Illegal Operations
I’ve been using the hashtag #IllegalOperations the past couple days, and it got me thinking about what some #IllegalOperations are in the church and in the spirit realm at large. In 1 Corinthians 12:1, the Apostle Paul said, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant...” Now, thanks to a teaching I recently heard by Prophet Jonathan Ferguson, I now understand when a word or phrase is italicized in Scripture, that means that it was not originally there; it was put there to help us better understand what is being said, although sometimes it hampers the intended message. So in this case, Paul is actually saying “Now concerning [the] spiritual [supernatural], I don’t want you to be stupid [unintelligent].”
We blame a lot on the devil, yet most of us don’t want to look at the doors that WE opened to him in order to allow him to work in our lives.
Now bringing it back to #IllegalOperations, let’s touch on some of these issues so we can divide the Spirit of God from the spirit or soul of man, or from an unclean [familiar] spirit.
Illegal Operation #1: Operating without Knowing the Word
The Word of God is our “daily bread” which we live by (Luke 3:4, Matt. 4:4, Luke 4:4). The Word of God is our guide for life in general which includes ministry. If you can’t get your instructions for life without the Word of God, how can you expect to minister to God’s people and specifically administer the Word of God to them if you don’t know it?
And to men specifically, if you expect to be husbands and priests of your home, then how can you expect to wash your wife with the water of the Word if you don’t know it (Eph. 5:25-27)?
Illegal Operation #2: Operating without Doing the Word
James 1:22 commands “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” This lets us know that we have no choice but to DO the Word, to live it out, instead of just knowing it. But more than that, according to Romans 10:17, we derive our faith from continually hearing the Word of God. Don’t just read it, listen to it; get it in your Spirit so you can say truthfully as David did, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11).
You can’t teach or preach what you don’t know. Why do you think the Church at large is so biblically illiterate today?
Illegal Operation #3: Operating without a Spousal Covering (Women)
Ladies, we might not like it, but it doesn’t matter: if you are married and your husband does not support nor cover you in your ministry, if he does not want you to minister, then you can’t! He may even be out of order and guilty of keeping you from your God-given ministry, yet God sees that, that is HIS domain of correction, not yours. And if you go without his support and blessing anyway, then you are operating in rebellion. (See Illegal Operation #6.)
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. (Ephesians 5:22-23)
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Colossians 3:18)
Illegal Operation #4: Operating without Submission to a Spiritual Covering
Because women are not the only ones called to submission, men to must submit to someone in authority as well. Everyone - male or female, married or single, young or old - should have a spiritual covering in the form of pastors and or spiritual parents. And yes, sometimes these are one and the same and at other times, they are not and that is fine as long as they are not in contradiction to the Word of God or each other.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. (Ephesians 5:22-23)
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. (I Peter 2:13-14)
A man who refuses to submit is not worth submitting to, period.
We all need a spiritual covering to provide checks and balances to us and yes, even chastise us from time to time, because we are never too old for correction.
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time… (I Peter 5:4-6)
A refusal to submit to leadership, naturally includes a refusal to submit to God - the ultimate Father and covering. And a very bold [wo]man it is who refuses to submit to his Maker.
When you refuse to submit, can easily begin to operate in rejection, rebellion, or both. (See #5 and #6.)
Illegal Operation #5: Operating in Rejection
Rejection is a doorkeeper in the spirit realm. When you allow it, nurse it, operate in it and refuse to cast it down, then you can open the door to deeper, darker, and more dangerous spirits. But I’m getting ahead of myself.... (See #6).
There are some people who, due to various experiences coupled with the peculiar call of God on their lives, cannot discern parental or pastoral chastisement and rebuke from rejection. Therefore, when their spiritual covering or someone else in their life tries to confront them about an issue in their life, they go into defense-mode and reject the fatherhood, mentorship, and instruction that comes with it. This is dangerous and the Prophet Malachi warned us of the results of operating in this spirit.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5-6)
Now to be clear, God does NOT approve rebellion to rebukes because you’re anointed. What I meant when I stated that due to the peculiar call on certain people’s lives, they begin to operate in rejection is that there are, in truth, many people - including spiritual coverings - who do not understand the call of God on that person’s life and as a result, will rebuke them unnecessarily, out of ignorance, not because God led them to do it. There are even those who rebuke others and restrict their ministry operations because they themselves are jealous of the other person’s anointings, giftings, talents, etc. That is NOT what we are addressing here.
Unfortunately, some of these people cannot discern a justified rebuke from an unjustified one. Discernment is key.
A Note to Women Ministers: Darling sisters, I believe in you. I believe in the call of God on your life. And just like I believe in the call of God on your life, I also believe that you either have or will eventually be persecuted on some level by “Christian chauvinists” who think women are not meant nor called to teach the Word [to anyone but other women]. That, or they think women are only a second option, a backup plan, merely because a more “worthy” man somewhere decided not to respond affirmatively to the call of God on his life. What I am about to tell you is not fun; it’s difficult, yet it is absolutely necessary to grasp:
YOU.CANNOT.BUILD.A.MINISTRY.ON.BITTERNESS.
If men or even women being used by nasty, chauvinist, etc. spirits hurt you - and they will (not prophesying, just being real) - that is not your cue to launch out into the deep and start your own ministry, either prematurely or at all. You must 1) learn to discern the voice of God from your own voice as well as the voice of others. You must also 2) receive the inner healing you need BEFORE starting your own ministry, and throughout if necessary.
If you choose to build with bitterness, then you are a prime candidate for the spirits of rebellion, witchcraft, perversion, and Jezebel (Absalom). (See #6.)
God is more than capable of making your calling and election sure, and providing the way and means and support for you to start your own ministry in HIS kairos timing.
Illegal Operation #6: Operating in Rebellion
I’ve been building on this point for some time now, and we’ve finally arrived. I’ll make this short and sweet: if you’re operating in rebellion, you are operating in witchcraft. And if you are operating in witchcraft, then you either are or will soon be operating in idolatry, if only the idolatry of elevating your stubborn will over God’s.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. (I Samuel 15:23)
God HATES witchcraft. It reminds Him of how Lucifer left his former estate and took a third of the angels with him (Jude 1:6).
Good luck with that.
Illegal Operation #7: Operating without Prayer
Jesus frequently taught, “When you pray...” indicating that prayer is not an option, but rather a mandate; an absolute necessity (Matt. 6:5-7). If you don’t pray, you can’t legislate anything in the spirit (Matt. 16:19, 18:18). If you don’t pray, you can’t birth anything in the spirit (Gal. 4:19, I Kings 18:41-46). If you don’t pray, then the Spirit cannot pray through you (Rom. 8:26). If you don’t pray, God cannot operate through you in the earth.
Illegal Operation #8: Operating without Service
You will NEVER be too big to serve. I’ve heard of pastors who still clean up their parking lots. In the video of Prophet Ferguson teaching that I hyperlinked in the introductory paragraph, there weren’t enough men to catch the people at the altar so the executive pastors themselves had to start catching the saints! And yes, a rebuke did follow, lol, but they weren’t too “wonderful” to stop sitting and start serving.
If this is an issue for you and even if it isn’t, read The Spirit of Leadership by Dr. Myles Munroe.
Illegal Operation #9: Operating without Power
My spiritual father always says, “It is illegal to preach a Gospel that you cannot demonstrate.” (This will undoubtedly offend many preachers in the Western World!!) This is plain Scripture.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)
After all, the purpose of the indwelling of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is to be a witness of the Gospel of the Kingdom.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
If salvations, re-commitments, infillings of the Spirit, deliverance, healings, signs, wonders, and miracles aren’t following your ministry, something’s wrong. These are the “advertisements” and evidences of the Kingdom of God in the earth.
DISCLAIMER: Believers are not the only ones who can speak in tongues or operate (false) healings, signs, wonders, and miracles. However, here’s a simple way to discern between the true and the false:
Tongues is the evidence of the INFILLING of the Spirit. Fruit is the evidence of WALKING in the Spirit (Apostle Jonathan Ferguson).
Illegal Operation #10: Operating without Training
This is SO dangerous, especially when it comes to the prophetic (hence my book Judging the Prophetic). We all need training in our gifts, spiritual or otherwise. Teaching and training go together. We need to be eternal students (this doesn’t necessarily mean college, although it certainly doesn’t exclude it). We also need to be eternally teachable and malleable when it comes to training in the areas of our calling(s). However far you’ve come, there is always more to discover, more to learn, and more to receive from God and the people God has and will place in your life.
Clarification
If you are one of those wonders who got saved and filled with the Holy Ghost in one “fell” swoop [to your flesh] and started preaching, prophesying, or laying folks out five seconds later, I’m not addressing you. There is grace for you to learn, and get in your Word, and get under a Bible-believing and demonstrating covering. However, as you grow in God, if these areas remain in your life, they need to be addressed quick, fast, and in a hurry! As aforementioned, the Fruit [of the Spirit] is the evidence of walking in the Spirit. A healthy baby is born with feet, but sooner or later they must learn to walk.
We must learn to overturn every #IllegalOperation in our lives.
What are some #IllegalOperations you’ve come across in your time?
