Lazarus was a Kingdom man on earth, yet it cannot be said that he lived in the fullness of the privileges of the Kingdom. Pastor Jerry started by telling us of the contradictions in Lazarus’s life as we see in the Bible in Luke 16: 19. He said, the interesting thing about Lazarus was that he stood at the gates of the rich man seeking crumbs and never got them and dogs even came to lick his wounds. He must have gotten worse from infections from these wounds licked by dogs and he died. The Rich man on the other hand also died, a short while after this. and while the latter went to hell, Lazarus went to heaven.
When Jesus taught his disciples about prayer, he had taught them to pray ‘thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’. He told them this was essential for the believer to represent the Kingdom of God here on earth even before going to take their place in heaven. Lazarus on the other hand, though a Kingdom man on earth was not a representative of Kingdom on earth in his experiences. The privileges of the Kingdom of God on earth where not evident in his life. Lazarus’s name meant ‘helped by God’ but it was difficult to reconcile his experience with his name, Pastor Jerry says.
He further on describes the major thing that worried him about Lazarus; it was not the contradictions of his name, it was not the problem of the sickness, it was not the problem of the poverty, but it was Lazarus’s desire. Lazarus desired only the crumbs off the rich man’s table. This undermined the place of a kingdom man! No matter the volume of revelation or information one has, if the desire of one’s heart does not change the manifestation will become impossible. Even though Lazarus was a Christian, a Kingdom man, his desire was below God’s desire for him. Pastor Jerry relates this to the Story of the Syrophoenician widow who had requested from Jesus, healing and when Jesus said he was only sent to the children of Israel, she humbly asked for the crumbs that was meant for the dogs. Pastor Jerry establishes that while this woman knew that the crumbs were meant for dogs, Lazarus demanded for these crumbs like the dogs.
Pastor Jerry stated categorically that, until your appetite changes regardless of your revelation your manifestation will be limited. The Kingdom can only be represented when your capacity as a Kingdom man begins to swallow the negativity of whatsoever is not of the Lord. The gates of hell will not prevail only when the Kingdom is no longer of mere words but action! Pastor Jerry reminds us of his preaching the previous day about the role of the believer as gatekeepers. Gatekeepers cannot afford to be complacent. Gatekeepers cannot afford for dogs to be comfortable around them gatekeepers must arise and shut every spiritual door sending the dogs away. (Dogs representing a type of decadence and several contrary verdicts of the enemy.)
Pastor Jerry goes on to tell us his humbling encounter; about an Indian woman he prayed for at the programme he held at Oxford, England. The woman was on a wheelchair and he had prayed for her and tried to pull her up to stand on her feet that were paralysed. In his first attempt she fell, and even though it was God that had instructed him, she fell again a second time, at this point he was dishevelled. He began to become emotional and desperate with tears in his eyes he prayed to God and asked that God help him, help the woman, and take all the glory. God had pushed him beyond his comfort zone and though he did not know it at the time, he realised that it was a turning point for him. He realised that God was more concerned about raising a powerful Kingdom for His glory than raising a powerful man.
There was a difference between the Pastor Jerry that attempted to pull the woman to her feet the first time, and the Pastor Jerry that pulled the woman up the third time, this time with his eyes shut (desperately and totally dependent on God), he watched in shock as the women took her first steps and walked! This was the turning point that made him realise that he would never attempt to share God’s glory and an indelible mark of the kingdom’s agenda was impressed upon him. God is more interested in your desire as it aligns with the impact of the Kingdom.
These are the last days, and nothing seems normal neither can things be normal with the Kingdom man! We need to be at that place where we visit our neighbours, and their autistic children are healed instantly! Where we walk through the streets and the dead are being raised! These are the days when the devil has unleashed his worst, unknown to him that God has also unleashed His best! Our desires must align with the Kingdom. and that way we will represent and establish God’s Kingdom, here on earth!