Covind-19, A Dress Reherseal for the End Times — Ken Gillard

Hi folks, Ken Gilliard here, I've been really seeking God over the last year or so, yes for twenty-five, thirty years now, but really over the last year concentrated on really hearing God's voice. He's spoken very profoundly to me, very personally, things I wouldn't share with you over the internet, just personal dealings with myself, but there are some things that God's been speaking to me that I feel like he's speaking to the church, and I feel that God has been urging me to start sharing things through videos like this, so here goes.

The Church’s Dependence on Buildings During Crisis

As we're going through this crisis, everybody's talking about the crisis, but what I wanted to focus on is what the church's reaction is to this crisis. I really believe the Lord has been speaking to me that the church has relied too heavily on buildings for a long time.

They have come to, we've come to a place, it seems in North America, that the church is the all-in-all, the functions that take place inside that building are it, that's our Christianity in a nutshell, but now that the building's been taken away, it's really time for our faith to be put to work, and what do I mean by that?

I really believe that many times people will sit back and just wait for the preacher, or wait for a prophet to have a word of God for them. They go there to hear an encouraging word, something that might just get them through the week.

I've heard people say, you know, the devil's been beating me up all week, so I'm glad that I'm here on Sunday. Well, you know, that's like starving all week and only eating one meal a week. It doesn't make sense at all.

Hearing God Personally and Following Jesus’ Example

But I really believe that it's time for the people of God to start praying and seeking God to hear His voice for yourself, and when we hear His voice, we're exhorted by the Word of God to do what He tells us to do.

You know, many times people think Jesus did all the things that He did because He was God, and Jesus Himself actually called Himself the Son of Man, and Jesus Himself said, apart from the Father, I can do nothing.

He said, I do nothing of my own initiative, but what I see the Father doing, that's what I do. And what He hears from the Father, that's what He does. Many times we see in the Scripture where Jesus withdrew to a quiet place.

That was a time where He was connecting with the Father, He was hearing from the Father. Even times He said, I'm praying out loud, God, because not so that you'll hear me, because I know that you always hear me, but that those around you will know what's going on, basically.

So it's time for us to hear His voice for ourselves and do what He's telling us to do. You know, a lot of people are saying, well, you know, I'm bored at home, I have nothing to do, my whole world is turned upside down.

A Crisis as Preparation for the End Times

Well, let's not waste this opportunity. Listen folks, this is a dressed rehearsal for the end days. You know, we hear people saying, it's the end times, it's the end times, it's the end times, it's the end times.

We know we're in the end times, it's the end times. And we're sitting back like we're spectators just waiting for a movie to start. Well, it's great that we know that we're in the end times, but what are we doing about it?

I believe this crisis that's come up and the opportunity that's God given us right now is God's mercy to show us just how unprepared the church is. And why do I say that the church is unprepared? Because as I look around and I see the different reactions of people in the world, and then I see the reactions of people that are in the church, the church's reaction to this crisis is no different than the world's reaction.

And that should be of great concern to all of us. Now I admit, I can't see all that's going on, all what every Christian is doing, what every church is doing. I don't see all that. But what I do see is very similar to the world's reaction to this.

Dependence on Worldly Systems and God’s Provision

The other thing that I see is that the church is way too dependent. When I say the church, I'm talking about the body of Christ. I'm not talking about a building that sits on the side of the road somewhere.

I'm talking about the body of Christ. We are way too dependent on the world's system. We depend on them for everything. Even the news and our communications. I can't help but think, what would happen if this crisis, if we added to this crisis power failure?

If we added to this crisis food delivery disruption? Or God forbid, the internet would go down or phone lines would go dead. What would we ever do if that happened? And I'm not saying that I have all the answers.

What I'm saying is, God has all the answers. He is the answer. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our supply. He is our healer. He is our strength. He is our wisdom. He is our truth. He is our ever-present help in time of trouble.

We must move from knowing that it is the end times to seeking God and hearing his voice for ourselves and doing what he's called us to do. We've been tricked into thinking that our weekly gatherings are everything.

That I'm a committed Christian because I show up to church on Sunday and maybe I darken their doors on a Wednesday night. That that's our all and in all. That is the practice of our faith taking place.

Corporate Discernment and Strategic Unity

Well, I'm wanting to tell you that that's not what the scripture says. Basically, the church building should be looked at as the headquarters. It should be looked at as a place where we go to. Yes, worship God.

Yes, fellowship with one another. But we need to coordinate. We need to strategize. We need to plan. As we're hearing God for ourselves, we get together with like-minded believers. And we can, you know, let everything be established by two or three.

Because some people can say they're hearing from God and just going off and doing their own thing. And I'm not telling us to do that. I'm saying hear from God. And then when we come together, we can share what God is saying to all of us in a corporate setting.

And you say, yes, I agree with that. Yes, I hear God saying that to me too. We can look and see the common thread of what God is saying to the body of Christ. The work of our faith, the living out of our Christianity, however you want to put it, our faith, our Christianity.

It's not a religion. It's a reality. It's Christ within the hope of glory. God actually lives inside of us. But the real work of Christianity doesn't take place in a building. The real work is out in the field.

The Church as a Barn and the World as the Field

I want you to look at this picture. And it's a picture that Jesus used many times. He used farming. He used fishing. He used things that people could understand. Well, remember the farm. The barn would be empty if the farmer did not plow, if he did not plant, if he did not water his fields.

The barn isn't the farm. The farm is the fields. The barn being full, that's the end result. We just keep hoping for the end result and hoping for the end result. Well, the barn is for the harvest. But first of all, there's work to be done.

Discovering God’s Plan and Rejecting Fear

What is that work? I don't know what that work is for you. I don't know what that work is for everybody. But God knows exactly what his plan and purpose is for each and every member of the body of Christ.

And as we get in touch with the living God and hear his voice, we don't have to be ran by the world system. We don't have to be ran by the fear of the enemy or fear tactics or anything like that. There's all kinds of debates.

What's going on? Is this the government? Is this? Is that? We aren't here to figure it all out. We're here to hear from God and do what he's called us to do. I hope this has blessed you. And I believe that there's more to come.

Amen.