Overcoming Unsanctified Mercy
by Paul Keith Davis
The conference in Red Deer , Alberta was appropriately entitled, " River of God 's Love!" The morning of the third day seemed to be pivotal and the Lord graciously gave me a strategic dream for that gathering that also has corporate implications. To more fully understand the dream, it is important to know that we had thus far conducted three sessions with Heidi Baker speaking in the evening session the night before. During those meetings, there was a central message emerging that was directing the focus of the people to the restoration of their inheritance and spiritual birthright.
In the dream I found myself walking along a highway with Heidi. I believe this was in the dream because of the messages we had each brought during the prior sessions. The highway seemed to represent the path of Heaven set before the people that provided the resources of God to meet the need of this generation and fulfill the Heavenly blueprint established by the Holy Spirit. A highway also oftentimes speaks of the "highway of holiness," or the "straight and narrow way."
As we were walking along the highway I could see in the distance a large truck headed our way. It was a truck-trailer rig that I intuitively knew was being operated by the "thief" and it carried the provisions of Heaven delegated to the Church but hijacked by the enemy. These spiritual resources were not limited to those stolen from individuals living in this generation but also included prior anointing and commissions given to our spiritual forefathers. It was the Lord's intention to restore that heritage which consisted of gifts, callings, anointing and commissions delegated and imparted to establish the purpose of Heaven on the earth.
That was a big part of the messages that had been brought in the conference through Heidi and me. It was to point the people to their inheritance and initiate desire and tenacity to press in to Him for the grace to become the overcomers who retrieve from the dominion of the adversary the "land of promise" that rightfully belongs to God's people and the lordship of Jesus.
As the truck approached, I discovered that I was holding a high-powered rifle with a high resolution scope. This represented the weapons of our warfare and the vision necessary to use them with precision. I positioned myself to the side of the road where the driver of the truck could not see me and intended to shoot the driver and retrieve the lost provisions. However, as the truck passed by I was unable to shoot the driver so I settled for the right front tire of the truck.
Upon successfully disabling the truck I began to run towards it with the intention of dealing with the driver. When I arrived I discovered that Heidi had already extracted the driver and thrown him to the ground. With that I began to fight with the driver with the intention of completely annihilating him without mercy. When David confronted Goliath he did not do so with the mere aspiration of knocking him out. He intended to cut his head off and restore the land to the tribe of Judah that the Philistines were unlawfully usurping.
As this was taking place and we were about to completely annihilate this adversary, I heard a soothing yet sickening voice behind me beginning to speak. It said, "don't do that, you are Christians and Christians are to be full of grace and mercy." While that is a true statement, it was being spoken from a perverted perspective. When I turned to see the voice that was speaking, I realized it was a demonic spirit named "unsanctified mercy."
It is the heart of true Christians to show grace and mercy to people but we are called to be merciless and fierce in dealing with the spiritual influences resident in Heavenly places set against the purposes of God and His people.
David showed no mercy to Goliath because he represented these unholy intruders that we now confront in the spiritual arena. In the book of Revelations the Church of Thyatira was rebuked by the Lord for tolerating the spirit Jezebel. According to the Scripture, she called herself a prophetess but in reality taught erroneously, leading the Lord's people astray and causing them to commit acts of spiritual immorality and infidelity. (Rev. 2:20) They had given unsanctified mercy to this spirit by allowing it to remain. Many times the spirit of "unsanctified mercy" will masquerade as the true spirit of grace and cause us to embrace something that the Lord desires to extract.
Our enemy will very often send these spirits through people who have no intention of being delivered or set free from their deluding influence. Unfortunately, their sole purpose is destruction and division. In such a case the spirit must go or the people who bring them in who have closed their hearts to deliverance. We must begin to confront these issues while offering grace and mercy to the people but giving no place to the spiritual influences determined to hijack the anointing and provision of God.
But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Galatians 2:4-5
Thankfully, when this was shared in the conference, the people responded with incredible determination to overcome this spiritual thief so that the provision of Heaven being released in those sessions would not be squandered or misplaced. More importantly, a door was being opened for the restoration of the promises released in that region throughout the years. Many Godly men and women have sewn seeds of power and revival through their prayers and sacrificial lives to which we in this generation will be beneficiaries. The Lord intends to restore, according to his promise in Joel 2:25, all that our adversary has stolen.
They rose up with the heart of David to overcome this "Goliath" and restore the desolate heritage of God's people.
An Affirming Word From Wanda Davis
While in Canada during a time of intense fellowship with the Lord, it was spoken to me that we are oftentimes guilty of confusing long-suffering with soulish tolerance. Long-suffering is a vital attribute of the Holy Spirit and part of the fruit that we should bear as His people. However, there is no place for the tolerance of our enemy no matter how veiled his attempt may be.
Our present call is for greater discernment to distinguish between infiltrations of
the adversary that we cannot accept and genuine long-suffering that accommodates spiritual growth and fruitfulness. One such distinguishing characteristic is that long-suffering always has transformation as its hope and expectation. If there is no evidence or openness for change or growth, then an unholy tolerance will attempt to impersonate spiritual long-suffering. In such a case, we actually become indulgent of the enemy devices by giving space and territory through this access, thinking that we are exercising the ministry of long-suffering.
Our confrontation is not with flesh and blood but with principalities, powers and
rulers of darkness residing in Heavenly places. As this new day dawns, we are being admonished to pray for increased grace that we desperately need to help us discern between the devices of our adversary sent to create havoc and the true manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit.
Identifying Unsanctified Mercy
The subject of "unsanctified mercy" must be broached with caution and Godly wisdom. Like any teaching in the Church, this subject matter can be taken to an extreme and utilized to justify a lack of compassion or employed to support a human agenda that is not birthed in the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, when allowed to flourish, seeds of division and discord are sewn in the heart of a fellowship and hold the potential to do great damage when "unsanctified mercy" is exercised. The revelation given to Wanda in Canada truly is significant and highlights the fact that transformation is the end result of true spiritual long-suffering while confusion and lost inheritance is generally the result of unsanctified mercy.
Simply put, unsanctified mercy results in the justification of things that the Lord desires to condemn or extract. These same spiritual influences are discovered throughout the Old Testament and addressed by the prophets of old as well as the apostles during the early days of the Church.
The thief has successfully stolen most every expression of revival given to the Church in recent history. Although there have been wonderful miracles, salvations and deliverances that took place during those days, the lack of longevity is a indication
of our need to overcome these spiritual tactics of the thief in order to sustain what
is coming.
To eradicate unsanctified mercy we must have a willingness to confront, but always in a spirit of charity. The writer of Hebrews acknowledges that the sure indication of sonship is correction... not condemnation nor self-justification.
During the days of the prophet Samuel, the Lord instructed Saul to confront Amalek for the atrocities they committed against Israel during her exodus from Egypt . Once the victory was complete, Saul was instructed of the Lord to completely eradicate
this enemy. This is a natural representation of our spiritual confrontations.
Unfortunately, the Bible declares in I Samuel 15:9 that Saul "spared" Agag and the best of the livestock. This was a direct violation of the Word of the Lord to Saul and an exercise in unsanctified mercy. The word "spared" is the Hebrew word "chamal" meaning--- to show pity or to have compassion.
Because of this demonstration of unrighteous compassion and disobedience to the directive of the Lord, Saul was rejected by the Lord as king. Although Saul repented with tears, there was no place given for repentance because he feared the people and listened to their voice over that of the Holy Spirit.
Our discernment and directives must come from the Holy Spirit in this hour. The Lord Himself even acknowledged in Matthew 24 that a spirit will emerge in the latter day that is so much like the genuine that it would deceive the very elect if it were possible. When this form of spiritual influence enters, it will emulate the true work of the Holy Spirit as much as possible although sowing seeds of doubt, division and discord. It took the spiritual vision of the prophet Samuel to appropriately accommodate the insight and strategy from the Lord during the days of Saul and David. We have now been promised the spirit of wisdom and revelation resting upon the hearts of believers to access the blueprints of Heaven and true spiritual discernment. (Ephesians 1:17-18) We can no longer afford to know one another according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
We are being called to walk in greater measures of love in this day than ever before. We are also admonished to pursue wisdom and discernment to rightly appropriate the anointing of Heaven delegated to us in this hour.
