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Seeing the Lord Always

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

Jesus used His heavenly powers, but never to fulfill His own human desires, or to testify of Himself as Satan tried to trick Him into doing. When Jesus used the power of the heavenly realm, it was in obedience to the Father in heaven and as a witness of the Father. Because He gave Himself to be a witness of the Father’s love, the Father sent the Spirit to witness of the Son. The power of heaven is never used selfishly. That is why selfish ambition can be found at the root of almost every ministry that falls. If we are going to be trusted with the great power that some will exhibit at the end of this age, we must be resolute not to use power for selfish purposes, or testify of ourselves. This must be our constitution.

Have you ever wondered why many who have the greatest healing ministries seem to always be sick or physically afflicted themselves? The gift of healing they were given was not for themselves, but others. I have also often marvelled at how those who seem to have the greatest gifts of prophecy have trouble getting a word for themselves. This is actually for our safety. The Lord has composed things in this way so that we all need each other. This also exposes a root of pride if it gets a grip on us. If we begin to think we have such a great gift that we don’t need others, we will remain in need. As it is written in James 4:6, “…GOD is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We must therefore remain humble to remain in the grace of God.

If we have truly beheld the wonder of the cross, the glory of His resurrection, and where He now sits, it would be one of the most profane, arrogant acts of a perverted fallen nature to use His power to point to ourselves. When we truly begin to perceive the glories of heaven and the One who rules in heaven, like King David, we wonder why the Lord would even consider man, much less choose to dwell among us. Even so, this is the message of the kingdom that we have been given to preach on this earth, and the message He will back up with demonstrations of its reality. God loves all of mankind and He is coming to dwell with man for eternity. However, the state of mankind will certainly be elevated far beyond its present condition when His glory is fully revealed. If it were not, His glory would destroy us. He is a consuming fire that will burn up the “wood, hay, and chaff.”

We are messengers from another kingdom who have been sent ahead to proclaim the coming of our King who is also “not of this world.” We cannot represent a kingdom we do not know. We must know the reality of His kingdom, and live in obedience to it now. Our home must be in heaven. Our dwelling place is with the Lord in the Spirit. We are called to be seated with Him in the heavenly places, to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His heart. Before the King returns, there will be a witness and demonstration of the reality of the kingdom of heaven on the earth. This will come through messengers who know and live in the reality of that kingdom now. That is our calling. To those who will walk in this, there will be a profound sense of the greatness of the One we have been sent to represent. We will not dare to pervert the message by using it for selfish reasons, and we will also be totally devoted to doing His will and not our own. We only have true spiritual authority to the degree we are submitted to the King.

Now, this does not mean we need to hear from heaven to buy a can of beans. The more mature and submissive to Him that we become, the more He will trust us to make decisions. Jesus did not have to get a specific word from the Father to heal every person. He had seen the Father heal the sick, and deliver those who were oppressed of the devil, so He went about doing the same. In general, whatever we have seen Jesus do in the Scriptures we can do also in His name. There will be some specific instances where we will need special guidance, but for the most part, we do not need a specific word to do what He has already commanded us to do. Even so, our goal should be to “see Him.” As we do see Him, beholding His glory, we will be transformed into His same image, and do the same works He did. One aspect of His nature that we will certainly bear if we have truly seen Him is a devotion to glorifying God, not ourselves. 

Behold Your Change

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (II Corinthians 3:18).  

As this Scripture declares, we are changed as we behold the glory of the Lord. Almost every Christian knows this, but it is remarkable how many get it backward in practice. Instead of seeking to see His glory so that they can be changed, they think that they have to change in order to see His glory. As we have observed previously, when Adam and Eve first sinned they took the course that is a natural reaction to sin—they tried to hide from God. They also tried to cover up their own nakedness exposed by the sin. When the Lord called them out, they tried to blame shift to put the responsibility for their own failure on someone else. This is also a natural reaction to sin—hide, and then when exposed, blame shift. This is the path to darkness and further corruption. 

However, the way of escape from both sin and the consequences of sin is to resist doing what seems natural. We must learn to run to God instead of away from Him. We must also seek to take responsibility for the sin, and not try to blame someone else. The Lord will forgive our sins, but He does not forgive excuses. When we make excuses for our sin it is obvious that we have not really repented of them. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16:) 

If you take the first two chapters of the Bible, and the last two, you have a complete story. Everything between those four chapters deal with one essential subject—redemption. The Lord is in the redemption business. He seeks to take every failure and turn it into a victory for us. That is why the failure of the first creation led to the establishment of a new creation that was even greater than the first, enabling man to partake of the heavenly nature through Christ. However, the way we do this is through the cross. We must die to all that we are in order to partake of the new and greater life. We die in order to live; we lay down our lives in order to be raised up. That is why we must learn to boldly turn to the throne of grace when we stumble, instead of trying to hide or blame shift. We do not have to wait to become perfect in order to enter into His presence, but rather entering into His presence perfects us. In all things, even our sin and failures, we must learn to turn to the Lord and seek to behold His glory. Then we will be changed. When we behold His glory we will begin to reflect His glory, because we will be changed into His same image. This is our ultimate calling—to be like Him and do the works that He did.

When we think of seeing His glory we think of everything from beautiful colors to some perception of His nature. The story about Moses when he asked to see His glory gives us some insight into what we will see when we behold His glory. 

 Then Moses said, “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!”  And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:18-23).  

 When Moses saw the Lord’s back, what did he see? I believe that he prophetically saw the stripes that were on His back. Remember, the Lord was crucified from the beginning. When He created the world He knew that He would also have to suffer and even die for it, yet He continued. There is nothing else that will ever more fully reveal His glory. When we truly behold what He did for us we will be changed.

Walking with God

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

This Scripture is amazing. Why would the Creator of the universe obligate Himself not to do anything without first revealing it to the prophets? The reason for this is understood in His purpose for creating man. He created man for fellowship. He created man to walk and talk with Him, and to have the ability to both understand and appreciate the Lord and His purposes.

The prophets have been one of the primary ways that the Lord has continued to call man back to this fellowship. Therefore, the Lord declares that He will disclose His purposes to the prophets, who are to convey them so that man can return to the place of fellowship and appreciation of his Maker.

For this reason we should understand that what the Lord is saying through prophecy is always important, but the most important thing of all is the fact that He is still speaking to us. The quality of any relationship is determined by the quality of the communication. For this reason the Lord said in John 10:4, “When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” We will follow Him to the degree that we know His voice.

The first man who prophesied in Scripture was Enoch (see Jude 14). Enoch was a remarkable man whom very little is said about except that he walked with God, and the Lord took him so that he should not see death. Enoch was from the seventh generation after Adam, but since Adam lived over nine hundred years, Adam was still alive during Enoch’s life. It is likely that Enoch talked with Adam and was stirred by the relationship that Adam had with the Lord before the Fall. Something in Enoch must have determined that he was going to try to recover that relationship, and he did.

Enoch became so close to God that the Lord just took him so he would not have to taste death, which was the sure consequence of the Fall. This infers that by walking with God, Enoch rose above the sin nature, and escaped the consequences of it. He must have done this by seeing the salvation through Jesus and His cross, because there is no other way for man to overcome the power of death except through the cross. How did this happen? Those who walk with God will prophesy, just as Enoch did. As we are told in Revelation 19:10, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” For Enoch to have prophesied he had to have the testimony of Jesus. All of the prophets had to have the testimony of Jesus, and that is why they all prophesied of His coming. They saw Him, and believed in Him, looking ahead to the cross just as we look back at it. 

Though Enoch was the first man that is said to have prophesied, the first man called a prophet in Scripture is Abraham, in Genesis 20:7. This is also the very first verse in which prayer is mentioned in Scripture. It is no accident that the first mention of both prophet and prayer are together. Prayer is communication. The development of communication with God, both to Him and from Him, is the foundation upon which all true prophetic ministry is based.

Abraham was also the first to be called the “friend of God” (see James 2:23). This is the essence of true prophetic ministry. The reason why the Lord said that He would not do anything unless He first revealed it to His servants the prophets is because the prophets are His friends, and He does not want to do anything without sharing it with His friends. This fellowship is the essence of why He created man. This is why Paul the Apostle said: “you may all prophesy” (see I Corinthians 14:31). Because of the cross, the veil has been rent. We can now all enter into the most intimate fellowship with Him. We can all walk with God and be such friends of His that He does not want to do anything without sharing it with us. That is the essence of the true prophetic ministry—simple friendship with God. 

The Manna Test

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

     Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you;

     and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day,

     that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.”  

     “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know,

     that He might humble you and that He might test you,

     to do good for you in the end.” (Exodus 16:4, and Deuteronomy 8:16)

We need to understand a crucial matter which is essential if we are to enter into and dwell in the heavenly realm. This is typified by the “manna test,” the first test given to Israel after their departure from Egypt. It was so crucial that the Lord said this test was given to see if the people would walk in His ways or not. Likewise for us, this is one of the primary tests that determine if we will walk in the ways of the Lord or not. We see this in

 Yet He commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven; And He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them food from heaven. Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. (Psalm 78:23-25)

Manna was bread from heaven. The children of Israel were commanded to eat this bread as both a test and to humble them. This remains a primary test for the Lord’s people to determine if we are going to walk in His ways. It is also a way that we humble ourselves. The test is to see if we will get up first thing each morning and seek fresh bread from heaven. This is also the humility by which we acknowledge that we simply cannot make it a single day, walking uprightly in the way of the Lord, without the heavenly manna that He provides for us. Of course, as we read in John 6:31-35, Jesus is the Manna from heaven. We must have a fresh encounter with Him every day, and we must partake of Him every day. We should be more addicted to the Son of God than a junky is to his next fix. We actually are. If a junky does not get his fix he will soon begin to shake. Most of the shaking we go through in life is the result of our not having partaken of Christ, every day. We, too, lose our spiritual strength, our vision, and soon go into spiritual convulsions when we do not partake of Him.

It is also true that “we are what we eat.” Just as our physical body can be greatly impacted by what we put into it, so can our spiritual make up. If we are partaking of Christ, we will be changed into His nature. Likewise, if we are partaking of evil spiritual fruit such as gossip, slander, selfish ambition, bitterness, resentment, greed, or unforgiveness, we will begin to manifest the nature of the devil. If we are going to dwell in the heavenly realm, we need to watch what we eat and determine that we are going to seek Manna from heaven, the first thing every day. We must never forget that His primary purpose is not just having us believe His Word, but having His Word change us. He wants us to be like Him, not merely doing the right things, but doing them for the right reasons—because we love righteousness. That is why He commanded Ezekiel to “eat the scroll” before he was to go and preach (see Ezekiel 3:1-4).

The Lord has provided heavenly bread that we can gather every day. Like the manna He gave to Israel in the wilderness, it cannot be stored, but must be gathered and partaken of fresh each day. As we partake of it and become what we’re eating, our lives will also be like fresh bread to others. This will cause all to be drawn to the One who is the true Manna.

The Light

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

Without light, we could not see. Light makes all things manifest. After the Spirit moved, His first great task was to bring forth light. Light represents truth, and as soon as the Lord begins to move in our lives, His first task will be to shine the light of His truth into our lives. It is interesting to note that light was created before the sun, moon, and the stars, and did not take place until the fourth day of creation. Light was created before the vessels that were to manifest it. Jesus is the Light of the world, and He existed as One with God before the world. We see this in John’s great explanation of Jesus at the beginning of his gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (John 1:1-4, 9-12).  

Jesus was the plan of God from the beginning. He is the Son who makes His Father’s heart glad. In everything that was created the Father looks for the reflection of His Son, and in everything that was created there is a message about the Son, as Paul explained in Colossians 1:16-17:  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  

“In Him all things hold together” reveals that He is the binding force in all of creation. The light was created before the sun, moon, and stars as an eternal testimony that He must be given first place in everything. Every new believer needs to be saturated with the revelation of whom Jesus is before their attention is turned to all of the other doctrines of the faith, or an understanding of their place in the church. The Light, Jesus, must have pre-eminence in all things. He is the first, and He is the last. Jesus is the Light of God, and all things will be summed up in Him. We must know Him first.

As we read before in I John 1:7, “but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” This Scripture makes clear, if we depart from fellowship, we also depart from His light. If we break fellowship with His people, we will also be breaking fellowship with Him. Christianity without fellowship is not true Christianity. The Lord created His church so we would all need one another. No one will get to their destination in Christ alone. Church life can be one of the most glorious, and most difficult, experiences we can have. Amos 3:3 states, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (KJV) This does not imply that we must agree on everything to walk together, but we walk together in the things upon which we do agree. Every Christian agrees that Jesus Christ is Lord, so every Christian can walk together to some degree. There should be at least some level of fellowship between all who hold to the basic truths of the faith.

As we walk together, understanding and agreement will grow. To have fellowship, we must start by looking for things upon which we agree, rather than those upon which we disagree. This will enable us to stay in the light, which requires that we “have fellowship with one another” (I John 1:7). Likewise, when we start breaking off fellowship with God’s people, we will start walking in darkness. We cannot be joined to Jesus Christ without also being joined to His body, the church.

New Creation Life

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have

been created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16).

This Scripture makes it clear that we were created by the Son and for the Son. This is carried a little further in Romans 8:29:For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.  

By this we must ask one of the ultimate questions: Would Jesus have come to the earth if there had not been a Fall? I think so, because as glorious as the redemption of the cross is, the Lord made it clear that He came to do more than just redeem the earth—He came to begin a new creation, which we become a part of after our redemption. Consider Ephesians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love.  

We were known by the Lord before the foundation of the world, and He was crucified before the foundation of the world. The Lord knew the end from the beginning, and He knew that man would fall and require redemption. But there was also a higher purpose for man in God’s heart before He created him. He obviously had the new creation in His heart as well as the redemption of the former one. This new creation was the intention for man to ascend from the natural realm to the heavenly nature. Man was to be the bridge between the natural creation and the heavenly, or spiritual, realm. Through the Holy Spirit we have this treasure in earthly vessels, but we are called to take on the nature of the spiritual realm. When we are born again by the Spirit we actually become a new species. We walk the earth, but by the Spirit we can now dwell in the heavenly places with Christ.  

Even if there had not been a transgression, it was always the Lord’s intention for man to partake of a heavenly calling and be united with Him in a special way through His Son. When we are born we are just beginning life; when we are born again we are just beginning the process of spiritual maturity. Our goal is to be like the Lord, and do the works that He did. He was the first born of many brethren. He came to redeem us, but also to show us how to live in the new creation nature. That nature has authority over the things that were the result of the fall, such as sickness, and the host of hell that has inhabited the earth through the gate of hell opened by the fall. Again, this is in no way to belittle the glory of the redemption that we have through the cross, as it will always be the centrepiece of our very comprehension of the glory and nature of God. The cross is the only door through which we may enter the purposes of God. However, we must also realize that our purpose is more than just being forgiven of our sins, as great as that may be, or even to be returned to our intended state before the fall, as glorious as that may be. Redemption is a gift of unfathomable value, but we must press on to the attaining of our ultimate purpose—to walk in the nature of the new creation. When we do, we will be walking as Jesus walked, which is the calling of every Christian.

The Force Of Money In The Spiritual Realms

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? (Luke 16:1)

It is very important for you to understand what Jesus is telling us in this verse. In the Greek, the word “faithful” is the word pistoi, which expresses the picture of a person who is known to be faithful, responsible, conscientious, and trustworthy. This is in comparison to a person who is impetuous, thoughtless, rash, irresponsible, and therefore not trustworthy. Therefore, this verse could be taken to mean: “If you are impetuous, thoughtless, rash, irresponsible, and untrustworthy with unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”

Whatever this “unrighteous mammon” is in this verse, it is so important that managing it unwisely has the power to disqualify us from receiving true riches from God. So it is very important that we understand what the “unrighteous mammon” is that Jesus is speaking about in this verse! The word “unrighteous” comes from the Greek word adikia, which in this verse is used to convey the idea of something unspiritual, common, worldly, or something that belongs to the realm of human beings. The word “mammon” is the word mamonas, a very old Greek word that denotes money or wealth. When these words “unrighteous mammon” are used together as they are in this verse, it denotes common, worldly money, along with all of its buying power in this earthly sphere.

Furthermore, when Jesus referred to “true riches,” the word “true” is the Greek word alethinos, which means real, bona fide, genuine, indisputable, or authentic. You see, money, which seems so powerful in this earthly realm with all of its buying power, is nothing compared to the power of God. Heavenly power and heavenly riches far surpass the power and authority of money. For those who have proven themselves faithful and reliable, God will upgrade the level of spiritual power and authority that operates through them. But according to Jesus’ words in Luke 16:11, before God upgrades this level of spiritual power and authority in a person’s life, first He watches to see how he or she manages money — that’s the big test! In other words, if you are not faithful, responsible, conscientious, and trustworthy with money — which is a lower form of power in this earthly realm — why would God promote you to greater levels of spiritual power, responsibility, and authority?

How you manage your money and what you do with it is far more important than you may have ever realized. It’s good that you want to get your finances in shape and get out of debt, but you need to know that how you handle your money is a big test. If God finds you faithful with money, the lowest form of power in the world today, He will know you can be trusted with real spiritual riches that are unequalled in power.

By listening to the Spirit of God, using common sense, exercising self-control, and planning your purchases in advance, you can live a life that is more debt-free than the way you’re living right now. It will take determination to do it, but if you really want to become free of debt — and remain free forever — it is possible to achieve it.

But most importantly, you need to know this: If your spending habits are so out of control that you don’t tithe and cannot give to other works that the Holy Spirit prompts you to support, you’re failing the test God uses to determine whether you’re ready to be promoted into higher realms of spiritual power, responsibility, and authority. Your money is the big test that God uses to determine if you are ready for that next big promotion! Since this is what Jesus meant in Luke 16:11, doesn’t it make sense that you should take a fresh look at how you’re using and managing your money? So let me ask you this question: Since God is looking at how you manage your money, do you think He finds you faithful and therefore ready for a big promotion — or do you think God finds you lacking and therefore not ready for the next step up in His good plan for you?

Most of the world — including the Christian community — longs for more financial freedom and less debt. Especially at this time when so many people have been hit across the world with financial crisis, God’s people are asking Him for wisdom and resolutions to very pressing financial challenges.

The fact is that most of the world is in some sort of financial debt. This means there are very few people who are financially free. Nations, families, and churches are all in debt. But just because the rest of the world has fallen into this trap, and lives like this doesn’t mean you have to fall into this same pattern and become trapped by debt that dominates your life. You can make the decision once and for all to be financially freer than you’ve ever been before. If you will stick with your decision, God will help you reach your goals and make that freedom a reality in your life. And by proving yourself faithful with “unrighteous mammon,” God will know that you qualify for higher levels of spiritual power. It may seem to be a very simplistic view about money and divine power, but this is exactly what Jesus taught!

Heaven Now (Part 2)

By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni

Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”  

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:49-51)

Here we see that Jesus is Jacob’s ladder. The rungs on the ladder are the progressive revelations of Jesus. When we come to know Him as our Savior we take a step. When we come to know Him as our Lord we take another. When we come to know Him as the Lord above all lords we go higher. When we see Him as the One through whom and for whom all things were made, we take another step, etc.

The purpose of our study is to see our step-by-step progression to spiritual maturity. Understanding Jacob’s ladder is the center-piece of our study, and our calling. It is the calling of every Christian to be a messenger of God, to continually enter into the heavenly realm—where we get our message or blessing for the earth. We do this by increasing our knowledge and understanding of Jesus, who He is and where He now sits—above all rule, authority, and power.

We must become more than comfortable in the heavenly realm; it must be our home—where we are more at home there than we are on this earth. I saw a sign by a church that said, “We are just a waiting room for heaven.” That is not what we are called to be. We are called to be a gateway to heaven through which people can enter into and begin to experience heaven now! Every time we ascend we will descend with a blessing for the earth. The blessing we come back with is a piece of heaven—evidence of its existence.

In this way, we should be turning every place where we are called—our churches, jobs, and homes, even the places where we shop into an outpost of heaven. The way we do this is the Way, Jesus. Even heaven would not be heaven without Him. The Lord is what makes it heaven. As we ascend by the progressive revelation of who He is, we will see more glory, and we will carry that glory with us.

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. (Revelation 4:1-2)

That same door is open for you right now. The Lord is calling us to come up to where He sits. Just as there seems to be no limit to the expanding universe that we can see, neither is there a limit to the one we can only see with the eyes of our hearts. He has not limited how far we can go, even to sitting with Him on His throne. What could we possibly have better to do?

You can find additional Scriptures regarding this teaching in Ephesians 1:18-23 and 2:4-7