The past year has been difficult. It changed our understanding of life. Many – even those who have lived not a short life, wonder at themselves – they reconsider their path, a transformation is taking place either for the worse or for the better.
People’s lives have changed. This is happening all over the world. The whole planet as a single organism is changing. The planet is having “fever” because incredible cataclysms are happening. But the biggest catastrophe is happening now in the human heart. In the human soul is a great catastrophe. The questions that have arisen lately are very serious. And it is important now to remain human, to preserve your principles.
I want to warn against false joy. There is a temptation these days to fall into carelessness. The Church is called not to rejoice in careless joy. A church that rejoices in this manner deserves contempt. But our joy is in the Lord, the joy of the Lord. Therefore, rejoice with trembling.
God’s people must feel the cry. God’s people can’t but feel pain. So purify your joy. I am calling you to wisdom. “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” Scripture says: “ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of souls” (1 Peter 1:6-9).
It’s not an easy way – to get saved. It is not an easy way to reach by faith the salvation of souls. With the time it doesn’t get easier to get saved. When you know more, this burden of knowledge falls on you as a responsibility. To whom much is given, from him much will be required. So be careful with the knowledge, you will be responsible to carry that knowledge and live up to it.
“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11)
No woman has given birth to one as great as John the Baptist. Even Solomon, even Abraham, even David. Of those born of women, no greater than John the Baptist has risen. And this man – the greatest of men – was in the wilderness, wearing a garment of camel’s hair and eating locusts and honey.
What was so great about him in the sight of the Lord? For people, he was nothing. And for God, he was the greatest.
Can you imagine how our concepts are shifted?! The Lord says that your thoughts are not His thoughts, and His thoughts are as different from ours as heaven is higher than earth. Including the church, which does not hear the voice of God.
But he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than him. This is not about everyone – you have yet to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. If you go to church, it doesn’t mean you are in the Kingdom of Heaven. You are a visitor to the community, but not yet a heaven dweller. This still needs to be proven and attained – how you get near John the Baptist.
Many preachers have deceived the church – saying that “you are all greater than John the Baptist” – but this is not true. God will reward each of us according to our works. He said that “He is coming soon to give to every one according to his work, and His reward is with Him.” Blessed is he who keeps his garments clean.
We need intimacy, we need persistence. We need faithfulness and truth. Because your death will be the proof of your faith. Life is not yet proof. Death is the seal of that you have not lied all your life. And for many, the end showed that they were not believers: at the end of their lives they dissipate as the flower of the grass, stop fighting for the fire, live for themselves, for their children, while others simply quit or go into the flesh – and there is only one unceasing, undefeatable longing in the heart for the glory of the Lord, which they have lost.
Hell has a beginning. It originates in the human heart. Today, many people have been transformed – the dark sides have come out. Both good and bad people suffer. Good people suffer the kind of suffering that can be overcome. But the suffering of the evil ones can’t be overcome. Because this is the destination – the fetid smell of the hyena breathes in their face.
They may hide, but the stinking smell of hell follows them. From the hyena comes the smell that comes from these people.
Distinguish this spirit. We must feel who the people of curse are. These are the sons of Cain. This is an important sermon. We aren’t playing any holiday.
The Russian Church is in great danger today. She is like a Bride without shoes. As revealed in the revelation, her dress and feet are covered in mud. She doesn’t think about the mission. She thinks either about her own safety, or rejoices in careless joy, because it is very difficult to endure everything, and she goes into abstraction. But in order to open your heart today, you must already be a saint.
What mantle are we choosing today? The true people of God will be clothed in the mantle of Jeremiah. The true apostles and prophets this season will be clothed in the mantle of Jeremiah. I can feel it already coming upon me. You can’t do anything about it. It just comes as an obsession, as something you can’t avoid. You can only step back, ask God to take it away.
They will carry the dimension of the prophet of tears. Jeremiah carried the spirit of sorrow for Israel, for his people. He is humanly “unlucky” to be born in a different time. He wasn’t with David, he wasn’t with Solomon, he wasn’t with Ezekiah. He was with wicked kings – with Zedekiah, he was with dirty men at the head, and he was a prophet.
What does a prophet do when the wicked rule the earth? – He cries! The whole book of Jeremiah – except for little glimpses, starlets – is all flooded with tears. This is a bowl of tears. And even these books are separated – the book of the prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations of Jeremiah – so that we know how the prophet of tears prays.
The faithful ones of God will wear the sackcloth of the Spirit. As Jeremiah was with the people before the captivity of Israel, so after the captivity he will be with them.
Today, many are leaving, and we don’t judge them, each case must be considered separately. But this doesn’t mean they will become Jeremiahs over there. Because the motivation for the transition is not to be with the people, but to save one’s life. And no matter how they ask, they will not receive this mantle, because it must be received here. You can’t go to make money and become an Apostle. I mean if you are a believer.
The true prophets of the Lord will put on the mantle of Jeremiah. They will smell like it.
One day our brother, as a teenager yet, had a dream: that he was putting on the mantle of Jeremiah, but it was too big for him, and it also smelled very strongly of sheep. You know that Jeremiah never left the people of God. He was a real shepherd, a prophet. He was always with the people. And he chose for himself – to be with the people. He was ordained for it. When joyful laughter came from the houses, he wept. He sat in a pit, but there by his government, in mud up to his neck, in a dungeon, on bread. And the king sent to him at night to ask for the Word.
These prophets will emit this smell – they will carry a mournful spirit. Because when there is iniquity, Jeremiah can’t dance carelessly. They will put on the mantle of Jeremiah. They will carry the Word both in their own places and in foreign lands.
Don’t mingle with the tendencies that lower your level of dedication to walk with God, if you understand the doctrine we stand in today. Carry both to God’s people and to yourself – the Word of truth, faithfulness to the Lord of the Cross.
“In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem, and besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated. Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris (chief of the eunuchs), Nergal-Sarezer, Rabmag (chief of the magicians), with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon”( Jeremiah 39: 1- 3).
Imagine: all the princes of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. It’s like the throne of Satan has risen from hell. Where was God? – He was in His place. God is always in His place. The place of God is called the “place of God.”
And three more places where He is – as it is written: “in the sanctuary”, “with him who has contrite spirit” and “with him who trembles at My Word.”
This is the time of besieging and intrusion of the enemy into the church of God. The church is losing ground today. You have no idea what a fall is coming. The prophets in the mantle of Jeremiah will see it. They don’t talk about it now. But if God has appointed us, we must proclaim the will of God. We are in our own land in this generation.
This is the time dedicated to atrocities. This is the time when evil people – the sons of Cain – will have power. Atrocities of magicians against God’s people.
“When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, byway of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the plain” (Jeremiah 39:4).
Hireling leaders, hireling shepherds will leave their places and flee. There is a transition, but there is an escape. You can dishonor your name. Because after you your honor remains, and not just your name.
The flight leads to greater captivity – which is what happened to Zedekiah. He fled and got into even greater captivity.
Hold your hearts high. Keep your spirit high. Jeremiah was just under his prophetic mantle. He was simply “unlucky” to be born at a time when the Lord was not praised on the streets.
Today is the time when demonstrating joy will be like a crime.
“But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had capture him, they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah, the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah were slain by the king of Babylon. Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon. The Chaldeans burned the house of the king and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 39:5-8).
They were captured and brought to justice. Do you think the devil has mercy? You will see blinded leaders if you watch carefully.
“Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who defected to him, with the rest of the people who remained.” ( Jeremiah 39: 9).
And so they come to Babylon. This is not Europe or Asia. Babylon begins in our heart also. The formula of Babylon is the Holy Spirit plus the devil. The disciples and servants of the false shepherds will fall away, the “sons” will be “killed”. Churches will decrease – where there are no true people of the sanctuary, consecration. False people will lose their clarity of vision, will be taken captive to Babylon. The rest of the people and the apostates will fall into Babylonian slavery.
“But Nabuzardan the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah the poor people, who had nothing, and then gave them vineyards and fields” (Book of the prophet Jeremiah 39:10).
That’s when the last one becomes the first. The Lord will keep His humble and poor in spirit in the church of salvation, the poor people who had nothing. The Babylonian king with his servants was God’s hand for the sinning Israel, because when they left Israel, they left Him. And the king of Babylon gave them vineyards and fields.
“Now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying: “Take him and look after him, and do him no harm, but do to him just as he says to you.”
And Nebuzaradan, the captain of guard sent Nebushasban, the head of the eunuchs, and Nergal-Sharezer, the head of the magicians, and all the princes of the king of Babylon; then they sent someone to take Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and committed him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Saphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people” (Jeremiah 39:11-14).
That is, carefully follow the prophet, watch and do him nothing bad.
The prophets of the Lord will be blessed, honored and preserved by God. I’m not saying they won’t have tribulations. They, like other people, live in the same context. But they will have their dignity preserved. And those who walk under the mantle of Jeremiah, their honor and dignity in God will be protected – not in the mass media, but before God and the true people of the sanctuary. And even enemies will be weapons of God for them.
“Nabuzardan, the captain of the guard, sent Nebushasban, the head of the eunuchs, and Nergal-Sharezer, the head of the magicians, and all the princes of the king of Babylon sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Saphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people” (Jeremiah 39:13-14)
Shepherds, dwell among the people. This is your Body. Don’t leave it.
The prophet made a choice.
“The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him: “The Lord your God has pronounced this doom on this place. Now the Lord has brought it and has done just as he said. Because you people have sinned against the Lord and not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you. And now look, I free you this day from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See, all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.”
While Jeremiah had not yet gone back, Nebuzaradan said: “Go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Saphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governer over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems convenient for you to go.” So the captain of the guards gave him rations and a gift and let him go. And Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land” (Jeremiah 40: 2-6).
Jeremiah remained with the poor, with those whom the Lord had kissed. Watch the life of a prophet. This is one of the largest books in the Bible, and those are all prophecies. Look what he did: he spoke negative things, that all would be bad. Let’s look closely at the mantle of the prophet Jeremiah: he spoke bad things. It was declaration of negative future for Israel. But there, far ahead the light was always shining. The prophet had a choice. He stayed with the genuine people of God. And the people turned to the prophet, they knew he was a prophet.
“Now all the captains of the forces, Johanan, the son of Kareah, Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet: “Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the Lord your God for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see) that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go and the thing we should do” (Jeremiah 42:1-3)
“Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard. Indeed I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you, I will keep nothing back from you.” So they said to Jeremiah: “Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord Your God sends us by you.”.. After ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah” (Jeremiah 42:4-5, 7).
And you know they didn’t receive the Word from Jeremiah; it was a negative Word. This is what they say today – that the Lord is already in the New Testament, therefore He gives only a positive Word. But this is not so, because we have the Old and New Testaments, but the Lord is the Eternal, God who never changes in the Word. This doesn’t mean that He has changed, but that we didn’t know something, and He is revealing a new facet for us.
The people did not accept the words of the prophet.
“Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words, then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah: “You speak falsely, the Lord our God has not sent you to say: “Do not go to Egypt to dwell there”; but Baruch, the son of Neriah, has set you against us, to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon. So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces and all the people, would not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah” (Jeremiah 43:1-4).
You know how it ended. Then the prophet Jeremiah begins to speak judgments to Israel, and then – to talk about Babylon, about other empires, about kingdoms and speak to the nations. Several last chapters Jeremiah prophesies to the nations.
And today, prophets must arise who will see the events taking place further than their own community.
Jeremiah releases things that spoil the mood – but not for those who are under the mantle of Jeremiah, they have long “sorted it out” with their mood, they have the mood of the Lord – as the Lord gives them a mood – so they walk, because they are not their own.
Afterwards, Jeremiah went with the people. This is very powerful. Read the book of Jeremiah this season and be inspired. Ask God to give you from the Mantle. For God’s true prophets there will be Jeremiah’s anointing.
And there the Lord will put the stone of Benjamin, the “wild wolf.” Prophets in the spirit of Jeremiah will move like a wild wolf. They will hear and, regardless of logic and traditions, they will follow the Word of the Lord, like a wild wolf that feels meat. But this requires courage and a return to the original source, not to “imposed” Christianity, which has been “wandering” and “creeping” for two thousand years. We respect things of God in this story and we don’t respect things of Satan in this story. We don’t accept it all, we take God’s treasure from the enemy.
Today we need such prophets of Jeremiah who will move like a wild wolf, who will hear the voice in the morning, catch, and in the evening share the prey with others. In the morning he catches himself, and in the evening he gives it to other brothers. And this stone in the mantle of Jeremiah will be the dimension of Benjamin.
These wild prophets, like Jeremiah was, must rise up – Apostles and prophets, shepherds that will be empowered with the covering – they will receive their prophecy, they will walk with joy under this mantle; evangelists will “smell” this smell; teachers will teach about these things, not abstract ones.
I’m giving this Word today to the true people of God under the Apostle’s mantle, this is the time of Jeremiah’s mantle with the stone of Benjamin.