“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

Dear Jesus,

You told me to resist the devil and he would flee from me,
But I have no resistance.
You have all the power and resistance I’ll ever need,
So give me the power to resist.
You told me I could move my mountains
If I had faith even as a mustard seed;
Yet my mountain won’t move
Even though my faith in you is as great
As I can conceive it.
You made the heavens and earth;
Please move my mountain.
You said, “Flee the very appearance of evil!”
So I ran hard,
But sin overtook me
In my finest hour of effort.
You have power
Over all the power of the enemy
With miracles, signs and wonders.
Deliver me from the trap of Satan.
I don’t even have the strength to put on the whole armor,
So dress me as my armor-bearer.
Do for me what I know I cannot do for myself.

“He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant . . . until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him” (Psalm 105:17, 19). Joseph was tested and tried in many ways but his greatest trial was the word he had received!

Consider everything Joseph endured: At only seventeen, he was stripped down and cast into a pit to starve to death. His cold-hearted brothers laughed at his pleas for mercy and sold him to Ishmaelite traders who took him by caravan to an Egyptian slave market and sold him as a common slave.

Yet Joseph’s greatest trial wasn’t his rejection by his brothers or even the human indignity of being made into a slave or being cast into prison.

No—what confused and tried Joseph’s spirit was the clear word he had heard from God!

God had revealed to Joseph through dreams that he would be given great authority that he would use for God’s glory. His brothers would bow before him and he would be a great deliverer of many people.

I do not believe any of this was an ego trip for Joseph. His heart was so set on God that this word gave him a humble sense of destiny: “Lord, you have put your hand on me to have a part in your great, eternal plan.”

Joseph was blessed just by knowing he would play an important role in bringing God’s will to pass! But the circumstances in Joseph’s life were just the opposite of what God had put in his heart. He was the servant—he had to bow! How could he believe that he would one day deliver multitudes when he was a slave himself?

He must have thought, “This doesn’t make sense. How could God be ordering my steps into prison, into oblivion?

God said I was going to be blessed but he didn’t tell me this was going to happen!”

For ten years Joseph faithfully served in Potiphar’s house but in the end he was misjudged and lied about. His victory over temptation with Potiphar’s wife only landed him in jail. During such times he must have pondered the awful questions: “Did I hear correctly? Did my pride invent these dreams? Could my brothers have been right? Maybe all these things are happening to me as discipline for some kind of selfish desire.”

Beloved, there have been times when God has shown me things he has wanted for me—ministry, service, usefulness—yet every circumstance was the very opposite of that word. At such times I thought, “Oh, God, this can’t be you speaking; it must be my flesh,” I was being tried by God’s word to me but God has given us his promises and we can trust them, all of them!

Joseph was in one of his darkest hours—lonely, downcast, about to give up his dreams, questioning his place in God. Suddenly, the call came from one of the king’s guards: “Joseph! Get cleaned up—Pharaoh is calling for you!”

In that moment, I believe the Spirit of God came mightily upon Joseph and his heart leapt with excitement. He was about to understand what it was all about!

As Joseph shaved and trimmed his hair, he probably thought, “This is the beginning of what God promised me. Now I know I heard from him! The devil has not been in control and my life hasn’t been wasted. God has been directing everything the entire time!”

In a matter of minutes, Joseph was standing before Pharaoh, listening to his dream. Joseph gave the interpretation of the coming famine and told Pharaoh he had to gather and store the nation’s grain: “Someone must be in charge of the storehouses. You have to find a man who’s full of wisdom to oversee it all” (see Genesis 4l).

Pharaoh looked around and then turned toward Joseph: “You! Joseph! I appoint you second ruler. Only I will have more power in the kingdom than you. You will oversee it all!”

How quickly things had changed! The day came when Joseph stood before his brothers and was able to say: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

“God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt” (45:7-8).

Dear saint, very soon you’re going to understand your present fiery trials. God is going to bring you into the promise he gave you and suddenly it’s all going to make sense.

You’ll see that he has never forsaken you.

He had to take you this way, for he has been training you, preparing you, teaching you to trust him for everything. He has planned a time for you to be used—and that time is just ahead!

Does our heavenly Father favor certain of his children? Does the Bible say God is no respecter of persons?

When it comes to salvation and his wonderful promises, God treats all alike but he also puts his special favor on those who respond wholeheartedly to his calling and yield their lives to him entirely!

Job said: “Thou hast granted me life and favour” (Job 10:12). David said: “For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield” (Psalm 5:12).

Our heavenly Father puts a special garment on those who completely give him their heart: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).

Joseph responded to the Spirit’s call, surrendering all, and as a favor from his father he received a robe that set him apart. But that favor of his father was costly! It cost Joseph relationships and brought him rejection, misunderstanding and mockery: “All his brethren . . . hated him” (Genesis 37:4).

Why did Joseph’s brothers turn on him? The key is in verse 11: “His brethren envied him.” When they saw the robe Joseph wore, they knew it spoke of favor, righteousness. And they hated it, because it reminded them of the Spirit’s call they had rejected! Joseph was a reproach to their halfhearted lifestyle!

You see, Joseph’s brothers sat around indulging in petty gossip and self-centered talk. Their hearts were occupied with lands, possessions, the future, but Joseph’s was elsewhere. He spoke of the things of God, of supernatural dealings. God had given him dreams, which in that day was synonymous with hearing the voice of God.

Lukewarm believers around you will want to talk about their cars, houses and jobs, but you’d rather talk about eternal things, about what God is saying to you. Soon you’ll become a reproach to their halfheartedness. They will envy you because you represent the call of the Holy Ghost they turned down!
Yes, Joseph was of a different cloth and that difference made him hated and envied among his brothers. And, beloved, the same will happen to you if you are sold out to Jesus!

Let me show you the Joseph Company—a body of last-day believers wholly given to the Lord. They commune with God daily and are led by the Spirit in every detail of their lives. At this moment they are coming out of great trials to enter a place of revelation, wisdom and fruitfulness. God is working in them, giving them his truth and knowledge, and very soon he is going to call upon them as he did Joseph!

For the most part, the church today is experiencing widespread spiritual famine: shallow sermons, dead hearers, “lively” worship that is not backed up by righteous living.

God has always worked far in advance of every spiritual famine in his church. In every generation he has moved ahead to prepare a way out for his people!

The seventy-five members of Jacob’s clan would have died in the great worldwide famine (and the promise of Israel would have been destroyed) had God not been working ahead of it all. In fact, some twenty years before the famine hit, God was already setting in motion a plan to save his people from destruction.

God sent Joseph ahead to Egypt! For twenty years God worked on this man—isolating him, trying him, preparing him for a place of authority—because Joseph was to become the life-saver of God’s chosen. He kept Joseph from the limelight in order that he might be ready for a coming day of chaos and death!

Beloved, just as surely as God isolated Joseph, he has a Joseph Company today that is hidden from all eyes.

These are in the furnace of affliction, prisons of testing, battlegrounds of trials and temptations.

They are dying to this world, wanting nothing of its fame, honor, money or pleasure. And they are growing hungry to become more intimate with Christ, to know his heart and his voice.

You may not understand all the mysterious testings, trials and troubles in your life. But if your heart is fully set on following Christ, you can rest assured God has purpose in it all: He wants to bring you into his Joseph Company.

How often have you heard Christians say, “God is doing a new thing in his church”? The “new thing” they refer to may be called a revival, an outpouring, a visitation, or a move of God.

Yet very often, this “new thing” dies out very quickly.

And once it has faded, it can’t be found again. In this way, it proves not to be a move of God at all.

In fact, Christian sociologists have tracked many of these visitations and discovered the average span of life of such an event is about five years.
Personally, I believe God is doing a new thing in his church today.

Yet this great work of the Spirit can’t be found in just one location.

It’s happening worldwide.

God will not begin a new thing in his church until he does away with the old.

This biblical principle, proven throughout centuries of church history, is found in both Testaments and governs any true move of God. As Jesus put it, he won’t put new wine into old wineskins (see Mark 2:22).

The principle of doing away with the old and raising up the new was first introduced in the Old Testament at Shiloh. During the time of the Judges, God established a holy work in that city (see Judges 18:31). Shiloh, where the Lord’s sanctuary stood, was the center of all religious activity in Israel. The name Shiloh itself means “that which is the Lord’s.” This speaks of things that represent God and reveal his nature and character. God spoke to his people at Shiloh; it was there that Samuel heard God’s voice and where the Lord revealed his will to him (see 1 Samuel 1).

The Lord stopped speaking at Shiloh because the priest had become lazy and sensual and the city had become corrupt. God told Samuel, in essence, “Shiloh has become so defiled, it no longer represents who I am. This house is no longer mine. I’m finished with it.” So the Lord lifted his presence from the sanctuary and wrote “Ichabod” above the door, which means, “The glory of the Lord has departed.”

The Lord completely did away with the old but once again, he raised up a new thing. After that, the temple in Jerusalem became known as “the Lord’s house” and God spoke to his people there.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I once spent a week weeping before the Lord, crying out to him for a message of comfort and hope for all the hurting believers who write to our ministry. While working in New York City with addicts, alcoholics and the homeless, I have prayed, “Lord, everywhere I look I see pain, distress, grief and trouble. What message can I possibly give to those in such dire need? What is your word to them? Surely you care for these precious people. Surely you long to bring them a word that can set them free.”

The Lord gave me assurance that he has provided a way to strengthen every child of his to resist the enemy. This strength comes only from eating the Bread sent down from heaven. Our spiritual health depends on getting this Bread into us.

Listen carefully to the words of Jesus: “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:57). Jesus was in such close communion with the Father, and was so committed to doing only his will, that the Father’s words became his very food and drink. Jesus was sustained daily by hearing and seeing what the Father wanted, which was the result of spending much time alone with him.

Christ told his disciples, “I have meat to eat that you know not of…. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:32 and 34). He also instructed them, “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you” (John 6:27). We dare not miss this secret of strength; even as Christ lived by the Father, we must also receive our life by feeding on Christ.

When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, the manna that sustained them was dispensed daily. Through this example God is telling us that what we ate of Christ yesterday will not supply our need for today. We must admit we will starve spiritually and become weak and helpless without a daily supply of fresh heavenly Bread. We must come to the Lord’s Table often.

I don’t give financial advice—but I am in touch with the world’s one and only dependable adviser! For every question I have on any matter, my trusted adviser has an answer. He has been with our ministry since the very beginning. When we moved our offices back to New York City, he moved with us. And he has directed every real estate transaction we’ve made here. He helped us buy the historic Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway, where Times Square Church now holds services.

Yet he’s not only our financial and real estate adviser, he’s also our attorney, family adviser, counselor and travel guide. Indeed, he guides us in literally everything we do and face. The last time I talked with him (which was this morning), he assured me he would continue to provide steady guidance for us throughout the coming difficult times. He told me we had nothing to worry about.

Best of all, my adviser doesn’t mind if I call him every day and at any time during the day. My adviser encourages me, “You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ve been through these kinds of things many times before.” It is amazing to see throughout the Bible that time after time, in every kind of crisis, God has always been intimately involved with his people.

The Lord was involved with David, the psalmist, when he fell on hard times. David returned home with his army to Ziklag and found his town reduced to ashes by a band of raiders (see 1 Samuel 30). David’s home had been destroyed and his family taken captive—there was nothing left. Everything he worked for—his cattle, his furnishings, his possessions—were gone. David had no one to turn to in that moment, as his own soldiers were ready to stone him because they blamed him for leading them into battle and leaving their loved ones unprotected.

Scripture says David turned to his adviser (and mine): “David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all” (1 Samuel 30:8). David followed his adviser’s counsel—and he did recover all!

The prophet Ezekiel was given an incredible vision. Scripture says the hand of God carried him to a very high mountain, where a man appeared to him “whose appearance was like the appearance of brass” (Ezekiel 40:3)

Of course, the man was none other than Christ himself. He ushered Ezekiel to the door of God’s house where he gave the prophet the amazing vision of the future of God’s people. It revealed what the body of Christ will become as the end-times draw to a close. “He brought me again unto the door of the house [the temple]; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward…” (Ezekiel 47:1).

Images of water in the Bible almost always represent the Spirit of God. This vision clearly reveals a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days. The vision was so overwhelming in scope, Ezekiel couldn’t comprehend it. He couldn’t even comment on its meaning; all he could do was report it. In fact, before the vision was finished, the Lord stopped and asked Ezekiel, “Hast thou seen this?” God was asking, “Do you grasp the magnitude of what you’re seeing? Do you see what these rising waters speak of? I know this revelation is awesome and mind-boggling to you, but I don’t want you to miss the true meaning. The waters indicate the way all things will end.”

The prophet Isaiah had a glimpse of the same river that appeared in Ezekiel’s vision. Yet Isaiah saw even more. According to Isaiah, in the last days God’s people will enjoy great protection against all satanic attack: “No galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby” (Isaiah 33:21).

Isaiah is speaking here of slave-driven warships. He’s giving us a picture of the enemy, the devil, as he tries to launch an attack on all who swim in the river. And it’s a picture of total confusion.

God is making it clear to us in these passages that his living waters are off- limits to Satan. As the psalmist testifies, “Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul; let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt…let the angel of the Lord chase them…let the angel of the Lord persecute them” (Psalm 35:4-6).

Moses had a disposition like many of us today so there was only one way for him to stay in victory. He continually communed with the Lord: “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11). I believe the secret to holiness is very simple: Stay close to Jesus! Keep looking into his face, until you become like the image you behold.

One evening a hysterical woman stopped me on the street and blurted out a desperate confession. “Mr. Wilkerson,” she cried, “I’m facing the darkest hour of my life and I don’t know which way to turn. My husband has left me and it’s all my fault! I have failed God and my family. What in the world am I going to do?”

I was moved to tell her, “My friend, lift up your hands right here on this street corner, and begin to worship the Lord. Tell him you know you are a failure, but you still love him. Then go home and get on your knees. Don’t ask God for a thing, just lift your hands and your heart and worship him.”

I left that lady standing on the street with her hands raised to heaven, tears rolling down her cheeks, praising the Lord and already tasting the victory that was surging back into her life. “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3). The Lord makes his dwelling with his people who are worshipping, and where the Lord is, victory follows.

Christ says: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

“Come unto me, all ye [failures] that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Don’t be afraid of failure. Keep going in spite of it. Worship God until victory comes! This may sound like an oversimplification, but the way past failure actually is simple.

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death: if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

What I’m about to say may come as a surprise to you. That is, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about power. When I say this, I don’t just mean the divine power that raised Jesus from the dead. Of course, that kind of power is absolutely miraculous, and it could come only from God himself.
Christ’s resurrection speaks of another power in addition to that supernatural event. And this power could only come from God as well. I’m talking about a power that causes us to live holy lives…to be free from sin’s dominion…to overcome every habit and lust known to man…to walk in a righteousness that comes from God alone, by faith. To obtain this power is to know Christ in the power of his resurrection.

The apostle Paul speaks of this kind of resurrection power. He had a profound inner longing to know Christ and that hunger came from his own deep cry for holiness. The apostle had a revelation about the resurrection of Christ and this revelation had to do with power. He writes: “Jesus Christ our Lord…was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:3-4).

Paul saw something incredible in the resurrection and while it overwhelmed him with joy, it also answered his lifelong cry for holiness. In short, Paul saw that Jesus had come to earth as a man, with the power of heaven resting upon him. Christ had demonstrated this divine power while on earth: healing the sick, setting captives free, raising the dead, giving eternal life. Jesus had been raised from the dead himself and his resurrection was accompanied by a divine proclamation that he was “the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).

When our love is aligned with God’s Word—when we embrace his love for us and love one another unconditionally—we live without fear. We will be able to live in the here-and-now as Christ lived and stand before him with boldness on the day of judgment.

When all fear is gone, we are in perfect love. Listen to these words sung by David: “Glory and honor are in his presence; strength andgladness are in his place” (1 Chronicles 16:27, my italics). The root word for “gladness” in the Old Testament means “jumping for joy” and enjoying the fullness of perfect love.

Right now, the world is drowning in fear. Humankind trembles over global warming, terrorism, nuclear warfare, a shaky economy, AIDS, mass murders, the rise of Islam, political chaos, widespread addiction to drugs, alcohol and porn. I ask you: How can we make any impact for Christ if we are beset with the same spirit of fear the world has? What kind of hope can we offer—indeed, what kind of gospel do we preach—if it doesn’t change us and deliver us from fear?

God brought in the New Covenant to assure his church of his love and full pardon of sin…to bring us into the knowledge of his delight and gladness over us, that we might know his heart of love for us and live all our days without fear. Consider: “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?… Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear” (Psalm 27:1, 3).

It is long past time for God’s people to give everything into his hands. I urge you to stop trying to think your way out of trouble. Instead, rest in the power of God’s Word. Let the Lord put gladness in you now, today. Your glad heart will “shock and awe” all those who are fearful around you: “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” (Deuteronomy 28:12).

Numerous Christians, including pastors, have told me they are continually harassed by former sins. They say, “Brother Dave, if you only knew what I once did, how I sinned, you would understand why I’m so down. My sin still hangs over my head, and I battle constant guilt over it. I believe the Lord has forgiven me, that his blood is sufficient to cover my iniquity, but I don’t have the peace that comes from that knowledge.”

Others tell me, “I believe I’m forgiven, but my mind is continually bombarded with hellish thoughts. It can happen anywhere, even in church, and it makes me feel so unclean. I have a hard time believing I am pure in God’s sight.

These believers forget that Satan also tempted Jesus with awful, ugly thoughts during his wilderness testing. Today, the devil sends little foxes into your life to make you think you’re hopeless, that God is mad at you. They inject thoughts into your mind meant to destroy your faith in the power of Christ’s blood over you.

Dear saint, you are not to listen to those mental invasions. You have to cut them off, crying, “Holy Spirit, I know you’re beside me. Help me!”

All who take up the cross and fight the good fight of faith are in a constant battle. We all face evil thoughts—thoughts that come because of our past, or because of a sense of rejection, or simply because we live in wicked, sensual times. Yet when we apply Christ’s blood to these roots of doubt, it reaches into every cell of our being, including our minds, and thoroughly cleanses us. And that brings freedom and true rejoicing.

You are not alone in your struggle. He has sent you the Holy Spirit, who knows how to deal with the enemy and free you from all bondage. He is the still, small voice that will guide you and empower you through all your battles.

Pray with me: “Holy Spirit, I want to grow in spiritual fruitfulness. I want to be rid of all hypocrisy, and I want gentleness, patience and love. I know you still love me, in spite of my lack of these things. So, stand by me and help me. Amen.”

At Times Square Church, we sing a hand-clapping song that goes this way:

Send him on down, Lord, send him on down.

Lord, Let the Holy Ghost come on down.

We need him, Lord, send him on down.

The truth is, the Holy Spirit is already here. He came down from heaven at Pentecost and he never left!

Jesus promised, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he many abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).
Consider a phrase Jesus uses here: “But you know him.” Recently, as I read those words, I could not shake them off. I realized I really don’t know much about the Holy Spirit.

The church talks a lot about the Holy Spirit. We talk about being filled with the Spirit, living and walking in the Spirit, having the gifts of the Spirit, receiving the comfort of the Spirit.

Yet it is possible to know all the doctrines of the Holy Spirit and still not know him. If I were to ask you, “Have you received the Holy Spirit?” how would you answer?

Some might say, “I received the Spirit when Jesus saved me. It was the Holy Spirit that brought me into Christ’s kingdom.” Others would answer, “Yes, I have received the Spirit, because I spoke with tongues when he came into my life. I pray in the Spirit, and tongues are an evidence that I have received him.”

However, to receive the Spirit is more than a one-time experience. The word “receive” means “lay hold of that which is given.” In short, receiving is to desire an expanding capacity for greater knowledge of who the Spirit is and what his ministry is about. In fact, the Holy Spirit is not received by someone until he is allowed to take full control of that person’s temple.

Paul asked the Galatians, “How did you receive the Spirit? Did you not receive him by faith?” He then declares, “You stated by faith that what you know of the Spirit you received by faith. So, has there been a continued ‘ministry of the Spirit’ to you by faith? Are you exercising faith to go deeper in the Spirit.

The account of the Prodigal Son is very familiar, so I won’t go into the details of the story. I do want to say, however, that it is not primarily about a lost son. Rather, it is about the delight of the father.

Certainly the parable of the Prodigal Son is about returning (Luke 15:11-31) but it is not just about the son’s finally coming home. It is also about what keeps the son home. It is about grace, forgiveness and restoration. Read the story again, and you’ll note that the story doesn’t end when he returns—and this is significant.

What is it that keeps the son home? It is the knowledge that his father delights in him! “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry…[with] music and dancing” (15:24-25).

The Prodigal’s father never rebuked him, never condemned him, never even spoke about his running away. Instead, he threw a great party and invited all the family’s friends and neighbors. This father had been longing for his son to come home, and now it had come to pass.

The Prodigal protested at first, telling his dad, “No, no, I’m unworthy.” But his father ignored him, calling for a robe to be put on his shoulders, rings on his fingers and shoes on his feet. Now everything that the father owned was once again made available to the son. And there was great rejoicing, with music, dancing and feasting.

I believe that love brought this young man home. But it was the father’s delight that kept him there! You see, the Prodigal was kept with the father by the simple act of waking up each day to see that his dad was pleased to have him home. His father delighted at having him present with him. Moreover, everything in that young man’s life that had been eaten by the cankerworm was being restored.

I have known many former addicts who are like the Prodigal. They can focus only on what was lost years ago because of their habit: a spouse, children, a ministry. They feel the Lord’s chastening, and that can be grievous, but Jesus tells them in this parable, “Nothing is lost in my kingdom. You are going to be made stronger through this. You are home now and my grace will restore you in full.”

God shows us how we can live without fear. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear…” (1 John 4:18). In short, if we are living in fear, we are ignorant of perfect love. John is not saying, “Perfect love for God casts out all fear,” and he isn’t speaking of unwavering love or mature love in Christians, as some interpreters suggest. That isn’t where perfect love begins for true believers.

Certainly, we love God, a fact that is beyond doubt. But consider what John says about perfect love earlier in the chapter. “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (4:12, my italics). According to John, the first consideration of perfect love is unconditional love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

A Christian can say that he loves God, that he is doing the Lord’s will, that he is faithfully performing the work of the kingdom. Such a person may be a worshipper and even a teacher of the Word. But if he holds a grudge or speaks against another—if he shuts out anyone in the body of Christ—he walks in darkness, and a spirit of death is on him. All life, all good works, are out of order in this person. Consider what John says of him: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now” (1 John 2:9).

If you are interested in living a life without fear, John tells us there is a way to do so. Indeed, there is a perfect love that drives out all fear and this is the first step we must take: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (1 John 4:11). Yes, we must first deal with our relationships in the body of Christ.

According to John we are commanded to love others as Christ loved us in order for love to be perfected in us. What is meant by this kind of love? It is more than forgiveness, much more. It means to forgive all transgressions toward us and then offer our fellowship. We are to esteem the ones who sinned against us as highly as we do other members of the body. When we let God’s love dwell in us and perfect us, all fear will be cast out.

“We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:16-17).

Note the last part of this passage. John tells us we are now living as the Lord lived: forgiving and loving our enemies. There is nothing left in us of revenge, of grudges, of racial prejudice—nothing to condemn us. And now we must know and fully believe the love of God toward us.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Do you see what John is saying? Our love for God is a given, but perfect love also means knowing and believing God’s love toward us.

Moreover, John says, there must be no fear in this love, no doubting it. Why? Because if we doubt his love for us, we’ll live in torment: “Fear has torment” (4:18). Believing in God’s love means knowing he is patient with our failures, day in and day out. He hears our every cry, bottles every tear, feels our anguish of heart, and is moved with compassion at our cries.

This aspect of God’s love is vividly illustrated in Exodus, where the Lord sought to reveal his loving nature to his people. He told Moses, “I am going to deliver Israel,” and Scripture says: “They cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning” (Exodus 2:23-24).

“The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt…for I know their sorrows and I am come down to deliver them” (3:7-8).
Do you believe God sees your need and condition, just as he did with Israel? We often glibly say, “Christ is all,” yet when we face a crisis—when one thing after another goes wrong, our prayers seem unanswered, and hope after hope is dashed—we descend into fear. Indeed, we succumb to fear. But the fact is, God never forsakes his children in their time of anguish, even when things seem absolutely hopeless. We can always trust Him!

Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Comforter.” It is one thing to know the Holy Spirit as our comforter, but we must also know how he comforts us, so we can distinguish what comfort is of flesh and what is from the Spirit.

Consider the brother who is overcome with loneliness. He prays for the comfort of the Holy Spirit and expects that comfort to come as a feeling. In fact, he imagines it as a kind of sudden breath from heaven, like a spiritual sedative to his soul.

This feeling of peace may actually come to him but the next morning it is gone. As a result, he starts to believe the Holy Spirit has refused his request. No, never! The Holy Spirit doesn’t comfort us by manipulating our feelings. His way of comforting is vastly different and is outlined clearly in Scripture. No matter what the problem, trial or need, his ministry of comfort is accomplished by bringing truth: “When he [the Holy Spirit] is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

The fact is, our comfort springs from what we know, not what we feel. Only truth overrules feelings! And the comforting ministry of the Holy Spirit begins with this foundational truth: God is not mad at you. He loves you.

“Hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). The Greek meaning here is even stronger than the translation suggests, saying that the love of God is caused to “gush forth” into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
An unbearable burden may be caused by fear, shame, sorrow, afflictions, temptations, or discouragement. Yet, no matter what the cause, comfort is needed.

Suddenly a voice is heard, echoing through every corridor of the soul—the voice of the Holy Spirit—declaring to the soul, “Nothing can separate you from the love of God.”

This truth—once you believe it—quickly becomes a gusher of living water, sweeping away every stumbling block. “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26, my italics).

A triumphant church is rising up even now, coming out of great trials of faith. This last-days church is emerging from long days of affliction and fiery furnaces.

The Holy Spirit is at work bringing his people into a place of utter brokenness. He’s leading them to a revelation of weakness in their own flesh in order to show himself strong. His people are coming to the end of themselves, their stubborn wills crushed, until their mindset becomes only, “Thy will be done.” And through it all, they are becoming wholly dependent on the Lord.

Does this describe your situation? Perhaps you’ve been walking with Jesus for years, and you’ve never faced a test like the one in front of you right now. Things coming at you seem to be overwhelming, things that only God can do something about. And you realize that only he can bring you through.

Right now, Islamists are preparing for a final jihad to “take over the world” for Allah. Islamic training camps are rising up worldwide with a message of hate. Yet the Lord has a people in training, a people he’s going to use to face down the wrath of this world. He is training and equipping them in his loving-kindness and peace. Our God is a God of love, and he won’t use bombs, guns, or suicide squads, but an overcoming people who are fearless in the strength of the Lord of tender mercies.

All over the world, God’s people are experiencing suffering, afflictions and torture. I am certain there is a divine eternal purpose in the intensity of these spiritual and physical battles now being endured in the true body of Christ. “His tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:9).

Our Lord has had a plan all along. God himself came down and took on the form and condition of man, living among sinful men. He endured their hatred, experienced their rejection, faced unthinkable reproach, and through it all he never fought back.

Jesus never established armies of vengeful, hate-filled jihadists. He used no carnal weapons. Instead, he pulled down strongholds by his mighty loving-kindness. Our Lord had but one battle plan: tender, merciful love. Indeed, love drives all of his works on earth. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3).

The tremendous spiritual letdown that follows a mountaintop experience of blessing or victory is common to every follower of Jesus. We call these experiences “dry spells” but they seem like a deep plunge into spiritual darkness, an immersion into great testing after we have known a special touch of God.

We can find these dry spells plaguing the lives of godly men and women throughout the Bible. This low period in the spirit comes mostly to those whom God intends to use. Indeed, it is common to everyone he trains to go deeper and further in his ways.

As you look back on your own dry experience, ask yourself if such a period followed a renewal of the Spirit in your life. Maybe you had experienced a fresh awakening, an earnest prayer, asking the Lord, “Touch me, Jesus. I feel lukewarm. I know my service to you isn’t moving forward as it should. I’m hungry to have more of you than I have ever known. And I want zeal to do your work—to pray for the sick, save the lost, bring hope to the hopeless. Renew me, Lord. I want to be used for your kingdom in greater measure.”

Because you got serious with God, your prayers began to get answers and you started to hear God’s voice clearly. Intimacy with him was wonderful, your zeal was increasing, and you sensed his movement in your life so strongly.

Then one day, you woke up and the heavens seemed as brass. You were cast down and didn’t know why. Prayer seemed like agony, and you didn’t hear God’s voice as you once did. Your feelings began to seem dead, your spirit dry and empty. You had to live only by faith.

Beloved, if this has happened to you, do not panic! And don’t beat yourself up. I know this kind of plunge personally, from the mountaintop to the lowest pit, seemingly in an instant. Peter speaks of it specifically, advising us not to think some strange thing is happening to us: “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

The Lord allows our dry spells because he is after something in our lives. So rejoice and praise him, even though you may not feel like it!

In Matthew 24 Jesus uses a parable to teach about being ready for his return: “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, who his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:44-51).

Note that Jesus is speaking about servants here, meaning believers. One servant is called faithful and the other evil. What makes the latter evil in God’s eyes? According to Jesus, it’s something he “shall say in his heart” (24:48). This servant doesn’t voice such a thought and he doesn’t preach it. But he thinks it. He has sold his heart on the demonic lie, “The Lord delays his coming.” Notice he doesn’t say, “The Lord isn’t coming,” but “he delays his coming.” In other words, “Jesus won’t come suddenly or unexpectedly. He won’t return in my generation.”

This “evil servant” is clearly a type of believer, perhaps even one in ministry. He was commanded to “watch” and “be ready,” “for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44). Yet this man eases his conscience by accepting Satan’s lie.

Jesus shows us the fruit of this kind of thinking. If a servant is convinced that the Lord has delayed his coming, then he sees no need for right living. He isn’t compelled to make peace with his fellow servants. He doesn’t see the need to preserve unity in his home, at work, in church. He could smite his fellow servants, accuse them, hold grudges, destroy their reputations. As Peter says, this servant is driven by his lusts. He wants to live in two worlds, indulging in evil living while believing he’s safe from righteous judgment.

In our times of trial and temptation, Satan comes to us bringing lies: “You’re surrounded now and there is no way out. Greater servants than you have quit in circumstances no worse than this. Now it’s your turn to go down. You’re a failure, otherwise you wouldn’t be going through this. There’s something wrong with you and God is sorely displeased.”

In the midst of his trial, Hezekiah acknowledged his helplessness. The king realized he had no strength to stop the voices raging at him, voices of discouragement, threats and lies. He knew he couldn’t deliver himself from the battle, so he sought the Lord for help. And God answered by sending the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah with this message: “The Lord has heard your cry. Now, tell the Satan at your gate, ‘You’re the one who is going down. By the way you came here, you will also go out.’”

Hezekiah had very nearly fallen for the enemy’s trick. The fact is, if we don’t stand up to Satan’s lies—if, in our hour of crisis, we don’t turn to faith and prayer, if we don’t draw strength from God’s promises of deliverance—the devil will zero in on our wavering faith and intensify his attacks.

Hezekiah gained courage from the word he received, and he was able to say to Sennacherib in no uncertain terms: “Devil king, you did not blaspheme me. You liked to God himself. My Lord is going to deliver me. And because you blasphemed him, you will face his wrath!”

The Bible tells us that God supernaturally delivered Hezekiah and Judah on that very night: “It came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses” (2 Kings 19:35).

Believers today stand not just on a promise but also on the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And in that blood we have victory over every sin, temptation and battle we will ever face. Maybe you’ve received a letter from the devil lately. I ask you: Do you believe God has the foreknowledge to anticipate your every trial? Your every foolish move? Your every doubt and fear? If so, you have the example of David before you, who prayed, “This poor man cried, and the Lord delivered him.” Will you do the same?

On whom does Jesus bestow his peace? You may think, “I’m not worthy of living in Christ’s peace. I have too many struggles in my life. My faith is so weak.”

You would do well to consider the men to whom Jesus first gave his peace. None of them was worthy, and none had a right to it.

Think about Peter. Jesus was about to bestow his peace on a minister of the gospel who would soon be spewing out cursings. Peter was zealous in his love for Christ, but he was also going to deny him.

Then there was James and his brother John, men with a competitive spirit, always seeking to be recognized. They asked to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand when he ascended to his throne in glory.

The other disciples were no more righteous. They simmered with anger at James and John for trying to upstage them. There was Thomas, a man of God who was given to doubt. All of the disciples were so lacking in faith, it amazed and stressed Jesus. Indeed, in Christ’s most troubling hour, they would all forsake him and flee. Even after the Resurrection, when the word spread that “Jesus is risen,” the disciples were slow to believe.

But there’s even more. These were also confused men. They did not understand the ways of the Lord. His parables confused them. After the Crucifixion, they lost any sense of unity they had, scattering in all directions.

What a picture: These men were full of fear, unbelief, disunity, sorrow, confusion, competitiveness, pride. Yet it was to these same troubled servants that Jesus said, “I am going to give you my peace.”

The disciples weren’t chosen because they were good or righteous; that much is clear. Nor was it because they had talent or abilities. They were fishermen and day laborers, meek and lowly. Christ called and chose the disciples because he saw something in their hearts. As he looked into them, he knew each one would submit to the Holy Spirit.

At this point, all that the disciples had was a promise from Christ of his peace. The fullness of that peace was yet to be given to them, at Pentecost. That’s when the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in them. We receive the peace of Christ from the Holy Spirit. This peace comes to us as the Spirit reveals Christ to us. The more of Jesus you want, the more the Spirit will show you of him—and the more of Christ’s actual peace you will have within you.