_____________________ MESSENGER PRESS Palmer Lake, CO Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from The New King fames Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1983 by Thomas Nelson Incorporated. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright ©1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society. Published by Zondervan Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from The Revised Standard Version of the Bible, New Testament Section. Copyright © 1952 by The Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Scripture quotation marked Wms was taken from The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People by Charles B. Williams. Copyright © 1937 by Bruce Humphries, Inc. Copyright © renewed 1965 by Edith S. Williams. Published by Moody Bible Institute. Victory in the Wilderness: Growing Strong in Dry Times by John P. Bevere Copyright © 1992, 2002 by John P. Bevere ISBN 0-9633176-0-1 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-090341 Published by Messenger Press, an extension of John Bevere Ministries, Inc. P.O. Box 888 Palmer Lake, CO 80133-0888 Direct inquiries and/or orders to the above address. All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the publisher. Cover design and inside format by Doug Belew/ Paragon Communications Group, Tulsa, Oklahoma Contents Foreword ix Introduction xi Section 1—The Wilderness Chapter 1 The Wilderness Season............................................................15 Chapter 2 Defining the Wilderness..........................................................21 Section 2—Time of Testing Chapter 3 Time of Testing...........................................................................29 Chapter 4 Our Example................................................................................37 Section 3—Time of Purification Chapter 5 The Highway of God..................................................................47 Chapter 6 The True Prophetic...................................................................51 Chapter 7 The Lord Comes to His Temple............................................57 Chapter 8 The Refining Fire........................................................................65 Chapter 9 Refine or Devour........................................................................73 Chapter 10 Judgment of the Wicked........................................................81 Chapter 11 Instruments of Refining........................................................91 Section 4—Time of Preparation Chapter 12 Prepare the Way of the Lord............................................107 Chapter 13 Preparation for Change......................................................119 Chapter 14 Resistance to Change..........................................................129 Section 5—Victory in the Wilderness Chapter 15 Place of Revelation...............................................................139 Chapter 16 Drawing from the Wells.....................................................147 Chapter 17 Victory in the Wilderness..................................................155 Acknowledgments My deepest appreciation to . .. all those who labored with us in prayer, in project, and by financial support to bring this book to completion; to Steve and Sam for their constant encouragement and technical support; to Scott for his wise counsel and Amy and Annette for their many talents. I want to thank my wife, Lisa, who continually encouraged me and selflessly helped with editing, but more important, for the godly wife she has been to me. A special thanks to my three oldest sons who sacrificed time with Daddy that this project could be completed. Most important, my gratitude to my Lord Jesus for His grace and companionship during this project and the Holy Spirit's faithful guidance throughout this work. —vii— Foreword John Bevere has a prophetic message for today, a message from God, a message that is backed up by the full counsel of God's Word. After spending seven years in the "wilderness" seeking God and studying His Word, I wondered in this day of prosperity teaching and "I've got to be happy at any cost" philosophy if anyone would accept the word God had been teaching me. Then I received John Bevere's book, Victory in the Wilderness. As I began to read it in my prison cell, my heart leapt, for here was the same message the Holy Spirit had been breathing to me. John cries out that it is time we seek the Lord for who He is, not just for the promises, but for the "Promisor" Himself. Shortly after I read Victory in the Wilderness I received John Bevere's next book, The Voice of One Crying. After reading this prophetic book, I felt I just had to meet this John Bevere. I had to see if he was for real. Could God have given this urgent, eternal, last-day preparation message to this young preacher? Knowing of John's theological background, I just had to know if he really believed what he had written. (I have interviewed thousands of authors and many didn't know and others didn't believe what they had written about. .. they were just good at the craft of writing.) I asked for him to come to see me in prison and he did. When John walked into my prison, I knew this was a man sent by God, a modern-day "voice of one crying." I wept as we shared together; John Bevere was for real. Victory in the Wilderness and The Voice of One Crying are two of the most important books of this hour; they hold the keys to the Church's survival. I have had these books sent to hundreds of my friends and to key leaders. They are "must" reading for those who want to serve and obey Christ and be a part of the last-day harvest time of souls. You may wonder why many Christians and church leaders today are in the pigpens of life like the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal Son said to his father, "Give me," and ended up in a far country, in the wilderness, in a pigpen. John Bevere teaches us how to get back to the Father's House. —Jim Bakker —ix—