Haggai 1:2 Zechariah 4:6
Jesus, we thank you for your death and resurrection, for hope that we now have. It’s you in us, Lord, that’s taking us to the nations. You’re going to do what your word says. We exalt your name, Jesus, and we give you glory. Shape our lives and bring forth your anointing and cause us to stand in you and be strong in you and in the power of your might. We give you glory and thank you for this word, this day, for each of us. Open our ears to hear and our hearts to obey. We magnify your name and give you glory, in Jesus name we ask it. Amen.
Turn to Haggai please. Chapter 1: 2. “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.
3. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4. [Is it] time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house [lie] waste?
5. Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
6. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages [to put it] into a bag with holes.
7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
8. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.
9. Ye looked for much, and, lo, [it came] to little; and when ye brought [it] home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that [is] waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
10. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed [from] her fruit.
11. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon [that] which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
12. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord.
13. Then spake Haggai the Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I [am] with you, saith the Lord.
14. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,
15. In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.”
Chapter 2 :1. “In the seventh [month], in the one and twentieth [day] of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying,
2. Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
3. Who [is] left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye
see it now? [is it] not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
4. Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I [am] with you, saith the Lord of hosts:
5. [According to] the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];
7. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
8. The silver [is] mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
10. In the four and twentieth [day] of the ninth [month], in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
11. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests [concerning] the law, saying,
12. If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
13. Then said Haggai, If [one that is] unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
14. Then answered Haggai, and said, So [is] this people, and so [is] this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so [is] every work of their hands; and that which they offer there [is] unclean.
15. And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord:
16. Since those [days] were, when [one] came to an heap of twenty [measures], there were [but] ten: when [one] came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty [vessels] out of the press, there were [but] twenty.
17. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye [turned] not to me, saith the Lord.
18. Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth [month, even] from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider [it]. ‘
Turn to Zechariah 4:6. “ Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
7. Who [art] thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel [thou shalt become] a plain: and he shall bring forth the head stone [thereof with] shoutings, [crying], Grace, grace unto it.
8. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
9. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.
10. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel [with] those seven; they [are] the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
11. Then answered I, and said unto him, What [are] these two olive trees upon the right [side] of the candlestick and upon the left [side] thereof?
12. And I answered again, and said unto him, What [be these] two olive brancheswhich through the two golden pipes empty the golden [oil] out of themselves?
13. And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these [be]? And I said, No, my lord.
14, Then said he, These [are] the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Halleluiah! I want to declare something today. That this is God’s work! I would like to read something. This man is a prophet and the Lord had him come. When He walked in the front door God began to speak to me through him. I’ll read it to you. His name was Larry Randolph and he gave it to me in 1990.
“The word of the Lord comes to me from the book of Zechariah. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it and the Lord would say to you, ‘Yet by my hands can she finish it.’ The Lord said, ‘Will it be finished? The enemy has come and said, ‘Will the foundation be laid?’’ And the Lord said, ‘As I was with Zerubbabel, so shall I be with you. His hands began the foundation and His hands shall finish the foundation: for you shall not see pestilence, you shall not see sickness, you shall not see death or the oppression of the enemy until you have completed the building that God has shown you to complete.
“For I shall send them unto you; men and women from different parts of the country, for you have not sought preeminence, but you have sought to stick to the vision and have sought to stick to the pattern. Because of that, I shall cause financial men, I shall cause women with the spirit of giving to come to you. Did I not say that He that loans to the poor belongs to God? And did I not say, I will not repay once, not seven, but 100 fold in this life time.
“The Lord said, Don’t be weary in well doing, don’t give up the vision or worry about the negative reports. Your hands have spread the mortar on the foundation of the vision and your hands shall put the corner stone and you shall put the last piece of lumber in place. For the Lord said, ‘As I was with Moses, so shall I be with you, for great shall the length of your days be and your strength shall remain, for your eyes shall not wax thin for your body shall not wax in weakness. But there shall be strength and anointing from God to lead and fulfill the plan.
“The work I called you to, go ahead, proceed according to the vision that I showed you, as I showed Moses, for there is many things yet,’ said the Spirit of God. For there is many things to do and as I was with Hezekiah, so shall I be with you. I’ve added years to your life so that you may finish the work that I have called you to do. The Lord said, ‘Another will come and say, Let us take it from your hands and let us organize the ministry’ and you shall say, no!’ The Lord gave the plan; the Lord gave you the vision, and you know what you are supposed to do. The Lord said, ‘Hold onto the trawl and the hammer, the saw and the building plans. Let no man take your plans.
“In your satisfaction you shall see that the Lord is not a man that He should lie nor repent. He has spoken everything that He has said to you and it shall come to pass,’ saith the Spirit of the Lord. So, Lord, bless this Moses. I hate to say it this way, but this is what the Lord showed me. I bless this Moses, in Jesus name. The Lord was the one that delivered the Israelites and the one who fed them with manna. In His spirit there is neither male nor female. It is a hard thing to say, because I was in a group that didn’t believe in woman doing anything: but in the spirit there is neither male not female.
“So, Lord, I thank you for the anointing of Moses that is upon this one. The anointing of Zerubbabel is upon her to finish what she started. Lord, I see it coming from the southwest, from the southwest I see it coming. I see finances coming. I see God’s hand working from the southwest wind blowing from the people of God. So, Lord, thank you! It shall not wait. I’m speaking of this nation. I don’t know it’s a nation, but the southwesterly breeze coming forth to the people of God. So, Lord, thank You! It shall be fulfilled.”
That word was given to me. I didn’t call myself; God called me. I said, “But, Lord, I’m a woman!” He said, “As I was with Moses so shall I be with you.” There was a time when the men said, “What are you doing here? Why are you in this valley? You’re a woman!” The Lord settled it for me; I went to a meeting and there was an evangelist preaching. The Lord said to me, “I want you to speak my word.” I said, “Lord, He’s got the Bible. He’s ready to read the Bible.” He said, “I want you to speak.” The second time, “But Lord, he’s go the Bible.” The third time the Lord said to me, “I want you speak.” But he’s got His Bible! The Lord said, “Are you my servant? Then you obey me.” Before I could get up the pastor’s wife got up and gave the word that God told me to give. I said, “Lord, forgive me. Give me another opportunity and I will do it.” He did and I obeyed. When I came home, I got a whipping from the Lord, in the middle of the night. “You are my servant and you will obey me.” He knew inside of me there was a certain fear of these preachers. I was a woman! When He called me He said He didn’t call me to preach. I said, “No? Did you call me to teach?” He said, “No, I called you to minister by my Spirit.” I asked the Lord to forgive me.
That night God took all fear of man out of me. Now, He said to me, “I called you to obey my voice. You will be second to no man, but you will walk side by side.” So He took it all. From that day I’ve been able to walk side by side without feeling I was a woman, because I am not the speaker; I am not the teacher; I am not the preacher. But God’s spirit is in charge.
He gave me this message this morning to give to you. I was young when He called me and I was ready to take the whole world for Jesus without any problem. Only I wasn’t really ready. He didn’t let me tell the pastor about it. It was on Easter evening and I was supposed to minister to the youth. God didn’t give me a message, so I didn’t have much to say. I had a testimony meeting and turned it over to the pastor. That evening the pastor got up and said, “I don’t have a message tonight either, Sister Agnes. Let’s have an old fashioned prayer around the altar.” We headed to the altar and there on my knees the Lord spoke to me, “Agnes, are you willing to go to Africa for me?” I’d asked Him before and He said I’m not ready to let you know. This time He was ready.
He told me of all the hard trips ahead, He told me everything. He said to me, “Are you still willing to do it?” I said, “Yes, Lord.” The Lord said, “Faithful is He that calleth you, who will do it. You have not chosen me, I have chosen you and ordained you to bring forth fruit and that fruit shall remain and whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father, in my name, He may give it you.” So I said, “Lord, I ask you to give me the heathen for my inheritance, in the utter most parts of the earth.” He said to me, “I give them to you.”
Then He said, “Call upon me and I will answer you and I will show you great and mighty things that thou knowest not.” I said, “Lord, I call upon You.” He said, “I answer you.” So He gave me the vision.
Habakkuk 2, verse 2, “And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make [it] plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3, For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
He gave me that scripture when I was a teenager, when I came to Christ. Little did I know what that vision was at the time, except I didn’t heed His word. “Ask of me, and I shall give [thee] the heathen [for] thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth [for] thy possession. Call upon me and I will answer.”
I said “Lord, call upon me; Lord, call upon me. “I answered you,” and He begin to unfold the vision to me. I didn’t get it from man, it came from God. It’s for now; it’s for you to know and for you to be a part of it.
I’m going to go back to Haggai a moment. The Lord told me when He gave me a commission to Africa that, “…you will not go in your younger years.” He said, “As I was with Moses so shall I be with you.” It took Him forty years to train Moses in Pharaoh’s Court; it took me forty years on the hillside on the desert. I said, “Eighty years Lord?” I knew eighty years it would be.
On Tuesday night after Easter, Jesus came into my room, He said to me, “I called you for the last days,” and He put in me something concerning these days. I didn’t remember it and I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s there. That is also when He told me that it was by His Spirit that I was going to minister. I was a Nazarene. Do you know Nazarene’s? Any way He proved His point to me; He took me from the east coast and brought me to the west coast.
The pastor said to me, you take it; you take whatever God gives to you. What God does with your life take it as preparation for what He’s called you to do! I didn’t know the route I was going, but it didn’t really matter, He’d given me the word.
So He brought me from the east coast to the west coast and put me with the Four Square church long enough for me to get baptized in the Holy Ghost. When I came up out of that mighty wonderful time in the Lord, He said, “You will minister by my Spirit.” I knew it wasn’t by the gifts I ministered; it was the Spirit of the Lord. I knew that it was God that was going to minister through me all the days of my life. And He has! He began to use me among the people by the spirit of wisdom and understanding and might and counsel and definitely I have the fear of the Lord.
The people’s lives began to change, not because of me, but because of the Spirit of the Lord. He has never failed one promise; they are all coming to past very rapidly now. I could read you this book of prophecy in every one of them; because God wanted me to hear what was coming from their mouths. It confirms what I already knew God was doing and was going to continue to do because the Spirit of the Lord is in charge. God is saying, “It’s not by might or power, it’s by my Spirit.” I know today that the judgments are now on the earth.
Haggai 2: 6. “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];
7. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.”
There’s no longer a waiting period. We need to line up with God and we need to do it God’s way for He gave me this scripture in verse nine.
9. “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
I didn’t bring myself to the desert, the Lord brought me. I came for one purpose, that He pour out His spirit in this desert. I didn’t know anyone here except one family. He said to me, “You won’t go in or out unless I send you for I will send people to your door from all over the world and I will fulfill what I have told you I would do.” This is very true.
The LORD says in verse 8. “The silver [is] mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace.”
And I opened that front door of that house and God brought His peace there. In Oct. it will be 46 years since I opened that door. He brought His presence and peace there and He never departed from it. Somebody gave me a prophecy “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former,” saith the LORD of hosts.
Today, I declare unto you, God is shaking the whole world. Someone came yesterday and came for one purpose; to tell you the earth is going to start shaking, not in one place but the whole earth at one time is going to shake. God is warning through the prophets and saying: “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come” and now what are we going to do as God shakes? Where is our place? What has God called us to do?
In 1954 He gave me a vision, a revelation if you please, of Isaiah 58. He said to me this is for the last days, not for now. In 1967 there was a six day war in Israel and the Lord said to me, “The vision no longer tarries, it has come.” I knew it had to do with Israel; all the promises are that the Jews must come back to Israel.
What are we seeing since the fall of Communism? The Jews are being persecuted worse than ever, they’re going home, but something else is happening.
Many years ago I said to the Lord, “Why don’t you show this world who you are? They curse and revile you and say all many of evil against you falsely. Why don’t you show them who you are?”
He was angry with the children of Israel and He placed His strength into captivity and His glory into the enemy’s hands. I knew the time was coming when He will shake all nations yet once a little while.
Haggai 2:6. “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];
7, And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
So He shook Himself and in 1997 and 1998 we began to feel this shaking. The Lord said, “Now I’m taking over, all of the gold and silver are mine and all the cattle on a thousand hills are mine and the resources are mine; television, radio, all music and all drama are mine and I’m taking them back. I’m going to use it all for my glory.” It isn’t going to be because somebody is so bright and they’re going to do it. No! God is going to do it.
We’re going to do it His way, through His strategy, not ours. Our strategy is nothing! The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former. ‘This day I declare unto you God is now moving by His spirit and nothing and no one is going to stop Him.
In 1997 I was in China in my hotel room. The leaders of China had invited us there and they paid all of our expenses. They took us where the needs were and we went there to help the people. A young man, who was a judge, came to my hotel room and said to me, “God sent me to you.”
Nobody on earth is going to stop them. Why did he say it to me? He’s saying to you, God has a plan! I didn’t have any idea what time it was for I had not brought my watch with me.
I’m going into the real part of it right now, I’m going to show you man’s part. Turn to Isaiah 58. In 1954, while I was washing dishes, I asked the Lord a question, “Where do you want us to buy property here or somewhere else?” He didn’t give me a simple answer. He gave me a scripture.
Isaiah 29:17 [Is] it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
I said God, “What does that have to do with it?” Then He said, “Go and read Isaiah 58.” He called me on a Tuesday night, when He visited me and said, “Your work is not in your youth, but in your latter days, at the end of time. As I was with Moses so shall I be with you.”
Forty years later, to the day, the Lord said to me, “Pack your suitcase and get ready to go to Nigeria.” Forty years to the day, I was on African soil. They had just assassinated the President two months before and the country was in a state of emergency. The last person that would think of going would be a white man, especially a white woman. The Lord said, “You go now.”
I didn’t realize until my plane arrived back in New York, why I went at that particular time. When I went to New York I hadn’t even been back home. The Lord said, “Agnes what time is it?” “Oh Lord, its Easter time” and my feet were on African soil forty years later to the day and then I realized why. It didn’t matter if they had assassinated the President or what was happening in Nigeria. I had to put my feet on African soil when God told me to. And I did as the Lord asked.
I see this austere man sitting there and looking very strange at me. By this time I’m about 60 years old and all alone. There were soldiers with their guns all around in order to move. We get onto that plane and not even the people there were expecting me. My travel agent didn’t give me the ticket to where I was supposed to go. He only gave me the ticket to Lagos, so I didn’t have a ticket to go on to Port Harcourt. So here I am stranded in Lagos; but I went and I had no fear. I went to a little mission that I had the paper work for and there I got acquainted with a man named Ezekiel.
I said, “Lord do you want me to take a plane or a bus.” I still had no fear. If you can imagine I was on that bus for 11 hours, going down to Nigeria, and I was the only white person on that bus with the enemy all around, ready to destroy.
Several months back I was in New York, ministering at a Seminar, and my friend from Nigeria came to see me. He said, “Agnes, did you know what was happening in Nigeria at that very moment when you were there?” The Communists had been ready to take over the government and I told the people, “If you will fast and pray, God will roll back that communism.” I didn’t know it was happening right then, but He did. He rolled back those powers. God has sent us into nation after nation, in time of emergency, for His purpose and glory.
So now we’re waiting. When I asked the Lord about where He wanted us to buy land, He brought me to the desert and placed me on this place; beautiful alfalfa fields at that time. When I opened my front door He said, “This is my Sanctuary and my peace is here. And I’d had many people come and say, “Agnes, we’d never felt the peace that’s in that living room.” It’s because the Prince of Peace is there.
I dried my hands and went to my Bible and opened it; but before I got to my living room the spirit of revelation came upon me. I felt like all outdoors, such a vastness came upon me, I realized it was the spirit of revelation. I’d never had it before but the Lord revealed what it was. I sat down with my Bible and started reading.
Isaiah 58: 1. “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3. Wherefore have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [wherefore] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
I want to say something here. People look at this and say this is a chapter on fasting and they want nothing to do with it. That is absolutely not true! It is about the Day of Atonement, the one day that God asked them to fast and not eat and not to do anything. One day of the year He required it; but they couldn’t even do it one day. This is what He was grieved about.
Now He says in verse 5, “Is it such a fast that I have chosen?” What was the fast He chose? The Day of Atonement! What does that mean to us? It means that Jesus came to atone for our sins. God required it because it was His Son that was going to come; it was His blood that was going to be shed for you and me; it was His life that was being given. One day is all He asked of them, to honor the coming of His Son, but they made light of it. They mocked it and accused God of not hearing them. They used it for pleasure. They did it to exact all their labors and put their workers to work harder than ever.
God said in verse 4. “…ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with a fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? [is it] to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes [under him]? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
6. [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”
What is this sixth verse saying? It’s saying a mighty lot of things. I was in Colorado Springs in Dec. 6, 1998 when the Lord began to speak loud and clear like thunder. He said, “Now Haggai’s going to come to pass. I’m taking over!” What is He going to do? Today, in the world, His judgment has come. You might not know it, but you’re going to know it even more.
I had a phone call from Brother Shaker in India, he said, “Agnes, we are moving twenty million from one location to another in India. Think about moving all of Los Angeles somewhere else. Then we had a cyclone in Orica and with it came total disaster and everything was swept away. The two missionary’s and two children were burned alive. They had put an order out that not one person was to be converted to Christianity in Orica state. But God hit them with a cyclone and it was the worst they ever had in their history. They cried out to Brother Shaker who had just come back into India and asked him to form a group. Christians, Catholics all joined together to do what God wanted them to do. They asked the Christians to come to Orica.
Remember India said no to God and no to His anointed, for Hindu’s were going to remain Hindu’s. Who is in charge? God is in charge! Here in Isaiah He says, “…loose the bands of wickedness.” What does that mean to you? It means to me, here are these men of God go and do something. What are they doing? They’re ‘loosening the bands of wickedness and undoing the heavy burdens and letting the oppressed go free and breaking every yoke.’
God is bringing forth the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ in these countries who said, “No you can’t come.” Way back in the past He placed His strength into captivity and His glory into the enemy’s hands. “Now,” He said, “I’m going to show India that I am God; I’m going to show all the nations and I am going to declare, I am God!”
They said, “We will not allow God, or His anointed, to come into our countries. Everybody closed their countries. God said, “That’s alright and I shake myself and when I shake myself, I’m take myself out of captivity. I’m taking my glory out of Satan’s hand and I’m going to show the world that I am God.”
I was praying for Nagaland and the Lord told me, “Nagaland can’t be free until India is free.” So He began to zero into India. God is mighty! We need to intercede and to praise God. He is now moving. I want to tell you one thing, He’s just begun. And every nation is going to know there is a living God who created the world.
He wants every one of us to love Him and obey Him. What are we going to do about it? He wants us to loose the bands of wickedness and to undo the heavy burdens. What’s Isaiah 58 about? It isn’t just feeding the people; it’s obeying God’s command. It’s His word, He is speaking it and He says He will be with us.
7. “[Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are
cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that
thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.”
Who is our righteousness? Jesus is our righteousness and He is in charge. I want you to know that He is in charge of Isaiah 58. He’s going to the nations. It’s not my vision, it’s God’s and He’s bringing it to pass. He says, “The glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.”
Haggai 2:9. “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former house. Then shall they call upon me and I will answer and I will show you great and mighty things that you know not.”
Isaiah 58:9. “Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I [am]. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth the finger, and speaking vanity;”
He let us do all these things until the 9th verse where He gave the three things we need to get rid of. “For if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke.” What does He mean by the yoke? A lot of the bondages of the traditions of men bind us and prevent us from obeying the Lord. We have to hear His voice! We have to wait and pray and hear His answer. Then He said, “If you will do this, now you’re ready for the Lord to guide you continually.”
Isaiah 58:11. “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
Isaiah 58 shows that He wants to guide us continually. He wants you to hear and obey His voice and remove every yoke of bondage. Give your own will and way to Him and let Him show you what His will and way is that you might walk in it. We are a watered garden, ready to drink from and the waters fail not. He’s going to send someone who is thirsty, that they might be satisfied.
There are three phases that need to be corrected in our world today. I was in Israel and the Lord told me He was going to have a part in putting together a cord. I always forget to bring it in, it’s a golden cord. I go to Colorado Springs and they ask me if I will be one of those who will tie one of the cords. One was a business man, one a spiritual leader and Isaiah 58. We tied the three cords.
It says Isaiah 58:12. “And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach.”
The breach was: the business world, the spiritual world and Isaiah 58 somewhere in the field, each going their own way. He said, “And [they that shall be] of thee shall build and raise up…” It’s the uniting of the breach. God never separated these things in His creation of man. God is taking His glory out of the enemy’s hands and uniting all three today to go into Orica and to other parts of India and China and every place where God’s judgment has begun.
Why are they going in there? They’re going in there to build up the waste places and raise up the foundations of many generations and to restore the paths to dwell in. But He hasn’t finished in our lives; He’s taken three things away and changed our lives. We will no longer be selfish or greedy or busy bodies; but we’ll be busy obeying the voice of the Lord He’ll be with us and guide us continually by His Spirit.
While He’s doing that He’s taking care of us for He’ll send no drought and He’ll feed us both in the natural and the spiritual. He will cause both living water and natural water to come. He will not fail to build up everything that has been torn down. We’re doing it by the Spirit of the Lord and by the natural means of business. God is working through this unit so He can give His love to a people who have not been allowed to know Him. But now they are going to know Him, because He’s sending men and women of God that won’t be going to make money or take from the poor. They’re going to give God’s love and provision, everything that God has for His people because He loves them.
Those Hindu people didn’t choose to remain Hindu, their leaders chose for them and are still persecuting them that they not become Christians. God says now I’m going in and shake everything that can be shaken. They’re going to know my love and glory. God is doing it to bring His love to the people who have not known the love of the Living God. They do not belong to Hinduism, Buddhism, or anything else. They belong to God, their creator, who has redeemed them with His own precious blood; only they don’t know it.
Isaiah 58:13. “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words:”
Jesus said He did not come to please Himself He came to please the Father. He didn’t come to walk in His own ways He came to walk in the way of the Father. He didn’t come speaking His own words He came to speak the words of the Father. This is the place God wants us in.
There’s another scripture in I John: 15. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16. And 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.
17. 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.”
So why is it so important that we don’t walk in our own way? Or seek our own pleasure, but we delight ourselves in the Lord? “Call the day holy…or speak thine own words:” The 14th verse says, “Then thou shalt delight thyself in the Lord.” The Lord is delighted in us now, because He has made us as He is in this world. If we live this and let Him do it one day we will know it. You’ll never know it unless you are as He is.
What is the promise of it in this world? That the world may know who Jesus is and know that He brought His kingdom to us.
Isaiah 58:14. “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].”
What does that mean to you? It means to me He spoke it and He expects it to come to pass. Is that right? How is He going to bring it to pass? Through Christ in us! Here is the cord we put together. Now it is united ready to go to the nations to fulfill Isaiah 58. This is not a little thing people. You are not just out there handing out bread to that country: it’s obedience to the command of almighty God. “Go ye into all the world and preach this gospel of the kingdom to all nations and then the end shall come.”
We have a great responsibility before God. I hope you understand a little better what Isaiah 58 is. I’ve given you a lot to digest! I’m telling you the Spirit of the Lord is come. There’s some decisions that people need to make and they need to make them quickly. They aren’t going to have a chance to play around with it; because He might shake your earth and this part of the earth. How are we going to handle it when He does?
I will shake all nations; leaders of nations have lost their power. The King of kings and the Lord of lords is going to heal the nations and to bring them into His kingdom. After we go to heaven? No, in this world!
You young people, it’s the greatest time in history for you to be living. The greatest opportunity the world has every known right now. We need to get excited about it. You need to commit your lives to God and say, “Lord, tell me what you want me to be. Make me that person to carry that gospel to the ends of the earth.” We have to train the people, in every country, in Isaiah 58.
Haggai 2:6. “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];
7. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
8. The silver [is] mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
Everything belongs to Him.
He’s prepared us! He gave it to you in detail for His preparation in you; that He can deal with us in His kingdom. That we may go with Him, to take the kingdom to the nations.
I believe what is going to happen is beginning to happen in India. They are asking the Christians now to come and help India. God is not only going to shake India until it becomes a Christian nation; but every nation on earth is going to be shaken by Him. He has to shake the whole earth to wake them up. He’s doing it and it will come to pass for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
Father, we thank you for this word and our lives and what you have done in these years. Lord, one thing we know, we’re going to obey you and no one on earth is going to stop us. Jesus, we thank you (that you in us) is going to take us to the nations and you are going to bring forth the gospel of your kingdom to the nations and the nations are going to hear it and they’re going to come.
We thank you now, for the shaking. We thank you for the word you have given today and your faithfulness. Lord, I thank you for these people, make them faithful also in the little things that you may make them rulers over the big things.
God, I ask you now, to put the people in place where you want them to be and speak your words to them. We magnify your name and we give you glory. We thank you now for your hollowed presence with us and for this living and written word. We thank you for this day and for the vision and ‘it is now come to pass and no man is going to stop it.’ Thank you for this place you have given to us to bring glory and honor unto your name. Bless this people today and stir their hearts with your love and your glory. Let them know you are moving and you want them to move in you, Lord Jesus. We praise you for it, Jesus. In your wonderful name, we ask it. Amen.
April 30, 2000
