Wednesday, 15 March 2017

The Cross And The Church


Join This HeartCry Prayer: Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11:30am - 1:30pm (UK time)

1Corinthians 1:18-25
“ For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:  but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Colossians 2:11-23 
in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

  • The power and glory of God that ought to be the hallmark of the church’s operation on earth is only truly experienced when men and women called by His name have come to the place of death, to the Cross of Calvary. 

  • For men to be released from the tyranny of sin and its guilt, men must have seen the cross of Calvary. How is this possible if the message of Christ and Him crucified is not preached? 

  • The early church did not give in to the Jews who required signs nor to the Greeks who demanded wisdom. 1 Cor 1:22-24. Their message was one – “But we preach Christ crucified”.  They saw great and effectual results from the simple, unsophisticated and uncomplicated preaching of the cross. It is the power of God….. 1 Corinthians 1:18 

  • The devil, knowing the power of the cross, has worked extra time to keep its message from being preached in the church our day. He has used and is still using several strategies to accomplish this. He blindfolds men from seeing or acknowledging the cross, he seeks to ridicule the cross, he undermines the cross and its power and he works hard to becloud it. 


Job 5:12-14  (NKJV) 
“He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot carry out their plans. He catches the wise in their own craftiness, And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them. They meet with darkness in the daytime, And grope at noontime as in the night”. 

Prayer:

  • The devil’s blindfold ~ 2 Cor 4:3-4. Today, we come in the authority of the name of Jesus and command every blindfold of the devil in the church to be removed. 

  • We pray against everything that the devil has been using to take the eyes of the church off the cross and its message. We nullify every distraction in the form of activities, endless ceremonies and typologies. 

  • We come against every effort of man that is taking the place of the cross in the life of the church. 

  • Lord, frustrate everything the devil has done to render impotent, undermine and make void of effect of the cross in the church today. 

  • Isaiah 5:13-14- ignorance is part of the devil’s strategy to cover up the fact of His defeat by the cross of Calvary. Today, in the name of Jesus Christ, we declare that blind eyes in the church begin to see the cross again as the light of the glorious gospel of Christ shines on men. (2 Cor 4:4) 

  • Col 2:18-20- What depths of deception and bondage the devil has brought into the church because men are not being pointed to the Man of Calvary! Lord, by the anointing of Your Holy Spirit, cause Your church to be brought out of her bondage and deception into the glorious deliverance secured by the cross of Christ. 

  • Lord, re-crop Your church with men and women, young and old, who are not apologetic about the message of the cross. Take away the dread of preaching the message of the cross from the faces of pastors, teachers and evangelists. 

  • Lord, let a fresh revelation of the meaning, the mystery and the ministry of the cross of Christ come back to Your church.

  • Lord, let the church be rid of everything that beclouds the cross and makes it obscure. Let the message of the cross of Christ become the one proclamation of the church worldwide in our day. 

  • The message of the cross has largely been lost on the younger generation of our times. Lord, raise a generation of youth who become soldiers of the cross of Christ, willing to bear it’s shame no matter what. 

  •  The message of the Cross of Calvary will not be forgotten in our generation in the name of Jesus. 


 King Of My Life  
1. King of my life, I crown Thee now,  
Thine shall the glory be;  
Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow,  
Lead me to Calvary.  
  
 Lest I forget Gethsemane,         
Lest I forget Thine agony,         
Lest I forget Thy love for me,         
Lead me to Calvary.  
  
2. Show me the tomb where Thou wast laid, 
 Tenderly mourned and wept;  
Angels in robes of light arrayed,  
Guarded Thee whilst Thou slept  
  
3. Let me like Mary, through the gloom,  
Come with a gift to Thee;  
Show to me now the empty tomb,  
Lead me to Calvary.  
  
4. May I be willing, Lord, to bear  
Daily my cross for Thee;  
Even Thy cup of grief to share,  
Thou hast borne all for me.  
  
5. Fill me, O Lord, with Thy desire  
For all who know not Thee;  
Then touch my lips with holy fire,  
To speak of Calvary.  
Jenny Hussey                              

Join This HeartCry Prayer: Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11:30am - 1:30pm (UK time)