Where Does Vision of the Church Come From?

Revelation 21 tells us that the origin of God’s city is ALWAYS Heaven.  "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2)."  That is as true today as it was nearly two thousand years ago.  If we are to experience God’s work it will always be when we turn our attention away from the sinful things of the world and toward heaven.  Scripture teaches us that the voice of God rings out from heaven, “The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice (2 Sam. 22:14).”  God’s salvation came from heaven when Jesus Christ came to earth to dwell among us.  His power came from heaven when the Apostles and disciples heard the sound of a rushing wind and the Spirit filled and empowered the church.  And God’s city, the New Jerusalem, is seen “coming down out of heaven from God.” 

            God has a vision for His church, and this vision can never be accomplished by means that originate with man.  Only those things that come from heaven are sufficient to accomplish the will of God in the world.  That’s why Scripture places such emphasis on knowing the mind of God.  Because, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isa. 55:9).”  Scripture continually teaches us that God’s work must be done His way, and His way always comes from heaven.  It never comes from a board meeting, a policy, bylaws or bureaucracy.  The things of God originate with God in heaven!

            John was even shown the difference between the things of God and the ways of man in this book of Revelation.  Chapter 13 verse 1 tells us, “I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten [crowns] on its horns and blasphemous names on its head.”  John saw visions of beasts that would be worshipped by the people.  These are systems that draw man away from God, just as the beasts in the book of Daniel represent ungodly political systems.  The problem we face is that man has a way of climbing onto the back of these beasts and going wherever they happen to go. 

Even the church does this at times.  John goes on in the 17^th chapter to show us this.  In contrast to the pure bride of Christ we see in Scripture he saw something completely different.  “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters’…And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names…The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls…And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abomination (Rev. 17:1-5).’”  If a pure woman represents the church established by God, this prostitute represents a false religion, one that takes people away from God.  She is adorned with all the things valued by the world, jewelry, gold, scarlet.  But look at the position she has placed herself in:  She is SEATED ON A BEAST!  When we see visions of Jesus in Revelation the “Son of Man” is seated on a horse.  Horses can be domesticated, and they will listen to the one who rides them and take them where they want to go.  YOU CANNOT CONTROL A BEAST!  It will go wherever its nature takes it.  This woman has placed herself in a position where she is not in control of her destination.

How does this all apply to us today?  Revelation 13 said the beast rose up out of the sea.  Revelation 17:5 tells us, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.”  This false religion is built on something that rose up from man.  This woman is seated on something that man created and subsequently lost control of.  We spend our time devising structures and programs that we are sure God will bless, though we have spent little time seeking His direction.  We get together with other Christians to talk about ideas, potential and vision without much thought given to prayer and study of God’s word.  We cast a vision that turns into 5 and 10 year plans that have come entirely from our own knowledge and limited earthly wisdom, and then we CLIMB ON TO THE BACK of that beast and go wherever it leads us.  We create programs that are supposed to lead us toward God and what we have really done is set loose another beast that will carry the people of God further and further away from the city of God. 

The works of man are NEVER a substitute for the work of God.  The method Scripture teaches us of discipleship and building of a relationship with God comes not from studies and statistics, but submission and prayer.  The revival in God’s church that so many long to see comes from a submission to the word and the will of God.  A desire to see Him glorified through the church and a willingness to pay whatever cost may come with that.  God’s ways come from heaven and will lead us to His city, and His vision of what the church should be, while man’s ways lead away from that very thing. 

“After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven….and he called out with a mighty voice, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great (Rev. 18:1, 2)!’” Consider what this angel was proclaiming:  Babylon IS FALLEN!  It does not say that Babylon is falling, or has fallen.  It says it “is fallen.”  From their beginning, the ideas of man that are substituted for those of God are fallen.  They were never pleasing to God, and could never really accomplish His purposes.  When we take our lives into our own hands and cease to look to His Word and Spirit to direct us we have placed ourselves at the mercy of a beast that was fallen from its start. 

When we begin to realize where the church finds God's vision, then that prayer life that we have been neglected suddenly becomes important again.  The opportunities to hear the proclamation of God’s word suddenly become vital and “practical” and the fallen works that have replaced them are no longer so important.  We begin to understand – just as God’s people have understood in days gone by – that the church has never been built on the works and thoughts of man, but on the doctrines revealed by God.

Overtaken By Blessing

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.               -Deuteronomy 28:1, 2

The Bible talks a lot about the blessings of God.  We read about the ways that He wants to care for His people and the things that He wants to do in their lives.  Our imaginations are captured by countless stories of the miraculous as God works for the good of His people in every conceivable situation and through every imaginable tribulation.  But too often those stories seem like just that – stories.  We read about them and think about what it must have been like to live in those days “when God was working.”  We are left to wonder if God really works like that today.  Is it still possible for His people to experience the miraculous?  Can that still happen in our lives?

            Since most of us have never seen the works that were done during the time of Moses or Elijah, or seen the visions of Ezekiel and Zechariah we just assume that God’s blessings are not what they used to be.  There was at time when He showed Himself in power, but that time has come and gone.  We are content to experience the limited blessings we have seen and never really look for more.  Our attitude is to take what we can get and be happy with it in spite of the fact that God’s Word clearly promises so much more for us.  We are happy with the occasional blessing rather than living like the people of Israel who entered the Promised Land and being OVERTAKEN by the blessings of God.  Consider that – overtaken.  We are not just offered a few helps along the way to make this life a little more comfortable.  God wants consume every part of our lives, to overtake our entire being and all that we are with His power and His provision.  This is what God told His people as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan and the desire of God remains today. I am the Lord I do not change.

            The word blessing comes from a root that literally means “to show adoration.”  Just imagine that.  God will set you high above all the nations of the earth (verse 1).  God wants to lift us up to the point that He will be seen through us.  That’s how God’s power is seen in the world today.  When His people rely on His power and God provides for all their needs the world will see without a doubt that even in a day when He is ignored God is on His throne.  Science tries to ignore Him, philosophy explains Him away, and even Christians ignore His commands but God is still God and He still sits on His throne.  God is still seen through those lives that put their faith in Him.  But that Is not enough, He wants to be seen in EVERY LIFE that claims His name.  God will overwhelm every doubt and fear with His presence in the hearts and lives of His people. 

            We have allowed ourselves to settle when it comes to the blessings of God.  His call comes to us in some way and we are content to just stumble through life hoping that what we are doing for Him might be “good enough.”  The call of God, whether it is a specific call on our lives or simply the call to walk with Him, is NEVER a call to mediocrity.  God does not want us to walk half-heartedly with Him and spend our lifetime struggling to keep up.  He promises to provide for us, and if we will trust Him we will find ourselves living in the ABUNDANCE of His promises.  This doesn’t mean we will always be wealthy from a worldly perspective, but it does mean that we will never be outside of His presence.  We will never have to go through a trial alone, and our finite power will never be insufficient when His power and glory drive our lives.  Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind (Psalm 31:19)! Look at the expectation of God’s answers to prayer: Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy to me (Psalm 69:16).  And consider the promise of Jesus Christ:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).  Scripture in its entirety teaches that God’s call is never to mediocrity.  His call is always to abundance - abundance of power, and of mercy, love and grace.

            There is a fullness to life that we will never experience when we just hope for the occasional blessing just to get by.  We will never experience the life that God wants to give us unless we allow ourselves to be OVERTAKEN by God’s blessing.  Christians spend too much of the time worrying about looking like fanatics to the world around us to really see all that God has for us.  We don’t want people to accuse us of being naïve, or taking our faith “too far” so we don’t really want too many blessings.  We don’t want to look like we are that much different from the world, or that God is such a prominent force in our lives, so we settle for a life much like that of the world.  We just want a little bit of God and because of this desire the judgment rings out from Scripture, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth (Rev. 3:16).

            This life to which God has called us may sound like excessive Christianity.  Like it will encompass every part of our life and not just what we are comfortable with.  It scares some because it sounds like we would have to give up the control that we have over our lives (which is much more limited than we realize) to really experience the blessings of God.  We get these feelings because they are true!  It is when we turn everything over to the control of God that we experience the fullness of life.  That is when we see Him move in power and experience His glory as it settles in our hearts.  It’s easy to convince ourselves that this kind of life is just for preachers or missionaries, but every time we see God move through a mighty preacher or a great missionary or teacher we must remember that they were once lay people too.  D.L. Moody was never ordained in Christian ministry but was one of the greatest preachers this country has ever known.  Charles Finney was a lawyer, Billy Sunday was a baseball player and Martyn Lloyd-Jones studied to be a doctor.  These men were just like most other men UNTIL they were overtaken by God.  When their lives were overtaken they became mighty workers in God’s kingdom and soldiers in His army.  But it was only because they were will to be overtaken.  God will not do it by force.  It requires a consecration, or surrender, on our part.  Consider what it took for the people of Israel in the Old Testament to be overtaken by God’s blessing:

Faithful People Are Overtaken By Blessing

            God told His people to FAITHFULLY obey His commands.  He had given them the law and outlined the details of the covenant He made with them.  They had all the information they needed to live a life in harmony with God, but they needed the faith to believe that God’s commands were actually what was best for them.  Without this faith they would live in doubt about the Words God had spoken as well as the God who had spoken to them.  This is an example of what it means to enter the kingdom of God with “child-like faith.”  We must believe in the power and the goodness and faithfulness of the one who spoke and revealed Himself to us; the one with whom we live in covenant.

            The Bible reveals God’s word to us.  It claims authority as His inspired Word, and what we believe ABOUT the Bible is important.  We claim that the Bible is inerrant, or infallible, we say that it is important to us and a necessary part of our lives.  But how many of us live a life that shows those statements to be true?  Do we really believe the Bible is that important?  We claim its authority, but we seldom refer to it outside of a Bible study or worship service.  I can count on one hand (and might only need three fingers) the number of times I have been in meetings where decisions were made based on something that was clearly seen in Scripture.  How many people do you know that even carry a Bible to meetings (or even to church anymore for that matter)?  I don’t just do it because I’m the pastor.  My Bible goes to every meeting I have ever attended.  It’s our rule and our guide.  It’s the inspired word of God and I trust what it teaches.  I don’t know how we continue to get by without it.  If we are to be overtaken with blessing we must believe once again that:  no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20, 21).

            But even believing in the authority of God’s Word is not enough in itself to obtain the blessing and abundant life God has promised us.

Obedient People Are Overtaken By Blessing

            Our text did not just call the people of Israel to have faith in the Word, but to FAITHFULLY OBEY the Word of God.  That means that the Word of God APPLIES TO YOU!  Sometimes people ask me after a sermon, “Do I really have to do that?”  I had just spent the last half hour or so reading Scripture that says they do and they still ask.  Is it any wonder we don’t see the blessings of God?  We spend the majority of our time trying to come up with reasons we don’t have to do what the Word of God teaches us.  Wouldn’t our time be better spend trying to discern how we can be completely obedient to the Word rather than how we can get around it?  Read on in the 28^th chapter of Deuteronomy and look at what God had to say about those who didn’t obey the Word.  When we spend our lives trying to ignore and explain away the Word of God we can expect NOTHING MORE OR LESS THAN THE JUDGMENT OF GOD!

            God is not trying to keep something from us be requiring obedience.  He does not want us to miss out on something good, but He has given us His Word to keep us from a lifestyle that ROBS US OF HIS BLESSINGS.  Scripture reveals to us the way to walk with God in holiness.  It teaches us what it means to live in His presence and what His Holy character requires of us if we are to experience relationship with Him.  The only way to be overtaken with the blessings of His presence is to live in accordance with what is taught in the Word; to make every effort to conform our lives to what the Bible teaches; to conform the church and our congregation, and to make Scripture our foundation and our rule of faith.  In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death (Prov. 12:28).

            Living in opposition to the Word separates us from God.  God was represented by the people of Israel and is represented by His church today.  Moses was repeatedly commanded to do “all that God commanded.”  When they worship, traveled, and even when they gathered food.  God wasn’t trying to oppress them, but to free them from the things that stood in opposition to His presence.  That’s what He is doing today in the church through His Word.  God wants us to experience His presence and to be encompassed by His glory and blessing.  We cannot experience this without obedience to the Word. 

Careful People Are Overtaken By Blessing

            There is one more element of this command to be “faithfully obedient” that we must consider.  God told the people to be “CAREFUL” to be obedient to the command.  This might be the most difficult part of this command to follow, but it is completely necessary if we are to be overtaken by the blessings of God.  This implies that we must PUT SOME THOUGHT into the way we live if we ever expect God’s blessings on our lives.  We so often go about our business with little or no though as to whether or not the things we do are worthy of God’s adoration (or blessing).  We celebrate the holidays of the world, and celebrate our Christian holidays on the terms of the world.  We just do what the world does and live like the world lives and it never occurs to us that we might be setting an example or sending a message to those around us that diminishes our witness of a life walking with God. 

            God has more for us than to stumble through a thoughtless existence hoping in vain that we might wander into His presence.  God told Moses, I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God (Exodus 29:45).  He told the prophet Jeremiah, I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart (Jer. 24:7).  He told Ezekiel, I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people and I will be their God (Ezek. 11:20, 21). 

            If God is willing to live among us, give us His Word, empower us to follow His Word, and transform our lives in accordance with the blessing of His Word would it really hurt us to put some thought into the things we do?  Would it be so bad to consider our activities and hobbies and the example we set in light of what God has done and what he wants to do in us?

            God will stop at nothing to bless His people.  He was willing to continually forgive throughout the Old Testament, even when His people turned their backs on Him.  He sacrificed His own Son just to show us His love.  Through the blood of Christ, and the truth that was revealed we are cleansed and transformed into a suitable dwelling place for God’s Spirit.  And this Holy Spirit living inside of us – revealing God’s power and His glory through our lives - is what it means to be OVERTAKEN by God’s blessings.  God’s consuming blessings are available for us today.  To each one who is faithful, obedient and careful to live according to the Word – the revelation of Himself – God has given us.

The Signature of God

The Signature of God

Genesis 15

            When Abram left the land of his father he knew little about the God of heaven.  We have every reason to believe that he was as much a pagan as the people with whom he lived.  He had no reason to live any other way.  He may have been influenced by the culture and people around him just as many of us are influenced by our surroundings today.  It’s easy for us to tell ourselves that God called someone exceptional and completely different than you and I to do His work, but this is not the case.  God called someone with the same problems and shortcomings.  The world worked no more in his favor than it does in ours. 

            In the middle of all the confusion and turmoil of this sinful world, God called a man into a covenant relationship.  He set the terms of the covenant, gave promises for the fulfillment of the covenant, and then God sealed it.  We read in Genesis 15, When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold a smoking fire pot and A FLAMING TORCH passed between these pieces.  On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram (v. 17, 18)…

            As the flaming torch of God passed over the ritual of Abram the relationship between man and God changed forever.  One man in the entire world ceased to worship the distant deities of the polytheistic world and began a journey that would lead him into an ever-growing relationship with his creator and Lord.  He would inherit all the blessings that God had intended to give man from the beginning of time, and would live by faith in one who could provide for every need.  As Abram slept and the sky around him became dark, the covenant of Jehovah was sealed with the signature of God in the form of a flaming torch.

            Throughout Scripture God and His work are characterized by fire.  After the flaming torch sealed the covenant with Abram fire is again prominent in God’s work as it rained down from heaven to destroy the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  When God called His great prophet to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt He came to Moses in a burning bush.  After their deliverance from Egypt, God led His people through the desert for 40 years as a pillar of fire by night.  Eventually the people came to the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Law of God.  He came to the top of the mountain as fire.  When God dwelt in the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem His presence was always portrayed as fire.  As Elijah stood atop Mount Carmel facing the prophets of Baal God came as fire to show Himself to all the people who had turned their backs on Him in favor of the pagan worship of their king.  It is safe to say that fire IS THE SIGNATURE OF GOD.

            Even the throne of God is surrounded by torches of fire.  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden LAMPSTANDS, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man (Rev. 1:12, 13)…  From the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the thrones were burning seven TORCHES OF FIRE which are the seven spirits of God (Rev. 4:6).  Fire burns continually around God’s throne and represents the light given by His work in and through the lives of man.  Many of His mighty works throughout history have been done through the fire that has come to represent Him, and His power and might.

            God Himself is even described as fire by the Spirit-inspired writer’s of Holy Scripture.  For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God (Deut. 4:24).  Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God (Deut. 9:3)…  For our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). 

            We can look back at God’s work against the backdrop of history and see the brightness of the fire that characterizes God cut through the smoke and darkness of the sinful world, just as it cut through the darkness and authenticated a covenant relationship with Abram.  But in spite of all the mighty work of God that fire represents, the most impressive act happened 400 years after the close of the Old Testament.  God’s people had seen Him lead His children and consume other nations through fire, but when the time came for God to establish the church in a new covenant, God’s signature – in the form of fire – rested on His people.  When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place…And divided tongues AS OF FIRE appeared to them and RESTED ON EACH OF THEM (Acts 2:1, 3).  God’s signature was no longer a show of brute force and strength to His people.  His signature became a part of them.  The work of God did not need to be done in a way that would destroy all who opposed Him, but it was done in a way that would save them: through His church; the church that He established on the cross of Christ was signed into citizenship in God’s kingdom and that signature rested on their souls and sunk deep into their hearts.

            Have you ever considered the importance of signatures in our day?  We use them for almost anything of importance that we do.  They are used to get credit or open bank accounts.  To register a vehicle or purchase property requires that we sign our name, and it is even necessary to sign in when we vote.  We sign checks and receipts for credit cards.  We have become so accustomed to writing our signature that we don’t really even think about it anymore.  But there are reasons that the signatures we take so lightly are necessary.  They provide verification and proof of the things that we are doing.  They show our agreement to our activities and our interactions with others.  Many times they are used legally to prove or disprove our actions or contractual obligations.  Look at the uses of signatures in our society:

Signatures Provide Identity

            I have a lot of things that are autographed by hockey players or some type of celebrity.  Those things are associated with that person.  At some time in the past they held those things and signed their names to them and now they are forever bound to, and identified with those objects.  In the same way, God is identified with fire.  It does not mean that God is literally a fire, but that His identity is bound to fire.  When someone is “on fire for God” our Lord is being identified as working in the life of that person.  That person has become a representative of God’s work because the signature of God can be seen in their hearts and the results of the work going on within their lives soon becomes clear in the circumstances and relationships surrounding those live.  God has become IDENTIFIED by His signature on them.

            Whether we realize it or not, God is identified with us because we claim to be a part of His church.  By attending worship services and making the claim that we are a Christian, people are associating God’s work with the signature that they see on us.  The problem with this is that some signatures can be forged.  Their origin is not what it appears to be.  I have a couple autographed hockey pucks that I have bought on eBay over the years.  Most of the ones I have were signed in my presence, but a couple were not.  I have no way of being sure that they are real because I did not see the work that went into placing the signature on the puck.  When we do not witness the work for ourselves we have no means of verifying the identity.  We must assume it’s real.

            When we claim to live our lives for God people must ASSUME that He is to be identified with us.  Far too often His signature in our lives is nothing but a fairly believable forgery.  His work is not really taking place within our souls, we simply go through the motions.  But at the end of the day God’s signature can NEVER BE FORGED.  It is more than an autograph that is placed on us, it is God’s living Spirit PLACED IN US.  It is His love OVERFLOWING from our hearts in a way that is unmistakable.  It is Jesus Christ directing our paths and guiding our ways as we make this journey through life.  God is identified in us by our burning desire to know Him more and understand His will and His ways.  He is identified by our passion and desire to Love the Lord you God with all your heart…

God’s Signature Provides Proof of Intention

            This signature of God that is placed in our hearts does more than identify us with Him.  It shows the world the intention of God.  When we sign a document it is a legal promise to fulfill an obligation, and it is legally binding.  When we place that signature next to the “x” we must fulfill the promise that we made.  In His covenant with man God made many promises to us.  Over 6,000 have been made in Scripture and may be appropriated by God’s people.  Through those whom He has identified as His own He will FULFILL these promises.  His intention is to work in our hearts to such an extent that people in the world around us can’t help but to see God working out His promises.

            God fulfilled every promise to us through Jesus Christ and His life and sacrifice.  Consider the Scriptures:

Ø  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.   -Matt. 2:17

Ø  And he [Joseph] went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled…     -Matt. 2:23

Ø  And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea…so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled…        -Matt. 4:14

Ø  Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set…            -Matt. 27:9

Ø  The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand…        -Mark 1:15

The purpose of the ministry and sacrifice of Jesus was to fulfill God’s promises.  It was to deliver man out of the sin of the world and set Him apart to live in a relationship with God.  God’s signature in the hearts of His people not only identifies Him with us, but it binds Him and His work to His people. 

Many times we convince ourselves that if we just sit back and do nothing God will do His work.  He will revive the church and our nations.  And I agree that we are guilty of taking things into our own hands and not waiting on Him at times.  But waiting for God does not mean we do nothing.  Waiting on God means that we are seeking His will.  We spend our time in prayer and searching the Scriptures for direction from God.  It means that we are looking for the ways that He wants to work through us and in the lives of the people around us.  If God’s work is to be done in the world today, it will be done through the people who bear His signature.  I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God (Ex. 29:45).

God’s signature gives us the authority to appropriate all the power of heaven that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ as we spread the light of God’s fire into the darkened world.  It binds all the power of God to our hearts and souls and delivers us through every trial and tribulation that we may face in this world.  God’s signature is not some type of eternal security that gets of off the hook for living a holy life, but it is the power promised by Jesus Christ.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).  We give testimony of the power of God because of the signature we bear, a signature written with fire from heaven.

God’s signature binds Him to His promises and His promises to us.  When we feel like we have reached the end of our rope and can’t deal with one more difficulty, God’s signature reminds us of the faithful character of the one to whom we are bound.  When we just don’t know if we can make it in this world, and the circumstances we find ourselves in seem overwhelming God’s signature ensures His promises to take care of us and sustain us through whatever the world puts before us.

            When our lives are turned over to God – in covenant relationship – every promise in Scripture becomes a reality and a possibility for us.  The work of God becomes a real, living power in our hearts as He cleanses us from sin and sets us apart for Himself so that we will enjoy a relationship with Him.  His power becomes a part of our lives as we live in the overflow of His love and grace.

            As the flame of God passed over the ritual covenant of Abram so many years ago, it hovers also over us today.  God does not offer a life of mediocrity and stumbling at every obstacle.  His desire is for that fire to find its resting place in our hearts.  He wants to see it grow and become a vital, vibrant flame, warming our hearts and setting our soul ablaze.  God wants us to be the ones with whom He is identified, and to whom His promises are bound.  God’s intentions to save this dying world and bring them into the grasp of His loving grace and power are linked to His church today.  His signature has been placed on our hearts, and if people are to see His work, they will see it from those of us to whom He has laid claim. 

            Abram accepted the signature of God with a faithful, willing heart.  God wants to autograph the church and our lives today.  Will we accept His signature?

The Divine Institution

The church should be dead. Over the course of two thousand years it has endured hardship and trial. Persecution has been a normal part of life for some Christians somewhere since the establishment of God’s church. The resources of the world and all the power of hell have been focused on the elimination of this group of men and women who have been called out of the world. Governments have tried to silence these people of God and philosophers have tried to undermine their work. At every turn there has been opposition.


The church should be dead, but it’s not. It has been sustained through unimaginable tribulation by a power beyond that of any earthly organization. It has been governed by that which is beyond any human thought or idea. The church has been led by the Holy Spirit of God through every obstacle and victorious in every battle that she has ever faced.

The church has not survived because of the wisdom of man or the efficiency of his organizational skills. The church has survived because Jesus Christ established it, and His Spirit empowers it. It has thrived because of the faith of God’s people and has overcome because of the submission of these humble servants of the Most High King. When the church has been unstoppable has been when man realizes that God will not be organized or administrated. He will not be subject to our ideas or our biases. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9).

Throughout all history, God has blessed those who humble themselves and put their faith in Him. Those who submit their will and their resources and all that they are to the one whose power is beyond our comprehension. God works through those who realize that Jesus Christ said, “On this rock I will build MY CHURCH…” It was established by Him, is ruled by Him, and is sustained by Him. The church becomes the church when its people realize that everything we do must glorify Jesus our King, and it is not our work, but His, that it to be carried out by His people.

The church lives today because of those whose focus has been on none but Jesus Christ. It survives because men and women have turned their attention from the world and all of its riches and wealth and sought nothing but the glory of God. They have preached and taught His Word, lived according to His statutes, and loved according to His love. It has not been man-rule that has been the lifeblood of the church, but the breath of God in His Holy Spirit.

As difficult as it may seem to simply submit to God and live by faith, this has been the call of God to His people for all of human history. We live in a day when the church seems to be on life support. We look all around us, and search the minds of men for ways to jumpstart the work of this divine establishment. It seems that the more control man takes, and the more ideas we try the worse the state of the church becomes. The church has been vital and filled with life before. Why not now?

God has a history of reviving His people and awakening the church when things seem desperate. It has happened before, and the price has not changed. “If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you (2 Chron. 15:2).” When we face difficult times and don’t know what to do we would be well served to remember that the church should be dead, but because of the power of God, and the life given by His Spirit and the sacrifice made by His Son it lives and breathes today. Not because of anything we have done, or any plan that we have made, or any organization we have put in place, but because of men and women who submit themselves to God, the church lives.

Our Search For Relevance

There is seldom a day that goes by when we are not bombarded with methods and ideas about how we can better convey the gospel to the lost world around us. We constantly see new Bible translations that are easier to read, and the ways that we communicate are under continual scrutiny as we endeavor to become more “sensitive” to those who have no knowledge of God, or His Word.


While it cannot be denied that communicating the gospel more effectively is beneficial, we must be discerning as to how we go about doing this. We live in a day where “diverse and strange teachings (Heb. 13:9)” have crept into the church and are seemingly drawn from every conceivable source – even sources that are anything but biblical. Things like divine healing, miraculous occurrences, authenticity of Old Testament accounts and even the authority of the Bible itself is questioned by many who claim to be Christians. Some have gone so far as to completely eliminate many words, such as sin, judgment and repentance from our religious vocabulary.

In this religious climate where “relevance” and “social acceptance” seem to be the goal of many Christians, how should we handle the Word of God? What do we say to those who are not Christians, and in what ways do we relate to them?

In conversations and various religious writings we are continually told that Christians are guilty of using religious terms and ideas that are above those who do not know Jesus Christ, and that those terms need to be replaced with something that they will more readily understand. Is that really our problem? With biblical illiteracy a major problem among professing Christians it is very difficult to believe that the biggest problem we face is talking above what people understand, especially when we consider the fact that Christians with the biblical knowledge to do such a thing are few and far between. When we consider the life and ministry of Jesus, do we really see such a concern with making the gospel palatable to the people of the world? Did Jesus ever compromise so that people around Him would listen to the doctrines of God?



Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. -Matt. 13:10-17



As we consider the purpose of parables in the teaching of Jesus, it becomes evident that His priority was not to teach the revelation of God in a way that would be appealing, or even understandable, to everyone. In fact, His purpose was to drive away those who did not really have a willing heart, and to draw those who earnestly wanted to know the truth of God. We read in verse 15, “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed…” The fact that we must deal with is that many just do not want to know the truths of the Kingdom of God. They are content to walk in the darkness of the world. Jesus understood this reality and taught accordingly. He did not spend great amounts of His time trying to convince people of things they would not understand anyway, and did not really care to understand. He understood the message the Apostle Paul would later relay to the church in Corinth. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).”

Jesus did not spend His ministry on earth “convincing” people of the work of God as much as He spent it “investing” in them. In verse 12 He shows this desire to invest in those with an interest in serving God when He says, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The economy of God’s Kingdom does not function on monetary funds, but on truth. It is subject to the truth that is revealed through Jesus Christ about the character of our King. Much like the economy of the world today, it is much easier for those who already have money to invest. Those who do not have sufficient funds must save what little they have in case of an emergency. Jesus spent His time on earth investing in those who were willing to invest themselves in the work and the truth of God. Jesus used parables to teach those whose hearts were willing to seek God’s truth above all else. This is why He taught, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt. 6:33).” When our hearts are open to what God is revealing through His Word and by His Spirit we will continue to see His investment in us, but if our eyes are closed, our ears do not hear, and our hearts are not willing to invest in His Kingdom we will not see or understand the power of God at work in and around us. God’s truth must come first, because it is the currency of His Kingdom, and it will lead us into a deeper relationship with our King. Oswald Chambers teaches the extent to which we must seek the truth of God:



“Our Lord teaches that the one great secret of the spiritual life is concentration on God and His purposes. We talk a lot about consecration, but it ends in sentimentalism because there is nothing definite about it. Consecration ought to mean the definite yielding of ourselves over as saved souls to Jesus and concentrating on that…God can do what He likes with the man or woman who is abandoned to Him. God saves us and sanctifies us, then He expects us to concentrate on Him in every circumstance we are in…At the bar of common sense Jesus Christ’s statements are those of a fool, but bring them to the bar of faith and the Word of God, and you begin to find with awestruck spirit that they are the words of God.”



If we understand these words of Jesus, and the teaching of Scripture, we see that the reason people of the world do not understand Scripture has much less to do with our lack of clarity and much more to do with the fact that they are not seeking the truth of God. They are looking to the world and all of its knowledge and ideas to find an understanding of life. They are looking every conceivable place except the source of all truth and knowledge – God. We should have no reason to wonder why the world cannot understand spiritual truth given to us by God. We have no need to “rethink” how we package the gospel, or the words we use to convey it because the Holy Spirit has not been allowed the opportunity to work in the hearts of those with whom we deal. If the Holy Spirit is at work and they are seeking God’s truth then we simply need to allow God to work. “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of you Father speaking through you (Matt. 10:19, 20).” Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks to this issue:



“Is it not tragic? Is this what is keeping people from Christ? Do you think that people two hundred years ago knew anything more about justification and sanctification than they do today? Were those the common terms of a thousand years ago? Is that the difficulty? No, it is the heart of man, it is the evil that is in him. It is not a question of language, it is not a question of terminology, yet we pin our faith to this.”



In our search for “relevance” in our modern world we have placed our faith in many things. We look to marketing agencies, and cultural trends. Many have placed their faith in sociological studies and statistics. From the pages of Holy Scripture comes the truth that¸”The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you (2 Chron. 15:2).” The purpose of the parables of Jesus Christ was relevance. Not relevance to a sinful culture, or to those who wanted an easy way out of the lives with which they had become accustomed. The purpose was to invest in those who were willing to seek God. Jesus taught in parables so that the “mysteries” of the Kingdom of God would become relevant to any and all who desired to know them. As we look at the parables of the Kingdom we must remember that as we earnestly seek the truth of God, He will reveal Himself to us in ways we have never known.

Passing On Our Curses

In Scripture names were given with a purpose.  When given by God they described the work that He intended to do in the lives of those whom He used for His purposes.  The children of Hosea and Gomer were used by God to show the transgression of the people of Israel.  Not only was their mother an adulterous woman (some translations say a woman of "whoredom"), but the consequences of her unfaithful lifestyle were passed onto her children.  This is evident by the names they were given (see Hosea 1:3-8).  Gomer seemed to be willing to live a lifestyle that gave no consideration to the legacy and consequences she might have been passing on to the next generation.

I wonder if we are not guilty of this in the church today.  It seems like we are very willing to compromise the Word of God and don't really even need a good reason or explanation to do so.  We know what it says about specific things and just ignore it.  What does that say about our faith?  Or, more importantly, about our view of God? 

We have become willing to compromise our reliance on God's power to the point that we could accurately say that we have turned our backs on Him.  Rather than relying on the power of God the church relies on business models, church growth programs, meetings and brainstorming sessions, and whatever idea we believe might "sell our product."  We even go so far as to cancel worship services and prayer meetings to go into the community and do good works for those of the world in hopes that we can bribe them into listening to the gospel someday. The problem is that none of this is portrayed in Scripture.  It all comes from the mind of man.

The problem with all of this (besides the obvious issue that our relationship with God is compromised because we are idolizing the mind of man) is that we are passing on a curse to future generations.  Like the children of Hosea, the church is being given a name that gives little hope for a vital relationship with God in the future.  When our focus is not spiritual, but on good works and material things then the next generation of the church will become focused on all those things.  Rather than being the church of God (or the church focused on God) we become the "community church" (which is rightly name when the focus is not on God).  I am not saying that we forget about the great commission.  We are all called to win the lost.  But to what do we win them?  Community service organizations?

It seems that in all of the meetings and brainstorming that we have we forget about one great truth.  It's God's church!  It is not our responsibility to organize or administrate it.  We are simply to seek God's will and submit to it.  The church is a far cry from seeking, much less submitting to anything other than our own ideas based on cultural whims.  We are doing everything in our power to pass on a curse. 

Sometimes it seems like the only hope that remains for the coming generations is that even in spite of the circumstances that were passed on to them God can still redeem.  He can still call the willing heart back to Him.  God can overcome the curses passed on from one generation to the next, but only God can.  But He shouldn't always have to.  It would be far better for the next generation if the curse of a church that has committed "whoredom" with the idols of the world had turned back to God before the consequences of her sin were passed on in the first place.