....and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:27 NIV

The Coming Church
No one would argue that today’s Church is not without stain or wrinkle. There are “hot spots” of power and authority throughout the world, but for the most part, the Church has been accurately called, “The Sleeping Giant”. Preachers speculate that this could be the year that the Lord will return. Yet if He returns now, even by human standards, the Church is not ready. Something dramatic must happen to prepare us for Jesus’ return. We must be purified and sanctified and set aside as wholly unto the Lord. We must be empowered with authority over death and every evil thing. We must wear the full armor of God and walk in the Spirit in every aspect of our spiritual life. We should regularly raise the dead and see heathens fall down before the Living God. We are headed for the greatest unfolding of power and authority the Church has ever seen. Greater things will be done in the last days than in the former days. This is where God is taking us. He is calling those who will, to be part of that victorious Church. In our humble circumstances, God is preparing us to rule and reign over every power on earth. He is preparing an army who will overcome spiritual forces much greater than ourselves. He is purifying His people in preparation for being released into a new authority. He is going to give us His signet ring so we can rule over all things in this Age and the Age to Come. Of course, we have to be broken and surrendered to Him before we are fully prepared for that ministry.

When Jesus walked the earth, there were only two people that we know of who were filled with the Holy Spirit: Jesus and John the Baptist. Jesus spent His time in the Wilderness, but John became known to LIVE in the Wilderness. He was a man who did not comply to the society of that time. He was a voice in the Wilderness crying out to the people to prepare the way of the Lord. John’s words where prophetic but so was his life. He had physically separated himself from the world by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. His life is a prophetic word to the Church of today. God will call many into the Wilderness to become outcasts of our society in order to call the Church into preparation and purity for the return of the Lord. These latter-day John the Baptists will not baptize in water but in fire. This cleansing fire will bring those who will, into obedience to the Holy Spirit. These “Forerunners” will be persecuted by portions of the Church and the world. They will be the fearless Gideon’s army who will not love their life even unto death. There will be an army of prophets and apostles who like the disciples gave themselves up for the Body of Christ.

No Plan “B”
And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. Deut. 30:5-6

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” Jeremiah 9:25-26 NIV

These two prophecies reveal that it was God’s intention to transform Hearts right from the beginning. They reveal that the promise made to Israel was really being made to us. The promise was to purify our Hearts and set a people aside wholly for God. This could not have been possible except through the transformation and the forgiveness of Jesus and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. God’s leading of the Children of Israel in the Wilderness could therefore be for no other reason than what was stated in 1 Corinthians 9, which was to provide for us understanding and to give us a warning. God’s purpose for leading the Children of Israel in the way He did was to demonstrate to us His plan of sanctification. It is clear in Scripture that God arranged the events of their journey. His purpose was to warn Believers in this last great latter rain of the Holy Spirit not to resist Him in His sanctifying process. God established a physical Promised Land primarily to reveal Himself and His plan of sanctification to us. He did not fail with Israel and then go to plan “B”. He always intended to have a people of pure Hearts toward Him. Throughout history, He sanctified individuals but before Jesus returns, He will sanctify His Body so they will be adorned with wedding garments without spot or wrinkle. The promise to Abraham by God to redeem a people who would be the New Adam is fulfilled only through the forgiveness of Jesus and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit in the Wilderness.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the increasing number of Believers in the Wilderness are signs of the time. They point to a season of purging for the Body of Christ and the return of Jesus very soon. All of what has happened from Adam’s fall until now is pointing to us as the circumcised of Heart people of God - the Church today. He is making us the fulfilment of His promise to Abraham.

Valley Of Decision
God will escalate the pace and speed by which people will go through the Process. What took some Believers 15 or 20 years in the past may only take two or three years to accomplish in the future. Persecution and economic disorder will be two of the catalysts for our purging as a Body. This will reprioritize our values. Some of us will cling to God while others will go off into the world and its system looking for a temporal solution to their problems. We are not far from a “storm” of persecution and difficulty which will strip the Body of Christ of its vanity and materialism. That storm will drive every Believer into a valley of decision. We will either depend on the Holy Spirit entirely and allow Him to lead us through a barren land, or refuse Him. Jeremiah 9:25 says, God will punish the circumcised with the uncircumcised because they were uncircumcised of Heart. This journey is not optional. We will follow the Holy Spirit or we will be like the first generation of Israel, stubborn, and rebellious and unfruitful in the purpose God called them to.

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matt. 25:32-34

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit. Matt. 15:2-8 NIV

Globalization
Globalization is a mania that is sweeping the world. It is being presented as inevitable and based upon free trade. When you examine it, however, there is nothing free about it. It is an attempt by a relative few companies to dominate and control the production of goods and services on a worldwide basis. An elite group of companies are positioning themselves through mergers and acquisitions and the use of international governing bodies to dominate the worldwide supply of a particular service or group of products. These companies are using domestic and international governments as tools of their purpose. Globalization is “economic communism”. It is the spirit of control, domination, manipulation, and the centralization of power which is a manifestation of the nature of the Flesh. The Flesh is anti-Christ. The Spirit and the Flesh are at enmity with each other. They are the antithesis of each other, therefore the Flesh is anti-Christ. Where Jesus and the Holy Spirit are there is freedom. Where the spirit of Antichrist is there is control, manipulation, domination, tyranny, greed and the other manifestations of the Flesh. Control dominates and destroys freedom. Globalization promises freedom but whenever control is centralized in the hands of a few, it ends in tyranny. There is one yet to be revealed who will take over the domination of the world and he will do it with the assistance of the Devil through the power of the Flesh which is manipulation and domination and control. He will say “yes” to the Devil when tempted in the Wilderness with the kingdoms of the earth. He will be deceived by his Flesh. He will become the Antichrist.

The Flesh and the Devil must succeed in their domination of the world for then the stage will be set for Jesus’ return. The day is coming that it will be impossible to buy or sell without the “mark of the beast”. That is control. That is the spirit of Anti-Christ. We (the Body of Christ) were born subject to the Flesh, but would it be appropriate for Jesus’ Church to be operating in the Flesh instead of the Spirit? Would any manifestation of the Flesh be appropriate in the Church as we approach the final confrontation between Christ and the spirit of Anti-Christ? How could a house divided against itself stand? It is necessary for Jesus to purify His Body completely of the Flesh, so it will be the pure and spotless Bride for whom He is returning.

The birth of the Age to Come will be preceded by a brief period of tribulation which is part of the process of bringing the old order ruled by the Flesh to an end, and the birth of the new order ruled by Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit uses disorder to bring about His order. This is a picture of the process of sanctification. Even the world will go through this Process by way of the Great Tribulation. For those who have been through the Process, they will be fully prepared for this. They will be familiar with the Process and even find it exciting. What will be birthed will not be the Resurrected Man but the physical rule and reign of Jesus Christ on earth for a thousand years. Jesus is preparing His Body to rule with Him. We must be dead to the Flesh and having been tested in the Wilderness found to be faithful. In the midst of turmoil, God is at work humbling, testing, and bringing new life. The Flesh hates chaos because it is out of control. God will bring chaos in the Wilderness for Believers and the Great Tribulation for the world as preparation for the birth of the Lordship of Jesus Christ on earth. In spite of our failings as the Body of Christ, we will be ready for the return of Jesus. Those who love Jesus and who are looking for His return will not be disappointed. He will fully prepare those who will accept His invitation to the Wedding Feast. They will not show up in rags. They will be beautiful and radiant in purity and power.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ “But they paid no attention and went off— one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matt. 22:2-14 NIV

Persecution
What can be shaken will be shaken, and as it shakes what is not built on Christ will collapse. The character, authority, and giftedness developed by the Holy Spirit in our lives will stand for all eternity. It will be part of our treasure in Heaven. Persecution must come for it is part of the process of purification and preparation. It will come from within and from outside the Church. There will be a division in the Church. Those that will enter the Wilderness and learn to walk in the Spirit will oppose those in the Church who are operating in the Flesh. They cannot exist together. Those in the Flesh in the Church will oppose those in the Spirit because they will not observe the Law. They will persecute those who are led by the Spirit. They will judge them to be in the Flesh. Those walking in the Spirit will be put out of the Church because they will be considered infidels, lawless, “crazies”, and troublemakers. This is not unlike the things of which Jesus was accused. They will be despised by those operating in the Flesh and there will be a great division in the Church. Rick Joyner’s prophetic word speaking of a coming civil war* may well be the battle in the Church between the Flesh and the Spirit. I see this division already appearing. Those walking in the Spirit will be outcasts and unqualified in the eyes of some people in the Church. They will judge in the pride of the Flesh with Scripture, not understanding however, that when we are controlled by the Holy Spirit we may appear to be misguided and foolish. If we believe the Holy Spirit is respectable and orderly, He is not. He is in the center of chaos, bringing redemption and Hearts of pure gold to adorn His temple. (* See the last page for more information)

The Flesh will not give up without a battle and the Anti-Christ will be the one through whom the Flesh and the Devil will battle against the warriors of God. They will use the power of the government to persecute the Saints of God. The Spirit led Church will not participate in the world’s system and will be condemned and persecuted for it. This trap will be subtle and seemingly harmless but it will be a trap that only the Spirit of God can warn us of. Many will be lost at this time because they will not see with spiritual eyes what is happening. They may know prophecy and Scripture but like the Pharisees, they will miss Jesus. They will not be able to discern the true Body of Christ or walk in the Spirit. The Flesh will carry them away into deception, because it is an enemy greater and more powerful than them. It can only be defeated by the Holy Spirit. Many will choose the works of the Flesh without realizing what they are doing. Many will be lost, but many, and much will be gained.

The Devil and the Flesh will be defeated and Jesus will establish His rulership over the earth. His redeemed servants will be fully prepared to serve Him in that rulership. They will be proven and pure in motive and unable to be tempted by evil. It will be a wonderful time. Those who are experienced in battle will be well prepared for the things that are to come. They will understand how to defeat the Devil and the Flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit. There will be nothing to fear. It will be a glorious time of victory. It may seem like defeat in the natural eyes but then Jesus will return to justify all things. The “birth” of the Kingdom of God on earth will not come without turmoil. These minor trials will be an opportunity to overcome this world and to store up treasure in Heaven. The prophets of the Bible saw only vague visions of what was to come. We will be a part of it.

For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Luke 7:28

The Army Of God
The Prophets Joshua and Caleb and all the valiant men of Israel took the Promised Land and subdued it. The women and children and all their possessions became benefactors of God’s grace. There is a vanguard of valiant men and women being prepared to take the land by force. They will prepare the way as John the Baptist did for Jesus. They will be like the storm troopers of an army who will spearhead the attack. They are the FORERUNNERS of the Age to Come. They are a “Voice in the Wilderness” crying, “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His path” (Matt. 3:3). They will work to bring reformation to the Body. They will lead and stand when the shaking and collapse of this world’s systems brings millions of people to Christ for salvation. This shaking will also drive the Church into a final valley of decision. When our life is threatened and all the vanity of this world has failed, then Jesus and His promises will be all that we can hang on to.

Being obedient to the Holy Spirit will be of tremendous importance in this troubled time. If we turn to the right or to the left, it may mean the difference between life and death. It was that way for many of the first century Christians and it will be also for us who will usher in the New Age. All of this is just the beginning of the most wonderful time in the history of the Church and man. The Church will be glorious, undefeatable and demonstrating power and authority. The victorious Church will not be a visible Church that is ruling and powerful but an invisible Church. It will be like a 5th column in the midst of its enemies. It will be made up of the despised and outcast and those least likely to appear like rulers. Jesus’ followers were the losers of their time. It will be difficult to see with natural eyes a victorious army but with Spiritual eyes, it will have authority over nations and over the Flesh and the Devil and the world. It would be a mistake to imagine a Church who is glorious in anything else but the Spirit. In the natural, it may well appear to be quite pathetic and foolish to those who cannot see it with spiritual eyes. Isn’t that God’s way?

For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1 Cor. 1:19-20 NIV

A New Generation
In spite of their bondage, Israel had a love for the things of Egypt. At one point they longed for the leeks and onions of their former life. They had forgotten the cruelty of their slavery. They were deceived. They didn’t want to go through all this hardship to get to the Promised Land. They wanted comfort and pleasure and as little struggle as possible. A generation of Israel died in the Wilderness because of their love of pleasure and unbelief. It was the next generation who was born in the Wilderness who became the “believing generation”. They had not been ensnared by the bondages and pleasures of Egypt’s system. Being born in the Wilderness, they had nowhere to go but forward. They understood it was God who had them there and they were willing to trust Him. In the last 40 years, God has baptized more people in His Holy Spirit than in any time in the history of the modern Church. Many of these people followed the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness. Some have completed the journey but most are stuck there. They have become entangled with the things of this world and have not been able to move forward because of unbelief. They are dying in the Wilderness. The Spirit of God is calling to this generation who are stuck in the desert to believe that He is the rewarder of those that seek, believe, and trust Him for the Promise. Many Believers have given up the pursuit of the Promise and have sought the comforts and pleasures of the world. They are building businesses and wealth which will perish with them. Where their treasure is, so also is their Heart. It is difficult for those who have been born into the slavery of the world’s system to leave it. Some will return to the Lord (their first love) and follow Him, but many will not. It is the next generation who will become the “believing generation”. The new generation has little hope in the systems of this world. They can see it is doomed to fail. They have not enjoyed the short term pleasures of this world. They can see the folly of man’s works and the hope of the coming Kingdom of God. They have not tasted of the bondage of Egypt. They have no expectation of its survival. They are prepared to overthrow it and usher in the Kingdom of our Lord. They will be prepared to sell all to acquire the “pearl of great price”. It will be the new generation who will become in a large part, the victorious Body of Christ. This does not exempt others from entering the promises. There was a remnant of Believers from the elder generation of Israel who trusted God. This prophetic teaching is a message of hope to all who will choose life and fruitfulness; and it is a warning to those who have become ensnared by the deceit of riches, the cares of this world, and the rebellion and deception of the Flesh.

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop -- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear." Matt. 13:3-9

A New Temple
The promise in Scripture that the Temple would be restored is often believed to be the physical Temple in Jerusalem. The Lord is rebuilding the Temple but it is not a temple of bricks and mortar. It is a temple filled with the gold and silver of the righteous deeds of the Saints. It is the circumcised of Heart who have been refined as pure gold, and who are fully prepared for the Master’s use. WE are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is for understanding of events as they happen, and to confirm the work of God after the event has happened. There were 800 prophecies about the Messiah which were well known by the Pharisees. They studied them and looked for His coming but they did not see Him when He came. They used carnal understanding to see things that can only be seen by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees were sincere and devoted believers in God, but carnal. They missed Jesus and His Kingdom when He came because they did not have spiritual eyes to see. They were not humble. Their knowledge caused them to judge things in their own understanding. If we use our own understanding to interpret prophetic Scripture, we will miss Jesus when He comes again, just like the Pharisees. We must not depend on anything other than the Holy Spirit and walk humbly with Him. In humility and surrender there is complete safety. The New Temple will be built of the only thing worthy to be in it - pure gold made by the Holy Spirit. There is nothing we can do of ourselves that would ever qualify to be part of the Temple. We can only surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit and let Him make us into something beautiful. If you are in a difficult time right now, you can rejoice because your humbling circumstances will produce pure gold in you to adorn the restored Temple of God.

Understanding and Warning
God has called those who will, to enter and continue in this Process. You may already be in the Process and the word of the Lord to you is, “victory is imminent”. The reward of faithfulness is eternal. The time is short and the battle is not to the strong but to those who depend on God for victory.

Some readers have entered the Wilderness and have run aground on discouragement, bitterness, hardness of Heart, or have turned back from their destination. Some have become mired in coping habits or devoted things that prevent the Holy Spirit from leading them on to the next level. Whatever the circumstances or the condition of the Heart, I pray that these words will reaffirm your vision for your destiny in God. I trust that it will be a map for you of the journey that will reveal God’s ways of working His character and purposes out in His people. It is a warning to us that we should not resist the Holy Spirit when He is leading us into the death of the Flesh. Hopefully, it will call back to life some “dry bones” and visit a dying generation in the Wilderness with faith and a cup of cold spiritual water.

“A Journey in the Wilderness” is a book about walking in the Holy Spirit and not about dos and don’ts and principles. It is a book about the Spirit of God and His “ways” with His people. It is intimate and precious to God because these are the ways of a Bridegroom with His chosen Bride. He is preparing us for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. He is preparing us to love Him fully and to live and reign with Him for all eternity.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 2 Corinthians 4:7-11, NIV

© Paul K. Weigel, January 2000

Go To Order Information

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A Journey In The Wilderness
Information

The Forerunner: If you would like to join a community of people who are making their way through the Wilderness, you can find out more by visiting the Forerunner website at: http://www.theforerunner.net The site features a free E-Zine (electronic magazine) and opportunities to interact with others who are in the Wilderness. New areas are being added to the site as the demand for more interaction becomes evident, so drop by and visit and discover how you can contribute and connect with others.

Book Orders: For order information see our website at: http://www.theforerunner.net. If you would like to locate a distributor please contact us by e-mail at: ajourney@theforerunner.net

Comments: If you have comments about “A Journey in the Wilderness”, you may e-mail them to, ajourney@theforerunner.net

Seminars: A Journey in the Wilderness is also available as a seminar to Churches and conference groups. More information about this and our other seminars can be had by contacting the author by E-mail, at: ajourney@theforerunner.net or visit The Forerunner website at, http://www.theforerunner.net

Rick Joyner’s prophecy entitled “The Coming Civil War” can be seen at: http://www.morningstarministries.org or by contacting, Morning Star Ministries, P.O. Box 19409, Charlotte, NC 28219-9409,