Fren-02 Donn Naissanceau-Dessus (Born From Above) — Art Katz

God's Birthing Work in the Earth

That God is wanting to birth some things in the earth. That requires a whole other mentality to understand. We are too much the products of a technological age. There are things that happen, but they are humanly arranged.

But the idea of birthing is another mentality. And it's God's. And we need to rise in faith to share it. Not only that we should appreciate the birthing process of God, but also that we should be participants in it.

And this will exceed everything that we formally understood by church. So I'm walking in these days and tonight with great carefulness, feeling something like the one who assists in the birth. And I'd like my sister to read from Isaiah 66.

You may read with her. Verse 7 through 9. Verse 6 through 9. I'm sighing already and groaning for this birthing. In part because what needs to be birthed is the restored nation Israel herself. I'm not speaking about the political entity which already exists, but a nation spiritually restored to God.

Christian Triumphalism and the Restoration of Israel

It's remarkable how absent this is from the consciousness of the church.

We had the opportunity only the other night to see photographs of the Cathedral of Strasbourg.

And there were the famous statues which are to be seen in many of the Gothic and Renaissance churches of Europe.

The defeated synagogue, broken and finished with a blindfold on one side of the portal.

And on the other side the triumphant church. And that has characterized the thinking of the church through the centuries. That the Israel, God's original people are finished, they've had their opportunity.

And all of God's promises for them are now subsumed in the church itself. It's called Christian triumphalism.

And it's exactly the thing against which Paul warned us.

He said, brethren, I would not have you ignorant of the mystery that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in. This is in the book of Romans in the 11th chapter, verse 25.

And then he says, and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written. For the deliverer will come out of Zion and will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. It's interesting that in the Septuagint portion of the Bible, you know what that is?

The Septuagint, it was the Greek edition of the Hebrew scriptures. Translated by 70 elders of Israel in Alexandria, Egypt. Before the time of Christ. Already to provide for Jews who were in dispersion the Bible in the Greek language.

It's interesting to see the variance between that edition and the scriptures that have been edited and formed after the advent of Christ. There is a conscious effort to avoid the Christological meaning of some of the prophetic scriptures.

But in this first edition, they have no hesitation. And so it says in the Septuagint, we read the deliverer will come out of Zion, and that's what you have in your French Bible? The deliverer will come out of Zion?

In the Septuagint it says the deliverer will come for Zion's sake. And this is much more in keeping with the scriptures that we just read in Isaiah. As soon as Zion travailed, a nation came forth. Travailed?

Travailed. Before she travailed, she gave birth. As you have that in French. So there's an interesting mystery here. This clearly refers to God bringing back an entire nation quickly, in a day. For Zion's sake, a nation shall be born.

And Paul says, what shall it be but life from the dead? Because that restored nation shall be the key to all nations. And it's more than I can explain in a single night. Perhaps we'll have a further opportunity Thursday.

But this is deeply in my heart now as I'm traveling through all these countries, that the time has come to favor Zion. This mystery is about to break forth in fact. The fullness of the Gentiles is coming in.

And then the deliverer will come for Zion's sake.

And turn Israel from her transgressions and from her sins. It's going to be the most astonishing event at the end of the age. It's God's final act of grace toward the nations. For he says, I will do this in the sight of all nations.

Israel's History and God's Unchanging Calling

And which nation does not know the lamentable and melancholy history of Israel? Melancholy. Sorry? Sad. Ah, okay. Which nation in the world does not know Israel's sad history? They've all had opportunity to see the failure of modern Israel.

Which was born with such expectancy and hope in 1948. After all of our thousands of years in exile, now at last we would have our own Jewish state. And exhibit to the world what distinctively it means to be Jewish.

That highly esteemed ethical and moral quality that we Jews have loved through the centuries. Contrary to the character of gentile nations. Who have given themselves to the use of power and violence and corruption.

This Jewish state would be a demonstration of another kind. But it has not proved to be. In fact, ironically, Israel has acted so much like the nations. In fact, if she has any special ability, it is even to exceed the nations in the use of modern instruments of warfare and the whole mentality of the modern world.

So for God to restore that nation. Because he says that the promises and callings of God are without repentance. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. That's what it says in... I can't find it now.

Romans 11 verse 29. Romans 11 verse 29.

For the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. Which gift is he talking about? Which calling? You shall be a nation of priests and a light unto the world. God is going to fulfill that.

Despite the nation which in modern times has contradicted that very calling. And he's going to do it suddenly. He says, and so all Israel shall be saved. A nation shall be born in a day. And that's not just a rhetorical phrase, a piece of poetry.

It's a literal statement of how the event is going to come to pass. God himself is going to birth it. Why should that surprise us? That's indeed the way our faith was conceived at the beginning.

It was birthed through a virgin.

God chose a foolish and frail instrument. Who said, let it be unto me according to thy word. And the spirit came in. And something was conceived. That came forth as the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel.

Conversion, the Gospel, and Spiritual Birth

Our faith was birthed. And if you really have an eye to see. Every great thing that has happened for us personally and as the church has always been through birthings.

Our own conversion. Came by the hearing of the word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Paul says of the same Jewish people. How shall they call on him of whom they've not heard?

And how shall they hear except one preach? And how shall one preach except to be sensed? And how shall they hear except one preach? And how shall one preach except to be sensed? And how shall one preach except to be sensed?

As the scripture says, faith comes by hearing.

And hearing by the word of God.

That doesn't mean that they receive information about salvation. The gospel is not a technical formula on how to be saved. It is a power. Of which Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is the power of God unto salvation. To everyone who believes. The Jews first. And also the Gentiles. This is a mystery. Many of you need to be reminded perhaps.

I'm more familiar with this mystery than you. Because I've stood outside Freiburg University for two decades. Or in Lübbingen or Aarhus in Denmark or Yale or Harvard in America. And I've preached the foolishness of the gospel.

Paul says, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that will believe. It is a mysterious phenomenon. A very peculiar message. That does not commend itself to human understanding and to sophisticated acceptance.

It has to do with blood and atonement.

There's nothing to commend it to human intellect.

It's a piece of pure foolishness. And you'll never know it until you're required to preach it. Before sophisticated hearers. You may be embarrassed by the message.

But Paul is not ashamed. Because it itself is the power of God.

To conceive something that was not before. To birth and to bring into being.

An actual new life. Birth from a potion. Born of God by the Spirit. You must be born again, Jesus said. That which is from the earth is earthly.

That which is from heaven is heavenly.

And it must come down from above. There's a must. Not only the initial salvation. But every subsequent heavenly thing. Including tonight. Oh brother, you exaggerate.

The Spiritual Stakes of the Gathering

We've heard your tapes. We've read your book. You have no special ability. This is nothing for you. A handful of souls. What is it to put together a message? Use a few scriptures. You have the flair. The charm.

The ability. Not so. I'm much more jealous for this night than you are. For you this may be novelty.

For me, it's the issue of life or death. Of something of enormous consequence. That perhaps has never before been in French-speaking Switzerland.

We had an intensive time of prayer in our apartment the night before we came here. We were groaning and weeping before God.

That something was going to break in for this French-speaking Switzerland.

Not only to delight the heart of God who has waited so long until now.

But to terrify the principalities and powers of the air that have ruled over this area without let or hindrance since the beginning of time.

I'm praying for a birthday. I'm believing for a birthday. Through the word of God. By the Spirit. It can never come in any other way.

What needs to be birthed before Israel itself is birthed is a Zion of God. Even here. And in every locality. Where earnest saints come together. Who will constitute true church. Having authority with God.

And who can pray in such a quality of faith as to affect this thing for which God is waiting.

But this is an ultimate kind of prayer.

This is beyond respectable prayer.

A polite prayer. Religious obligation. We should do this. We love Israel. And this will glorify God.

But it's going to take much more than that. The word that God uses is travail. The very moment that Zion travail. In that moment. A nation was born at once. She gave birth to her children it says. And yet later on as we read the child is Jerusalem itself.

And the one who birthed her rejoices for her. Yes. No it says before she mourned for her. Verse 10. Rejoice with joy for her. All you who mourn for her. Do you have? It's 66 verse 10.

No it's verse 10. 10 and 11. All you who mourn for her. What had been the object of mourning. Mourning to mourn. To be sad sorrowful. Now becomes the cause for rejoicing.

Not only for rejoicing but for a source of comfort. This is full of strange contradictions. This is full of strange contradictions. This is full of strange contradictions. A nation that becomes newly birthed.

Comforts the one who birthed it. It comes forth fully formed. It's not an infant that's birthed. But a nation comes forth in a day. A nation that is a nation of priests.

And they light unto the world.

For whom Zion has travailed. Because she mourned. So I ask you tonight. Are you the Zion of God and you should mourn? Are you mourning for the present condition of Jerusalem?

Israel, the Nations, and the Glory of God

The unhealthy condition of God's people is found. Call it a nation of priests. But have given the world calm months.

Sigmund Freud. Perversion. Violence. Revolution. And every anti-Christ movement in modern times. Has Jews in its leadership beyond its proportion in number to the population. God says you have blasphemed my name.

In all the nations into which I have sent you. How much greater then will his name be glorified. When he restores such a people.

In a day. It's clearly the work of God. Something that comes abruptly.

And he says I do this before the face of all nations. And if those nations will refuse that testimony of God's grace.

And his mercy.

Because he will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy.

Then will his judgment come. I'm trying to speak so simply.

And give you the basic outline of God's redemptive intention for the earth. His final strategy for the nations. Where the church itself has failed to be his witness. It was never God's intention that the church was going to save the nations.

But that the church itself would be a people for his name from among all nations. For whom does God reserve the task of the nations themselves.

Israel. As his first restored nation.

There's nothing else more calculated to glorify God. Then this dealing with his Jewish people.

Therefore we need to rejoice. This is beyond the issue of sentiment.

Or our personal delight in Israel. Or the Jewish mystique. The real issue is the glory of God.

Whose name has been blasphemed in all nations. And yet at the end of the age. At which hour we stand. God is going to bring forth this remarkable event. Have you the faith to believe for it?

Are you familiar with the God who breathes? And yet he has limited himself. Waiting for one thing. And here's where we come in. The moment that Zion travails. I have a question for you tonight. Are you a casual collection of charismatic saints?

Or the Zion of God. The church within the church. There's something that God respects about this Zion.

That is so dear in his sight. He calls it the daughter of Zion.

There are references in scripture in a mysterious way to this Zion of God. There are references in scripture in a mysterious way to this Zion of God.

Call a daughter. The moment that she travails.

Travail as Corporate Intercession

So this morning I looked up the word travail. Because it is the key word. And it is a way of understanding the character of the people for which God is waiting. Prayer is not the issue of method or technique.

Or just the casual expression of different sentiment expressed to God. The prayer that God is waiting for is something corporative. It has a certain quality and authority.

That cannot be expressed by casually related saints.

It itself is an ultimate statement of true relationship. True faith. Ultimate commitment. We have not had historically much opportunity to view this kind of phenomenon. How many of you have heard of Ruiz-Halls, the intercessor?

Ruiz-Halls. How many of you have heard of Ruiz-Halls, the intercessor? Ruiz-Halls.

You know that he and his prayer band actually affected the issues of World War II. The great battle of Britain by which the Luftwaffe was destroyed in the air. And broken as the air arm of the German military.

The great battle of Britain by which the Luftwaffe was destroyed in the air. And broken as the air arm of the German military. This event was accomplished by a 19-year-old pilot. Who had virtually no experience at all.

But while that battle was raging, called the battle of Britain.

This intercessory group was on its face before God. Groaning. Groanings that cannot be uttered. Groanings. That affected the outcome of what was taking place physically. At another critical point where Great Britain was almost defeated.

At another critical point where Great Britain was almost defeated. If Hitler had invaded Great Britain at that moment, they would have been finished. They prayed, this group prayed, for Hitler to be deceived.

And it is totally contrary to any military strategy.

So that instead of going against Britain in the West, he went against Russia in the East. Proved to be a fatal mistake. And turned the whole course of the war. To this day, the military historians cannot account for this blunder.

It was effected in prayer. By a band of souls no greater in number than you in this room.

By a band of souls no greater in number than you in this room. They effected history. In 1948 when the United Nations had to vote on the issue of Israel.

They groaned again in travail. And to the astonishment of all the political experts. The political state of Israel was born. And even Russia voted yes. We need to have our eyes opened. That God is a God of history.

And not just Sunday church. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The earth is the Lord's. And the fullness thereof. And the fullness thereof of it. And the fullness of the earth.

The nations. And those that dwell in them. This is God's. And he has intention for it.

And he shall bring it to pass. Through a restored Israel. The moment that Zion travails. But do you know what travail is? It's the most painful aspect of childbirth. It comes with labor. Exertion. Sorry about that.

Spiritual Stamina and the Labor of Birth

You think that this timing is an accident?

Not at all. This is a physical statement.

And acted right before you.

Of what God is going to do through you. In the exact same way. For the bringing forth of this event. And are you willing? And are you able? Do you have the strength?

Do you have the spiritual stamina? Can you groan? When I was a young boy. I worked for a plumber after school. I was terribly miscast in that role. But so be it. And one day we had to bring a bathtub up a flight of stairs.

I was a very artistic young man. You were? I was. Don't be so surprised. I really should have been taking dancing lessons. I secretly wanted to be a ballet dancer. And here I was, pushing with three men a bathtub up the stairs.

And I was in the middle of it.

A bathtub? Thank you. At a certain moment, one of the experienced men turned and looked at me eye to eye.

I had my arms around the string and I was pushing. And he looked at me with a piercing look. Put your gut into it. I understood. He was pushing and pushing. Interesting, it's the very same word by which the baby is brought forth out of the womb.

That's the travail. When the womb pushes.

It's such an exertion. Such a labor. But I asked my doctor friend this morning. I said, what if the mother is lazy? And refuses to extend this. He said, her baby will die. When it's time to come forth.

It must come forth in that time. The amount of oxygen is limited. And the issues of blood and the other complications. The situation with blood and the other complications. It must be brought forth in its time.

The mother must cooperate. Must make this supreme effort. Because do we realize the marvel of what birth is?

Something is going to be brought into being.

That was not before. We take it so much for granted. It's an astonishment.

It's a miracle. It's a heavenly process.

Only God himself could have elaborated this. And it's exactly the same by which Israel is reborn. The moment that Zion commits.

It's a painful labor. It's an ultimate exhaustion. A suffering.

My question is. What is your capacity for pain? It's one thing to be charismatic. It's another thing to give ourselves to a necessary suffering. For the joy and for the comfort of what will come forth.

This is a mystery. And it's a voluntary mystery. God is putting something before you tonight. That is much larger than your own intention for yourself. You would have been satisfied to be a nice fellowship.

Even deeper than the conventional charismatic kind. I wonder why it is that having gone to bed this morning. After one o 'clock in the morning. God wakes me up before six. To dwell on the subject of birth.

And to take the dictionary off the shelf. And examine the word travail.

Did he intend this for you tonight? I believe so. This travail in birth is a struggle.

That requires a certain tolerance for suffering and pain. It requires a determined effort.

Under extreme difficulties.

Against obstacles and abstractions. An effort. An exertion. An ultimate effort. It requires something intense. That only a woman who has given birth can know. It's a moment of truth. And what a woman's character is.

Will be revealed in that moment of suffering. Can you imagine a church like that?

That has that capacity. That willingness. For the joy of that which will come.

To endure that suffering. This will of necessity. Brings such a people to a place of transcendence.

At the same time that this nation is birthed.

The Zion that travails. Is itself transformed.

In the very same process. Because we have been brought through an ultimate thing. And this travail is in prayer. Corporate prayer. Of people who have come to such a place of faith together. To understand the mystery of God.

And will lend themselves to it. And will allow God to shape that character in them.

By which this intensity of labor and suffering will come forth.

The Church as the Key to Israel

So I have to ask.

What is our intention tonight? How far are we willing to go? In the fulfillment of God's mystery. For the church. And Israel. Paul says, have they stumbled that they should fall? Have they stumbled? Romans 11.

Verse 25. I'm sorry, verse 11. Certainly not. But through their fall. To provoke them to jealousy.

Salvation has come to the Gentiles. What's this? It's a mystery. To which God has called the church.

That the church is actually the key to Israel. Salvation has come to us through their momentary fall. But not to be enjoyed upon ourselves.

But in the end to be the key to their restoration. By moving them to jealousy. Some ultimate demonstration. Of the very character of God himself. His holiness. His nature.

In such a way. That the Jews cannot resist that demonstration. He will move them to jealousy. And to the consideration of the gospel. In a word. The church is the key to Israel. And Israel is the key to the nations.

And we are in this together. There is a purpose for our salvation.

Beyond ourselves. That requires us to break through into a transcendent dimension.

Nothing less than being the Zion of God.

But to be prepared for that. This is the issue. To have a character that will not fail. In the moment that God calls us for our labor. Our strenuous exertion. Our hard labor. Our painful travail. Will we be capable?

Willing?

That issue is being decided now.

It should be decided. It should be decided. And every day.

That issue is being decided now. It should be decided. It should be decided. And every day. Issue. I would like that. This question, this decision, must be taken now.

From Charismatic Religion to the Zion of God

Do you know what my impression was today walking through Neuchâtel? Having been already in Scotland, Finland, Sweden and Germany. There is only one word for your civilization. Do you know what my impression was today walking through Neuchâtel?

Having been already in Scotland, Finland, Sweden and Germany. There is only one word for your civilization. Exquisite.

Such a sensibility. Such a sense of elegance, a society,.

Could be capable of this suffering. This anguish. This ultimate exertion. This travail.

Therefore, You are going to have to be moved, as it were,.

Even while you're in it, in the world but not out of it. We are the victim of little things,.

Little things that nurture and cultivate our sense of luxury, the indulgence of our bodies, the cultivation of our tastes.

You French-speaking people are famous for it. So the question before you is this. A French-speaking charismatic religion.

Or the Zion book. I'm not kidding. We wept tonight for this. We ourselves groaned for the birthing of the Word.

That it could be conceived in you, your willingness and the desire to be a Zion of God. The Lord will call for it.

In that moment when it must take place, you'll not fail. You'll not be offended by suffering.

And by pain. Because you will have been prepared for it.

You'll have been brought to a place of ultimate sincerity. Unfamed faith. Unfamed? Unfamed. Oh, don't lose this word. Unfamed faith. Unfamed. Unfamed. True faith. Not a simulation.

Not the...

Fervent love for the Brethren. Truth in all of our acts. In the inward place. In the inward place. Corporately. Beyond pride. Beyond ambition. Our little jealousies. Our privacy. To be the Zion of God is to be the church within the church.

The true church. That is the very expression of God on earth. And when that Zion prevails, something is going to happen in a day. An event will take place that will affect the redemption of the world.

Mary's Consent and the Birth of the Messiah

The Spirit of God came to Mary, a virgin,.

And put before her a proposition.

You have found great favor in God's sight. She was astonished at that greeting.

She didn't think she was qualified.

In her sight, she had no conspicuous qualification.

But it pleased God to select her. But He could not compel her. He said, out of you will come forth. Out of your travail, something will be birthed. That will be the salvation of Israel and all the world.

To say yes to this impregnation.

To allow something to grow large in her. That cannot be explained to others.

It would not just be a matter of embarrassment. Or even reproach. It could well be her death. How could it be explained? That a virgin in Israel should be swollen.

Without being impregnated by a man. It had never happened before.

She knew what the scriptures said. Any woman who has lost her virginity in such a way should be taken to the doorstep of her father's house.

And there to be stomped by her father and by her grandmother. By her father, by her brothers and by the men of the community. But she said to the angel, let it be done for me according to your word. Something was conceived by the word that came from an angel.

A messenger.

That's what an angel means. That still waited on her acceptance.

And when she said yes, let it be open to me. The word and the spirit came in. And something was conceived.

That came forth in God's time.

That has affected the redemption. In that same sense, God is speaking something.

That is not just a message.

It is the hope of an event. If you will say to him, in this place, in this exquisite culture, where bodily comfort and elegance and taste has been cultivated and brought to such an ultimate pitch.

To say in that place,.

Let it be done for me according to your word. Make of us here a Zion of God that can suffer and exert itself and groan painfully and it must be together.

Zion is not the casual collection of casual individuals. It's something that is knit. One.

An entity. A corporate personality. To achieve that in the light of all of our individualism will itself be a suffering. Are you willing? What is your intention?

That's the question God put in my heart this morning for you.

What's your intention? How sincere are you? How far are you willing to go? The moment that Zion prevailed, God brought forth a nation that was born of a thing. A despised Jerusalem. The scorn of all nations contends to be an object for mourning, sorrow.

A compass, a rejoicing and a comfort to the very Zion that brings her forth. This is more than a sentimental interest in Israel.

This is an intense jealousy for the glory of God which itself needs to be birthed in us. It needs to come into our spirit. It must be birthed in us or we will not have the motivation for future battle.

For an event. For here, in this locality. This piece of Zion can be formed. Can you say to the Lord, this is beyond our intention. Nevertheless, whatever it takes.

To form this ultimate kind of character in us. For the issue of birth is the issue of character.

The divine character formed in this people who can suffer with Him to bring forth salvation and ignorance. Let it be unto us according to this Word. We can consider it as a message. Yes, it's interesting.

It has been a concept. We can receive it as the very seed of God.

To be implanted right into our corporate womb. To bring us forth as the Zion of God.

That will in turn bring them forth. It must come forth out of Zion for Zion's sake.

Whatever the Zion is.

It's ultimate. Beyond culture and nationality.

And every form of Christian development and beyond that we have thought impressive.

Prayer for Zion and Spiritual Preparation

I want to pray and I invite you to join me. Lord,.

We love you and we can hardly believe what we are hearing. Would you restrict yourself. Will you be held back waiting for us? Are you so willing to bind yourself that you wait for this one thing.

And you cannot act until it comes but the moment that it comes that Zion prevails.

You release the glory of this event in the sight of all nations. Lord, we have not spoken tonight to be impressive or to bring an interesting and different kind of word.

The time is too short for that. Your purposes are too earnest.

And I simply trust your Spirit and your Word.

And I have opened my mouth.

That you could even birth this Word out of me to go into the Spirit of this people who will say to you, let it be unto us.

According to this Word. Whatever it takes and we know it will take much. We are soft. We are spoiled. We are indulgent. We are self-centered. We have no capacity for pain. We resist suffering and yet it is to these very things to which you call us.

And we want to say tonight we are willing. Give us grace. Help us. Form us.

Shape us. Mature us. Bring us to such a place together with other expressions of your Zion.