Acts America

If Any Man Could Move Me

2 Corinthians Chapter 13:14

Ezekiel Chapter 14:12-20

I believe with all my heart that in any generation God is looking for men and women that He can do mighty exploits through. Those that are truly born-again, desiring in their daily lives to walk in the Spirit. They have put their hands to the plow, they are not looking back. They don’t have to look back. They've killed the oxen. They've used the plow to set the fire. The past is the past; the future is exciting to them. They are thankful. They don't play a spiritual game, but they have a desire to prove that God will be everything He said He would be. I believe that God is now endeavoring to look for a Bride; people that will rise to the challenge and be men and women of God. Those that will understand their position, their frailties and realize weakness is a reproach in the Kingdom of God, only because of the offer that God has made to us; the awesome power of the Holy Ghost. Yes, we're weak in ourselves, but we don’t have to be weak Christians. We can be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. It’s a reproach to God to be anything less. It's not humble to walk around lowly and meek to the point that you look so quiet and soft spoken, trying by the flesh to show compassion. That's not humility at all. God is looking for men and women that believe Him, that believe that He can raise them up from where they're at to put them in a position to be men and women of God.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.”

Energy for that divine partnership God speaks of here comes with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was sent by God, a person, to lead men that are hungry for Jesus. He would convict the world of their sin unto salvation. He would open our eyes to our lostness. We would be drawn by that Holy Ghost conviction to the blood of Jesus Christ that was able to atone for our sins, to cover and cleanse us, to make us whole and to write our name in the Lambs Book of Life. Not for us to struggle the rest of our lives in ball and chain, hoping we can make it to heaven, but for Him to empower us that we would become the sons of God. That we would overcome every obstacle of the flesh, every obstacle that hell would put up to impede the progress of the Church. He said the gates of hell would not stop the progress of the Church. That is us, that is you, the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Ghost. The Bible declares that the gates of hell should not prevail over you. The Holy Ghost brings us to that victory, that place where we can walk in constant victory with Him. Yes, seeing ourselves and humanity, but having eyes turned toward Christ, toward that power, to give a testimony to this world that He is alive. Not that we've changed clothes or this, that and the other, but that God is alive and He resides in our hearts. Not that He is just in heaven, but He's in us. He's made a difference in our hearts and we are moved by Him. We are touched and stirred by Him to the place where we want to reach back and touch Him. To me that is Christianity. That is walking with God and there is so much more we could say about the power of God residing in your life.

There was a constant energy when you were lost to do the things that Satan desired you to do. You didn’t struggle trying to smoke. You didn’t struggle in the habits you had. It wasn't all you could do to reach out and grab a hold of that thing. There was no struggle for you to walk in the flesh, you just did it. It was natural to you. There was energy for you to do the things that the world wanted you to do. There was energy for ungodly lust and fellowship, but when you truly got born again, when you gave your heart to Christ, a new power came into your heart and life, a power greater than the one you had when you were in the world. That power energizes you. That power absolutely overcomes you and all your natural habits and tendencies. That is Christianity. That is walking in the Spirit. All this other stuff is just religion, but when you get truly born again and go on to get filled with the Holy Ghost, it’s a supernatural happening in your life. The wants and desires of self change. If they try to rise up you have an old rugged cross and the power of the Holy Ghost. The Bible says you can get free, walk in that freedom and have victory. What is all this freedom and victory for in your life? For us to continue to come to church, or is it for the Holy Ghost, to look up and down every pew, street corner, and every city of every nation and find those that He might flow through? That He might do mighty exploits in your life. Frail and flawed as you were, as lost as you were, if you are truly born again, God didn’t put you where you are today to get puffed up with knowledge. He placed you there to mold and make you, to position you that God Almighty might flow through you like a mighty river of the Holy Ghost and show forth His power through you. That is what He is looking for. That is why any preacher worth his salt will be nagged and disturbed in his spirit when people sit in the House of God and call themselves Christians but never grow or mature. You can see the same problems and bondages in their lives year after year. It bothers preachers because they are to be a vessel where the river of life flows through. That is God's hope! The Church cannot do without the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost cannot do without the Church. He needs a body.

Communion means partnership. Do you understand what I mean when I say that the Holy Ghost wants to come into partnership with you? To fix your problems or make your wagon roll a little easier, to pad your pocket book or look more successful, to give you some prestige or reputation amongst men that you've arrived? Although you're a Christian are you still able to do the things that lostmen do, but you just have the tag of Christian on your name? Is that what we're talking about when God said communion with the Holy Ghost? That your habits won't forever dog you, is that it? No, absolutely not! Paul had something for all that called a cross. He said this partnership of the Holy Ghost is for more than even that. It's a partnership of His mission, the partnership of His purpose and plan. He needs those bodies as vessels that He can indwell and fill with the Holy Ghost to accomplish His mission on this earth. He wants to partner with you, to be your comrade, but He can't do that when there are hindrances, when He is grieved, when there is carnality. You'll deceive yourself with a shout, with works, with your emotionalism and Satan will sit right beside of you in the House of God and encourage it all. You know it in your heart that there are things you haven’t dealt with. The Holy Ghost wants to be a partner; He wants to be your partner. He wants to give you all the resources He has. He wants to share with us, admitting us into His mission, bringing us into fellowship with Him. The Holy Ghost has a perfect plan for this hour. He comes and fills our hearts first that we might be drawn into His position. He'll fill your heart with the desires of God. You don’t have the desire or willpower or ability, but the Holy Ghost will come and negotiate with the child of God. He said "I've got this part that I desire for you to play. I desire you to be used in this place. Will you allow Me to come in and be the Lord of your life?" He will negotiate with you and deal with you. All He wants is for you to consent, "Yes I will put Christ first. I'll consecrate my life to Jesus." He seeks to come into cooperation with us, negotiates and then He waits for our consent. We open up our hearts and yield to Him and He comes and there is nothing too hard for Him when He comes. Nothing. He asks for nothing more or less than an unreserved consecration to Jesus Christ. That unreserved consecration to Jesus Christ is an open heart and simplicity that desires to honor and glorify Him in all things. That when He puts His finger on something in your life you are the first one to cry out and run to the Throne of Grace. When a preacher stands in the pulpit with a word from heaven that is directed right at you, My God you ought to cry out "God, help my soul! I don’t want to be a hindrance in your Body!" He desires those vessels He can use, and it's for everybody. Every person that is truly born again can say the Holy Ghost wants to be in partnership with me. He desires to flow through my life. He desires for all of the will of God to be prevalent in my life, to use me for the will of God to come to pass.

What manner of men we ought to be with the awesome power of the Holy Ghost in our lives! God knows every ABC in your heart tonight that is not with Him. He knows everything in your life that’s not just right. He has it all figured out. He knows exactly how He is going to deal with your heart. God doesn’t make it hard for you to get free. We paint the picture that it's so hard for God to move on our behalf, it's all we can do to make it. There is no such thing. Just as much energy you had in the world, you got it multiplied many times over at salvation. You want a prayer life; there is energy in the Holy Ghost to have a prayer life. You want to be separated from darkness; there is energy in the Holy Ghost to be separated from darkness. Energy. Partnership. We are the ones that set the boundaries and limits by the life we live. He is jealous to fill our lives and jealous of our love. He jealously desires to fill these vessels with His power and His resources and His person. Those in any body of believers that truly have a heart cry for God, God will find them. He will pick them out and raise them up. He'll fill them with every resource of His person and His power. Everyone else may shout and dance, but there is no real power in their lives. It’s the same bondages and problems there forever and a day, struggling at best with that square peg trying to go in a round hole. The word was meant to be an offense but only for a short time for the true child of God. It offends the flesh and that which hinders God, but the true child of God welcomes it. He can't wait to repent because a truckload of fruit comes with that repentance. He'll lead us into communion with all that He has and all that He is. The Holy Ghost will lead us. When I was lost there was energy to be certain places. I had no problem being there and I didn’t have to struggle getting there. If I didn't have gas I found ways to get gas and got where I was going. Well, since I've been born again there isn't a struggle either, there is always energy to be where I need to be. I need to be in church, there is energy to be in church. The Holy Ghost that saved me has energy to be where I need to be, abundant energy. And when you pray you don’t pray foolish, you advance the kingdom of God. God the Holy Ghost is looking for vessels. He is looking those He can energize with His power, His purpose.

Ezekiel 14 was a dark time in Israel, a very dark time. The only thing that would remedy the situation was the judgment of God. God was about to bring Israel through seventy years of judgment in Babylon. God knew that was the only thing that would fix the problem, and even in that there would only be a remnant that would come out. God knew the remedy; He knew what would have to take place. God uses this opportunity to show us something in the Word. He teaches us about that desire in His heart for that partnership. That desire to find vessels that He can flow through and bring forth His honor and glory. Now let me preface this. The 18th century was a time of tremendous wealth, luxury, and the glory of the reformation for the most part had died away. The ministry for the most part had gone to carnality and looseness. There was very little reverence of God; it was a very dark time like it was in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The early 1700s was a very dark time in England. But in the midst of that, through the mercy and grace of God, four men were born. Three of them in the same year of 1703 named John Wesley, Gilbert Tenant, and Jonathan Edwards. Eleven years later George Whitefield was born. Just four men would be all that it would take in the 18th century to turn that little world upside down in the great awakening that came to England. God found vessels, the same kind of vessels that He is looking for today. Oh no, you'll never be a George Whitefield, He didn’t call you to be. He called you to be you, the power of God flowing through you. At the lowest depth of the river, when it looked the darkest, a group of people looked for revival. The greatest revivals you've ever read about is when it came to the very worst, and God found a few vessels to flow through, Praise God. When hopelessness of darkness and sin fills the community and nation and our families, that’s when true men will rise up with a vision, and every man of God that had a true vision looked for men that had a hunger for God so that they could put that vision in them. They didn’t sit self-righteous; they were with that man of God. Every man of God is looking for those that will be with Him. Those four men turned that little world upside down in revival. Here in Ezekiel God was about to do the same thing. He can do it in this generation.

(Ezekiel 14:12-14; 19-20) “The word of the Lord came again to me saying, son of man, when the land sinneth against Me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out My hand upon it and will break the staff of the bread thereof and send famine upon it and cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own soul by their righteousness saith the Lord God... Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast, though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live saith the Lord God they shall deliver neither son nor daughter, they shall deliver their own souls by their righteousness.”

(Jeremiah 15:1) “Then said the Lord unto me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet My mind could not be toward this people, cast them out of My sight and let them go forth.”

God is talking about the bondage of Babylon, the captivity of seventy years. He knew it was the only remedy and that out of this He would get a remnant that would come out and restore the testimony. But in the midst of it, God got the opportunity to make mention of five men of God. In the midst of where the judgment would come He acknowledged that there were five men of God. Do you hear what the Lord is saying? Noah, Daniel, Job, Moses and Samuel. He makes mention of these men of God. And what God was acknowledging in the midst of the judgment that was about to be poured out was that these men could be here, but it wouldn’t prevail anything. It wouldn’t change anything. They couldn’t save one son or one daughter, and they would only save their own souls. What was God saying? God was saying that if anybody could change it, if anybody could cause something tremendous to happen, if anybody could cause a miracle to take place, “these men could move Me!” Against this darkness, God almighty mentioned those that had prevailed with Him. He said, “In the past these men have prevailed with Me and I, God, have put Myself in their hands.” He said, “I can look back and there was times in Moses, in Job, in Daniel, in Samuel, in Noah that they so prevailed with me, they so cried out, they were such a vessel that I put My power in their hands and they prevailed over the darkness in their hour.” God said, “If anything could be done, if anybody could influence me, these men would be able to.” If He could be persuaded to intervene, these men could move Him! He was talking about men that had power with Him; men that had the power of God. He was talking about when it seemed like everything is impossible and you've come to the end of possibility, these men would rise up and get something accomplished! The situation here was hopeless, it was beyond even these men, but He uses this as an opportunity to teach us a valuable lesson, that there are times when the situation looks desperate. There are times when the situation looks hopeless, when the darkness seems to have permeated everything around you, but God in heaven is saying if I could just find Me a man! If I could just find somebody I could put Myself into, I could entrust My power, the communion of the Holy Ghost, the partnership of the power of God.

And we just want to go to church, and we want to try to make it? Christians become a part of the very darkness that they're trying to set people free of. Our lives have become a part of that darkness; our habits, our besetting sins, our lifestyles, our ups and down and ins and outs become a very part of the darkness and bondage that we say this world needs to be set free of. He mentions these names to give us hope. If anything could be done, no matter how desperate the situation, these men could bring it about. God is saying, “I will put My hand right in their hands. I will give them My strength, My resources, I will give everything to them that belongs to My Name. Those that I can find that are pure and walk upright and deal in righteousness with the things in their lives.” He's speaking to those men that desire the power of God to flow through them, making them true men and women of God. God is not going to move unless there are those who prevail with Him, who have learned to prevail with God. They have learned the communion of the Holy Ghost; that God can move according to His will or His knowledge in men's lives. There are still situations that look dark. There are still things around us that are open to heaven to move on. God will not move on a situation until He finds those hearts and lives that have learned to prevail with Him! That He can put His power in their lives. God offers Himself, God offers His sovereign power and grace and all His mercy, all of it. Who is really interested? Do we have our little comfort zones and our comfortable Christianity where our preachers preach the word of God and we're comfortable? Or is it stirring you to be those men and women of God that God can place His purpose and plan in you to move the heart of God? He said, “if it were possible, these men could move me.” Is that what God is going to say about you, or does your God just help you pay your bills? Does He just keep you from getting too overweight, or stay in church or focused in this day? Is that your God? Is that as large as God can be to you, is that as large as your tent will ever be? Or are you going to be like Daniel, Job, Moses, Samuel, Noah? That when it looks like the darkness has gotten so overwhelming, God can find you? That is what God is offering you. Most preachers are trying to keep their salaries and their pews full. There are good preachers here and there, but most of them have sold out to this world with its money, power and prestige. But God, in this hour, in any hour is looking for individuals that know how to prevail with Him. Is that going to be you? Are you going to be one of those? Is that your heart? He said these men moved My heart. I can see God thinking about Moses, about Daniel. Daniel, when it wasn’t very popular to turn your eyes toward Jerusalem and pray. As a matter of fact you were playing with death, but there was an energy in him. He had learned how to prevail with God when He would go up to his room and open that window to the east and begin to pray toward Jerusalem. All across this world there are men and women of God that are rising to the occasion that have learned to prevail with God. They have learned His heart and mind. They don’t try to put that square peg in a round hole like those ones that always struggle in their Christianity. They've learned how to be led by the spirit, they've learned how to be led into communion and fellowship. They are thankful that it's not a struggle the rest of their lives.

Noah was mentioned when the whole thing was coming to a close in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The whole dispensation was coming to a close, and God looks out over His past dealings with man and has to acknowledge that there have been a few that knew how to get to Him. Wouldn't you like that to be said about you? Not always having to say God always has to set me free and help me along the way, keep me saved, keep me from backsliding, keep me in church. Wouldn't it be nice for somebody to be able to say of you, “If God can be persuaded to move on a situation, to intervene in the midst of darkness that you are the one that God has found, that is able to touch His heart.” Not always needing a touch, but God knowing you touch Him. That is the power, partnership and communion of the Holy Ghost. He energizes you, that is what God is looking for. You say, "I have too many problems," not for God. The one that year after year struggles with sin will never prevail with God, but no matter what is in your natural life that isn’t like God, if you are totally yielded and broken through His dealings, with a cry in your heart, God Almighty will deliver your soul so that you will prevail with God. I'm not talking about being prideful and religious, with an arrogance in your life. I am talking about those that can move God. God was saying if I could be moved, Noah could move Me and I would have yielded to Noah, to Moses, to Daniel, to Job, to Samuel. Does that move you? Noah can move Me, God said.

“By faith, Noah being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with Godly fear preparing the ark to the saving of His house through which He condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

God looked out over that space of time in Noah's day, what did He see? He saw men whose minds were unrighteous and evil all the time. That is just about what God sees today when He looks out on this generation. He sees how men's minds are on evil continuously. The church itself is set on evil for the most part continually. They come to the House of God, get a short reprieve, but for the most part men's hearts and eyes are on evil almost continually. Most of the church is trying to stay free of this, or that, and don’t do too much of that or go too far here. That is what God saw in Noah's generation; a whole race of men, every imagination of their hearts was corrupt… “but Noah” the Bible says. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. The first thing about Noah is that he stood true to God, out of all the confusion and idolatry and adultery and fornication, all the lasciviousness, the looseness, God looked down when most men's hearts were on evil continually. It was a heart matter; the whole thing was a heart matter. When God looked on the universe, most men's hearts were on evil continually, but He looked at Noah's heart and it was different. Was it perfect, no, but different. He had a heart for God. Heaven bore witness, I know this man, he's got a heart for Me and if anybody can do anything, Noah can do it. If anybody can move God it will be Noah. If anybody can permeate the darkness, it will be Noah. Noah was distinguished from all of the men of his generation. How easy it would have been for Noah to find an excuse. This is where most people live, saying that the hour we live has so much temptation and sin, so much enticing of the world, so many churches saying so many things. Noah could've used this excuse: “What is the use God? Look around, look at this church, that church, the other church, and look at what they all are doing. What is the use of towing the line, of really being different?” That’s what he could've said. He could've said they were out numbered. When all the dust settled only eight of them were saved. But Noah didn’t have that attitude. He didn’t want what the world had either. He just wanted to be a man of God. Here is one man, in the whole human race that would not compromise, one man all alone in the whole world. One man. If anything could be done, God would do it though that man.

Have you ever thought that just maybe we're being tested by the situation which God has placed us in? Have you ever thought that just maybe God is making it real difficult to find out who might rise up in the midst of it and stand? Have you ever thought that the eyes of God are running to and fro in the midst of the darkness to find out who will stand above the crowd and say "God, I've learned to prevail with you? God, if you'll move through me we will touch that darkness." OR has your Christianity become so small that you're just trying to make it? When the whole thing seems hopeless and impossible, God is trying to bring us to the place where we know the secret of prevailing with Him. In every generation God has had those that would rise to the forefront and learn to prevail with Him until God was able to put His hand in their hand and say "the situation is impossible, but I have to yield to that man, I have to yield to that woman." God now responds to your intercession, to your prevailing, to your communion with the Holy Ghost, to the energy that is in your heart and life. That you are able to move back the darkness with His help. Noah stood alone; he stood solitary, right by himself. It was dark, it looked impossible but Noah stood. God needs men and women like that right now that will stand alone if need be, that will not deny their God, will not be ashamed of their God but will stand alone with the Lord if need be and not compromise until God will have to acknowledge like He did in Ezekiel and Jeremiah: “If anything can be done, they will move My heart.” If any man can move me. If any man can move me. Is that going to be your testimony? We can move our generation for God, if that interests you. If any man can move God, will you be one of those? Is that what your life is going to depict, is that going to be your testimony? Noah, Moses, Daniel, Job, Samuel, He said if it were possible these men would move Me.

There are situations around us now that look impossible, but heaven is still open to move on them. There are situations in your town and city, in this nation that look impossible, but heaven is still open. God is saying "If I can just find Me a vessel that can prevail with Me I will move though that vessel and touch those people." We've got a place in this call, in this Gospel, in this last day church. God looks around and sees things that are dark. They look void and helpless, but heaven is still open! If He can find some men and women that can prevail, if God can find a few men of God that can prevail with Him, He will put His hand in their hand. Men like Elisha, who said "Elijah, I will not leave you. For as God lives and your soul lives, I want that world that you've come out of. I want to live in that spirit world. I'm not about God helping me in my world. I'm not interested in God blessing me in my world, in my endeavors. I am interested in getting into God's world. That is why I use the plow as the fire to cook my oxen, for there is nothing left behind to run to." Is that going to be your testimony, or is some preacher going to have to preach to you about getting all that stuff out of your life all the time? Or will God say, I will yield to that one, and change the situation? Rise to the challenge, allow the grace of God, the power of the Holy Ghost to so energize you in this generation that God will say about you, “If any man could move me, If any man can touch My heart, you will be the one!"