Sondra Martin Hicks
So Michael, We talked last time about the acronym CEPHAS, C E P H A S and I was hoping maybe we could spend this time today with you explaining more about exactly what that means.
Mike Endicott
Okay, yeah, can I start with the the C and the E? Great. E stands for expectancy, kind of insane expectancy. This is the realization from Scriptures that Jesus encouraged people no end to have expectation of Heaven. Heaven on Earth, that is the kingdom. And he did say to people didn't you remember the woman with the issue of bleeding and she went up to touch his garment and he didn't even know she was gonna do that? I don't know not is his humanity didn't. And he turned around and said, Madam, you know, it's your faith that's healed you. Faith is another word for expectancy of God, isn't it.
What we owe, be it done according to your faith and all that sort of thing. I mean, it's an essential part of it. If you have faith, you can move mountains and it's a war. You know, how do we what else did the disciples say? How do we do the works that God requires of us. I proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing the sick and Jesus says just believe in the one whom God has sent in other words himself believe trust in them. So trust I use the word expectancy really, rather than trust because every Christian likes to think they trust Jesus. But a lot of that is belief in in who he is or belief in his power or we know that he can do it or we know that he did do it, which is not the same as expecting it to happen to you or to me as a result, now what are we expecting I mean, I put the word C in front of it, meaning corporate, so you get CE not because it's essential but this is quite helpful actually.
Sondra Martin Hicks
But you mean to have more than one person you mean to have like a prayer team praying for somebody?
Mike Endicott
No, I mean in the congregation okay. For reasons which I can't explain to you God seems to love, seems to add together the bits of expectancy, you know of expectation of the body gathered, he seems to enjoy that. Because the truth is now you see with this is that we all have car aerials, would you call them antenna? Maybe, yeah. Now, in the olden days, when I was young, these things were telescopic things mounted on the front of your car.
When you what is not a bad view of it, actually, because what all Christians attitude to prayer is that they would like, you know, come out of the door of the house to go to work in the morning, they get in the car, they started up, they pick up the cell phone, they call up the broadcasting company, and they say, right, you can start playing music now. I'm ready to listen, let me have it, you know, that's nonsense. Nobody does that. Because you know, full well, that the broadcasting is going on 24/7. What you got to do is to get your aerial jacked up. So as you can pick it up we did in those days. That's right. So it can come up above and go down below it. But it's got to stick up by as just as much as the mustard seed really to stick out of the metalwork of the car to pick up the signals. It can be pulled down below that very easily and is with most people below that. It's pulled down by something called doubt. I don't think God's going to deal with me.
You know, I've been prayed for 17 times before nothing's happened. So won't now. You know, our church leader says later bunking, you know, I'm not sure are they expecting me to fall over and or something? I'm really not up in front of everybody and all these sorts of things, you know, as well as the sort of well actually I'm unworthy really to be dealt with by God. But actually, you know, the more that you proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, the more that aerial starts to, you're forcing it up, you know? Yeah. Yes, some of the center carrier where you have to lean out of the car window and pull it up and push it down with your hand. But some of us with more expensive cars in those days, used to have a was wired in with electric motor on the dash. So you press the button, and up it came.
Or even if you turn the radio on in the car, it came on automatically and went up, you know, that's right. And you press it the other way, which comes down again, when you put the car away at night. What we know is that from pure experience is that the more you, you press the button to come up, but there's also a down button, that damn button belongs in the hands of whoever it is, who doesn't want you to do this. So down the aerial of comes, I'm not not worthy, or my sister says it's all rubbish. Yeah, all these things contribute. The more you proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, you are putting more and more pressure on that down motor. And more often than not, it packs up and he can't do it. Because the upper motor is very much stronger. So that's what that is all about.
And so if we get the aerial up, we make it a lot easier for for God to do his business, you know, which is what he wants to do, which is to do with recreation and regeneration and mending people and so on. And that that becomes a lot easier if we get the aerials up. Now, the you know, we need to admit, I think as human beings in fact, our arials are forever going up and down every day. Mine is pretty low on Monday mornings before coffee. You know, other people that there might be circumstances going on at home, which making you miserable and drag it all down. And you want to mean that they're up. And so it goes up and down. So it's always worth proclaiming the good news of the of the of the newness of the kingdom of God and up comes the aerials. And then how are you feeling?
Now, you know, and you find improvements happen, quite regularly and quite consistently. It's very, very exciting stuff. The way this thing works, you see, is that because of the cross, the grace of God that is to say, the river of life, that is to say, you know, God's desire, as reflected in Jesus is to see everybody heal, to come to Jesus so that you can get near this paradise dream that God had in the creation story is wonderful that grace is actually coming because of the cross God has got out of the way. You know, if you remember your scripture, God says, Now there is absolutely nothing that come between us and the love of God.
That's because of what Jesus did on the cross. There isn't anything. You know, the greatest dad of all is thinking that it won't happen. But actually, the crosses meant that there is nothing, absolutely nothing between us and the love of God. There's nothing to stop it. So grace, that I call it is descending all the time from heaven. What we need to do is to get our trust up to meet it, because it's where the trust comes up and meets the grace coming down. It's where they hit each other, that the Kingdom breaks out.
Okay, so we cannot do anything this is the huge difference is to recognize that we actually can't do anything about getting more grace out of heaven for our nearly and our bad news, you know, or whatever it is. You can't do it. It's done the crosses complete. Yeah, I mean, here we are praying like man for God to come and help Auntie Nelly. But actually, the work of the cross is complete. Let's not deny the cross. I mean, the grace is coming at us all the time. Absolutely non stop. Our aerials are down under the metalwork, that's the trouble.
And it's through prayer givers like you and me who want to help that we got to concentrate all the time on raising the car aerials. And the only way to do that, and know that probably 100 different ways of doing it. The way that Jesus wanted it done is by us proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. Is that a better way than what I pray or not a better way? What I'm saying is that sort of level of obedience deepens harmony, and deeper harmony makes it easier for God to work. Yeah. So it's Grace descends all the time.
The problem is getting the trust the expectation up to receive it. Yeah. And it's, it's wonderful. I know, there are risks involved, of course, because, you know, people might be silly and say, Well, God healed me yesterday, who's bound to heal you today. You know, all this sort of thing. And the risk is that people might lose their faith if they're not here. Well, yeah. But when when you know, two thirds of the problems you pray for get mended. Don't worry about it. Keep going. I mean, learn more.
Sondra Martin Hicks
How do I get my trust up? Sorry? Is it repetition that gets my trust up? What's gonna get our trust up?
Mike Endicott
Yes. Because you'll push it against the gate with rusty hinges, push it again, tomorrow, push it the next day. Sometimes, you can, it either, you just have to be surprised what happens. I was in a church not long ago and we had a bit of a preach, and I was on the ministry team. It was very difficult, because they positioned me right next to the worship band. I'd ask that they keep playing actually during the ministry to cover up the sound in case anything said that is personal and don't want the whole congregation to know it, you know.
So it was difficult hearing what this anyway she had damaged ankle that was the problem. She had a broken ankle, wearing a boot, you know, like you do, and prayed with it. What does that feel like? Just the same? So I did it again. Persistence, you see, stand them an pray again? Do it again. Proclaim it again. Any difference? No. It's just the same, no it hurts or what about that? No, no. So in the in the end, I'm starting to think, oh, gosh, how am I going to, you know, move on from here. So a bit of a queue building up, you know, so in the end, I said to her, why don't you just go walk down the aisle to the church doors and come back, see if you can do that. So she sets off and she's hobbling down the aisle towards the door.
But she went through the door shut the door behind her and disappeared. Thank you, Lord. And at that point, the the musicians haved stopped playing. And the guy sitting next to me the guitar player tapped me on the shoulder and said, Mike I just want to say a huge thank you. Because while you were praying for that lady, my ankle got healed. Oh my gosh. That's good that's the way we go. And the end of the service and people had all gone and we were packing up to go home, you know, and the church door flew open. And this woman who'd been praying for came running back out.
Without the boot on running. She said, all out of breath. She was all huff puff. And I said, what's happening? She said, Oh, I'm so sorry. said I've been so enjoying myself running around the parking lot. So you know, you be surprised you can never, never give up? No. Never give up. I tend Yeah. Never give up.
Sondra Martin Hicks
Is that what the P in CEPHAS, is the next word is persist. Yes.
Mike Endicott
That's persistence. There's lots and lots of Scripture, Old Testament and New Testament supporting that. You know, which is worth learning if you're on a training run on this. But basically, well, when I started, you know, people used to say that if you're persistent, depending on you actually showing lack of trust in God, by thinking but but that's all based on how much have you got to shelter God to get him to move? Well, the answer is you don't have to at all because He's here.
Sondra Martin Hicks
You know, in a previous session, you talked about a man who came in who had gangrene leg, you know, amputate, and he wasn't a believer. So did he have the expectancy or was that expectancy all you or do you feel like you shared the kingdom of God and he got expectancy or how's that working?
Mike Endicott
How's that work? Because you certainly don't have to be a Christian to be healed. I would say actually, from my experience of 20 odd years of doing this, I would say to you, that is the easiest people to see healed are non Christians, unbelievers. Now, why is that? Oh, because they're not tied up. They're not, I'm gonna say taffeta, that's a northern UK expression. They're not bound up inside with all sorts of teachings that have come at them is down the ages. You know,
Sondra Martin Hicks
So they don't have religion, choking them?
Mike Endicott
They don't have religion. They don't have other Christians experience telling them it doesn't work and stuff like that all the time. They don't have people trying to teach them how to pray. They don't have this sort of thing. That may be a major reason why it's easier to heal people in for example, Africa than it is in New York. I don't know. But it is honestly, it is seriously. Oh, gosh, I mean, when I'm talking to you, I remember this Christian mum who bought her daughter and her husband. Husband was a church goer. To the office with with them, the daughter and the daughter was about three weeks off her wedding day. And she had been in a little car and without a seatbelt had a head on collision. And she broken both knees.
Oh my. So you can imagine she's hobbling on two walking sticks. Mom is panicking because mom's trying to, you know, do all the final arrangements for this fabulous wedding. You know, and really, you don't want to go hobbling up the aisle on your wedding dress, or you know, on a pair of walking sticks, doesn't look right at all. So they come sit down and mum was smiling because she knows, well ou know what I'm all about. The father said, I think you might be wasting your time. Because I don't think God will touch her with a bargepole, actually, because she's still in, got some forgiveness problems when she was being bullied at school. So I said, Well, that's interesting, because Jesus never refused to heal somebody because they had some unforgiveness in him. Never refused.
He warned you against it, but he never refused. No He didn't, no, I don't think so. This girl had said to me, I say girl, she must have been I don't know the mid 20s. And she said to me, I don't think it's gonna work anyway, because I don't believe in your God. I know mom does, she said but I don't. I think it's a little nonsense. I'm only coming here to keep her quiet, you know? Because she rattles on all the time. She's worried sick about the wedding. So now he said all right. Okay. I thought that wouldn't matter one little bit. Oh, she says that right? No, no, just just sit there. But I said, I'm gonna start to pray what I don't want don't do anything.
I remember the conversation vividly. So I'm not going to come at you and do anything to you. I don't want you to think you've got to do anything. Just sit there and enjoy it and listen to what I'm saying. But if you don't take it all in, it doesn't matter. Just let whatever happens happen. Just sit there and enjoy yourself. So she did and I told her about the Kingdom of God and I proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to her. I said just stretch your foot out. See if you can move it, she's stretching. Oh, oh. Oh. She says, Oh, wow. Oh, gosh, that's Oh, that's a lot better. So I said, Well, I'm gonna say be careful. But if you can do it, try see if you can stand up. And she shot up out of the chair and started to run around a big conference room.
Sondra Martin Hicks
Oh my gosh.
Mike Endicott
The wedding day was a huge success apparently.
Sondra Martin Hicks
What did she receive Christ? Did she receive Christ?
Mike Endicott
I don't know. She might. I don't know. Wow. But it's gracious is great. It's like the 10 lepers did nine of them receive Christ? I don't know. The 10th did you came back didn't he? I don't know. Maybe maybe later in life maybe. Maybe not.
Sondra Martin Hicks
Now, you know, Mike this spits in the face of religion.
Mike Endicott
Yes. So you see, the importance of what we used to call faith, but now we call expectancy, is that grace is descending all the time. Our job, you cannot see where people's car aerials are, you can't look at it and measure it. You know, he could be six foot in the air for all I know, but it could be six foot down in the ground for all I know. So I just got to work at it anyway. Because that's the way Jesus taught his disciples. It's been a hard struggle, I'll tell you, it's been a hard struggle to get out of my way of doing things, all the teachings that the church has done to me over the centuries and of course and, you know, I've sat at the feet of the good and the great for hours listening to wonderful things that they telling me and but, you know, wow, I didn't really go near it.
This, this is what actually takes takes the biscuit. I mean, the joy, the fun of being a kingdom walker is is, oh, I had this guy came in the office. And he sat down. I said, What's your problem? And he said, Oh, I know, he was losing his sight. I can't honestly remember why, because he wasn't more than about 30 years old. And he is sitting there. And and I said, You're loosing it? He said, Yeah, well, there was a one of these modern hymnbooks something called Mission Praise. And it was upright on the windowsill, you know, and it's words that say on the front there, and he said, Mission P. Now that's because the word mission was black, and the P was black, and the rays, you know, making up the word praise, the rays bit was sort of soft pink. You couldn't see it. And then down the bottom was a lot of very small writing, you know? So I said, he said, I don't know if you can do anything.
Try anything really, you know. So, uh, yeah, okay, so I did that, proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. I didn't ask God to do anything because as far as I'm concerned, he done it all. It's called the cross. So did that. And I said, Now read me the front cover of that book over there. And he said, That's Mission Praise Part Three edition 47. Published in 1970. Read them all. He said thanks ever so much and he walked off. Never seen him since we got rung up. The joy I cannot really express it to you. We were rung up, I was down in Sydney, Australia teaching and rung up by a lady who said that she was her son was in hospital a young man Oh, I don't know 16, 17, something like that and he'd been knocked off a bicycle and got a head injury and been in a coma ever since.
Absolutely, you know, vegetative. Mum was there, mum says I still am everyday in hospital with him. So I'm trying everybody, I've tried the Buddhists, I've tried the Muslims, I've tried the Hindus, I've tried this therapy and that therapy. I'm just trying everything to try and get any help I can to bring my son back to life you know anything at all. Are you prepared to throw your four penny worth in? I said yeah, hold me back and we went around the hospital and found her in this room with someone just laid out on a bed you know on the top. She said that the mum said that the doctors had told her that if she keeps talking to this guy every day maybe in, I don't know, a couple of years as much as that you might be able to get him as far as you know one blink is yes and two blinks or no you know that conversation.
So she was determined she was going to stay there and keep working with him until we got see what response you get. But it would be at least two years as I said before he would come out enough. He wasn't on a life support system and then he was just laying there on the top of the bed. Well we said okay, well we'll pray with them. So my my lady, lovely wife went and sat one side of the bed I sat the other she held one hand that I held the other one he's lying there, his eyes shut. Absolutely in a coma. And we proclaim the kingdom of God to him just like you wouldn't to you if you had a headache and then no different, just did that. And no reaction at all. So we got up to leave it with your mum and we left and I got it.
I came back to UK. The hospital sent me a video. Oh, it must have been three or four weeks later of him sitting on the bed, and he had a big beach ball. And he was bouncing it off the floor into the arms of a physiotherapist who was bouncing it back and he was catching it. And that was three or four weeks. Wow. Anyway, then he, within a couple of months, he left the hospital and go back to school, did really well in school exams, and the state awarded him some sort of, you know, best advancing student type award for the whole of the state. And he came out of school, and he founded his own business and now runs his own business making, you know, specially designed T shirts for the early 20s sort of thing.
Sondra Martin Hicks
You would you would think that this would be a conversion experience for people.
Mike Endicott
Or his mother at least. I don't know, I couldn't tell you I haven't kept in touch. I don't know. Wow. But I think as a Christian, my duty and my responsibility to God is to do what Jesus was doing. Jesus receiving people by the 1000. But there's no record of him saying, Give me your cell, I got to talk to you later find out if you're gonna give your life to me, you know, he's just getting on with it. I mean, just dispensing grace. Because if grace starts to say that he wants something back, it's not grace anymore. Is it? So?
That's a good, I think it's, it's wonderful. So that that's the whole thing about expectancy, really. And it's very counterintuitive, because everything inside me still after 20 years says, No, I want to start looking for the root cause of the problem. Biggest mistake I ever made was going on a course where somebody had written down really all the common physical complaints that we get, you know, from dementia type stuff, to broken bones, to blood pressure to cancers and define the spiritual root for all of them. That's true. And it's it's a terrible thing to get out your brain because you start looking for it. You start trying to remembe,r what was that? Oh, yeah, I remember. Oh, yeah, that's, that's what that is. Right? So I need to do that.
Sondra Martin Hicks
But we're just analytical and we got to have an answer for everything.
Mike Endicott
Yeah, we got to. Was Jesus is just saying, no, no, no, just proclaim the good news of the kingdom and go away. Leave it be it to me.
Sondra Martin Hicks
Well, Mike, I think that's a great place to end this teaching. And next time, we'll pick it up with the rest of CEPHAS if that's okay. Oh, I'd love to. Great.
