The Unsettling: When Heaven Invades Earth
Matthew 6:9-10 NKJV
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.”
Heaven must invade earth!
Jesus preached the Kingdom! Everywhere he preached the Kingdom miracles then followed. The “realm of kingdom of heaven" was a central theme of Jesus’ in His sermon on the mount. (Matt 5-7) He said that we were to seek this realm constantly above all else and that everything else would be given to us.
Bill Johnson said, "Every instance Jesus preached the Kingdom, or commanded it, miracles followed. The message was to be a declaration of His lordship and dominion over all things, followed by demonstrations of power, illustrating that His world is invading ours. Consider what is meant by this promise: there will be a generation of believers that WILL PREACH AS HE DID, DOING WHAT HE DID, IN EVERY NATION OF THE WORLD BEFORE THE END COMES. The present reality of Kingdom will become manifest and realized in the everyday life of the believer. The lordship of Jesus will be seen and the bounty of His rule will be experienced. That world will break into this one at every point the Christian prays in faith."
We must defeat the Ventriloquist spirit. I am speaking of the mocking spirit that is coming at the church.
For everyone in here that has had your destiny on hold maybe it is because you have listened to the lies of hell instead of walking in the authority of God.
Acts 16:16-24 NKJV
Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”
The Greek word here for spirit is pneuma pythona, or a “Pythian spirit.” A spirit that can tell the future. This referred to the legendary snake in Greek mythology that guarded the Delphic Oracle in Central Greece. Apollo supposedly killed this snake, and the snake's spirit dwelled in the priestess there. So, a "python spirit" referred to a spirit that enabled someone to predict the future. Such people generally spoke with the mouth closed, uttering words completely out of their control and were known as "ventriloquists."
Paul didn’t want a python spirit as a witness. This mocking spirit of divination was trying to provoke Gods servants.
The Python spirit is exactly that. It seizes its prey by surrounding it. Squeezing the life out of you. Breath begins to leave you. Confusion sets in. You fall asleep and the heart stops.
This spirit is a mocking spirit. It even says the right things. It is declaring the the Most High God, but the motives were to exercise preeminence! Paul gets ticked off. This is happening now. A mocking spirit is on our nation.
Yet doesn’t it seem like we have become like Gideon and His 300 men, from Judges 8:4, “And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.”
We are in, but honestly, we need a restoring of the heart.
We are all watching as this nation and world seems to be living in an alternate universe. Where what is right is wrong and what’s wrong is now right.
These are those that are wondering am I the one that is just crazy? Can I just tell you! If the world thinks you’re crazy, then you might just be sane.
The Pharisees thought Jesus was crazy. They were trying to cancel him. Look at his response in John 8:49-51 MSG, Jesus said, “I’m not crazy. I simply honor my Father, while you dishonor me. I am not trying to get anything for myself. God intends something gloriously grand here and is making the decisions that will bring it about. I say this with absolute confidence. If you practice what I’m telling you, you’ll never have to look death in the face.
The day of spineless ministry is over. We have seen it happening. Those that have squandered their mantles with a desire to please man are being forgotten.