The CHURCH – part 2 – Mailing #26

The CHURCH – Part 2 (Continuation from Part 1) (Open Letter pages 49-53).

And then, there are individuals who are taken out and placed elsewhere by Your own hand. Why is that? They simply grow and grow and grow until they outgrow the environment. The congregation, community, fellowship cannot supply them with the new spiritual nutritional and oxygen demands. Should they stay too long, they would suffocate and their growth would be stifled. I did not know it before, but today I know it, since I am one of them.

First, I was taken out of the Catholic system into a Pentecostal system to be delivered from “bad” flesh. Then, I was taken out of the Pentecostal system into a home system to be delivered from “good” flesh, religious flesh and from the filthiness of spirit.

Now, this alone would not be any proof that I belong to this third group of individuals. The real proof is that my coarse pride, jealousy, fears, doubts, color dreams and ambitions were destroyed by You while serving in the Pentecostal congregation! Being destroyed, they could not have become unsatisfied and thus the reason for my departure. Furthermore, I have not left with bitterness against anybody. I did not stop loving the people that I loved for years before my departure. Today, I love my former pastors and deacons and elders and the others MORE than before! O yes, should I be accepted by them in my new man and could serve them in the newness of Your Spirit and the fulness of Your calling upon me, I would be TRULY delighted to go back. Unfortunately, my experiences are to the contrary, as You know, Lord.

To conclude this point, I must describe yet one more aspect of the individual spiritual growth or stagnation and its ramifications.

There never was a congregation, community, home group or any other fellowship where there were no problems, no dissatisfactions, no frustrations, no dilemmas, no evil. I sincerely doubt that there is one today, and I sincerely doubt there will be one in the future before Your Kingdom comes. If, therefore, these are the only things that bother us, we should be able to face them and stay put being strengthened by You! We are doing it daily in our marriages, workplaces, outings, schools, everywhere, are we not? Furthermore, these things are found in carnal congregations as well as in spiritual ones and we will never weed them out completely nor get rid of them. At least, not the way we always tried. What are we after, then?

We are supposed to be after Your Kingdom! We are commanded that our first priority is to SEEK the Kingdom of heaven (Mt.6:33). This is in due respect for the greatest commandment which is about Love. Now, that Kingdom of heaven is within us (Lk.17:21), that is to say, within our new man, who IS the future king and priest in that Kingdom (Rev.1:6). But if this new man does not grow and then mature, he will remain a babe, a child. And though he be the lord of all or a king, he shall remain a servant under tutors and governors for he is yet in bondage of the old man (Gal.4:1-3). If he, therefore, does not learn how to set up that Kingdom within us and how to rule in it NOW, how can he enter the outward Kingdom and rule in it with You for a thousand years?? (Rev.20:4). Can anyone tell me?

How are we to rule others, even nations with a rod of iron (Rev.2:26,27), if we cannot rule even our own selves?? How are we to judge righteously the world and the angels (1Cor.6:2,3), if we cannot judge or if we refuse to judge righteously even our own selves??

Therefore, I say, Lord of Glory, that he who does not have the Kingdom of heaven set up in himself BEFORE he dies or before You come, shall NOT enter in!! For he has nothing to bring in. The only exceptions will be the little ones (Mt.18:3), and from the adults, those who would die or be found at Your coming in the process of seeking it and setting it up. That is to say, those who would be found on the narrow road no matter how far they have progressed. Everyone else who willfully or in ignorance (1Cor.14:38) stagnates or refuses to grow, to mature, to step on the narrow road, to be changed into Your image, to seek FIRST the Kingdom of heaven in his own heart – shall NOT enter in!!

Is it not written that WE ALL, born-again Christians, should watch and pray? (Mk.13:37). What are we to watch? What are we to pray? We are to watch Your moves, what You are saying, what You are counselling, what You are commanding … what You are doing at this hour, what You are not doing and not speaking and not commanding … we are to watch how we walk with respect to the above and whether we walk at all. “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the ENEMIES of the CROSS of Christ” (Phil.3:18). We are to so walk as to be counted worthy! Worthy of the Kingdom (1Thess.2:12; 2Thess.1:5,11). And then, watching You, we are to pray for ourselves and others that You may enable us to so walk as required by You!! So that we would not only sing about the old rugged cross, but carry it! All of us, for there shall be no respect of persons whether they be prophets, excorcists, miracle workers, or “pew-warmers” (Mt.7:21-27; Lk.12:37). These are the ramifications of the individual growth or stagnation.

I know, Lord, it sounds so strict, so bitter, so un-Christian-like. But the truth, like a coin, has for us two sides: bitter and sweet. If we accept the bitter side, we shall obtain the sweet side, too. If we refuse the bitter side, we are refusing the sweet side, too. Is it not written rather plainly, Lord, that the chastening is not joyous but grievous (bitter), BUT AFTERWARD (on the other side) it does yield the peaceable (sweet) fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby? (Heb.12:11).

I, therefore, appeal to all brothers and sisters who were already granted from You some eyesight, some hearing, some discernment and understanding of the things of the Spirit, not to stifle these precious abilities, not to bury these precious talents in the depth of their hearts, but rather to trade them, share them with the like brothers and sisters and thus make them new talents … keep growing, keep seeking! (Mt.25:16).

Let them not be deceived into believing that there is no way, that they can do nothing or that nothing will be changed. These deceptions do not come from Your Spirit because He says: “For everyone who asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Lk.11:9). Let none of these brothers and sisters remain as a tombstone with precious gifts and abilities from Your Spirit buried underneath! Let none of them hush the voice of their spirit, their conscience. Let them, rather, disregard their emotions and their thoughts and listen to their spirit. Let them overcome their fears, doubts, apprehensions, anxieties, confusions, frustrations, and everything else that, like a mountain, stands in their way to the Kingdom!

I sincerely pray and ask You, Lord of Mercy and Grace, that You would grant us wisdom and boldness to speak, to declare, to testify, to proclaim … and enable us to pay the price for that. I ask it in faith and in Your Mighty and Holy Name! Amen.

(To be continued next week in part 3)

brother Hanola 

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