Many believers claim that they were called by God because God used them. I thus turn to all those that believe to be true servants of God since God is USING them. The revelation, which the Lord graciously granted me concerning this question is the following:
(1) If God uses you – that DOES NOT MEAN automatically that you are servants of God, or disciples, or that God works out in you His delight, or that He is perfecting you.
(2) If you are Bible experts in its doctrines, or you are preaching them, teaching them, printing them, distributing them – that DOES NOT MEAN automatically that you are servants of God, or disciples, or that God works out in you His delight, or that He is perfecting you.
(3) If you are connected with religious activities, attending services in churches or house meetings, fellowships, congregations, Bible study groups, seminars or theological faculties, if you give gifts, offerings or tithes, if you spend time in prayers and even if God answers some of them – that DOES NOT MEAN automatically that you are servants of God or disciples, or that God works out in you His delight, or that He is perfecting you.
(4) If you do visitations in hospitals, in prisons, in homes for the elderly, in orphanages, if you are involved in social work doing a lot of good – that DOES NOT MEAN automatically that you are servants of God, or disciples, or that God works out in you His delight, or that He is perfecting you.
These are surprising answers. Why is it so? There are two segments of answers:
To point (1) – God uses any part of His Creation for His Purposes whether it is a dead part or a living part. He uses the “nature”, animals, people as well as spiritual beings. He uses His angels. He may use the Devil and his angels. The most typical example in using animals is the donkey of Balaam (Num. 22:23-31), which God USED to speak to the foolish prophet of God with a human voice. An obvious question comes up: Was that donkey a servant of God? Certainly not, it was only His istrument.
Another typical example is in 1Sam. 16:14-23 and also in 18:10 where God is sending an evil spirit to trouble King Saul. Was that evil spirit a “servant of God“? Of course, not! He was an instrument of God. Hence, should God send us somewhere, it does not mean that we are His apostles; and if He uses us for something, it does not mean that we are His servants. It is quite possible that we would be just His instruments.
We may conclude from the above that all true servants of God are, at the same time, His instruments, His vessels. But not all His instruments or vessels are automatically His servants or disciples!
To points (2), (3) and (4) – If we are not His true servants, we are yet able to do all those activities noted in the above three points BUT with a basic difference: We are not helping anybody or perfecting anybody in spirit!
Let us now consider the Word of God in 1Cor. 12:28-31 and Eph. 4:11-13. There it is written that God gave some servants (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
But what have many “servants” of God done to the Church? They could not perfect any saints because they themselves were never getting perfected. Instead of their calling, they “perfected deceptions” in the saints and plunged them into ever deeper darkness and crumbled their already weak faith thus separating one saint from another into their various religious organizations, denominations and sects! Quite often they filled the saints with condemnable doctrines so instead of gaining the knowledge of the Son of God, they gained the knowledge of human commandments. Many of these “servants” may have been originally called by God and given to the Church according to Eph. 4:11. but they may have simply failed and instead of bringing the Church “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”, they had brought the Church into a misery! Lucifer was an “anointed Cherub, perfect in all his ways since he was created” (Ez. 28:14,15) – and later on, he FELL and became SATAN. How? Maybe, some church leader would have an answer?
There were also many “servants” of God, which “gave themselves to the Church without God knowing about it”. The majority of these contemporary “servants” are pastors, prophets, bishops and evangelists in skirts. I always thought that witches had on their heads hats with high spikes, mixing a terribly smelling greenish-gray boiling stuff adding to it various weird and repulsive ingredients. But not so. In these days, many witches sit high on stages or in main seats of religious auditoria, sometimes wearing clerical collars and are reading the Scripture or they preach and bless their congregations! They rebel against the same Word of God, which they try to preach (1Cor. 14:34-35); and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (1Sam. 15:23). This is a VERY SERIOUS WORD!
Let us rather turn now to the true servants and consider together the fact that the fruit of a true servant of Christ must always harmonize with Eph. 4:12-16: “perfecting the saints, bringing them to the knowledge of the Son of God”. But, in order for that servant to perfect the saints, build them in truth, bring them to the one faith and One Lord (Eph. 4:5), strive to form Christ in them (Gal. 4:19) so he can then present them perfect in Christ Jesus (Col. 1:28) – the servant HIMSELF must first reach a sufficient perfection and must continue in his own perfecting process. The servants, which never found and thus never walked the ways of the Lord, whose ways are all perfect (2Sam. 22:31a) and whose ways are leading to perfection – such servants could not lead any other people on these ways and thus toward their own perfection!
The Church of Jesus Christ did not have to fail in the evangelistic efforts, in growing in numbers or in reducing the poverty, social injustices, etc. The Church of Jesus Christ failed, and failed totally, in the quality, obedience to the Lord, in their love for the Lord and in their desire after His Perfection! And the result of this colossal failure is a colossal spiritual misery of the Church. What I must add here is the fact that the masses of believers will indeed not be responsible for this failure, this misery, on the contrary, the responsibility will be borne by their leaders, servants, which God gave to His Church or who gave themselves to the Church or were given to the Church by their organization. All these shall be held accountable and will be judged accordingly! (Lk. 12:47,48) The shepherds are the main reason for this failure and spiritual misery of the Church, not the sheep.
May I now ask all the servants of God this question: “Do you truly desire to come to the knowledge of the Son of God? Do you truly desire to be perfected, even perfected as Your Heavenly Father is perfect? Do you truly desire this? Do you truly desire to fulfill even this part of the Word of God?” IF yes, then the Lord must change not only your present doctrines, beliefs and deeds, but He must change yourselves, your life, your own soul and own spirit.
Doctrines, even the correct doctrines, do not perfect anybody! Our faith or our deeds do not perfect anybody. The Judgments of God do not perfect us, just as God’s Law cannot perfect us (Heb. 7:19). Should God use us even right here and now as His instrument, that would never perfect us in any way or any measure. All our above mentioned religious or social activities will never make us perfect! If we pray for help and the Lord answers, or if we, for example, read Psalms in time of difficulties or sorrows and help arrives from them one way or another, or the Lord may answer directly and we are helped – even by such actions we are never transformed in our spirit, hence, not being perfected. The fact that the Lord keeps us in His Grace (or under His Grace) or even uses us as His instruments, grants us His blessings or helps us in innumerable occasions during our earthly life, whether we pray or not, that does not mean that His Spirit is simultaneously transforming us and thus perfecting us in any way!
The ONLY THING that can transform us and thus perfect us is THE LIFE OF CHRIST! As our old life in us is (slowly) being destroyed in that we deny ourselves, take our cross and follow Christ daily (Mt. 16:24; Lk. 9:23). Hence, as we die to ourselves daily (1Cor. 15:31) so His Spirit (progressively) grants to us the Life of Christ! Only this is the transformation! Only this is the perfecting of His servants and His saints! Only this is taking part in God’s Nature and Character, and nothing else. Do you desire your perfection? There are only few that I know about, who desire it. But the beauty of the Life of Christ even in such hearts is normally hidden and no one can see it except those that live by the same Life, that are being filled with all the fulness of God! Can a man be filled with the fulness of God? Well, read Ephesians 3:19 and you will know. The fulness of God includes His Light, Glory, His Holiness, Righteousness, His Truth, Love, Grace, His Virtues, His Perfection. Praise the Lord!
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To be continued next week
brother Hanola
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