Spiritual warfare – Wisdom From the Word

At Hand

I last wrote about the kingdom of God being within us and our ability as believers to access it via our ‘state of mind.’ That is, how we think about it. Here I will look at a related idea, starting with the following verses.

¹ In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew 3:1–2 (NKJV)

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14–15 (NKJV)

Here we have John the Baptist and Jesus delivering the same message. There are two parts, the need for repentance and ready access. They both require choices to be made on our part. Repentance is a change of mind and heart that produces a change in behaviour and the phrase ‘at hand’ is a single Greek word that refers to something coming near or being close at hand, again, the idea of access.

Their message was that if the hearers changed their thinking and heart attitudes, they could have access to the kingdom. What is important is recognizing what Jesus in particular meant by the kingdom. Which He nicely summed up for us in a portion of what we call The Lord’s prayer.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)

From Jesus perspective the kingdom being at hand was the authority of the kingdom being accessed and demonstrated.

While we can understand what Jesus meant looking back, neither John nor Jesus closest followers really understood what the kingdom being at hand meant.

We know from John’s interactions with Jesus, that like the prophets of old, he was being faithful in delivering the message Yahweh had entrusted to him, even though he didn’t fully understand it. In fact, even after he had publicly endorsed Jesus as “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) he still struggled. After he was imprisoned, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).

There is no need to be critical of John, after all, he did understand that the kingdom was accessible and whether he knew it or not his prophetic voice was beckoning people to a new era of kingdom authority that Jesus was ushering in. Even after walking in the benefits of this access to the kingdom His closest friends who heard all of His teaching and parables didn’t understand what they were accessing. That is evident based on what they asked Jesus just prior to His ascension.

⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:6–8 (NKJV)

What this means is that even though John and Jesus preached that the kingdom was accessible, at hand via repentance, those hearing didn’t understand what they were looking for or seeking to access! I also contend that even today, many of us who have been delivered, “from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son…” (Colossians 1:13) don’t fully grasp what has taken place, I know I don’t. This is what we will briefly look at now.

¹ For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:1–3 (NKJV)

This passage is related to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17 for wisdom and revelation. Once we have repented and have been born again, we have access to the kingdom through the King living in us by the Spirit because we have changed domains and dominions (Colossians 1:13). Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and by extension us, is that we could come to a full assurance and understanding of what it means to have Christ in us and access to Him to extend His kingdom. We have spiritual authority, we have access to the throne of grace, we carry eternity in our hearts. These things, and many others in scripture, are available and I invite you to search them out. Additionally, Paul presents a number of the benefits we have in the rest of Colossians 2, 3 and 4.

Now for a simple example of accessing the kingdom that is at hand. As I write this I am in another country. I am here on vacation but I have been walking around seeking to know His heart and pray. Not that I am interceding every waking moment, but I am seeking to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading.

After we arrived a prophetic friend sent me an assignment. He had an image/vision of me standing on a barren hill praying and declaring some things over the country. We have been traveling to different places along the coast and in one locale as we were walking through the old town to hike along the coast, I saw a barren hill in the distance that I knew was the correct one. In the afternoon after our hike, I went back, hiked up the hill, and prayed and proclaimed over the area. Here is an important part. I prayed about what to pray before I went up the hill, prayed and spoke as the Spirit led, then hiked back down. I felt nothing other than a sense that I had been obedient and that I had done as the Lord asked. I now leave the results in His hands and continue to pray off and on during the day as we vacation, in this way accessing and extending the kingdom. There have been other examples on this trip but I encourage you to seek His face, extend His kingdom and share the results with others!

Resilience

I took this picture on a recent hike. If you look in the bottom left corner of the picture you will see mature trees growing together far below. This one grew in a very inhospitable place and to me it represents overcoming adversity and difficulty.

This little tree, standing alone, is about 2,300 metres above sea level and surviving. It is here because a seed landed in this inhospitable spot, found a bit of soil, germinated and began to grow. I don’t know how old it is. In a regular setting in a town or city it may be three or four years old. At this elevation it may be ten or fifteen years old. It is much harder to survive and grow at this elevation with almost no soil. Yet, if it survives the snow and rain storms that will come its way, the long periods in hot sun and the lack of soil, something remarkable will take place. It will grow, produce cones and seeds, those seeds will fall on the rock and look for a place to germinate and eventually a community will grow up around this resilient little tree.

When we look at our lives Jesus encourages us to be like this tree. Well, not in so many words but through illustration.

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62 (NKJV)

The context is Jesus calling people to follow him but then excusing themselves because they have some other matters to attend to before they follow Him.

Let’s think this through. In Jesus day you plowed alone. There was an animal in front pulling the plow. Your job was threefold, guide the animal, guide the plow and make a proper furrow deep enough for whatever seeds you were planting. Growing up with a large garden under my grandfather’s work and oversight I learned different seeds required different spacing and depth to grow properly.

Now back to Jesus’ illustration and warning about looking back. A literal rendering of the Greek would be ‘look/looking in the behind.’ In this case not in the ‘behind’ of the donkey or ox but back behind yourself. Similar to the story of Lot’s wife. She looked back because she longed to remain in Sodom and she died with the rest of the people of Sodom because in her heart she was still there.

In plowing, if you were looking back the animal may keep going but the plow would not be making a straight furrow, not maintain the proper depth and would not be fit for sowing. If you were planting for your family, they would have no harvest as you wouldn’t have even properly completed the first step, preparing the soil for planting.

Jesus’ point is that to step into a new life you need to make a decision and stand alone, firm in your decision, not looking back and longing for your former life. It is well said that ‘God has no grandchildren.’ We are not saved by the faith of our parents, friends or a local church leader. We are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light when we alone make that firm decision (Colossians 1:13).

Now, unlike the tree, we are immediately part of a family and have support around us. At the same time, we need to avail ourselves of this support, and like the little tree need to stand in spite of circumstances. Jesus promises us a fruitful life if we faithfully follow Him (John 15:5), He never promises an easy life.

In scripture we see Joseph betrayed by his brothers, as a slave betrayed by his owner’s wife and needing to resiliently stand, trusting Yahweh. We see Elijah standing against the prophets of Baal and the king and queen. We see Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and many others swimming against the tide of popular opinion. There are more in the great hall of faith in Hebrews 11. In difficult circumstances they all stood.

What they all had in common was a reliance on Yahweh and others they could lean on for support. Elijah had the school of the prophets and later Elisha. Daniel had his three friends, and others sought out other supports. They all found someone. The little tree is standing in difficult circumstances but it would do better with the support of added soil and regular watering. Thus, while it is a picture of resilience and we are called to be resolute in our decision to follow Jesus, our success is much more likely if we look to our fellow believers for support in our journey.

I close with something Billy Graham said decades ago. When asked the secret to success he responded, “Find a group of people and grow old together.” If you don’t have those people, seek them out.

Where are You Staying? Part 3

Today’s post is a bit late. We are in the mountains in Invermere. We had a huge storm last night that blew down numerous trees, pulled out patio umbrella out of the stand and deposited it on the roof and left boats and other items all over the lake with no drivers in them. I was driving home from a prayer meeting with debris and branches blowing by me on the highway! Yes, I was calm. We also had the power out for 8 hours. Heroic work by the power company to restore power in the midst of a storm, applicable to today’s post.

I concluded the last part of this series encouraging us to live from heaven toward earth, or as Paul put it, ‘set your mind on things above.’ Here I want to look at the fruit of this in Jesus’ life. A great example was Jesus exercising authority over a storm on the sea of Galilee. The incident follows.

³⁵ On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” ³⁶ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. ³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” ⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Mark 4:35–41 (NKJV)

To set the scene a bit, they were on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Capernaum area. Jesus had told His followers that they were going to the other side (the Gadarenes). He was in a boat with an accompanying group of boats and a storm came up that opposed them. Jesus was sleeping in the storm; everyone else appeared to be afraid of the storm and they woke Jesus up and asked if He cared that they were perishing.

At this point I think the storm was spiritual in origin, opposition to Jesus, for a couple of reasons. One Jesus rebuked the storm, He spoke to it. The word ‘ceased’ refers to growing weary. The opposition became weary. The other reason is that Jesus was on his way to set the Gadarene demoniac free from a legion of demons. They knew He was coming and what He could do. I am sure word had gotten around in the spiritual realm!

Now back to the key element, Jesus was sleeping in the midst of a storm. We can speculate that He was simply very weary but that doesn’t seem like enough to account for His behaviour. Our text tells us that the boat ‘was filling.’ Many of those with him were seasoned fishermen who knew how tempestuous the sea of Galilee could be and the were deeply concerned yet Jesus in the midst of the storm needed to be awoken by them even though water was coming into the boat.

I believe Jesus could sleep because His heart was at rest in His Father and He could calm the storm and release peace because that was what He carried. In the spirit realm He simply externalized what He was carrying internally. We may protest that Jesus was God and that is why He could do what He did. I won’t go into all of it here, but though He was fully God and fully man in His earthly ministry, Jesus did what He did as a man under the anointing of the Spirit (I wrote about this in 2015, see the link below).

Now back to what Jesus rebuking a storm means for us. We have this verse in scripture, which I personally find a bit uncomfortable, as I realize how short I fall.

¹² “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 (NKJV)

I can’t say that I have done greater works than Jesus. At the same time, I accept the responsibility to release peace into the storms of life around me. I think we can all do that! When we set our minds on Him we experience peace no matter our circumstances and we can be a source of peace and stability to those around us. We do this by our words, our actions and our spiritual awareness. After all, if He has assigned us to do something our hearts can rest in the Father just as Jesus did and we can release what we carry.

On many occasions over the years people have commented on how calm I am, it happened again just recently. I appreciate that, but at the same time I recognize that the calmness I carry is the fruit of pursuing my relationship with Jesus. Something we can all do.

http://wisdomfromtheword.ca/the-man-christ-jesus-part-1/

Where are You Staying? Part 1

The title comes from a question that was asked of Jesus at the beginning of His earthly ministry. Here John the Baptist is pointing his disciples to Jesus.

³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. John 1:36–40 (NKJV)

Here two disciples of John the Baptist leave John to follow Jesus, and Andrew, who became one of the twelve apostles, recognizes right off that Jesus is the Messiah they have been seeking. Their key question was about where Jesus was staying as clearly that is where they wanted to be. Once they found out where Jesus was staying, they remained with Him.

Having presented the context I am going to make an application that isn’t obvious from the text. To get there we will go post resurrection to Paul. First however, we need to understand, these two disciples of John the Baptist recognized two things. They knew they needed to leave John and they knew they needed to be where Jesus was. Now on to Paul as He tells us where Jesus is now staying.

¹ If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1–4 (NKJV)

Jesus is now staying in the heavenly realm and Paul informs us that we need to be there as well. More accurately, Paul says we are there, our ‘life is hidden with Christ in God.’ We are in Him. Paul, knowing the importance of this spiritual reality tells us that we need focus and set our minds ‘on things above.’ The Greek word translated as mind is phroneo, it means to think and is connected to our attitudes, intentions and purposes. The KJV translated phroneo as affections. While I prefer a more modern rendering in most cases, here the KJV captures something. We need to have an affection, a desire, set on our life that is hidden in Jesus.

In summary, we need to both want to know where Jesus is staying and we need our desires set there.

Next week we will delve into how to practically apply this idea.

Exercising Authority

Authority in Christ is a scriptural concept and here we will look at an aspect of how to exercise it in our lives. Consider the following exclamations, “I can’t believe it!” or, “Unbelievable.” At some point in time most of us have uttered one of these expressions or something similar. Our utterance may be connected to terrible unexpected news, like the sudden demise of someone we knew or it may be great news that a couple has just become engaged or the wife is pregnant and expecting. It could also be that someone who was hardened against the gospel has now become a Christian.

Whatever the case, the expression generally conveys shock, a sense of something that doesn’t seem quite real, making it hard to believe or implausible. Yet even if something is implausible it is not impossible. I am confident that over time all of us have changed our beliefs about something. Here we are going to look at that process and how it relates to exercising our authority in Christ.

A term that describes our ability or capacity to believe something is ‘plausibility structure.’ A simple definition comes from philosopher J. P. Moreland, “A person’s plausibility structure is the set of ideas the person either is or is not willing to entertain as possibly true.”[1] I will expand a bit. We all hold ideas in our mind about what is and is not possible. They help shape our worldview, the lens through which we view and interpret reality. What is believable or plausible is not determined by reality but by how we view reality, including the spiritual realm.

We can move beyond definitions and apply this idea to our prayer lives regarding the efficacy of our prayers. Our beliefs about prayer are firmly tied to our plausibility structures and our worldview – both of which we can change. A good starting point is reflecting on whether we believe our prayers make a difference. If we do believe our prayers are making a difference and we are seeing results, great. If not then let’s hold our plausibility structure in this area up to the light of scripture and examine it. To do so we will look at an aspect of what scripture has to teach about authority, more specifically spiritual authority, so that where needed we can shift our views to align them with scripture. To explore how we exercise authority we will look at relational versus positional authority.

There has been much teaching in recent decades on our position in Christ and our relationship with Him. What I have never heard discussed is the difference between positional authority and relational authority. We all have a measure of positional authority by virtue of our relationship with Jesus. However, more importantly we need to develop relational authority. This idea developed in me over time through my leadership work in various roles. Yes, it is scriptural, and we will get to that. Over the years, many times I said to my staff and colleagues, “If all we have is positional authority, we don’t have any. We need relational authority.” I will explain. When I had a position of authority at work, I could direct my staff to engage in specific tasks within their scope of work as outlined in their job description. However, my positional authority didn’t determine how they did the work or the attitude they held. They could have done it begrudgingly and resented me all the while. So yes, I did have positional authority. However, what had much greater influence on how they did their work was the relationship I had with them. This didn’t mean we had to be friends. It did mean developing a relationship where I was available to provide support, develop mutual respect and create an atmosphere conducive to them doing their job well. My positional authority gave me the responsibility to create relational authority so that work was done well.

Now we apply this to our authority in Christ in prayer. We can place demands on the Lord, but Paul told us in Galatians that what counts is ‘faith working through love,’ (Galatians 5:6), which implies a relationship. Paul’s statement is relational not positional. If I want to see greater results in prayer then I need to cultivate a deeper relationship with the one to whom I am praying!

Jesus presented it this way,

⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:7–8 (NKJV)

¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:14–15 (NKJV)

Coming back to plausibility structures and our worldview – do we see ourselves as Jesus’ friends? Have we cultivated that relationship so that we can have confidence in our authority in Christ? Are our prayers in line with His word? My desire is that we would come before the throne of grace and see our city and communities changed. We can do that if are His friends and see ourselves that way. John said it like this.

¹⁴ Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14–15 (NKJV)

If we are in this place great! If not let us come back to some other things Jesus told us.

²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” Matthew 9:29 (NKJV)

Jesus said we would receive based on our faith. If we struggle with our faith, if our plausibility structure doesn’t include answers to prayer then let’s join in with the prayers of a desperate father.

²³ Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:23–24 (NKJV)

Jesus, may our unbelief be transformed to faith! May we live in relational circles and communities seeing Your kingdom come and Your will done!

[1] Moreland, J.P.. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (p. 56). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

In His Image Part 3

I began this series sharing that as image bearers we have a responsibility to represent Yahweh on earth. That is the main idea of being an image bearer. I also looked at how even after the fall of Adam and Eve scripture still presents us as being made in His image. I then moved to looking at how we are called to use our minds to bear His image. Now as we dig a little deeper, here is a passage that apparently muddies the waters. A passage we will explore in the broader New Testament context.

⁴⁷ The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 1 Corinthians 15:47–49 (NKJV)

What Paul is referring to here is the idea of wearing or carrying an image. We ‘wear’ the image of the first Adam as fallen and sinful in our humanity. In the resurrection we will ‘wear’ the image of the second Adam, Jesus. John put it this way.

² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:2–3 (NKJV)

For me the danger in accepting this image idea without exploration is that we put wearing Jesus’ image off into the future, taking place at our resurrection or translation. While that is inherent in the language of both Paul and John, both are referring to an ultimate consummation. Paul in particular calls us in our life on earth to begin the process now.

¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Romans 13:14 (NKJV)

²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Galatians 3:27 (NKJV)

¹⁹ My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, Galatians 4:19 (NKJV)

²⁰ But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20–24 (NKJV)

These verses all refer to our responsibility as image bearers to bear the divine image here and now. We do that by pursing a relationship with Jesus, more specifically an intimate relationship with Him where we hear His voice and heart. What unclutters our life to hear His voice and heart is what Paul wrote, the putting off or removal of our former conduct. It is an ongoing process. We put off some old behaviour, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, we think differently about it, and then drawing on His grace we put on new conduct – we walk like Jesus in righteousness and holiness.

This means letting go of our pre-conversion way of thinking and acting, believing by faith that we can behave in a different way and receiving His grace through leaning into the moment by moment leading of the Spirit, actually living in a different way. If we maintain soft hearts, we can hear His voice of guidance and correction. Let’s pray that we individually and corporately do that.

A Functioning Body Part 5

In this concluding post I come back to some key verses in Ephesians and Colossians. Paul says in Ephesians that everything will ultimately be summed up in Christ. He lays out the goal of the Father.

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ¹⁰ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. Ephesians 1:7–10 (NKJV)

Everything in heaven and earth will reach a conclusion in Jesus. Later in the same chapter (verses 16-23) Paul prays for a spirit of wisdom and revelation for believers, praying that our spiritual eyes would be opened to see what our calling is all about and that Jesus is seated in heavenly places far above the spiritual forces we are battling. Paul then informs us that we are seated there with Him.

⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6 (NKJV)

We are to battle from victory, nor for victory.

That we are still in a battle is very evident, as Paul notes in Colossians.

²⁷ To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. ¹ For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 1:27–2:3 (NKJV)

The ‘them’ in 1:27 is us, the saints. Thematically Paul focuses on both us in Christ and Christ in us, which is what Jesus taught in John 14:20, that He was in the Father and we in Him and He in us. Paul’s battle, his ‘great conflict’ in his prayer, teaching and preaching was to get us to realize these truths and come to maturity, to a full assurance of the reality of that Jesus is both in us and that He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.

If we as the body of Christ are to function as He designed, we need those called as leaders to draw out the gifts and callings in the rest of the body. We need them to create an environment where these gifts can be expressed and we need to realize the Father’s ultimate intention, to sum up everything in Christ. To accomplish these goals, we need an experiential awareness of two things. First, of Christ in us leading and guiding, second that we are in fact seated with Him in heavenly places, operating from a place of assured victory. If we do these things and do them well, we will be a functioning body.

A Functioning Body Part 4

Here I am tying together a couple of aspects in this series. I previously referenced the role of leadership regarding the calling to stir up gifts and equip the rest of the body. I last wrote about how the church can function with the various members of the body functioning when the church gathers. Now we look at an example of what this could look like. Contextually the early church met in homes and the people in general knew one another. The caveat of course is that in places there were new converts each week, which we have historically seen in revival seasons.

In examining the idea of different people being involved in a service as we see in 1 Corinthians 14 we may wonder how applicable these New Testament (NT) approaches are in a modern congregation. The answer is, very applicable! The large churches get most of the attention but the reality is the majority of churches in North America are congregations of less than 100 people. With some foresight and wise leadership, I believe variations of the NT approach can be used. The key thing is activating the gifts that people inherently carry as followers of Jesus and then making space to see them exercised.

We being with an example of how a smaller group could function. Imagine you have a house church and Bob, Arnold and Ruth are the recognized leaders. You meet and spend some time in worship. As this dies down Bob asks, “Does anyone have a sense of anything the Spirit is saying? Any sense of our next steps?” Sharon responds with, I believer the Lord wants us to gather around the Roberts family and pray for them. Sam pipes up and says, “Yes, Sharon, I was sensing the same thing.” The group gathers and prays for the Roberts family and three members have words of knowledge they receive and share for the Roberts. Ruth says, “What are others sensing?” Zach says the Spirit has been impressing something on his heart about holiness that he feels he is to share with the rest of the group. “That fits for me says Ruth” and Zach shares. After he shares the group weighs what has been shared and examines how it aligns with scripture. Ed jumps up and says he has an important word to share. Arnold and Ruth glance at one another with a look of caution and ask Ed to hold off for a bit as the group needs to return to prayer.

This is a brief example with many elements missing. The role of children, how teachers fit with prophets and numerous other practical issues. It does however provide a flavour of what walking out 1 Corinthians 14:26-33 could look like.

²⁶ How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. ³⁰ But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. ³² And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. ³³ For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 1 Corinthians 14:26–33 (NKJV)

We now turn to a larger assembly where few hundred people gather in a building on Sunday. During the worship, as is the culture in this group, the gifts of the spirit are evident. Someone gives a message in tongues and someone else gives the interpretation. Someone else starts to give a prophetic word and one of the leaders interrupts from the platform and says, “Please hold that. We first need to weigh and apply what has just been shared.” The previous message is publicly discussed. Later one of the leaders asks if anyone needs prayer and six people raise their hands. Another leader asks those around them to pray for them and to share the outcome with the congregation. Later one of the leaders points out three people in the congregation and says, “I sense the Spirit resting on you. What is happening?” They each share and one receives prayer for an assignment the Lord has given.

Granted this would be a little different and likely messier than our average Sunday service but also likely much more fruitful. Frankly, most of us don’t need more sermons, we need more engagement and involvement with our fellow believers. When someone says they have something to share a leader can ask both what and how they received it. Was it a sense of Him speaking to their heart, a vision, a verse of scripture or something else. When they share how they received it others can be edified and encouraged. Would you find this more meaningful than most of what happens in a typical meeting or service?

What I am aiming at in this whole series on A Functioning Body is encapsulated in a couple of lines from the song Make Room, because I believe what I have shared is the way Jesus wants to do church with us.

Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better, Jesus
Your way is better

Make Room as sung by Kim Walker-Smith Bing Videos

[Verse 1]
Here is where I lay it down
Every burden, every crown
This is my surrender
This is my surrender
Here is where I lay it down
Every lie and every doubt
This is my surrender

[Chorus]
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to, oh

[Verse 1]
Here is where I lay it down
Every burden, every crown
This is my surrender
This is my surrender
Here is where I lay it down
Every lie and every doubt
This is my surrender

[Chorus]
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to, Jesus
And I will make room for You, for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
Oh I will make room for You, Jesus
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
Oh I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to, Jesus
[Spontaneous]
Have Your way, have Your way, Jesus, oh
We surrender all, we surrender all, Jesus
Have Your way, Jesus, have Your way, Jesus

[Bridge]
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better
Oh Your way is better
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better, Jesus
Oh Your way is better
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better, Jesus
Your way is better
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better
Oh Your way is better

[Chorus]
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to, oh

[Verse 2]
Here is where I lay it down
You are all I’m chasing now
This is my surrender
This is my surrender
Here is where I lay it down
You are all I’m chasing now
This is my surrender
This is my surrender

A Functioning Body Part 3

In my last post I referenced the role of leaders and the responsibility they carry. Here I want to look at what can and should happen when leaders draw out the gifts in others and create an environment that makes space to accommodate their use when the body gathers. Warning, our responsibility is not to take up space in a seat on a Sunday or Wednesday! I have a friend who was converted during the Jesus Movement and he naturally started reading the bible. He then went to a church service with a friend and at one point got his friend’s attention, pointed at the platform, and said, “I don’t know what this is but this isn’t that.” He was referring to the difference between what he read in scripture and what he saw on the platform.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that we all need to wear first century garb and the men grow long beards. I am saying that there is generally a significant difference between what we read in scripture and what we encounter in the vast majority of our services. We do what we have been taught and what has been modeled for us and from there we get what we have. The problem, from my perspective, is that though we have many things, we don’t have what we should have, the body released and empowered. Here is a quote from a book I recently reread that describes what happens when people are empowered to walk in their gifts and calling.

Calvary Chapel grew so quickly because all the little workers were out working because they were empowered. And that’s what God used Lonnie for. Chuck Smith Jr. said in the first year Calvary Chapel went from a little over two hundred people to two thousand people. At what became the Vineyard in Yorba Linda, when the Holy Spirit fell on Mother’s Day, our church went from three hundred to twenty-seven hundred in nine months. It was crazy! That didn’t happen because of great sermons. That happened because the body of Christ was empowered, activated, and commissioned to go out and do the work of the ministry. I’m a product of that. I’m part of the legacy of what Lonnie’s life produced. I’m a businessman and a family man, but I also have a burning desire to do all that I can for God, to make known what I’ve experienced in God, everywhere that I go. I want to go to the ends of the world and preach the gospel.

Frisbee, Lonnie; Sachs, Roger. Not By Might Nor By Power: Set Free (p. 273). Kindle Edition.

You may tell me that this was a unique season in the body of Christ. Perhaps it was. Yet it is what my heart longs to see. I also think it was what was happening in the New Testament. To be clear, I am not advocating experiences over truth. I think true godly experiences often establish or reinforce truth. What isn’t included in the quote is the emphasis that Calvary Chapel and the early Vineyard had on preaching through the scriptures. The truth of the word was paired with the reality of encountering His presence. Jesus addressed it this way.

²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. Matthew 22:29 (NKJV)

The Greek word translated as ‘mistaken’ means to wander or be led astray, to be deceived. Here Jesus was responding to the Sadducees who denied the resurrection and afterlife. His point was that they missed the point because they were neither grounded in the scriptures nor familiar with the power of His presence. Their beliefs had led them astray from the truth in both their theology and experience.

I have long believed that at the end of the age we will see a church focused not on power or the word but a church focused on power and the word. A body that is deeply grounded in His word and walks in and demonstrates His power and presence. That is the cry of my heart.

Now we need to address how we get there. I have previously referred to 1 Corinthians 12-14. Chapter 12 outlines various gifts of the Spirit available to us as His children. Chapter 13 highlights love as the motivation we should have for the use of spiritual gifts. A side note here. Paul was writing to the church at Corinth and addressed their misuse of spiritual gifts. His solution to the misuse of them wasn’t to ask them to take a break. Just the opposite, he instead encouraged them to further pursue the gifts (14:1) while explaining how they were to function when the body gathered. That is the focus of chapter 14. Paul focused primarily on the use of tongues and prophecy because they were the primary issue. I am not going to going over every aspect of what Paul wrote but I will focus in on a few verses that capture the core of what we need to know and understand in order to see the body empowered.

In this passage the responsibility of leadership is not to do everything. It is to provide oversight to the ministry of the body to one another. Paul’s expectation was that when the body met each person would bring something; a song, teaching, revelation or interpretation to strengthen the others. Leadership was to facilitate not dominate this process. Inherent in the passage is an expectation that people knew one another and the spiritual gifts they carried. These gifts were to be shared with others. We needn’t fear that scripture was violated if four individuals had a message in tongues or a prophetic word. Paul’s point was there needed to be a mutual submission to one another’s gifts and a discerning of when to speak and when to be silent. His expression, ‘let the first keep silent’ addressed the need for a respect for others and a submission to leadership.

While this is likely quite different from what most of us experience when the church gathers, I believe it was more normative for the early church and should be for us as well. Will getting there require change and adjustments in how we function and relate to one another? Certainly. Is it worth attempting to experience more of His presence and see the church empowered and touching the culture around us? Yes!

Join me in sharing these ideas and praying for their realization as we pursue His heart!

To be continued.

A Functioning Body

Jesus told us what the church was called to do in what we refer to as The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Paul gave us some information on the how in Ephesians, Colossians and a key portion of 1 Corinthians (12-14). Ephesians informs us where we are to be, seated with Christ (2:6), who we battle, principalities and powers (6:12), and how we can be successful in battle (6:10-18), which requires that we actually put on and use the armour. In Ephesians Paul also included how the church is led and built (4:11-16) which includes leadership, training and impartation to effectively build and release His body.1 Corinthians 12-14 highlights the importance and function of spiritual gifts within the body of Christ and Colossians presents Christ as the source of everything (1:27). In Colossians Paul also denounces festivals and angels as means of grace and revelation, pointing out that the answer is in Jesus not rules and rituals.

My goal in this writing, this first part is merely the introduction, is to have us reflect on how we function as His body in relation to how He has called us to function. I am deeply concerned that in general we as the church, His body, have settled for far less than He has both called and enabled us to walk in. If the church were a car, I would say it badly needs a tune up, or if you prefer an EV analogy, the battery is weak and has trouble taking a charge. Granted, it is easy to see problems, we also need solutions. My aim is to come into agreement with the heavenly physician and offer both a diagnosis and treatment. After all we see that in the first chapters of Revelation that Jesus had a different message for each of the seven churches and each message was specific to their need at that point in time.

I have some sense of where the broader body of Christ is in Canada and the US through what I read and experience yet I am obviously more familiar with what is happening where I fellowship. In writing I have no great prophetic revelation to offer, I am pointing us to scripture and the way He has called us to walk. After nearly four decades in walking with Jesus I echo the heart cry of Paul summed up in a single verse of scripture.

¹² Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Philippians 3:12 (NKJV)

If you have attained, great, show the rest of us the way. If you have not and your heart desire is for more then please read through Ephesians, Colossians and 1 Corinthians 12-14 and join me on this journey.

As an encouragement this new song by Josh Baldwin featuring Jenn Johnson is a call to go higher and fulfill His purpose, not ours, His!

https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=made+for+more+josh+baldwin&type=E210CA1485G0#id=1&vid=40564892dc6bb29bf464a98b4ffebe6a&action=click