The Pitfalls of Notoriety

Recently the Lord has been telling me about the pitfalls of notoriety and “success” in ministry. He has a plan to protect and enable increase to happen in ministry without compromising the heart. It has to do with continuing humility, and the need for greater humility before there can be greater promotion (which itself can be an unfortunate consequence of genuine ministry). But this is God’s protection plan — humility. When successes come, pride gets tempted. But if there is increased humility, then there can be increased successes because the proper protection of the heart can remain in place.

Along with ministry increase comes very dangerous acclaim. With many miracles comes the temptation to think that there has been some (even if only a little) personal contribution to the supernatural things that God brings. This is why Jeremiah 9:24 speaks very loudly to me, and thrills my heart each time I read it:

Jeremiah 9:24
But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

How thankful we should be for powerful intercessors who are lovingly sensitivity in the Spirit to be aware of our greatest vulnerability, the need for never stepping out from the level of humility that is necessary to our protection, and which enables His work to continue in us untainted by our reputation-seeking flesh.

How Satan Compromised Paul’s Ministry

The Lord also reminded me of how the devil was able to compromise the Apostle Paul’s ministry. You will recall from Romans 10 that Paul’s longing desire was that Israel might be saved (Romans 10:1). This strong yearning of his heart led him to make a fatal mistake: He chose to follow his emotions in order to try to win the approval of those leaders who were in Jerusalem. This compromised his spiritual principles, and enabled satan to gain authority over him.

Here is how it happened. In Acts 18:18-20 Paul took a vow which obligated him to perform certain Jewish rituals in the synagogue in Jerusalem (which he fulfilled in Acts 21:17-30). But the problem was, God did not want him to go to Jerusalem. In Acts 20-38 Paul met with believers on his journey, and shared with them how the Holy Spirit had bound him from going. What this really means is that there was a major warning from the Holy Spirit telling Paul not to go there! But you can see how Paul rationalized this revelation. In Acts 20:24 he declared “but none of these things (i.e. this revelation from the Holy Spirit) move me. He argued that he was willing to become a martyr. This is where his pride overcame the revelation — he saw his ministry as being a function of commitment to his (emotional) version of the cause, rather than a commitment to what the Holy Spirit was actually instructing Him to do.

But God tried very hard to get Paul to listen. In Acts 21:1-4, the Lord had the believers prophesied to Paul, telling him not to go to Jerusalem. Did Paul pay attention? No. He let his zeal for the Jews being saved, and his false humility to be committed unto death, interfere with the clear revelation of the Holy Spirit. So God tried again to get through to him. In Acts 21:7-8 Paul stayed with Philip the evangelist. His four daughters prophesied. What did they prophesy about? We can only guess, but I’m sure it was about telling Paul he should not go to Jerusalem.

But with each attempt of the Lord to get through to Paul, his heart only got harder, and more convinced about going to Jerusalem. Remember, he placed himself under an ungodly religious vow in Cenchrae. When we place ourselves under the authority of the law, Galatians tells us that we become obligated to do the whole law and that it becomes a curse to us. Paul cursed himself when he chose to place himself under the law. It is no different among many Christians who convert to Messianic Christianity and mix Old Testament traditions (law) with New Testament post-Pentecost Christianity. Religious zeal is a good thing as long as it conforms to the written Word of God and to revelation from God. But it is very compromising and dangerous when the devil is able to gain legal authority and mis-use our spiritual zeal.

God tried one final time to get through to Paul by sending a noted prophet, Agabus, all the way to Caesarea from Jerusalem to speak to Paul. Agabus bound himself with Paul’s girdle belt to dramatize the message — Paul, don’t go to Jerusalem! The record of Agabus is in Acts 21:10-12. They pleaded with Paul to not go to Jerusalem. But Paul was hardened, and responded with his soulish emotion (instead of his spirit)….”Why mean ye to break my heart”…(Acts 21:13). So, in Acts 21:14 the believers gave up trying to tell him to do the will of God (by not going to Jerusalem). When Paul met with the church leadership, it was obvious they were spiritually dead. They listened to Paul tell them of all the great miracles of God during his journeys, and they immediately responded with how many believers in Jerusalem were zealous of the law, as if that was a good thing. They did glorify God for the miracles, but it was a token response. They were far more pleased with all the believers who were zealous for the law!

So these leaders put Paul under further obligation of the law, telling him to demonstrate his Jewish-ness by participating (and fully paying the expenses for) a purification ritual in the temple. The spiritual noose tightening around Paul’s neck was all by Paul’s disobedience to the revelation which God tried many times to give to him.

There are so many significant lessons here. Paul was very adept at walking by revelation. Each time, for example, he mentioned a mystery (such as the mystery of godliness, the mystery of God, the mystery of Christ, the riches of the glory of the mystery of Christ in you, etc.) he is speaking of a unique revelation he was given to give to the church. It was for the abundance of these revelations that Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep his life inside the protective envelope of humility (2 Corinthians 12:6-9). But his emotional ties to Jerusalem (soul ties) compromised his obedience.

Soul Ties

Soul ties must be broken. The ungodly soul ties in a believers’ life will always undermine the Godly relationships. They strangle Godly soul ties with a dominating demand for constant attention. There are three kinds of soul ties: the Godly permanent ones (such as to your spouse and to Jesus Christ), the Godly temporary ones (such as to your children and to wonderful believers whom God connects you to for a season), and the ungodly ones (such as in ungodly friendships, romances, and even churches, pornography, hobbies, etc.). I have attached a piece on soul ties that the Lord gave me a while ago, and although I never got the opportunity to share on this subject while in Africa, it is contained in the Living Free Seminar notes that I gave you while I was with you, and also in the Marriage Seminar handbook.

Conclusion

What would have happened if the Apostle Paul had not gone to Jerusalem? This is purely speculation, but I believe that Paul would have continued to establish schools of ministry in other places besides Ephesus (The School of Tyrannus noted in Acts 19:1-10). Perhaps he would have built a school in Corinth, and another at Antioch. His able students in Timothy and Titus and many others would have had the time to rise up fully into their ministries, and they would have done as their father in the Word, the Apostle Paul, had done on his missionary journeys. I also believe that the Roman Catholic church would never have been able to get started, bringing the heresies they bring to the Body of Christ (although there are some wonderful Spirit-filled Christians among them even with their Mary worship and their many idols!). Might the Word of God have been far more established around the world, and as a result, many of the terrorists of history, such as Hitler and Stalin, etc. never have happened? We will never know. But this one thing we do know…..man shall not live by bread alone, but by every rhema word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Recently I became aware of a deception in the body of Christ which I had not considered before. It deals with a means by which satan takes a good thing and pushes it beyond it intended purpose. It is in the area of visions and dreams, and other ways in which God communicates with His people. There are ministries which cultivate spiritual sensitivity in this area, but in doing so, some can place undue emphasis on them. So here’s a quick note of warning which we must consider. It contrasts learning to hear the voice of the Lord (which is a primary desire of God and the primary vehicle He devised to instruct and fellowship with His people) compared to only being able to receive instruction from Him through visions and dreams or other such means.

God does not “talk” in myriad ways, although He does try to communicate in other ways. But he only speaks in one way — rhema into your spirit-man, and He does it most usually in a still, small voice. But, because man tends to have lazy ears and insensitive hard hearts that refuse to sit still and hear (Hebrews 3 and 4), sometimes God can only get through via other methods of communication other than speaking, such as when we are sleeping — Job 33:14-17, or by visions and dreams — Numbers 12: 1-8. His preferred method is always to talk to His saints, and to Moses He not only spoke face to face, but also showed him His form because of the precious degree of humility of Moses’ heart.

There is a reason why the Lord said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God. There is a reason why Psalm 138:2 declares that He magnified His Word (in Hebrew this means a speaking; in other words — His revelation from hearing His voice) above His name. He did not magnify worship and praise music, nor visions and dreams, nor angels, church denominations, theological degrees, etc. And there is a reason why David said that the davar word (one of two Old Testament equivalents to rhema words of revelation) is a lamp unto His feet and as sweet as honey to his taste. It was this fellowship by the Spirit through words with the Lord that made David so desperate not to lose when cried “take not thy spirit from me” when he had sinned with Bethsheba.

To hear the Lord’s voice consistently and accurately, one must not only have a solid foundation in the Scriptures, but one must also develop a sweet conversational intimacy with the Lord. “My sheep hear my voice.” Some ministries sugar-coat the intimacy issue with feel-good theology for those who have not pressed in to the Spirit to learn to hear God. To magnify visions and dreams of individuals who do not hear Him speak can even be heretical to God’s Word. Consider what the Lord told Aaron and Miriam in no uncertain terms in Numbers 12 — that because of their pride, he could only talk to them in visions and dreams. God took major pains to set the standard in His written Word regarding getting people to do at least as much with God as they do with other people — communicate with words. Fellowship in His presence is what Christianity is to be all about! To become singly caught up with visions and dreams can become what being caught up in worship and praise to God can become (such as in popular entertainment churches and television ministries today) when it is to the exclusion of developing a personal relationship with Him…..an impure offering.

It should also be noted that in the original Aramaic, Beelzebub means “lord of words.” Modern Bibles simply borrow this word directly from the Aramaic, and define it as “lord of the flies” (Strongs), but this is a mis-translation. It certainly stands to reason that since The Word (Logos), Jesus Christ, is all about the words of God, our adversary the devil would be all about words also — wrong words, slandering words (the word “devil” means accuser or slanderer). Thus, any effort to dilute, minimize, or devalue the spiritual impact of words would be something very high on satan’s priority list. The Lord sanctifies us with the washing rhema words which cleanse, and make us to become without spot, wrinkle, or blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27). The Bride of Christ is thus prepared via words they learn to hear in the Spirit as sheep that hear the Master’s voice, and who listen to no other.

And yet for all our diligence to seek that better thing of Mary at the feet of our Lord, we can still become tricked by our soulish emotions through such things as ungodly soul ties. Thus may the humility of our hearts increase with each new season in the Lord, and may we stay faithful AND OBEDIENT to His rhema words to us all the days of our lives.

With much joy and love to you,

–Paul Norcross