LIFTING THE BANNER OF THE LORD (PART 2)

One of the fundamental qualifications anyone who wants to lift the banner must have is the desire to be at the centre of God’s will in all things. The Bible says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God”. Rom. 8:14. To the extent you are willing to be led to that extent you are qualified to lift the banner. Any time the enemy wants to get you outside the will of God for your life; it is your responsibility to lift the banner.

” But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,………” (Acts 5: 1-16). What makes good people fraternize with evil or compromise their faith is because they fail to understand the nature of evil. When Apostle Paul said, “flee from every appearance of evil”, he was not asking you to be a coward, it is out of love for you, knowing fully that if you allow evil, evil will entice you, seduce, contaminate and eventually consume you. The world is upside down today because of the absence of elders at the gate. What are elders at the gate supposed to be doing? They are enforcers of righteousness. How much righteousness do you enforce in your home? A lot of parents have abdicated their responsibilities and are now being controlled by their children.

In this scripture, Apostle Peter judged sin in the Church in the same way that Phinehas judged the sin in the camp of the Israelites. Sin is to be judged. Sin is an aggressive sickness and it requires an aggressive treatment. The world is upside down today, because elders are no longer enforcing righteousness. Any Church that does not judge sin will not see the move of the Holy Spirit. This is part of the responsibility of leadership. A leader who is not forthright is good for nothing. Sin was so serious that God’s Son had to be crucified for us. Nobody can fly the banner by living a compromised life. You can never change what you condone. How are we displaying the banner of the Lord? The aura of piety around the clergy has dissolved and disappeared. Children of God compromise so easily that there is no difference between them and the world. It is not only in marriage that a child of God should not be unequally yoked. In Psalm 1:1-3, the Bible says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”. It is not easy to follow God according to his terms. If Christ is not the Lord of your pocket, he is still not the Lord in all; you will not be able to fly the banner. The devil knows what he can use to seduce anybody. We must recognize that we are not building the kingdom of the world; we are going somewhere. Prophecy is being fulfilled so fast. This age is winding down, how prepared is the Church – the bride of Christ?

After Apostle Peter judged the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, the name of the Lord was magnified; the Church began to experience sweatless victories, there was explosive increase, the dread anointing was released, the Church became a solution provider and not part of the problem, miracles became commonplace; the shadow of Peter became a healing agent. Why are we no longer seeing this type of manifestations? It is because there is sin in the camp.

TO BE CONTINUED.