The Church Under Fire
Chapter Five
Now Faithful to the
Calling
May 27, 2023
I am still reading in the book of Acts. Recap: Paul was on
the road to Damascus to persecute and perhaps to put to death even more
Christians (followers of Jesus Christ) when Jesus met him in a vision while he
was on his way. Jesus spoke to him audibly, though not visibly, and there Paul
(Saul at that time) received his life calling from the Lord to open spiritually
blinded eyes, so they may turn from darkness (sin) to light (Christ) and from
the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a
place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. Then he said this:
Acts 26:19-23 ESV
“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
Do you know what your life calling of God is? Are you being
steadfast and faithful to that calling? Now we are all called to holy living
and to leave our lives of sin behind us to follow Jesus in obedience to his
commands under the New Covenant. But the Lord has assigned us specific callings
and ministries, and he has gifted us accordingly so that we can serve him
faithfully in those callings and in those areas of ministry. These are our “body
parts” within the whole of the body of Christ, his church.
Now most of you probably know this but let me say here that
if we answer the call of Jesus Christ, not only to be his possession and to
follow him wherever he leads us, but to fulfill a very specific purpose the
Lord Jesus has for our lives individually, this may not go well for us in many
respects. And Paul’s life is a great example of what I mean here, and so is the
life of Jesus. For Jesus told us that if we follow him with our lives that we
are going to be hated and persecuted as he was hated and persecuted.
Especially if you are speaking to the people, and if you are
telling them that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in
keeping with their repentance, you are not going to be well liked and well
received even in the Christian culture in America. For so many professing
Christians are believing lies which are telling them outright or which are
giving them the impression that they do not have to repent of their sins, that
they don’t have to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, that they don’t have
to obey the Lord, and that no works (deeds) are required of them by God whatsoever.
But let me get back to the subject of our specific callings
of God to special areas of ministry that God prepared in advance for us to do
them. Paul was not disobedient to the vision and neither should we be
disobedient, either to the calling that God has on all of our lives
collectively, nor to the particular callings he has on each of our lives
individually. But then we should be prepared that we are going to be
persecuted, even by others who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even by
pastors and elders of church fellowships.
And in being faithful to the calling of God on my life, he
has been leading me to share some of my own “Paul” experiences, only those who
are opposing me are not Jews, but many are those who claim faith in Jesus Christ,
and some are even pastors and elders of church congregations. Now, like Paul
said, if what I was doing was wrong, if it was evil, and if it was sinful and disobedient
and rebellious, then I would accept their discipline. But if they are disciplining
me for obeying the Lord, according to the Scriptures, and if they are judging
me by their own standards, then that is wrong.
My “Paul” Experiences
The year was 2004. My husband and I were training to be
church planters under the Christian & Missionary Alliance (same
denomination as A.W. Tozer). I was training for consecration as an official
worker of the C&MA and my husband was training for ordination to be a
pastor of our small group which was meeting in our home. And now it was
September and we were invited to their annual official workers prayer
conference. But my husband hurt his back and could not go, so he encouraged me
to go without him.
And the Lord started speaking to my heart the moment I walked
into that first meeting, for I was a few minutes late due to car trouble. And
the messages I heard at that conference via the speakers and via my quiet times
with the Lord just spoke directly to my heart in a very powerful way.
The messages spoke to me and to my heart like they were
right from the mouth of God to be specifically. The messages said, “Preach the
Word of God, not the teachings of man.” “Listen to God, hear what he is saying,
and then obey him.” “You were appointed by God as a herald and a teacher of
true faith.” “Give your ministry over to God – it is not yours. It is his.” “God
may have something else for you to do that you have not even thought of.”
“Write down what God shows you and then wait on him to bring
it about.” “What you are going through is much bigger than you can imagine.” “NOW
is your time! For such a time as this you were placed upon the earth.” “The
church is in crisis – the crisis of Supremacy. It is indistinguishable between
the lives of evangelical Christians and the world. We need to get back to the
basics – we need to put our focus on Jesus and the cross of Christ instead of
on the teachings of man.” Amen!
Since I was the only one there representing our small church
plant, I was also invited to speak before a room full of pastors and other
official workers of the C&MA, and before their district heads. And I just
let the Holy Spirit lead me in what to say for I was not prepared in advance
that I was going to be asked to speak. And based upon what others were teaching
at this conference, and what the Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart, I shared
with them what the Lord was saying to me, from the Spirit within me.
When I went back to my chair, though, the wife of the
district head over church plants said, “Well, that was the shortest lived
church plant.” Wow! But after the gathering was dismissed, and we went to lunch
(or supper), I had maybe a fourth of the pastors there encourage me that what I
said needed to be said, but they also recognized that it was the death of me,
even though it was the right thing to say, and it was what needed to be said.
But I was being led of the Holy Spirit, and there was nothing anti-biblical in
what I shared, but it was fully supported by the Scriptures.
So, I got called to see the heads of the district, and they
told me that I was not hearing from God, even though they had confessed that
they were not actually listening to me speak, from what I recall. And so at
that moment I had to make the decision to remain with the C&MA and to
ignore God’s calling on my life, or to depart from the C&MA and to follow
the Lord Jesus in obedience. I did the latter, and here I am today nearly 20
years later still answering that appointment by God to be one of his heralds in
these last days before the return of Jesus Christ. And I have no regrets!
Hymn lyrics by Judson
W. Van De Venter, 1896
Music by Winfield S.
Weeden, 1896
… Lo, we have left
all, and have followed Thee. (Mark 10:28)
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame;
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BnL_zI7uw
No comments:
Post a Comment