Preface

The Father deeply desires for His children to behold the hidden beauty of the crucified life. When the cross is revealed as the revelation of Faher's own heart, then one will see the beauty of the glory that is hidden in it. Like the songwriter declared, "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride."

May you desire to pour contempt on all your pride as a result of receiving the revelation of the beauty of the holy heart of Jesus Christ. Have you seen the wondrous cross? The Lord has promised to beautify His people with His own beauty. Is this divine beauty something mysteriously hidden in the depths of God's own heart?

The world has its beauty pageants and declares to onlookers what it believes to be the most beautiful quality on earth. God's ways are totally opposite from the ways of this world; therefore, heaven also declares what it esteems as the most beautiful. Is it possible that the life we've been living has been viewed as ugly in God's eyes? Or has our life been viewed by Him as beautiful, as was the life of Daniel? (Daniel 10:11-17).

It is my desire that the Holy Spirit will impart revelation to see the majestic beauty of taking up your cross daily and following Him.

A man of God once made the statement, " The cross is the power of God; and, the more the polish, the less the power." this book is presented to you without the polish, in hopes that the power will be magnified by the Spirit.

Many years ago, I asked a dear, elderly saint, who knew God on a deep level, how to get to Calvary's love within my heart. And this was her respone, "My dear young brother, (I was 25 at the time), one must go to Calvary to get Calvary's heart." In other words the heart that was the One that went to Calvary is still the heart that goes to Calvary and there is no short-cut to receiving Calvary's love apart from a laid-down life. Please let this heart be in you and become one with Calvary's love! Ask the Holy Spirit to speak and to reveal the beauty of holiness as you read this book.

Greg Violi

The Kings Holy Beauty

1. PREFACE

2. THE TWO KINGS AND THEIR KINGDOMS

3. THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN CREATION

4.THE EARTH RESTORED TO ITS TRUE MONARCH

5.THE HIDDEN MYSTERY OF THE FATHER'S HEART

6. DOMINION RESTORED TO ITS RIGHTFUL MONARCH

7. THE LOWLY HEART OF GOD REVEALED IN CHRIST

8. THE MYSTERY OF THE KING'S CHARACTER

9. THE GREATEST REVELATION OF THE FATHER'S HEART

10.HOW TO RECEIVE THIS MIND IN YOU

11. THE HEART OF TRUE WORSHIP

12. CONCLUSION

The King's Holy Beauty
Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1

The Kingdom Conflict

We are living in an hour today where so many of God’s dear ones are crying out from their hearts, “Where is the church?” As the disciples of old, they are saying, “Sir, we would see Jesus” (John12:21b); and it is as if the Holy Spirit is now declaring, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified” (John 12:23).
During the time of the Prophet Malachi, there were two groups of people. One group spoke with arrogant words and declared out of the abundance of their hearts, “What good has it done that we’ve served the Lord and kept his ordinances and walked mournfully before the Lord?” (Malachi 3:14).
The other group spoke often to one another about the nature of their awesome Lord. The Lord declared that this second group shall make up His jewels in His crown, and then it will be discerned who really serves God and who doesn’t serve Him (Malachi 3:16-18).
Beloved, now is the time for kingdom seekers to reveal the character of God’s kingdom, as well as the authority of God’s kingdom. There has been much emphasis on kingdom authority, but now the Spirit is putting emphasis on kingdom character. It is quite possible that a born again believer can exercise kingdom authority while demonstrating the character of the kingdom of darkness!
Another contemporary dilemma that we are facing is the realization that our Lord referred to Himself as meek and lowly. These two words are seldom ever mentioned in our culture. In fact, words that Jesus used to reveal His inner character traits are on the verge of becoming obsolete in today’s society. When was the last time that the television reporter or the newspaper editor used the word “lowly”? Well, one main purpose of this book is to bring back the word “lowliness” and to give light and understanding as to its importance in the world and in the heart of God! Let’s begin by studying what the word of God has to say about the two main kingdoms in the universe.
A kingdom must have a king. No king; no kingdom. A ruler is over a kingdom, and he has servants under his dominion or rule. So, who is the king or ruler over this world system? In the beginning, mankind was given dominion over the earth and all creatures on it. After the fall, mankind handed the rule over to Satan. He then became the ruler over this world. Ephesians 2:2 says there is a prince over the power of the air who is over this world. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says there is a god over this whole world. 1 John 5:19 says the whole world lies within the power of the evil one. Jesus states clearly that Satan has a kingdom: “If Satan also be divided against himself, then how shall his kingdom stand?” (Luke 11:18). Satan told Jesus that all the kingdoms of this world have been delivered over to him. [Obviously, Adam gave these over to him (Luke 4:5, 6).]
Ephesians 6:12 refers to different classes of rulers over the darkness in this world. Colossians 1:13 states that, “Christ has come to deliver a people out of the power of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God.” Daniel 10:13 makes mention of a cosmic warfare being fought at such an intense level that an evil prince of the kingdom of Persia is powerful enough to withstand the angelic hosts of the Lord for twenty-one days.
Lastly, we read in 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25 that in the very end, all rule and authority and power shall be put down by the Mighty Sovereign Ruler, the Son of God; then the kingdom shall be handed over to the Father so that God shall be all in all. In the meantime, the church, as the Body of Christ on earth, is to use the authority that the Head has bestowed on it to reign as priests and kings in His Name and as His representatives (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 10:19; Revelation 1:6).
In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, the church is described as being in a WAR, fighting with divine weaponry for the purpose of bringing down strongholds of the enemy. Ephesians 6:12-17 reveals that the church is to put on the whole armor of God to fight in this war and having done everything to make sure that we--the church, the Body of Christ--are still standing. Only one entity can stand in one place at one time. If the church is not standing in that place of authority that Christ has placed them in, in the heavenly realm, then the forces of evil will be standing in the place of the church.
Jesus repeatedly made mention of these two kingdoms in this world. He came to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand; and since the kingdom or reign and rule of God is at hand, then the other rulers are to be cast out of their place of authority (Luke 10:8, 9; 9:1, 2; Matthew 10:7, 8; 4:23, 24; Acts 10:38).
Jesus was not shy to declare openly that someone who was a part of God’s family (kingdom) was bound for eighteen years, and it infuriated Him that Satan had kept this royal daughter in chains for so long (Luke 13:10-16). Everywhere Christ went and sent others, there sounded forth a clear message: the kingdom of God is here!
Our Lord clearly demonstrated kingdom authority, but He also revealed and taught about kingdom character. As it will be discussed throughout this book, Christ had to expose the character of the kingdoms of this world system. One day, the ruler of this world came to see if there was legal ground inside of Jesus, and it was manifestly declared that there was nothing in Jesus that could be used by the ruler of this world to entice, ensnare, or overcome the Son of man! (John 14:30). In fact, Jesus even said that now it was the time for the ruler of this world to be cast out and the whole system to be judged (John 12:31). Obviously, the devil did not actually leave the world; but instead, ONE stronger than he had come to defeat, disarm, and take away his right to rule and govern on earth! (Luke 11:17-22).
The nature of God is Light. His very being radiates eternal, pure, all-consuming Light; no darkness can stand in that holy presence. “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b). The Light has come into the world which enlightens every man (John 1:9), and the judgment has been given that the darkness is sentenced to eternal damnation, a place created for the rebels that love darkness rather than light (John 3:19).
The nature of the rebel king is darkness, which is comprised of pride, hate, unbelief, lies, and evil. The nature of the true Sovereign is light, love, truth, and all goodness (Ephesians 5:7-14; 1 Timothy 6:15, 16). The Apostle John writes that the one who hates his brother is in darkness, even if he professes to be in the light. John compares hate with darkness and love with light (1 John 2:11).
Paul describes this world as being under the power of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). He admonished believers to cast off all the works of darkness and to put on the armor of light so that they may be protected by the LIGHT, Himself (Romans 13:12, 14). The Lord Jesus, Himself, even commissioned the Apostle Paul to deliver people from Satan’s power (otherwise known as darkness) and to set them into the power of God (otherwise known as Light). Light will always overcome darkness; “To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).
In these last days, there is a clarion call going out to any who can hear to be of an undivided heart, because a single eye (one devoted entirely to the King of Kings) will have a body that is filled with Light (Matthew 6:22).
King Jesus will always be abiding in unapproachable, awesome Light (1 Timothy 6:15, 16), but king Satan will always use darkness to deceive, blind, ensnare, and destroy. Therefore, it is crucial to see if the light that is in me is darkness or true Light; because if the light that is in me is darkness, then how much damage will that darkness generate? “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23).
What exactly is the character of the god of this world? References to Lucifer’s fall: Ezekiel 28:12-17; Isaiah 14:4-15; 1 Timothy 3:6. These scriptures make mention of a king that symbolically represents Lucifer. All these references state that something took place inside of Lucifer’s HEART. Ezekiel: Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Isaiah: Thy heart embraced, cherished thoughts of self-exaltation, even to the status of God, Himself. 1 Timothy tells us the sentence on Lucifer which made him the devil was a HEART THAT WAS LIFTED UP.
References to God’s view of pride: Proverbs 16:5--He hates the proud; Proverbs 15:25a--He will destroy the house of the proud; 1 Peter 5:5 and James 4:6--He resists the proud; 2 Chronicles 26:15, 16--King Uzziah’s heart was lifted up to his destruction.
In 1 Samuel 16:7 and Jeremiah 17:10, we read that the Lord looks only at THE HEART of MAN; and in this part of man’s being, God is constantly searching and testing to see what is within it. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. I am what I am truly thinking on the inside of my heart (Proverbs 23:7).
What is the HEART? Scripture declares that the heart can speak, it can think, it can deceive; and things can come out of the heart and defile a person. The heart chooses, the heart feels, and the heart imagines. The heart, according to the Spirit by Peter, is the INVISIBLE PERSON living inside of each person; and only God can see what he or she really looks like.
God has a heart. All creatures have this invisible person that is the central force behind every thought, word, and deed. The heart can be wise, sick, broken, contrite, etc. A person’s heart can be blind or enlightened (Ephesians 4:18; 1:18).
Even the devil and the angels were created with a HEART. “Thou hast said within thy heart.” “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). Making melody in the heart (Ephesians 5:19). Satan started with music inside of him, but he lost perfect melody and received disharmony. Proverbs says, “Only by pride does contention and strife come.”
The Apostle John associates the nature of Satan with darkness. If I say I am in the light, but hate my brother, I am in the darkness (1 John 2:8-15). If I love my brother, I am in the light. God’s nature is Light, and Light is released whenever there is perfect love. When Cain stepped out of love for his brother, he entered into the darkness of hate. Satan’s kingdom is referred to as darkness (Ephesians 6:12; Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:13).
The root characteristic of the satanic kingdom is PRIDE (Ezekiel 28:17; 1 Timothy 3:6). Pride originated in the heart of Lucifer after he was created (Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:17; 1 Timothy 3:6). Pride has a thousand faces. Pride will dethrone the Creator in order to enthrone and magnify itself. Pride is the root from which all other sins are the fruit. John declared when he saw Christ, “Now is the axe laid to the root of the trees of the fields.”
Christ, our King, overcame all the power of the enemy as a Victorious, Conquering, Lowly Lamb!
This world system lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19); and therefore, his main attribute of pride is something esteemed and honored by all of his servants. Our Lord said that what is highly esteemed in the eyes of men is an abomination in the eyes of God (Luke 16:15). Pride is an abomination to God because it comes out from the very nature of Satan (Proverbs 16:5). It is essential to know clearly and definitely what God hates in order that one might know clearly and definitely what God loves.
Proverbs 6:16, 17 says that God hates a proud look. Proverbs 16:5 says that everyone that is proud in their heart is an abomination to God. Isaiah 2:11, 12, 17 states that everyone who has a lofty look will be judged and brought down and all haughtiness will be destroyed so that the Lord ALONE will be exalted in that day.
In the book of Daniel, we read about the holy watchers that sentence leaders who refuse to humble but instead, choose to walk in pride. The holy watchers seem to have a job description that entails their close observation of the rise or fall within the leader’s heart. Since pride is the thing that God has eternally judged, when a leader refuses to humble, these holy watchers seem to have the responsibility of judging them. The holy watchers judged King Nebuchadnezzar so that the world would learn the truth: It is God who rules the kingdoms of men, He sets up the lowly ones to rule in His stead, and He can easily humiliate the proud ones. “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men” (Daniel 4:17).
Finally, when King Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses seven years later, he said, “God is able to abase those that walk in pride” (Daniel 4:37b). When people permit the nature of Satan, which is a proud heart, to operate in them, they will do something that is totally inexcusable with God. They will take to themselves the credit, glory, and honor which belongs totally and exclusively to God. “I will not give my glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11b). God will never give His glory (credit, honor) to another. “Thine is the glory now and forever, Amen.”
God demonstrated His severe judgment and total hatred of a heart that would take the glory that is offered it, as seen in the case of King Herod. Acts 12:21-23: “And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is a voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”
King Herod had just had the Apostle James beheaded, and the Lord did nothing about this heathen king killing one of His choice servants; but when he gave a speech and took the glory and honor of men, the Lord killed him instantly. The Lord totally hates PRIDE in all of its forms and disguises. One main way that pride shows its ugly face is by despising people because they are not as good or spiritual or as correct as “we are.”
Whenever I look down on and despise others for what they are doing, I am really telling God that I am qualified to judge another because my character is of such a high standard that I’ve earned the privilege of being lord over others and I am not like them due to my self-effort and godly character. When one really understands the grace of God, he will not despise others.
Pride will close my eyes to the grace of God, and it will open my eyes to my own goodness; Paul said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). The fall of man was really the rise of man’s heart in pride. Pride will always come before destruction, and before honor will come humility (Proverbs 16:18; 15:33). Whenever a person unrighteously judges another, he is proving the areas of his life where he is really exalted in his own estimation of himself. We will only despise and look down on others when we see ourselves as exalted and esteeming ourselves as better than they. This was what evoked such anger from Christ toward the Pharisees.
How does the Lord view a sinner and how does He look on a person that despises a sinner? Jesus would at times look at the religious people and feel anger at their hard hearts. It grieved Him deeply within His lowly, humble heart that these people who are called by His Father’s NAME could be so hard and insensitive to suffering humanity (Mark 3:1-5). There is a heart of forgiveness waiting for every sinner; but there is only a heart of righteous, godly anger awaiting a proud, hard, self-righteous person that despises a sinner. “Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to God.” “God resists the proud.” “He stands afar off from the proud.”
May the Holy Spirit impart revelation and cause you to see and feel the type of heart that the Lord God of the universe hates with an intense passion--and how He will never tolerate it in His kingdom.
What else could have caused our lowly Savior to utter such intense, stern rebukes as “You whitewashed sepulchers,” “Twice as much a son of hell as you are,” “Hypocrites,” and many other phrases? It appears that there is a greater accountability factor for the people who have seen the effects of pride in the lives of others. King Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, was severely judged and killed the same day because Daniel told him that he refused to humble his heart, even though he knew all the judgments that God had put upon his father (Daniel 5:18-23).
It is God’s purpose to give grace to the humble and to resist the proud (1 Peter 5:5).
Within the nature of humanity is the spirit of pride; and it is this proud heart, which permeates human nature, that puts mankind under the wrath of God! “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:2, 3). It seems very scriptural to state that as one humbles his heart in the realization that pride controls his thoughts, his affections, and his will, then one is truly entering into the biblical concept of repentance.

Chapter 2

The Two Kings and Their Kingdoms

Obadiah 1:3: “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, ‘Who shall bring me down to the ground?’ Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest above the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.”
Here we see that the Lord is speaking about Edom. Edom speaks of a heart of flesh, a heart that is set on doing things according to the way of the natural man, a heart that is set on doing things his way, not the way of the Spirit of God--this is the heart of Edom, this is the heart of pride. And the Lord says this heart of pride is a heart that says, “Who shall bring me down? I dwell in the cleft of the rock. I’m in a high place, I’m in a secure place, and I’m in a safe place.” But it is a false security and a false safety. It is the heart of pride that God hates.
This heart is rooted in self-confidence. It is rooted in one’s estimation of what one can do; whereas, the Lord Jesus, Himself, said, “I can of my own self do nothing.” This is the lowly heart of Christ. But the heart of pride says, “I am at a place where I will not fall.” Like as Peter said, “Lord, though everyone deny you, yet not I. I will even go with you to the death!” Peter had to learn the hard way, through humiliation, that he could of his own self do nothing.
Even with Moses, the scriptures say in Acts 7:22 that he was a man who was mighty of speech. He had a great ability to speak. His speech was eloquent. Evidently, this was before he turned forty. When he was eighty, he stuttered; and he couldn’t speak clearly at all. Also, scripture says in Acts 7 that Moses thought that the people would have known that he was the one God was going to use to deliver them. But Moses was seeing himself. He was seeing his own ability to deliver the people of God. It seems to suggest that the main reason Moses killed the Egyptian was because it was at that very time that he thought the people would have been ready for him to deliver them. The day after the murder, Moses said, “Why do you quarrel seeing you are brothers,” as thinking that now was the time for the brethren to bind together and overcome the Egyptians. In response, they asked him, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?” He then feared for his life and fled into the wilderness! (Acts 7:26-29).
Now it was God’s intention to use Moses, but it was God’s intention and God’s purpose to use Moses as a vessel, and not to use Moses as the source of the deliverance. “Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory now and forever” (Romans 11:36). Pride will see itself in the place of Christ as the one doing the work. That takes the glory away from God and attributes it to self. This can never be, and God will not allow it. So Moses had to learn that it wasn’t going to be through Moses, but instead it was going to be through God, in just an ordinary vessel called Moses. And then, God appeared to Moses when he was eighty years old, and He said, “I have come down, Moses, to deliver the people. Through you, but it’s not going to be through you; it’s going to be through Me, in your vessel.”
But Moses couldn’t see it. He had come to such a place of despair in himself that he could not see how God could possibly use him. This was exactly what God was waiting for! The Lord knew that now Moses was ready, and now God could get all the glory (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
Another example of this truth of how God uses the weak to confound the strong; the foolish to confound the wise; and those that are not, to do away with those that are; is the story of Gideon. Gideon had 32,000 soldiers to go against at least a million enemy soldiers. God said, “Oh, Gideon, it’s way too much, way too much.” So finally God got Gideon down to three hundred people in his army--the army of Gideon, three hundred warriors against an incredibly large number, probably a million or more soldiers. But the purpose in this, which God makes clear to Gideon, is “lest Israel vaunt themselves” (Judges 7:2b).
Now to make this practical and down to earth: God was basically saying that if we win a battle and we only have one soldier to the enemy’s hundred soldiers, since our heart is so lifted up in pride (due to Satan’s venom), we will vaunt ourselves instead of giving God the credit, and honor, and glory. What an indictment on the heart of man!
Now the spirit of the Pharisee is the heart of pride. What was it in a Pharisee that stirred up in the heart of Christ such stern rebukes? A Pharisee was extremely moral. On the outside, there was much that others would desire as they beheld the behavior of a Pharisee. His conduct was beyond reproach. His mannerisms portrayed an individual that loved God and wanted to serve God. He fasted; he prayed; he had a high regard for the law of God. So what was it about the Pharisee that was so hated by God?
I believe it was the heart, the invisible hidden man that no one could see except God. Inside of a Pharisee, inside his innermost thought-life, was this heart that despised others and looked to himself for his own righteousness and looked down on others who had not attained the morals and ethics that the Pharisee had attained to. It was this heart that would judge others and would not show compassion and mercy to the needy and lost.
Once again, this spirit of pride within a Pharisee’s heart was the very root within the devil’s heart from the time that iniquity was found in him. Ezekiel 28 says that Satan was perfect in his ways; he was perfect in his beauty until iniquity was found in him; and what was this iniquity? It was a heart that was lifted up due to an exalted opinion of himself, a heart that was lifted up because it had attained so much perfection.
Now this brings up another principle: iniquity seems to be birthed in perfection. Therefore, when a person reaches success in any dimension or area, whether it is music, religion, athletics, education, etc., immediately that success becomes a breeding ground for pride within the heart of man because iniquity was birthed in perfection. The more success I attain, the more dangerous I become and the more susceptible I become to falling to this monster called pride!
The reason behind this is simply that a person needs to be prepared by God for any measure of success; and if he has not been prepared, like King Saul was not prepared, he usually ends up in disgrace, failure, and humiliation. There are so many examples of this in the scriptures. Mankind cannot bear success unless God has prepared that vessel to handle the success. This is why the vessels that God prepared, such as David, Paul, Moses, Joseph, and many others, were able to handle the success once it came. God had done a work in preparing their hearts and this enabled them to realize their very success was given to them by God for His kingdom and for His divine purposes. It was His grace and mercy that brought them to the place where they could handle success.
So many people have not reached the place where they can handle being left out. What I mean by that is, if a person cannot be left out, not be noticed, not given spiritual gifts and anointing, not be appreciated by others without being hurt or wounded within his heart, he will not be able to be brought in--which means being acknowledged by many people, being appreciated, being seen as a vessel of honor (2 Timothy 2:20, 21). He is just not yet able to handle the blessings of God upon his life.
The principle is clear. If I cannot be left out, I am not yet prepared or ready to be brought in. I am not yet able to bear the status of success to the glory of God.
The book of Ecclesiastes tells us there is a set time for everything under the sun. Everything has a set time. John the Baptist was not to appear before the people until the set time of his appearing. God, in the wilderness, prepared him until the set time that he was to appear before the people. When Jesus’ mother asked Him about the wine at the wedding feast, He told her, “It is not yet my time.” Psalms tells us that Joseph was held in irons until the time that the word came to be fulfilled in his life. The angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah, the priest, that the word of the Lord shall be fulfilled at its set time. Jesus announced with sorrow to His own people that they did not know the time of their visitation.
We are living in a time today that heaven has been yearning to see come to pass--a time when there will be a people prepared for the glory that is to come. At the very end, the Lord shall come in the fullness of the glory of God, and the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. The Lord has declared that in the last days He will restore or rebuild the tabernacle of David. He did not say He would rebuild the tabernacle of Solomon; He did not say He would rebuild the tabernacle of Moses; but He did say He would rebuild the tabernacle of David. “After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things” (Acts 15:16).
The Lord said David was a man after His own heart who would do all of His will. Something inside of David’s heart greatly pleased the Lord. I believe we find revelation into the heart of David as we read certain scriptures. David said in Psalm 51, “Thou desirest truth in the innermost parts, and in the secret parts Thou wilt make me to know wisdom” (v.6). David also said in Psalm 51, “The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart: a broken and contrite heart thou wilt not despise” (v.17).
David knew that God desired a broken and contrite heart. He knew that more than all the sacrifices of men, God desired a broken and contrite heart--a heart that was lowly, a heart that saw the danger of pride, a heart that could behold its own stench when pride started to rise up. This is why as David saw his heart in Psalm 38:5 he said, “My sores stink.” He wasn’t talking about physical sores. He was referring to the sores, the stench, of his heart that allowed such pride that would cause him to judge the man who stole a little lamb as being worthy of death. The truth was that David was the man the prophet was referring to and he didn’t just take a little lamb, he took a man’s life and wife. David saw what pride could do at that point. David said that the Lord stands afar off from the proud, but He draws near to the humble.
David was a man of praise. David seemed to have clearly understood the tremendous need in his life for mercy. The Lord has to continually remind us of how much we need mercy, and how little we could ever deserve it. But our God is a God of mercy and compassion. David was so transparent that he would write a whole song about his sins and then present it to the choir director, saying, “Here, teach this to the people and sing it before the people.” How many of us could write a song about our sins, because God desires truth in the innermost parts, and then teach it to the people to sing? David seemed to have understood this vital principle of humbling and walking in truth.
We’re living in a time when God has a people that He has been preparing to carry His Glory, and within their hearts there will not be a desire to share it or to touch it, but only to be vessels of mercy that will carry it. For this to happen, there has to be a people who will understand the enemy to the glory of God, which is the glory of man. What is my glory? Obviously, my glory is what I glory in. Satan gloried in his perfection; Satan gloried in his wisdom; Satan gloried in his beauty. Another way to put it is, I glory in that part of my image that makes me look good. Therefore, my glory is the root and substance of pride operating within my heart. Let not him that glories glory in his wisdom, glory in his strength, or glory in his wealth; but let him that glories, glory in the Lord and in the knowledge of who God is (Jeremiah 9:23, 24; 1Corinthians 1:29-31).
David said, “All my glory shall praise Thee.” In other words, David wanted everything that he could have gloried in within himself to exalt, to praise, and to honor the Lord. Pride will not desire that God be honored or glorified. In so many secretive, hidden ways, pride desires the glory, the recognition, and the approval of others. Therefore, pride is the only real enemy to God getting all the glory. In the last days, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall fill the earth; and therefore, He will have a people that will be prepared within their hearts not to touch the glory that belongs solely to God.
King Saul’s sin seemed so insignificant compared to King David’s sins of adultery and murder. The reactions of their hearts to the prophets’ (Samuel and Nathan’s) denunciation of their rebellion demonstrates their true hearts’ attitudes toward their God. Saul wanted the prophet to honor him before all the people (1 Samuel 15:30). David wrote whole psalms to express his heartfelt repentance toward grieving his God.
When I see my pride as that attitude of the heart within me that would dethrone God, that would take the recognition and the credit from God, that would project its own image to receive praise and recognition and approval, then I will see clearly and I will understand clearly that truly, pride is the only enemy to the earth being filled with the knowledge of God’s glory. The reason why is because this earth is very alive with the knowledge of man’s glory at this point; but praise God, it won’t be long until the recognition and the knowledge of man’s glory shall be obliterated by the effusion of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord! Amen! The day of the Lord is at hand!
Another striking illustration of how a man has to be prepared by God for success is King Solomon and King David. Both of these individuals sought one thing from the Lord. In a dream by night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “What thing do you desire of me?” And Solomon said, “Give me an understanding and discerning heart that I may go in and out before the people and judge this people.” This request pleased the Lord, but the story doesn’t end there. First of all, it appears that Solomon’s motive in having a discerning, understanding heart was so that he could go in and out before the people (2 Chronicles 1:10). In other words, was there a secret motive of pride hidden within his heart that he was not aware of? Therefore, when success came and he had more wisdom than any person has ever been allowed to have, he was not able to bear the success that was brought to him from all over the world? Obviously, he was not able to bear it because he ended up with seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. He ended up in idolatry, worshipping false gods. He ended up, unfortunately, far from God. God wants to give us success. God was pleased with Solomon’s request, but was it the best request? Was it the one he needed most, or was it the one he wanted the most? The Lord God knows exactly what we need. How very easy it is to take the success that God grants and honor oneself as if the Lord was never involved with it.
How about Solomon’s father, David? Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; to be in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” David also desired one thing of the Lord, but it wasn’t to do his job the best. It wasn’t a discerning heart to enable him to be the best king. It was to behold the beauty of the Lord so that David could know the beauty of the Lord, so that David could be a better worshipper, so that David could know the loveliness of his Lord. David could then, out of that intimacy with the Lord, receive the mind and heart of God.
There is such safety in the presence of the Lord as one finds communion, intimacy, lowliness, and wisdom. David many times would be faced with a crisis, and the way he would handle his crisis would be to go into worship, communion, and intimacy with the Lord. Though a host would break out against David, he would still go into worship and encourage himself in the Lord and inquire of the Lord (Psalm 27:2-4). He needed the Lord’s presence constantly, and he yearned for it. Moses said to the Lord, “If Your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t let us leave.” I’m reminded about how, one day, the Lord Jesus, Himself, said to a woman named Martha, “Martha, Martha, you’re troubled about many things, but really only one thing is needed; and Mary has chosen the better part” (Luke 10:41, 42).
In these days that we are living in, the Lord has to bring us down, from many things, to just one thing--His presence. Out of that presence, out of that intimacy, will come the tremendous fruit of the Lord through our lives. Obviously, all fruitfulness comes out of intimacy; this is true both in the natural and in the spirituals.
The spirit of pride, this attitude of self-exaltation that started with Lucifer, went down through Cain, continued to work its way through the human heart of mankind down through the ages through the Israelites, the tower of Babel, the northern tribes, the southern tribes, and on and on throughout history, up until the Pharisees in the time of Jesus, up until the Pharisees in the time of the modern day. This nature delights itself in the work of its own hands. It esteems itself, looks down on others, and has continued for ages to bear the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Paul said, “Knowledge puffs up.” So this nature rooted in pride has come out of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the life that came out of the knowledge of God.
From the very beginning of time with Adam and Eve, man ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God forbade them to do. And henceforth, mankind has erected another entity called the false self because the true self died on the day that it ate from the forbidden tree. The false self finds its identity in what it has and what it does. The true self finds its identity in God alone and who it is in Him. “In Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). So the true self finds its identity, finds its fulfillment, not in doing, but in being. Once a person has the peace and joy of being rightly related to God, then the Lord can graciously and spontaneously flow His very own life of love through his heart.
The true self sees humbling as a privilege and revelation of its Creator’s heart. The true self is always living to please the Father, but the false self lives consistently to please others. Living to please others is usually a cover up for a heart that wants to be accepted by others, while living to please God is usually the heart of Jesus coming out of a person’s life--and that one has already found his acceptance in God. This pharisaical spirit will manifest its true nature and character when it is offended. “Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing will offend them” (Psalm 119:165). The pharisaical spirit is easily offended and it doesn’t have great peace because deep down inside, it lives to please man. To the one walking in this spirit, his reputation means more than his character.
Satan has set up a system of religious attitudes, ideas, and structures which so closely resembles the way that God intended it to be, that it has tremendous power to deceive those seeking the truth. Jesus said in Matthew 7:22, 23, “Many will say to me on that day Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, do many miracles in your name? He said, I will declare unto you, Depart from me, you who do lawlessness.” So here we see Jesus saying He never knew many, many people who thought that they were going the right way, who thought that He knew them. In Proverbs 14:12, it says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death.”
This way that seems right is this system of religious worship which Satan has created. He began this by telling Adam and Eve that God is a liar, God doesn’t mean what He says, and God has deceitful motives in His heart. That’s basically everything he told Adam and Eve in the very beginning. So down through the ages, mankind has received not the word of God regarding worship and religion, but many times it’s the words of Satan, once again, in a more contemporary language or style of approach. Basically, the religious system gives a person a beautiful lampstand, but there is no light inside of it. It creates an environment, a feeling, a sense of rightness--but it’s all wrong.
The Lord said to the many, many people who were caught up in this system, “You worship Me with your words, your lips speak of worship, but your heart is far from Me.” Once again, this has been going on for many, many, many years and it is still very, very strong in the world today. This religious system will give an unknowing person a sense of feeling right; but I ask you, is feeling like a Christian sufficient to entitle one to carry the name Christian? Does my feeling right mean that I am right? I can go into a religious service, even a Christian service, and I can leave feeling right. Does this mean I am right?
The enemy has so confused people’s thinking that they are fearful of the supernatural, and they learn to accept the demonic. For example, the Gadarene demoniac in the Bible would tear himself, cut himself, and go around screaming. He was abused, hurt, and full of terror and demonic spirits. Evidently, the people learned to accept it as the norm. They said, “Oh, there’s old so-and-so again just doing what he does.” But when Jesus Christ came to that demoniac, He set him free. He completely delivered him. This man was completely normal, in his right senses--a totally transformed man; but the scripture says the people of that area were terrified at the sight of what had happened!
How many times have people been terrified at the move of God or at the reality of His Presence in a place? How many times have they learned to accept demonic, religious spirits as if they are normal? When Jesus Christ went into the synagogue, demons screamed out. What happens when we go into the churches? Have all the demons disappeared? Have they learned to accept us? Do they like us? What does the Spirit of Christ do to the demonic kingdom of hell when He shows up in a place?
To illustrate this concept further, a person goes into a place which is known as a church building. It has a cross; it has a Christian name on the outside of it. They go into that building expecting to find God. I would imagine they go into that building expecting to find a relationship with the Living God, expecting to find answers to their questions such as, “Why am I here on earth? What is my purpose for living? How can I have my problems settled? Does God really care about me?”
These people are sincerely seeking God, seeking answers, seeking revelation, and seeking truth. They go into a church building, but what do they find? What do they encounter? I believe the religious system of today does not require a person to walk in the truth. As John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in the truth.” But instead, the religious system says, “Just believe the truth and that is enough.” The religious system of today does not require accountability--submitting of one to another out of reverence for Christ--but instead it says, “All you need is to say you love one another. You don’t have to prove it, you don’t have to be a living example of a life laid down, just say you love one another on Sunday mornings.”
The religious system of today gives the seeker knowledge about God, instead of bringing them into a living experience of the Presence of God. The religious system will focus on the externals; it will focus on outward appearances. It will speak about the truth, and it will leave a person hard, untouched, unfeeling, and unchanged on the inside. The Spirit of Christ comes into a person’s life and He brings them into reality. He brings them into the Way, He brings them into the Life, and they experience the living, vibrant reality of God, Himself. Jesus said in John 17:3, “Father, this is eternal life, that they may know thee (not about thee) and the One whom thou has sent.” To know God, the revelation of who God is, is the essence of eternal life.
The religious system will produce knowledge about God, but will not have the knowledge of God. The religious system will project the image of self, will project the image of certain personalities, and will project the image of Satan--which is pride. It may have a lot of smiles and outward appearances, but from within there is a projection of self which God hates. This is not implying that if a person is caught up in that system he is automatically wrong. This is not saying that at all; but I believe this is what the Lord is referring to in Revelation 18:4 when He says, “Come out of her, oh my people, lest you partake of her plagues, for her sins have reached up to heaven.”
I believe according to Isaiah 14 and according to Revelation 18 that the king of Babylon is Lucifer and that Babylon is the harlot church. She is the people who claim to love God, but at the same time are in love with the god of this world and the god that he uses over this world, which is mammon. But in this hour, the Lord Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, is searching out a bride, a bride for Christ, and she will be found ready. If you find that you’re stuck in a religious system, I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ, “Come out, be ye separate,” and go out to meet Him, for the supper, the wedding feast, is being prepared now for the marriage of the Lamb and His bride.
Our Lord Jesus said, “You are those that justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). The religious system, which has been set up to replace an intimate relationship with the Creator, will influence a person’s mind to go after what is highly esteemed in the eyes of men and to ignore what is esteemed in God’s eyes. The Spirit of God will always lead a person to live his life to please God. He will always lead a person to cause him to live to God and to set the Lord, as David did, continually before him (Psalm 16:8). 2 Corinthians 5:9 says, “Our one ambition, our one goal, should be to please God.”
Pride will get a person to appear pleasing, but avoid any conviction of the Spirit as to the truth of his heart, as to whether he is or isn’t pleasing. The religious system has been eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, it is comprised of a set of rules and regulations based upon that tree as to what is good and what is evil, but the Spirit of God cries out in a person’s heart that has been rebirthed, “Abba, Daddy, Father!” So from the very beginning of a new birth, a person has the Spirit within them crying out, “Daddy! I want to know my Daddy!” The system that was created by Satan to replace the reality of a relationship still has within it the accusing voice of the serpent; and therefore, condemnation is a major part of that system. The accuser will make accusations about a person to God, he will accuse them to themselves, or he will make accusations about them to others. It doesn’t matter where the accusation is directed as long as it is received.
A person stuck within the religious system is usually bound by deep inner thoughts of accusation from the enemy, and the way he attempts to solve these nagging thoughts is by doing something good to replace the nagging, accusing voice of the enemy. Now since accusation can only be dealt with by submitting to the Lord, who is Truth, and resisting the devil, then this type of person finds himself in a never-ending vicious cycle of frustration. On the other hand, the Lord has promised His peace to those who walk in love and who let the Spirit of God guide them into all truth. May you, precious one, find the perfect peace and rest of God within your heart to live to God and forever decide to end the frustrating life of pleasing men!

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