In the vision of the statue translated by Daniel, he saw the last world empire, which will be destroyed at the Lord’s coming. Daniel 2:42-44. The legs of iron were the Roman Empire which existed at the time of Christ. This became the Holy Roman Empire after Constantine adopted Christianity as a State Religion in the 3rd Century AD. Out of this ultimately came the secular European Union, brought into being by the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

This empire, the feet of the image, is a mixture of iron and clay; it cannot hold together and will be destroyed by the Coming of Christ. The EU is literally a mixture of the strong nations such as Germany and France, which control the weaker ones such as Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and the former communist countries.

In 2007 the European Council (the UNELECTED, UNDEMOCRATIC controlling body of the EU) met in Lisbon to set in motion a new Constitution for Europe. Known as the Lisbon Treaty, this was to modify and replace the founding 1957 Treaty of Rome, and also the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which itself had been purposely drafted to ‘DRIVE FORWARD THE INTEGRATION OF EUROPE TO ITS FINAL CONCLUSION’.

All 27 Member States (as they were then) were obliged to ratify the Lisbon Treaty by December 2009. Some governments simply signed up to the treaty without consulting their peoples. Some countries allowed their peoples a referendum.

In June 2008 we were surprised to hear and read reports in the international news media about the Irish referendum to be held on the Treaty, and the threats/pressures being put on the people of the Republic of Ireland to NOT reject it…

We called friends in Northern Ireland – no-one there knew the referendum was taking place in Southern Ireland that very next day!!! The British media were running a total news blackout!

The Irish voted NO to the treaty! We read the post-referendum reports in French, German and English newspapers: how was Brussels going respond?

-The papers were unanimous–Brussels would either ignore the NO vote and proceed with the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty anyway, or make the Irish vote YES. That’s exactly what happened; within 16 months there was a re-run of the referendum. This time, the Irish voted YES…! Now Britain is under the same pressures the Irish were subjected to.

Over the years several countries have had the opportunity to hold a referendum on certain different issues and treaties to do with the European Union. At different times the peoples of Denmark, Spain, Portugal, France, Holland – and the Republic of Ireland – have voted NO when given the opportunity – to NO effect!!! There is a strong move, promoted from the EU, to ignore or overturn the result of the 2016 British referendum!

The EU is not just a free trade area, a ‘common market’. At its core it’s about FISCAL AND POLITICAL UNION. Very few people are aware of the extent of the plans Brussels has been implementing since 1990 and for which the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and the Lisbon Treaty were essential. The plan, known as ‘INTERREG’, is to create a ‘Europe of the Regions’ to ‘permanently overcome national borders’ and to achieve a ‘UNITED EUROPE’. Under ‘INTERREG’ the EU planned to divide Britain into three regions, all being joined to areas in other European countries!

Each new zone was to have its own ‘transnational regional assembly’ and flag. The ‘Arc Manche’ region was to join parts of southern England with northern France; the Atlantic region included western parts of England, Wales and Ireland joined to Portugal and Spain; the North region joined eastern England with Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and parts of Germany.

There were 5 stages to ‘INTERREG’ – the fifth and FINAL stage, 2014-2020! But in 2016 Britain voted for Brexit! To come out of the EU. March 29th 2019 is Brexit – the Day we should come out!

In all the years since the formation of the Common Market, the evidence is that every single British Prime Minister – from Heath to Blair to Cameron and now Theresa May – has lied to the British people. The EU is NOT simply about a free trade market, but to destroy the sovereignty of component nations and create instead a European Super State run by an undemocratic, unelected body, the Council of Europe.

Who have we in Britain been negotiating with? Who is Barnier? The EU is UNDEMOCRATIC and UNACCOUNTABLE. When I commented to the Head of the Pentecostal Churches in Kiev that the EU is as bad as communism, he replied that, after years of living as a Christian under communism and now negotiating in Brussels – the EU is ONE HUNDRED TIMES WORSE THAN COMMUNISM!

With The draft treaty which Theresa May signed in November means we cannot get our freedom without the agreement of the other 27 nations! If they will not give us any concessions now, while we still have the power to negotiate, make a ‘hard Brexit’ and not pay the 39 Billion, they will absolutely NOT give any more concessions after we sign away our freedom!

Christians in Germany understand this and are praying for us. Berthold Becker, German businessman, intercessor, wrote to me:

Many of us intercessors in Germany wanted Britain to stay in the EU. However, the Holy Spirit convinced us to pray in unity for Brexit. This was most unexpected, but the miracle happened, and Britain voted for Brexit. From my perspective, Brexit is primarily of spiritual rather than of economic importance. About the same time as the Brexit issue came up, the Lord reminded us of old prophecies about His plans to bring evangelistic end-time revival to Britain and to the continent of Europe. The Lord wants Britain to be set apart from the EU and not under the ‘EU-Babylonian rule.

Britain is facing the greatest crisis, the most difficult hour since the last war. I know Christians in Britain are divided over Brexit, but we are fighting for the sovereignty of the UK! Look at what the EU will do to us if we do not pull out: to cut us up as a United Kingdom, the EU is going to do what Hitler did.

In World War II, the Republic of Southern Ireland supported Hitler, to the extent that the German U-Boats, which were attacking our shipping, were based in the Republic, in order to intercept and destroy our supply line.

And Hitler’s promise: When I win the war, I will give you Northern Ireland. Today the EU is using Northern Ireland in exactly the same way as Hitler did, to break up and destroy the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

If Britain goes with Theresa May’s Brexit plan, Ulster is the sacrificial lamb and will effectively cease to be part of the United Kingdom. Britain will be broken up.

We will NEVER have another chance to determine our sovereignty. And, without the approval of Parliament, May has signed away our military, to be under German control; the EU will be able to control our borders.

Hungary has seen the danger of this and is very worried. There is so much more that our Prime Minister is not telling us. We will lose all sovereignty unless we make a clean break.

Copyright © 2019 David Hathaway Prophetic Vision-All rights reserved

During His ministry on earth, Jesus’ message from beginning to end was the Kingdom of God. He went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, healing every disease and sickness. Matthew 9:35. Before His crucifixion, He taught His dis-ciples, “This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.

Crucified as King – in the 40 days between His resurrection and ascen-sion into Heaven, Jesus spoke to His apostles ‘of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God’ so that they asked him, “Will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:3-6).

Even the devil understood Christ’s mission on earth – and sought to subvert it: ‘Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit…was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being 40 days tempted of the devil…And the devil, taking Him up into a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And the devil said to Him, “All this power will I give You, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If You therefore will worship me, all shall be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind me, Satan: for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”’ (Luke 4:1-2, 5-8).

Notice, Jesus did not say to Satan, “You do not have the power over the king-doms of the earth.” Why? Because He Himself called Satan the ‘prince of this world’.

Speaking the night before His crucifix-ion, Jesus said, “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out!” (John 12:31). But only when the third woe of the Book of Revelation is come and the seventh angel sounds, then there will be a sound of great voices in Heaven say-ing, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15).

The whole world we live in today is under attack from Satan whom Jesus saw cast out of Heaven and fall like lightning to the earth. (Luke 10:18). It was this same Satan who deceived Adam and Eve and so became ‘prince of this world’ instead of God, with Adam now ruling under him, instead of under God. Satan is still seeking to keep control of this world and this world’s systems, and to destroy faith in Jesus Christ. Satan’s name, Lucifer, means ‘light-bearer’.

One of the three Archangels, Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer – beautiful heav-enly beings – closest to God Himself, he was created to worship and serve God. But, through ambition, he want-ed to be equal with God, rebelled against God, and was cast out of Heaven – to earth – falling as a great dragon, sweeping with him one third of all the heavenly hosts of angels! Revelation 12:3-4 tells us this. The Old Testament also gives witness to the rebellion of Lucifer in Heaven and his fall to earth.

Isaiah 14:12-14 shows that, controlling Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was Lucifer himself – and these verses describe, not Nebuchadnezzar the man, but Lucifer in him, his rebellion against God and his fall: ‘How art thou fallen from heav-en, O Lucifer, son of the morn-ing! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’ So controlling the ancient king-dom of Babylon and its king, was Lucifer, the prince of this world and of this world’s kingdoms and empires.

God gave Daniel the clearest picture and understanding of this world’s king-doms in Daniel 2. Whilst serving the King of Babylon during the Jewish exile there, God gave Daniel the gift both to tell Nebuchadnezzar the details of the dream that had troubled him, and give him a clear interpretation. In the dream, Nebuchadnezzar had seen an image representing succeeding world empires, beginning with himself, the King of Babylon, the head of gold, then the chest and arms of silver (the Medo-Persian Empire), the belly and thighs of bronze (the Greek Empire), then the legs of iron (the Roman Empire – fulfilled in the days of Christ on earth). By the third century after Christ, the Roman Emperor declared Christianity as the ‘official religion’ of the Roman Empire, Church and State became inseparable! And after the collapse of the Roman Empire, the power of the Roman Empire entered into the Church, ‘two legs’, the Roman Catholic Church in the West, and the Orthodox Church in the East! Both these Churches exist today.

The Babylonian Empire (the head of gold) was FIRST defeated by the Medo-Persian Empire – in Babylon. The Medo-Persian Empire (the chest and arms of silver) was defeated by the Greek Empire – in Babylon. The Greek Empire (the thighs of bronze) was defeated by the Roman Empire – in Babylon. The Roman Empire (the legs of iron) was defeated by the Germanic tribes – in Europe. The spirit of Babylon that was in the Medo-Persian Empire, then the Greek Empire, then the Roman Empire – is now in Europe. So what about the feet of iron and clay? The FINAL Empire?

Linking the EU with the Roman Empire that Daniel saw, it is significant that it was the ‘Treaty of Rome’ which brought the EU into existence in 1958; the goal, following two world wars in quick suc-cession – to bring a final end to war. Archbishop Welby on June 6 2018 eulo-gised the EU, himself linking it with Rome, calling it the greatest dream realised for human beings since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD – a perfect restoration of the Roman Empire!

Further evidence that the European Union is the direct descendent of the Babylonian Empire via the Roman Empire, as revealed to Daniel, is the EU’s own choice of symbols. See my film, ‘The Rape of Europe’. Years ago, when the European politicians wanted to advertise the purpose behind the European Union they produced a pro-motional poster based on the painting of the Tower of Babel by the famous 16th century painter Peter Brueghel. The prestigious EU parliament building in Strasbourg is actually modelled on Brueghel’s painting! But looking at the poster, it shows the tower with the slo-gan in French, ‘many tongues, one voice’, inverting God’s judgment on Babel!

What is Babel? The city of Babylon, or Babel, was built shortly after Noah’s flood by Nimrod as the centre of his kingdom. Genesis 10:10. The people joined together in order to make a name for themselves and to increase in power. This tower was an act of rebel-lion against God – intended to reach Heaven, to be greater than God – or high enough to escape a second flood – if punished for their sin.

God destroyed Babel, and Babylon became synonymous with sin and rebellion. Eventually in 586 BC God even allowed the children of Abraham the Jews, to be driven into exile in Babylon because of their sin. And it was here that God revealed to Daniel the secret of the succeeding world empires – from Babylon, the head of gold, to the ‘feet of iron and clay’ which will finally be destroyed by Jesus Christ.

The Bible is the past, present and future of 2 cities, 2 kingdoms: Jerusalem from where Christ the Great King will rule the earth, and Babylon which rules the earth today. We must not forget Israel’s unique position as a nation chosen by God, in a world full of a multitude of pagan gods, to demonstrate who the God of Israel is – He’s the God who created Heaven and earth.

The whole purpose, the whole history of Israel was to demonstrate the existence of God, to show who He is to a rebellious world. In part because Israel as a nation rejected Christ when He came, God has raised up other people, other nations, because His plan, from the beginning, is to save people out of every nation, tribe and tongue – through Israel, through Israel’s Messiah

There are only 2 nations God has significantly used in world history. I believe, after Israel, Britain is unique. At the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire – the last Roman troops left Britain in 410 AD – Celtic Britain was already a Christian country, now facing invasions from Anglo-Saxons and other barbar-ians.

Known as the ‘Dark Ages’, 400-800 AD, a recent BBC documentary, ‘How the Celts saved Britain’, showed that after the Romans left, the Northern Kingdom in Northumbria was in fact sending out missionaries to evangelise Europe! Ireland played a very signifi-cant part. St Patrick, 385-461 AD, British origin, but called the ‘Apostle to Ireland’, was known for his ministry of miracles and healings, just as in the days of the early Apostles. It was in Ireland that 300 years’ non-stop 24-hour prayer – day and night worship – began in Bangor Abbey, 550-810 AD. From there also missionaries were sent out in apostolic power across all Europe.

From the 6th century however, southern Britain came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire and a different form of Christianity. It was only the spiritual and political separation of Britain from Rome and from Europe at the time of the Reformation that led to the founding of the British Empire/ Commonwealth of Nations, independent from Europe and Rome. From there on, wherever the British Empire went, the Gospel of God’s Word was spread by missionaries great and small, and the Bible translated into every language.

If we accept the Truth of the Bible and the Truth of the prophecies of the Bible– all the empires seen by Daniel have already been terminated – except the final one. And this final one, the feet of iron and clay, which we believe to be the EU, is destroyed ‘by a Stone not made with hands’ – not human – but we believe is the return of Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ entire message was the ‘Kingdom of God’. The forgotten mes-sage of the Church is that when Christ came, His message was not simply the forgiveness of individual sin as we understand it, but the Kingdom of God – on earth!

The more you read the four Gospels and the more you read the New Testament, the more you see how strong this message of the Kingdom is. The very reason Jesus was crucified was because of His preaching of the Kingdom – which the Roman, and the Jewish leaders, couldn’t accept! The Kingdom!

The reason Judas betrayed Jesus was related to this. Being in charge of the purse strings and believing so strongly that Jesus would be King over Israel in his lifetime, Judas thought he would become Minister of Finance!

When Jesus told His disciples that He must first suffer and die, that He was not yet going to set up the Kingdom, Judas was so disappointed, he didn’t just quit, he sold Him to the Chief Priests for 30 shekels of silver!

Not only Judas believed in the immedi-ate Kingdom. After the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the disciples in Acts 1:4-8, saying, “Wait in Jerusalem until you receive the Holy Spirit and power and become My wit-nesses all over the world!” – their first reaction, v6 was, “Will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” Today there is a danger in the Church that too many like Judas are interested in the money and the worldly power now, and so many don’t understand, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God on earth. It is not myth, it is fact.

Copyright © 2018 David Hathaway Prophetic Vision-All rights reserved

 

Graham Lacey – speaking at the Day of Prayer for Britain, London 8 September 2017

This morning David Hathaway burned our hearts with his Declaration over Great Britain. He struck a chord with all of us because we are too well aware of the times in which we are living.

The Times recently published an article in its Comment Section written by Lord Daniel Finkelstein, ‘Should we care that Britain lost its religion?’ Politics in Britain were shaped for centuries by religion, he writes, but that is now vanishing. In his article he writes that on 4 September, the National Centre for Social Research published data revealing the proportion of people in Britain who describe themselves as having ‘no religion’ – it has now reached 53 percent of the population! Of the remaining 47 percent, only 15 percent claim affiliation with the Church of England.

Finkelstein wrote that it is hard to overstate how big a change this represents in our national and political story, saying that, whilst it must be respected, Christian faith is no longer the mainstream and cannot expect to ‘carry all before it’. And he goes on: “With advancing liberal causes that mean a lot to me – gay rights, abortion rights, assisted suicide – Britain was a Christian country, but now it’s not.” – That’s what Finkelstein says.

But he’s in for a surprise: Christians will change that prognosis. God has been on the throne for over 6000 years, and He will not forget His own. It cost Him His Son – and that Blood that sanctified us, washed us, is as efficacious today as it was 2000 years ago. David Hathaway has a very good vision, that a Declaration should be sent to Her Majesty, that our ruler should lead us spiritually in this path.

Let me give you an insight into a Declaration that the Queen herself made in a speech in 1994. It was the 150th anniversary of the YMCA, and turning to the General Secretary, she said,

I do hope I’m not going to upset or embarrass you today, but I’ve written this speech myself.” He replied, “Ma’am, it will be marvellous, I have no doubt!” She replied, “I’m not too sure, but I feel very strongly about it.” She started off by talking about men who had made a difference in Great Britain. She talked about men like John and Charles Wesley and the commencement of the Methodist Church, and the balance they had in preaching the Gospel with works – acts of love, faith in action. She went onto remind those there of the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, and the extraordinary work the Army did in changing society in preaching faith and balancing it with good works.

She then referred to George Williams, the founder of the YMCA, and what a privilege it was for her to be there for the 150th anniversary. Then she spoke these memorable words, speaking of these men, that they were the type of preachers we need today, who teach warning of the wrath and judgment to come, wrapped in love and mercy. – God save the Queen!

Before God will be ready to relent in mercy, we, in Britain, need to repent. We are sleep-walking, not prayer walking, into what is coming. Only the fear of God in society makes a nation safe. What on earth is going on?!! God’s wrath is about to fall!! God judges nations! But the sanctified will be under the Shadow of the Almighty, He will deliver them from the wrath to come, the Word of God tells us in Psalm 91.

But 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 says, ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’ When did you last read the Book of Revelation with its judgements? It is unique in all Holy Scripture because, in Chapter 1:3, it promises us that for reading it, hearing it, keeping it, we will receive blessing. It is relevant, because of the times in which we live. Let me ask you a question, is God at work in our world today?

In the affairs of nations, does God silently govern amidst the noise of man’s politics and conflict, of human and satanic evil? Is God fulfilling His purpose in our world today? We are caught up in the affairs of men, we cannot avoid the implications of the actions of men in a world of sin, where the things of God, His morality, His authority, teachings, truths are legislated against – as though God has somehow abdicated His Throne. As a result it has been usurped by politics, the will of man with no regard for the Will of God.

Our lives are entangled in the interconnections of this global village, more than ever before. But there are consequences for the Body of Christ as there were in the days of Noah. In His Word, God has revealed a great deal about His dealings with nations and their leaders. We are warned in Jeremiah 9:23,

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercise loving-kindness, judgement and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.’

God teaches us to glory in the knowledge of Him, and in His ways in the earth – not men’s. The power of man, however great, is nothing compared with the enormity of God’s creation that is still growing in the universe – a wealth of power and authority that we would do well to reverence. God has defeated every attempt of man to emulate Him. He destroyed the Tower of Babel. He ended the Babylonian Empire. He ended the Roman Empire. And He will do exactly the same with the European Union.

It is noteworthy according to the Bible that when governments sin as governments, God will deal with them in that capacity. The reason the EU is wrong is that it is built on a satanic foundation of secularism. God cares about people, not about politics, He gave His Only Son to solve the problem of the pollution of sin. Before He would let you die in your sin, He died for you. Man has tried autocracy, oligarchy, religion, democracy, social reform and education. None of them have worked. We were created – not to serve man – but the Living God who made us.

Do not mistake long-suffering for God’s tolerance. Do not think that God’s forgiveness is a licence for indulgence. Neither view God’s judgement as antagonism. But God will not always strive with man, as we are reminded in Genesis 6:3. And in Galatians 6:7, ‘Do not be deceived. God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, he shall also reap.’ But we have hope over disillusionment, doubt, debt, despair – and even death. Our hope is in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

We are commanded in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 to make prayers, petitions and thanksgiving for all people; for kings and for all in authority that we may live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty – this is good and pleases God our Saviour who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth.

Sodom was not destroyed with brim- stone and fire for political, religious or moral sins but because of a predominance of them all. The Scriptures present us Truths for faith – not for ‘reason’. Study Psalm 107 and pray that the Holy Spirit would illuminate and reveal the Truths that are contained in it, that would help you in these times of trouble and distress.

Decades of peace and plenty in Britain, a sense of prosperity and power, has pandered politicians and people, to bring us to a place where, just a few years ago, all but two of the Bishops in the House of the Lords voted in favour of gay marriage. Their forebears would have died at the stake to defend the Truth.

Our Bishops today are prepared to deny the Truth. I say it not in judgement but in love, because if you have a responsibility within the Body of Christ, if you don’t stand full-square on the Word of God – which is Spirit-breathed, it is Truth and it is Life – each and every one of us, with or without faith – we will be held accountable against God’s Word and then we’re in trouble.

Most of you know this, you’re passionate about it, you have heartache for your nation, you long to see revival, but somehow you may feel helpless. But we have a weapon! In Matthew 18:19- 20 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you that if two of you agree on earth about ANYTHING you ask for, it will be done FOR them BY My Father in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered together IN MY NAME, there I AM in the midst of them. The verse that I want indelibly to be marked on your mind, heart, soul and spirit is verse 19.

This is our secret weapon! It’s the proof of the power of united agreement; it’s our authority – when it’s in HIS NAME, verse 20. JESUS said, not Matthew, JESUS said, “IF ANY TWO BE AGREED concerning any good thing as touches earth, IT WILL COME TO PASS! It’s the Word of God. If just two of you come together – the Word of God is showing us the covenant principle here, that if two or three of us will commit to come together in agreement, once a day, twice or three times a day, in HIS NAME, to ask for a revival in this land to be born out of a spirit of repentance – restoration, renewal – by God’s relenting grace, revival WILL come to pass.

If ANY two be agreed concerning this… I can see a lot of twos: husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, business colleagues and friends… Lord, embolden our Queen, strengthen our Prime Minister, restore the Body of Christ from its Laodicean spirit, neither hot nor cold…

For GOD’S glory and for HIS Name’s sake, enter into a covenant commitment to pray with one other to see God fulfil HIS Word. We can count on it! You say, “What, me?” Yes, YOU can make a difference, YOU can be the difference! The man David, who became a great king and a man after God’s own Heart, made a difference. But in Psalm 102:7, he described himself as a ‘sparrow alone on the housetop’ – it’s hard to imagine a more insignificant bird than a sparrow – David, who has comforted and given strength to millions through his psalms – felt as a sparrow!

YOU can make a difference. Pray! It’s for your Lord, for your God, your Saviour and Redeemer, it’s for your nation, it shall come to pass. David in the Bible thought of himself as a sparrow – but Jesus lets us know that even one sparrow does not fall to the ground without God attending the funeral! No more pity parties, no more, “I’m not spiritual enough.” You will be asked on the Day of Judgment, “Why didn’t you pray, why didn’t you care enough for your nation?” – and you will be found wanting. If ANY two be agreed concerning any good thing, it will come to pass. Claim Jesus at His Word in Matthew 18:19 – and you will be blessed beyond measure.

David Hathaway No.86 Winter © 2017, Prophetic Vision.org.uk– Graham Lacey – speaking at the Day of Prayer for Britain, London 8 September 2017

500 years ago on 31 October 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg where he was priest, naming 95 heresies of the Roman Church against the Word of God. From this point on the Church in Europe divided into Catholic – and Protestant movements…

Many today deeply regret this. They say ‘Reformation 500’ is an opportunity to finally repent of the divisions in the Church, time to repent of the barbaric killings and the burnings at the stake that occurred in those days, time to forget persecutions, inquisitions, time to re-unite. But first…

…Why and what was the Reformation really about? Avoidable dissension? Avoidable division? No! It was an unavoidable confrontation between the Truth of the Word of God, what the Bible really says – and the terrible lies the Church had been teaching and selling the people under its care, even from the very first century after Christ.

John the Apostle begins His Gospel, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’ – John 1:1&14. Jesus! He is the Word of God, salvation is found in no other name.

Those who recognised Jesus as the Son of God in the very beginning, recognised Him by what He did – and they saw that what He did was the fulfilment of God’s written Word, the Scriptures. Those who did not recognise Him, could not, because, as Jesus said, “If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me because he wrote about Me.” – John 5:46. Also Luke 24:25-27 & 44.

There is no authority higher than the Word of God. Psalm 138:2 says He has exalted His Word above all things! The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures (which foretell Christ and which He came to fulfil) have been faithfully handwritten by specially trained Jewish scribes, through countless generations, countless exiles, countless purges and pogroms – from the exile in Babylon before Christ to the worldwide diaspora of today.

Every single scroll of Scripture extant today, wherever in the world it may be found, is identical to the very last letter!!! Only the Yemeni scrolls differ by nine letters, but this without changing the meaning of the text in any way.

No other culture, no other race, no other religion, no other people have such a record of accuracy!!! Today, when they search their Scriptures and their prophets, they know Messiah is coming soon as King! They are expecting Him! Because of their Scriptures!

Our New Testament – the Gospels, Epistles and the Book of Revelation – were written, not in Hebrew, but in Greek, the international language of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire into which Jesus was born, died and rose again.

As the number of non-Jewish converts from the Western part of the Empire who spoke Latin, increased, translations were made from the Greek to help them. But in the Roman Empire there was no such rigorous training of scribes as we see in the Jewish tradition. The Latin texts very quickly corrupted – almost beyond recognition…

…Until in AD 382, Greek and Hebrew scholar Jerome produced a faithful Latin translation from the original texts because, he said, there are “as many different Latin translations as there are manuscripts” and, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!” But the same careless copying of his good new translation again corrupted the manuscripts.

Worse was to come. With the collapse of the Roman Empire in 376 and 476 AD, Latin fell into disuse as an international language. Most priests couldn’t read Latin anymore, the Latin Mass and Scriptures became like so much hocus-pocus to clergy and people alike.

In any case, clergy in training were first taught classical Roman and Greek philosophy and Church tradition and doctrine. They were introduced to the Bible last of all – to a Bible which was not just corrupted, but in a language most no longer understood…

Yes, even in those Dark Ages, several translations were made into the common languages of different European tribes and nations so ordinary people could understand. But before printing, it took much time to hand-make copies – which, when discovered by Church officials, were swiftly destroyed!

John Wycliffe, a reformer and critic of the ungodly practices of the Roman Church, made the first English language translation of the Bible in 1383. As many manuscripts as could be made were distributed, though the Church threatened anyone possessing a non-Latin Bible with execution!

John Hus, an active reformer and follower of Wycliffe, was himself burned at the stake. They used some of Wycliffe’s own manuscript Bibles as kindling for the fire!

The printing press was invented in around 1448 – and the first book ever printed was the Bible – albeit a corrupted Latin version. But printing was the start of a first, very simple, reformation – no more errors multiplying from handwritten copy to handwritten copy! Now hundreds, even thousands of identical copies could be produced from one approved printer’s text!

In the 1490s, Oxford Professor Thomas Linacre learnt Greek in order to compare the original New Testament text with the current corrupted Latin Bible. He was so shocked, he wrote in his diary, “Either this (the original Greek) is not the Gospel… or we are not Christians!” – The Latin text of the 15th century did not even preserve the simple Gospel message!

Also in the 1490s, another Oxford Professor, John Colet, began the public reading of the New Testament in Greek, translating it into English, in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London!

People were so hungry to hear the Word of God in a language they could understand, that within six months the Cathedral was filled with 20,000 standing packed inside and 20,000 outside! Revival! Colet only avoided execution for this crime because he had powerful friends in high places!

Here I might add that also Martin Luther’s conduct and writings were reprehensible to the Roman Catholic Church, and normally he would have been put on trial as a heretic and burned alive. But Frederick the Wise, alias Frederick III, who just happened to command the largest army in Europe, decided to give protection to this Germanic reformer.

In 1517, the year in which Luther nailed his 95 accusations against the false practices of the Roman Church, 7 people were burned at the stake in England, simply for the sin of teaching their children to pray the Lord’s Prayer in English!

But returning again to the very early centuries… As soon as Roman converts began to outnumber the original Jewish converts, many pagan practices and beliefs contrary to the Word of God were brought into the young Church – and many remain there to this day!

Ranking amongst the most wicked was the raising of money for the benefit of the Church by selling ‘Indulgences’ for the forgiveness of sin! You could purchase forgiveness for yourself; you could even shorten the time your dead relatives spent in ‘Purgatory’ – a fictitious place between heaven and hell for the punishment and purging of sin – entirely contrary to the teaching of Scripture, which is the free forgiveness of sin by simple faith in the shed blood of Christ on the Cross.

But how would you know if you couldn’t understand Latin and you had no access to any accurate Bible?

The sale of Indulgences was reaching its very peak in 1517 (the year we are celebrating as ‘Reformation 500’), because Rome had just begun to build the extravagant new Basilica of St Peter, a tourist attraction to this day.

Begun in 1506, it was completed in 1626, taking 120 years! If anything similar were to be built now, someone has reckoned it would cost in the region of 300 million US dollars! The Church was already in a financial crisis and the money had to be raised somehow! Luther protested.

There has always been a price to pay for the reformation of the Church. A price paid in full by many martyrs of the True Faith. The Protestant Reformation can never regret having paid that price to bring the Truth of the whole Word of God to ordinary people.

So what has that Reformation to do with us now? That was long ago. Let’s put it behind us! Let’s all be one, one with the whole Church, one with the whole world. There is no problem now! Or is there?!!

Today in the Church there are powerful lobbies which require reformation. There are those who profess to believe in the Truth of the Word of God, but in fact follow men who teach selected aspects of the Word of God which are out of balance with the whole counsel of God’s Word… Even things which are not in the Bible!

Lester Sumrall, who ministered all over Eastern Europe with David under communism in the 1980s, used to say, “For every false teaching in Western Europe, there are ten in America!” Christians are always asking, “Have you read this new Christian book on this or that?” No! But have YOU checked it out against the Bible?!

Then there are those who don’t believe in the Truth of God’s Word at all, yet call themselves Christian… German theologians of the last century spearheaded the belief that the Word of God as recorded in the Scriptures is not in fact true, but a myth, just a way of saying things…

Mix this with secular liberalism, relativism, tolerance and universalism, stir it all into the Church, call it post-modernism, and present the teachings of the Word of God in a manner that is socially relevant and acceptable to normal humanist thinking… WE DESPERATELY NEED A REFORMATION!

Pope Francis, in his own video address to the Catholic faithful in January 2016, looked forward to the unity of all world religions, saying there are many ways to God, but only one message, ‘love’. If anyone believes this, WE MOST DESPERATELY NEED ANOTHER REFORMATION – A RETURN TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD!

And does the Word of God agree with the following? – Many say Christians, Jews and Moslems are all children of Abraham, all people of the Book. But the Koran is a fantastical remix of the Old and New Testaments!

In the Koran, Ishmael, not Isaac, is the child promised by God to Abraham. – But Jesus is through Isaac!!! In the Koran, Mary the mother of Jesus, is the sister of Moses!!! And Jesus is not the Son of God, but a lesser prophet than Mohammed!!!

The Koran says ‘God has no need of a son’ – and that Jesus did not die on the cross since God saw that He was too good to die, and had another die in His place!!! IF THE CHURCH CAN AGREE WITH THE KORAN, WE NEED ANOTHER REFORMATION!

At the very height of the Charismatic Revival/Renewal, David Pawson was preaching. He began, “Has anyone read a good book recently?” Almost everyone! “Did you read it right through?” Almost everyone. “Anyone read the Bible recently?” Almost everyone. “Have you EVER read it THROUGH?” Not one!

Unity amongst Christians – we all want that. Especially in this year when we remember the Reformation that divided the Church 500 years ago. But unity on what basis? The unity Jesus prayed for at the Last Supper can only be based on the Truth of the Word of God, no other way. He Himself is the Word of God, the Way, the Truth and the Life – John 1:1&14.

He said, “If a man love Me, He will keep My Words, and My Father will love him and We will come unto him and make Our abode with him.” Unity only comes this way. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth to remind us of everything He, Jesus, the Word of God, has said. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will only give life to the Word of Truth in us! John 14:17 & 20.

WE HAVE TO HAVE ANOTHER REFORMATION – A COMING BACK TO THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD – AS SHOWN IN THE BIBLE – BECAUSE THE REFORMATION OF 1517 HAS NOT CLEANSED THE CHURCH.

Copyright © 2017, Prophetic Vision-All rights reserved.

Image Credit: Derek Leman

We’re here in Jerusalem to remember the beginnings of the Church. The root of the Church is in the Acts of the Apostles, not in the ceremony of the Old Testament. The Church I want to be part of is the Church of the New Testament which began on the Day of Pentecost.

Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection and in Acts 1:4 He said, “Wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father which you have heard from Me.

For John truly baptised in water…” Let me remind you that this baptism of John in water is a baptism of repentance by total immersion. Why? Paul explains in Romans and Colossians that we are buried with Christ in baptism – death!

Christ went into the grave and He rose from the dead! We are baptised into water, symbolic of death with Christ, and we rise from the water into new life!

Jesus continued, “John baptised with water, but you shall be baptised in the Holy Ghost… You shall receive POWER after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be My WITNESSES in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and in the rest of the world!”

The importance of the Holy Spirit is twofold. First, He is the endowment of the baptism of POWER. Scripture is clear: after you receive the Holy Spirit you receive power, literally the power and the energy that motivated Jesus comes into us! But secondly, the purpose of this baptism is that we must be WITNESSES!

Under law, you can only be a witness if you have personally seen, heard or experienced something. Not because of what someone else has experienced. But YOU! YOU must be a witness of what YOU have experienced.

Many years ago I was a pastor. But one day God challenged me and said, “Stop talking, I’m tired of listening to you!” I was an evangelist, a preacher, ordained, degrees… But God said, “Forget all that. Go out and do everything you tell other people to do! And only come back when you have done it!”

For fifty years I’ve been ‘out there’ doing it! Now I’m the witness of what God has done! It has to begin with a personal experience! When YOU receive the Holy Spirit, it will revolutionise your life until YOU become the witness of all that God has done!

Under law, you can only be a witness if you have personally seen, heard or experienced something. Not because of what someone else has experienced. But YOU! YOU must be a witness of what YOU have experienced.

Many years ago I was a pastor. But one day God challenged me and said, “Stop talking, I’m tired of listening to you!” I was an evangelist, a preacher, ordained, degrees… But God said, “Forget all that. Go out and do everything you tell other people to do! And only come back when you have done it!”

For fifty years I’ve been ‘out there’ doing it! Now I’m the witness of what God has done! It has to begin with a personal experience! When YOU receive the Holy Spirit, it will revolutionise your life until YOU become the witness of all that God has done!

What is my ambition? I’m an evangelist. In the fivefold ministry, the evangelist is the last. And in the Kingdom, I’ll be the last one to get in, because I’m so busy looking for the lost. My one desire as an evangelist, having received the Holy Spirit, is to win the lost sheep! That is the burden of my heart!

When I entered the communist prison in 1972, everything was taken from me. You are STRIPPED, your clothes, everything. You are left with absolutely nothing. Naked.

That is a powerful experience. You have NOTHING. Spiritually there has to come a time when we go through that experience before we can go forward. Stripped of EVERYTHING.

I found myself with the worst criminals. My best friend was a murderer. Without his help, I wouldn’t have survived. I shared a cell with drug smugglers, every kind of criminal.

Then I understood the Gospel, that for God to love you and me, He had to send His Son, STRIPPED of everything – divested – STRIPPED like I was in that prison! He came with no extra power.

Eighteen months ago I was in prayer, walking around a lake in Austria, saying, “Oh God, I want to live like Jesus, I want to do what He did!”

Now, before Jesus went to the cross He said to US, “YOU will do everything I have done, and more!” Come on! How many of us are doing what Jesus did?!

Let alone the greater things! I was walking around this lake, talking with the Lord. To me, praying is not reciting set prayers, it’s a conversation with an intimate friend who knows all your inner faults, who doesn’t see you just from the outside…

My family do not see me as an evangelist – I’m their dad! They know the real me! God doesn’t look on your bishop’s trappings, He doesn’t see the clothes you wear, He sees inside your heart!

My experience with God is a very personal one. I wouldn’t have survived in the prison for one month, let alone a year, if I didn’t have a very close relationship with the Lord. It was only 18 months ago, walking around that lake in Austria, that I was saying to Him, “Father, I want to do more than Jesus did!”

It was then that I realised, Jesus did not come with all the glory of Heaven. He came as a baby, born of a woman. But don’t believe the pictures you see in some churches! He didn’t stay like that, as a baby.

My Jesus is a man, with power and authority, who could bind and defeat the devil, who could fight every battle, a strong man, who died and rose as the Son of God. But He came in humility, with NOTHING!

Everything that Jesus had on earth He received through His relationship with His Father through the Holy Spirit! Everything that I have MUST come from HIM! Not from my birth, not from my education. I don’t care if you are born poor, an orphan, a reject. Or born a king, a prince.

What you are is NOTHING to do with your clothes, or your office, NOTHING to do with your position. All you have when you go out into the world is what you have and receive in your heart! That’s all. It’s a very personal relationship.

Jesus said the Kingdom is not filled with the holy, the righteous! He said the invited guests never come into the Kingdom!

Jesus said the Kingdom is filled with the people from ‘out there’, the rejects, the outcasts – they are the ones we have to bring in. My first desire is to bring the lost into the Kingdom… …My other desire is this: to KNOW who God is. The Church doesn’t know Him!

Religious ceremony is NOTHING to do with God. I HATE religion with a passion, because religion turns people away from God. The world out there does not like what it sees, and I don’t like it, because my God is not like this.

The God I know is a God of power, of love, authority, a God who answers prayer, works miracles – that’s my God! My desire is to show THIS God to an unbelieving world! I challenge you, YOU have to show an unbelieving world who our God is!

What kind of a God is He? Is He the God people see in religion? All dressed up – and empty inside?! That’s NOT my God! I have a burning passion to show the world who God is really is. To show His power.

That’s why I want to see miracles of healing! How else will the world out there know?! What does the Bible say about Jesus? It says He was a man like you and me. But anointed of God. By miracles, by signs, by wonders.

We have to show a world that sees God as a religious figure – that He is a God of love, power, forgiveness, a God of miracles! I’m emotional about it! But you can never do it because of your clothes, your universities, your colleges, your religious education, your status…

I have seen university destroy the faith of some of my friends, including former pastors.

Born again, strong Bible Believing Christians! Baptised in water, baptised in the Holy Spirt, went to Bible College, entered into full time ministry. But they let religion take over. It destroyed everything they had and left them with only the formality. Oh God deliver us from that kind of religion.

Oh God, give us Jesus! The whole of everything you can have and everything you can want is only Jesus. There is no other name under Heaven whereby men can be saved, only Jesus! No other name, no other power. I only live because He lives!

I want to show the unbelieving world out there – whether it’s Israel, Russia, wherever it is – I want to show them the Son of God, Jesus, in reality! In my life! And YOU have to live like that, until they see Jesus – in YOU. Not religion. Not empty words.

Oh God, shake us, change us! We need a baptism of FIRE! The Holy Ghost and FIRE! Until we burn up and explode with the Fire!

I first started preaching in the church when I was 13 years old. I printed flyers, invited the people in, got the musicians, preached the Word – and nobody repented. The only purpose of my preaching was to bring men to Christ. Can you tell me any other reason for preaching?! I went home disillusioned.

My father, a great man of God, converted in the Welsh revival, sat me down and said: “When the Holy Spirit is come, He – not you David, not you Bishops – He, the Holy Spirit, He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement. Shut up until you have received the Holy Spirit.”

From that moment I fasted, I prayed – for three months. I learnt the biggest lesson of my life: In the early days of my going to Russia, the milk cart would arrive in the street, the housewife would take her own jug, and they would fill it up. What did she take?

She emptied the dirty water out of the jug, cleaned it, so that when it was filled, it was filled with pure milk. If you want the Holy Spirit, empty everything out! If you want the same baptism of Fire that I have, don’t come half full of the world, the flesh!

Clean yourself up first! Then God will fill you. It will transform your life! I came here to Jerusalem in 1961 because I still wasn’t satisfied.

I was a pastor, an evangelist, baptised in the Holy Spirit when I was 13. But I wanted more! Another baptism of Fire! And why do I pray now? – Because I still want more Fire! Prayer is no formality to me. I look at the desperate world out there and I want more authority, more of the Fire and the Power of God.

Now look at the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ – and the Bride of Christ! God help you if a man gets married to a girl unless he’s in love with her! When I married my wife, she was in love with me.

There used to be a beautiful song, ‘The Bride sees not her garment, but her dear Bridegroom’s face!’ Yes, the Bride is beautifully dressed, but she’s only got eyes for the Groom! – That’s how it should be with the Church and Christ! The Greek word for Church, ecclesia, means ‘called out and chosen’.

The Bride of Christ will not be the Catholic or Orthodox Church, or the Lutheran or Charismatic Church – the Bride of Christ is called OUT! Out of the world, out of religion… I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward – to meet Jesus! And if you have met Jesus, you will want to introduce Him to everybody else!

You need to have a very personal relationship with Him! It’s not Church, it’s not religion, it’s Jesus! The only thing that is important is not how you dress up, it’s not your office or your position, it’s your relationship with Jesus, and how you share Him with others!

My life and my ministry is to show who the real Jesus is. I didn’t like the image I saw in the church here in Jerusalem – a woman, ‘Queen of Heaven’, with a small baby on her lap, saints gazing adoringly up at HER – do you realise the idolatry? Mary more important than Jesus?!

Who called the disciples, healed the sick, raised the dead, died and rose again? Who said He would baptise them with the Holy Ghost and Fire?! No I do not pray to saints and images, I only want to know the MAN Christ Jesus, Son of the Living God, who is the only Lord of my life! Nothing, no one else!

As I flew in to Israel yesterday for this summit, I had a song in my heart, ‘In robes of white I don’t deserve, I live to serve Your Majesty.’ Let’s live to serve Him and show the world who He is!

The secret of my evangelism (we are drawing the largest crowds of unbelievers in Europe) is that they want what I have – my Jesus! I love Him! I live to serve Him. And in serving Him I shall preach the Gospel.

The coming of Christ is sooner than any of you realise. I want you to be ready when He comes! I charge you with the simplicity of the Gospel.

The Gospel Jesus preached was so simple. Not theology. Not religion. I only want to preach Jesus. I’m an evangelist, I don’t wear fancy 

Message of David Hathway to the Jerusalem Summit of Conservative Apostolic Bishops 1.11.2015. From the Prophetic Vision Magazine

Image Credit: Faithfulnews.com