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.

The Departure of the Spirit

King Saul had as much potential to do great thing for God as anyone in human history.  He was hand-picked by God to lead the people of Israel.  He was anointed by God's prophet and guided by God's word.  The story of Saul, however, is largely one of wasted potential.  In spite of all that God had done to prepare him, scripture tells us in 1 Samuel 16:14, "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul..." 

Whether we like it or not, we must acknowledge that the Spirit left Saul because of his half-hearted commitment to following the commands of God.  He wanted God's will to be done, but he wanted to do it his way.  He was not interested in the instruction God had given in regards to HOW to follow His will.  This seems to be the case within the church today.  We read and write our books and come up with our slick organizations and marketing schemes.  We know that God wants us to win the lost, but we have determined within our hearts to leave Him out of the process.  We want nothing more than to o it by ourselves.  We all work hard to apply the principles of "Natural Church Development" (I still contend that we need "supernatural church development because if it is natural, it's not of God) and every other book that comes along, but is God's will really being done?  I keep hearing from the same people who promote these man-made methods that the vast majority of congregations are in decline.  What good have all of our methods done?

Maybe it's time that we consider the possibility that we have fallen into the trap of King Saul.  In spite of the availability of power through the Holy Spirit, God's call to holiness, and His written word, we continue to try to do His work our way.  As we forge ahead with our plans the church continues to lose influence and authority.  Could it be that in many cases the Spirit has already left and we are so focused on our ideas that we haven't even noticed?

Maybe instead of trying to figure out what WE can do for God, we need to spend some time considering how we can recover our lampstand.