“Acts” of the apostles

 

1. Luke 24:53 says that the disciples stayed continually at the Temple praising God. The Feast of Pentecost, or Shavuot in Hebrew, was just starting in Jerusalem as the book of Acts begins. It was one of the three great pilgrim feasts that every Jewish male was required to attend (see Deuteronomy 16:16). Where would these Jewish believers, who were continually in the Temple Courts anyway, have been on the first day of the feast of Pentecost? They would have been at the Temple!
2. Acts 2:6-12 states that huge crowds of people from every nation gathered to hear Peter speak. Where would there have been room for great crowds of people, who were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, during the time of day that the Temple services would have been held? It would have had to have been somewhere in the Temple area, the only place where there would have been that much space!
3. In Acts 2:15, Peter told the crowd gathered that it was 9:00 in the morning. This would have been the exact time for the morning Pentecost service in the Temple. Certainly the disciples and the crowd would have wanted to be present for the Pentecost services.
4. In Acts 2:2, it says that the sound of a violent wind filled the whole house where they were sitting. The Temple is frequently called, “The House” in the Old Testament (see e.g. 2 Samuel 7:5). Even in Acts 7:47, the Temple is called, “The House”. The House where they were sitting was the Temple!
5. Peter spoke of the Tomb of David as being there (Acts 2:29). David was buried in the “City of David” (I Kings 2:10), which is the part of Jerusalem that is the closest to the Temple Mount.
6. In Acts 2:41, it says that three thousand people were baptized in response to the apostles preaching. One of the only places in Jerusalem with that much water to baptize three thousand people would have been at the southern entrance to the Temple, where there were located numerous “mikvoth”. These were ritual baths used by the worshipers to ceremonially cleanse themselves before entering the grounds of the Temple. These pools, which already symbolized the removal of the uncleanness of sin, and their proximity to where the crowds would have been gathered, gives further evidence to Pentecost happening in or around the southern stair entrance to the Temple grounds.

All this evidence overwhelmingly points to the events of Acts 2 taking place on or near the southern stair entrance to the Temple. Hundreds of thousands of God fearing Jews from all over the known world (Acst2:5) were gathered to celebrate the Jewish Feast of Shavuot (Leviticus 23:15-22). At this ancient Jewish feast, God came in the form of tongues of fire and settled on the new believers. God moved out of his old “House”, the Temple, and moved into a new “House”, the hearts of the believers. All of this took place in the framework of Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled at this miraculous event and it all happened at the place God had his people build a place for Him to dwell!

Commission of the Disciples

Matthew 10:5-6: “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teachall nations  baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:1

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:and, lo I am with you always even to the end of the World. Amen.

The word “Nations” means heathen or foreign nations or races. The translation should say ALL RACES.

G1484 ἔθνος ethnos eth’-nos Probably from G1486; a race (as of the same habit), that is, a tribe; specifically a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication pagan): – Gentile, heathen, nation, people.

Paul

Christ had chosen Paul for a threefold purpose – “to bear [His] name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

First, Paul was to teach the Gentiles – he did that in Cyprus, Asia Minor and Greece. Second, he was to appear before kings – an event which landed him in prison in Rome for two-years. At the end of that two-year period, during which no accusers had appeared, Paul would automatically have been released according to Roman law. At that point, Luke stops the story of Paul. See Acts 28:31. Thirdly, he ended his work by going to the Lost Ten Tribes.

                        

Also Paul had planned to go to Spain and may have gone to Britain. “I will come by you into Spain” (Rom. 15:28).

Greek church historian Theodore, wrote:
“That St. Paul brought salvation to the isles that lie in the ocean”
(book i, on Psalm cxvi. p. 870).

Paul ministered in southern Galatia, he was not allowed to minister in other areas by the holy spirit.
“After they [Paul and his companions] were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered [permitted] them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas” (Acts 16:7, 8).

 

Peter

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (I Peter 1:1). Notice the word “strangers.” It does not mean Gentiles. The original Greek is parepidemos. It means “a resident foreigner,” literally, “an alien alongside.

G3927 παρεπίδημος parepidēmos par-ep-id’-ay-mos From G3844 and the base of G1927; an alien alongside, that is, a resident foreigner: – pilgrim, stranger.

Gal 2:8 (ForG1063 he that wrought effectuallyG1754in PeterG4074 toG1519 the apostleshipG651 of theG3588 circumcision,G4061 the same was mightyG1754 in(G2532) meG1698 towardG1519 theG3588Gentiles:)G1484

All of the people living in Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia were Israelites according to Josephus. Josephus, the Jewish historian, was familiar with Parthia as a major dwelling place of the Ten Tribes. He states:

“But then the entire body of the people of Israel [the Ten Tribes] REMAINED IN THAT COUNTRY [they did not return to Palestine]; wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers” (Antiq. of the Jews, bk. xi, ch. V, §2).

Diodorus of Sicily wrote:

“… many conquered peoples were removed to other homes, and two of these became very great colonies: the one was composed of Assyriansand was removed to the land between Paphlagonia and Pontus, and the other was drawn from Media and planted along the Tanais (the River Don in ancient Scythia – the modern Ukraine, north of the Black Sea, in southern Russia).” See book II, §43.

Notice the areas from which these colonies came – Assyria and Media. The very areas to which the House of Israel was taken captive! Strabo called these people the “White Syrians” (12, 3, 9), instead of Assyrians.

Who were these so-called “White Syrians”? None other than the House of Israel which had been carried into Assyrian captivity. “Syria” was the Greek name for the whole eastern Mediterranean coastal strip north of Judea. That is why the Greeks called them the white Syrians.

Andrew

Andrew went to Scythians. Andrew had Scythia, and the neighboring countries primarily allotted him for his province.

Speaking of Andrew,
“went next to Trapezus, a maritime city on the Euxine Sea, whence after many other places he came to Nice, where he stayed two years, preaching and working miracles with great success: thence to Nicomedia, and so to Chalcedon; whence sailing through the Propontis he came by the Euxine Sea [BLACK SEA] to Heraclea, and from thence to Amastris….He next came to Sinope, a city situated upon the same sea,…here he met with his brother Peter, with whom he stayed a considerable time….Departing hence, he went again to Amynsus and then…he proposed to return to Jerusalem” — the headquarters church. “Whence after some time he betook himself…to the country of Abasgi (a land in the Caucasus)…Hence he removed into…Asiatic Scythia or Sarmatia, but finding the inhabitants very barbarous and intractable, he stayed not long among them, only at Cherson, or Chersonesus, a great and populous city within the Bosporus (this Bosporus is the modern Crimea), he continued for some time, instructing them and confirming them in the faith. Hence taking ship, he sailed across the sea to Sinope, situated in Paphlagonia…”
(Cave, Antiquitates Apostolicae, p.137-138).

 

Simon

Dorotheus was a bishop of Tyre (255 A.D.) is credited with an “Acts of the Seventy Apostles” which may be the same work as the lost Gospel of the Seventy.

Nicephorus and Dorotheus both wrote about Simon:
“directed his journey toward Egypt, then to Cyrene, and Africa … and throughout Mauritania and all Libya, preaching the gospel … . Nor could the coldness of the climate benumb his zeal, or hinder him from whipping himself and the Christian doctrine over to the Western Islands, yea, even to Britain itself. Here he preached and wrought many miracles … .” “that he went at last into Britain, and … was crucified … and buried there”
(Cave, Antiquitates Apostolicae, p.203.).

Anglo Saxon migrate to Britain

Here is Geoffrey of Monmouth’s answer:
“The Saxons … went unto Gotmund, King of the Africans, in Ireland, wherein, adventuring thither with a vast fleet, he had conquered the folk of the country. Thereupon, by the treachery of the Saxons, he sailed across with a hundred and sixty thousand Africans into Britain … (and) laid waste, as hath been said, well-nigh the whole island with his countless thousands of Africans”
(Historia Regum Britanniae, bk. xi, sect. 8, 10).

The Universal History is a 65 volume account of history form the earliest times. It is compiled from original authors, and illustrated with maps, notes and published in London between 1747 and 1768. Universal History explains the Nordics were white people who came from North Africa and Mauritania.

“gave out, that their ancestors were driven out of Asia by a powerful enemy, and pursued into Greece; from whence they made their escape” to North Africa. “But this … was to be understood only of the white nations inhabiting some parts of western Barbary and Numidia.”
(Universal History Vol xviii, p.194, 1748)

Eusebius, wrote about the apostles that they,
“passed over to those which are called the British Isles.” Again he wrote: “Some of the Apostles preached the Gospel in the British Isles.”
(Eusebius, Evangelical Demonstrations, Book III, chapter 7)

James Alphaeus

There were 2 apostles named James. James of Alphaeus went to Spain. James, the brother of the Messiah, was martyred by Herod. (Acts 12:2).James, son of Alphaeus, was the one who left Palestine after the first twelve years. The deeds of this apostle are sometimes mistakenly assigned to James, John’s brother.

“The Spanish writers generally contend, after the death of Stephen, he came to these Western parts, and particularly into Spain (some add Britain and Ireland) where he planted Christianity”
(Cave, Antiquitates Apostolicae, p. 148 ).

Thomas

In 256 A.D. Parthia began to migrate from the regions of the Black Sea to Denmark, thence into the British Isles in 449 A.D. The Greek historians reveal that Thomas brought the gospel to Parthia.

“Parthia, after which Sophornius and others inform us, that he preached the gospel to the Medes, Persians, Carmans, Hyrcani, Bactrians, and the neighbor nations”.
(Cave, Antiquitates Apostolicae, p.189).

These lands we know today as Iran (or Persia) and Afghanistan.

Parthia was defeated by Persia in 226 A.D. Expelled from Parthia, the Ten Tribes and the Medes moved north of the Black Sea, into Scythia. (See R. G. Latham’s The Native Races of the Russian Empire, page 216.) From there, around A.D. 256, the Ten Tribes migrated with their brethren from Asia Minor into Northwest Europe.

“White Indians” – that is, whites living in India – were also known as Nephthalite Huns, in later Greek records. They were overthrown in the sixth century and migrated into Scandinavia.

Bartholomew

Bartholomew worked with Thomas in the Parthian Empire. According to Nicephorus recorded that Bartholomew also spent part of his time in Armenia and Upper Phrygia in Asia Minor. Nicephorus called the area the “Western and Northern parts of Asia,” .(Asia Minor, modern Turkey today).
(Cave, Antiquitates Apostolicae, p 168 quoting Nicephorus Callistus “Ecclesiasticae Historiae”)

Jude

Jude, his other name was Libbaeus Thaddaeus, had his ministry in Assyria and Mesopotamia. That is part of Parthia Empire also. All lands north of the Eurphates River belonged to the lost tribes of Israel according to Josephus. During the New Testament times, Parthia ruled most ruled over most of the Gentiles. Part of their possession was Assyria and Mesopotamia. They controlled the famous city of Babylon.
(Dr. Herman Hoeh,The Compendium, “where did the Apostles go?”)

Philip

Philip was assigned to Scythia. Scythia was the land area located aroung the Black and the Caspian Seas. In 331 A.D. the Parthian Empire fell to Persia. The Parthians migrated to this region.
(Cave, Antiquitates Apostolicae, p 168)

 

Matthew

Matthew [Levi], Metaphrastes tells us,

“went first into Parthia, and having successfully planted Christianity in those parts, thence traveled to Aethiopia, that is, the Asiatic Aethiopia, lying near India.”

Metaphrastes was the principal compiler of the legends of saints in the “Menologia” of the Byzantine Church. Also Dorotheus declares Matthew was buried at Hierapolis in Parthia.

Matthias

Ethiopia and Greek sources tell us Matthias went to Dacia. Dacia is modern day Romania and Macedonia. sources designate Dacia. Dacia was the extreme western part of Scythia. From Dacia came the Normans who ultimately settled in France and Britain.

John

John may have been sent to Gaul which is modern day France. This is only based on a French legend that Mary mother of Jesus went to Gaul. We know that the Messiah told John to take care of his mother. There is a legend that Mary went with John to France and later to Britain. Paul may have passed by Gaul on his way from Italy to Spain (Romans 15:24, 28). This is no historical proof that John went to Gaul.

The Gospel Advances through Multiplication

As the apostles led the gathered believers in Jerusalem in worship, fellowship and instruction, “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (2:47). Opposition and persecution, far from stopping the gospel’s advance, actually served to propel the preachers forward with even greater boldness so that “many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of men came to about five thousand” (4:4). Prayer was what connected the church with the power of God so that “when they had prayed…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (4:31).

Luke summarized the progress of the gospel in Acts 6:7:

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.

The stoning of Stephen marked the beginning of intense persecution which scattered the believers “throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria…Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (8:1,4). Including “defiled” Samaritan-compromisers in the early church was no small issue for purity-minded Jews, so the Lord confirmed his acceptance of them with special signs and affirmation from the Apostles themselves (8:14). The Good News had already spread beyond Jerusalem to Judea and now even into Samaria!

Acts 9:31 provides another of Luke’s summary statements:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Notice that by this point, the gospel had reached the northern part of Israel, and the church was not just growing, it was multiplying.

The Gospel Advances through the Word

As we reflect on the advance of the gospel in Acts, it is important to point out that the main character in the book of Acts is not Peter or Paul but “the word of God.” And when Luke refers to “the word,” he very clearly means the gospel.

Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. (Acts 8:25, emphasis mine)

As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all). (Acts 10:36, emphasis mine)

Luke is careful to document not only the inclusion of Samaritans in the early church but even Gentiles, in the story of Cornelius and those with him.

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. (Acts 10:44)

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. (Acts 11:1)

This is an early preview of how the gospel-preachers would be a “light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47, citing Isaiah 49:6).

Jesus was clear that the mission was “to make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). But the gospel retained a priority for the Jews (Romans 1:16), all the way to the end of Acts. We see this as the word of God advanced beyond Israel:

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution…traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. (Acts 11:19)

The prayer meeting in Acts 13 marks the turning point of Acts, as the central sending base for mission shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch. By Acts 19 the center would be Ephesus, in modern day Turkey.

The clear message of Luke through Paul’s missionary journeys is that while the Apostle circled back to build up the church, the word of God only advanced. Notice that “almost the whole city” of Pisidian Antioch in Galatia gathered, not to hear Paul but “to hear the word of the Lord” (Acts 13:44), with the result that “the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region” (Acts 13:49).

The Gospel Advances through Prayer

The connection between prayer and Holy Spirit-empowered proclamation of God’s Word runs from Luke’s Gospel all the way through Acts. Before Jesus started his ministry, he prayed. Before he chose his twelve disciples, he prayed. Before he went to the cross, he gathered his followers together and prayed.

The preparation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was weeks of prayer (Acts 1). And what propelled the gospel from Jerusalem to Antioch and on into Galatia was a season of prayer, worship and fasting:

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3, emphasis mine)

[tweet_box design=”default”]Prayer connects us with Spirit, helps us share the gospel, and prepares sinners to respond. [/tweet_box]

Prayer connects us with the power of the Holy Spirit and enables us to proclaim the gospel with boldness, while at the same time preparing sinners to respond in faith. Look at what the prayer meeting in Acts 13:2-3 produced later in that same chapter:

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. (Acts 13:48-49, emphasis mine)

The first missionary journey took the gospel to Cyprus and Galatia. The second missionary journey bypassed Asia (Acts 16:6, western Turkey) and brought the Word to Macedonia and Achaia (modern Greece), with the Bereans as a shining example of a receptive audience: “they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Paul taught for eighteen months in Corinth (Acts 18:11), and then finally, the Lord opened the door to Asia. Paul preached in the strategic port city of Ephesus for two years, “so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10). Here is the final summary statement in Acts:

So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. (Acts 19:20)

Nothing can stop the advance of the gospel:

This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

Jesus will build his church “and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Nothing can stop the Word of God. But we can speed its progress by praying – crying out to the Holy Spirit to empower us to preach the Word with boldness and to prepare the hearts of sinners to respond in faith. The book of Acts concludes with Paul’s shipwreck and transfer to a Roman prison. But persecution, hardship, and confinement could not silence his preaching or stop the message from moving on to the ends of the earth:

He lived there [in Rome] two whole years…proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. (Acts 28:28-31)

 

The manipulation game they play! Read!

 The reality is, when we think about this issue called narcissism or Narcissistic Personality Disorder and understand that it describes excessive selfishness, we realize that we’re talking about an attitude and an issue that is absolutely the property of God’s revelation in the Bible. God describes this problem in detail. He doesn’t use the language of narcissism or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, that language is new and amoral. God’s language, which is old and is inscribed in His Word, is authoritative and moral and from Him. He gives us a true ability to understand how we can think about what’s going on here.

A passage of just one out of many that we could mention is James 3:14-16, and there the Bible says, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” This is amazing. It’s a passage about Narcissistic Personality Disorder, just using God’s language for the problem.

God’s language for the problem is bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, and it tells us where this bitter jealousy and selfish ambition comes from. It says that it is earthly, natural, and demonic, that is, it comes from the Christian’s three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. This sort of obsession with self, this selfish ambition, comes from our own sinful hearts. It comes from a world system at odds with God and His law, and it comes from the prince of the air, the devil, the enemy of God Himself.

This problem of narcissism, this problem of selfish ambition, is not, first and foremost, a problem that is genetic, biological, and environmental. It is, first and foremost, a problem that is spiritual and that resides in our hearts. The Bible tells us where this jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing, that is, every bad thing in the universe, every bad thing in your life, traces back to this problem of selfish ambition. This is not some disorder affecting some and excluding others. This problem of excessive, obsessive selfishness is one that comes to all of us, and it is the source of all of our trouble.

When we understand this violent, insane, obsessive selfishness according to the Bible, as being a problem that is in the hearts of each and every one of us to one degree or another, then we’ll be ready for the biblical solution. The biblical solution is repentance. Repentance away from our own sinful, obsessive, selfish heart and towards our Redeemer who gave up Himself for us, who died on a cross so that we could have freedom from our sin and live to serve Him and to serve Him forever.

When we talk about narcissism, we’re talking about a secular label on a very spiritual problem that the Bible describes as selfish ambition, and that it is not limited to just a few people, it extends to each and every one of us and affects absolutely everything we do. It also tells us that our selfishly ambitious hearts are freed by the grace of Jesus Christ to turn from our sin and our own selfish hearts to serve Jesus Christ forever.

Depression, jealousy, and emotional outbursts have often been considered the result of frustration and stress in life. However, recently I have noticed people who have used depression, jealousy, and emotional outbursts as a form of control and manipulation.

It may seem difficult to believe that a depressed person isn’t really depressed, or that a jealous person isn’t really jealous, or that an emotional outburst is not fueled by anger. Yet many times this is true.

As Christians, we must never attempt to control people (or be controlled by people) through manipulation. Control and manipulation are rebellion against God’s plan for someone else or for ourselves. A person who relentlessly attempts to control another usually becomes so focused on the control that his or her mind cannot be changed. This is a type of stubbornness and witchcraft.

According to the Bible, rebellion and stubbornness are not of God: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:23).We must break the spirit of control in our lives and over our lives. Galatians 5:22 tells us that a part of the fruit of the spirit is self-control. Yes, we must take control of our own lives and not allow sin to enter. We must pray for and do good to others. We must love them and not think of ourselves as higher than them. However, we must never try to bring someone closer to God or closer to the way we think they should be by way of control or let someone else do the same to us. Depression, jealousy, and emotional outbursts are all based in fear. Any time fear is used to restructure a situation, it’s wrong.

God never uses fear as a motivation. God motivates through love. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love changes lives. Love reveals God’s true nature and love is what will bring people into a right understanding of where they should be.

So, the next time you catch yourself trying to manipulate someone through your emotions, stop it. Think about what you are doing and start operating in love instead of fear. Anything that you do that is associated with fear has its roots in the devil. It works the same way in reverse when someone is trying to control you. Don’t allow it!

Remember this – God has not given you a spirit of fear, “but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)​​​​​​​

Most people are under severe demonic attacks and they are unaware that witchcraft spirits are at work. Don't think that for one moment, that the enemy has left you alone when you are being used by God in a mighty way. Threats, fits of rage, anger, wrath, temper tantrums, violence, bullying, silent treatment, tears, alienation, deflection, slander, triangulation, abandonment, walking on eggshells, manipulative crying, etc. are forms of control designed to destroy the child of God. This is completely satanic. These are all forms of manipulation to control, hinder and destroy the child of God. The controlling person makes the person feel bad through guilt to control them. They twist the truth to make the victim feel like the abuser. In public, everyone likes them, but in private they abuse that person. If you have to resort to manipulation for a desired outcome, most likely that desired outcome, is wrong. Even if the desired outcome in itself is not sinful, The willingness to sin for it has created an idolatrous desire. This is a form of witchcraft.

Stop allowing people to speak evil over your life because they are upset with you and want to control your life.  Pastors trying to curse members and members trying to curse the pastors; people trying to manipulate and control people for finances; prophets lying to make merchandise out of the people; apostles trying to control the people and become an idol and god to them, wanting them to bow down and worship them like they are God. Controlling spirits, trying to use the Word as a weapon against the people! Family members trying to control, manipulate and destroy other family members!
God wants to break the stronghold of witchcraft Jezebel off the people.  Some of you feel the suffocation and the chain of the enemy. Many of you do because you have connected to these spirits because you didn’t seek God, but you ran after the gifts of those false prophets and apostles!!
A large portion of warfare that is coming against you is because you have entertained them and sowed into them which has formed a covenant and connection with the evil that they operate in.  It’s time to repent and renounce your involvement with these evil works so that these chains of bondage shall be destroyed.
Because the people are lazy and won’t pray and seek God for themselves and many of them have secret sins of which they won’t repent and get delivered from. They have gotten caught up in these works.
Emotional rollercoasters rides and merry-go-rounds will keep you in derision and conflict. This causes you to sacrifice truth, in exchange, for emotions. This is idolatry. This is seducing and bewitching you from the truth to keep you from obeying it. If you stand up to a manipulating person, you fear the consequences of their wrath. In 1 Kings 21:1-16, we see the makings of a daytime drama. Jezebel’s husband wanted a vineyard, but the landowner, Naboth, in obedience to God (vs. 3), refused to relinquish his property. Ahab gave up and sulked, but Jezebel chose to use her influence. She decided to do something about it. 

You see, Naboth stood up to Ahab and refused to let Ahab control him. This is a great example of boundaries and standing up for what you believe. This is about control. Manipulators ignore the facts. They control through emotions. Jezebel is a control freak. She wanted to have control over the kingdom, the family and over God's servants. Ahab sulks and Jezebel steps in, using her influence to manipulate the legal process. She draws others into her scheme, allowing Ahab to take possession of the vineyard. Manipulators are always trying to force by imposing their will unto others. They are self-willed. It has to be about them. They never think of the well being of the other person. What ever you do, you will never be able to make them happy. The problem is not you. It's them. They are operating in a witchcraft spirit. 

For a Christian, manipulation means attempting to gain control of someone or circumstances using unbiblical means by inciting an emotional reaction rather than a Biblical response. There is an interesting biblical term that may come close to describing manipulative individuals. The word is oppressor. There are several Hebrew words that have been translated into English as oppressor. Take the word, ‘asoq’, for example. According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, the word is concerned with acts of abuse of power of authority, the burdening, trampling, and crushing of those lower in station. Another interesting word for oppressor it ‘tok’. Used in Proverbs 29:13, the term connotes fraud and deceitfulness…manipulators deceitfully conceal significant information from those whom they are trying to control. We must bind and cast out that spirit of oppression in the authority of Jesus Names and put on the garment of praise. 

Jesus Christ never manipulates us to achieve His end or purpose. He never treats us as if we are mere objects. He always treats us with dignity, as people. Perhaps people have pushed you around and have taken advantage of you over the years to such an extent that it is impossible for you to conceive what it would be like to be treated with dignity. Though Satan is neither omnipotent nor omniscient, he has tremendous powers of manipulation. The Bible says, "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness" I John 5:19.  

To resist Satan without submitting to God is only half the strategy. But even after recognizing the enemy and deciding to seek help, we must still put on the armor. God's arsenal is open to us. The battle array comes in all sizes.

"Wherefore take unto you the whole amour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" Ephesians 6:13-17.

There are many different kinds of manipulators: (1) There are spiritual manipulators who use their position of authority and their knowledge of Scripture to twist the truth of God’s Word to pressure you into doing what they want. (2) There are emotional manipulators who use your emotions against you, or they use their emotions to pressure you to do their will. (3) There are financial manipulators who use money or gifts to try and persuade and control you into doing what they want. (4) Also, there are those who use physical threats, explosive anger, and intimidation to get you to yield to their will. (5) There are even husbands and wives that use sex as a manipulative tool to cause you to yield to their demands. You must be able to recognize and discern when manipulation is occurring.

Identifying the tools of a manipulator.

1. Flattery. Note how the Pharisees tried to manipulate Jesus with flattery to try and trip Jesus up with His words. Their only desire was to get Jesus to speak against Caesar so they could accuse Him. Scripture records, “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, ‘Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.’ So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, ‘Caesar's.’ And He said to them, ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way” (Matt. 22:15-22). Notice that Jesus identified their plot to manipulate Him as wickedness, and He called them hypocrites for attempting to do so. This is an important declaration by Jesus. Why? It helps you to identify manipulation for what it is, a great evil! Don’t let anyone perpetrate this wickedness upon you. Jesus wouldn’t let them manipulate Him. He could see their ulterior motives, and turned the tables on them with His own questions. You need to learn to do the same.

Consequently, have you ever had someone begin to tell you how great you are, that you are a man or woman of truth, that you are so perceptive, and in the next breath try and get something from you? If so, you were being manipulated! Remember, one of the cardinal rules of manipulation is, that with every form of manipulation a person will either first flatter you, or try and guilt you into doing what they want.

2. Verbal word games. Notice also that the religious leaders in the previous example also tried to manipulate Jesus by trying to entangle Him in His words. This was another sign that they were master manipulators with no moral convictions. “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk” (Matt. 22:15).

When your mate tries to twist your words in the attempt to entangle you in your words, you are being manipulated. When you encounter a verbal manipulator, you will know it because you will get confused about what you were even talking about. You will begin to argue about what you or your mate actually said, and not the issue itself. If you point out their fault, they just change the subject or blame someone else. If you allow this game to continue, you will begin to question yourself and what you saw or heard, which is the intended end of this tactic.

3. Lying to distort reality. One of the more insidious tools of manipulators is when they try to distort the reality of what actually happened in a given circumstance or conversation. Your mate will say things like, “You just imagined that this happened.” “That didn’t happen, and I didn’t say that.” “You are crazy.” “What’s the matter with you?” These manipulative tactics are so powerful, because they work to distort and erode your sense of reality and what is true. You begin to distrust and question your ability to know what you saw or heard. This is all to disable you from being able to point out what is abuse or mistreatment.

Do you realize that those who argued with Jesus tried this tactic on Him? Jesus said to them, “Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?’ The people answered and said, ‘You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?’” Then John records that they all knew that the religious leaders were trying to kill Jesus, because John states, “Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill?” (John 7:19-25). In other words, the people told Jesus that He was crazy and was demon possessed, because He thought people were trying to kill him. But, in reality, they were actually trying to kill Him!

4. Emotionally abusive behavior. Have you ever had someone turn on the crocodile tears to pressure you to get their way, and the moment you give in the tears stop? Or, when your spouse tries to make you feel guilty for not doing what they want, because they are playing the victim and you are their oppressor? Or, has your spouse ever given you the silent treatment until you agree with them and they get their way? If you have experienced any of these pressure tactics you know what emotional manipulation is like. The end result will be your every encounter with a person like this will make you feel drained, used, or like they are sucking the life right out of you. It is like walking on eggshells around them, because you don’t want to upset them and have them again try to pressure you. All these behaviors are simply to control you, and to get you to do what they want.

5. Abusive behavior. Another very destructive form of manipulation is when someone uses explosive anger or physical intimidation to attempt to force you to yield to their will. King Saul used these methods against David when he flew into a rage against David and threw his spear at him several times (1 Sam. 18:8-11).

Husbands and wives often use explosive anger and rage to intimidate their spouse. They are trying to force their mate to yield to their will. Some even use physical actions such as punching walls, slamming doors, or even throwing lamps or other objects to manipulate. But these actions only make things worse and destroy any intimacy that is left in the relationship. 

6. Threats to instill fear. The Jews used this method against Pontius Pilate very effectively to manipulate him into crucifying Jesus, when all he wanted to do was let Him go. Remember their threat against Pilate? John records, “From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, ‘If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.’ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha” (John 19:12-13). The religious leaders were making a veiled threat that they were going to tell Caesar that Pilate was not his friend. Pilate knew exactly what they intended to do.

Spouses quite often make threats to instill fear to intimidate and manipulate their mate. They threaten that they will leave them, or use the ultimate threat of divorce. There are also threats to reveal secrets that one spouse holds over another.  These methods of manipulation may get the immediate payoff that the spouse is seeking, but in the long run, it only further destroys the relationship.

7. Guilt. Getting you to feel guilty is the oldest manipulation tool in the book. Satan uses guilt to manipulate God’s people so effectively, because all men know they are guilty of many sins. However, they forget so quickly that they have been completely forgiven of all their sins by the sacrifice of Christ. This knowledge should set them free from guilt and condemnation. Jesus promised, “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men” (Matt. 12:31). The Apostle John declared, “If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The Apostle Paul also confirmed the same truth that, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1).

If this is true, you should never be motivated or manipulated by guilt. God has set you free from the tyranny of guilt once and for all. However, people who manipulate will use guilt very effectively. I heard someone recently tell me that their child who was not even looking for a job said to their parent,“If you don’t continue to give me money, I am leaving, and you will never see me again. You are forcing me back to the streets and my drug habit. If I die, it will be your fault. What parent would not help their own child?” This person was in full manipulation mode, by attempting to use guilt, and taking no personal responsibility for their own actions. Remember, there is true guilt, and there is false guilt. One is generated by God, and the other is produced by manipulators.

8. Bribes and Gifts. Do people really use bribes and gifts to manipulate others? Yes! Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000 it says, “Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone” (John 6:15). Note the fact that the people wanted to take Him by force and make Him a king. Why did they want to do this? Was it because they believed He was the Messiah and wanted Him to reign as their king? No! Just read a little further in the chapter and you will see that Jesus reproved these people because they had the wrong motives for following Him. Jesus recognized that these people just wanted Him as their king so He could keep on multiplying bread for them as He had just done. This is why He said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:26-27).

In my experience in counseling with couples, bribes and gifts are used to manipulate a spouse to get what they want. “I will do _____ for you, if you will do _____ for me. But, if you won’t, then I won’t help you.” I even had one couple I counseled barter money for sex. The wealthy man married a very poor woman who only wanted to spend his money. He cut her off from access to his money, and so she told her husband that if he gave her money, she would have sex with him anytime he wanted. However, this bribe would never bring this couple into the true love relationship that God intended for their marriage.

A word of caution!

Let me end this discussion on manipulative tactics with a word of caution. Not every gift someone gives you, not every question of the facts that have occurred, not every angry reaction you get, or lack of reaction is meant to manipulate you. These are very common interpersonal behaviors and reactions to conflict. But, when you sense that someone is using these tactics over and over again to try and force you to do what they want, that is manipulation.

How can you resist being manipulated by someone?

1. Just say no. The word “no” is one word that has such mighty power. Using this word will set you free from a manipulator. It is as simple as saying “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that at this time.” When the manipulator inevitably responds with, “Why can’t you?”Don’t get into an in-depth explanation as to why you don’t want to be manipulated, just say, “I’m sorry but I don’t want to explain my reasons right now, but I just don’t feel comfortable doing what you want.”Remember, if you allow a manipulator to control you, they will just do it again, and again, and again. You are the only one who can stop the manipulation. Just use that one word, “no!”

2. Let me think about this! If you feel pressured or intimidated and don’t want to say no on the spot, apply a time delay to get yourself out of the situation at that moment. Then call the person later, after you have had time to think and reason through your response, and then say no.

3. Help them to see the obvious. Ask questions of the manipulator that help them realize what they are asking of you. Say something like, “Does it seem reasonable that you are asking this of me?” “Are you really expecting me to do this for you?”  “Do I get to have an opinion here?” When you take this stance with a manipulator it reveals to them that you will not play their game.

4. Establish the facts. When there is a question of what has happened or what has been said, the best way for you to be confident in what has occurred, is to establish the facts. How do you do this? Immediately write down the actual words that were spoken by your spouse, and what you said in response. Put the date and the time that it occurred, and how the conversation ended. Try to be as precise as you can. These are the facts. Stand by these facts, not your memory the following day! 

5. Know what God has told you to do. If you want to know what God would have you do, it means you must take a troublesome relationship to God in prayer, and ask Him to speak to you from His Word. Another way to know what God wants you to do is to ask counsel from someone you trust in their knowledge of the Word of God. Trust what God has said, not what you feel. His Word is truth (John 17:17). To walk confidently in the midst of a troubled relationship with your spouse, you need to know what God has said and act on that!

6. Reject threats that cause fear. The Bible is very clear: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). God doesn’t want you living in fear but in faith, assured of His love, with your mind free of anxiety. Any relationship, including your marriage, that causes you to live in fear because of threats made by anyone, is not a godly relationship. If this is happening, you need to seek counsel from your pastor or one of the elders at your church. Explain the details of what is going on and allow them to help.

7. Confront and remove yourself. When you discern that someone is trying to continually manipulate and control you, confront them directly about their behavior. If they refuse to hear you, ask your pastor to sit with both of you and discuss the manipulative situations that you have documented. If your spouse does not hear and turn from their manipulation and control, then ask your pastor’s counsel concerning removing yourself from the relationship (Matt. 18:15-17). Remember, every marital relationship is different and needs an unbiased view from one who has counseled you both.

One of the best biblical examples of this strategy is revealed in the relationship between David and King Saul. David confronted Saul several times concerning his attempts to kill David, but to no avail. It is quite clear from the Scripture that David was not convinced by Saul’s tears of repentance, or his statements that he had played the fool (1 Sam. 26:21). Why did David not believe Saul? Because King Saul would return to the same behavior in a short amount of time. God’s Word declares, “So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth” (1 Samuel 19:18). Sometimes removing yourself from a toxic relationship is the only thing you can do to protect yourself from a master manipulator, and further emotional or physical harm. David could not fix King Saul or change his behavior, but he could protect himself from the abusive behavior of this man. This will always be your last resort, but it must be an option! If you ask counsel from God, seek Him in His Word, and listen to your pastor’s counsel, God will direct your path (Prov. 3:5-6). May God keep you free from all manipulation, and always surrendered to His Word and the leading of His Spirit!