jesus is the perfect sacrifice without any sin and you understand the dilemma. Now those words at the beginning of chapter twelve of Romans come alive. When we lead someone to Jesus in conformity with worldly standards and norms in our present society without having begun the process of the renewal of the soul (mind) to the extent that all our sins or disobediences can be removed and that we can present acceptable holy bodies to the Father, the measure of forgiveness and healing can only be proportional to the extent of acknowledgement of the sins. It explains Paul's own Damascus road experience. In his case his high profile career and persecution of "the people of the Way" was so well known by the Lord and everyone involved that there was no question of his repentance being complete and thereby resulting in a complete washing away of all filth and every curse so that in being born again he could arise immediately from the ashes and rise to be the greatest source of glory to the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

Although few prospective converts will admit that what they seek is a Damascus road experience it is a deep desire in every one of them and many will spend many years mourning the fact that theirs was not so. The fact is that everyone can have a Damascus road experience when we properly understand repentance and have the full picture of it before making our confessions. I realise that some readers are now saying that I am negating the affect of the Holy Spirit or even usurping the authority of the Holy Spirit but that is not true. I have already referred to the fact that they cannot hear unless we teach but in this case there is the added problem of the church only preaching part of the message and that has led to widespread conditioning, led by misunderstanding, to a completely wrong concept of repentance and healing. As long as we conform to this world our souls (minds) will be locked out of the Gospel's healing power of spirit, soul and body and our churches have a vital responsibility in this regard.

Most of the definitions, apart from the Hebrew and Greek, of sin involve the word "voluntary" but I would like to end this chapter by saying that the fact that the word "informed" is missing from all definitions of repentance I have seen makes the word "voluntary" of no consequence. We cannot truly do something voluntarily out of ignorance Jesus did not yield his life an atonement for sin ignorant of the cost. That kind of "voluntary" is more akin to random acts of bravery or stupidity. This modern lack of understanding of the call of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ to "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" is in my humble opinion a major reason for the collapse of the Apostolic ministry that brought healing to spirit, soul and body on both psychosomatic and physical levels and accounts for the lack of signs and wonders and casting out of demons and lifting of curses. I equally am absolutely convinced that the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles after Him are full and complete and that those that were led to repentance by them were fully aware of everything I have said and that was why the healings and miracles of those times flourished and the Church of Jesus Christ flourished. I also firmly believe that in our day and age we can no longer continue to lay the cause for the state of affairs only at the feet of full time clergy but that laity is now just as responsible because the Word of God, unaltered or perverted, is available to us all, if we want it, free of any cost. It is Time!!

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### Chapter 3: Water Baptism and the New Birth.

3.1 Gift of faith

I have during the years in part and full time ministry become aware that many of us are uncertain where the salvation of mankind begins and found that for that reason many are uncertain about their witnessing to others. The question that is asked is whether it begins at the Cross; does it begin with remorse; is it because someone preached a particularly convicting sermon? All these seem to the people to be feasible starting points and many will in fact state that, one of these is exactly where it began for them. That being the case it is hard to argue against actual experience because very little carries as much weight in our lives as that which we have learnt from personal experience. It is however important that with personal experience we make people aware of what the Lord God does in our lives that often we are not even aware of. That kind of knowledge gives people a far broader knowledge and understanding of their own role in the Great Commission and a better understanding of the sanctification (i.e. healing completely) of spirit soul and body.

First let us therefore begin from the position of me being unsaved, uncommitted to the Lord and not a child of the nation of the Father, i.e. the Gentile me. Because I am in the world and of the world I am already riddled with sin, curses, genetic mutations and quite likely demon possessed and very definitely only have faith in myself and or what I can see and experience tangibly which is not the faith of salvation. Paul in the letter to the _Hebrews 11:1_ says: _Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen._ So at this stage I cannot come to repentance because I cannot believe in Jesus Christ. We must also understand exactly why I cannot; otherwise I might well be made out to just be a fool or stupid. Remember how that I explained that evil and negative thoughts together with satan and his demons and spirits create a whole bunch of "negative files" in the upper lobes of our brains and how I explained that these cause all kinds of negative secretions, block the "righteous" paths in our brains and are the cause of our diseases, well there is our answer (remember this is not a wild illustration but scientifically proven fact - Dr. MK Strydom). A very apt way of describing this condition that I am in at this time would be to say that I am spiritually brain dead, only my body and my soul are alive but my spirit is dead, dead to salvation. Something has to happen in me that will make it possible for me to believe in what is unseen is existing fact.

Paul also in the letter to the Ephesians says this: _Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;_ this statement makes no sense unless we understand the foregoing paragraph and with the foregoing, and Paul, and the Lord God (or rather the Lord God, Paul and the foregoing - in order of importance) we must realise that for all practical purposes in that condition we are just as dead in the sight of the Lord God as if we were physically dead, (I could add here that this is what happened in Eden to Adam and Eve but remember at this stage I probably have never even heard or paid any attention to those events). But what does Paul mean by quickened? Why does he not just say "you has He made alive"? Well because that has not yet happened to me and so we must read further to understand what is meant by "quickened". In Ephesians 2:2-4 Paul just confirms in his words what I explained about my condition in the foregoing paragraph and then in verse 5 he tells us that while I am in that condition God gave me an awareness of Jesus Christ and the things above that are unseen. _(Ephesians 2:6-7 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.)_ Together with the awareness He gave me the ability to believe that these things can be.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

That means that what the Lord God has done for me is He has enabled me to do something that I could not do myself by "supernaturally inserting" His reality on my dead brain out of His lovingkindness **(Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:)** So the "quickening" is now given a name as being "faith". Paul goes on to explain that, as we have seen by the way I described my "brain dead" self, this gift did not come to me from that diseased being that I am because I deserved it or asked for it. Paul says it is by "grace" and grace is lovingkindness and describes the reason why the Lord God gives us things freely that we do not deserve. Now let me explain why this knowledge is important to me and to you who want to lead me to Jesus Christ for healing. This is the starting point of our witnessing to the Gentiles. I am still not saved but walking around out there wondering what is wrong with my mind that I keep wondering about this distant thing that seems so real and something keeps prompting my thoughts to return to this new and unfamiliar path, something keeps quickening me to do something that I cannot comprehend.

Now it is your turn to come to me and explain about sin, disobedience, the results of that disobedience and the curses, demons and spirits that are in me as a result of my sin or disobedience. For you to explain to me how they have taken me captive

(Isaiah 49:25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

Isaiah_61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;)

As I explained about being "brain dead" and that all these "strange" things that I am experiencing are about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit trying to tell me that they want to revive me because they love me and want to set me free from the captivity of the curses, diseases and demons.

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Now I can see some eyes as big as saucers staring at me in surprise and confusion and I am smiling, not in smugness but because I've hit the mark. Many of us always thought that it was only about restoring some broken relationship with the Lord God and living forever. I am in a way so glad that you feel that way because it reveals the danger of the way most ministries currently work at bringing people to salvation and when they come to the front to make their commitments they don't then, and often never after that, even have the faintest idea of what it is all about. (Just in case you've been given a legal kind of mindset you may say that then why did God allow it? The answer is that, that is His promise (Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.) and God is not a liar and in addition he has placed a responsibility on the shoulders of His disciples to inform us about all these facts. It is not God that is at fault but it is us, we have shirked our duty (the Great Commission) and unless we confess our disobedience in proper manner we have already been cursed again)). Now you at least realise that if you had received no more information and you are still walking around with some or all of the diseases that we spoke about in previous chapters, diseases of genetic degeneration, of the physical body and the mind (the psychosomatic diseases) that you still have a lot more healing coming your way in this lifetime, that your captivity has only reached the stage of being paroled, but that your sentence still needs to be commuted in full. That my dear friend was the purpose of the mocking, the thirty nine lashes, the torment and suffering of the body of Jesus Christ, _Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed_. Our transgressions brought curses, His wounds facilitate the lifting of those curses (gave Jesus authority over the curses and over satan). Our sins brought bloodline diseases, the mockery He endured was to facilitate our release from them; our disobedience caused our souls (minds) to be fouled up and psychosomatic diseases to take hold and Jesus' chastisement was for our peace of mind, i.e. the healing of our souls (minds) and our diseases are to be healed by his stripes. That is what the one half of the symbols of the New Covenant _(this is my body given for you and for many...)_ represents and the other half is for the forgiveness of our sins that stood in the way of the spiritual relationship _(Matthew 26:26-29 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.)_ How often have we sat in churches during the Lord's Supper and taken the body in the knowledge and assurance that it was given so that we can be healed in spirit, soul and body? Here is the connection between what we have been forgiven and set free from that makes it imperative that we do not partake if we have aught against our brothers and sisters unless I use that time and place to repent and get back into a right standing with God.. How long have you lived with anti-depressants which are slowly but surely driving you further and further _into_ depression because of the counter effects they have? How often have we exchanged temporary symptomatic relief by prescribed drugs (pharmacy - apothecary - sorcery) for complete drug free healing that is permanent? How often have we been lied to? _Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children._ Study this verse very carefully before we react against others for not telling us the whole Truth.

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3.2 Acknowledging and understanding the witness of the Holy Spirit:

You would also be justified in now questioning the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Gentiles, or in me before my conversion, the brain dead me, and how that differs from those that are saved. It is still a little known fact in church ministries and even in a large part of the medical field that it is now scientifically proven that the heart has a brain of its own (Dr.MK Strydom). So too that there is communication between the brain of the heart and the frontal lobe, or the decision making part of the brain in our heads. In your salvation and when you publically confessed that Jesus Christ is your Lord and the Saviour of your life and you were baptised in water you were "born again", ( **i.e. transformed by the renewal of your spirit that began the renewal of your soul, the brains in the heart and in the head** ). These in human understanding act as one whole _(Romans 12:2)_ , now that your heart is being renewed the Holy Spirit has a place to reside in. Why the heart? Because blood is representative of the life of living beings including mankind, and the heart is the pump that circulates the life through our bodies. In the born again disciples of Jesus Christ the heart is the only logical place for the Holy Spirit to reside and it is the seat of purity in the believer from where the Holy Spirit's influence together with our lifeblood will circulate throughout our entire bodies. (It is also important to understand that while the heart is the centre of operations from where the Holy Spirit communicates with our spirit, the Lord Jesus occupies the whole of our bodies. His eyes see through our eyes, His mouth is in our mouth ,His hands are in my hands, and so Jesus is in every part of me) Now that there is scientific proof of the brain in the heart communicating with the frontal lobe of the head's brain in the process of decision making (Dr. MK Strydom), it leaves the heart as the logical place for the Holy Spirit to reside in and to operate from but this can clearly only happen when the heart has been born again (i.e. when the temple has been purged from idols and demons).

So in my Gentile heart there is not yet room for the Holy Spirit (and here too there is evidence that in my heart that space is occupied by satan because of the negative thoughts that we have clearly more of before conversion). That means that the Holy Spirit can only witness to me, the Gentile, indirectly and the usual way that is experienced by mankind is that to a large extent the Holy Spirit uses your voice to communicate with me while He acts through the quickening of my mind, and the gift of faith, to help me see the Truth in your words so that I then become capable of accepting the offer of Jesus Christ (the Truth) to be saved from this world. This then is where I also CAN only accept that which, by your obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you have revealed to me up to that time. That will then determine whether initially I am as uninformed about the full possibilities offered in salvation as you may have been initially. Unless I commit myself to the study and knowledge of the word I may remain that way and die that way _(Hosea 4:6)._

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3.3 Public confession and water baptism:

So now let us say that I have come to salvation or to the point of conversion. How does that happen? _(John 3:5 Jesus answered,_ _Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God_ _.)_ To get my salvation launched Jesus Christ has laid down a set formula. To be saved I must be born again and to be born again I must be baptised in water (where the water represents the blood of Christ that restores me to a sinless fellowship with Jesus Christ (i.e. my spiritual rebirth) and my public confession (i.e. heartfelt repentance) that I believe that Jesus Christ suffered and died for my spirit, soul and body, begins the renewal of my soul (mind) so that the Holy Spirit can start residing in me). Then follows a further baptism that must take place, so that I can carry out my God ordained purpose in this world with the authority of heaven, and that is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. There are many who claim that this water baptism is unnecessary and mere a public confession of what the Lord has already done. Let me say firstly that I do not want to ruffle feathers about this but I see it differently. Why would Jesus say we cannot enter the kingdom of God unless we are born again and we cannot be born again unless we are baptised in water (for the remission of sins as John and Jesus proclaimed) and we have seen the symbolisms involved. It also brings into play the whole public outcry for justice and, in my humble opinion, was a firm requirement because the day would and has come when many will say "if that's a Christian" I want none of it. By our public confession we acknowledge everything we understand as having been disobedient and causing not only our brain dead state but also our physical degeneration. When I am ill informed and do not study the Word of God my healing will remain incomplete and I may fall away through my own apathy and initially through other's half completed witness.

Therefore I say that the public confession and water baptism are a prerequisite and not just a public testimony and if my reading of what is written in the Word is out of order I will repent if that is revealed to me. Having said that I also believe that there is another reason why Jesus made it a prerequisite and that is to impress on His disciples the need to know the Word and to properly understand their mission (the Great Commission). I believe too that it is the long term neglect of this that has given satan the open door to rob the church of its authority and gifts and why we do not see miracles, healings and lifting of curses as we should. Our only consolation is that these things are and will remain available in and to the Church of Jesus Christ and that is proved by the thousands of documented healings that have taken place in recent times by those that have returned to the Word of God alone and away from manmade tradition. (Pastor Henry W. Wright)

Please forgive me if I am reading this wrong but from my reading and understanding with prayer and listening, this is where I am and I must passionately plead that we stop just looking on while our sheep are dying needlessly and suffering unnecessarily. We are commanded to feed our brothers and sisters (John 21:15-17) which means to care and look after them as a shepherd tends his flock. Are we really obedient to that?

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3.4 Baptism in the Holy Spirit & the Kingdom or Authority of heaven

The baptism in the Holy Spirit has more to do with our lives after the new birth than our conversion and initial healing. It is given upon the disciple meeting certain requirements set by the Lord Jesus Christ for the purpose of attaining the authority of heaven required for the benefit of Jesus Christ and not for our own needs and this includes the proper application of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is important that I draw attention to this baptism in the Holy Spirit because the astute among us should be asking about it. I recommend again my book on the subject as further study but This authority has particularly significant implications for the proper obedience to our duties that we will discuss in Chapter 7. Just in a very abbreviated form this authority will give us the power to act in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ when Jesus deems us sufficiently sanctified (i.e. in humility, servanthood, and acknowledging that Jesus Christ alone deserves all honour and glory) We must understand that authority is given for the glory of the Lord God and not for personal enrichment before Jesus will endow us with such powerful authority.

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### Chapter 4: Root Causes of Disease - a Brief Synopsis

I have included this chapter only as a means of clearly showing the connection between disobedience or sin and the full spectrum of mankind's diseases that have been proven to be linked to disobedience. I will simply use a few short illustrations to assist those interested in a healing ministry of the type of thing they need to become knowledgeable about and full information on these diseases is available from the books of Dr. MK Strydom and Pastor Henry W Wright.

Quotation from Dr. MK Strydom: "Jeremiah 32 v 18: "Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name." The Living Bible says, "You are loving and kind to thousands, yet children suffer for their father's sins." Deuteronomy 28 v 15 and 59: "15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Hosea 4 v 6: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. The scriptures above show the loss of blessing passed down from generation to generation because of disobedience. This is the basis for all spiritual and physical genetically inherited diseases.

One of the main reasons why people struggle with the concept of genetically inherited diseases is because they say, "I thought that all sin, disease and genetic curses was cancelled at the cross when we became born again. Jesus said it is finished." This is the reality: there are over 700 genetically inherited diseases and the church is full of it. Already there is something wrong with this theology that the curse of genetically inherited diseases was automatically cancelled at the cross because Christians still have genetically inherited diseases

How Genetically Inherited Diseases and the Iniquities behind Them were dealt with in the Bible:

Nehemiah chapter 8 v 1 right through to chapter 9 v 3 tells of when the Israelites had just come out of captivity from Babylon in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. All the Israelites gathered together to listen to Ezra as he read the Word of God. The people wept as they heard the Word, because they realized that they had been in bondage and captivity because of disobedience. As a people, they came before God and repented, they took responsibility not just for their sins but for the sins of their forefathers.

Nehemiah 9 v 2 - 3: "And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day, and for another fourth of it they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God.""

End quotation Dr. MK Strydom

Although a lot of the above has to do with Old Testament Theology there is nothing that discounts any of it in the New Testament and as seen above there is plenty to prove that it all still applies in the same manner to this day. I have in preceding chapters explained a fair deal of the way in which our sin and disobedience leads to the curses, spiritual possession and physical and psychosomatic diseases that are result of disobedience and that these have not been healed by medication and that most current medication only deals with the symptoms by relieving and suppressing them. To give us an idea of just how wide a range of disorders are included in these I have taken this following list from the work of Dr. MK Strydom of diseases that have been scientifically proven by medical science to have their root causes in disobedience and the vast majority of these have also been healed by the Lord Jesus in healing ministries and Pastor Henry W Wright has hundreds of testimonies to the fact of people being healed from these in healing ministries of our time.

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

ALLERGIES

Asthma, Hay fever (Allergic Rhinitis and Allergic Conjunctivitis), Skin rashes, Atopic ermatitis (Eczema), Hives, Urticaria (An eruption of itchy wheals on the skin), Food Allergies and Multi-chemical Sensitivity and Environmental Illness.

ADDICTIONS

Alcoholism, Smoking, Illegal Drugs, Prescription Drugs, Pornography, Promiscu¬ity, gambling, Excessive Overeating and Addictive Relationships.

ABUSE AND VICTIMIZATION

PROBLEMS WITH WEIGHT GAIN, EXCESSIVE OVER EATING, ANOREXIA, BULIMIA AND THE FALLACY OF DIETS

CHRONIC FATIGUE, LETHARGY AND EXHAUTION

FLU AND THE COMMON COLD

SINUSITIS

BACTERIA, PARASITES AND FUNGAL INFECTIONS

Including TB, Bilharzias, Malaria and Candida

NON-BACTERIAL INFLAMMATION

Interstitial Cystitis (Inflammation of the bladder)

Prostatitis

HIV/AIDS AND OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES

CANCER

Brain Tumours In Children

Lung Cancer

Breast Cancer

Uterine Or Cervix Cancer

Ovarian Cancer

Prostate Cancer

Testicular Cancer

Colon and Rectal Cancer

Stomach Cancer

Liver Cancer

Bladder Cancer

Pancreas Cancer

Skin Cancer

Adrenal Tumours

Hodgkin's Disease And Leukaemia

SUMMARY OF COMMON DISEASES OF THE EYE

THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM – BRAIN, NERVES, PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

Strokes

Cerebral Palsy

Alzheimer's Disease

Multiple Sclerosis

Insomnia (Inability to Sleep)

Headaches

Migraines

Cluster Headaches

Tension Headaches

Headaches As A Result Of Temporal Arteritis

Anxiety Disorders:

Generalized Anxiety Disorders

Panic Disorder and Phobias

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Depression

Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression)

Type A Personality

HIGH CHOLESTEROL

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES:

Coronary Artery Disease (Atherosclerosis) and Heart Attacks

Angina (chest pain)

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

Abnormal Heart Rhythm (Arrhythmias)

Heart Valve Disease

Mitral Valve Prolapse

Rheumatic Fever

Incompetent Valves and Infective Endocarditis

Myocarditis (Inflammation of the Heart Muscle)

Pericarditis (Inflammation of the Covering of the Heart)

Cardiomyopathy (Abnormal Functioning of the Muscle of the Heart)

Heart Failure

Aneurysms

Varicose Veins

Haemorrhoids (Piles)

Deep Vein Thrombosis (Thrombophlebitis)

Heart Abnormalities at Birth (Congenital, Inherited or Injury in the Womb)

Abortion – What the Doctors Don't Tell You.

GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES:

Nausea and vomiting

Indigestion (Dyspepsia)

Diarrhoea

Constipation

Malabsorption

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Ulcerative Colitis and Chrons)

Stomach Ulcers

Reflux (Heart Burn)

Abdominal Pain

Colic

DISEASES OF THE MUSCLE AND BONES:

Osteoporosis

Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Osteoarthritis

Gout

Old Injuries That Still Have Pain

Fibromyalgia (Widespread Body Pain)

Intermittent Claudication (Pain on Walking)

The Backache Problem 541Backache Due To Trauma or Over Exertion

Muscle Contraction Backache

Backache Due To Osteoarthritis

Degenerative Disc Disease And A Prolapsed Disc (Slipped Disc)

Spondylolysis And Spondylolisthesis

Ankylosing Spondylitis

SKIN DISORDERS

Acne

Psoriasis

Rosacea

(Allergic skin rashes and eczema discussed under chapter on allergies. The chapter Bacteria, parasites and fungal infections is relevant for infectious skin rashes such as candida. Herpes zoster and simplex rashes are explained in the section on viruses).

ALOPECIA (HAIR LOSS)

GYNAECOLOGICAL DISEASES

Breast Cysts, Ovarian Cysts and Systolic Acne

Fibroids (Uterine Leiomyomas)

Endometriosis

Amenorrhea (Absence Of Menstruation)

Miscarriages

PMS, Period Pain and Menopause

INFERTILITY

SEXUAL PROBLEMS

Impotence

Frigidity

Dealing With Sexual Problems In Marriage

GALL STONES AND PANCREATITIS

DIABETES MELLITUS

HYOGLYCAEMIA (LOW BLOOD SUGAR)

HYPOTHYROIDISM AND HYPERTHYROIDISM

SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE)

DISEASES WHERE DELIVERANCE IS NECESSARY

Viruses

The ADHD, Epilepsy, Dyslexia, Colour Blindness, Autism, Learning Disabilities, Homosexuality and Bi-sexuality Profile.

Epilepsy

ADHD

Psychosis

Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and Satanic Ritual Abuse

Schizophrenia

Scoliosis

# \-----

I am sure that even if anyone has absolutely zero comprehension of medical terminology they will recognise some of the diseases mentioned above and will understand from the rest of the list why I am so passionate about spreading the revival of the ministry of healing and casting out of demonic spirits and lifting of curses. The list above includes almost every disease that is known and the fact that the medical practice acknowledges that they are not even able to relieve all diseases and have no cure for any (Dr. MK Strydom) shows why more and more are falling victim to disease and why the medical fraternity are loosing the battle.

What I find even more puzzling though is that in the face of present realities we are not seeing a major swing to spiritual healing. Just this morning (23 April 2020) I Received a very recent Whatsapp sent by a medical doctor from "Groote Schuur Hospital" (one of South Africa's chief research centres for finding a "solution" to Covid-19) in which it is stated that "we are at least a year away" from finding that solution.

How much damage would that pandemic have done by then, and what will be the extent of the need of such a "solution" by then when we already have evidence of God curing virus infections and we are not turning to that answer. Not only that but if it will take a year to develop a vaccine for the current virus what about the mutation of it. The medical industry has already declared that this virus is mutating at a faster than normal rate so it is quite possible that in a year from now they would need to be dealing with a completely different virus to the one that is manifest at present. My logic tells me that the talk of developing a vaccine is simply a smokescreen to give the pharmaceuticals enough time to develop a drug that is sufficiently harmless to be able to hoodwink society into mass inoculation that will earn them millions. No one is mentioning the fact that the human body itself is so designed that it has in inherent resistance against the viral strains (in the healthy body of mankind the receptors of the cells that make up our bodies are such that the shape of a virus is rejected by them. It is only when we are disobedient that the hormone secretions of the hypothalamus and pituitary glands alter the size and structure of the cell receptors that the virus can gain access). The current acknowledgement of viral mutation is also evidence that the so called "annual inoculation campaigns" are a bunch of half truths which means they are in fact lies. They are inoculating against last year's strain to which the body has already begun to develop resistance and patients are paying for something that their own bodies are fighting against under the impression that the "Flu vaccine" is doing the job. And the church is looking on because satan is in control since the neglect of the preaching of the full Gospel of salvation.

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# 

### Chapter 5: How and Where It All Went Wrong

5.1 The first 300 years AD:

Early Christianity is generally reckoned by to begin with the ministry of Jesus (27-30 AD) and end with the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD). It is typically divided into two periods: Christianity in the 1st century which is known as the _Apostolic Age_ (c. 30–100, when the first apostles were still alive) and the _Ante-Nicene Period_ (100–325 AD). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History of Christianity cite note-Stark1997-8)

From 30 AD up to around 90 AD the Biblical record shows us that the healing ministry was alive and very effectively used by the Apostles and early disciples of Jesus Christ and thereafter secular historical records show that there was still a great deal more of it than what we see in our current churches. This in spite of the fact that the relatively small numbers of converts in those days (when compared with current global population figures) were severely persecuted from many sides and were to a large extent the Church that existed "underground", in poverty and in storm water tunnels. It is small wonder that in spite of the treacherous circumstances in which the early Church of Jesus Christ came into existence they kept growing in numbers and the knowledge of the Lord God. There are many even that attribute the fact that those early converts were really serious about their faith and followed the exact Words of Jesus Very closely, to the high price they had to pay in terms of their freedom of movement. The number of Christians grew by approximately 40% a decade during the first and second centuries (Wikipedia). If we say that the number started with the 120 in the upper room that would put the number at around 52000 at the end of the second century but if we start from a number of 3120 (The first converts at Pentecost included) there would have been over 1.3 million by that time. Whatever the case, the growth rate is certainly nowhere near that now.

During the third century the involvement of Roman and Greek philosophy and worship of false gods had a tremendous impact on the church (It is useful to keep in mind that the Christian population of that time was at best just over 2% of the total which leaves 98% as Jews and Pagans). Justin Martyr introduced teaching that only Christianity taught the whole truth, and was an early apologist. Marcion refuted both Old and New Testament teaching and held that Christ only "appeared to be human but was a cause of others realising the necessity to establish the "canon" of Scripture. Then came Clement of Alexandria and introduced the "Allegorical" method of textual analysis (there are various fancy definitions of this method that try to justify it but essentially this method teaches that all Scripture is in "parables" (i.e. does not mean exactly what it says) but rather alludes to other things - e.g. Genesis 1 and 2 are not literally true but only really says that the Lord God Created, and not how He created. - Some schools also teach that Genesis 1 & 2 are simply counter-myths made up to counter all the creation myths involving other or false gods having been the power behind creation {UNISA - Systematic Theology}). After that came the Montanists, an ascetic movement that had prophetesses and claimed apocalyptic revelation was given through these prophetesses, and were severely influenced by traditions in pagan worship which included temple prostitutes and witchcraft. Then Tertullian began to teach about the Trinity of the Godhead against the false teaching and understanding of the time to a very close view of what we today understand by the Trinity but he nevertheless attempted to define and understand something that is beyond human capability and which we largely accept by the gift of faith through the grace of God the Father. There followed a period of very severe persecution under Marcus Aurelius up to 180AD and then Origin came along as the founder of "systematic" theology (a system that saw the formulation of systematic doctrines of the church as it was conceived by the emerging churches especially in what is present day Italy and a few from the Turkish side. Then along came Septimus Severus who attempted to unite the empire under the banner of the "unconquered sun god" and again instituted vicious persecution of the Christians and the Jews. After that Mani came along and attempted to fuse Christianity, Persian gods and Buddhism into one major new heresy. During this "underground" age of the church the believers generally assembled in private houses and secret venues and had no buildings or temples for large gatherings.

Paul K. Davis writes, "Constantine's victory gave him total control of the Western Roman Empire paving the way for "Christianity" to become the dominant religion for the Roman Empire and ultimately for Europe. The following year, 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan which made "Christianity" an officially recognised and tolerated religion in the Roman Empire." During this time "Christian" (RCC) churches were built and it was in this period that certain selected "bishops" of the (initially) church in Rome (Italy) were paid by the government and began the full integration of national government and religion that created what we term a state religion and would be better named politically contaminated occultic religion with Christian undertones. In 380AD, with the Edict of Thessalonica put forth under Theodosius I, the Roman Empire officially adopted Trinitarian "Christianity" as its state religion, and Christianity ( I need to emphasise that the Christianity" that is referred to here by the historians had already become corrupted by vested interests of state and church) established itself as a predominantly Gentile religion, as opposed to Hebrew or Jewish Religion, in the state church of the Roman Empire. Again keep in mind that the 2% Christians figure would not have altered significantly and that the pagan influence on Christianity would have been enormous.

Christological debates about the human and divine nature of Jesus consumed the Christian Church (i.e. What is now know as the Roman Catholic Church) for a couple of centuries, and seven ecumenical councils were called to resolve these debates. Arianism (a non-Trinitarian teaching of the nature of Jesus Christ; The Arian concept of Christ is based on the belief that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten within time by God the Father) was condemned at the First Council of Nicaea (325), which supported the Trinitarian doctrine as expounded in the Nicene Creed, and which was again altered in 381 AD at the first council of Constantinople. These are the times where the problem in the Church of Jesus Christ originated.

Prior to Christianity the religion of Rome was already a well established complex collusion of state or government interests and worship of the satanic imitation trinity and irrespective of whatever the emperor Constantine is said to have had a vision of, the little known fact is that after the victory in battle that saw him rise to unchallenged power over the Roman empire he went straight from that victory to the Temple of Jupitor to sacrifice to that copy image of satan.

Since the Renaissance era, with western colonialism, Christianity has expanded throughout the world. Today there are more than one billion Christians (some sources say that there are well over 2.2 million but then they include Catholicism and Greek orthodox churches) worldwide, and Christianity has become the world's largest religion. Within the last century, as the influence of Christianity has waned in the West, it has also rapidly grown in the East and the Global South (i.e. South America, Africa and Asia) and in China, South. There has been recent growth of Christianity in Iran.

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5.2 The Dark Ages:

In the early Middle Ages, missionary activities spread Christianity towards the west among German peoples, throughout Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and England. During the High Middle Ages, eastern and western Christianity grew apart, leading to the East-West Schism of 1054. Growing criticism of the Roman Catholic ecclesiological structure and its behaviour, led to the Protestant movement of the 16th century and the split of western "Christianity" from the RCC.

I prefer to refer to this period as the "dark Ages" of the Church, the period from 325 Ad to the reformation in the sixteen hundreds. During this period the church structure gradually began to take on the image of secular state government. The church leaders seeing the eventual decline in power of the Roman Empire was coming began to assert their influence to ensure its domination of people. By playing on the spiritual needs of the populace and by physical enforcement of dogma accompanied by severe and cruel penalties for dissention and disobedience to church authorities (including death penalties by various sadistic means such as burning and dipping into hot tar) the RCC became firmly established. What that all means is that the RCC (which by many is seen as representing the Christian Church) that developed from the Apostolic Church, was already a completely corrupted body by the influence of pagan and other ulterior motives.

In a further five Ecumenical Councils after 381AD they succeeded in further corrupting the Nicene creed, keeping the originals of the Word of God away from all but certain members of the ruling body and utterly perverting the doctrines of Jesus Christ. They brought into the church the concept that the Pope was the representative of God on earth and had sole and divine authority and the forgiveness of sins became a matter that developed into the financial support of the church where eventually "protection" was enforced by "Church mobs" that saw the rise to power of the mafia, illuminate and freemasonry that now all function in collusion with the RCC. Together these, since the reformation, have had a major influence in misrepresenting the Truth through the publication of a myriad of Bible translations that have seen the light since the late nineteenth century. The complete down play of the ministry of healing was one of their most well orchestrated though devious ways of acquiring the powerful domination that the RCC has acquired in human affairs. We must recognise that this structure that emerged during the "Dark Ages" of the church is not of the Lord Jesus Christ but is a satanically based political and economic structure that will not hesitate to employ criminal means and devilish financial incentives to maintain and expand its intentions.

Another little know source of corruption of the Apostolic church beliefs by the RCC lies in the missions to the east of first Niccolo and Maffeo Polo to China and subsequent RCC sponsored mission of them together with Marco Polo and two RCC emissaries. That lasted from 1271AD to 1295AD and during this time a great deal of time was spent with Kublai Khan whose people are reported to have been involved in cannibalistic practices and who murdered in excess of 40million men women and children (where the children particularly were subjected to ritualistic murders). These RCC sponsored diplomatic contacts are the things that led to further and deeper mixing of RCC traditions with Eastern traditions and further corrupting the Apostolic and Christ led teaching of the original Biblical manuscripts.

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5.3 The Reformation

Many of the true followers of Jesus Christ today believe that the reformers (Calvin, Luther, John Wesley and the like) were the answer to this RCC take-over. There is no denying that they were significant movers and shakers and had a very big influence in bringing the Church back on track. The fact is that most of the good work they began has been lost because of our complacency and we no longer have giants like the reformers, and let us not forget King James, around with us.

The Reformers insisted on making the original Word of God known and available to the laity at large, from chimney sweep to heads of government. That was a momentous event. They brought back the doctrine of salvation by faith, made the Word of God the supreme authority (Sola Scriptura) and not the pope, and began opening our eyes to the "orphans and widows". You may want to add other odds and ends and feel free to do so.

The crucial thing is that the destruction of the ministry of healing by the RCC, chiefly through their doctrine of the "confessional" which saw the separation of sin from disease and curse, remained in place. The celebration of false and demonic religious festivals and idol worship, brought into the church by the RCC, remained in place and in very large portions of the Christian church the doctrine of salvation by works still overpowers their denominational thinking. Many "sects" have selected convenient lessons from the RCC for personal benefits and true repentance and full salvation is still very poorly understood. The church started a return to the Biblical teaching during the reformation but it has fizzled out and we need urgently to rekindle the fire to bring it full circle and back to the Apostolic Church, the only true church, the Church of Jesus Christ.

In essence then the Reformation has given us back the tools to get back to the true principles of the Church of Jesus Christ, but still left an enormous amount of work to be done. There is an enormous resistance to change and in my humble opinion based on all that we know from modern medical evidence and the church history, has a lot to do with curses and spiritual possession that has both resulted from generational curses and new ones from our own disobedience. We are in desperate need of a return to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Fundamentalism may be the description for that as long as we do not confuse that with prudishness short-sightedness or narrow-mindedness.

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5.4 Bible Translations

One of the early jewels of the reformation was the Bible that came about from the commission of King James and in our current situation few realise the debt of gratitude we owe to the extremely dedicated and hard work in accomplishing a massive task in a relatively short span of years to bring us the closest possible text to the actual and _original_ Word of God that exists in English.

The fact is that it exists much to the chagrin of the RCC and since the Industrial Revolution the facts that this text has become more and more freely available has become a bigger and bigger fly in the ointment of the RCC. They have therefore systematically acquired control of the entire Bible publishing industry and is systematically setting about distorting the Word of God by excluding masses of words often involving whole sections that end up denying the divinity of the Godhead and facilitating the formation of new and false theologies.

Consider this example:

Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (King James Version).

Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (New International Version).

I am quite sure that you can see the disastrous affect that this has in the Truth. And the fact is that this is one of the verses that a majority of clergy will quote in defence of the neglect of the healing ministry. You may have noticed that in all my Bible studies I always and only use the King James Version and this is the reason why. All other current versions of the Bible in English are cursed by their very nature:

Deuteronomy 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Rev 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book

Rom 1:18-19,21,22 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 22 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

By the very Word of God the RCC is therefore dead in its boots (out of the book of life). It is cursed (every plague) because of the additions and false doctrines they have made part of the Word of God and clearly, by the description of the anti-Christ in the books of Daniel and Revelation especially, the source of the anti-Christ. In spite of this knowledge the majority of current churches, denominational and independents have retained major influences of the RCC. There is an extremely powerful lobby that relies on what is approved by virtue of "Christian Tradition" as being the proper interpretation of the Word of God and what constitutes the proper and approved celebration of festivals. The fact that the vast majority of the traditions that they refer to have arisen out of the RCC does not seem to be of concern. At the same time there also seems to be a very large sector of the church that reject the Apostolic traditions and further also reject the very Word of God.

The resultant situation has therefore paved the road to... and as the RCC continues with more perverted new editions of the Bible so the churches of today will stray further from the true meaning of salvation.

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5.5 The present day church:

All these events of the past are still impacting the Protestant Christian churches (denominations) of today including both the older "main line" churches as well as the newer so called Apostolic churches and also the vast majority of "free" or non-denominational Churches, even those calling themselves Apostolic churches. Not only have the churches all held on to the major part of the heresies that exist within the "established" church but they have added a vast array of new ones. We have recently seen the flirtation of Rome with Eastern non-Christian religious leaders when the Pope sought to establish ties with them that reveal that the anti-Semitic philosophy of Constantine is still very much in evidence. It also proves the extent of the collusion between the RCC and Nazism (Arianism) they so fervently try to deny and cover up. It further lends additional support to the, by now, clearly evident fact that the Biblical anti-Christ is going to be promoted by the papacy. It just seems that we do not have the desire or the conviction of making a complete purge of all the inherited falsehoods from the RCC and a large segment of the church is even seeking "reconciliation" between the RCC and Christian churches (?? reconciliation with a heresy??).

In "protestant" churches things are not very different in reality from the RCC. There may be vast superficial ceremonial, criminal (yes there is criminality in the established denominational churches. I personally can witness to at least one denomination by personal involvement in a trust created for the purpose of facilitating the crime, was instrumental in routing funds to the political opposition to the government - i.e. terrorist/banned organisations \- under the auspices of a so called "housing trust" purporting to be a fund for providing housing for the politically oppressed) and structural differences, but the doctrinal differences in many cases is firstly very small and secondly the doctrines are taught as being superior to the Bible either directly or by implication. The number of churches that exclusively support Biblical theology (i.e. that support the Bible as being the Holy Spirit Inspired Literal Word from God and that these words are to be interpreted literally and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one - often described as fundamentalism), are relatively few and far between. In addition all sorts of "new" theologies have seen the light under various guises of which some have come and gone and others are staying while new ones are still emerging (apartheid theology. prosperity theology, social justice theology, human rights theology and the like - many cleverly given fancy theological jargon type names to cover up their true origin and intent) while we are seeing wrong ideologies emerge such as where the Roman influence pre 325 AD taught that the Christian Church replaced Israel, we are now seeing some churches advocating that a return to our roots involves a return to Old Testament Laws and Tenets. These are essentially returning their sheep to Judaism by the emphases that they place on Old Testament rituals and festivals.

While the criminal element in non-RCC churches is less evident there are still far too vast a number of churches where the usurping of the authority of all believers is viciously perpetuated (In the early church we moved from the ministry of all believers in the first century AD to see the distinction arising between "bishops" and laity in the second century AD and that in the third century became exacerbated to a range of distinct levels of "authority" of the "bishops", and an even further removal from the established church of the role of all believers.

What is the purpose of all this church history? It is simply this. With very few exceptions the churches have been lying, manipulating and deceiving the laity very deliberately and arrogantly and very subtly for nearly two thousand years for one specific purpose and that is for the interest of a select few. Because the processes are so demonically cleverly disguised and have been installed over so vast a number of years the upper echelons of the churches have become so successful that they have succeeded not only in hoodwinking the laity but also vast numbers of clergymen that have fallen into the snares with nothing but good and honest intentions.

The route to the recovery of the Church of Jesus Christ and to Biblical salvation of spirit, soul and body is not going to be a simple matter of changing course because of the convictions and proofs held by a few dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ. An insensitive even if true and radical intervention in existing church structures and teaching will result in such disastrous personal altercations that it will see vast numbers of church goers leave their churches so disillusioned that they will not be opening their hearts ever again. However if nothing is done we will be standing on the outside watching millions of people suffer demons, curses and diseases of every imaginable type and description needlessly. There are small isolated pockets of ministry that are independently attempting to right the wrongs and they have indeed been a stupendous blessing already to thousands healed from every imaginable disease and through that from hardships of every kind, but they are, in spite of their monumental efforts, still just a drop in the ocean of needs.

Do I have a solution? I cannot say in all honesty that I have and I must confess that I am led to say here that the only person that does have a solution and holds the answer in His hands is Jesus Christ. When Jesus decides to call His Bride to himself and stop interceding with the Father on our behalf that will herald the revelation of the antichrist.

2Thessalonians 2: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

There are however some necessary actions to be brought about in the "Christian church as we know it that the Holy Spirit has made abundantly clear to me in the examination of these things and that will be the focus of the next three chapters. I must further appeal to my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ here that we understand that apart from the immanent Rapture, the collapse of the ability of the present medical structures to cope with even the symptoms and symptomatic relief of the people of the world, Christian, Jew and Gentile, is fast reaching its end and when it does the lie they have been living will so quickly emerge that the system will freefall into oblivion overnight. That is not a prophesy but simple logical thinking.

It is for that reason that I must plead before embarking on the next three chapters that those who feel a call to be involved in complete salvation of the Lord's sheep need to urgently begin to properly equip themselves and to get involved and if anyone does not know where to begin contact me and I am sure with the help from above I can guide you in a positive God pleasing direction. Just, please, get involved and help to end the needless suffering of millions and the continual annoyance of our Lord God.

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### Chapter 6: Back to Pentecost:

6.1 Repentance of individuals and the church:

Hosea 4:6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

In all the preceding chapters I have shown the extent of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge that exists in this field. The extent of this has and will in the foreseeable future still cause untold numbers of severe arguments especially within the brother and sisterhood of believers and more particularly within biological families. Not least of the reasons for this is that this "new" or rather rediscovered Biblical teaching is so exciting that it has the potential for causing us to "speak out of turn" by which I mean that a little knowledge in this case can do more harm than good. Believe me when I say that although everyone wants to be fully healed not everyone is immediately going to believe us and when they have the inclination to do so there are two opposing forces still to deal with. Firstly existing medical practitioners and students, of whom many are not born again believers, will vehemently oppose what they will perceive as a challenge to their continued financial welfare. Secondly many will turn either to the false theology they have already been indoctrinated with or will turn to clergy that know as little about the truth as current ministries display and will feel a need to protect their own reputations. Add to these two this; their own inherent sense of guilt in allowing themselves, or especially those near and dear to them, to suffer unnecessarily for too long.

I think I have also learnt and I hope that as you, my dear brothers and sisters have also sensed like me, that my initial understanding of repentance was incomplete as a result of my lack of knowledge of many of these things among other reasons. Whatever other reasons I would like to add however and whoever I might like to blame for my incomplete repentance there is no doubt now that by far the major cause was my _personal_ lack or incomplete knowledge of the Word of God. Yes I know that a great deal of the medical evidence I have presented is not found in scripture and nor are the testimonies of those thousands that have in recent times been healed of divers diseases and demonic possessions, but just a simple thing like reading Deuteronomy 28 as it were directed directly to me, would have opened my eyes to the possibilities. Also, the Gospels and the Biblical books about the apostolic church do have the proofs and the testimonies in the Bible even if I never heard it preached from our pulpits.

This tells me, and I trust you will agree, that I urgently needed to learn more about the subject and test it against the Bible and then I needed simultaneously to repent. I needed to be the prodigal and seek the face of my Father God through Jesus Christ my Redeemer and intercessor and repent of so much and such deep things that only with the help of the Holy Spirit's ability to put the thoughts of my heart in clear language to the Father could I hope to express fully my disobedience, remorse and repentance. I needed to prostrate myself before my Father, seek reconciliation with my brothers and sisters, and implore Jesus Christ to restore me so that I would at least begin with having a reborn spirit that would begin restoring my soul to a point of being capable of learning truths that my dead mind would simply reject. My dear friends if this seems like a mountain to you let me put you at ease by saying that you are quite right or that you are on the right track. This is a 180º about turn from the kind of repentance most of us were taught and may appear to go against the grain of all kinds of theologies you've been indoctrinated with. There is however nothing in the Bible that stops you from repenting again as if we've never been there. It was not as some may try to convince you, that God "made a mistake" but it was me/you that lacked knowledge because we put our faith in mankind rather than the Word of God. It is truly a very big thing and is truly a mountain but firstly Jesus will not let you go through it alone and will send you His Helper, the Holy Spirit to guide and assist you and secondly you will never ever regret it once you have realised the blessings that have replaced the curses.

I must just draw your attention the fact that in the process of such repentance it may become apparent, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that there are curses or demons laid up in us that in our own knowledge we cannot be rid of and that prompting is to be very carefully taken captive. Then we must seek the help of the elders to help us lift those curses or cast out those spirits if we have any uncertainty about our own authority to act. The way that the Holy Spirit will communicate the need to you will vary and may well be through a simple thing like an awareness of a condition or symptom that persist after our repentance that we know is against the will of God because we have now made knowledge our business. One thing I can tell you is that any growing awareness of unrepented disobedience that you get will not come from satan because that would mean that he was undermining his own security, Those prompts/ thoughts must therefore be from the Lord God and so we neglect them at our peril.

That then deals with the need I or any individual has of renewed or further repentance but that still leaves the churches. They have purported to be and openly sold themselves as the house of God while teaching false and twisted doctrines, decorating their walls with idols and prohibited symbols and keeping false traditions alive and flourishing. The curses that are resident upon our churches are legion. When we deal with saving and healing people in these buildings we should expect that those legions will try to nullify our efforts unless we cast them out with the authority given to us by Jesus and ensuring the protection of those buildings when we have services in them and people are being delivered from curses and diseases and demons.

Not the least of the needs of joint repentance is the need for reconciliation between the clergy and the laity, the church leaders and the clergy and the church leaders and the laity and the "senior citizens" (as opposed to "elders") and the younger generations. That is my heart for mankind and I will continue to love my neighbours and reach out although the Bible tells me that in these end times there is little likelihood of success. To me personally the point is that Jesus has not relieved me of the duty to love and be known by his love in me.

Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Luke 12:51-53 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division. 52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Also read; Luke 21:12 and 16 and 17, John 15:18-21, John 16:1-3,

2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

That is then quite a detailed and massive activity that is required and it is well that we remember that as individuals and as a church we will not be blessed with the authority (kingdom - basileia) of heaven until this has been done to the satisfaction of Jesus Christ and that therefore the healing ministry will not yet be restored in full (and possibly not even in part).

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6.2 Commitment to the Word of God alone (Sola Scriptura)

Another thing that the Holy Spirit has revealed to me is that doctrines and or theologies, by whatever name you give them, and biblical exposition by any other means than believing that the words mean what they actually say, are all manmade tools and while they may sound very learned and be based on the Bible, they are not the Bible and they are not the Inspired Word of God and not infallible. The Holy Spirit has made me see further that I have no need of any extra Biblical doctrine or teaching to be able to live fully within the will of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that in fact practically speaking every manmade doctrine or theology is blotted by ulterior motives. Yes that is nothing new and Martin Luther taught, already four and a half centuries ago, that the Bible alone is the only undisputed reference for the will of God (sola scriptura). But though Luther and Calvin taught that, it is not applied in the vast majority of churches and even in those churches where it is claimed to be applied the use of modern versions of the Bible is common. Those "versions "are not the Word of God and belong to those idols that we need to purge from our temples when we go to the Lord in repentance. Am I sounding like a move back to legalism or works? No my Friend this is a fact that the Bible supports, how can we call the New International Version with its 64000 missing words from the original text, the Word of God when they cause and substantiate false teaching?

Only when there is committed return to the correct text of the Bible by all concerned can we, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, speak from one mouth even as the Apostles once did. Only when we are reunited in where we teach from can we be united in what we teach and how that is intended to impact on mankind in every facet of our existence. The only currently existing English text that meets this requirement is still the King James Version and I do not see that changing soon. As to arguments that it is difficult for us to understand the "Shakespeare" language of the KJV let me advise that modern linguistics has proven it to be the most easily read and correctly understandable text of any version currently existing (to my Afrikaans speaking family in Jesus Christ this would be the 1933/53 versions of the Afrikaans Bible).

One thing I learnt in my time with the local and regional peace committees in the late 1980's early 1990's is that change, when handled with circumspect and prayer, putting the matters at hand into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, yields results. Calling people of different persuasions together to find common ground under those conditions also works in this situation, and finally having open "agendas' i.e. clearly stated goals that are unambiguous, helps. The way forward in changing the present mindset in our existing churches would involve the same basic principles as were successfully implemented by the "peace committees' who in turn gained a lot of insight from the negotiations that brought about "democratic" governance in the RSA. Even if we begin on a one to one basis I would strongly advise that it would be best to set a preliminary meeting over a relaxed cup of coffee with the head clergyman of my/your own regular place of worship. Then explain why you want to set up a formal meeting that must last for an agreed length of time at an agreed venue with a specified agenda for items of discussion and basic rules of engagement.

This we will discuss in more detail a little later but I mentioned it here because it underscores the need for understanding the importance of the use of the true text of the Bible.

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6.3 Return To a Full Knowledge and Understanding of the Root Causes of Diseases;

As much as the vast majority of preachers, evangelists and Bible teachers are deliberately or unwittingly blind to the dangers of modern versions of the Bible (With respected men like Stefan Joubert using the 1983 Afrikaans translation and Uncle Angus using the New King James Version as examples) so too most of them are either in denial of spiritual healing, afraid of spiritual healing for the sake of their own reputations or just simply conned into oblivion by current world opinion about it. Add to this the massive resources that back the lies put out into the world on every possible public media by pharmaceutical giants in the chemical and natural medication industries that all promise what sounds like ultimate "cures". Then add to that the strong belief that has been developed over the past two hundred years in medical practitioners, from general practitioners to specialist, and psychiatry and psychology and we can begin to understand what kind of "opposition" we are up against.

It will therefore require a patient but urgent programme of "educating "the key group of people in the established churches to what we mean firstly by "Curing" diseases and secondly to gain acceptance of the "Root Causes" of these diseases. To mention patience and urgent in one sentence seems like a contradiction in terms but I choose to use that wording deliberately because both are essential ingredients in the way forward. If we do not face these realities to begin with we are going to remain stuck in the rut that we are in right now. Henry W Wright one of the modern revivers of this ministry on a significant scale was the Lord's instrument in saving thousands of people's lives and setting thousands more free from diseases and sadly just passed away recently. Sadly the church at large is still in denial of the physical evidence of his ministry.

Nehemiah 1:1-3 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. 2 And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

Acts 11:25‭-‬26 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. 26 And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. KJV

The church has become like the city of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah and the whole of the book of Nehemiah will be a very astute guide to the whole process of rebuilding the church. Jerusalem at the time had been spiritually restored (the temple rebuilt) but the walls and gates were in ruin and it became a burden laid on Nehemiah to restore the city to its former glory. Note that the name of Nehemiah is derived from two Hebrew words that mean "breath of God" or Ruach and protection. In the gospels Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the "Paracletos" (defence council) or the Protector and just as the Holy Spirit operates now to be our protector and close the gates in our lives to the intrusion of curses and demonic spirits through the various open gates caused by our disobedience, so Nehemiah's purpose was to bring protection from the enemies wishing to rob Jerusalem of its health and welfare. The Book of Nehemiah provides an ideal template for the processes involved in the discussions I spoke about above

In addition to the very apt guidance that Nehemiah gives in this process we must also bear in mind that this process will take time and that the length of that time may be short as in the case of Nehemiah or a little longer as in Antioch or even more or even less. Again that was a lesson I learnt during the Peace Committee years that the Lord has a way of timing things to perfection and nothing we do other than obedient and patient acceptance of the Lord's guidance through the Holy Spirit can influence the Lords timing in our experience. All we can do is to, like Nehemiah, a foreshadowing of the Holy Spirit, spend time in prayer and especially the listening element of prayer.

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6.4 Re-Establishing the Role and Responsibilities of the Clergy and Church Leadership:

Galatians 1:6-8 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Ephesians 1:15-16 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

The Apostolic church was a church of the ministry of all believers where they shared all that they had _(Acts 2)_ on spiritual and physical levels, in teaching, proclamation, healing and casting out of spirits and curses. Although I have focused a lot of attention on the "negotiations and mediations" required with the present clergy we need just as much to bear in mind the fact that the entire body of the current churches need to go on an unprecedented reformation. By and large the laity have become little more than passengers on a train or baggage in containers. The vast majority do little more that attend an hour of worship on a Sunday and of those less than five percent attend other weekly teachings or prayers (with very, very few exceptions). We have already dealt with the causes of this but we need to deal at least with an introduction to this problem and solving it.

There are any number of excuses that our laity can raise for this status the most common of which are; "I am working full-time and do not have any spare time", "that is what we pay the ministers for", "the ministers only work on Sundays and have plenty of time for visiting the sick and having tea parties with the elderly) ... and yes you have heard them and many more all before. Sadly there are also many "half truth's in many of those but then have we ever thought that if things are only half true then the rest is half lie?! Every one of these "excuses" is nothing but a wholesale copout and probable evidence of the absence of conversion and the new birth (again there will be any number of people that will ask here whether I am insinuating that there are many in our churches that are unsaved or not born again even if they say they have been and are born again? My friend join in at the next big men's Christian rally and see how many of those that previously claimed to be saved and were even regular church goers come to true salvation and repentance for the first time. The fact is our churches are packed with men and women that have not been saved. The big thing is that when we realise this situation we have to admit that we are in reality not faced with one major problem but two. As much as the church structures need renewal at the top ends of the pyramid it also needs the same at the bottom end of the pyramid. Now, which end is the bigger problem? I have likened the church here to a pyramid where the leaders are at the top and the laity at the bottom of it. That means that a handful of leaders (say the top five percent of the triangle) are the leaders, that then leaves ninety five percent of the problem being the laity!! I have in this book spent a great deal of space on the top end of the triangle because I am sure that is where the renewal needs to begin but do not ever think that this is going to happen in the form of a "mass uprising" of the laity. The simple fact is that earthly authorised entry to the laity has to come from above, but when we plan on bringing the whole ministry of salvation back into the church we must begin to understand that as monumental a task as rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall was, just so will this task be and it is not something that the present top of the pyramid can handle without support. _"And that is exactly why Jesus said in Luke 18:8 – "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" And add to that Matthew 24:12 – "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." The Word does not say there will be a renewal or a revival before the rapture. 2 Thess.2:3 says that the APOSTASIA (falling away from the truth) will come". (tiaan gildenhuys)_

Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

It is for this reason that I believe that the role and responsibilities of the clergy need to be re-established and for that we will need our present day Nehemiah's (men baptised in the Holy Spirit and called by the Lord God to guide us through this process). The denominational churches here are like a business concern that is placed under judicial management to prevent it going into bankruptcy. In that case the "administrator/s will, as one of their first priorities, sit and restructure the business to make it run more effectively and yes, often that means "heads must roll". Brothers and sisters I believe that this is the big stumbling block in the way of the church renewal. Because we've seen what happens in the world, and merely either condoned it, or just turned a blind eye to it or have just been part of the white noise background, we realise the implications of renewal in the church structures and assume that the same will happen in the church.

Have we lost sight of what will happen when the walls of Jerusalem have been rebuilt? Have we forgotten that amazing 40% per decade growth rate of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ? Are our rules for Christian living, the rules for discipleship and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ then inadequate in our minds? If the answers to these are yes in even one case then I am afraid that I think the church is in far deeper trouble than we think. I do not believe that one single clergyman needs to loose their position as result of putting right the wrongs we have been discussing, but I am convinced that if and when the renewal finally takes place all clergy will find their callings being fulfilled to far greater and more noticeable extents and they will all be far more whole people in their relationship with Jesus Christ, their homes and their communities. It is the workers in the businesses that have always proven to be the most difficult problem for the judicial administrators to deal with. They are the ones most deeply settled in; in a pattern of daily routine and the ones most difficult to convince that they need to "come to the party". Apart from the spiritual difference between the laity of the church and the workers in the business we do have an important segment in the laity that, I am convinced, will become the major moving force in the entire renewal of the church. These are the "senior citizens" of the church, they have become a major percentage of the congregants in all denominations but unlike in days gone by they are much stronger mentally and physically than their predecessors and we are currently facing a very real problem with ever increasing numbers of senior citizens becoming frustrated and psychologically handicapped as a result of boredom and being left out in the cold. They are no longer a generation that want to sit on the back porch drinking cup after cup of coffee and puffing away at their pipes or knitting baby clothes.

This group is now made up of well informed and mature people with a vast untapped resource of experience and life skills that are being allowed to waste away. They are the folk who have the wisdom of years to listen to the revival of the Apostolic teaching and power of salvation and become the initial scholars, then healing ministers and teachers. The fact is that that is not new but was the way of Jesus Christ i.e. in service training. This method could even see the falling away of the established teaching organisations (universities, colleges and seminaries) mostly with a predetermined human aim in their teaching curricula and that will be a positive move and free up masses of funds that can be far better and more honourably employed by the Church of Jesus Christ. Just in case you have wondered if that funding will be enough to enable the judicial administrator to rescue the sinking business let me quickly say "no, it will not", BUT there is another far bigger source of cash injection coming. Just consider for a moment the turnover of the current multibillion dollar medical/pharmaceutical industry. There will probably always be some need for a part of it (not everyone is a born again disciple of Jesus Christ ... yet, but the masses that we are contributing to that industry can be cut by a sufficient amount to provide for the total needs of the church AND the widows and orphans and the poor.

Having said that then the revamping of the church structures and bringing on board the ministry of all believers has far more readymade solutions than the judicial administrator of a business has and that is what we need to make very clear to our tops and bottoms of our pyramids. If we go about this in the same way as Nehemiah did with the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem I am sure that rather than taking a longer period of time it can be accomplished sooner. All it will take is to get started.

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6.5 Temples, Tabernacles and Cathedrals vs. Sharing Everything we have

I must confess that in this section I have a certain amount of prejudice but there is also a bit of history to support my view. The early church of Jesus Christ did not have any "cathedrals" of its own and therefore the construction and maintenance of them was not an issue and naturally is not mentioned in the Gospels. Is the Father then against church buildings? I believe not so let me explain what I believe that church buildings ought to be, and what the Bible teaches about this subject.

Surely the first and most vital point here is that whereas the Father instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle (i.e. the temporary or desert Temple) as the place where the Lord God would reside in and where His people would always be able to find Him, that justification for a building has been removed by Jesus Christ giving His life for us on the Cross, and since the Resurrection the new "Temple" of God, as the indwelling Holy Spirit, is in the heart of every born again believer's body, There is no longer a curtain separating us from the Lord God or a need of a Levitical Priest to intercede on our behalf. Neither is there a need to provide for places of sacrifices to be made. All of these needs for a brick and mortar structure have passed. That then clearly takes away in my understanding any justification for the huge modern "cathedrals" in which a few men of a specific church can boast of their great prowess.

Then I want us to note very carefully how Moses was instructed to go about the building of the Tabernacle. All the material came from the people in the form of donations, from what they **already** had, from their **freewill** giving, and of critical importance is that the building of it was done by the people themselves!

That is one crucial fact that seems to have become completely forgotten and yet is symptomatic of a far greater evil that exists in our modern ecclesia but that I will need to deal with in a future book on what does and what should constitute the Church Community. The "monuments" that so many churches are fond of creating these days are becoming as much iconic symbols as the thousands of vacant cathedrals all over Europe the majority of which are now dirty warehouses with a few surviving as museums and some have been converted into residential units or what we in South Africa call flats. I do not have a problem with the fact that there is justification in our day for undercover assembly points that can accommodate even hundreds of people but fail to see the need for accommodating thousands in luxury auditorium like theatres, plus several coffee shops and restaurants with separate facilities for half a dozen other church activities. These end up firstly making the construction so complicated that it cannot be erected by the congregation members. Such facilities do nothing for the Gospel and mega churches simply serve to elevate the top leadership to iconic status like their buildings. They could rather be set free to engage in a calling from the Lord God more of the time and spend less of it in administering "empires". It will be a very interesting thing to see how many "E-Churches" (as one such church is currently known in South Africa), will spring up when the whole Covid-19 pandemic is ended and shut downs are ended.

What is a further problem with these modern "mega churches" is the seeming oblivion of our responsibility to the poor, the widows and orphans (one church I know boasts of handing out 1200 meals a day while spending millions on a new mega church venue. How much as a percentage of the need are the 1200 meals a day and how many more meals could be supplied from the millions being spent on a new venue? Oh yes and they say that venue was a vision from the Lord ... where not the empty cathedrals also said to be inspired by the Lord? There are few if any of the cities in South Africa where you need to go more than ten kilometres to end up in the lowest grade subsidised housing areas which are generally surrounded by makeshift squatter camps and I dare say that such poverty exists in all cities all over the world in the same proximity. I cannot believe for one minute that Jesus would have spent millions on mega churches while there were other ways of dealing with accommodational requirements of the church that left far more available to help the poor. I also believe that a major reason for this phenomenon existing, and growing, in our midst is that firstly our clergy have a deep desire for recognition from their congregation that stems from the secular attitude that the clergy have "a one day a week job for a full month's salary" lie. Secondly because the laity see growing church numbers due to modern facilities, capable of accommodating modern entrainment at Sunday services, as heralding the value of a pastor. I am not by any means enjoying these harsh statements but they are the reality and I would be overjoyed if anyone could prove that I am wrong in saying these things. I believe and am humbly convinced that we all know these facts to be true but we do not dare speak them lest we be called sceptics or jealous. My purpose in stating these facts though is because I believe we have lost sight of the will of Jesus Christ and His intended purpose for His disciples and the fact that apart from the poor, the widows and orphans all these things are detracting from the full salvation of the sheep of Jesus Christ and for that we will be severely penalised. I do not want in this to offend anyone and if I have then I must humbly ask that person to search their own conscience first in the light of the Word and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If that does not change your mind feel free then to make contact with me so that we may discuss the issue person to person.

I also believe that our mission field is out in the world and the more institutionalised our membership becomes the less our outward bound mission becomes. I hear the argument that there may be those who make use of the fancy facilities that are brought to know the Lord through them but I will guarantee that, that will be an insignificant percentage of the population that needs both salvation and sanctification. (I live in a "granny flat" that I built and paid for and costs me only the water and electricity we use and a little maintenance. Our income consists of two government pensions augmented by home baking and R1000.00 monthly from an annuity. That puts us on a financial par with probably the lower middle class and thus above probably 75% of the population and we cannot afford coffee shops or restaurants. Does not that raise a moral question about who the mega churches are catering for?).

The last point I want to make in this regard is that there are those that would justify the mega church structures by saying that through them they are providing facilities that can be used seven days a week. When you examine these then it seems to me that apart from the restaurants and coffee shops these churches are getting involved in renting out office and shop floor area to the public at large. This means they are creating an "office park" of sorts that requires maintenance and administration and the time of the clergy involved that takes them out of the ministry of the Gospel no matter how you look at it. I cannot reconcile myself with the idea of being called by the Lord God into full time ministry and then spending major portions of my time in secular administrative affairs.

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### Chapter 7: The role of laity in the health of the Church of Jesus Christ.

7.1 Mothers:

As I said in the previous chapter the role of laity, the lower 95% of the pyramid, needs a very urgent and serious revamp and while this book does not provide me with the scope to deal with this subject comprehensively, I would be failing if I did not touch on a few vital aspects of that not least because of the impact that they have had on the ill health (both physical and mentally) or incomplete sanctification of modern day mankind. I am beginning this from the angle of "mothers' or Motherhood" for no specific reason other than that is how it came up in my own thinking. I hope that I am not being a male chauvinist in doing so. As you will see I do not ultimately think that we men are any less part of the problem.

Having said that, i.e. I do not want to be biased, I am absolutely convinced that the present role of women in our society in South Africa and indeed the entire Western world is anything but what the Lord God demands, yes "demands". The vast majority of mothers are in the first place what we now call "working Mothers". That in spite of the fact that in well over 95% of these cases their husbands are also working (and so are the "absent fathers"). There is only one reason that this is happening and that is because we desire a lifestyle that is beyond realistic means. Now I have incurred the full wrath of all openly and covert women's libbers. Let me tell those that what I have said is absolutely true and that has nothing to do with an attitude that is demeaning to women or suggesting, as women's libbers try to say, that we men believe "that our women belong at home and behind the stove". That image, or the so called chauvinistic attitude, does not and has never come from men but was an excuse dreamed up in the Middle Ages for women to escape from their God given role. That God given role is neither, as they would have it, a demeaning role or an insignificant or an unimportant role. To even suggest or think that the role God ordained for the women is demeaning shows how little they know and understand of the Word and again we die for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6)

Proverbs 31:10-31 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. (She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. (She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. Openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

I believe my dear brother and sister that as you read this last portion of Proverbs the inherent meaning will be clear to you so there is no need for a verse by verse explanation. What I do want to show you from this is that this partial description of a women's role in the Bible does in no way justify anyone in saying that a Godly woman is of little or no significance. It also shows that a Godly woman is far more than a woman with and apron behind the stove. But what it does show in the very first place is that a Godly woman does not have any unrealistic expectations of her husband or of achieving high and mighty social status. She is a very capable women that exercises her rightful position in the household by a frugal, disciplined administration of various functions ordained by God, and making the feeding and maintenance of the home chores her absolute responsibility and does so willingly and with pride and joy. When you consider from proverbs the magnitude of this task, the humility required for this task, the skills and experience and please, please don't miss out the word wisdom in proverbs because that stems from her responsibility for the first twelve years of the children's social and religious education. It involves dedication and loneliness and physical hard work that places THIS woman way above the liberated working mother of our time.

Inherent in all of the above is the additional fact that the Godly woman will be setting her husband free to not only do his share of the familial duty unhindered by uncompleted tasks in the home, but he in turn will have no excuse for slovenliness, half hearted effort or dereliction of his duty at his work. He will instead not only perform as he should but will hurry home rather than the pub or other inappropriate pastimes. Together these have a Godly impact on the children and instead of having children growing up to be rebellious upstarts afflicted with the curses of manipulation and jealousy and disrespect and possessing the deaf and dumb spirit resulting in what we are more familiar with as autism, ADHD, Anxiety, fear, depression and hyper mania all leading to occultic involvement and later possession (Dr. MK Strydom). That in turn sees today's "laziness" in children and children depending on parental support well beyond the years when men should already have been earning a living (and note that "laziness is a spiritual (demonic) possession of the child caused by disobedience of parents to the Laws of God).

Proverbs 26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

The effect of working mothers on the economy is not easy to establish and current statistics are totally unreliable as they are generally drawn from one of two perspectives. They either set out to prove the beneficial effect of working women on the economy or to prove the opposite so neither are objective or a true reflection and in fact just another wasteful use of available resources. None of the studies that I have come across have related the negative effects of working mothers on their children's future productivity in the public economy or the negative effects of both parents working on the potential productivity of only men working. there have been no studies that I know of that have attempted to reflect the negative affects of both mother and father working on divorce rates, infidelity, pornography and generational diseases resulting from these things. However such information as does exist makes it plain to see that there is a significant negative impact on the economy, the fact that the result of working mothers creates an ever more unrealistic lifestyle has, in the case of South Africa for sure and the world shows similar symptoms, resulted in our propensity to save drop from in access of ten percent in the 1970's to practically zero and even the most basic level of understanding of economic theory will tell you that spells disaster and is the root cause of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Finally I must also just point out that working women have resulted in a very sinister and complete breakdown of neighbourliness with all its adherent implications. What in years gone by was often made off as the women "scandalling" over the fences was an integral part of a societal lifestyle that kept everyone up to date with the events of their neighbourhood and important events that had a social impact in the neighbourhood. Now our neighbours may easily have a death in their house and we will never even know it. Apart from the fact that some of that neighbourliness may have been unbiblical gossiping that should be cut out, much of it was the very stuff that bound the moral fibre of society and a true reflection of "love thy neighbour as thyself".

Thus with unrealistic standards of living, generational diseases, negative economic impacts on productivity and curses and spiritual possessions abundantly in evidence all over society there is no justification in general for working mothers and when we consider that it constitutes sin and disobedience the results of which are clearly in evidence, there is no justification for allowing this phenomenon in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Allied to this is the whole scenario of women usurping the man's status as the head of the house and exactly the same line of argument as applies to working mothers applies to this problem.

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7.2 Fathers:

First I am not just going to repeat myself here by stating the converse of the mother situation that I have just explained. My brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ will all have the ability to go into this by themselves. I rather want to focus on some of the problems that the traditional "modern" lifestyle of men have had on us and the church.

The first problem is the need that the majority of men have for having a "macho" image. To this end they will neglect their role as head of the house by idolising their bodies and submitting to tortuous gym routines and ridiculous diets that are totally unbalanced and unhealthy with major long term damaging effects to their physical health. As time moves on the number of men that are getting hooked on "illegal" stimulants to develop muscle and cut fat is alarming and it is draining men of their physical energy and causing a loss of libido (Dr. MK Strydom) that has very negative effects on their intimacy with their wives. These substances of abuse and neglect of duties as husbands and idol worship of their bodies is again sinful, disobedient and will result in curses and diseases. This we have seen reflected in the same trends and generational diseases mentioned under the mother heading.

But there is a very much more serious problem that is popping up from a problem with disobedient fatherhood. I am going to describe briefly an actual case study that will illustrate the point. In the first generation we have a father that abdicates his responsibility as the head of the house and the mother is forced to take on responsibilities she should not have including going out to work for the sake of looking after six children. Then a time comes where the father goes overboard and chases the youngest son out of the house. The youngest son has a couple of failed relationships with women and marriages and then marries the mother of his son, an only child. The mother is painfully neat but refuses to bath a boy child or have any family visit for the first three months and it is six months before any other family member is allowed to touch the child. When the child was about three the mother walks out of the family but only after increasingly dominating the household before that and taking the boy with her. There follows two more marriages on the father's side, where the women again dominate and walk out both having affairs before they walk out. That's enough to give us an idea. The first generation son has never been able to assert his authority over the house or his child as a result of the sin of his father (i.e. abdicating his authority - the Ahab spirit). The next generation child is now completely unable to accept any form of authority from either employers or his father and is getting more and more involved in satanic music and drawing clearly satanic/demonic pictures. He stays awake and watching late night TV and YouTube until five in the morning, his room is a pigsty and he sleeps all day. He is now a man of twenty with no ambition to take responsibility, lost already half a dozen jobs (allegedly walking out of five and being "unfairly dismissed once), and wants nothing to do with Christianity and in fact literally runs away from it. I have included this case study to illustrate that the results of disobedience as described in Deuteronomy 28:15ff are still applicable today and also that the need for removal of curses is still applicable today so that that vast group of misled believers that say that curses ended with the Cross of Calvary may be awakened. I am digressing a little but in this case study, with which I am personally acquainted, it also becomes clear that there is so much false teaching about curses that in the majority of cases originates still in the RCC and new versions of the Bible that are being published under their control.

Biblical Fatherhood is probably one of the elements of the Laws of the Lord God that are under the severest attack by satanic principalities for the very reason that it is destroying the basic family unit, society and the world economy. Simultaneously satan is turning an increasing number of victims into easily manipulated puppets controlled by spirits and curses so that the number of hosts for the forces of evil is rapidly growing from both within the "Christian" community as well as from beyond it as all Gentiles are automatically subjects to being used as hosts for satan to dwell in on this earth. In the above example there are also two possible scenarios; The father may be influenced by the Ahab Spirit which will mean that he has abdicated his responsibility or as is alluded to the mother may be usurping the father's role to the extent of sidelining him. The outcomes of both scenarios will be curses and demonic possession.

Besides these avenues of onslaught on the authority of fathers given by the Lord God they are under attack in every form of social media via the stimulation of lust and sobriety. Compare the films that were made forty or fifty years ago with the films of our day and the steamy explicit sex and infidelity that once was taboo is now common place. Advertising media are getting on the bandwagon of the twisted reality from the movies to further exacerbate the lust element to entice men into poor or even zero stewardship. By stewardship I mean all that is biblically described under that term which includes responsible budgeting of income, taking responsibility for the family members that the Lord God has given a father, establishment and maintenance of the home, vehicles and resources of the family, adult and child education both academic and spiritual, time, time and time, and the like. Clearly the effective stewardship of these precludes them from "a quick one" after work and other frivolous activities after work.

Whereas in early Biblical history we see fathers taking responsibility for their sons to have an established home and livelihood before they got married and brought their wives to their prepared homes (even as Jesus Christ has gone to prepare a place for us His Bride _(John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you_ _. I go to prepare a place for you_ _)_ , that is now completely unknown. This abandoned responsibility is a picture of the heavenly banquet prepared for the Rapture of the saints and I wonder how we would feel if Jesus Christ had to abandon that as easily as some of us as the fathers of this day and age abandon our responsibilities. The world teaches this "human rights" aberration that has seen the tradition of fathers choosing a suitable bride for their sons being ditched as being unjust, but our children are getting divorced at such a rate that the number just living together are rapidly on the way to overtaking the number of legally married and those getting married with ANC's are vastly more that the COP marriages in the Christian church. It is said that soon a "co-habitation agreement" will replace a marriage contract so that couples will be able to split up even more easily if and when they chose. In addition the number of children born out of wedlock is rapidly increasing and socially quite acceptable. The world and the church seems to have become completely oblivious of the significance of children born of the flesh and children born of the Spirit (i.e. the Ishmael and Isaac syndrome). But it is a vicious circle in which, because the fathers themselves are living such completely disobedient lives, they have no longer "earned" the right to decide for their children. I say "earned" because again that is a worldly view, fathers do not need to earn this right, it is their duty to obey the Lord and more than that it is their duty to discipline their children and bring them up to be responsible adults. Do we imagine that "human rights" will get us to the heavenly banquet, or is it through the obedience to Jesus Christ? Remember that in all of these things the marriage and the family are an image of the Bride of Christ.

I think I have said enough for now to help us to realise that not only our concept of motherhood needs serious revision but that our concept of fatherhood is in even greater need of a major overhaul. If we are to have any hope that Jesus Christ will restore the healing ministry to His disciples in more than a few isolated pockets as at present, we cannot just deal with some of the problems some of the time because that still leaves most doors open. _Matthew 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation_. Leaving doors open in the ministry of healing is a very dangerous thing and you will always note that those duly authorised to it by Jesus Christ and practicing in it will not just pray about removal of curses requested. Often they will also pray to the Father and through the authority vested in them by Jesus Christ for many other curses and demonic possession that experience has shown to be allied to the requested ones. They will then also diligently pray for angelic protection over the cured (set free) person. Satan is not nearly as docile as we are and when attacked he will counter attack with all his might. The problem in our present situation in life is that we are just like Jerusalem was in the time of Nehemiah where there was not just a wall mostly broken down but there were also ten gates and these gates represent all the avenues through which satan can enter our bodies to dominate us.

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7.3 Children:

Allow me to begin this sub heading with a question; under whose guidance would you say must our children be brought up to maturity, that of Sigmund Freud or that of Jesus Christ? I know that most people will immediately answer that they will rather do it the way of Jesus Christ, but what people say and do are in complete contradiction of each other.

By the time today's children are of school going age they are already not only without discipline, but they have reached a point of being completely undisciplinable! Why is that? Because we listen to Freud first of all and take up such notions as abandoning any form of corporal punishment. We have been fooled into accepting temper tantrums, greed tantrums, and any form of tantrum a young child will throw. We accept the children driving mothers up the wall and becoming addicts to anti-depressants because of the frustration of undisciplined children. A medical piece of evidence that is relevant in this case and has been completely forgotten is that if a child is not disciplined by the age of four, or at the most of five, then the chances of ever making a disciplined child out of them is reduced by eighty percent and after the age of eight it becomes almost impossible without Jesus Christ's intervention. This type of lack of disciplining of our children has now been around for so many generations that there are only extremely isolated pockets of responsible and obedient parenthood left and this will require a major reorientation not least because an irresponsible return to Godly parenting could now easily lead to excessive violence because of incompetence and other impacting curses. (My own father was not disciplined by his father and that resulted in some of my punishments coming from flat hands in the face an fists to the eyes, proper discipline is a gift and comes through generations of examples).

Nowadays the idea of having children is also a very much out of control behaviour. Just recently I heard a young woman say she wanted to have a man's child after knowing him for three months. She already has two children under thirty months old, is getting divorced and has nowhere to live. The man is struggling financially and lives with his son in a two roomed shell of a dwelling. While that is one specific scenario it illustrates the common lack of proper preparation of the home to ensure that the child will be born into an appropriate environment. This is reflected in our churches too where people will be encouraged to commit their lives to Jesus long before they are really aware of what they are getting into and then when they do they are largely left to their own devices and proper discipleship has become as scarce as responsible parenting. I actually know of only one ministry in South Africa at present where there is one "collaborator" specifically appointed for and dedicated to a follow up of new converts and newly healed people. The lack of this kind of responsibility is reflected in our homes too where parents neglect almost every form of follow up of their children's behaviour or performance outside of the home. Everything is left to "teachers" and schools and the less the parents have to do the happier they are. In the same vein we once had a situation where divorce was something that if it happened at all, most couples at least had the sense to wait until the children were old enough to be independent (and by that I am not justifying divorce), but these days they will walk away from the marriage at the drop of a hat mostly because one or both are already having an affair with another. My point is that society in general and the church specifically both have a very poor sense of responsibility and this all stems initially from disobedient mother and fatherhood and lack of disciplining children. As generation upon generation receives curse upon curse, the impact on the church is massive and we have today instead of 3000 meeting together daily and sharing everything (Acts 2), mega churches which would be better described as "mega entertainment centres" (because otherwise they do not appeal to the taste of the "younger generation" and then they will be "lost"). I am not so sure how a generation that is lost already can be lost any further by giving in to worldly demands and it is the parents' responsibility to bring up their children and not the church's responsibility to entertain. Church discipline or attending Sunday worship is no longer about an act of worship out of obedience and desire to publically show our love for, and praise of, God but is something we do if we like the people and the singing and the preacher preaches a well orchestrated comfortable message preferably with PowerPoint presentations and all and we are teaching that same lie to our children by our example. This then goes further and society is bringing up increasing numbers of "unteachable" children and then blaming the teachers for the lack of performance!?

All of this is because we no longer have a sense of our children being gifts of the Lord God that are given to us on loan. They are not respected as people that are loved by the Lord and are precious to the Lord but they have become personal creations that give us social status and that society decides the fate of by setting the standards. In my school days if children got a hiding at school and their fathers found out about it they got another hiding at home just for good measure; nowadays if children get hidings at school their fathers have the teachers suspended and lay criminal and civil charges against them. What has the result of that been? The evidence that is plain for all to see in the behaviour of school children all over the world shows that the word of God proves true again (Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes).

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7.4 Parents and grandparents:

When we look at old age homes in particular and even at retirement villages there is a sad but widespread occurrence of loneliness and neglect. I do not want to again go through the same routine as in the last few sub sections but the situation here cannot be left unattended. The fact is that the Fifth commandment is very deeply involved in this situation. _Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee_. We have a daughter in Australia whose husband visits his parents several times a week. The travel from one home to the other takes from thirty to forty five minutes and then he will still phone them in between times and he never visits them empty handed. Our daughter absolutely insists on speaking to us on Skype three times a week as a minimum rule plus special occasions and has also always been deeply concerned about our welfare. Anyone reading this will immediately be amazed and recognise it as an extremely rare situation in our society. We also have a daughter ten kilometres away that we sometimes have not seen for months and a son next door that we often do not see for weeks. This time no one will feel anything because that is the norm of our world. Now the really sad part.

Both those near us are professed Christians and in the case of the Australian's the son is a Catholic and the daughter never sets a foot in a church!!? The fact is that the disobedience to the fifth command is so widespread and so ingrained for so long that it has very critical impact on our salvation and the ministry of healing. As long ago as the early nineteen eighties during an in service training course in the ministry we were housed next door to a Methodist old age home in SOWETO (South Western Townships of Johannesburg - a predominantly black residential area of the lower income level) and then already most of those elderly men and women had not seen their children or grandchildren for years and the overall situation, at least in South Africa, has become worse. That's one end of the equation. Now consider the millions of children in Africa growing up in homes where the oldest sibling (themselves often only a young teenager) is taking care of the others because both parents have died from AIDS. These have no sense of honouring their mother and father and will soon become a huge voice that, as we are seeing in large parts of Europe, will violently object to the social grants for the aged (in the Netherlands this went so far as the assassination of a politician). There is little doubt that social grants in years to come will not keep track with the cost of living (i.e. in the few countries where they still do) and given that the fifth command is now basically not just largely disobeyed but has vanished out of mind, what are we headed for?

Long life is an element of good health and the warning that goes with this fifth command is in fact the very first mention of the curses that will follow on disobedience. The Lord's words here clearly spell out that the dishonour (that includes the neglect) of our fathers and mothers will shorten lives. The shortened lives stem from (root causes) the curses of the Father we bring on ourselves that result in the diseases that will shorten the lives. Yes the churches are doing a lot for the elderly but my problem is not so much with what they are doing here as what they are not doing. They are conducting services at old age homes, they are providing subsidies and creating peaceful gardens and decorating walls in lounges but firstly the major source of contact is in the hands of a few clergymen and elders of each congregation. Secondly most of the "honouring" is in a material form that ultimately means little or nothing. I wish I could do a census of emotions after this current Covid-19 shutdown of how the cut off from socialising affected people's peace of mind. Honouring fathers and mothers does have a material element but the real source of respect lies in the personal contact element and there too the personal care given by a small number of church workers is not insignificant but it can never replace the intimacy of familial bonds and care.

Given that this fifth command furthermore comes directly after the commands that determine our relationship with the Lord God Himself, shows that in order of priority apart from our relationship with the Lord God, nothing else in our daily lives has greater importance to the Lord, i.e. there may be things of equal importance but none of greater importance.

I am pretty sure that as you, my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, as you are reading this you are beginning to wonder whether the immensity of the situation is not of such an order that we will never be able to set things straight again. I believe that the Lord has answered that for us in several ways. Just because it seems impossible to mankind, it does not mean we must not get started. Do you think Moses was silly enough not to see the overwhelming odds against the walk to freedom of the nation of Israel? What if they had never started, where would we have been? How impossible must Nehemiah's calling to rebuild the wall, the barrier to curses and diseases of Jerusalem, have seemed in that day and age? It seems as if we are on a highway to disaster from where there is no turning back and the only solution to this is in the words of Jesus Christ: _Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible._

Even in my years in construction management there were a large number of projects handed over to me that were in serious trouble time wise and or financially, and that ended up being completed on time and profitably by the grace of God only because together with the staff involved we did not sit around doing nothing. The successful completion began by taking first one step and then the next and the next. It works that way in the Kingdom of God too. Even Jesus Christ started with baby steps and kept going until "It is finished" (John 19:30) and that too must often have seemed to be an impossible task of bringing restitution. Just like there were facts that Jesus did not avoid so there are facts that we cannot avoid and like Jesus the sooner we include all the facts in our starting plan the sooner we can also get to a point where it is finished and the glory of Jesus Christ reinstated on earth to where it should be.

It may seem like there is an enormous amount of ground to cover and that is no illusion but just like Nehemiah we are not in this alone. Just as in the case of Nehemiah he had to be innovative in acquiring all the resources required, that will be our path to follow as well. Just as Nehemiah worked long hours, inspecting today's progress and establishing tomorrows need while others were already sleeping, so some of us will have to work harder and more intelligently than others (that will be determined by the Lord God who alone knows the purpose He has for each one's life). We are spending massive resources on capital projects in the church as a whole but is that our priority or God's priority? We are deeply entrenched in the ministry of a few to the masses that in no way reflects the church of Pentecost. It all begins with the first concerted effort in taking the first step in a definite direction. Israel's first step was preceded by a thorough exhaustion of all opposition resources and careful planning for the journey ahead, not an aimless journey but a very specific journey along a set course under the absolute authority of God. There is no reason why the Lord God will not set us free again from our present enslavement to the diseases of Egypt except if we do not take the first step.

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### Chapter 8: Towards Sanctification and the Rapture

Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The seven churches of Revelation's had lost their first love, would suffer persecution, needed to repent, had false prophesies, had fallen asleep, had endured patiently and had become lukewarm. All the elements of the present churches are in evidence in those churches as well. Examine them one by one and you will see just how neatly each of those descriptions can be attached to everything that I have written so far. I can well imagine that as these revelations came to John that there too there may have crept in an element of despair but look carefully at what the Lord Jesus said to John in that day. Essentially what Jesus said could be captured, in my construction terminology as; "there are a whole range of seemingly insurmountable problems; there is a need for fearless men to intervene; they can get things back on track". The "ranges of insurmountable problems" are the ranges of sin and disobedience thus far described in this book together with all the "incurable" diseases known to mankind. The "need for fearless men to intervene" refers to those that will overcome that will eat of the tree of life (hereafter the "overcomers"), and "they can get things back on track" is about the return to the paradise of God.

It is as if the present status of the church and its degeneration from the Church of Jesus Christ is the essence of what was revealed to John some one thousand nine hundred and thirty years ago. It is as if the Lord Jesus foresaw that it would not only take one man (Nehemiah) to overcome this issue but that He knew it would need an army of overcomers. The Gospel of this revelation is that with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the Guidance of the Holy Spirit a return to paradise will happen at least for some. For those that it does happen, they will be the parts of the Bride to be Raptured to the paradise of God. When we read and know the word of God (Hos 4:6) we see that we need not perish but can have life everlasting ( _John 3:16_ ) and that more abundantly ( _John 10:10_ ). In other words the Ministry of casting out of demons, healing and lifting of curses that Jesus sent the disciples and Apostles out on, can be maintained and improved from its current form to its former (abundant) glory. We must however in all that I have said remember that none of this is for any glory of our own and all of this is and was always nothing other than our duty as servants of Jesus.

Luke 17:7-10 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

As with the seven churches we are instructed to come to repentance and get back to our first love (the original word of God \- the KJV or AOV) and reject all heresies and false doctrine. Like in their case we too need to get off the fence, to either be cold and get out of the way or become warm and on fire for Jesus. We too must wake up from our long sleep, face patiently and fearlessly the persecution that will result and stand up to all false prophets (including idol worship and participation in false traditions). We have a choice to make here but be very careful how we make that choice. There was a clearly visible and obvious curse in the fifth commandment that we have ignored and rejected to our cost and at our peril, but we still have one more chance. There is a far more serious warning in Revelations 2:7 that we can also choose to ignore as we did the fifth command but from this warning, as I read the word of God, there is no escape. _Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,_ _I will spue thee out of my mouth_. Brothers and sisters we have the evidence of the Word of God and history that the Father's patience with Israel was tested beyond reason and they will face the Tribulation and not enjoy the grace of the Rapture, we too have that choice and the time I believe is now and our choice is not about heeding the dark picture little old me has sketched, our choice is also for being spat out and facing the Tribulation or being overcomers and tasting paradise at the Rapture. I reckon that's a pretty obvious choice and a pretty simple one to make unless we like the pharisees think we know better.

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8.1 Pattern of life; Bible study, prayer, fasting and poustinia:

Each of us must begin (if we are not on that narrow road yet) the process of repentance with a dramatic change to a lifestyle of repentance and renewal. What that means is acknowledging every act of disobedience revealed by the Holy Spirit and/or contained herein, whether willingly or ignorantly or inherited, while making a serious commitment to ongoing study and growth in the knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. Engaging in at least daily communication (talking, listening understanding acceptance and acting out of the discussion) with the Lord God (or what we should know as prayer), and spending regular extended periods of setting all of self aside (fasting) and being separated in a special place alone (poustinia) listening to the Holy Spirit, waiting on the Holy Spirit as long as it takes.

Now I know that there are many that will say they know "all that" and this is unnecessarily detailed but I make no apologies because I also know that, like I have done at times, many will soon be back to a life of "being too busy" for these things, and with excuses that "God has given me a job to do that I cannot neglect", and spend less and less time in repentance, prayer and poustinia (I borrowed this terminology from Angus Buchan so that I can distinguish waiting on the Holy Spirit from eastern style meditation). The fact is that Jesus Christ does not accept that argument and we have no choice in this matter. If fathers don't get their responsibilities and duties as the heads of their houses right, everything around them as we have seen, collapses. Some things are just not negotiable and this one is definitely such. I have zero doubt that as long as we honour this commitment the Lord Jesus Christ will look after the time for other things, and if we do not make time for this commitment the Lord Jesus Christ will also ensure that we do not have enough time for other things. And anyway are those "other things" our things or God's things? "I would rather ye be ice cold than lukewarm"!

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8.2 Assembling together of the saints:

We have developed a very strange lifestyle where we have placed enormous emphases on having a great deal of social interaction with as many "friends" as possible the vast majority of whom we are fully aware are not saved. We will spend a great deal of the time we do attend worship services doing so with hearts filled with anger, resentment and bitterness, while outwardly arming ourselves with pious smiles, and still partake of the Lord's Supper. most of the time when we do gather with fellow believers if the conversation does turn towards the things of God the majority will soon object and ask if there is nothing else to talk about (note that, in part, is brought about because we end up discussing doctrines rather than the Word of God and in that event I too would rather not be part of the discussion because that ends up being opinionated with everybody ending up losers).

"Shipwrecks. Imagine how many young converts have been shipwrecked by such churches. Instead of being a harbour of delight to them, they have proved to be false lights, luring them to destruction. Isn't it time for us to get down on our faces before God and cry to Him to forgive us for our sins? The quicker we own up to it the better. We might be invited to a party with church members, but what will the conversation be? Oh, I got so sick of such parties that I quit going years ago. I would not think of spending a night that way again; it is a waste of time with hardly a chance to say a word for the Master. If we talk about a personal Christ, our company becomes offended; they don't like it. They want us to talk about the world, a popular minister, a popular church, a good organ, a good choir, and they say, "Oh, we have a grand organ and a superb choir." All that suits them, but it doesn't warm the Christian heart. When we speak of a risen Christ and a personal Saviour, our friends don't like it. The world has come into the church and taken possession of it, and we need to wake up and ask God to forgive us for grieving the Spirit. We need to search our hearts and inquire, "Have I done anything to grieve the Spirit of God?" If we have, may God show it to us today; if we have done anything to grieve the Spirit of God, we need to know it today and get down on our faces before God and ask Him to forgive us and help us change. I have lived long enough to know that if I cannot have the power of the Spirit of God on me to help me work for Him; I would rather die than live just for the sake of living. How many are there in the church today that have been members for fifteen or twenty years but have never done a solitary thing for Jesus Christ? They cannot lay their hands upon one solitary soul who has been blessed through their influence; they cannot point to one single person who has ever been lifted up by them."(Dwight L Moody)

The early Church's assembling together of the saints has been largely lost. Sharing everything we have got has been largely lost and do you know why? We are no longer operating from a common base. All the issues with disobedience that we have been discussing throughout this book are Christian fundamentals, they establish the common ground and only under those circumstances can we be absolutely open and honest sharing everything without fear or condemnation. When there is a common base there is so much to talk about that getting into arguments on doctrinal issues or issues of opinion are unnecessary. Common ground allows humility and discourages pride, it develops an agape love and concern for the welfare of the whole rather than individual backslapping and admiration or jealousy. But we have lost the common ground because of heresies, doctrinal differences, pride and competitiveness, jealousy and self interest. The overcomers that Jesus spoke to John about must see this as another important project needing to be judicially administered. At the same time as I say this I am fully aware that Paul speaks of a falling away in the last days but he also admonishes us to keep up the good fight with all our might that we, like the wise virgins, will be ready at the Rapture:

1Thessalonians 5:1-11 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

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8.3 House cleaning:

One of those uncomfortable issues is that over time we have unwittingly acquired a range of objects in our homes that the Bible tells us may not be there and that are creating havoc in our homes. To mention but a few of these that are found in many Christian homes are things like the images of that "cute" buddha or crocodiles or female angels to name but a few of the more obvious and less controversial. Buddha images are clearly idols, crocodile images house the crocodile spirit (Leviathan) that is the inciter of lies and deceit and twisting and perversion and there is no mention anywhere in the Bible of "female" angels so why promote a "falsehood". This is another lengthy topic that requires a book of its own and you can go to YouTube and search "tiaan gildenhuys - housecleaning" for a very excellent teaching on housecleaning. In Nehemiah we read that there were ten gates destroyed or you might say "left open" and we need to understand that the homes that are filled with these implements and others like them are leaving a door open and unattended in terms of the Word of God.

This house cleaning phenomenon is not always clearly understood and many people dismiss it by saying that they are not worshiping the idols (e.g. the Buddhas) that to them it is just an ornament or a memory of a holiday. Sadly what many do not realise is that is not what it is about at all, i.e. whether we worship the idols in fact or by implication has nothing to do with the reason for removing them from our homes. There are two reasons for not having them of which clearly the first is the explicit command of the Lord God our Heavenly Father

Exodus 20:3-5 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;.

And (Deuteronomy 11:28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

The usual objection that "I Don't worship them, etc" is then firstly a sin because it is a direct act of disobedience but here is the thing in what the Lord God says about "which ye do not know". What most do not know and where most of us are lacking in understanding because we do not know our Bibles is in this; satan has no place to dwell in on earth by right except as a downtrodden snake, and has been cast out of heaven by the Lord and so satan and his demons need to find other objects or bodies to live in where they are given access to or permission to do so. By our disobedience we consent to satan occupying our bodies. Then in the manufacture of the idols and objects the vast majority of manufacturers will invite the spirit of Buddha and hosts of other spirits to them (making them a point of contact for such spirits) long before you even purchased them and that is what most do not know. It is not about you not worshiping them alone but about not having them in the sight of God or where they have power over you because you don't even know how the spiritual realm works. The next thing is that because the manufacturer of the idol has invited a spirit to them, when they enter your home "innocently", you have been disobedient and now you have given them permission to enter into you and your life. The arrogance of allowing these objects in our homes is comparable to putting our hands on a red hot stove plate because we do not worship it so therefore it will not burn me?! The fact about "house cleaning" is that the vast majority of "Christians" presently are disrespectfully disregarding the significance of these facts and yet I have not come across a single family that have obeyed and cleansed their homes that have not witnessed to a tremendously improved relationship with the Lord God and significant increases in the grace bestowed upon them. I do not mean that in any way to be a motivating factor because the only motivation ought to be our desire to obey the Lord our God, but it is evidence of what blessings ( _Deuteronomy 28:1-14_ ) flow from obedience.

But, dear brothers and sisters that is not where it ends, our homes are only a part of the problem and the other part of the solution lies in our places of worship. Those prominent crosses that I have already mentioned and the paintings found in many of the false scenes such as the presence of the three wise men at the crib, the "stage production" type services and burning of incense are all things that fall under the same commands as apply in our homes and we cannot expect to have ministries where the full salvation of God of spirit, mind and body is seen in places that are filled with symbols of disobedience. God is not mocked _(Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap)._ and there is no other description for the symbols blatantly allowed with great pride in our places of worship. Just as a matter of interest the cross was first associated with the "Christian Church around 450AD when it was a symbol carved on a door that had to be repaired in a RCC cathedral and whereof there is clear evidence that the artisan involved had occultic ties and that it was a deliberate curse placed there. The cross is nothing in the salvation of mankind. The BODY of Jesus Christ was tortured, spat on and lashed for our transgressions and the BLOOD (life) of Jesus Christ was shed as our sin offering

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

I do not find any credit given to the cross (as opposed to a specific command not to carve from wood any images), in any of this but I can tell you that the cross is a favourite symbol of the satanist and they find it quite amusing that we also have them in our churches. To expect the Lord Jesus or the Holy Spirit to be active in church buildings filled with idols is like expecting you and me to eat our meals in a pigsty and as much as we will not do that, just as little chance is there of the ministry of healing, of sanctification, being returned to these church buildings.

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8.4 Obedience, Humility and Servanthood:

The last aspect of our current church structures that needs urgent renewal is our attitude. Three things that are required of every believer are obedience, humility (love -agape) and servanthood but each of those comes with an attitude and the attitude is formative of the deed.

I can be obedient to my wife because she asked me to do something that the Lord has placed in her domain because:

The Lord Commands it

I am bargaining on something in return

I have the love (agape) of Jesus Christ in me

1Corinthians 13:1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

John 13:35. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

The attitude or the motivation for doing anything varies a great deal from person to person and from situation to situation and I have only mentioned three of these above but they will suffice to make the point.

To do something because the Lord commands it may in essence be correct but it is not a proper understanding of the Lord God, our heavenly Father of the Bible. We can compare that kind of obedience to the old adage of "when he says jump, you ask "how high", the type of obedience that is demanded in the defence force where you do not question but just do as an animal that has been trained to perform tricks. We are far more to our Father than animals doing tricks for His pleasure and He can certainly find enough pleasure without us being performing artists or irresponsible soldiers. That is not the discipline that is in the Fatherhood of God and should not be the discipline of our human fatherhood. Yes it is a very popular "obedience" in our world because of the militaristic past history of the RCC and the world governments whose laws and legal systems are based on that kind of obedience. We will not find that kind of demand anywhere in the Bible. In fact unlike your army sergeant you will always find that the Father gives a reason or an explanation for His Laws (I am a jealous i.e. passionate over you - God) or as in Deuteronomy 28 where God first teaches about the advantages of obedience before he teaches about the disadvantages of disobedience. In fact this kind of obedience is expressly thrown out by Paul when he says: _Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: ..._ If the Father had wanted that frame of mind to persist in this world then the major part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ becomes superfluous because the world's system does not require any love.

Then there is the attitude of getting something back in return. Parents are so fond of teaching this behaviour. It is the most overused instrument of child "discipline" of our time with detrimental effects beyond our wildest imagination. "Mommy will give you an ice-cream if you sit still and keep quiet during the church service". Instantly you have placed a spirit of manipulation on your own life and that of the child. Instantly you have lost the ability to instil a discipline of the heart in that child and instantly you have created a problem for every future relationship of that child. You have now created a girl that will not ask out of fear for what may be expected in return, you have created a boy that will expect more from a girl than fellowship in premarital relationships. Men will be slammed with a spirit of lust and women with a spirit of manipulation. "Mommy" and her ice-cream have created a monster that is nothing but a sounding brass or a tinkling symbol and devoid of agape love.

The lack of knowledge of the Bible (Hosea 4:6) has created a population that are all too fond of answer with "because I say so", or because the Bible says so" or because the Lord says so". Those of us that have served in the defence forces will be all too familiar with those words. There is very little evidence of this in Scripture and even when mankind has tried God's patience beyond limits he has punished us by always saying: "because you have ... I will ..." There is nothing unconditional about Christian behaviour unless we do not really believe in yielding our lives to Jesus Christ in reality and are only making the expected sounds to those around to witness our actions. If we are genuine about accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of our lives He begins with the renewal of our spirit and then our soul (minds)(Romans 12:2) that releases the agape love of Christ into our lives (our blood) that then begins to be our motivational force. You do not have to show a born again disciple opportunities to act out of love because acting out of love is the evidence of discipleship and evidence is not made up. That love will open the eyes to opportunities en mass, that love will make us not wait for our wives to ask but will enable us to anticipate and act before she asks without expecting anything in return, it will empower us to teach our children that same discipline that will see them develop into responsible well rounded mature adults of which there is a grave shortage and statistics have shown that where the Hebrew children reached that status by the age of thirteen in their early history, that age has currently shifted in society as a whole, to thirty years of age ON AVERAGE!

Either then I have the love of Christ in me that gives me a desire to be obedient to the Law or I am obedient for a multitude of other motives all of which are nothing other than evidence of either being unsaved or of dangerously near backsliding out of salvation. And this is one of the reasons why this subject is so important in full salvation/sanctification of spirit, soul and body. When we examine what motivates us we soon know exactly what the status of our relationship with Jesus Christ is. Will we engage in a ministry of healing because many will come and pay handsomely for "our" ability to heal, or will we heal every possible candidate for the glory of Jesus Christ? The former will see us slide out into the darkness of hell, the latter will see us grow into the overcomers that will be raptured. (I must just qualify that there may be grounds for compensating the Godly healer when they incur costs for the benefit of another) I think that's a very simple choice whether we want to be overcomers or profiteers. So why don't we just recognise and praise Jesus for his love and clean out (house cleaning of the heart) our motivation forces leaving only love.

The same motivation can be applied to our humility. In fact humility can be a cumbersome burden or a joyful release. I have often stood by and watched politicians (especially in those "peace committee" days) negotiating and joggling things to obtain the political upper hand, and seen how their pride has destroyed their chances and then you have to very gently make a suggestion that there may be an alternative and you have to make them believe that it was not your idea but that they actually were the ones with the idea. Then once they think that it was their idea, yes then they bite and make sure everyone knows it was their idea. Then they wonder why the next time they try to solve a problem they just cannot make headway. There was more to the old "Sound of Music" question of "how do you solve a problem like Maria" that was ultimately solved by the humility of the mother superior. Humility is nothing to be laughed at, it is not weakness' (Donald Trump overflows with pride but has not achieved, or ever will, anything like what was achieved by humility). Humility cannot be pretended because the spirit of pride is far stronger than pretended humility, but real humility is evidence of the love of Jesus Christ and that is why it is one of the highest essential requirements for being a disciple and having a ministry of healing. We simply have to return to the Biblical teaching on humility so that we can bring it back into our homes and churches so that the ministry of healing can resume in full strength.

Servanthood is often seen as being synonymous with humility but that is just a confused understanding. In fact servanthood has nothing to do with humility but everything to do with a realistic understanding that the world owes me nothing and I deserve nothing from Jesus Christ either. I may be blessed by the Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit for my obedience but that gives me no title deed to anything. We have all been blessed with a vast and specific range of "natural" talents which we can either bury (which is the same as to apply them exclusively for my personal benefit - burying or hiding them from the benefit of all believers or not sharing everything we have - Acts 2) or we can use them for the common good of all our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. The former is capitalism, the later is servanthood. Servanthood is a lifestyle of giving and empowering all brothers and sisters while capitalism is the Mr. Scrooge syndrome of the world.

The servanthood of the Church of Jesus Christ is a subject that has been almost completely lost and swept under the table and the many believers would be better described as " capitalistic adherents to Jesus' teaching", or Communist adherents" or "Liberal" or "Progressive" and so forth. Most believers are more interested in establishing a way of life for themselves where they maximise the opportunities presented by this world from whatever political or economic persuasion it may originate and adapting the teaching of the Bible to that lifestyle. So too we work in a "nationalistic" economy where we contribute to non Christian organisations that guarantee our retirement incomes and medical expenses and pay exorbitant doctors fees and hospital fees happily while eliminating the healing ministry of Jesus Christ and the sharing of everything believers have. We seem not to understand that insurance premiums are determined by supply and demand and the smaller the demand the lower the premiums will be. By bringing back the ministry of healing we can significantly decrease the demand in the short term and even nullify the demand.

Those that manage their own businesses have no regard for who they employ other than finding the best mix of capability and minimum wage or salary all in order to maximise personal profit at the end of the day and then claim the right to do so because THEY have set it up with THEIR ability and THEIR hard work??! They think they hold the Title Deeds, i.e. they do not acknowledge conveniently that their talents are gifts from the Lord God for the benefit of the Church of Jesus Christ. They very effectively are either giving to the world (medical aids, life insurance, holiday homes and time sharing, etc) while hoarding the rest in financial institutions waiting to apply their money for their own profit while giving back a minor portion of their returns ??! The servanthood of the Bible is the exact opposite of this but it is almost nowhere to be found. The healing ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ was possibly the most visible sign of the Apostolic form of the Church when the servanthood element was at its peak.

Acts 2:42-47 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

What would the premiums be of a medical aid administered by born again disciples for born again disciples in an environment of a proper healing ministry? How would the premiums we pay for retirement weigh up against children taking care of their parent even as their parents once did for them by using "premiums" to ultimately provide that need?

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### Chapter 9: Conclusion and Final Appeal.

_"Shipwrecks Imagine how many young converts have been shipwrecked by such churches. Instead of being a harbour of delight to them, they have proved to be false lights, luring them to destruction. Isn't it time for us to get down on our faces before God and cry to Him to forgive us for our sins? The quicker we own up to it the better. We might be invited to a party with church members, but what will the conversation be? Oh, I got so sick of such parties that I quit going years ago. I would not think of spending a night that way again; it is a waste of time with hardly a chance to say a word for the Master. If we talk about a personal Christ, our company becomes offended; they don't like it. They want us to talk about the world, a popular minister, a popular church, a good organ, a good choir, and they say, "Oh, we have a grand organ and a superb choir." All that suits them, but it doesn't warm the Christian heart. When we speak of a risen Christ and a personal Saviour, our friends don't like it. The world has come into the church and taken possession of it, and we need to wake up and ask God to forgive us for grieving the Spirit. We need to search our hearts and inquire, "Have I done anything to grieve the Spirit of God?" If we have, may God show it to us today; if we have done anything to grieve the Spirit of God, we need to know it today and get down on our faces before God and ask Him to forgive us and help us change. I have lived long enough to know that if I cannot have the power of the Spirit of God on me to help me work for Him, I would rather die than live just for the sake of living. How many are there in the church today who have been members for fifteen or twenty years but have never done a solitary thing for Jesus Christ? They cannot lay their hands upon one solitary soul who has been blessed through their influence; they cannot point to one single person who has ever been lifted up by them." (Dwight L. Moody). _I felt that DL Moody was worth repeating.

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which ye are sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be taken away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God has forgiven you in Christ. (Ephesians 4:30-32)

Notice how that was written to the church at Ephesus. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which ye are sealed for the day of redemption. I believe the church all over Christendom is guilty of grieving the Holy Spirit today, and many believers in different churches wonder why the healing work of God is not revived. The Church Grieves the Spirit, things in the church grieve the Spirit of God; it may be a division in the church, or it may be some unsound doctrine. In all of my travels in different countries, I have never known the Spirit of God to work where the Lord's people were divided. Unity is the one thing we must have if we want the Holy Spirit of God to work in our midst. If a church is divided, the members should immediately seek unity. **Walk worthy of the vocation with which ye are called, with all humility and meekness, with tolerance, forbearing one another in love, being diligent to guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3)**. Let the believers come together and get the difficulty out of the way." (Dwight L. Moody).

"The trouble is that we have lowered the standard, and we have grieved the Spirit of God. One movement of God's power is worth more than all our artificial power, but the church of God needs to get down in the dust of humiliation and confession of sin and be separated from the world. Then we will experience power with God and with man." (Dwight L. Moody).

I am absolutely convinced in my spirit and soul, my heart and mind that Jesus Christ always intended to bring full salvation/sanctification to all mankind, salvation of spirit, soul (mind) and body. I am just as sure that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are grieved by the denial of this ministry because of the impact it has on the Gospel and the Glory of the Lord. I accept and respect that medical doctors are a gift from the Lord but that the structuring of the medical practice and the exorbitant fees are not as the Lord wants it. I believe that insurance houses are an opportunistic intrusion based on capitalism and made possible by poor teaching that also grieves the Lord God. There is no doubt, and statistically there is increasing evidence, that the current structure of the medical practice is fast becoming, firstly, wholly inadequate for the extent and range of curses and diseases that are afflicting the world and, secondly, is equally fast becoming the domain of only the very rich while the majority of mankind is left out in the cold completely unnecessarily because of the relatively freely available alternative.

I cannot see that any brother or sister in Christ Jesus can oppose the need to return to full Biblical norms and standards so that the Gospel may be restored to its former effect and that even the Gentiles and our Jewish relatives would acknowledge the need for a better solution than we have at present. It is therefore in my mind not a question of whether or when we must get this process underway, but rather a matter of how we do it right now. Will we allow more isolated voices to disappear like those of Henry W Wright while almost nothing happens to change the status quo, or will we get a grip?

Now here is a big But to this whole analysis. Let me remind you that we started off by having in the introduction two essential aims. On the one hand I was looking into the falling away of the denominational churches and particularly the impact on the healing of spirit, soul and body. On the other hand I was looking into the uniting of all believers into the Church of Jesus Christ.

Clearly one of the reasons for the falling away of the ministry of healing in the denominational churches is the RCC apostasy. The RCC is not and never was the Church of Jesus Christ and the continued attachment of other denominational churches has seen them buying into much of the apostasy of the RCC. In the process there are a great many members of the so called Christian church denominations of our day that are living anything but sanctified lives. In the foregoing chapters that much is very clear and the need for believers to repent and turn from their wicked ways is huge;

2Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

And the healing that Jesus brought to this world will not be seen in the measure that it was in the early days until that happens. I have throughout also sought for a means to reconcile this message with the authorities of the existing church denominations and we have seen that if men will turn from their wicked ways then this would indeed be something that could be done. But to my most bitter disappointment I now know that this will not happen. I was challenged to search the Word of God to see if the idea of altering the course of the current plethora of denominational churches was in fact a GOOD IDEA or a **God IDEA.** Search as I may through the Bible for answers as to how, when and where this would begin and come from, I found nothing to support this thinking. But remember back in the beginning on page 28 we quoted this verse in warning if the curses:

Deuteronomy 28:43-44 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. 44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

Of this there is a great deal of evidence and we can therefore see where our current status is leading to.

Many modern day evangelists are saying that they see and feel that there is an imminent revival hanging over these denominational churches. Even a man that I respect, Angus Buchan, I saw just last night on a TV broadcast saying that he is excited by the possibilities that lie ahead after the Covid 19 pandemic has passed. In fact Revival is a buzzword in many circles and although it has been so for some time now it is not happening. That talk is raising hope and even affected me but I must urge that we all do what I was challenged to do, to find a Scriptural foundation for this revival. The fact is that when we do that I am truly sad to say that we will not find it, I have searched and searched and instead found something quite the opposite. I will now list some of the scriptures that apply to our situation:

2Thesalonians 2:1-4 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2Thesalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1Thesalonians 5:6-11 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Luke 12:51-53 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division. 52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

2Timothy 3:12-13 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

From the verses listed, (and there are more) it is clear that the Rapture is near, that we are living in the times when many are and will be deceived and this is what we are seeing in the denominational churches almost without exception. Clergy are denying the ministry of healing and are blind to the root causes of diseases to the point of scorning those who know and deal in the truths of the Word of God. the same are approving much of the corruption in society that we discussed in the foregoing. As my friend tiaan said the laity too are so far from turning from their wicked ways that even there the signs of falling away are everywhere and he makes this point well when he describes the hope that the end of Covid 19 means for many is that then they can smoke, drink and revel again to their heart's content. That makes a damning statement about what is in their hearts as opposed to what should be there. I am sad to say that the overwhelming evidence of our times is against all that I had initially hoped for and clearly much of that hope was skilfully planted in my brain as thoughts that I in turn did not capture timeously. Very cleverly those thoughts from satan could have tied me up in all sorts of time consuming efforts that were doomed to fail not because the Lord God cannot, but because that is not part of His plan. I would therefore be spending my time far more obediently and be baring more fruit if I even relieve the suffering from disease of one brother or sister and if I was instrumental in leading one more to Jesus.

The hope for a reform of the denominational churches is doomed to failure by the same reasoning and the same verses that are quoted here and I can only say once again that while I may attend certain services in denominational churches I do not see myself as belonging to any and my one and only Body that I belong to is the Church of Jesus Christ. To those brothers and sisters that seek to serve the Lord with their whole spirits, souls and bodies I would urge that you all see yourselves as only part of that body which we do not have to create or establish either. The Church of Jesus Christ exists wherever two or three of us come together in the name of Jesus. If my wife and I sit together in the name of Jesus we are in the Church and when we are joined by any of our brothers and sisters in Jesus name then all of us are in His Church

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

My one request in this regard would be that when we meet as the Church of Jesus Christ that we as far as it lies within us by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of Jesus Christ, by seeing what Jesus sees through our eyes and what He hears through our ears, and what he feels through our hearts, that we keep this Church pure and undefiled to the glory and honour of our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

There now only remains the one last point to be made in completing this book and that is regarding the healing ministry. I want you to know this that the healing ministry is neither past nor lost. That healing ministry was given to us by Jesus paying the price for us. We may lack the "skills" in the necessary wording of prayers and the discernment of the actual disease behind the symptoms and to establish the root causes. That does not mean that you cannot be healed if your life is committed to Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. If you cannot help yourself there are healing ministries that can and will help you and that are blessed by God and empowered by God for this very purpose.

This book has the necessary insights in it to show you the areas of your life that you need to put in order. Such a list can never be complete without essentially rewriting the entire Bible but if we strive to put the areas mentioned in this book in order with God then the rest will be shown to us by the Holy Spirit.

I pray for you my dear friends and brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ that this will be a new beginning for you on the road to healing and to a faith that will see you as being part of the Bride of Jesus Christ. I pray and ask that not because of anything good in me but by the mercies of the Father and in the name of Jesus Christ.

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### APPENDIX:

Bloodline Curses Resulting From Involvement of Families in Freemasonry:

1. Curse of Barrenness - Childlessness, financial barrenness, in relationships, etc.

2. Curse of certain Illnesses - e.g. Asthma, eczema, etc,

3. Curse of Poverty

4. Curse of Silence (lack or inability to communicate)

5. Curse of Divorce

6. Curse of Aggression

7. Curse of Slander, swearing and cursing

8. Curse of Death & self destruction

9. Curse of Compulsive Behaviour

10. Curse of Broken Relationships

11. Curse of Deception and spiritual deception

12. Curse of Fear (fear of man, fear of death, etc.)

13. Curse of Anti-Semitism

14. Curse of Learning Disabilities e.g. dyslexia

15. Curse of Illegitimate Children

(Reproduced with consent from tiaan gildenhuys)

Back to 1.1.5 Sin and...

" **The Hebrew word for "sin"**

"The Hebrew word for "sin" is חטאה (hhatah, Strong's #2403) and literally means "miss the mark." From my understanding of the Bible, there are two types of sin, accidental and deliberate. I explain it this way. The Hebrew people were a nomadic people and their language and lifestyle is wrapped around this culture. One of the aspects of a nomad is his constant journey from one watering hole to another and one pasture to another. If you are walking on a journey (literal or figurative) and find yourself "lost from the path," which is the Hebrew word רשע (rasha, Strong's #7563), you correct yourself and get back on the path. This was a "mistake" (accidentally missing the mark), but not deliberate. Once you are back on the right path, all is good. However, if you decide to leave the path and make your own, you are again "lost from the path", but this time, being a deliberate act, it is a purposeful mistake (missing the mark on purpose). In the Bible God gives his "directions" (usually translated as "commands") for the journey that his people are to be on. As long as they remain on that journey, they are tsadiq (Strong's #6662, usually translated as "righteous," but literally means "on the correct path"), even if they accidentally leave the path, but return (this is the Hebrew verb shuv, Strong's #7725, usually translated as "repentance," but literally means "to return") back to the correct path."

https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/definition/sin.htm (tiaan gildenhuys)

Greek word for Sin: Hamartia:

Definition

1. equivalent to 264

a. to be without a share in

b. to miss the mark (most important meaning and the same as the Hebrew meaning)

c. to err, be mistaken

d. to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong

e. to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin

2. hat which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act

collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/hamartia.html

Back to 1.1.2 Old Testament

### Bibliography:

1. © King James Version Holy Bible (Authorised Version).

2. Identify the Lie - Smashwords edition - tiaan gildenhuys

3. House cleaning \- Smashwords edition - tiaan gildenhuys

4. HEALING begins with SANCTIFICATION of the HEART "NO DISEASE IS INCURABLE" Dr. MK Strydom, Eagles Wings Ministry, Fourth Edition 2013, PDF Version

5. A More Excellent way - Be in Health global - Spiritual roots of disease - Pathways to Wholeness - HENRY W. Wright

6. Divine Healing \- Andrew Murray - ANEKO Press Christian Classics - Available on Kindle

7. Secret Power (Updated, Annotated): The Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work" by Dwight L. Moody

8. "Thirty Nine Sermons on Several Occasions by John Wesley

9. www.christian courier.com by Wayne Jackson

10. Battlefield of the Mind - Joyce Meyer

11. E-Sword - the Sword of the Lord with an electronic edge - free Google download.

12. www.christian courier.com by Wayne Jackson

Recommended for further studies:

Visit the website http://www.oicb.co.za and select "resources" and under "YouTube videos (tiaan) I would particularly like to recommend the teachings named; Identify the lie: The Christmas lie; Practical Spiritual warfare 1 & 2: The Jezebel spirit: The Python spirit: The Leviathan spirit: The Ahab spirit: The Athaliah spirit: Roman Catholicism versus The Bible: Passover versus Easter: Curses and curses upon the land.

At the bottom of the list of videos is a link to tiaan gildenhuys' books where again I would particularly recommend; Why do Bible Versions differ; The Rapture of the saints; Jew and Gentile Worshipping Together; Watchmen on the walls.

These above two paragraphs are not intended to exclude any of the other videos or books but these are the ones most relevant to this study of mine. All of tiaan's work is really inspired by the Holy Spirit and absolutely worth spending a great deal of time on.

### About the Author:

I was born 21 August 1950 and grew up in a home best described as atheist. I knew nothing about Christianity until my high school years and even then a much clouded picture was mine. After school I qualified in the trade of bricklaying before doing a BSc degree in Building Science at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). I worked in construction progressing to Construction manager and managing contracts in what is currently known as the provinces of Gauteng, North-west, Limpopo, Mpumalanga Free State and Kwa Zulu Natal. I moved on into full time ministry in the Methodist Church of South Africa and studied for a B.Th. through the University of South Africa (UNISA). During this time I also served as vice chair and chair of the West Rand Local Peace Committee as well as serving on the Regional Peace committee before and during the first democratic elections in South Africa and served as chair of Hospice in the West. I left full time ministry after a divorce and returned to construction and allied industries until my retirement two years ago. I then started acrylic painting as a hobby and doing further Bible studies that led to this publication.

The copyright of this book was stated at the beginning but you are free to quote or refer to it with due accreditation at any time without further request but that does not include my accepting responsibility for any conclusions drawn from it unless expressly agreed to by me in writing by email.

For any further information please feel free to contact me at sybrand191@gmail.co.za

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Books by this author: the Kingdom of Heaven - the Authority of Mankind.

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