I also read books, which give very precious and sweet promises of God without which we would not go very far, in fact, we would not go anywhere! It means, there must be a BALANCE OF TRUTH preached, taught and explained. One such book is called “The Believer’s Promise Book[15]” by Larry Richards, which contains over 700 promises offering inspiration, comfort and challenge for every believer. And I believe that there could be more of them in the Scripture being applicable to every possible situation of any believer. So, there is a lot of sweet truth as a fruit of the bitter truth.
A VERY BITTER CROSS BRINGS A VERY SWEET SALVATION. WINNING A BITTER WAR BRINGS SWEET PEACE.
Now, many of us may have delusions, wonderings and discouragements why there has been so little accomplished when so much time, effort and financial sacrifice has been done. For the answer, I will turn to the Word for the necessary light and hope and encouragement. I myself have received this hope and encouragement only after some time of wondering and questioning the Lord about this matter.
It is written: “Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.” (Eccl. 11:1)
The “bread” is YOU YOURSELF and the “waters” are people. The Lord said: “I am the bread…” (Jn. 6:35) When I say “yourself”, I mean your new nature, virtues, values, faith, fruits of your new life, your substance both spiritual and financial. The very next verses (Eccl. 11:4-6) speak about sowing and reaping. Here sowing means “sowing yourself”, because you as a person are a “seed”, which has the power to reproduce itself also in the spiritual world.
When Paul says: “And He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers;” (Eph. 4:11), he means that the Lord gave to His Church some gifts of persons as living seeds able to reproduce their life in others by His Spirit. Unfortunately, the situation today is lamentable since these “seeds” are mostly spiritually dead and not living! Consider the truth in the following statement by brother Horst Schaffranek[18], (page 8):
“Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers TODAY are our own construction, made according to our own ideas. Consequently, if some one does not fit into OUR scheme, we reject him or try to bend and manipulate him, until he does fit into OUR idea of what he should be.”
We are advised to sow “our seed” both in the morning and at evening because we do not know, which seed will prosper. But we are assured that we shall find “it”, meaning, the harvest, after many days, meaning, many years. I have living experiences also in this area, which prove also this Word of God to me as true. Hence, this is another living testimony from my life about the Word.
The above truth speaks to us clearly that we should worry neither about the conditions, nor the results of our sowing. We shall see it after many years. What is truly happening in the meantime, between morning and evening, only God knows. Man cannot find out this work of God that is done under the sun though he may seek it out, he shall not find it. (Eccl. 8:17)
Furthermore, the Word of God clearly declares that “One sows and another reaps”. The Lord sent others to reap where they bestowed no labour (in sowing). Therefore, I am not supposed to look whether my sowing is bringing harvest now, or not. It might not bring harvest during my lifetime because the Lord may send others to reap. But we that are now sowing shall rejoice together with those that shall reap and also with those that shall be reaped. (Jn. 4:36-38// Rev. 14:14-20)
We should also understand in our heart and mind the Scripture where Paul says: “I have planted (sowed), Apollos watered (with the Word – Eph. 5:26); but God gave the increase (caused to grow up and ripen).”
Paul continues saying: “Now he that plants and he that waters are one; and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For WE ARE LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD;” (1Cor. 3:6-9)
I thus desire to impress on the hearts and minds of the true labourers who plant or water that we should never look and judge our sowing or watering by their immediate results. God Alone knows what is growing up, where and when. And He declares that it is HE Alone that is responsible for the harvest and not us! It is HE Alone that knows how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child and not the mother or father who planted the seed! (Eccl. 11:5)
Let the above be a true spiritual encouragement, let it greatly strengthen the faith, hope and love of all believers because ALL BELIEVERS ARE CALLED TO PLANT AND WATER! The Lord has not set aside millions of people to sit in pews and observe what few others are doing! No, this is not His Church, it is a religious organization where few are doing something and the many are allowing the few to do it. Do you have eyes to see and a heart to understand?
p) The Foundation was laid – which is Jesus Christ, and we ALL build on it! We can build gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble… or nothing! (1Cor. 3:11,12) Gold typifies holiness, righteousness, truth. Silver typifies self-sacrifice, suffering, cross. Precious stones typify the fruit of the Spirit and also the fruit of the trees that are good for food. (Gen. 2:9) Wood typifies sinful humanity and its activities. Hay is the fruit of the humanistic religion (preaching, teaching and activities based on human flesh, its virtues and understanding) and is a food good for cattle, but not for the children of God. Stubble is used to make bed for cattle and it ends up on a dunghill.
Apostle Paul then confirms: “EVERY MAN’S WORK (not just that of pastors, elders, preachers, etc.) shall be made manifest …it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try EVERY MAN’S WORK of what sort it is.” (1Cor. 3:13-15)
Our reward or loss will depend on what and how we worked. The True Church is the Body of Jesus Christ, hence, it is the Foundation, which was laid. We may thus ask ourselves: What kind of work have we bestowed on the Church of Jesus Christ so far? Does it have any value in the eyes of Our Lord? When it is put through the fire (reviewed by the fiery eyes of Christ – Rev. 1:14), will it remain or will it be burnt? Whatever we do to the Church, and especially to the least of His brethren, we do to Christ. (Mt. 25:40)
Furthermore, we may as well ask ourselves whether we are building anything at all on that Foundation? May we pause just for a moment and see ourselves in our religious activities? How many believers just come to a meeting, sit on a chair or in a pew and WAIT for what will happen? Who will say what, who will pray what, who will do what? It may never occur to them that THEY BRING NOTHING to the meeting! They bring nothing because they have nothing from the Lord. They have nothing from the Lord because they do not go to Him. They do not go to Him because they may have no hand to practically guide them to Him. Is that true? Is this your church?
Why do I ask you this question? Well, it is not really me, it is the Lord Himself asking you:
“How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, EVERY ONE OF YOU HAS a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” (1Cor. 14:26)
Well? How short of this reality are we falling before God? Do we have any hope that within the next 20-25 years something will change? I doubt it. Of all things, I want you to see the utter impotency of the present “church systems” to bring believers into any kind of spiritual maturity. We all may have had thousands of religious instructors behind pulpits, but few, if any, fathers. (1Cor. 4:15) We had no opportunities or guidance to grow up, stop “drinking milk” and become teachers to others. (Heb. 5:12) We only kept sitting forever in pews WAITING what will happen at the next meeting, next service, next fellowship.
Congregations may have a desire to come and listen to preachers for ever and ever… and do nothing with what they received. Preachers may preach and preach, until they may run out of the topics for messages and then they might change their congregations. But where are those that would form Christ in us? (Gal. 4:19)
q) Should we not present ourselves before the Lord of all Grace and Power and repent to Him for this colossal failure? Should we not ask Him for guidance how to remedy this situation? Or how to be enabled by Him to AT LEAST PROVIDE FOR THOSE FEW in the congregations, who truly desire to grow up into Christ, mature into sons and daughters of God and be prepared for His Coming? Those hearts, which are open and willing to know Christ, receive His training and chastisement and any spiritual work, which may yet be necessary for their maturing, should begin to gather before Him in small groups (say, 4-12 believers) and beseech His Spirit to conclude what He had started in them. (Phil. 1:6)
[The Lord started such a group of seven believers in my house in May 1974 and I did not even realize that through it the Lord would effect my own growth and maturing… through my ministry of teaching. From the beginning, I, their teacher, was learning more from them than they learned from me! Well, this is also reality of the work of the Spirit of God in man. But the fruit of the Spirit in us all has been beyond all our expectations! Thank you, Lord.]
And if we would not do even this, the Lord will have to take such souls OUT of our impotent religious systems and take them into His own hand and give them what no “pulpit” could give them! And if the Lord would not take them out, their LEADERS themselves will in time throw or “ease” them out, because they will become undesirable and disruptive elements in their dead religious systems. (3Jn. 10) Nevertheless, the Lord will always make sure that their hearts receive what they need and desire. Then they will also start building on the Foundation something valuable to the Lord and His Church. Because EVERY BELIEVER is to build and not just their leaders. (1Cor. 3:13)
So, let us briefly say the following. If we work out with God holiness, righteousness and truth into ourselves and then into other souls in the Church, then we are building gold on the Foundation. If we suffer for Christ’s sake, deny ourselves, carry our cross and follow the Lord and then help and lead others to do likewise, then we build silver on the Foundation. If we spread among believers our ideas, thoughts, religious psychology, humanistic doctrines, or if we preach, teach or do acts, which are against the Scripture, are “half-truths” or only sweet truths, then we are building wood, hay or stubble on the Foundation.
If our works shall pass through the fire, we shall be rewarded; if they shall be burned, we will suffer loss, but we will be saved; yet so as by fire. (1Cor. 3:14,15)
r) Whenever you join a congregation, house group or any other fellowship, you will be “fine” for as long as you meet their expectations. The moment you will start to deviate, you will be under suspicion of what might be your true intentions. Should the Lord Himself give you a revelation, light, truth, anything new, which had not been preached, taught or otherwise known in that place at all, you are in for a rough ride! And should you continue and not repent from your “heresy”, you will not be welcome in that place any more. Have you had such experiences?
Well, that was exactly my own experience in my first congregation in one local Pentecostal church and one of the reasons for writing my book “Open Letter…[8]”. In its first chapter, I am describing some of my experiences and rough rides.
The second congregation where I experienced exactly the same thing was in one local Apostolic Church. Three times the Lord opened my mouth and I either prophesied or otherwise declared to them God’s Word. The third Word I brought to them started with my own public repentance to one of their elders seated on the stage of their church. Then I concluded the Word from the Lord saying that “unless ye do likewise, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” While they accepted my repentance with joy, they somehow could not swallow the other “bitter” part of my ministry to them and to their pastor. So, I was out of there.
These experiences only prove the same old story and the same old fact: Many brethren, and especially their leaders, do not see or spiritually discern whether something actually comes from the Lord, or not. They cannot believe that the Lord would give His Word for them to a “stranger” and not to them! They automatically judge how it conflicts with their own position, own understanding, own feelings and own form of religion. They only watch and judge whether you are trying to “stir their nest” where they are so comfortable and altogether lazy to learn to fly! (walk by faith) But the Lord is in the business of stirring our comfortable nests and throwing us out of them when our time comes to start learning to fly. (Deut. 32:11) And let me say also this: Once you know how to fly, you do not have to learn it again. True?
They will not allow even God Almighty to “meddle in their affairs”! They cannot imagine that there might be anything wrong with them or in them and that the Lord might actually desire to correct something in them or in their “perfect church”! This truth applies to large congregations with a numerous leadership as well as to any small house fellowship with one leader or no leader. God is simply not allowed to interfere! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? And what stands in the way of God? Their flesh and pride! Whether you believe it or not, it is a true reality in the vast majority of congregations, fellowships or any other gatherings. Will it ever change? Well, NOT VOLUNTARILY. It always takes pressures from the Lord in order to change anything anywhere.
Let us remember that where two or three are gathered together in the Lord’s Name, they are the church because the Lord is in the midst of them. (Mt. 18:20) And they have problems whether they have a leader or not because they are not of one mind and not of one faith. This ideal of unity of mind or faith comes from our crosses after many years of suffering and training and learning. So the Lord has plenty to correct and renew and build for many years. Is this not a humbling truth?
s) When I started to walk on the narrow way and thus grow up in the Grace of the Lord receiving from Him light, truth, revelations, understanding and knowledge of Himself, of His Ways and Judgments, my spiritual pride was also growing up! For some time I was not aware of it! So it was not difficult for me to judge any brother who would not walk the same way and have the same light, understanding and knowledge. Why? Because…
“KNOWLEDGE PUFFS UP, BUT LOVE EDIFIES”. (1Cor. 8:1)
Wow! But this Word is not logical, right? Knowledge does edify, doesn’t it? Why are we edifying ourselves and others so much? Just to be puffed up? Of course, not. Yet, the Word of God says such an unusual thing and we have to admit that God knows better than we do. Moreover, I have living experience with this Word and I proved it in my own life, hence, I am not trying to persuade myself. I am bringing this reality to the brethren, friends and ministers to ponder and draw from it what God desires to show them at this time. This also shows the state of the Church and of the ministers who minister both to the Church and to pagans.
* * *
I am constrained by the SPIRIT OF THE MEEK AND LOWLY LORD to declare the following to all those that minister His Word to the Church or to pagans.
EVERY MINISTER called by the Lord and given to the Church passes through this stage of spiritual pride! Nobody is an exception, not even the naturally humble. Unless such ministers are sufficiently crucified in their natural pride, they will not pass through this dangerous zone of spiritual pride. Such ministers will then remain in their natural AND spiritual pride and will never become meek and lowly in heart! (Mt. 11:29// 2Tim. 2:24-26) The Lord could use them as “tools” but not as His servants.
It is not that difficult to see and recognize proud ministers, who are enlarging their spiritual pride by enlarging their biblical knowledge (Jn. 5:39,40) and are becoming less and less accessible to the Lord for corrections and guidance. Furthermore, they remain dry in their innermost man and no rivers of living waters are flowing out of them. Why? Because they DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE LORD AS THE SCRIPTURE HAS SAID, but according to their own one-sided picture and their favourite verses that satisfy their own thinking, feelings and understanding. (Jn. 7:38)
The Lord is advising His every servant who ministers His Word to the Church to look into his own heart and come before the Lord on his knees. He may thus assure himself that he is behind this great danger and is sufficiently or fully acceptable to serve the Lord and His Church.
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We may not know exactly how this mechanism of “being puffed up” works, but we could observe it and turn away from it once we know that it exists. In practical life, we may be demanding from a believer to stop doing some foolish things or foolish decisions. And if he repeats them in the next week or month, we are amazed… forgetting that we may have needed 2-3 years to stop doing the same foolish things or decisions. We may be honestly unaware of this fact until the Lord reminds us of it. Simply said, we are prone to use our knowledge toward others through our anxiety and in our timing and not in the Lord’s way and His timing. We do not acknowledge or remember that Isaiah 28:10 applies also to all the others and not just to us.
I believe that the Lord’s Light on His Own Word in 1Cor. 8:1b may be expressed as follows:
THE KNOWLEDGE, WHICH PUFFS UP IS THE KNOWLEDGE BRINGING THE AWARNESS OF OUR PERFORMANCES OR OF OUR “SUPERIORITY”, WHICH ENLARGES THE EXISTING PRIDE OF OUR OLD SOUL. WE MAY NOT BE SUPERIOR OR PERFORM WELL AT ALL, BUT WE THINK AND BELIEVE IN OURSELVES THAT WE ARE SUPERIOR AND PERFORM AND MINISTER WELL.
The next Word of God explains it further: “And if any man THINK (in head or heart) that he knows any thing, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.” (1Cor. 8:2)
So, what puffs us up is WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW AND HOW WE THINK WE PERFORM! OUR MIND IS GLORIFYING OUR OWN SELF, WHICH BETRAYS THE DARKNESS WITHIN IT. Even naturally “humble” believers may become quite puffed up when they begin to see, be aware, believe or just think that they know more than others, that they perform much better than others or what others cannot perform at all.
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To be continued next week in part 9
brother Hanola
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