Mailing #76 Dealings Within the Church Chapter 2 Part 13 (Word to the Church)
Do we not know that the Lord is choosing His servants after his own heart, desire and purpose? (Acts 13:22) Is it so difficult to admit that Satan is choosing his servants in a similar way? And is it not the best advantage for him to choose a person with the greatest power and authority right in the middle of the Church? Have you never read or heard the unbelievable stories about spies (so-called moles) operating right next to the office of, say, the President, Chancellor, Prime Minister or Minister of National Defence of the enemy? These are real facts in real life.
The most incredible fact that I am about to tell you is that those spies KNEW what they were doing and whom they were serving. But Satan is going further than that! He is able to choose his man WITHOUT THE MAN KNOWING ABOUT IT! WITHOUT THE MAN BEING EVEN CONSCIOUS OF IT! Should I, again, say: HELLO? CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?
So, behind some pulpits, there may stand a true enemy of Jesus Christ and His Cross WITHOUT REALIZING THAT HE IS ONE! (Rom. 16:17,18// Phil. 3:18,19// 1Cor. 11:29; 16:22, etc.) And if he is not conscious of it, how can the congregation be, which depends on him? Can you believe this? But your unbelief will not change the truth. The Lord knows.
Imagine a spiritually dead man who may be brilliant in his intellectual knowledge of the Bible. What he gives to his congregation are two things: brilliant intellectual knowledge of the Bible and spiritual death – because that is all that he has. So those believers in his congregation who are not lazy have a chance to acquire brilliant intellectual knowledge of the Bible… and remain spiritually dead. The leader, the man behind the pulpit, is a SEED, which is able to multiply himself and bring forth others just like him! Every man (plant) has seed within himself (itself) and brings seed after his (its) own kind. (Gen. 1:11,12) This is applicable not only physically, but also spiritually.
The above is a spiritual fact and I have many experiences from my ministry in the United States, Canada, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which prove this fact. That is why I also testified and expressed this fact in the first paragraphs of section A (page 23). I thus hope that the leaders who have the right heart would see and understand the above and cease resisting Christ in me and start resisting and battling their true enemy and the true enemy of their own families and of their own brethren in their congregations.
However, those whose hearts are wicked and evil will never understand this judgment from the Lord. They will keep sowing iniquity and reap vanity. (Pr. 22:8) It is those that seek the Lord with their whole heart, they understand all things. (Pr. 28:5)
D. DEALINGS WITHIN THE CHURCH
First, we should understand that the situations in large congregations compared to smaller fellowships, such as, house gatherings are completely different. The conditions for the work of the Holy Spirit in believers, their chances to undergo His “treatment”, are completely different. That is why in some churches they have a system of, so called, “home cells”.
Two believers (gathered in His Name) are the smallest church. Wherever there are two believers, there are already disagreements, tensions, unrighteous judgments, problems of all kinds. You may ask any husband and wife. You may also consult the Word and see what the Lord means when He says that “… IF TWO OF YOU SHALL AGREE on earth as touching ANYTHING…” (Mt. 18:19) Doesn’t this Word alone speak volumes?
With each additional believer these problems multiply exponentially. This might also be one reason why Our Lord chose only twelve to make out of them future apostles. And even to them He said at one occasion: “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you…?” (Mt. 17:17)
I have yet to meet a pastor who would speak like that to his congregation (even though, afterwards, he might “enjoy some loneliness and quietness in his life”… should he survive such a “sermon”). Now, we should talk more seriously about this very important subject.
What I will expose below may be totally unbelievable facts, which, had I not witnessed them myself and had my brethren never testified about them in the Spirit of the Lord, I myself would have never believed them as possible and as existing in the lives of believers.
First, I must say that the things described below are not detectable or discernible in humanly accessible ways. Their detection and exposition is impossible without the Holy Spirit and without brethren with open hearts willing to search the truth in the very depths of their hearts.
Second, things of this nature may be happening in our everyday life and not necessarily in a church environment. However, since they are deeply engraved into our souls, they are automatically transferred into our church life and spiritual work. Most of the time, the situation leads into trying to resolve some sort of confusion, misunderstanding or other problem. Also, it often involves a repentance of a brother or sister during which, or after which, such things may be discovered.
Third, the things described below are usually common to the believers who are found in early stages of walking on the narrow way, during the first transition from the soulish to the spiritual. While the soulish is always “dependable” or “tangible”, the spiritual, like walking by faith, seems like “flying in fog without instruments”… ask any bush-pilot. You seem to lose all bearings in your life. You must, as it were, “switch off your brain”, stop thinking, neglect your emotions, become still in your soul… and allow the Lord to show you WHO HE IS and what He wants to give you or what He desires from you! (Ps. 46:10)
Is this natural? No! It is exactly the opposite to all our natural ways and instincts. And it does take time for the Spirit to develop our spiritual senses and teach us to use them. This is the prime stage where the things given below may surface for many believers. They are usually engaged in a serious working out of their Salvation (Phil. 2:12), hence, the powers of darkness are also working in and around them full time.
Here are some important points observed also in our own Body of Christ in Montreal, which the Lord founded in May 1974. Since that time, we have been meeting from house-to-house every week without fail and the Lord has been working in His mysterious ways also without fail.
1. During a church service or preaching or teaching or important sharing in a fellowship, BELIEVERS MAY HEAR AND BELIEVE THINGS THAT WERE NEVER SAID!
This phenomenon happened in our own fellowship and it takes a real opening of the heart and asking the Lord what is true. One side vehemently claimed that things were said and it was not true or right or it had offended somebody. The other side likewise vehemently claimed that such things were never said by anybody! It took some time of diligent searching and enquiring before the Lord and speaking the truth from the heart by witnesses to finally come to the conclusion that those things were, indeed, never said by anybody!
The Lord then showed that the powers of darkness could deceive people even in this way that they hear and believe what was never said! That brings offences, misunderstanding, bitterness and other effects into believers’ hearts. The goal of it is obvious – division in the Body of Christ – and that is the goal of those powers of evil.
2. What also happens quite often is the opposite of the experience described above. BELIEVERS MAY NOT HEAR THINGS THAT WERE CLEARLY SAID! THEY DO NOT REGISTER FACTS! OR THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND BUT ARE AFRAID TO ASK… PERHAPS, TO PRESERVE THEIR (PROUD) IMAGE!
I am not alluding here to the situations where you may be “daydreaming” or napping during sermons or thinking about your lunch. These situations are obvious though even these may be caused by the same powers of darkness. Here, we are primarily talking about people who are listening and paying attention to what is said. They are not distracted in any way. Yet, they may miss the most important words that were said very clearly and apply to them or to their personal problem or situation. It could be a Word of the Lord to resolve their own particular problem.
But when they do not register facts or misunderstand simple and clearly expressed facts then it is quite clear that their mind does not work properly! It is usually affected by the spirits of darkness or foolishness or inattention. I have living experiences with men who manifested a far better and more brisk thinking before they were saved than after. After their salvation, it was a “hell of a job” for them just to follow the most basic and clear instructions! They were never able to do that, in fact, in many cases they did the exact opposite! It showed a complete loss of common sense and the only explanation is an interference from the powers of darkness. These powers may then be discovered and proved by a diligent enquiring of the believers in their own hearts through the Spirit of the Lord. We never failed to discover a curtain of darkness imposed by hell. This is one such clear step in renewing someone’s mind.
3. It may also happen that BELIEVERS MAY SPEAK WORDS THEY DO NOT MEAN AT ALL AS TO THEIR TRUE COMPREHENSION, MEANING AND CONSEQUENCES IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM; OR THEY ARE UNABLE TO SPEAK CLEARLY!
We are talking about intelligent and elloquent people that can express themselves and describe things very well, until they get into spiritual matters. In this area, they are, as it were, led to speak any particular word or words without realizing their true meaning, their true consequences or impact on others. This is done without them being aware of what meaning such words may have conveyed to the other person(s) and the given picture is then unclear, unprecise.
This may equally bring a serious misunderstanding, misconception, bad spirit or confusion into the situation. It cannot be traced and corrected without the Holy Spirit and diligent enquiring. The person, who is unaware of this must go sufficiently deep into his own heart and begin to search and see for himself that this indeed has happened! And it is not always easy.
4. This point is more obvious than the above ones in that in many occasions, BELIEVERS MAY UNDERSTAND OR IMAGINE THINGS THAT WERE SAID IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT LIGHT AND MEANING THAN THEY WERE ACTUALLY MEANT!
In this case, it may be either the “fault” of the speaker or of the listener. This phenomenon also causes a mutual misunderstanding and thus a division between the persons involved. Here, we are not dealing with psychological problems and things pertaining to our physical life, rather we are purely dealing with spiritual things, problems and topics. The cause can usually be traced to the darkness in the believer’s mind concerning the things of God or of this world. This darkness is the natural state of a believer’s mind, especially concerning spiritual realities, before the mind is sufficiently renewed in its spirit. (Eph. 4:23)
5. If our mind is not sufficiently renewed by the Holy Spirit, we have no choice but to speak and express the thoughts or imaginations which are produced purely by our natural mind. Since our natural minds differ in various ways and there is no unity, and since our natural minds can not receive and understand the things of the Spirit of God (1Cor. 2:14), our words may very easily bring confusion, misunderstanding, misconception and chaos. This is then used by the powers of darkness to divide us, keep us separated, bring bad spirit into our midst and keep the Lord’s Spirit away from us.
Since (the spirit of) our mind is the last to be renewed after our heart and will have sufficiently been cleansed, recreated and strengthened in any particular area, then it does indeed take a comparatively long time before any group of believers can trully “be of the same mind” or of “one mind”. (Rom. 12:16// 2Cor. 13:11// Phil. 1:27; 2:2// 1Pet. 3:8)
It is especially this area of our renewal where the rule “here a little, there a little” (Is. 28:10) applies without any shortcuts. It thus takes a long time, patience and perseverance to cross this mire of darkness and deception and to change this “workshop of Satan” into the “workshop of Christ”. (1Cor. 2:16// Phil. 2:5// 1Pet. 4:1)
Whenever the believer says: “It did not occur to me…” when we deal with simple or logical matters, it always shows some darkness in his mind and heart. This should be brought before the Lord as soon as possible in order that He might show the root of the problem and deliver the individual from it.
IN MY FAITH, THE DISUNITY OF THE NATURAL AND DARK MINDS OF BELIEVERS ARE THE “FOUNDATION STONE” OF ALL THE EXISTING AND HORRIBLE DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!
THESE DIVISIONS MAY DISAPPEAR ONLY WHERE SUCH MINDS HAVE BEEN SUFFICIENTLY RENEWED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Eph. 4:23) THIS SHOWS THAT THE CHURCH IN GENERAL IS SOULISH (INTELLECTUAL) AND NOT SPIRITUAL.
NATURAL, DARK MINDS EXIST BECAUSE THEIR HEARTS HAVE NOT BEEN OPENED TO THE LORD AND HIS SPIRIT HAS NOT BEEN ALLOWED TO CREATE IN THEM CLEAN HEARTS.
6. One chief cause of these horrible divisions among believers and thus in the Church is our HYPOCRISY!
Hypocrisy is the natural branch of the pride in our old natural heart. It acts as a “gate guard” which is supposed to prevent any disclosures of our pride and its secrets in our Christian life. It thus sifts any information that can leave the heart and prevents you from speaking out your beliefs or intentions. Hypocrisy is the opposite of holiness!
HYPOCRISY means that we speak, write or otherwise express things as “facts” that are not true within us, within our heart or mind! WE LIE! Why? To preserve the pride in our heart, to preserve “OUR IMAGE” or to gain something unrighteously. What is on the outside of us does not correspond to what is inside of us! We simply cannot afford to speak the truth because it would CONVICT us, it would show who we truly are and we would thus lose our self-made Christian “mask”, our Christian image.
Sometimes we are truly not aware of the things, which may be in our hearts and how deeply they may deceive us. At other times, we prefer to keep deceiving ourselves that we are “not that bad” as others may be telling us. We consciously suppress speaking truth and thereby uncovering the powers of darkness hiding within our soul. Why? Because pain and shame are involved in exposing them. But this is exactly the price of our deliverance and overcoming ourselves.
HOLINESS is our transparency where what is inside of us is clearly shown on the outside and vice versa. This is a part of “CHRIST’S IMAGE” to which we are supposed to be transformed through the Power, Grace, Wisdom and other virtues of Our Lord and our cooperation with Him. (Phil. 2:12; 4:13// Eph. 4:24, etc.)
UNLESS WE FOLLOW (OR ACQUIRE) HOLINESS, WE SHALL NOT SEE THE LORD! (Heb. 12:14)
Can you clearly see that hypocrisy and holiness are exact opposites? Can you see why the Holy Lord hated hypocrites? Why they were already condemned to hell? Well, read again Mt. 23:13-33 carefuly. Imagine the loving and merciful Lord Jesus speaking like that. Imagine His Heart and Soul, His anger, His pain. Do you not see from His Words and from the above spiritual facts how devilish, evil and damning hypocrisy really is? It has the power to bring us to hell and it helps to bring there also those that we may affect and deceive. That includes our family, our loved ones, our spouses and those cute children of ours. In reality, we may be preparing their final destiny, which we would, in fact, never wish for them in our wildest dreams.
To “OPEN OUR HEART” then means to OVERCOME THE POWER OF OUR HYPOCRISY, to disarm and subdue this “gate guard” and enter our heart. It is never without certain painful experiences, certain conscious effort on our part. But this is exactly the proof that WE are working out our own salvation (Phil. 2:12), that WE are putting on our New Man (Eph. 4:24), that WE are cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God! (2Cor. 7:1// 1Jn. 3:3) That it is not the Lord doing it ALL ALONE or somehow automatically, which means, without our conscious participation and cooperation. And by opening our heart, we are gaining our FREEDOM!
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To be continued next week in part 14
brother Hanola
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