Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (3 page)

When the glory of God returns in even greater measures then ever before experienced in the American churches, it will greatly affect the landscape of the church as we now understand it to be. The glory changes everything. However, not everyone will be waiting to join the membership class, because the glory carries certain stipulations. When the glory returns, the fear of the Lord will return to the church. Today there is an enormous lack of the reverential fear of the Lord in the American Church. The glory will change that very quickly and a healthy understanding of holiness (not legalism) and separation from all that defiles will be established.

When the cherubim carry God’s glory back into the American Church, we must be careful that we reverence the Lord in the beauty of holiness. King David had a very unsettling event take place in his life when dealing once with the Ark of the Covenant. He went with 30 thousand men to move the Ark from the house of Abinadab, where it had been for 50 years, to transport it to its new resting place in Jerusalem. The Ark was carried on a new cart that was pulled by oxen. As the procession moved joyfully forward, the oxen stumbled at a certain spot and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark from falling. When he touched the Ark, he was struck dead. This act of God greatly displeased David, but David realized too late that he did not move the Ark according to the rules of God’s
divine law. Uzzah could have been a Levite, but he was not a priest and was not allowed to touch the holy items. The Ark was supposed to be carried on the shoulders of the priests by the poles on either side of the Ark. (See Second Samuel 6:1-10.)

It’s interesting that the Philistines once moved the Ark on a cart to take it back to Israel. (See First Samuel 6:8.) They were so happy to have captured it in battle, but they got much more than they bargained for. After the men began to suffer burning cancerous tumors in their rectums and a massive invasion of rats upon their land, they realized they needed to return the Ark to its rightful home, and to do so as quickly as possible! They took two milk cows and hitched them to a cart and sent the Ark back on the cart. (See First Samuel 6:1-8.)

God never dealt with the Philistines like He did with Uzzah because David and the people of Israel knew better. They knew the commands of how the Ark was to be carried. The Philistines did not know the laws of God; they were pagans outside of the covenant of God. Because of their ignorance, they were given mercy when they transported the Ark on a cart. However, as knowledgeable believers, we must understand that under a strong anointing when the glory is present, we need to be reverent in our behavior. Someone may say, “Ah well, that was under the Old Covenant. We can get by with things today because we are under grace.” Yet, even under grace, we must not test the Lord. The Book of Acts,
chapter 4
, is not under the Old Covenant and people fell down just as dead there as Uzzah did back under the Old Covenant.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is not about two heathens who told a lie in church and died. No, they were a married couple who were Christians that sinned under an atmosphere of a heavy glory and a strong anointing. Most likely, they saw how Barnabas was commended for selling his land and laying the money at the apostle’s feet. Perhaps they wanted to be noticed and wanted recognition, so they attempted the same act by selling their land and then Ananias brought the money to Peter. What got Ananias and Sapphira into trouble was not that they did not donate the entire amount of money from their land sale. They kept some of the money for themselves and that was fine, but they lied and acted like they gave all of it. Because of this, they both died instantly for lying to the Holy Spirit. I’ve heard people tell lies in church many times. Why haven’t they fallen down and died? Nothing has happened because of an absence of a strong presence of God’s glory. However, the glory is coming back and we must prepare our hearts to stand in it. It will change the way the church is viewed by the unsaved.

The church in the Book of Acts was a church you only entered into after making an absolute commitment of devotion to the Lord Jesus. This was not a church to join in hope of finding more potential people to push the latest multilevel marketing program over on. The church in the book of Acts was a church where the fire and the glory resided. In such an atmosphere you had to be careful of your motives and actions. We desperately
need this atmosphere in the churches of America today. Several years back I was visiting a church when the glory of God came into the sanctuary. I have ministered at this particular church numerous times but on this day I was not ministering, just visiting. When the glory came in, my wife and I noticed the immediate change in the atmosphere and others picked up on it as well. The worship team played softly and many of us began to feel a strong and tangible presence that seemed to cover us all like warm honey.

Unfortunately, a young woman with a big, thick Bible began to walk up on the stage to give a prophetic word. I had previously seen this woman give prophetic utterances and not once was I ever uplifted by any of them. They were all soulish prophecies that didn’t have the slightest bit of edification, exhortation, or encouragement to them. The local pastor should have guided her more accurately in the gifts of the Spirit but he never had the strength to correct those who were off, so they were doomed to repeat the same lifeless rituals over and over again. As she proudly and deliberately walked up the steps on the stage toward the pulpit, I thought to myself, “Oh no, not another lifeless prophecy from her again. She’s going to ruin this sweet presence of the Lord that is resting upon the people.”

I wouldn’t dare try to correct her, because it was not my church. That was the responsibility of the pastor of that church. However, as she reached the top step she suddenly stood completely still, having been arrested by an unseen force. A weight,
a glory came over her and she fell straight back on her rear-end and rolled all the way back down those steps and collapsed at the bottom in a heap. When that happened, the glory intensified among the people. God was ministering to His people and He wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way!

No one moved. We all just sat there quietly for a long period of time and let the Holy Spirit minister to us one on one. It was an awesome time. Eventually, the woman who rolled down the steps slowly got up from the floor. She was dazed and disoriented, but now she was much clearer in her understanding of honoring God’s presence and His glory. The glory is being carried by the cherubim back into the American Church.

Mantles are placed before us to help us move into fiery, glorious places that we are destined to walk in. Let us move forward with faith and anticipation of all He has prepared for us to experience.

The word
mantle
is used to describe an outer garment worn over one’s normal clothing. In Bible days, mantles were often made from an animal skin. Some mantles were used for protection from harsh weather, while others were decorated to indicate the status of the wearer
. Spiritually speaking, a mantle represents the presence and power of the Holy Spirit upon one’s life
. There is no inherent power in the skin of an animal or a piece of cloth draped over the shoulders. These objects are only outward representations through which God has chosen to symbolize the power of His Holy Spirit.

Today, the Lord is still anointing His people and placing mantles upon the saints to accomplish the work He has planned for
them to do. A mantle is an anointing upon you to accomplish what God has called you to do. Every born-again believer has an anointing within.

As believers, we all have an anointing within that leads us into truth. The apostle John knew that this inward anointing would keep the believers from being led astray into false teaching that was put forth by the Gnostics of that day and time. The anointing within is a barrier and protection from the antichrist spirit, which is an anti-anointing that operates in the world today. The anointing within is different from the anointing upon. When the Bible mentions a mantle, it is referring to the anointing that is upon a person. A mantle was often worn over the shoulders. The shoulders speak of governmental authority.

The anointing upon a person can be increased through quality time spent in prayer and study of the Word. A minister can be more or less anointed depending upon his or her obedience in these areas. Those called to other types of work can also increase the anointing upon their lives by walking right with God and putting their whole hearts into their
work. There’s never a substitute for hard work. Hard work combined with prayer and time spent in the Word will equal positive results.

I remember the time several years ago when my wife and I met Dr. Moses Cho from China when he came to California for the first time. Dr. Cho had escaped from China while having been on the “most wanted” list for counter revolutionary activity. That simply meant he started a bunch of underground churches and the government was against any form of Christian evangelism.

Now in his ’70s, Brother Moses has labored many decades throughout China and East Asia, having surpassed the mark of having planted over 3,000 churches. As we talked and spent time together, he shared with my wife and me about his many narrow escapes from the Chinese army through angelic intervention. We rejoiced as he talked about the time he was being pursued by an entire convoy of army jeeps. The soldiers were desperately trying to catch him and were extremely aggravated at the many times he had slipped through their fingers. Despite driving as fast as he could, the army was quickly catching up with him when Brother Moses drove across a narrow one-lane mountain bridge that only had enough room for a single vehicle. As soon as he crossed the bridge he looked back to see the convoy race onto the bridge at full speed. Suddenly the lead jeep in the convoy blew out the front right tire and swerved into the side of the railing, being firmly wedged into the side of the metal bridge and unable to be moved. The entire army convoy piled up in a long line as Brother Moses kept the pedal
to the metal and disappeared out of their sight, having escaped again from an entire army.

When it comes to walking in an apostolic mantle, I’ll never forget when Kelly and I went out to eat at a large Chinese restaurant in Orange County, California with Brother Moses. Please understand that Brother Moses himself owns five large restaurants outside of China in other Asian countries. One of his restaurants can seat one thousand people and it’s packed for lunch everyday. He uses his restaurants as a primary means of supplying funds to the many churches that he starts. Whenever he sends out a pastor to start a church, he is able to financially support that pastor through the great success that the Lord has given to his restaurant business. Brother Moses not only knows the Lord very well, but he also knows good food when he sees it.

That day as Kelly and I walked into the Chinese restaurant with Brother Moses, it was amazing to see the instant reaction that took place when the Chinese-American workers saw him. They immediately ran to the back to inform the head chef of a “guest” arrival. The head chef hurried out and began instructing that the very best seafood be brought out to the buffet table. Workers frantically began working on the salad bar to make it look perfect. It seemed as if they were all vying for the approval of Brother Moses. Why were they doing this? It was not because they knew him; they had never seen him before. They recognized something upon him that drew a response. It
was that mantle of being a restaurant tycoon that somehow was communicated without a word being spoken. When there is a strong mantle, people can sense the anointing you carry, even if they can’t quite put their finger on what it is.

The anointing is there for you to operate in the sphere of influence that God has given to you. For Brother Moses, it was an apostolic ministry combined with a large restaurant business. That is where the realm of his anointing operates. I’m sure Brother Moses would not have gotten the same response if he had walked into a skateboard shop. There he would have been out of his sphere of influence. The apostle Paul understood this principle as well.

We all have a circle of influence where we have the opportunity to make an impact with the Gospel. Some people are in the wrong sphere and need to move into the place where they can be effective with the particular anointing they carry. When I ran track in college, there was a friend of mine who loved running. He tried out for the track team, but didn’t make it. Yet, he wanted to be a successful distance runner so much that he still would run with us every day. However, he was a hopeless cause as a runner. It seemed that with running, nothing ever came together for him. His form of running was awkward and
clumsy. Even after several years of collegiate training he still couldn’t break a five-minute mile.