"What is that to you?"

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

Lord Jesus, what a place am I in.

I love the saints, and I say this in truth. I did not meet the Lord amongst the saints with whom I now gather, but I have never felt a deeper bond among any other group with whom I've fellowshipped. This is not because of the doctrine, but rather often in spite of it. It is not because of a perception of greater truth, for I believe that to be deceptive pride. No, rather it is because of the genuineness of the individual pursuers of the truth; it is because, quite simply, I see their love of Christ in them.

Lord Jesus. I have a deep burden. For nearly three years I have met with the saints in the recovery, and I have struggled. Discernment has shown me error - and a war has waged inside of me as, in fear and trembling, I fought to work out what was real; my discernment and understanding or the published works of LSM. There is a lot of richness in the ministry work, but there is a lot of leaven also.... Oh Lord Jesus.

For years I have heard about "The Turmoil", but no one I have met (on either side of the issues that were then and perhaps are still now) have spoken to me one word of detail. When I went to Anaheim, there was some speaking; but it was a bitter and slanderous speaking that was not given for edification or healing but rather in loathing and warning. A decree was issued, and it was to be obeyed. Quarantine - Excommunication by another name, but no less than this.

John Ingalls, I wish I could speak with you, brother. As you did for so many months, even seeing, I stand where I am because I believe the Lord brought me here, and I don't know where else to go; He has made a place for me, and will not let me sit quietly in peace when deceptive words are spoken. I want to stand for the Lord, and I believe I need to speak as I am lead; and perhaps I too will be Excommunicated for it - but only if I have the courage to speak, and Lord - if You would have me speak, then Lord the words must be Yours. I am not a man gifted with prophesy.

Lord, I want to offer a prayer for the dear saints with whom I have been blended. Lord, I love them, and I love You. Lord, give me a clean heart and proper mouth for You. Lord, if I am to speak anything, let it be for their edification. Lord, care for my wife and children. Lord, put a hedge around them. Lord, Lord - I trust You. You are the Way, and where You lead, I will follow.

A brother in Christ, beloved.

Amen

[NeitherFirstnorLast]

Brothers and Sisters,

In a recent Forum topic, in discussion with Mike, I had the thought to delve more deeply into this Christian life of balance - "the narrow way", as Christ called it (Matthew 7:14). I had offered to supply many examples of this, to point out principles by which we are to live and how easily errors are made by all of us, as we are drawn from that narrow way to one side or the other by our own natural tendencies to lean farther from whichever side is more repellant to us. I brought my desire to fellowship about this to the Lord in prayer, and as I was considering which topic to first discuss in this opening post, He brought a passage to me - and this is it:

"strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more unGodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker... 2 Tim 2:14b-17a

...follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentence to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." 2 Tim 2:22b-26

Do you see that, saints? Here in 2nd Timothy, a pair of opposites - and a narrow way between them. This is where I will begin this discussion, because He finds it most critical.

In the first set of verses, we are commanded first to:

1) Strive not about words: to strive is to have a "heated, often violent dissension; a bitter conflict, to struggle, fight, or quarrel. It is a contention or competition between rivals." free dictionary by Farlex. We are warned that this kind of striving, this kind of fighting, only subverts the hearers. To subvert is to "to destroy completely; ruin: To undermine the character, morals, or allegiance of; corrupt. To overthrow completely." Free online dictionary. That is a terrible warning, and something that we need to consider before we go any farther here. We need to be very cautious in how we share what we do, in order to ensure that we don't destroy our fellow believers here.

...but there is also a qualifier to this command:

2) to no profit: So then, by the insertion of this qualifier we understand that we are not to cease struggling to properly discern the truth in Scripture, and discuss it and share it with the brethren, but we are warned not to do so "to no profit". A profit is a gain, it is our goal and His. If we are to share His Word, we are to do it with His goals in mind; and I would like to submit that His goal is to build His church.

We aren't here to assert our views, and insist upon them. We aren't here to become Totalitarian Christians, each individually claiming to have divided the unique truth from Scripture. We are not to believe that what we have been shown, what we have seen, is beyond question and cannot be doubted. No saints: that kind of thinking, this kind of sentiment, it isn't about Faith in God; it's about faith in ourselves. Christ referred to this when He asked, "How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Luke 6:42


But here again in Luke is a narrow way between two opposites - we aren't try to remove the speck from our brothers eye while we have a plank in our own - but by His word we know that we CAN first take that plank out of our own eye, and THEN we can see clearly to remove the speck from our brother's eye. That's critical, do you see? Strive not for no profit, but where there is profit to be gained, then by all means struggle to gain it, and "fight the good fight of the faith" 1 Timothy 6:12

So how are we to "fight the good fight", how are we to gain the profit, how can we know that we can first remove the plank from our own eye?

3) Study to shew thyself approved unto God: Study, that's the key. You know, a lot of us do that; in fact, probably everyone who comes to this Forum will say that they have done exactly that - but what is it we have studied? Let me insert the qualifier here that clearly shows us what we are to study: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim 3:16-17

Study the Word of God. Isn't the Word of God "Living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword?" Hebrews 4:12 I know, I know - you've heard that verse quoted a hundred times - but have you seen the uniqueness of the claim? Could we say that the words of William Shakespeare are living or active? Would we call the words of Charles Darwin or Sigmund Freud living or active? Are there some here who would dare to say that the words of Witness Lee are living and active? Would you, dear reader?

Study the Word of God. And study it's history. I am still reading "Foxe's Book of Martyrs" - it is something tremendous to see how hard the enemy has worked and is still working today to keep Christ's own people from the Word of God. He uses persecutions, burnings, violence, thefts, wars, shame and distractions - yes, distractions - and those distractions are today his greatest tool for keeping you from the Word. Satan has amassed a terrible arsenal against the Word - everything to keep you from seeing past that plank, and being the useful vessel you need to be for Christ to gain His goal and build His church. EVERYTHING that keeps you from the pure milk of the Word is a tool for distraction. If the only scripture you get today is from what I have quoted in this post, or what some other author has excerpted into his own works, know that it is NOT ENOUGH. You and I, all of us, need to spend time ALONE with HIM. Only by so doing may we grow to rightly divide the truth.

In the first set of the verses I quoted, we are told how NOT to strive - but in the second set, we are told how we SHOULD contend for the truth; and it begins in a way every Christian should know: with righteousness, faith, charity, peace - and if that is how every discussion is lead, then you can know you are walking the narrow way. It is not that we are not to contend, it is that we are to contend not with eachother but for the truth - for the goal of growing up into maturity and coming to the full knowledge of Christ our Lord. We must be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. Have we been patient in discussions on this board with eachother? It is a challenge sometimes, admittedly. That's the flesh. Watchman Nee said that it is hard for the flesh to fellowship with believers who do not see things the way we do, but it is good for the spirit. I believe he was right. It's one of the reasons I am still here.

As I start again this blog, looking to point out the narrow way I see, I ask that we all keep the admonitions of 2nd Timothy 2 in mind: That we instruct eachother in meekness. That before we share everything, we weigh whether or not what we are sharing is shared in love.

In Christ,

NeitherFirstnorLast