NeitherFirstnorLast
12-08-2010, 06:56 PM
Dear Saints,
The Lord did not permit me to find this discussion forum until yesterday, until after I'd written a letter to a dear Brother in Christ - a letter written at His prompting. I thank Him that I didn't find this forum beforehand, it would have skewed my writing in a way that allowed me to express my natural man - to speak death rather than life. To speak for the tearing down rather than the building up of the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord I did not find this, and Praise the Lord He has shown it to me now.
Brothers and Sisters, I want to speak a word for our building - no, for Christ, if He would give it to me.
The people of Israel made a demand of Samuel: "You are now old, and your sons do not follow in your ways. Appoint now for us a king to judge us like all the nations."
Samuel, the last of the Judges, was distraught and offended, how could the people make such a demand of him? But the Lord spoke, and His speaking was this: "Listen to the voice of the people according to all that they have said to you; for it is not you whom they have rejected, but they have rejected Me from being King over them. Like all the deeds that they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt to this very day by forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they do also to you. Now therefore listen to their voice, but you shall solemnly warn them and declare to them the practice of the king who will reign over them."
Brothers and Sisters, I fear that we, like the Israelites before us, crave a human king. It is part of our natural being. If we cannot be king, we want a human king over us. Even in the Church. We speak of taking Christ as our head, but then we bow to the elder brothers and give them the headship.
We are still fleshly, when we are torn by jealousy and strife, walking according to the manner of man - shouting "I am of elder brother X, and another, I of elder brother Y", are we not men of flesh?
Do we not know, have we not heard, that the Holy Spirit is mingled with our spirit even from the first moment that we are Saved? God craves an intimate relationship with each one of us; intimate! Each one! What a precious word!
Brothers and Sisters, when we look to men for headship, we make of that man an idol. The Lord cannot and will not abide idolatry. Can we blame that man for falling? Or should we rather blame ourselves for putting our faith in him in the first place - he is, after all, only a man, and all men are already fallen. What man in the Bible ever lived up to Christ? None. Not one. Paul failed in Jerusalem, Peter denied Christ and even later was rebuked by Paul. James mingled Christ with religion. Saints, all have come short of the Glory of God - why do we seek to make these ones kings over us and then despise them when they fall?
Saints, if I may speak an honest word (and this from myself, and not in the spirit), this site, at first glance, seemed a place of healing for the saints who lived through the turmoil. In all honesty, after reading further, I see no healing here - and precious little in the local churches where I've met either. This is not said in judgement against you, but in urgent warning.
Brothers and Sisters, do you believe in principle, in the Lord's Recovery? Do you believe that He has been recovering a proper Church as He meant it to be? If you do, then come - let us reason together.
From 1510 to 1520, Martin Luther lectured on the Psalms, on Hebrews, Romans and Galatians. The Lord opened Martin Luthers eyes fully, and showed him that it is truly "by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." What God sparked, in opening the eyes of His servant, was nothing less than a Reformation. From that moment, the hold of the Church of Thyatira was broken on the whole of Christendom; but what was born out of that was not the Church of Philadelphia with her open door, but the Church which had a living name, but was dead - the Church of Sardis.
Many, many flocked to hear Luther speak, many were built-up by his speaking, and gained more insight into the Person of Christ. But when Luther died, we see that the hunger his speaking satisfied in them left many of them with an unnatural craving. Rather than wanting the pure guileless milk of the Word - which had sustained Luther himself- they craved the vessel from which they'd been drinking it. Rather than following Christ and becoming Christians, they followed Luther and became Lutherans.
Brother Nee wrote a book called the Orthodoxy of the Church. Have you read it? Did you ever consider the implications of what he wrote on the church which would trace it's descent from Philadelphia?
Brothers and Sisters, the turmoil may or may not be over. The enemy never ceases, and division - cutting up of the Body of Christ - is his present tactic. He has used it skillfully. Every time a believer says, "This one is wrong, I have more discernment" - a division is achieved. Now do not misunderstand, there are articles of the Faith for which we MUST take a stand. Christ calls us to. However, we must not become so confused as to imagine that we are Saved NOT by Grace through Faith but by Wisdom through Understanding. Praise the Lord He does not save us based on our knowledge, but on our honest faith in Him. For this reason, the kingdom of Heaven is made up of little children, and He has chosen the foolish in place of the wise.
I have seen, the Lord has convicted me, many wrong practices. I've practiced many wrong practices. I've acquiesced when I should have stood, and stood when I should have sat down. I am a fallen man, and prone to such failings. Lord forgive me. But this the Lord has burdened me with, we are called to nurture and care for the saints, not to lead them. There is a vast difference. If another would be king, let him be - the Lord will deal with kings; as He dealt with Saul. We must care for how the Lord will deal with us; we must be the good and faithful servant. If we are hated because of it, we should not be surprised - He was hated before us, and the servant is not greater than the Master.
Saints, there is a tendency that those within a kingdom (small 'k') tend to get "patriotic". Have you noticed it? We root for our home town's team. We cheer for our country at the Olympics, and we do the same for our particular sect or division of the Body. This is unhealthy, in fact, this is sin.
When we call down the saints we see as lesser, we forget that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself Saved these ones. He died for them and rose that they might live. When we suppose we have gained more than them, then we are displaying our pride - a Satanic trait, not a trait of our Lord. Lord Jesus, burden us all with this Lord - Sanctify us and purge this from our being. We want to be wholly for You Lord.
John Nelson Darby wrote, of the final four churches that would see the coming of the Son of Man in great power and glory, that:
"When judgement is to happen to one of the churches (and so is pronounced on the state which that church represents), in the execution of it, the saints, where they are distinguished, are necessarily to be considered apart from the threatened evil-doers, and the time of the punishment of the latter is not in the period pointed out in the address to the church as such. These remain for the execution of the judgement after the encouraged saints are gone, and may be a carcase carrying its former name, but a mere carcase with no life at all."
What he is saying is that there are overcomers from each of the four churches that see the end of the Age, and in fact also from each of the three that are past. Saints, as much knowledge as any of us has, as much understanding of scripture or doctrine or procedure, the Lord has His Chosen from among ALL the Churches. What cause do we have for Pride?
The Lord did not want kings, He wanted servants. He told us the one who would be greatest among us must be a servant - as He came to serve and not to be served.
Our tendency to seek a king is always greatest when we are physically gathered together - a practice we must nevertheless not forsake - but perhaps this is also why, on that beach on the Sea of Galillee, our Christ came to separate Peter... and asked this leading brother to follow Him, that the other apostles would not make the mistake of following Peter. Peter too was confused by this separation from his brethren, and said "Lord, and what about this man?". Our Lord Jesus Christ answered, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."
Brothers and Sisters, though we be separated physically, don't let the artificial divisions of doctrine, of knowledge, of unforgiven sin separate us. Though time and hurt and failings may separate, do not look to anyone but Christ. If you harbor bitterness against your brothers, or sisters - you go forgive them before you come before Him. He asks this, not I.
Humbly, A brother in Christ.
Amen
The Lord did not permit me to find this discussion forum until yesterday, until after I'd written a letter to a dear Brother in Christ - a letter written at His prompting. I thank Him that I didn't find this forum beforehand, it would have skewed my writing in a way that allowed me to express my natural man - to speak death rather than life. To speak for the tearing down rather than the building up of the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord I did not find this, and Praise the Lord He has shown it to me now.
Brothers and Sisters, I want to speak a word for our building - no, for Christ, if He would give it to me.
The people of Israel made a demand of Samuel: "You are now old, and your sons do not follow in your ways. Appoint now for us a king to judge us like all the nations."
Samuel, the last of the Judges, was distraught and offended, how could the people make such a demand of him? But the Lord spoke, and His speaking was this: "Listen to the voice of the people according to all that they have said to you; for it is not you whom they have rejected, but they have rejected Me from being King over them. Like all the deeds that they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt to this very day by forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they do also to you. Now therefore listen to their voice, but you shall solemnly warn them and declare to them the practice of the king who will reign over them."
Brothers and Sisters, I fear that we, like the Israelites before us, crave a human king. It is part of our natural being. If we cannot be king, we want a human king over us. Even in the Church. We speak of taking Christ as our head, but then we bow to the elder brothers and give them the headship.
We are still fleshly, when we are torn by jealousy and strife, walking according to the manner of man - shouting "I am of elder brother X, and another, I of elder brother Y", are we not men of flesh?
Do we not know, have we not heard, that the Holy Spirit is mingled with our spirit even from the first moment that we are Saved? God craves an intimate relationship with each one of us; intimate! Each one! What a precious word!
Brothers and Sisters, when we look to men for headship, we make of that man an idol. The Lord cannot and will not abide idolatry. Can we blame that man for falling? Or should we rather blame ourselves for putting our faith in him in the first place - he is, after all, only a man, and all men are already fallen. What man in the Bible ever lived up to Christ? None. Not one. Paul failed in Jerusalem, Peter denied Christ and even later was rebuked by Paul. James mingled Christ with religion. Saints, all have come short of the Glory of God - why do we seek to make these ones kings over us and then despise them when they fall?
Saints, if I may speak an honest word (and this from myself, and not in the spirit), this site, at first glance, seemed a place of healing for the saints who lived through the turmoil. In all honesty, after reading further, I see no healing here - and precious little in the local churches where I've met either. This is not said in judgement against you, but in urgent warning.
Brothers and Sisters, do you believe in principle, in the Lord's Recovery? Do you believe that He has been recovering a proper Church as He meant it to be? If you do, then come - let us reason together.
From 1510 to 1520, Martin Luther lectured on the Psalms, on Hebrews, Romans and Galatians. The Lord opened Martin Luthers eyes fully, and showed him that it is truly "by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." What God sparked, in opening the eyes of His servant, was nothing less than a Reformation. From that moment, the hold of the Church of Thyatira was broken on the whole of Christendom; but what was born out of that was not the Church of Philadelphia with her open door, but the Church which had a living name, but was dead - the Church of Sardis.
Many, many flocked to hear Luther speak, many were built-up by his speaking, and gained more insight into the Person of Christ. But when Luther died, we see that the hunger his speaking satisfied in them left many of them with an unnatural craving. Rather than wanting the pure guileless milk of the Word - which had sustained Luther himself- they craved the vessel from which they'd been drinking it. Rather than following Christ and becoming Christians, they followed Luther and became Lutherans.
Brother Nee wrote a book called the Orthodoxy of the Church. Have you read it? Did you ever consider the implications of what he wrote on the church which would trace it's descent from Philadelphia?
Brothers and Sisters, the turmoil may or may not be over. The enemy never ceases, and division - cutting up of the Body of Christ - is his present tactic. He has used it skillfully. Every time a believer says, "This one is wrong, I have more discernment" - a division is achieved. Now do not misunderstand, there are articles of the Faith for which we MUST take a stand. Christ calls us to. However, we must not become so confused as to imagine that we are Saved NOT by Grace through Faith but by Wisdom through Understanding. Praise the Lord He does not save us based on our knowledge, but on our honest faith in Him. For this reason, the kingdom of Heaven is made up of little children, and He has chosen the foolish in place of the wise.
I have seen, the Lord has convicted me, many wrong practices. I've practiced many wrong practices. I've acquiesced when I should have stood, and stood when I should have sat down. I am a fallen man, and prone to such failings. Lord forgive me. But this the Lord has burdened me with, we are called to nurture and care for the saints, not to lead them. There is a vast difference. If another would be king, let him be - the Lord will deal with kings; as He dealt with Saul. We must care for how the Lord will deal with us; we must be the good and faithful servant. If we are hated because of it, we should not be surprised - He was hated before us, and the servant is not greater than the Master.
Saints, there is a tendency that those within a kingdom (small 'k') tend to get "patriotic". Have you noticed it? We root for our home town's team. We cheer for our country at the Olympics, and we do the same for our particular sect or division of the Body. This is unhealthy, in fact, this is sin.
When we call down the saints we see as lesser, we forget that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself Saved these ones. He died for them and rose that they might live. When we suppose we have gained more than them, then we are displaying our pride - a Satanic trait, not a trait of our Lord. Lord Jesus, burden us all with this Lord - Sanctify us and purge this from our being. We want to be wholly for You Lord.
John Nelson Darby wrote, of the final four churches that would see the coming of the Son of Man in great power and glory, that:
"When judgement is to happen to one of the churches (and so is pronounced on the state which that church represents), in the execution of it, the saints, where they are distinguished, are necessarily to be considered apart from the threatened evil-doers, and the time of the punishment of the latter is not in the period pointed out in the address to the church as such. These remain for the execution of the judgement after the encouraged saints are gone, and may be a carcase carrying its former name, but a mere carcase with no life at all."
What he is saying is that there are overcomers from each of the four churches that see the end of the Age, and in fact also from each of the three that are past. Saints, as much knowledge as any of us has, as much understanding of scripture or doctrine or procedure, the Lord has His Chosen from among ALL the Churches. What cause do we have for Pride?
The Lord did not want kings, He wanted servants. He told us the one who would be greatest among us must be a servant - as He came to serve and not to be served.
Our tendency to seek a king is always greatest when we are physically gathered together - a practice we must nevertheless not forsake - but perhaps this is also why, on that beach on the Sea of Galillee, our Christ came to separate Peter... and asked this leading brother to follow Him, that the other apostles would not make the mistake of following Peter. Peter too was confused by this separation from his brethren, and said "Lord, and what about this man?". Our Lord Jesus Christ answered, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."
Brothers and Sisters, though we be separated physically, don't let the artificial divisions of doctrine, of knowledge, of unforgiven sin separate us. Though time and hurt and failings may separate, do not look to anyone but Christ. If you harbor bitterness against your brothers, or sisters - you go forgive them before you come before Him. He asks this, not I.
Humbly, A brother in Christ.
Amen