Niels Prip – Blog

There has always been a path to being near to God. In the OT in 2 Chronicles 15:1-4, God tells us that “the Lord is with us, when we are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”. Hebrews 11 tells us that “God is a rewarder of those who seek Him”. Proverbs 8:17 tells us “I love those who love Me, and those who diligently seek Me will find Me”.

To have the Lord with us- means that we must be with the Lord, we must choose His side and His requirements. And we must love Him and obey Him, He says that He loves those that love Him. It says that He will forsake those who forsake Him. What does that mean for us today.

In the case of our current situation with leaders who are falling into sin, or are covering sin, it is my belief that if there is no real repentance, they will fall into the category of Matthew 7:23 when Jesus says to those who have done things for the Lord, “Depart from me I never knew you”. It could be that many of those had valid things happen in the beginning of their ministry but for years have been running on hype and on the power of the soul. (Latent Power of the Soul– Watchman Nee)

We clearly see that in the OT and the NT that God can forsake us at some point if we are not careful. This is where my thoughts on Romans 11:29 come in. “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”. This verse is about God’s call on the descendants of the man Israel, and that God will not change His mind on that. He was not talking about the nation of Israel, but as it says in Romans 9:1-8, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” this means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring”. He was talking about those descendants who come to God thru the faith that is portrayed in the life of the man, Israel. Jews and gentiles, that through Jesus have come to faith in Him. The “spiritual” descendants of the man Israel are the one who will be “as the stars in the heavens and the sand as the sea”, brought in from all the nations. That is God’s plan from the beginning.

God scattered the nation of Israel and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem forty years after they crucified Jesus! A horrible devastation. Not one stone left upon another. 2 Chronicles 15 “If you seek Him, He will be found by you, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”. God forsook the nation of Israel.

All my life I have heard people say that if a preacher falls into sin, he still has his spiritual gifts and power. I do not believe that, I believe that people have a soul power that mimics the Spirit and we cannot discern it. We are enamored with a “celebrity” status type minister, we are sucked in by the music and the hype.

Even Samson in the OT in Judges 16:20 “Did not know that the Lord had left him”. King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14, it says “Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear”. King David in Psalm 51:11 “Do not cast me away from Thy presence, and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me”. Should we be surprised at what Jesus said in Matthew 7:23 “Depart from Me I never knew you”? A man’s ministry may have started good, and they depend on those works at the end of the age, but they may have left the path of righteousness as they got older.

It is sin and disobedience that causes God’s Spirit to leave us. In our modern Christianity it is difficult to discern because there is so much “soul” power on display in our meetings. Hebrews 4:11-13 “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do”.

Discerning between what is Spirit and what is soul can only be done through the Word of God. The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil”. Our leaders must abstain from every form of evil, if they do not, I believe that something gets projected through their teaching, out of their soul power, into those who follow them. We must abstain from evil! I can not stress this enough, so many ministries are functioning through the power of the soul.

A W Tozer saw it coming years ago when he said “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference”. This what we are facing today!

Please consider all of this, I may not have it all right but I feel there is enough evidence in the scripture to have this conversation.