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David Wilkerson
God’s Amazing Promise to You in Your Trial
In Micah
7, the prophet delivers a prophetic message to Israel — one that applies to
spiritually starved believers around the world today.
Micah
began his prophecy with a heartbroken cry: “Woe is me!… there is no cluster
to eat” (Micah 7:1).
Micah was
describing the effect of a famine in Israel — a famine of both food and God’s
Word.
His
message echoes the words of an earlier prophecy by Amos: “‘Behold, the days
are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘that I will send a famine on the land, not a
famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to
and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it’” - (Amos
8:11-12).
Micah
also speaks for a hungry people today: the church of Jesus Christ.
In his
prophetic eye, Micah foresaw multitudes today running from place to place,
seeking to hear a true word from God.
He
envisioned believers scurrying from church to church, all seeking to satisfy a
hunger for food to nourish their souls.
And the
cry is still being heard: “Woe is me, for there is no cluster!”
They’ve
been given nothing with which to build their spiritual house except wood, hay
and stubble.
And when
they’re called to stand before Jesus, everything they’ve built their foundation
upon will burn.
Israel’s
spiritual famine could not have come at a worse time: the very height of the
nation’s moral decay.
The time
was ripe for a righteous testimony and a loving rebuke to the nation’s leaders
for their sin.
Yet at
the very moment this should have happened, the church was becoming more
worldly: “The faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one
upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother
with a net” - (Micah 7:2).
Micah’s
message mirrors today’s headlines.
People no
longer trust in their leaders, their government, their judicial system.
They
don’t trust their employers, coworkers, friends or religion.
There is
a breakdown of trust at every level of society.
As a
result, everyone looks out only for himself.
We no
longer hear, “What can I do to help? How can I contribute?”
Instead,
the cry is, “What’s in it for me?”
Yet Micah
turned his gaze away from all the decadence and greed in society, all the
backsliding and compromise in the church: “Therefore I will look to the
Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” - (Micah
7:7).
He told
Israel, in essence: “Yes, depravity is plaguing our nation’s soul, causing
ruin and decay. But ultimately, our focus isn’t on the awful condition of
society. A true watchman doesn’t just warn of the sword; he also proclaims
God’s promises. In the midst of chaos, he wants his holy remnant to know his
heart toward them.”
The same
is true today. The Lord has a remnant whose eyes are not focused on the
ruin of society or the church.
Instead,
they’re preoccupied with the true focus of God’s spokesmen, echoing the
exhortations of the prophets, “Turn your eyes toward the Lord, seek his
face, wait on him. He will sustain you and meet all your needs.”
The
promises that Micah begins to reveal at this point seem too incredible to be
true. Yet all are intended for Christ’s church in these present
times.
Micah
7:14 says, “Shepherd Your people with Your staff, the flock of Your
heritage, who dwell solitarily in a woodland.”
The
shepherd being addressed here can only be Christ: “Now may the God of peace
who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant” - (Hebrews
13:20).
Micah is
prophesying that Jesus would come to earth to shepherd and feed the
flock. For those who turn to him in faith and trust, there will never be a
famine.
What does
this tell us about the present famine?
It says
we cannot always blame our lack of bread solely on dead churches or unconcerned
pastors.
If we
turn to Jesus, he promises to feed us.
This
pledge is good even to those who live in solitary places, where there may be no
church: “who dwell solitarily in a woodland” - (Micah
7:14).
Micah 7:15 contains one of God’s most
glorious promises to his people.
“As in
the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders” - (Micah
7:15).
This
refers to the miracle God performed for Israel at the Red Sea.
In so
many words, God is telling us, “For years you’ve heard sermons about the
great miracle I performed for my people. Yet as wonderful as that deliverance
was, it was only a type, a shadow. I want to do for you a totally new
thing.”
Right
now, you may be in a spiritual wilderness, facing the powers of Satan. You
can feel his army of demonic entities thundering down on you.
And just
as the Israelites were helpless against their enemy, you are helpless against
yours.
You’re
going to walk through whatever bonds the enemy has put on you, all of his
spiritual opposition. And you’ll no longer have reason to fear him.
Micah
prophesied, “The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they
shall put their hand over their mouth; their ears shall be deaf” - (Micah
7:16).
Micah is
telling us, “Your Red Sea deliverance will silence Satan’s lies. He’ll
have to ‘cover his mouth’ in awe as God’s Spirit moves in you.”
You’ll no
longer believe the enemy’s accusations against you. Instead, his demonic
powers will end up totally confused.
Many
Christians quote 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “Though we walk in the flesh, we do
not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”
Most of
us think of such strongholds as bondages such as sexual trespasses, drug
addictions, alcoholism, outward sins we put at the top of a “worst sins”
list.
But Paul
is referring to something much worse than our human measuring of sins.
A
stronghold is an accusation planted firmly in your mind.
He may
plant the lie that you’re unspiritual, whispering repeatedly, “You’ll never
be free of your besetting sin. You’re a phony, because your mind is still
full of evil thoughts. You haven’t changed. Now God has lost patience with
you. You’re not worthy to receive any more of his grace.”
Or he may
try to destroy your marriage by saying, “You can’t endure this relationship
any longer unless your spouse changes.”
If you
keep listening to his lies, after a while you’ll begin to believe them.
Once you
buy his evil argument, it will become imbedded in your mind and heart — and
then it becomes a stronghold.
This
allows Satan to have power over you through your thought life.
He
doesn’t have to possess your body; all he needs is a foothold in your mind, to
inject lies that constantly twist and turn your thoughts with torment.
The only weapon that scares Satan and his hordes
is the same one that scared him in the wilderness temptations of Jesus: the
living Word of God.
Only the Lord’s truth can set us free.
He promises to be God to us; to cleanse us,
forgive us and cast away all our sins; to fill us with his Spirit; to lead,
instruct and guide us through his Spirit; and to put within us all the power we
need to walk in holiness and obedience.
According
to Micah, here is the promise we are to cling to: “Who is a God like You,
pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His
heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in
mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our
iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” - (Micah
7:18-19).
And he has compassion on us, trampling all our
iniquities underfoot, casting them into the sea never to be used against us
again.
Picture
the children of Israel watching all those Egyptian soldiers disappear into the
water forever.
Now the
Lord is telling us, “Those are your sins, and you’re going to watch them
sink to the bottom of the sea. I have washed them away for good.”
If you’ll
lay hold of these promises, God promises your enemy will be scattered before
your eyes.
“They
shall lick the dust like a serpent; they shall crawl from their holes like
snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall
fear because of You” - (Micah 7:17).
The “snakes
of the earth” here means, figuratively, “creeping serpentine fears.”
These
refer to Satan’s planted fears, accusations imbedded in
the mind. God says they’re going to crawl out of their holes in trembling
fright.
What does this mean?
Simply put, when you stand on his promises,
every demonic power will squirm away from its stronghold in fear of almighty
God.
In
addition, the devil and his army “shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and
shall fear because of You.”
You’ll no
longer be afraid of the devil; he’ll be afraid of you! He fears every believer
who walks in the almighty Deliverer’s promises.
Right
now, your temptations, habits and besetting sins may look like impossible
roadblocks before you.
But the
Lord promises to deliver you, for his own name’s sake. He is faithful to
keep his Word.
Make this
your prayer: “God, you have promised by oath to be Lord to me. You have
said you would give me my own Red Sea experience. You’ve also said the
devil would have to put his hand over his mouth, no longer able to accuse me
with his lies. I stand on your promises now, Father. Deliver me, and
glorify your name in my life.”
Amen!
My heart goes out to
every person who has been snared by a bloodless, powerless, contemporary
gospel.
World
Challenge, Inc.
was founded by Reverend David Wilkerson in 1971 and served as a corporate
umbrella for his worldwide crusades, ministers' conferences, book and tract
publication, video production, street evangelism, literature distribution,
church planting, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and many charitable
outreaches. Today, World Challenge Inc. shares the message of the gospel
through mission outreaches and literature distribution. Sermons from David
Wilkerson and his son Gary are shared monthly through the Pulpit Series
newsletter to hundreds of thousands of people. The numerous mission outreaches
of World Challenge to the poor include orphanages, overseas widows’ fund, emergency/disaster
relief, healthcare/clinics, community development and feeding centers. Gary
Wilkerson became president of World Challenge in 2010 and moves forward with
the same heart and vision as his father.
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