DAILY CONTACT – PREVENTS SNARES
TRANSLATION ALERT 38
Daily Contact-Prevents Snares | Neal Frisby’s Sermon | CD #783 | 05/18/1980 AM
Today satan’s traps, in other words, how he snares people. There is a net being put over the people of the earth. It’s like a delusion and they are headed straight in the wrong path. They think they are running from the fire but they are running right into the fire. Satan’s traps and how to avoid them: it is a very vital subject and this is about the proper way and how to approach the Lord in prayer. The way to defeat many of satan’s snares is to prepare beforehand.
In the hour that we live in, many are departing from the faith. They are going into traps and false doctrines. Israel was always going blind. They wouldn’t listen to the word of the Lord and they were continually falling into snares, idol worship and traps. Finally, the Lord told them this: Brother Frisby read Isaiah 44: 18. He just closed them up and allowed satan’s snares to come in there. This is the hour to watch because when they were asleep, the Lord came. It is the hour that people are departing from the faith and that is when Jesus appears.
Some people had the faith, were baptized, and seemingly knew the word of God, believed in divine healing and so forth; but they have departed from the faith. They were not entirely in the full revelation or they would not have departed. The full revelation of the word of God comes to the bride and they will not depart from the faith. They will hold on. The foolish virgins have departed from the faith of God and they will face the great tribulation. The main word of God has been held back in the thunders and God is coming to His people in different parts of the earth; those will not depart from the faith because the total word will be given to them—not only in signs and wonders, but all of His plans and mysteries revealed—and will serve as a hook that holds them together and chains them to the Lord Jesus.
[Brother Frisby mentioned a letter he received from a woman who sought counsel on a particular church’s doctrine. This man preaches that the Holy Spirit is a female spirit. Also, that the translation took place hundreds of years ago and we are in the Millennium]. This is completely away from the bible. The book of Revelation says if you take anything out of the word, your name will be taken out of the book of life. The Holy Spirit in the beginning moved in the creation. In the Greek language, He is neuter which means neither male nor female. That is back to His eternal fire. When He appears, He can appear in a form and take up a form like Jesus. When we see Him on the throne, He is a man, but in the beginning, neither male nor female as the Holy Spirit moved. That is the Eternal Fire that no man can look upon. The Lord can appear any way He wants. He can appear in the form of a dove, an eagle and so forth. In the book of Revelation, there is the sun-clothed woman with stars in her head. Whatever he wants to appear as in symbolism, He can. However, originally He was neither male nor female. Don’t let anybody tell you that the Holy Spirit is a female spirit. He is neither male nor female. The Holy Spirit moves like a cloud. He is dynamic power. He is Eternal Light. He is Life. The translation took place many years ago and we are in the Millennium? Does it look to you like the devil is already bound up for a thousand years?
The Pillar of Cloud: it was the Pillar of Life that moved upon Israel and carried them, and God’s plan for guidance of His redeemed people is beautifully told in the bible and declared by how God led Israel. They knew they were to make a journey to the Promised Land, but they were not left to their own wisdom and resources in making the journey. They were being led by the presence of God; the Pillar of Fire and the Pillar of Cloud guided them (Exodus 40: 36-38). Today, it is a different story. Somebody says, “You better do this and hurry.” The Cloud stands still. And then, they say, “You better not do this.” The Cloud moves. See; you have to listen to the guidance of the Lord. The same Cloud of the Lord is still moving among His people at the end of the age, but the dead systems and organized systems do not want to move when the Cloud moves. They go on, on their own. When they do, it’s Armageddon and they will be there.
It is a solemn thing to know that when Israel refused to follow the Cloud that particular generation was not permitted to enter the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb went in among those that left Egypt. The dead systems that deny the power of the Holy Spirit, proper baptism and that Jesus is the Eternal God do not move when the Cloud moves. They don’t care about the Pillar of Fire stopping or leading them; they just go on their own. Only Joshua and Caleb wanted to go to the Promised Land after they came back from spying the land. It would have been a short journey too, but they disobeyed God and had to travel thousands of miles. They did not follow the guidance of the Lord but another generation was raised up with those that believed and God made them to cross into the Promised Land.
The same thing at the end of the age: the Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of Fire is leading the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ across the earth and everywhere. They will believe under the instruction of the Holy Spirit by following the word. They will cross and God will have someone to take them in. The lesson is clear. These things were written for our admonition (1Corinthians 10: 11). When we see the common tragedy of Christians who are no longer going forward in their Christian experience, we know that in some way they have rejected or ignored divine guidance in their lives. Those who wish to have their prayers answered must be willing, at all costs, to follow the leading of Christ in their daily lives. In another place in the bible, it says, “Not my will be done but the Lord’s.” Many times today, they will say, “I want my will first.” They never say let the Lord’s will be done in their daily lives. Every step and every move must be committed to the Lord if you really want to get away from the pitfalls and snares of satan.
You’ve got to have a contact like I am going to preach about today or you are surely to stumble back and forth, and your life is likely to be a shipwreck, even if you do make it in, your life will be scarred. The thing to do is to be prepared. Brother Frisby read John 15: 7: they will not abide in His word or let the word abide in them and they are in serious trouble. In the age we are living in, the gospel net has been put out. God is separating the people and he is giving them a tremendous task because all power has been made available. But it is available only to those who day by day keep in contact with their God. You say, “Well, I have got to work.” You can {still} praise the Lord. You can rise in the morning and praise Him. You can go to bed praising Him at night. You can have time with the Lord even while you are working. When Nehemiah was building the wall, he was praying and working at the same time.
The bible says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus did not ask us to pray for a year’s supply or even a month’s supply. Why? He wants that daily contact. It is alright to have reserves, but if those reserves keep you from praying and being in daily contact with the Lord, you better get rid of your reserves and hold true to the word of God. God wants us to be in utter dependence on Him. He wants us to daily feel the strength of His presence and His sustaining power. The daily manna is a phenomenon. This wonderful lesson of daily dependence was taught in the giving of manna to the children of Israel; this is to teach us Gentiles, the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the end of the age. They were to receive only enough for a day’s supply. God had a reason for that. He wanted them to depend on Him each day. He could have rained enough manna to last them many years—their shoes did not wear out—He knows what He is doing and He has reasons for doing things. They were to receive only one day’s supply. No man could gather a supply for many days and hoard it for future use. Those who did found out that it bred worms and was not fit for human consumption.
There is a common mistake that is made by many Christians. They would have healing they can’t lose; rather than health that comes from daily dependence on the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord! Daily contact with God gives you divine health and you won’t have any sickness. They would rather have financial security that does not compel them to daily go to the secret chamber and ask God to meet their needs. It is alright to have your reserves because sometimes you have a business and they call on you for demands. But if you reserve it up to a point that you no longer have daily dependence on God, you better get rid of that reserve and get back to where you have to cry out each day and keep your soul where it needs to be with God. David said one time my prosperity would not move me. He had plenty of reserves, but he still depended on God. Some people don’t have a reserve; they have to depend on God daily, just thank God for that. Daily dependence on God is the best because many times when you store up you will not depend on God as you should. There is nothing wrong and it is not a shame to depend on the Lord each day. By daily depending on the Lord, He will prosper you beyond anything you ever dream or hope for. If you have a reserve, don’t let it stop your daily contact.
Three times a day Daniel contacted the Lord. He kept praying for Jerusalem and that the Hebrews would go home. The devil tried to stop him—put him in the lion’s den—but the children of Israel went home. They (Christians) would rather have the baptism of the Holy Spirit that would not require a daily waiting on God for a fresh anointing. They would rather have the Lord fill them up full and then walk around and never ask Him again. No, sir! Your holy spirit will leak out just like the organizations’. Their Holy Spirit leaked out and when they got up—they had the word, bibles laying around there—but they didn’t have any oil and some of them never did get it. The others once had oil but it was all gone. This is what happened to them: they asked God to fill them one time—speaking in tongues—but you have to have a fresh anointing to keep the Holy Spirit in with you daily. He requires that. Don’t ever ask God, “Fill me up so I don’t have to seek you again.” He wants you to have a fresh anointing. It is the power and anointing of this daily contact that is holding you to God. God’s plan involves a daily dependence on Him. Without Him we can do nothing and if we are to be successful and accomplished in His will in our lives, we cannot allow a single day to pass without a vital communion with the Lord Jesus. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from His mouth—back and forth between you and the Lord. Men are careful to partake regularly of the natural food but they are not so careful about the inner man who also needs a daily replenishing. Just as the body feels the effect of doing without food, so the spirit suffers when it fails to be fed on the bread of life, the Holy Spirit.
Daniel: He is a beautiful illustration of someone who learned the secret of true success. His life spanned a century during which time dynasties rose and fell. Time and again, Daniel’s life was in great jeopardy. On each occasion, his life was miraculously preserved. The spirit of God dwelt in him. He was admired and respected by kings and queens (Daniel 5: 11). Whenever an emergency arose, they turned to him for help. His courage moved kings to acknowledge the true God. Finally, Nebuchadnezzar said there is no God like Daniel’s God. What was the secret of Daniel’s power? The answer is that prayer was a business with him. How many of you see that? We’ve got business in this life; business at the bank, business on our jobs and we have business doing this or that around the house: but Daniel’s greatest business—he advised kings, ruled kingdoms, had interpretations and revealed deep secrets—with all these other businesses that Daniel had, his main business was prayer. The others were secondary. Three times a day, he opened his window and prayed. He prayed the children of Israel all the way home. Satan wanted to stop him by having him chewed up by lions in the lion’s den but he was faithful. You know what? Because he made prayer a business, God was a businessman with him. Praise God! The Lord was in that pit (lion’s den) before Daniel got there. He did not go running to God when some crisis appeared, he has already been to God. Crises were common in his life but when they came, he knew what to do. Three times a day, he met with God and gave thanks to God. This was a daily habit with him. Nothing was allowed to interrupt him at that time when he went to meet with the Lord.
Daily dependence upon the Lord: some people will say, “I haven’t prayed for a week, I’d better stayed here for a long time.” That’s good and alright but if you have that daily contact with the Lord, you will build a strong network of power. It is that systematic daily meeting with the Lord, allowing Him to hold you—if you do this, you will never fail. God will hold you up and satan will not trap you in a pitfall. Prayer must be as natural as breathing. With such prayer, men defeat the spiritual forces arrayed against them. By such continuous prayer, the enemy is kept at bay; a hedge of protection is maintained around us through which evil cannot break through. You put a light around you. While satan was laying temptations and traps for Jesus, Jesus had already prayed and fasted. He was an example to show you how to defeat satan. He was way ahead and had done it ahead of time before satan got to Him. He defeated satan by being prepared ahead of time. He did not wait until it was too late. He had already been there. He prepared in wisdom and when satan approached Him, all He said was, “It is written, you are through, satan.” It is written, it is written and satan left.
Today there is a secret of prayer about anticipating the traps and snares that satan is trying to lay in front of the children of God. Beware of those traps and pitfalls! The best thing is to run away from and shun the appearance of evil. Stay with the word of God and stay with the Lord. He will bless your heart. There is a secret prayer that blocks evil and the snares that will come before you. Remember how Jesus did it: it is written. That’s exactly where your wisdom comes from—the wisdom of the Almighty God. All men meet temptation just as Jesus did. There is no advantage in putting ourselves in the way of temptation. That is why Jesus taught men to pray and He said, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” This is divine anticipation of deliverance from evil. Reach out, touch the Lord and He will bless you. Some prayers are prayed too late. Seek the Lord when there is time to seek Him before it is too late. Some people seek God earnestly after they get into trouble without realizing that if they had prayed sooner, they would have avoided the pitfall. There is such a thing as foreseeing evil and avoiding it (Proverbs 27: 12).
Watch the pitfall, the false doctrines and the way that satan will come. He is laying one of the greatest snares at the end of the age that it will almost deceive the very elect. Strong delusion will come upon the world but God will put a mark on His people of the Holy Spirit and they will be guided by what I am speaking of this morning. There is a blessing in daily dependence on the Lord for everything. We are not knocking those with riches and finances who truly believe God for their riches but if your wealth is taking away your daily contact or dependence, think it over in your heart. Don’t let anything take your daily contact with the Lord; your job, your children or anything. Have a daily meeting with the Lord and He will certainly hold you up. He will keep you from falling into the pit. How do you stay out of it? You pray before time. You may not get out of everything but I guarantee you one thing that you will escape the largest pitfalls that satan will put in front of you. You do that by preparing yourself beforehand. How can a man continually escape the traps that satan sets before him? The answer is this: not through human foresight and wisdom. The bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3: 5 & 6). One of the first things the Lord spoke to me before I was told to go and talk to the people was this scripture. How true and wonderful is that scripture if people would follow it! He will direct your paths.
At the end of the age, there is coming a great outpouring. I cannot hold the foolish virgins but I am sent to bring a message to the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes, the real thing of the Lord is being shunned in all parts of the world. I know that the ages change and things come but when the people reach a certain point, then it will come in such a way that the Lord’s house will be filled and God’s people will be everywhere. [Brother Frisby illustrated this point with the story of Van Gogh, a 19th century Dutch painter. He had a Christian upbringing but he did not follow through. He kept painting nature even though people did not appreciate his work in his time. They wouldn’t buy his painting for a cup of coffee. Yet, nobody could change him or make him paint differently. Time went on and people began to appreciate his painting. There was a great art sale in New York City and one the paintings on which they bid the most money–$3million—was Van Gogh’s painting. Recently one of his paintings set a world record; it was sold for $5 million!]
Now when God is ready to move, there will be somebody here for this anointing. They may not give you very much for the real thing of God now. The true value, the Holy Spirit, that I preached about the other day—men are just throwing Him aside for something cheap, some kind of imitation or gimmick. They are just walking and trampling the real thing—the word of God. They are taking part of the word and part of the world—almost deceive the very elect. The true value is the Holy Spirit, the eternal word of God that they are just casting aside. There will come an hour that there will be a group called the bride of Christ and they will get that Holy Spirit from the Lord. They will tell the others, “You go and buy somewhere else; we got this from the Lord.” They (the bride) are going to come to the real thing at the end of the age. What men have rejected and cast out, He is going to have a group at the end of the age and they are coming in. Praise the Lord!
What is going to push the people toward God? There are going to be horrible crises. It is going to be up and down—these international crises and uprising that we have never seen in the history of the world—then they are going to turn and get a hold of the real thing. That would be the Holy Spirit of God. I am not upholding Van Gogh’s life—just to illustrate that what men reject can turn around at the proper time. They took the Messiah—they turned the Portrait of all time, Jesus—they spit on Him, they stepped on Him and killed Him and then He resurrected and is worth the fortune of all things and all the world. “And you shall inherit all things,” says the Lord. They turned Him down, although millions and millions of people did not turn Him down. The ordinary passerby will miss a blessing from God that is reserved for him to overturn his mountain. Don’t let any temptation get a hold of you. Don’t let satan lay that trap out. I see something in the Lord Jesus and the anointing of the Lord Jesus is more valuable than all the pictures/paintings of the world.
There is no price on the Holy Spirit because He is of a great value. Job alluded to a wonderful place. Brother Frisby read Job 28: 7 & 8. This place of protection from evil is plainly revealed in Psalm 91. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of most High…” (v. 1). That is daily contact and praising the Lord. “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence” (v.3). How beautiful does that come into the message? This is to show ahead of time that daily contact will help you. “Noisome pestilence” can be anything in this age of destruction; it could be a loud explosion. “He shall cover thee with his feathers…” (v. 4). Here is a promise: deliverance from satan’s traps. The expression, snare of the fowler, is an illustration of the work of the devil that is busy setting snares for the people. Many indeed get caught in their own grip. In God’s mercy, He gets them away and turns them loose. But how much better to be forewarned and to avoid satan’s snares? It is one thing to fall into a pit and be rescued; it is another thing to see it coming and avoid it. Some people can even see it and fall into it. Jesus taught men to pray to be delivered from temptation rather than to be rescued from it after it has engulfed them.
The lesson of anticipating temptation before it overwhelms us is clearly portrayed in the drama of Gethsemane. There, that fateful night, Jesus met the greatest crisis of His life. The powers of darkness concentrated their forces in a desperate effort to foil Him and the purposes of God. As Jesus prayed that awful night, His soul was drawn out in agony. His sweat was as it were great drops of blood. He wrestled in mortal combat while the disciples engaged in slumber, in apparent ignorance of the drama that was engaging the attention of the universe. All angels were fastened upon it. All demons and powers were watching this struggle but the apostles, his very elect, were slumbering. Watch at the end of the age because it is going to come right back and it is going to catch them. But Jesus prayed on until victory crowned His effort. There appeared unto Him an angel strengthening Him (Luke 22: 43). But all was not well with the apostles. They too were about to meet the greatest crisis of their lives. Soon, the betrayer would appear and they would be thrown into panic and confusion. Yet, during the precious time when they might have fortified themselves against the storm that would burst upon them, they continued to sleep.
Now is the hour to fortify yourself, now is the hour to have daily contact with the Lord before the storm, I see it coming. Now is the time to set up a daily contact to avoid the storm and let God take you right through it. Right now, the churches are sleeping. The bible says there will be a great falling away and it also says the foolish were sleeping. The Lord slipped on them and the great storm overtook them. Jesus interrupted His own prayer in an effort to rouse them (the apostles) to the peril. “Rise and pray” He said, “Lest ye enter into temptation.” But it was to no avail. Revelation 3: 10 talks about the “hour of temptation”—to have patience—because the whole world will be in a sleep and in a falling away snare. This scripture will lead to 2 Thessalonians 2: 7-12. The disciples slept on until the hour struck. The armed soldiers came and they woke to great confusion. Peter in confusion spoke before he thought, only to realize that he had denied the Lord. Bitterly, he wept over his act of cowardice. It would have been better if he had turned the clock back and gotten in prayer with the Lord. His great mistake was that he did not pray when temptation was near. He slept on while his world was falling at his feet. Jesus won and God defeated death, hell and everything. He overcame. It is a prophetic warning for our time. God is good.
This warning to watch and pray was not a warning that Jesus intended for the apostles alone. The warning is applicable to Christians of all ages and it is particularly applicable and timely for this present hour. When Jesus gave His great discourse about the events that will precede the second coming, He warned that the cares of this life will cause that day to come upon many unawares. “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21: 35). Jesus gave a warning to those that would be living in that day: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (v. 36). There is a path which no fowl knoweth. There is a place and it is the secret place—in daily contact with Him. Don’t try to tell the Lord to give you the Holy Spirit that you will never have to have daily dependence; just tell Him to fill you each day and keep going with Him. You know your car can only run so far, until it runs out of gasoline and you have to go to the gas station. So, keep yourself replenished by the power of God. The simple gospel is Jesus standing in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the trials of the age, He is standing with us. “Those that had daily contact with me were not those who were asleep with no oil of the Holy Spirit,” saith the Lord.
Awake thou and seek when you have the hour because the night comes when no man will be able to do the things that you are allowed to do now. Praise the Lord! So, stay away from the fowler and stay where Jesus is. Hold on to Him and He will bless your heart for as a snare shall it come on them that dwell on the face of the earth. This is the hour for daily contact with the Lord. Remember Jesus when He met with satan, He said, “It is written.” He had already had daily contact. So today, the way you can avoid all the false doctrines and the things that satan will put before you is to prepare and have daily contact with the Lord. Depend on Him. No matter how rich or poor you are, have daily contact with the Lord, He will take you through and you will fill up those pits in front of you, and the Lord will be with you. May everyone that listens to this be blessed by the Holy Spirit and may God get you out of all traps that you will be able to stand on the Rock, and appear in heaven with the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Daily Contact-Prevents Snares | Neal Frisby’s Sermon | CD #783 | 05/18/1980 AM