The Cross: The Church’s Singular Solution

Many of us may have heard about the “Final Solution”. This was Hitler’s plan to exterminate the Jews from all of Europe and, if possible, from the face of the world. The Jews were a problem to Hitler, and he wanted them gone. Well, obviously, that plan never worked. All it did was to strengthen the Jews’ resolve to live, and today the Jews are more alive than ever!

But God has something that I would call the “Singular Solution”. What I refer to as the “Singular Solution” is God’s solution for all the problems that the church is facing. And what, pray, is the problem of the church?

The problem of the church are the works of the flesh. There are people who think that the problem of the church is the devil. Well, maybe so; but the devil comes a far second to the flesh. The example of Jesus makes this clear. When the hour of Jesus’s suffering and death arrived, He told His disciples:

“… for the prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me.” (Jn. 14:30)

Jesus knew that once the devil had the opportunity (and that opportunity was coming up pretty soon) the devil would descend on Him like a ton of bricks. The devil was filled with fury! And, indeed, just a few hours after Jesus spoke these words, the devil did descend on Jesus. We all know what happened. Satan used all his powers to make Jesus suffer and to humiliate. The soldiers arrested and bound Him (Jn. 18:11); they mocked Him and beat Him with everything from reeds to their bare hands (Lk. 22:63; Jn. 18:22); they insulted Him (Lk. 22:65); they spit on Him; even the servants struck Him “with the palms of their hands” (Mk. 14:65).

They stripped Him naked; they smashed a crown of thorns upon His head (Mk. 15:17). They parted His clothes (Lk. 23:34). And finally, they crucified Him. And even as He suffered in agony on the cross, His enemies continued to taunt Him, saying,

“29 Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, 30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.” (Mk. 15:30)

But what was Jesus’s reaction?

Jesus continued loving them. He prayed for them,

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:34)

The Bible tells us in 1 Pet. 2:

“22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously”.

Jesus opened not His mouth when He suffered. And the Bible states that Jesus did all this to leave us an example to follow.

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Pet. 2:21)

This was what perfected Jesus before the Father. Long before He died on the cross, Jesus had crucified His flesh. No matter what “the prince of this world” did against Him, Jesus would not react in the flesh.

No doubt this hour arrives for every believer in Jesus. An hour when “the prince of this world cometh”. Will he have something to latch onto in us? That’s talking of the flesh.

Notice, therefore, that in 1 Peter 2:21 the Bible tells us what our calling is. It is to crucify our flesh. It is to guard our hearts and to keep our mouths shut when we suffer.

It is to bless those who persecute us; to bless and not to curse. It is to pray for them.

When we thus crucify our flesh, the devil can have nothing in us. The devil’s instruments in us are the works of the flesh. If the flesh in us is dead, the devil has nothing in us.

For His children, God has a singular solution for each and every problem plaguing the church: the cross. If we were to take up our cross and follow Christ, we would not have any problems to talk about in the church save for dealing with works of the devil in the world but not within the church!

Building The Church At Lighwa

The great people at Lighwa are making bricks in preparation towards putting up a church building.

Wonderful people, wonderful church.

I spent one day there.

Great land!

 

The bus to Lighwa

Pastor Antony and the sweetest sister-in-Christ I have ever met on the face of the earth, Mama Neema, were at hand to welcome me at the dropping-off point

Beginning our one-hour trek to the pastor’s home

Silhouetted against a beautiful setting sky, I espied a supersonic jet rising up from the south. Irresistible

The next day we set to work…

Fantastic job!

The Church – Or Nothing

O1 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours”. 1 Cor 1:1-2

Notice how carefully the Apostle Paul sets out his words in the above scripture. There is a reason for that, as we shall see.

The title above might appear a bit confusing. But I have written it deliberately so in light of what I need to say here.

Have you ever noticed, in the epistles, that the apostles did not write to a particular person when writing to the churches? In other words, they did not address their letters to a man. On the contrary, they wrote to the church. In their letters, they addressed the church as a unit. In doing so, they were proclaiming a cardinal truth of the Spirit: that WITH GOD, IT IS THE CHURCH – OR NOTHING.

Just in case you missed it, let me reiterate it right here, at the very outset, in the clearest terms possible: NO MAN IS ABOVE THE CHURCH. No minister, no ‘spiritual’ leader, no one in the five-fold ministry, no elder, NO ONE is above the church. The church as a unit is above any man or any group of people.

Actually, the forerunner to this state of affairs is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus did not put Himself above the church. He put Himself in the midst of the church!

“I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” (Heb. 2:12)

The church is a Body, a singular unit, and God has no favorites. Oh, but I have to correct myself there. I needed to say that God does have favorites; but God’s favorites are not what we have been programmed to accept. On the contrary, God gives greater consideration to the weak, the less honorable, and the less beautiful. We read that in 1 Cor. 12:22-23.

“Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.”

The Early Apostles had an understanding of God that we do not have today. No wonder even their lifestyle, their modus operandi, and the miracles, wonders and mighty deeds that happened in the Early Church are incomparable to anything that we see today.

These men of God knew the heart of God for the church. And they knew exactly how God equally gives honor to every part of His Body, which is the church, and that there is favoritism with Him. That is why they addressed letters to the churches, and not to men!

But even then, all along, since the time of Moses, this aspect of God with regard to the church had been lying there in plain sight for everyone who had eyes to see. In the Old Testament, when we read about when the children of Israel went out to gather the manna that God had brought down to them, the account states:

“17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack…” (Ex. 16:17-18).

Long before, in the Old Testament, God had declared His standard: none is of more value to Him than another. In fact, God is particularly detestful of any one of His children who aspires to appear more important than his brethren. God has equal regard for all His children.

Praise God for whoever we are. But the minute we begin shelling out our position, our qualifications and our accomplishments we become nothing with God. In effect, we cut ourselves from the Body of Christ.

In the days we live we hear things that literally make your ears to tingle. I heard one preacher say, on live TV, “I have spent 3 billion shillings building my reputation!”

Yeah, you heard that right. Someone had tried to soil this man’s name on social media, and he was not taking it lying down.

Of course, the man is a big minister, and he has a large following. But, alas! he is a classic example of a man who is living on his own. The man has effectively cut Himself from the Body of Christ. God cannot allow a person with such an attitude into His church.

But the standard for being a part of the Body of Christ is,

“Who maketh thee to differ from another?” (1 Cor. 4:3)

In other words, Who are you?

The Apostle Paul said repeatedly, “I am nothing.”

That is the standard for one becoming a member of the Body of Christ.

Have a lovely Sunday morning all.

[God loves His church!]

Where’s The Light?

… this present evil world Gal. 1:4

Have you ever looked out at night? What do you see? Darkness, of course. I am sure this is no news for anyone. What might be news is that the darkness you see out there at night signifies the spiritual condition of this present world. In the Bible, evil is equated to darkness. And the physical darkness that we see in the world is an metaphor or symbol of the spiritual condition of the world. The earth rotates on its axis and we see both light and darkness, signifying the two kingdoms of God and the devil. But in this present world that we live in, the sun has not risen yet. That is why the Bible talks of

“the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Eph. 6:12)

In the spirit, the present world is under the rulership of the rulers of darkness. The world is under deep darkness. If you want to know just how evil this present world is, just look out into the night. You will see only darkness. In the spirit world, much, or all of that darkness resides in the heart of man.

But there is something else! At night you see the stars. Bless the Lord for the stars, for they are they that brighten the night (the moon does not). Have you ever gazed up at a starry sky? It is incredibly beautiful.

We are like the stars. We bring light to this present world. How? Through our works of righteousness. In the spirit, the church is the only light in this present world. The sun has not risen yet. When our Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time, then the sun will have risen. Then this present world will run from His presence. The light chases away the light.

At present, as I said, we are like the stars in the sky. We are the only light that shines in this darkness.

Unfortunately, the church today is not shining brightly. I know I will have my critics; but I have to say what needs to be said, namely, (and I need to write it in capital letters) THERE IS REALLY NO MORE CHURCH IN THE WORLD TODAY, JUST A GLIMMER.

How can we say there is a church when what is called “church” today is full of anything and everything (too much to enumerate here) other than the beautiful fruit of the Spirit that shines in darkness; the works of righteousness; fruit that can only be had through an identification with the denial of self, the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ; Christ living in us.

How can we say there is a church when the true gospel, the gospel of the cross of Jesus is not being preached in church? On the contrary, we find that the most popular gospel in the church today is that of which the Apostle Paul spoke:

“For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:22)

God’s people run after miracles, signs and wonders, while others seek after intellectual understandings of scripture rather than desiring the inner work of the cross. But what did Paul preach?

“But we preach Christ crucified… Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor. 1:24)

Christ crucified is the real power and wisdom of God.

Judge ye yourselves. Should the church preach any other gospel other than

“Christ crucified”?

Then there is neither power nor wisdom of God. If it preaches anything other than Christ crucified, the church  will never shine like the stars in heaven. It will never bear the fruit of the Spirit – which is the true “light” of the world – without the cross working in her. Look at the Corinthian church. They had all the gifts of the Holy Spirit: so much so that they overlapped each other during ministry. But they had no fruit of the Spirit. They were carnal Christians, babes in Christ.

If we are to grow and become mature in Christ and reveal the glory of Christ in us, we must bend ourselves under the cross and allow it to do all it needs to do in us (breaking us) to the end that all the works of the flesh in us might be crucified and that Christ in all His glory might be seen in us!

[There is really no more church in the world today, just a glimmer]

“I am Crucified With Christ”

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20

The former president of the United States, Barack Obama is famously reported to have stated that the sweetest sound he has ever heard is the Moslem call to prayer, or the “muezzin”. That call has been there since Mohamed; and the Moslems never tire of hearing it.

What about us? What is the sweetest sound that we have ever heard, and that we should never tire of hearing? What are the words that we should daily welcome enthusiastically into our hearts and lives until the end of time?

My vote goes to the words by the Apostle Paul,

“I am crucified with Christ.”

These are the sweetest words that could sincerely come out of the mouth of a Christian believer. After all the singing, after all the praying, after all the preaching, after all our service to God and man; our ultimate destination is to find ourselves crucified with Christ. If we did all of the above without crucifying our flesh, it would amount to nothing.

Indeed, the above words by the Apostle Paul ought to get sweeter and sweeter to the believer’s ear by the day. They ought to be a daily call in our lives, a call that we relish and eagerly look forward to every day of our lives: to absolutely lose self, that the life of Christ may be found in us.

Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ said so Himself. In Luke 9:23 we read:

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

There is much ado in the church today. Unfortunately, a disproportionate amount is much ado about nothing, for the church has a singular calling, which is to crucify the flesh to the end that Christ may live in us.

[The beautiful land of central Tanzania]

God’s Hidden Purpose – Part 2

1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye may understand my knowledge in  the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord… Eph. 3:1-11

Who is the apostle, and who is the prophet?

May I start by saying that a true apostle or prophet is rarer than the rarest jewel. If you can find one such person, you will have found the greatest treasure you could possibly find under the sun.

But the Bible paints a frightening picture of the life that this best of the best of God’s array of vessels lives. First, the Chief Apostle, our Lord Jesus Christ, said of Himself:

“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay down his head.” (Mat. 8:20)

This was in response to a scribe who came running to Him and who asked to be allowed to follow Jesus wherever He would go. Jesus was warning him: “Stay back! Desist! Unless you are willing to lose your life, you cannot follow me.”

They ended up crucifying Jesus Christ.

I once saw a video of some people slaughtering a man for being a Christian. They bound his hands and feet and slaughtered him the way you would slaughter a goat. Hardly something to go running to.

Likewise, the Apostle Paul says of the early apostles:

“For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” (1 Cor. 4:9)

Notice the range of losses that the apostle has to endure. He is a man “appointed to death… a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.”

In other words, he is not a worldly celebrity.

Paul continues,

“10 We are fools for Christ’s sake… we are weak… we are despised. 11 Even to this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; 12 And labour, working with our hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: 13 Being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and we are the offscouring of all things unto this day.” (1 Cor. 10-13)

“Even to this present hour”.

Meaning, “Even as I write.” At the time of writing this letter to the Corinthians, Paul was undergoing these things. What a sobering thought.

“Unto this day.”

There is hardly any rest in the flesh for the apostle. Every day his body is pummeled. God uses everything in his power to bring down this man: hunger, thirst, nakedness, beatings. God goes further and attacks this man’s reputation. He casts it down. He has him defamed, and the apostle does not hire a lawyer. Instead he entreats. When he is beaten, he says, “Sorry.” Losing is the only right he has. He knows he is appointed to death.

In Colossians 1:24, Paul writes:

“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church”.

Notice the all-important words, “in my flesh”. The word “flesh” here goes much deeper than just the flesh and bones. It talks of self. Paul gave up who he was. Paul’s life was given. He counted himself a dead man. His life was given as a sacrifice. It was given so the Church could be edified.

But more than that is the fact that Paul rejoiced in his sufferings for the Church’s sake. For most of us, the slightest inconvenience on account of the gospel can only be borne under duress! But the true servant of God goes to the slaughter rejoicing, for he knows what his death will bear in the Spirit.

The Church cannot be entrusted to just anyone. Jesus said,

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven…” (Mat. 7:21)

In the same way, not everyone who calls themselves an apostle or prophet is truly one, and God will not entrust them His church. An apostle or prophet should measure themselves by how much they are willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. God will entrust the Church to men whom He has shaped to love the church as Christ does. The apostles and prophets of God are men who carry the selfless, sacrificial heart of Jesus.

Christ is the supreme example of the kind of dying that his followers are called to, chief of them being the apostles and prophets. We read of His example in Philippians 2:5-9

“5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Jesus started out as God, but He sank lower and lower in esteem till he became nothing.

This is hardly the kind of life anyone would desire. But this is what is needed to bring forth the best out of God’s utmost servants, the apostles and prophets.

[“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” – Rom. 8:18]

God’s Hidden Purpose – Part 1

8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Christ Jesus: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Eph. 3:8-11

So much to contemplate here, so I will make this post a series.

Notice, first, how Paul perceived himself.

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given…”

This was no false humility. This was Paul! Paul dared not consider himself anything above what he states here. “The least of all the saints…” he said of himself. Such humility simply takes your breathe away.

And yet, unbeknown to us, God through Paul was stating exactly who He gives His grace to. The Apostle James put it out in black and white.

“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (Jam. 4:6)

Let a man not just mouth the words, but let him live that life, and God has material to work with. And, y’know, people think that where the big crowds are, that’s where God is at. Oh, please! No one could possibly pull in bigger crowds than the devil. The Bible tells us that “many” there be that follow the way that leadeth to destruction (Mat. 7:13). If we are talking about a mega-church, the devil has the largest.

On the other hand, “few” find the way to eternal life.

The Church, Christ’s Bride, His Body, is like a diamond. Rare. And the men whom God puts in charge of His Church are even rarer. God cannot give anything but His best for His Church. The men whom God has put on earth to birth and nurture the Church are therefore the best of the best. They are called apostles.

The Bible firmly declares,

“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles…” (1 Cor. 12:28)

The apostles are the best of the best.

That is why the Apostle Paul could make such a claim:

“Unto me… is this grace given”.

Why?

Ha! Simply because he was the best. And Christ gives His Body, the Church, the best.

[“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” – Eph. 5:25]

A Gospel And A Life – Part 1

Our key scripture for this new series of posts is 1 Cor. 3:1:

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

As we read through this blog, we should always bear in mind that the message we are setting forth, which is the true gospel of Jesus Christ, is

“Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2)

I.

One time they were interviewing your favorite prophet from down south… Oh, did I say “your”? Sorry about that because he might not be your favorite prophet. But, just in case you dropped in from Mars, here’s the buzz: everyone today has to have their favorite prophet, one who can prophetically bring up images of their kids simply by tapping on an ipad, etc. The southern tip of Africa is heavily infested with these prophets. The interesting thing is that nearly all the top prophets peddling their wares in the south come from outside that part of Africa: they come from Congo, Malawi, Nigeria, etc. It is a virtual invasion of this country. Why this invasion?

Guess what? South Africa has the world’s greatest deposits of gold. This invasion is all about wealth, and it is not heavenly wealth we are talking of here.

In one of our neighboring countries also, they have the most mightiest prophet of God. He has to carry that pitifully slanted title because the English language has failed to provide him with an adjective that adequately describes his powers. This particular prophet would love the whole world to worship at his feet. Most of his countrymen already are.

Initially, it was thought that all this man wanted was a big-sounding title and nothing more. This was because he began by preaching forcefully against ‘pulpit thieves’ and even refused to take up offerings in his meetings. But it has now surfaced that the most mightiest of all prophets is a scammer of the worst sort who has specifically been targeting rich widows. He has clandestinely and systematically robbed widow after rich widow of their inheritances. After the initial daze wore off, some of his victims caught onto the man’s act and are now trying to reclaim their property through the courts.

The truth is that all these so-called apostles, prophets, etc., are nothing more than the worst form of scammers. Why? THE GOSPEL THAT THEY PREACH AND THEIR LIFESTYLES ATTEST TO THIS. The Apostle Paul’s description of them in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 is telling.

Paul first charge against them is on account of what they preach. He says that they do not preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ. He says they preach

“another Jesus, whom we have not preached”;

and that they carry

“another spirit”, and

“another gospel” (v.4).

In other words, they do NOT preach

“Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23).

They preach everything else apart from

“Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2)

But recall that the Apostle Paul stated what the true apostle and prophet ought to preach.

“But we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Cor. 1:23)

That is the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

II.

Paul then goes on to connect the gospel that these scammers preach with the lives they lead. For one, they

“desire occasion” (v.12).

In other words, they desire to be seen. They seek after worldly glory. These are the folks who love doing their stuff in front of cameras in order to be praised by men. They love titles, and fame. They love being adored by men (and women).

Paul calls them

“false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” (v.13)

Deceitful workers?

If you thought that everyone who works a miracle is doing a bona fide miracle from heaven, think again. In reality, Paul says, these fellows are ministers of Satan (v.14, 15).

These false preachers

“glory after the flesh”. (v.18)

If you Google them, you will learn about their net worth, the watches they wear and the cars that their wives and children drive. One famous preacher in the U.S. once said, “I am one of a few billionaires…”

They are all about going up and up and up in this world.

Finally, Paul calls them

“fools” (v.19).

How do you view someone who walks on air? Must be very wise. Or a billionaire? Can’t even come up close to them. Another ‘prophet’ in Africa calls his henchmen “wise men” (an attempt to compare them to the true Biblical wise men). All these people appear incredibly wise in the sight of men. But in God’s sight they are fools who are headed straight for destruction. Anyone who subscribes to the flesh is a fool.

Just in case you thought people masquerading as ministers of God are a modern phenomenon within the church, scripture here reveals that it is not. This is a problem that has been there since the inception of the church. Paul himself confronted it.

And Paul tells the Corinthians what these scammers will do to anyone gullible enough to entrust themselves into their hands.

“For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.” (2 Cor. 11:20)

Today, we witness too much of what Paul is saying here to write about it. But, strangely, believers will simply not heed scripture! The fact that these kinds of characters have not two or three but hundreds of thousands of followers attests to this. But it is also foretold in scripture. In 2 Timothy 4:1-5 the Apostle Paul gave his young disciple Timothy a mandate:

“1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

Notice verse 3. Who are the “they”? It is as if Paul is saying that a time would come when the entire church would be taken in by these false prophets! Sadly, indeed, it appears so today.

But Paul also foresaw in the Spirit long into the future that a time would come when God’s people would cease to have a hunger for the things of God, but would use ‘God’ as a platform to fulfill their fleshly desires.

When the true gospel of

“Jesus Christ, and him crucified”

has been sidelined, people will become everything but spiritual. For this is the only gospel wherein Christ is: where the flesh is being crucified daily. Christ is to be found nowhere else; incidentally, not even in miracles. Christ is firmly settled in the crucifixion of the flesh.

We will see more about that later.

[Have you seen the light?]

God’s ‘Mechanism’ Of Love In Church

15 Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Mat. 18:15-17

There are many stories of heroic rescue missions where the entire mission involved rescuing just one person. My pick for this post is the rescue of U.S. Air Force Captain Scott O’Grady. During the Bosnian war in 1995, against tremendous odds and against a formidable foe, the United States Army sent a team of servicemen to rescue Captain Scott O’Grady who had been shot down behind enemy lines. Although hunted down day and night by the enemy, O’Grady had managed to elude his pursuers for six days. Through unrelenting searching via radio, and operating just beyond the enemy’s reach, finally, the U.S. Army located their downed colleague.

But the enemy had also located O’Grady’s position, and they were waiting for the rescue team when it came.

But the team that went to rescue O’Grady was no ordinary team. The United States Army did not send a couple of guys over with the weak instructions to “Go see what you can do. See whether it is even possible to bring him out. If not, crawl safely back, we will just read his obituary.”

No, the Army did not do that. The Army intended to bring O’Grady back, alive. So what did they do? They sent in two navy helicopters carrying 43 Marines, together with two gunships, and four Harrier fighter jets. Forty heavily armed aircraft backed up the rescue team. All these were sent to rescue just one man. Yes, the United States commanders risked the lives of all these men, and their own positions, to rescue just one man. Fortunately, God was on the Army’s side and they overcame the enemy’s resistance and succeeded in bringing Captain Scott home – alive and well. The mission was a national success story.

So how does this story relate to our scripture above?

Far from it being a dead religious guideline on how to handle disputes in church, this scripture is talking of something entirely different, something far much grander. (At any rate, God is not religious in the myopic way we view religion. On the contrary, God is up close to each one of us, and unfathomably personal.)

This scripture is talking of the great worth that Christ attaches to every individual believer. We probably will never know while here on earth how much value, how much love God attaches to each one of His children.

Notice the progression of events here. If your brother trespasses against you, the first thing you are to do is to try and patch things up, just the two of you. If he hearkens to you, glory to God! you have gotten back your brother. Nothing more needs to be said and nobody else needs to know about what transpired.

If the brother does not hearken to you, still do not rush to the newspapers. Instead, the Bible says call one or two brethren and ask them to intervene. They must be spiritually sound, of course, otherwise things could turn out a whole lot differently. If the brother agrees to reconcile, it is a beautiful ending and you can both look forward to serving God better in the future.

If the man still does not relent, still, no problem. The Bible says to bring the matter up in church. The Bible does not tell us to bring the matter to the intelligent-looking or the moneyed, or our friends in church; no, it says simply the church. That is very important. The Bible, of course, assumes that the church is a spiritually mature and sound place where the Holy Spirit has full reign. Such a church has the power and authority to arbitrate between you and your brother. (The Bible categorically refuses us permission to take our cases to a worldly court of law. The church has the sole responsibility to arbitrate between Christian believers.)

If the brother refuses to listen to the church, then he has cut himself from the fellowship of the church, and from God. He in effect becomes a heathen, together with anyone who befriends him. There are always people in church who will try to show these kinds of people how much they have been wronged, etc. But God respects the church as much as He does His Son Jesus, and if someone will not respect the church, God has no choice but to leave or dump him.

But look! Notice how protective God is towards the erring brother. In every step of the way, great restraint is used. It is clear, right from the start, that God has no intention whatsoever of exposing one of his children’s faults. On the contrary, through the spiritual mechanism that He has set forth, God embraces the wronging brother! Because of the great love that God has for us, He has set up in church this mechanism to ensure that each of His children’s privacy is protected, so to speak. But God goes beyond there. Every step of this mechanism is geared towards bringing healing to the erring brother. How? By allowing him to reach the point where he can repent of his wrongdoing. Repentance is the sole bridge between God and man.

For a brother to get to the stage where he does not hearken to all these elements of the church, therefore, it means he is a son of Belial. Long before he gets there, God has given him chance after chance to repent and repair his ways.

What about us? What happens when we are not walking in the Spirit? We have no brakes. Even worldly nations have levels of everything, including terror levels. But what about us? When in the flesh, we will find ourselves jumping to the highest level of dealing with the erring brother. With no restraint whatsoever, we will want to first tell other people about what has happened. Sometimes we want to tell the whole world! Right away the brother who has wronged us becomes a mortal enemy! There are even brethren who write in newspapers about how they have been wronged. And some will even ‘prophesy’ in church. People will use any means to get back at the person who has wronged them.

But that ought not to be so in church. God is love. Through Jesus Christ we, too, have been moulded into the image of God, and His love and compassion ought to fill up our lives. We ought to love our brothers as God loves us. Trumpeting our brothers’ faults abroad is certainly not love, and such an approach scatters instead of gathering together. But if there is a chance that reconciliation can be reached just between the two of us, nothing more needs to be done. Or said.

But when we have crucified our flesh, we will do things just as God does them.

[The church is a place of love and acceptance]

Christ And The Church

1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Rev. 4:2-4

These scriptures show the importance that God attaches to two groups of people. Twelve of the twenty four elders mentioned here represent the nation of Israel. These are the twelve fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Notice,

“I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”

This means that the nation of Israel plays a major role in the Kingdom of God right to the end of time. There is much spoken in the Bible concerning the nation of Israel. Israel is and will remain central to the heart of God right to the end of time. For this reason, Israel deserves only awe and respect from the rest of the world. It does not do anyone any good to oppose Israel. For this reason also, Israel will always come out victorious against anyone who declares themselves their enemy.

The other twelve elders described above are the twelve apostles that we read of in the Bible. They had to remain twelve; that is why when Judas Iscariot died, the disciples of Jesus went into the trouble of casting lots to appoint another man to replace him (Acts 1:12-26). God’s proportions are incredibly strict. The apostles had to be twelve to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. And this shows, amongst other things, how much God respected our spiritual fathers, the men whom He not only chose, but who also walked according to His ways.

The nation of Israel, and the church. Notice also that these 24 elders

“had on their heads crowns of gold.”

These two groups of people represent everything that God has to do with. Anyone who is not in either of these groups is outside of the realm of God’s dealings.

For many in the church, showing respect and awe for the nation of Israel is easy enough. But it is with the church itself that many have problems. Many within the church do not realize the importance that God attaches to the church. They therefore have a worldly approach to the church. They have almost the same approach to the church that the world has.

But we need to realize that the church is the apple of God’s eye. We therefore need a very careful approach to the church. The church is God’s chosen people in the Spirit. Every member of the church is therefore extremely important to God. The church is represented in the face of God by twelve apostles.

The term “apostle” is first mentioned in the New Testament. So is “church”. These are entirely new names for a completely new dispensation. It is the Church, the Bride of Christ. That is why Jesus told Peter, “If you love me, feed my sheep”. At one stage He told him,

“Feed my lambs.” (Jn. 21:15)

In many cultures, people show affection for their loved ones by calling them by their initials or other affectionate abbreviations. And they use other tender names like “Babe”, etc.

It was so with Jesus. By calling His sheep “lambs” He was showing His extreme love and affection for His church.

The attitude that Jesus has for His church is the same attitude that we need to have towards one another in the church, the real life brothers and sisters that we rub shoulders with. In Colossians 3:12-14 it says:

“12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

It is all about loving Christ’s church.