Prayer and Prophecy Concerning the Cleansing of Christ’s Church
While waiting on the Lord in prayer before an evening meeting in a particular city, the communications of the Spirit of God began to flow.
Following are some prayer notes transcribed from a recording of Spirit-inspired prayer in the Spirit:
“And even here, you know something is not right, and you’ve been picking it up in your spirit, but you’re not seeing anything, for it’s been masked.
“It’s very skilled at being deceptive—it’s veiled in religion, a mask of religion—and it’s only a certain kind of utterance and power that is going to break through this very strong veil of deception.”
Tongues.
“I see that, Lord, so we can’t go in light and fluffy, for it’s all disguised in that religious display.”
I feel the Lord saying, “So this then is why the demonstration of My power, not with enticing words of man’s speech, is necessary here (1 Cor. 2:4-5), for this mask that has been here knows what to say, knows what to look like on a Sunday, knows how to pretend and is very good at it, but their faith must be established in the power of God.”
“We just surrender now to the Holy Ghost and power, to the one who shows us Your heart and Your will, shows us the sick and diseased, and shows us and penetrates through with the preaching that cuts to the heart and separates the soul.”
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:12-13, NKJV).
Lots of tongues, heaving.
“This utterance must come forth to break through the veil of religion, to break through that deceptiveness that is here—and what Ananias and Sapphira were trying to do, because they saw people doing it, so they did it, too.
“But the anointing and the power and the glory were too great at that time to allow deception. That lie could not walk past the anointing, and the one who was walking in the spirit of truth (Peter), for it not to be recognized as a covering and a veil to bring in an impure spirit, a falsehood and a lie.
“And what was going on at that time? There was such a great awareness of the truth of Jesus Christ; there was such an anointing and a power in the body.
“There were miracles going on outside the church walls with the shadow of Peter—there was demonstration and power that was being seen, yes, that was going on.
“The demonstration of the Spirit of the Lord was upon My people, My ministers, so much so that they didn’t need to be in a building; they just had to walk the streets, and there I was, moving. Yes, that same power that raised Christ from the dead was upon them and could move even away from them and the shadow, yes, even the shadow, which was My Spirit, was healing and delivering and moving through My apostles at that time.
“Yes, and even the preaching that came forth was causing hearts to decide, either to disbelieve and oppose, and get angry at the words coming forth, or repent, be glad and rejoice.
“Can you not see what it looks like? Can you not understand what it looks like when I am moving? There is power and there is an utterance and a word that causes there to always be a dividing, and you said it through your own words and through your own mouth that I either make them glad, sad or mad.
“This is evidence of My Spirit moving and My Spirit in dominance and the authority on My ministers of reconciliation.”
You see, it’s almost like He’s highlighted this morning the beginning of Acts where it started, how there was an anointing, how the Holy Spirit first came through a people who prayed and were consecrated and waited on Him, and He came like a whirlwind and the people automatically went out of the upper room and into the streets—that is automatic and that is something you should see and recognize, even in the body today.
When the Holy Spirit is poured out, people cannot stay in the pew; they have to go out to the streets, for there’s an activation.
“And so you have seen, and so don’t you remember when you went to_________?”
“Aahh, I remember when we were moving in the Spirit at _____________, and how gifts were activated, and how some started waking up when the Spirit was released, and yet that leader stopped it because of being in control, and all of a sudden it was all stopped.”
“And what was the release, and what happened out of that?”
“It burst, and instead of life, it brought forth adultery in the body, and it brought forth coldness and people walking away; it brought forth people being taken away, this marriage being destroyed, this one going off into false doctrine, that one moving away from God and becoming cold and it brought forth a dry cold monument of religion.”
“Whenever someone or something comes to stop (a move of God) that is the result—the work of Satan, the work of death—but oh, remember how it all started, and how they let the Holy Spirit move and Peter got up and preached, and the word cut to their hearts, and there were so many who came to the Lord and believed, and then there was a movement in homes.
“But understand what tried to come with Ananias and Sapphira was disguised in religion, disguised with a mask of pretension, but because of the sensitivity of the ministers (Peter), they were watching, and they saw it as soon as it moved by. There was a discernment that came because the Holy Spirit was in charge, and He recognized in the disguise that which was false.
“But oh, how many today would allow Ananias and Sapphira to walk in the door with their paychecks, with their checkbooks, with their debit cards and credit cards, and their bank accounts, and say: ‘Oh, God told us to give this to you, pastor,’ and oh, they would be received; and yet it was a messenger of Satan; it was a pride that got in, and then there comes the control through the money—a control of what goes on through the Spirit because of the money.
“And so I see the disguise that’s gone in and infiltrated the church in this area.
“They know what to say, they know what to do, they know how to come in, and make havoc of pure things that may have started with the right heart, but oh.
“They know how to raise their hands, they know how to dress, they know how to move, they know what to say—
“It’s a disguise, I say.”
Note: This is an opening excerpt from Bert’s new book, The Cleansing Of The Temple, due to be released sometime in the spring.
Bert Farias’ books are forerunners to personal holiness, the move of God and the return of the Lord. They also combat the departure from the faith and the turning away from the truth we are seeing in our day.
