This Scripture has its roots in Proverbs, surprisingly. It certainly marks 2 sets of people, two breeds, the proud and the humble. These two breeds can be compared also to Jesus’ parable concerning the wheat and tares, and the sheep and goats. Revelation maps out the destiny of these two groups, one group belonging to Christ, marked by Him, the antichrist with the Mark of the Beast. As one who loves to study and compare Scripture, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5, transports this proverb and makes it New Testament application, which shows us that God’s nature never changes.

God resists

It is very distressing when the proud live among us, making their own decisions and speaking of their conquests, and the language is more about “I”, “I am” “I will”, and you can detect in their language that God has no place, and it shows you that pride has certainly taken over their lives. Today more and more you see a polarisation, you see ideologies more and more in the papers, social media. Many say those who preach righteousness divide the nations, and in favour of diversity the key word is “tolerance”. The kind of tolerance that demons inspire today lead direct to the plains and fires of hell. The lockdown over the nations has served to take the lid off problems in families, in marriages, in offspring. It seems the world has become full of hate, full of opinion. It is very alarming to see the panorama and the landscape far more darker and more sinister.

The next US Elections in November will prove to be a test of this divide. There is a move against the Church that I think is going to be a test for other nations to follow, especially regarding proclaiming a second wave of COVID19 and the demonisation of Church meetings. It seems that the demographic of life has been forced into a change. When you see the numbers of deaths, all regrettable, they do not equate a context of a pandemic. The Spanish flu of a hundred years ago was a pandemic.

The key is what God is doing here. God is “resisting” the proud. When we examine the word “resist” in the Greek we see God be on the opposing side, actively warring against pride. This same seed is the same that infected the celestial beings of heaven that led to Lucifer to fall from heaven. Is it not therefore indicative that before the antichrist is revealed so pride in all its forms is full in its different spheres that it operates? So this “resisting” from God is also an indication of an eternal destiny, in hell, where God is not present in His Goodness and His Grace. So in the eternal roll out of the times and seasons here on the earth it should not surprise us that pride, a foundation to so if not all sin, should reach its fullness. Many so called believers will find that God becomes their enemy and the One who resists them.

You have to look at the objectives of their lives who are full of pride, their focus is self preservation through mammon, not trusting in God. We have a example of this in King Jehoshaphat, who built ships with Ahab. The ships never sailed but were destroyed by a freak storm. Jehoshaphat had aligned himself with Ahab who was a satanic king who did not fear God. The king of Judah did not trust God with building ships but depended on resources and manpower from satanic sources. The acquisition of life’s necessities no longer is founded in trusting the God of Provision, but the ethic of self effort and secular enterprise. No-one is saying that working and contributing to the economy is this, but when we trust in it rather than God, then it is like King Jehoshaphat trusting in Ahab.

The next manifestation of the fullness of pride has to do with identity. Sexuality has become aligned to identity, so sexuality has transitioned into a preference. Is it by chance that the manifestation of this “right” is shown in Pride marches? The statement made is my life is based on self determination. That is a manifestation of pride. This pride must also be an open door for satan to operate because it was for this that he fell.

Sodom and Gomorrah was burned for pride, says Ezekiel 16, because they had become rich and lazy. So the blood of those cities cries against society today. We know that we serve a righteous God, so that complaint is counting against those engaged in pride in all its forms.

We are going to see in this time evidence of the resistance of God. We are going to see it, and it will drive us to Fear Him. Just as showers of fire descended on Sodom fires are already raining down, on the world. This fire right now will make the way for revival. There is however coming a day when God closes the door on the Grace season, and He will shift His attention to His elect. The Jews will see their Messiah and the fires of revival will be replaced with fires of judgment!

Give grace to the humble…

There is coming a role reversal. The humble are those who process their affliction into grace. There are those whose humility and obedience to God is being a target for persecution, but God is coming with mighty power. The Church when it is persecuted accesses a power and a walk in God that people begin to fear being around them. As people become more and more conformed to the things they worship so the presence of the humble shall threaten them. God is preparing a Joseph people who have promise but only know the prison of preparation, God will exalt them in a moment. That is coming. The Scriptures are full of references to the humble being exalted. The humble knows that God is working for them, and their lives are seeing all things work for them not to them.

It is said that Moses was the most humble, yet his relationship to God was face to face. The humble will have known hardships in their desert times. When you consider that John the Baptist was in the desert but his voice, his proclamations emptied towns and cities. When you consider Jeremiah who against all popular prophecy foresaw the Captivity, the persecution that he suffered for the word he brought against the prosperity prophets of his day, when Jerusalem fell he gained favour with the Babylonian representative of the day to live where he would. He retained his house. Yet these prophets of prosperity were chained to a unknown land.

The issue is as serious, because those who are humble are those who willingly suffer for their vocation, even if it means losing all and losing everyone and being alone. They have weighed the consequences of obedience than conforming to a majority. Who has wept when all forsake, and accuse of being deluded? Who has wept when those they trusted begin to manifest anti christ attitudes and betray? Yet our eternal destiny is far more serious than momentary pleasures and momentary peace. The peace we gain now by compromise can be the torment eternally for disobeying He who called us.

It is in these moments that we come into the GIVING of God. In the proud there is a resisting, whilst the humble they experience a constant GIVING from God. I have seen it personally, that in moments of great anguish and great cost, or losses, God has come to bring me something I need in the moment. The “Grace” God brings to us is a great manifestation of FAVOUR. This favour will be the platform where His Exaltation will come to us and will work through us!!!

Jesus descended to the depths (Ephesians 4) yet He ascended and was given the highest place (Philippians 2) and was given a name that is above every name, that at that name all would confess, whether believer or not, some confessing for their condemnation, others confessing for their convocation to the greatest reward of their preparation, for their obedience.

Why do we obey? What are the motivations for this suffering? For this stance of no compromise? It is what awaits us in the eternal realms! What waits for us is not things, gifts, thrones, powers, but our Union with Him who loved us first! His ways are past finding out by human minds. To the eternal ecstasy our momentary affliction fades, for our eternal health, our momentary wounds on this planet, fade as a distinct memory. For our eyes are focussed on Him who is the focus of our love! We have been moulded and weaned from the earthly to the heavenly so that we become transformed to the Bride of this Bridegroom. Our suffering is the road, the platform for our great love, our greatest joy!

The Grace He gives us is the vision of the golden road to the Celestial city which is the Bride, the 12 foundations of His Church, the 12 gates for the eternal Israel! It is that grace that when we are falling to the ground in great anguish, in great weakness, in great reproach lends its celestial hand and says “remember what is before you”. As you look up you see the glow on the horizon. As you look back all those who mocked you, their castles will fall away as you are lifted to your eternal estate, to those who withheld their help to you will see their silver and gold thrown out on the street worthless. The reversal is coming. The key is to pay the highest price, the key is the focus , the key is your vision. It cannot depend on the comforts we can gain right now. We are destined to live in a place without end, we are destined to live with One who loves us intensely, purely. We are destined to live without tears, death and war. This can only happen as we allow ourselves to maintain our humble estate here so that we may glorify Him and allow Him to bring His Purpose to completion.

Maranatha come quickly Lord Jesus!

Russell A Durose

3.9.20

russell.durose@thespiritandthebridesaycome.com