This is Part 1 of a two-part article. Find Part 2 at this link.
I’m so glad I never had the popularity and platform Mike Bickle had. I’m so glad I’m not a megapastor of a megachurch or that people made a celebrity out of me. I’m so glad the Lord never allowed me to rise to any kind of ministry prominence. I’m afraid if He had, I would have ceased to be a man after His own heart. In fact, many years ago, the Lord told me that.
Often we do not know what we are asking the Lord for. He withholds some things from us because of His love and protection. We are not ready for many things. As a younger minister, when I prayed and asked God for such things, He enlightened my understanding. Ministry popularity is an addiction for many. What lessons there are to learn from scoundrels and scandals that are now being exposed!
Bickle is still trying to preserve the “prophetic history” of his ministry. If this is true, as has been reported, what a sad state to be in: that even after these allegations of sexual immorality and abuse, even after hurting so many people, even after misrepresenting the Lord Jesus Christ, even after mishandling the Word of God—this man wants to preserve the ministry’s prophetic history. What? This is the awful depths of a man addicted not to Jesus, as many thought, but to “ministry.” This is a representation and an example of what exists on a much wider scale in both large and smaller works, ministries and churches. The name of the game seems to be the protecting of our own projects and the popularity and status derived from them, not to mention that stash of cash.
Time to Cleanse the Temple
These things must be exposed so that the temple of God is cleansed. Why? So that when judgment hits the world, we are separate, and His wrath won’t affect us in that way. Instead, we will display His glory for all to see. There will be a great harvest from this future judgment that is coming and now is. But before that, there will be many more casualties (much judgment).
The judgment that came upon Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) for lying to the Holy Ghost is a widespread problem today. Sadly, many preachers lie just as they did. “Well, why aren’t they being judged in the same way?” some may ask. For two simple reasons:
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1. God’s mercy and longsuffering. Many people would be dying, even right in our churches, if that sort of judgment manifested right now. There is so much sin in the church today that if God’s judgment were unleashed, there might not be enough graveyards to bury the dead.
2. There is very little glory in the church today. Judgment is in proportion to the glory that is manifested. In the beginning of the Church age, the early glory was pure and heavy. No sin could stand in it. That is the reason Ananias and Sapphira died. This terrible judgment caused the fear of the Lord and His power and glory to increase even more (read Acts 5).
This concept puts a different light on the Bickle incident. It should awaken us all to righteousness, especially popular celebrity preachers and those with big platforms who have made ministry their idol. This recent scandal can also be seen as an act of mercy, not only for the man’s soul, but so that the fear of the Lord can increase in the body of Christ, as well as His power and glory.{eoa}
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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. His recent five-book bundle, written under a fresh anointing, is a forerunner of what the Lord is doing in His church today. His most-read books are “Cleansing the Temple” and “The Tumultuous 2020s and Beyond.”
