This is the generation(the making of mighty men)
By Apostle Joshua Selman
2 Corinthians 3:17
The Lord is that spirit that brings TRANSLATION in the spirit. The spirit that LIFTS people. Without the PRESENCE FACTOR, there is no Church. It is beyond the paraphernalia, it is beyond activities. What brings power to the things that we do is the presence factor. You can fake POWER, but you cannot fake PRESENCE.
So all of us in the globe, there is a mighty FORMATION. If you are not aware of this, it is because you are not spiritual.
The bible says these days will be like the Days of Noah. In the days of Noah, there were two groups of people; there were those who understood what God was doing, and they were participating in the building of the ark. And there were the mockers and naysayers completely disinterested. But the Bible said that it was God Himself that came to SHUT the door and when He shut the door, the flood came. And everyone who was not in that ARK for SAFETY died.
One of the Graces that the Apostolic ministry enjoys is ACCESS to the DEALINGS of God per season, per dispensation, so that you can understand what God is doing and INTERPRET it and help prepare, so that when He comes, in that regard, there are VESSELS that are prepared to be MIGHTILY used by Him.
There are 3 prophetic emphasis of the spirit
1. THE WORD EVANGELIZATION
In this prophetic season that we are in, WORD EVANGELIZATION. The spirit of God like never is raising men and is moving across the length and breadth of this earth for that one final wave that will bring in the harvest.
In order of Divine priority, God's emphasis right now is a greater determination by the spirit to find laborers that can make Word EVANGELIZATION a success.
2. THE MATURITY OF THE SAINTS.
It has to do with territorial transformation, it's beyond just healing and supernatural manifestation, witty inventions, creativity, superior ideas by the spirit that will be revealed through the saints.
It's important for you to know this, this is what God is doing in this season; World Evangelization, what we are doing in the crusades and conferences across is in honour to this call and this mandate. That he desires that all people be saved and then to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
3. TERRITORIAL TRANSFORMATION.
The major challenge, particularly in Africa, there's been a growing dissatisfaction as far as nominal Christianity is concerned, people are beginning to be tired. Tired of the RITUAL of RELIGION, tired of church as usual, tired of the COMMUNICATION of SPIRITUAL THINGS without the POWER and the AUTHORITY COMPONENT.
People across the horizon, Christians and non-christain alike are beginning to get fed up.
Never has it been in history, where God is collapsing the world of denominationalism. People are opening their hearts right now, people who ordinarily would not open their hearts to certain dimensions of the kingdom are now being prepared to at least give these thoughts a chance.
There is a lot that is happening, even unbelievers, men in the order of the Ethiopian eunuch are beginning to be interested in this God thing, this kingdom thing. It is amazing how many non-christains are connected right now in this nation and across the globe, following this. They are not Christians, but they are interested, they are learning, they want to know, they are very open hearted.
People are no longer afraid and closing themselves, saying this is what I Know, this is what I believe, the same way many christians are opening up their hearts too. We live in a world and a Prophetic season where there is a greater sense of openness and everybody is looking for God, they are looking for His power, they are looking for meaning to their lives.
People are getting tired of lying, getting tired of faking their living, acting as if things are working, whereas, they have not truly experienced God. Like the bible says "men can experience Him." So there's been a growing hunger, there's been a growing dissatisfaction.
Even among men and women of God, particularly in Nigeria and Africa, there's been a sudden reawakening people are getting really serious with God.. and this is a very good news for us all.
However, the major reason why it looks like the Holy Spirit is limited in terms of manifesting the reality of the God life, the reality of the supernatural power of God here on earth.
The major reason has been the kind and the quality of vessels that are available; the major limitation to the operation of the spirit on earth today. Beyond the protocol of prophesy, is that the kind and vessels available are not aligned to the degree that can host that much that God wants to do.
In truth, there are vessels, as the bible says in 2 Tim 2:20-21. You see that God wants to use the vessels, the master wants to use the vessels unto good works, but the kind and the quality of vessels that we have, that are sincerely available, they may not be able to birth the purposes of God to God's satisfaction. And it seems as though in every generation, God seems to bring a proposition to people within that generation.
Sometimes in a whole generation, He may find just a handful of people and He will have to make do with what is available. And the danger is that the moment there are few people, that move of God will not last because the few people are also humans and the burden in them, either the burden of fatigue, or the burden of temptations, just the humanity of men or attacks from the kingdom of darkness and they are cut out of it the way and God's program is lost.
Now God is coming to our generation again like He has done, fairly so to other generations. And the clarion call is not just maranatha (God come) He wants to come, but the quality of the vessels. There are essentially two defects with the vessels that God desires to use:
1. We have vessels that are completely disinterested in spirituality, spiritual growth and kingdom come.
So this is the first problem that we have to deal with. So we have vessels, they do not even know they are vessels, either they are not born again or they are born again but completely disinterested in God's program. There is a disinterest to anything God, anything kingdom. For others, it's even degenerated to sheer godlessness, they do not want to hear anything that has the name of Jesus on it.
This is the first problem that God wants to solve. There are many people today, who are not yet saved, but are enlisted as part of the prophetic ally in this move of God. That is a very serious thing. Did you know that when Jesus was talking to the twelve disciples, and telling them that they will still learn other things, the man who He would use was not saved, Paul as at the time Jesus was telling the disciples, was not even saved. He was a Pharisee, but hated everything Jesus. To the point that when they were stoning Steven, the Bible tells us that as they were stoning Steven, it was under the supervision of Paul as Saul. They kept their garments near him while they were destroying all of these people. And he saw it with joy and gladness, but one day the Bible tells us that on his way to Damascus, can you imagine that level of zeal, he obtained letter from the High Priest to go and capture the people who were advocating this Jesus, and a light came.
The Bible tells us, he fell down and he heard a voice saying "Saul, Saul, why persecutest though me?" Acts 9:1-5. Do you know how many other Sauls are in beer parlours right now, do you know how many Sauls right now are in home, do you know how many Sauls right now are in places not even aware that there is such a heavy mandate upon their lives.
There is nobody who is working in the cutting edge of God's program today that was not a product of another generation. History under reported so many things. And unfortunately in Africa, we don't preserve history. So there's so much to know to strengthen our work that we do not know. The average young man that God is using now, is not connected to history, we hardly know what happened before our arrival, so we can not know what mistakes to cross, what mistakes to jump, because our generation is largely an arrogant generation. We are repeating the same mistakes again.
The things that are written aforetime, the Bible says, they are for our learning, so that we through patience and the comfort of scripture, might find hope. So the first problem that the spirit of God wants to correct is the complete disinterest in the things of God.
There are people with almost annoying disinterest in God, and they have a right to reject God, it is their right, God will respect it. Except in their disinterest, God will have to take their Bishopric and give another person. There are many people you see today, the burden on them is because their assignment they are carrying out, was not the original script. Other people who were supposed to have risen, have refused to rise so God has to make do with the available vessels. And you will see men start as maybe Evangelist and keep evolving into other things, because they have to midwife so many assignments and Prophetic programs until the people who are assigned are trained enough to take it.
The danger to that kind of living is that they are the people who now become what you call The Joshua Selmans or The Celebrities. The danger is that because you are carrying many peoples assignment on your head, your own plus the assignment of a careless person who has refused to know God and rise, any attack that comes on you can destroy the body. The army was never supposed to be few, in any battle, number is an advantage, and so we have people who the spirit of God is calling but. God wants to move in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Europe, America, everywhere including Asia, the ends of the earth. But the vessels that He has to make do with are completely godless, or disinterested.
There are people who will stand from a distance and watch a crusade happening, and while the man is shouting, in the name of Jesus, it is time for you to be saved, they will be laughing, and perhaps maybe drinking and telling others go for it and they are completely disinterested. Yet you see, the thing with God is that He has put eternity in the heart of every man. After all of those misbehavior, you see them still go back and say there is something in my heart, I can't explain why I can't leave God. They will vow that they will never come to church, later you will still find them roaming around crusade ground. They don't even know what is bringing them there. It is because they are part of that army. The scribes and the Pharisee will never open up their hearts to receive of what Jesus was saying you will always find them in His crusade.
Disinterest is common especially for young people, because the glory of young people is their strength and there are many young people who an altar call is made, they are not interested. God is covenant keeping God. He's looking for vessels. God pursues men with the vulnerability that men use in searching for a wife. Every generation has been tried, but every generation will not fail. This is the generation. There are some generations that by mercy and by grace will get it right.
There are vessels that are completely disinterested in the things of God even though there is prophecy upon their lives they tremble at the word of God but something within them has refused to respond to their Maker. This is the reason why for every service, altar calls are made, not just because of the mandate, but because it the last opportunity for someone in every service. God has been trailing that person for years and was finally led to that service. But whether you will say yes to God or not is now up to you. It is possible to tell God that you reject Him, and the mantle He wants to place on your life, but the consequence is that you and all those who were designed to be saved and blessed through your life will have to perish.
2. The second defect with the vessels that God is looking for or the vessels that are available is that there is a lot of zeal and spirituality or a semblance of it but without true revelation and without compliance with divine patterns.
We have vessels who have the zeal for God but it is not according to knowledge. Their zeal has led them into various shades of legalism, self righteousness and effort in the flesh and even in futility to host God and to host His program.
This is something that the spirit of God wants to balance. There are young people that when you look at then you see zeal, they love Jesus sincerely, but either because they were poorly mentored, or either because they were bankrupt of an understanding of the patterns to follow, you see people, if it's prayer they will pray, if it's fasting they will fast but they do not know the way to the city. This is even more frustrating because if you do not love God, and that is why you're not being used, that's fine but where you now seem to love God and after dissipating energy in spiritual activities, you get lost and frustrated. Many in this generation are in that category. They are already following a path that looks like the path to power but it is the path to doom because when it has to do with the business of the kingdom, you are not at liberty to create your formula.
There is a pattern that is ancient, older than us all. We're mandated to ask for the ancient path and to follow.
It is surprising that with the level of energy that is dissipated in spiritual activities in Nigeria, in Africa, on one hand we thank God for what we have seen but, the kind of spiritual investment we seem to make verses the authority component, doesn't match. The amount of fasting that go on in this nation, and around the world, the amount of prayer projects, the amount of consecration exercises, the amount of givings, the amount of church attendance with all due respect, the average believer in this country and across Africa, is very zealous. But the power component, it looks like we are not able to do much to strike a chord in the spirit. In-spite of all that is happening, something is wrong.
The zeal is important but if zeal is not guided, it produce error. Many people think because they are sincere, they are right. There is something we are doing wrong and the first thing is for us to admit that we have done well but we need to cry on the spirit of grace.
The first problem with this second sect of people is the danger and deception of self sufficiency. The group of many who are zealous, sincere people but are not able to see God is a trap, it's a weakness in all men. The bible warns men that our sufficiency is of Christ. This is the difference between our generation and the generation of our fathers, that inspire of what they did, their confidence was entirely on the cross not on self.
We stand a risk as a generation to eventually become frustrated, like it's already happening to many. The profitability of spiritual activities is that it translate to power, power that we can see, when God demands that we pray, when God demands that we fast, when God demands that we give in to the study of the word, non of those activities were supposed to replace His strength and sufficiency in our lives.
There is too much marketing of personal credentials, it's why we are not in the power of God. We are delving a generation gradually into self sufficiency, God does not work like that. If God were to use people who were sufficient in themselves, it will be the Scribes and Pharisees that will be His disciples not ordinary fisherman.
There is so much pressure on the average young preacher, a pressure to demonstrate a semblance of spirituality. For the younger generation, it has become a competition. This revival we calling for, in truth, there is a price to pay. We are to calm down and let God teach us how to pay the price rather than guessing the price, paying it and hoping he sees it. It doesn't work that way. Our pride is too much, we have done well but we need to settle down.
If truly this is truly, the generation, then it must be a generation of humility and recognition. That we must go down on our knees and say Lord we have tried but show us the keys we are missing there is certainly something wrong. The problem with the vessels, is not that what we are doing is wrong, but we are beginning to replace Christ with self. It is on the abundance of rehearsals, there is a place for that but that everybody will listen to you because you studied your bible, because you fasted, because you prayed, now what happens when you fast and pray and study, then it does not happen?
This generation will not tolerate a lie for a long time.
Genuine manifestation of the power of God. Brethren if the number of times we shout amen, that grace really rested on people, nobody will reject shouting Amen. It's not like we are not seeing miracles, but it's that it's too small for the price that we keep communicating.
Paul at the apex of his Apostolic ministry, said he is the least of all the apostles. This is the true character of any vessel that wants to be used by God. You must maintain a perpetual state of insufficiency. I've been crucified with Christ, the bible says, nevertheless I live, but not I, but Christ that lives in me and the life that I now live by the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
If you're a man of God, the days of pride, arrogance and the know it all mentality must die permanently.
There is a character disposition that must be restored to the body of Christ. A perpetual recognition that outside of the cross, the best of our efforts even though spiritual will end up in futility. It is the reason why you see God raise some of us with no sense of comeliness yet it continues to glorify God in our lives. It is a message.
Prayer point: I take away from you, the spirit of pride. Every arrival mentality that will not allow you settle down to learn the way of God, to learn the precepts of God, I curse it right now in Jesus name, Amen.
Never get yourself believing that you are better or greater than the Fathers, you are wasting your time. These Fathers you see, there are things they have seen.
There are some young ministers who have not started but their pride will not let them to be used by God. It is true that there is a mandate upon our lives, but these Fathers have lasted decades of serving the Lord, we need to be careful. Our works are even yet to be vetted. But these are men who God has granted them grace. They have stood through storms, they have stood through rains, things that some of us will not even be able to pass the test of half of it.
The generation that dishonours their Fathers is the generation that will never receive any mantle. What makes the statue of a man is beyond his sermons.
What makes the statue of a man is his experience with God and God's covenant with that man. If you judge people by what you perceive to be quality of sermons or quality of charismatism, you will make many mistakes.
There is a track record men have with God that God honours them all through their life time. And we must learn this. There is a lot we must learn from the Fathers.
*There is a lot we must learn from one another. By this teaching, we must cast away the know-it-all mentality. Never allow what you know to destroy your passion for learning what you do not know.
Sharing is one of the things that God wants to restore in the body of Christ. That we can sit down and learn sincerely from one another. The dimensions, there is no need trying to dig a well that has been dug. If God has anointed and graced a person in an area, it is important that that grace is respected, and the riches from that grace are received. This is how we will accelerate our becoming a mighty vessel.
No matter how many things you know about prayer, there are people who have been praying before we were born. There are campgrounds in this nation where prayer is 24hrs. Even if you have been making mistakes in prayer for 30 years, you should have learned something there. There is always something you can learn.
Every challenge in the body of Christ has someone in the body of Christ who carries the anointing to solve it. It is a lack of discernment and sheer dishonor to one another vertically and horizontally that is responsible for our stuntedness.
There are people who were born into families full of poverty. They cried unto God, they fasted, they covenanted with God. And Jehovah Jireh showed up for them, and told them I want to give you the keys that can bring people into blessings. It looks like every generation seems to master the act of persecuting their saviors.
The revival that is coming and the vessels that God desire, they must be vessels that are yielded enough.
First, loving Jesus with all your heart, but number two, respecting the investment of the spirit that has been scattered across the body of Christ. No matter how you work with God personally, you will not get every grace you need directly from Him. No matter how close you work with God, the Graces that you need have been carefully distributed across the body, it will take humility and submission to God, to one another, and to His system.
There are many churches today who have some of the most brilliant minds in the nation, as the members and most of the problems that plague those churches, there are consultants in those churches in five minutes, they can create a financial model, a leadership model that will take that church out of suffering, and mediocrity and numerical decline forever yet some men of God come with their pride. Just because intelligent people submit to listen to them, they think they are talking to a band of dummies. This is a generation that must adopt humility so that we do not make a mess of ourselves in pride. And then we do not mislead a generation to follow through.
The basis of the power of God revealed in our generation is not our self-sufficiency. That self-righteousness will always produce embarrassment. Idolatry is not only worshipping idols, idolatry is also worshipping yourself. You may not build an idol, but worshipping yourself in self-sufficiency is idolatry. Pay your price, but behind that price, hide behind the real price that was paid. The price that we pay is not the price for creation, but the price for delivery.
There is a price to pay, but the price to pay is not the price for miracles, you cannot pay the price for miracles, you cannot pay the price for prosperity, you cannot pay the price for signs and wonders. We only pay the price for faith and obedience that coordinate the delivery of what Jesus Himself paid for. The price that the believer pays is not the price to create miracles, it's not the price to create results, it's the price in righteousness as our participation with God to bring that which had been delivered. In our minds, we think we are paying the price that Jesus paid, no man can pay that price. But we pay the price of delivery. What we pray and fast to do is to grant us illumination to be able to safely receive that which has come from him and to deliver it safely to the people.
It is not a call to hate fasting, it is not a call to hate prayer, it is not a call to reject dissipating energy for your growth, but have it at the back of your mind, that if you ever see one person shouting, rise up throw a crutch, blind eyes open, don't just think Joshua Selman, think Jesus. People fasted before Jesus died, it didn't produce power. The Scribes, were people who knew the Books of Moses by heart, many of the blessings we quote were in their head, and yet He did not speak.
If you buy a new fridge and you don't power it to electricity, it will still not work, if you buy a television and you don't power it to television, it will not work. This message is a clarion call on this generation, we need to understand and define what we call the price for revival, the price for power, the ultimate price has been paid. If we are trying to pay it, it's deception. The price we pay in righteousness is the price of alignment, so that we can safely deliver by capacity and this is still by grace.
Continue your fasting and finish it well, continue your prayer and finish it well, but remember, never try to elevate yourself through pride and self-righteousness. We pay our price hiding behind the cross. This is the generation, these are the men that will become mighty in the spirit but our concept of being mighty is mighty through God, not mighty in ourselves. If you think there will be a sudden emergence of mature men who can shout more than we are shouting, you will be disappointed. That is not the description of the army. You will end up seeing an army of ordinary men. More ordinary than you see. You are going to see ordinary men that do not look like it. The force that rises above your fasting, your prayer, and consecration is Jesus.
The balance is there are people who, when they find out the ultimate price has been paid, there is an error of complacency, that will make them say if Jesus has paid the price, why fast, why pray, why give? His price bought the product, your price helps to guarantee its delivery to you.
David went to the battle by his own efforts, the sling and the training was his personal practice but when it had to do with bringing Goliath down, he threw that sling, and the combination of fasting and prayer, and reading all the books, when he threw it, there was efforts on his part, but he would have missed Goliath anyway. But when that divine power pushed the sling it hit Goliath once.
This is how to make fasting profitable, when fasting hides behind the cross, it becomes powerful, when giving hides behind the cross, it becomes powerful, when praying hides behind the cross, it becomes powerful, if bible study hides behind the cross, it becomes powerful, when Greek, Hebrew Latin and Aramaic words hide behind the cross, they become powerful.
The moment you replace the cross, all you carry is a sling. All you carry is a dispatch rider with no product. When you see people coming to give their lives to Christ, that penetrating power that is getting into your spirit, is not the sermon again, it is the cross amplifying what is being done. They returned to Jesus rejoicing and said even the Demons were subject to us, not because of anything we did, IN YOUR NAME.
Africa is a praying continent, commendable, we must retain that template, Africa is a fasting continent, commendable we must retain that template, Africa is a giving continent, commendable we must retain that template, Africa is a word study, church-going, conference-holding continent, commendable we must retain that template. But what we need to introduce to Africa, is that all things must step back, and allow the cross which is the ultimate price and allow Jesus who truly paid the ultimate price, Jr must take the stage in our churches, that while we are fasting, we must let people know that the assignment of my fasting is not to create healing, not to create salvation, it's to help my alignment.
My fasting does not help God, my prayer does not make Jesus strong, my word study does not make Jesus strong, every spiritual activity affects me not God. From His end, all things are finished, my assignment is to keep aligning. If I say in the name of Jesus, Lord heal the people, bless the people, I am not making the miracle happen necessarily, the miracles are there in the spirit. I am aligning myself and fulfilling the ordinances that have been connected to their safe delivery. It's enough to make you qualified enough to host the revival coming.
The TRUE SECRET behind the mighty hand of God in this ministry is the CONSCIOUSNESS of Christ crucified and the reality of HIS RESURRECTED POWER at work in mortal VESSELS. When you say that, then you can say those RICHES in GLORY were ENHANCED and made MANIFEST through FASTING, through BIBLE STUDY, through PRAYER, through CONSECRATION. This is the REAL SECRET of REVIVAL.