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FAITH OR PRESUMPTION

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

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FAITH OR PRESUMPTION

Preface

(self will & pride, preachers, devils)

Psalm 19:13 says, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. . . .” 2 Peter 2:10 talks about people who are selfwilled and presumptuous.

Don’t presume because you go to church or because you know a preacher that you are saved.

Can a Holy Ghost filled Christian get deceived? Yes. If self will is allowed to rule in your heart, then you put yourself before God. God has to be first.

The Word of God will discourage us from foolishness and presumptuous sins. It keeps us out of worldliness and self will, and helps us get into the things of God where we can have real faith.

When you say, Thus saith the Lord, God in heaven and the angels turn, hell listens, and people listen. You had better have something from the Lord, or you had better shut your mouth.

The church should be convicted. Presumption is sin; it is NOT faith, and it is impossible to please God without faith.

FAITH OR PRESUMPTION

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

Romans 14:23 says, “And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

Psalm 19:13 says, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.”

This lets us know presumptuous sins can take control of you and make you think you are doing the right thing. If you have presumptuous sin, you are NOT upright, and God can withhold good things from you.

When you are presumptuous, you presume a lot. I don’t mean to keep anybody from stepping out in faith. Do not be discouraged away from seeking the Lord.

There is faith, and there is presumption. The church is not filled with faith. If it was, you’d be seeing miracles. The church has presumption. There is a difference between faith and presumption as far as the east is from the west, and as far as heaven is from hell.

James 2:26 says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Many presume that because they go to the altar, God will meet them there. Some people pray for others and presume that God will answer. They don’t believe God will answer, because way back somewhere, when God was talking to them about a certain thing that they needed to do, or cease from doing, they did not yield to the Lord.

Jesus said if you have aught against your brother, and you come to the altar to give your gift before the Lord, you need to lay the gift down and go back and get it fixed before you give anything to God and before God will honor your prayer.

The church presumes God will answer because they use the name of Jesus, and because they talk in tongues. They assume entirely too much. Being presumptuous means that you can be self willed. That definition can be found in 2 Peter 2:10 which says, “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”

God desires that every believer has faith. You have to have faith to get saved, but as you press in and on with God, He wants to build your faith by His Word. If we don’t build our belief in God according to the Word, you are only building presumption, not faith. Presumption angers God. It is like being used.

When something comes against me, and I don’t understand it, I DON’T try to PRESUME IT. I don’t presume automatically that the devil is against me. I have to know that the Word of God says my flesh can be doing it myself. The Bible will let me know specifically if it is me or the devil.

The Word is a discerner. Do you want to know the truth? The truth makes us free. Once knowing the Word, you can operate in the Word, and that is real faith. If you operate according to what you THINK might be in the Word, you are operating according to presumption.

Presumption will not cast out devils, and it will not heal the sick. Presumption in the name of the Lord is SIN. It is presumptuous to be self willed. There are a lot of people who want to see revival, and if God won’t bring it, they will, and they get the glory.

Some presume because they are a child of God they automatically can cast out devils, but that is not so. If the devil is not out of you already, you are not a child of God. When you get saved, you are supposed to go on and receive the Holy Ghost which is the power from on high. That gives us power over all the power of the enemy (see Luke 10:19). Jude 1:20 says, “. . . building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,”

The Word of God will discourage me from foolishness and presumptuous sins. It keeps me out of the sin of worldliness and self will. It helps me get into the things of God where I can have real faith and not presumption.

If you automatically figure that you are going to do everything Christ did, as soon as you are saved, you have a little growing to do. The baby carries the same potential of inheritance of the Father, but he does not have it yet. He has to be of full age, full maturity, and walking in the Word of the Lord. He has to be totally crucified in the Lord, and then according to the Word he can do these things. It is not according to prophecies somebody has given you even if they say, Thus saith the Lord. When somebody tells you something outside of the will of the Lord, reject it, because it is presumption, not faith.

Many have started out in the Spirit, but ended up in the flesh. They say if a little bit is good, a whole lot is better. I know a man who sprayed his garden with herbicide, and it kept the weeds down. He got by with it somehow and most of the produce came up. He presumed he could do a little more, so he really loaded it on like regular crops in the field. It was the cleanest garden you ever saw. NOTHING grew - no weeds, no grass, no corn and no fruit. It was just dirt all summer long.

The Word of God is all powerful, and the anointing of the Holy Ghost can do anything through a man, if the man is yielded. Don’t presume you have it already if you haven’t followed it by faith. This is why the church world is in such a mess. Some are seemingly having great moves, but many of them are going on presumption. If there is a real move of God, why isn’t it taking the world by storm?

People organize and advertise. I realize this is good, but if God is standing in the midst and there is a pillar of fire by night over the church and a cloud by day, people will come and ask what it is!

When the sick are getting healed, and people are spitting up cancers, and devils are coming out, and people are being changed and staying saved, and entire families are coming to God, they will advertise it.

We have made this thing too complicated by being presumptuous. We start out with child like faith, but after a while we presume that God will honor us, even though we aren’t quite far enough along. It is dangerous to start wrestling with devils, based on presumption.

Remember the seven sons of Sceva. There were seven of them against one man. They thought surely they had enough of God to where they could cast the devil out of this man. He told them he knew Jesus, and he knew Paul. Then he said, But who are you? He beat the clothes right off of them. What kind of witness was that for God? They presumed that the name of Jesus would work for them, but if you don’t live the life, it does NOT work. It doesn’t matter if you are saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. The measure you mete is measured back to you.

You’d best not overstep your bounds. David prayed that God would keep presumptuous sin from having dominion over him. They can take you over, and you will presume everything.

I know the Lord has anointed me, but I know if I start acting arrogantly, I will be stepping out from under my anointing. You will too. Don’t be crying about the guy that decked you and say, Touch not God’s anointed. Some people are persecuted for Christ, but others are out from under the anointing and are poor examples of a Christian.

Proverbs 13:18 says, “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction. . . .” God allows beatings to come in many ways. If you won’t listen one way, He will get to you another way. People have told me their finances are a mess. I asked if they would rather have cancer. Until you make a change, don’t presume everything is all right at home. If the Lord keeps us back from presumptuous sins, then we will be upright, and not guilty of the great transgression.

Luke 16:15 says, “. . . that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” There is a lot of religious activity, but much of it is abomination to the Lord. There might be signs and wonders in some meetings, and people who seem to get free, but it isn’t real.

I know people desperately want their children to be healed. I heard someone say, and it made my skin crawl, I don’t care what he believes, if he will heal my child, I will go to him. I personally would rather they would stay sick, blind, halt, or maimed, and enter into heaven and life, than to go to hell whole.

The Lord God is proving the church to see if we love Him. God is trying His church. He is allowing the devil to put on all his presumptuous devices to see if we will get caught up in it.

Christians can backslide and go to hell. Great anointed men and women of God can backslide and lose some of their anointing to where they cannot do what they used to do. 1 Samuel 16:14 says, “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.”

Samson did mighty works for the Lord, but he backslid. Judges 16:20 says, “And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” He presumed everything was as before.

The spirit of the prophets should be subject to the Lord’s Spirit, but they are not always. I don’t claim to be a prophet, just a preacher, but the more I studied on this lesson, the more scared I got about my position.

You know you are saved by the preaching of the Word. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

Deuteronomy 18:20 says, “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.”

Deuteronomy 18:21 says, “And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?” Verse 22 says, “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” If God spoke it, it will come to pass.

If God spoke a word of prophecy to you, and you brought it forth, you know it will come to pass. It doesn’t matter how it sounds, it will happen.

If you hope or presume God to say thus and so and then say it, you are in deep trouble, and you will stay there until you acknowledge that you made a mistake!

Verse 22 said when a prophet has spoken presumptuously, don’t be afraid of him. People aren’t scared of the preacher anymore and they don’t care what the Word of God says. They don’t respect the church.

If you speak aught presumptuously, you have spoken a lie. If you do it in the pulpit, you do it under the anointing of the Lord, and it will get dominion over you. You can be deceived thereby.

These are spiritual laws and precepts by which we can discern. The Word will tell you if something is of the Lord or not. Some things are of faith, and some are of presumption and sin. They are of the flesh or nothing more than speaking back messages the devil would give a person.

Numbers 15:30 says, “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.”

It says DOETH OUGHT presumptuously, not just prophesying. Reproach means to disgrace or to discredit. He will be cut off. That is horrible.

Verse 31 says, “Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.” He despised the word of the Lord when he took on presumption instead of faith.

If you don’t know God is with you, then you are in presumption and you are on dangerous ground. The devil can take you to pieces in front of everybody, and make you a reproach. God allows Himself to be made a reproach only so much. Pretty soon He steps back and lets YOU be a reproach for a while. God steps back and lets Satan hammer.

Trouble should only be able to profit so long. Psalm 84:11 says, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”

If we operate in presumption instead of faith, God will withhold many things, because we are not walking uprightly. If we say, I am a child of God. I am saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. I figure I can get by with what I want to. I will say what I want, do what I want, go where I want to and witness the way I want to, teach and preach the way I want to. Whatever. I am anointed.

I hope God never honors anything you say, because when he turns you over to a strong delusion and you get honored, you are not operating in God any more. You are operating in the devil and you won’t even know it. Samson did not know the Spirit of the Lord departed from him. He shook himself as before, but they came and tore his eyes out of his head. They chained him and he ground corn like a jack ass for years. He was a bound vagabond and they mocked him. That is much of the church today.

Hophni and Phinehas sinned tremendously before the Lord, even though they were priests and knew better. They presumed God would stay with them. After all, they had the Ark right there. Samuel and already told Eli that he had better line his boys up. 1 Samuel 2:32 says, “And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation. . . .” He said Eli wouldn’t know the day it would come, and he said Eli’s boys were going to die.

The Philistines came against the land. The Israelites took the Ark of the Covenant into the battle, and Hophni, and Phinehas, and all the people rejoiced. They had revival – the Ark was there. That is like now they dance and shout and talk in tongues and think the Lord is there. However, the Philistines came and wiped them out. They took the Ark of the Covenant with them to the house of Dagon, their god, and the whole world knew about it.

The covenant of the Lord right now is in the house of the antichrist. His children know the Word of God better than God’s old time Pentecostals, because many are not in the Word any more. They presume they have enough from back then to carry them through now.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Don’t presume because you go to this church or another, or that you know me or that you know somebody else - that you have it all. If you are counting on that, you are in bad shape. We should covet earnestly only the best gifts of God. We should not want miracles as much as we want Jesus.

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Raising the dead is an add on compared to being in Christ Jesus. I want to see miracles, but I want to see Jesus more. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

I remember the day I got the joy of the Lord on me so heavily all I could do was laugh in the Spirit. I could not even preach. The Lord was blessing me, and I didn’t care if I never saw another miracle in my life. All I knew was that the Lord was on me. If we would press on in we would get our priorities lined up and we would quit presuming everything. We would KNOW according to faith. Jesus is not the author and finisher of our presumption, but of our faith. Faith pleases God.

Don’t presume God is going to do anything. I’ve had people do that to me and you have too. I’ve had sinners come to me and tell me what Christians have said to them. I’ve had to tell the sinner that the Christian was wrong. By the expression on the Christian’s face later when we talked, I could tell that they presumed that I’d side with them! If you are wrong, I can’t side with you, Christian or not. If you are my mama, and you are wrong, then you are wrong. Don’t presume if we go to church and worship the same God that you are going to be right if you are doing something wrong.

If you are moving in God you are blessed in God. If you are out of obedience, you are out of anointing. Your anointing will only last so long. Saul had an anointing that stayed with him until he died, but he killed himself too. Samson was God’s anointed, but he gave it up and presumed he could keep it no matter what he did. Folks, this is where the church is. That is why we are not doing what we need to be doing.

The man with the lunatic son begged and pleaded for his son, who was helpless against the devil. He besought the disciples to cast the devil out, but they could not. Read it over in Luke. They presumed that because they had been walking with Jesus a certain amount of time they could do anything. The unclean devil did not come out, but made a show, and threw the boy down, and was trying to kill him in front of them.

The church today says, let’s go get him, but most of the church does not have enough to get the devil out! There are too many instances where they don’t come out. I’ve prayed with people on the phone and the devil left. They came to church, and I looked in their eyes, and they were free and everything is fine. I have also wrestled with the devil for hours, hands-on deliverance, and they would not come out. I said something is wrong with me. The devil is not stouter than God. God is all and all. One word from the Lord, and it will happen. If it was a case where the person did not want it, I would not be down there wrestling, so I must maintain my walk with God.

Folks, don’t go presumptuously up the hill like the Israelites thought they could. They found out they had to wander 40 years in the wilderness for their sin of unbelief. Time and time again God tried to talk to them. Moses was the preacher and Aaron was the priest. They had the tabernacle, and the cloud and the glory. They got water from the rock and were fed from heaven, yet they complained. Finally one day God said that was it. He told them they were going to wander 40 years. Then they said in other words, Oh, wait a minute. We’ve sinned. Lord, forgive us. They had a great prayer meeting, and then they went after the enemy. Moses told them they’d better stay home, because God was not with them. Moses and the Ark of the Lord stayed in the camp, but the people went out. They were defeated, many died, and they still had to wander in the wilderness like God said.

Later in the book of Judges, Hophni and Phinehas remembered that the Ark stayed in the camp and thought that is why the Israelites lost. They didn’t learn their lesson. It is written in the Bible for every generation, even for us now for our admonition. Why God won’t move in a child of God’s life – we go more by presumption than we go by faith. Faith is what pleases God.

Hophni and Phinehas took the Ark of God right in the battle with them thinking that would scare the enemy. 1 Samuel 4:6-8 says, “And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the Ark of the LORD was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.”

Then Verse 9 says, “Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.” This was an exhortation inserted there. Do you know who said that? Not the Philistines. I was praying one day, and I started laughing, and I said what is this? The Lord said, “That was ME talking.” I said, Lord you encouraged the enemy to whip the Israelites? He said, “I did.” I said, Prove that by scripture.

He gave me Deuteronomy 28:63 which says, “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. . . .”

Proverbs 1:26 says, “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;” He is not always talking to sinners. I believe the fear of the Lord must come back in the church, because if the church does not have it, the sinner and the ungodly won’t have it. The church is getting a beating, and frankly, they have got it coming.

Many times in the Bible the Lord will give a name to an individual, not a personal name, but a description like prophet, or sorcerer, etc., whatever they are. Then people will say, I am not one of them so it exempts me. Look at the description of them and see if you have not become one of them. If you read it and you match it, then you are like them. This is our discernment.

There was a revival in Samaria. Philip and the apostles followed up later. A man named Simon was there. Acts 8:9 says, “But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:” A lot of preachers do that still! That is the use of sorcery.

Verse 10 says, “To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.” People today would say it was the anointing of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost had fallen some time before. They thought the Spirit of God was on Simon.

Acts 8:11 says, “And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.” You may say you are not bewitching anybody with sorceries, but if you presumptuously use the Word of God, it is using sorcery, even if you don’t know it.

Verse 12 says Philip came in with the real thing. “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Verse 13 says, “Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.” Simon believed and got saved in one of Philip’s meetings, and he obeyed the command to be baptized.

Verse 18-22 says, “And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.”

Verse 23 says, “For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” That gall of bitterness was jealousy and covetousness. The bond of his iniquity was pride and self will and presumption. Look at why he did it. Simon was in the business of moving people. He wanted them to regard what he was saying, so he presumed his old methods would work.

I want folks to hear what I’m preaching. However, I will not resort to trickery, which is nothing more than sorcery, to try to manipulate you into believing what I am telling you. If God does not move it in your life, it is not worth a nickel anyway. If charisma and personality cause you to come to the Lord, it isn’t real salvation.

In John 3:3 Jesus said, “. . . Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 6:44 says, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. . . .” A lot of people left when Jesus said that.

People may say they only come because the person is entertaining, and they regard the signs and miracles, without wanting Christ. Church people will pray that God will send revival because they want to see the miracles. That is fine, but they missed the main point. Look again at what Simon had a problem with. His old nature began to take over and manipulate even though he was saved and baptized. It manipulated him to the place where he was able to be so corrupt in his thinking that he wanted to buy the ability to lay on hands for the Holy Ghost. He was operating in presumption. He presumed that this was all right to do now that he was saved, but it didn’t work.

Verse 13 says, “. . . he continued with Philip, and wondered. . . .” Did he wonder at Philip’s ability to walk in God, and him moving in the Spirit of God, or God’s great power upon Philip? No. He – “. . . wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.”

He wanted the works, but he wasn’t particularly interested in the Worker. The devil can give you works and signs, and he can bring you crowds, and money, and other things if he thinks you are a particular threat to his kingdom. He will bring you the whole world if you will just fall down and worship him, because it is in his power to do it.

We see that Simon had to pray back through. He was already saved, but he acted presumptuously. He had plenty of time to hear the Word. He was more awe struck, not by the Word being preached and how to get the power of God, but by the finished product, the miracles. He was dealing with the wrong end. The cart was before the horse; he was walking presumptuously. Peter told Simon in Acts 8:21, “. . . thy heart is not right in the sight of God.”

Can a Holy Ghost filled Christian get deceived like this? Yes. We have more prophets with less accountability in churches than ever before. That lets us know that most are presumptuously speaking. People aren’t afraid of the church, because they don’t have anything to be afraid of. If somebody mistreats you, then you get upset, but if you have done something presumptuously, you may need the beating. Maybe it will wake you up.

When you say, Thus saith the Lord, God in heaven and the angels turn, and hell listens, and people listen. You had better have something from the Lord, or you had better shut your mouth.

Many say they are children of the King but they behave like children of the devil. They say they have peace like a river, but they are tormented. They don’t have faith or peace; they have presumption.

Remember - Psalm 19:13 says, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.”

The initial transgression was by Lucifer. He was anointed of God and he was the anointed cherub that coverth, and he thought he could do anything he wanted to, so he tried to make himself like the Most High. A lot of people have trouble with our preaching on sanctification. We are not trying to make ourselves like the Most High, the Father. We are trying to make ourselves like Jesus, His son. It has to be done by the Spirit of the Lord, as we yield.

Daniel 8:11 says, “Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.” You say this is the revelation of the antichrist, the beast as mentioned in Revelation later. Yes, but without Jesus every man’s spirit is anti-christ. The beast of Revelations is a man who will be successful by the power of the Devil, and will yield his will to fight against Christ, but still use the name of Christ. He is the full epitomy of Judas, anointed to do the work. He will be like the Devil himself manifest in the flesh, but every man has potential to do this.

Now I want to show you what happens to a person who is operating in God. Daniel 8:11 says, “Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host. . . .” OR in other words, Lord, you are lucky to have me. Do you see what I have been going through for you? Now you owe me this and this. I’m reading in the Word where you owe me this, and I’m going to claim it, and you are going to do it!

Daniel 8:11 continues, “. . . and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away. . . .” The daily sacrifice is found in Romans 12:1, “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.”

1 Corinthians 15:31 says, “. . . I die daily.” The living sacrifice daily is taken away. They don’t crucify their flesh anymore. They leave their prayer closet. When they do pray, they pray amiss. They are not yielding over to God, yet they demand more from God.

Daniel 8:11 finishes, “. . . and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.” God was grieved. Daniel 8:12 says, “And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.”

Daniel 8:12 in part says, “And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice. . . .” This is the devil. Satan says you don’t have to sacrifice; you are a child of the king. The second part says, “. . . by reason of transgression. . . .” That is because you come against the fact that you should be crucified. Peter came to Jesus and told him those things should not be unto Him that He would be crucified before men. He said it wasn’t necessary.

Matthew 16:23 says, “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men,” and Satan entered into Peter. Peter was devil possessed with Satan himself just before Judas was. It is in the Bible.

The church should be convicted. Presumption is sin; it is NOT faith. It is impossible to please God without faith. You can bring almost everybody to the Lord in the name of the Lord, but Matthew 12:30 says, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”

You may say that these scriptures are prophesying about the antichrist, but it is pertinent to any. 1 John 2:18 says, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists. . . .” Verse 19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

You can’t be against something you don’t know something about. You can’t be divisively, and precisely, and subtly against something unless you know deep things about it.

1 Samuel 2:32 says, “And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation. . . .” We don’t understand how bound the church is, and how devil possessed some are who are in the ministry.

He sent forth His Word and healed them. Jesus is the express image of God’s Holy Word. Jesus said one of the last day things you needed to watch for is the abomination that maketh desolate as mentioned in Matthew and Daniel.

Daniel 8:13 says, “. . . and the transgression of desolation. . . .” and then in Daniel 11:31 it says, “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”

You may say it is talking about putting an abomination in the temple in Jerusalem. What about the abomination in the temple of God in the body of the believer? This shows you how a person can backslide and get devil possessed, specifically. That is what the antichrist will be. He will be a child of God at one time in his life, saved, and filled with the Holy Ghost. He will know all about it, just like Lucifer did. Lucifer was not a peon angel; he was the anointed cherub that coverth. He knew God face to face. That is why he is so good at mimicking, and imitating and giving you words that sound like they are from God. If it does not line up with the Word, and your life is not right to receive great things from God, then don’t take something that seems to be from God.

Some have said, Oh, brother, I believe God has great things for you, but when I see their life, I reject their prophecy. People have prophesied tremendous things over me, and I just kick them right out, because I can tell they aren’t living it. They don’t have the capacity to carry it. You have to build up yourselves in your most holy faith.

Daniel 11:31 says, “. . . and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.” That is a devil in the temple of God, where the Holy Ghost used to walk and deal and tug and say, Yes, you are a child of the king. Now the devil walks there, because they presumed that God would always be with them, no matter what they did.

Isaiah 30:1says, “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:”

Folks, this is in the worldly church. You can apply this to individuals as well as to the prophecy of the beast and how he falls. The people who will follow him will be just like him. How does this start out, Brother Kevin? It starts out by trying to help God on your own. The last 2 ½ years (1996) have been in faith, my end of it, just like hell between my ears. However, two or three times in my ministry I prayed a special prayer.

I prayed, God, I don’t care if I scream, and holler, and beat my head against the wall or what. Don’t let me take a devil. Don’t let me take an antichrist spirit. God, if I scream and holler at you, ignore me, but keep me.

I’ve tried to tell God, Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you do it this way? He hasn’t listened to me one time. That makes me so mad, but I thank God He has honored my sincere prayer for Him to keep me.

Folks, we need to reexamine our hearts and see what our real motivation is. What is our real reason for wanting the Lord? Did you marry Him for His money and His miracles?

God forgive us. We can’t point fingers because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The glory has not been fully revealed like it should be. God is longsuffering and merciful.

Many are sifted like wheat (see Luke 22:31-32) but Jesus intercedes for us to the Father. God show us that mercy, because we need it. God send REVIVAL!

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O. BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL 62941

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail livinghopefellowship@lazernetwireless.net

These condensed Bible studies have been published to help new Christians in their new walk with the Lord. Kevin Badgley, the author, is the pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.

This is a Living Hope Fellowship publication.