Oh, the depth of the revelations of the Apostle John... often this apostle is little taught on, in the shadows of Peter and Paul, yet he was powerfully gifted in wisdom and insights of the deep things of God perhaps well beyond many of the other apostles. This was he who's understanding of love was great from the beginning. The apostle John grasped the importance of intimacy with God from the very first. It was he who rested on Jesus bosom at the passover supper before Christ's death; he who was caught up into paradise to experience and write the book of Revelation. His gospel above the others provides some of the most insightful doctrines and theologies concerning Christ, and he who understood love with great enough depth to know it casts out all fear. John could easily be known as the apostle of revelation.
The book of John is the first book in the New Testament wherein we see Jesus referred to as God's 'only begotten Son,' or 'the only begotten of the Father.' (John 1:14) It was revealed to him that Jesus – whom he loved, whose very heartbeats he'd listened to only hours before his Passion – was the one and only 'begotten' Son of God.
However, in the context of this verse, far before the term 'Son of God' is coined, John is trying to make a much more powerful revelation known. I think we often miss sight of the full point John the apostle is trying to make in the first few verses of his gospel, and this for the very reason that after years of inundation with the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God, it is simply what we see Him to be.
None of us generally beg the question, just when did Jesus become the only begotten Son of God? If He was 'begotten,' there had to be a very real time and place of its occurrence. The Jehovah's Witnesses would say that he was begotten of the Father JUST before the rest of creation, for he is – as they say – the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15), and He is, yet not as they perceive it. The Mormons would say, that he literally was the firstborn child of our heavenly Father and Mother.
Yet when does scripture concede Him to have become 'begotten' of the Father? Well, John chapter 1 verses 1-18 give us some pretty clear clues as to the 'when' of Christs' conception as the Father's Son. We see that first, before ever He was the Son, He was the Word (1:1), and that He was not only with God, but that He also WAS God. We see that also all things were made by Him (1:3), and that life comes from Him (1:4). Then, following all of this, He came into the world (1:10), by what means? By that of putting on flesh (1:14), and here is the first time in all of scripture, that the Word is recognized as the only begotten of the Father.
Yet there are places in scripture before this wherein Christ is prophesied to be called God's Son. Psalms 2:7 “I will declare the decree: the LORD [that is, Jehovah] hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” Yet where does this fall in context of the chapter? Following the verse which says: “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” (v.6) Ah! So even in prophecy, God declares that Jesus, the word of God will be begotten of Him when He has put on flesh and is made manifest in the world.
Jesus truly was the only begotten of the Father, for the Father conceived Himself within Mary. That's not to say he slept with her, but that He placed His seed within her virgin womb.
So we see that John's message and revelation is more powerful than simply Jesus being God's own Son, as many pagan mythologies, even before that had conceived the ideas of gods having sons or daughters (doubtless such myths came from the time preceding the flood wherein angels are believed to have slept with women to conceive the Nephelim (Gen 6:1-4)). John says clearly, that this was no mere offspring, but the very God who created the universe, in whom was the life which lit all men that have come into the world (1:9) who was begotten of the Father when He put on flesh; therein lies the revelation of Colossians 1:15. He was the firstborn of all creation, not because He was made first and that He was the tool Jehovah used to form the universe (sorry Watchtower... no, not sorry), but that He was the firstborn of God (by way of literal, physical conception), wherein His sacrifice has given us power also to be God's sons (John 1:12), and all creation to be sanctified through Him.
Hebrews 1:6
And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith; AND LET THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
How to tame the tongue
At the great risk of sounding the stereotypical Pentecostal, I’d like to delve into the often mysterious gift of tongues. I do this largely on account of the fact that this particular gift of the Spirit is so often shrouded in mystery; due to this lack of revelation concerning it the church has, I think, missed largely on some very great and powerful blessings from God.
The book of James declares that of all the parts of our body, the tongue is like the rudder or bit that steers the direction of our entire life (3:3&4). The book of proverbs also declares that the tongue has the power of life and death (18:21). Thus the tongue is perhaps the most powerful member of our entire body.
As a general whole, the church sees the gift of tongues as a gift which should never be used without interpretation (1 Cor. 14:27), or evangelizing in a language foreign to the speaker (Acts 2). Certainly these are biblical truths, however, if we see the gift of tongues merely as such, we are selling ourselves short of this very powerful gift of God.
1 Corinthians 14:4 says: He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself… (NIV), so we see that there is also value in tongues spoken privately before God. I have been asked, “Well, what is the point of that?” In response to that I would ask: “What is the point in attempting to minister to anyone if you, yourself are not edified in the Lord?” If we have nothing to give from the Lord, how can we claim to be ministers? If we are not built up and edified in our selves, how can we build up and edify others?
Paul also boasts that he spoke in tongues more than any of the Corinthians (1 Cor. 14:18) which is saying a lot because the Corinthian church was known for being enamored with the gift of tongues. One of the main reasons that Paul wrote this epistle was because of the fact that the Corinthians were so enamored with tongues that they were neglecting the other gifts of the Spirit, and using tongues improperly by using it publicly with no interpretation. For Paul to claim that he spoke in tongues more than them all as boldly as he did, reveals that he must have been using the gift almost constantly in his own life. However, he clarifies that IN THE CHURCH he would rather speak intelligibly so that others could comprehend.
Thus there is a clear distinction between tongues used publicly and tongues used privately between oneself and God (1 Cor. 14:2). Great, but how does it really benefit us to speak in tongues privately?
The book of James states that no man can tame the tongue, but that it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (3:8). Now here is one great implication: it says that no MAN can tame the tongue. So then, who can tame the tongue? Only God. If then tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 12:10), it is a gift wherein the Spirit speaks through us in another language. Clearly no MAN has the ability to speak in a language which he does not know.
If the tongue is like the rudder of our entire lives, and we are called to live by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16 & 25), then should we not give God the helm to our lives? How can we expect to live by the Spirit if our tongues are let loose to be: “a world of evil…” which “…corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6 NIV)
Rather we should let the Holy Spirit have control of our tongue when we are not otherwise using it to praise Him with our understanding (1 Cor. 14:15), in this way God can tame our tongues, and steer our lives in the direction of His perfect will. The bible tells us to pray without ceasing (1Thess. 5:17). Yet we know that our minds must often be otherwise occupied, so then should we for this reason cease to pray? Not by the word in Thessalonians. With the gift of tongues we are not praying with our minds, but with our spirit (1 Cor. 14:14), thus we have the ability to pray without ceasing, for we can still pray when our minds are otherwise occupied.
Remember that we will be judged by every idle word that comes from our mouth (Matt. 12:36). If we are not allowing the Lord to tame our tongue, and to steer our lives, how can we claim that we are living by the Spirit? How can we, indeed, keep in step with Him (Gal. 5:25)?
The book of James declares that of all the parts of our body, the tongue is like the rudder or bit that steers the direction of our entire life (3:3&4). The book of proverbs also declares that the tongue has the power of life and death (18:21). Thus the tongue is perhaps the most powerful member of our entire body.
As a general whole, the church sees the gift of tongues as a gift which should never be used without interpretation (1 Cor. 14:27), or evangelizing in a language foreign to the speaker (Acts 2). Certainly these are biblical truths, however, if we see the gift of tongues merely as such, we are selling ourselves short of this very powerful gift of God.
1 Corinthians 14:4 says: He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself… (NIV), so we see that there is also value in tongues spoken privately before God. I have been asked, “Well, what is the point of that?” In response to that I would ask: “What is the point in attempting to minister to anyone if you, yourself are not edified in the Lord?” If we have nothing to give from the Lord, how can we claim to be ministers? If we are not built up and edified in our selves, how can we build up and edify others?
Paul also boasts that he spoke in tongues more than any of the Corinthians (1 Cor. 14:18) which is saying a lot because the Corinthian church was known for being enamored with the gift of tongues. One of the main reasons that Paul wrote this epistle was because of the fact that the Corinthians were so enamored with tongues that they were neglecting the other gifts of the Spirit, and using tongues improperly by using it publicly with no interpretation. For Paul to claim that he spoke in tongues more than them all as boldly as he did, reveals that he must have been using the gift almost constantly in his own life. However, he clarifies that IN THE CHURCH he would rather speak intelligibly so that others could comprehend.
Thus there is a clear distinction between tongues used publicly and tongues used privately between oneself and God (1 Cor. 14:2). Great, but how does it really benefit us to speak in tongues privately?
The book of James states that no man can tame the tongue, but that it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (3:8). Now here is one great implication: it says that no MAN can tame the tongue. So then, who can tame the tongue? Only God. If then tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 12:10), it is a gift wherein the Spirit speaks through us in another language. Clearly no MAN has the ability to speak in a language which he does not know.
If the tongue is like the rudder of our entire lives, and we are called to live by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16 & 25), then should we not give God the helm to our lives? How can we expect to live by the Spirit if our tongues are let loose to be: “a world of evil…” which “…corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6 NIV)
Rather we should let the Holy Spirit have control of our tongue when we are not otherwise using it to praise Him with our understanding (1 Cor. 14:15), in this way God can tame our tongues, and steer our lives in the direction of His perfect will. The bible tells us to pray without ceasing (1Thess. 5:17). Yet we know that our minds must often be otherwise occupied, so then should we for this reason cease to pray? Not by the word in Thessalonians. With the gift of tongues we are not praying with our minds, but with our spirit (1 Cor. 14:14), thus we have the ability to pray without ceasing, for we can still pray when our minds are otherwise occupied.
Remember that we will be judged by every idle word that comes from our mouth (Matt. 12:36). If we are not allowing the Lord to tame our tongue, and to steer our lives, how can we claim that we are living by the Spirit? How can we, indeed, keep in step with Him (Gal. 5:25)?
Monday, March 29, 2010
He Who has Eyes to See
A brief exposition on seeing in the Spirit
As I begin, I think it wise to determine some of the ways that the visionary has been manifest in scripture. I’ll start with defining the difference between a physical manifestation of the spiritual, and an open vision. These two examples are not the only expressions of interaction with the spiritual realm visually, but they are certainly the most commonly realized, and further, the most widely confused with one another.
A physical manifestation of the spiritual realm is when some spiritual entity somehow manifests itself in the physical realm. This is not actually a ‘visionary’ experience at all, but it is something which can visually be seen. The first scriptural example of this (unless you believe the serpent in the Garden of Eden was actually a physical manifestation of Satan, which may or may not be so), is Genesis 6:1-4. This is a fairly controversial passage, which speaks of angels manifesting themselves in the earth and marrying women. Their offspring were the nephelim. Now there is a clear distinction between this instance and a vision, the angels actually had physical sexual relations with women; they did not simply became visually discernable. There are other manifestations similar to this throughout the old testament, where a spiritual being of some sort was physically present (Gen 32:24-30; Josh. 5:13-15). Even as Moses led the Israelites through the desert there was a physical cloud present (Ex 13:21&22). Then in the new testament we know of at least two accounts in the life of Jesus, one at the baptism of Jesus when the Spirit descended upon Him ‘bodily,’ (Luke 3:22) and then on the mount of transfiguration where Moses and Elijah stood physically before Jesus. In fact the birth and life of Jesus Christ itself is a physical manifestation of the spiritual realm, as God ‘became flesh and made His dwelling among us.’ (John 1:14)
An open vision on the other hand is an experience in which someone sees a vision of something that is happening in the spiritual realm with his or her physical eyes. This is different from a physical manifestation of the spiritual realm in that it is something not happening physically, but certainly is happening spiritually. Paul the Apostle, at his conversion saw an open vision of Jesus which is described in Acts 9:3-6.
We know it was an open vision and not a physical manifestation because in verse seven it states that: ‘The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.’ If Jesus were physically manifest, everyone would have seen him, just as they did before He ascended; all who stood in his presence then could see his physical body standing with them. Some other examples of an open vision can be found in Isaiah 6, all throughout the book of Ezekiel, and the entire book of Revelation beginning in chapter four. In an open vision a person may actually feel or believe he or she is physically experiencing something because it seems so real to them (and in fact it is really happening, yet within the spirit and not physically). For example Paul describes an experience that was PROBABLY an open vision in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. He states that the experience was so real that he was unsure whether he was physically there or only spiritually present.
Dreams are another kind of visionary experience. Obviously not all dreams are visions, however prophetic dreams such as experienced by Israel’s son Joseph (the baker and cup bearer), and the Pharaoh (Genesis 37:5-7, 9 41:1-7) could certainly be considered visions. Dreams, however, take place in the mind, they are not seen with physical eyes like an open vision, but they are viewed on the ‘imagination screen’ so to speak. It is still ‘seeing in the spirit,’ only the venue through which it is seen is that of the mind rather than the eyes. A person’s imagination works in the same way that dreams do, simply images and pictures you see in your minds’ eye. Some people call this ‘seeing with the eyes of your spirit.’
One misconception that can be made about dreams is that they only come when we sleep. However in Genesis 31:10-13 Jacob says:
And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. KJV
This passage clearly states that Jacob had a visionary dream, while he was awake. The Hebrew word for ‘dream’ is quite distinct in this instance from the word for ‘vision,’ but it is clearly a prophetic visionary experience.
There are many accounts throughout the gospels that infer that Jesus saw things in the supernatural. One story early in the book of John, chronicles an account of Jesus spiritual perception.
John 1:45-49
Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus prophetically describes Nathanael’s personality to him as he approaches, declaring him to be a man of integrity. Nathanael then asks how Jesus would know this of him and Jesus replies that he saw him before Philip went and got him.
For the longest time I did not understand this passage. If Jesus saw Nathanael, why is it that Nathanael is so impressed that Jesus remembered him? Because he was able to ‘prophetically’ discern his integrity? Hardly; if he did see him physically, Jesus could have inquired about what people thought of ‘that man under the fig tree.’ The only reason that Nathanael would be impressed enough to declare that Jesus is the Son of God is if something about what He said in this passage was supernatural.
If Nathanael had been under a fig tree in a public place, and many people saw him there, there would be nothing surprising about what Jesus said. If, rather, Nathanael had been in the wilderness or outside of the city where no one could see him, he would therefore know that Jesus had never physically been at the place where he had been sitting. This would infer that Jesus had a vision of Nathanael sitting under a fig tree, and that vision was accompanied by a word of knowledge regarding the man’s integrity. Now that would be amazing! That would be something worth noting as a powerful supernatural experience.
From the context of the vision, it is probable that Jesus had a ‘dream’ in which he saw Nathanael under the fig tree. I say it was probably this kind of vision because what He saw in this case was not something that happened in the spiritual realm (since, remember, an ‘open vision’ is seeing something in the spiritual realm with your physical eyes), but something that had happened in the natural.
And Jesus follows up the conversation with a promise to Nathanael, beginning in verse fifty he says:
"You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Essentially Christ is saying: ‘You believe I am the Son of God, simply because I had a vision of you before I met you? The visions that you will have shall be far more powerful and amazing than that!’
Jesus promised other believers that they would have visionary experiences when he proclaimed in Mark 9:1 "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." Clearly this speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which was at that time still yet to come, however the ‘seeing’ is also strongly implied here, and this did happen. For when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, they saw cloven tongues: ‘like as of fire’ (KJV) come to rest on each of them.
And in John 14:19-21 Jesus declares to his disciples and to all believers: “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Indeed, the King James of this says: ‘will manifest myself to him.’
So, here in John we have a clear promise that we can see Jesus. But how?! Jesus will not be physically manifest in the earth again until the end of the age. So how do we see Him?
Matt 13:15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
One of the biggest keys to opening your spiritual eyes is to open our hearts to Him. Does this mean that if someone doesn’t have a vision right away that their hearts are calloused before the Lord? Absolutely not, but to many of us the notion of seeing a dream or vision of God seems so far out of grasp that we would not presume to think ourselves worthy, but John 14:21 negates that; stating that Jesus will show himself to ANYONE who loves him, that is: any of His followers.
Jesus said that He only did what He could see His Father doing (John 5:19); if we are to be like Jesus, should we not spend time watching God with the eyes of our spirit so that we can see what He is doing, and so do it?
Another thing that seems to hinder us is that we frankly don’t know how to see in the spirit. Sometimes there are open visions, but these are generally sovereign acts, when God chooses to open our physical eyes to Him. However, even secular psychologists will tell you that you can control your dreams. Does this mean that you can control God in visions? Not at all, but to dream is a gift bestowed on all mankind, where an open vision, as I said, occurs at God’s sovereign choice. Everyone has a lens with which to see Jesus, or He’d have been lying when he said that He would show Himself to us. In any visionary experience, whether open vision or dream, our spiritual senses are heightened. The Word states in Ephesians 2:6 that we have already been raised with Christ and seated with Him in heavenly places. And this must be so because if we are one with Him in spirit (1Corinthians 6:17) our spirit must be united with Him wherever he is, while His spirit also is united with us wherever we are.
If you want to begin to open your spiritual eyes try this: turn on some worship music and spend some time seeking God in prayer; establish an atmosphere of worship, one that is inviting to the Holy Spirit. Then simply close your eyes and imagine God. See yourself standing before Him, think about what He looks like, and watch what He’s doing. If you find it helpful read some passages in Ezekiel or Revelation that describe God. If you see something you’re not sure of, pray about it, perhaps the Lord is showing you some characteristic about Himself, or revealing something about you. Spend time looking at Him; if it is good for no other purpose it can be a form of worship between yourself and Him. We cannot appreciate anything unless we perceive it.
Many of us have notions that our imagination is of the sinful nature, but it is a tool that God has given to every person who has ever lived. Is it not possible that this is because God wants to reveal Himself to His people?
As I begin, I think it wise to determine some of the ways that the visionary has been manifest in scripture. I’ll start with defining the difference between a physical manifestation of the spiritual, and an open vision. These two examples are not the only expressions of interaction with the spiritual realm visually, but they are certainly the most commonly realized, and further, the most widely confused with one another.
A physical manifestation of the spiritual realm is when some spiritual entity somehow manifests itself in the physical realm. This is not actually a ‘visionary’ experience at all, but it is something which can visually be seen. The first scriptural example of this (unless you believe the serpent in the Garden of Eden was actually a physical manifestation of Satan, which may or may not be so), is Genesis 6:1-4. This is a fairly controversial passage, which speaks of angels manifesting themselves in the earth and marrying women. Their offspring were the nephelim. Now there is a clear distinction between this instance and a vision, the angels actually had physical sexual relations with women; they did not simply became visually discernable. There are other manifestations similar to this throughout the old testament, where a spiritual being of some sort was physically present (Gen 32:24-30; Josh. 5:13-15). Even as Moses led the Israelites through the desert there was a physical cloud present (Ex 13:21&22). Then in the new testament we know of at least two accounts in the life of Jesus, one at the baptism of Jesus when the Spirit descended upon Him ‘bodily,’ (Luke 3:22) and then on the mount of transfiguration where Moses and Elijah stood physically before Jesus. In fact the birth and life of Jesus Christ itself is a physical manifestation of the spiritual realm, as God ‘became flesh and made His dwelling among us.’ (John 1:14)
An open vision on the other hand is an experience in which someone sees a vision of something that is happening in the spiritual realm with his or her physical eyes. This is different from a physical manifestation of the spiritual realm in that it is something not happening physically, but certainly is happening spiritually. Paul the Apostle, at his conversion saw an open vision of Jesus which is described in Acts 9:3-6.
We know it was an open vision and not a physical manifestation because in verse seven it states that: ‘The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.’ If Jesus were physically manifest, everyone would have seen him, just as they did before He ascended; all who stood in his presence then could see his physical body standing with them. Some other examples of an open vision can be found in Isaiah 6, all throughout the book of Ezekiel, and the entire book of Revelation beginning in chapter four. In an open vision a person may actually feel or believe he or she is physically experiencing something because it seems so real to them (and in fact it is really happening, yet within the spirit and not physically). For example Paul describes an experience that was PROBABLY an open vision in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. He states that the experience was so real that he was unsure whether he was physically there or only spiritually present.
Dreams are another kind of visionary experience. Obviously not all dreams are visions, however prophetic dreams such as experienced by Israel’s son Joseph (the baker and cup bearer), and the Pharaoh (Genesis 37:5-7, 9 41:1-7) could certainly be considered visions. Dreams, however, take place in the mind, they are not seen with physical eyes like an open vision, but they are viewed on the ‘imagination screen’ so to speak. It is still ‘seeing in the spirit,’ only the venue through which it is seen is that of the mind rather than the eyes. A person’s imagination works in the same way that dreams do, simply images and pictures you see in your minds’ eye. Some people call this ‘seeing with the eyes of your spirit.’
One misconception that can be made about dreams is that they only come when we sleep. However in Genesis 31:10-13 Jacob says:
And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. KJV
This passage clearly states that Jacob had a visionary dream, while he was awake. The Hebrew word for ‘dream’ is quite distinct in this instance from the word for ‘vision,’ but it is clearly a prophetic visionary experience.
There are many accounts throughout the gospels that infer that Jesus saw things in the supernatural. One story early in the book of John, chronicles an account of Jesus spiritual perception.
John 1:45-49
Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus prophetically describes Nathanael’s personality to him as he approaches, declaring him to be a man of integrity. Nathanael then asks how Jesus would know this of him and Jesus replies that he saw him before Philip went and got him.
For the longest time I did not understand this passage. If Jesus saw Nathanael, why is it that Nathanael is so impressed that Jesus remembered him? Because he was able to ‘prophetically’ discern his integrity? Hardly; if he did see him physically, Jesus could have inquired about what people thought of ‘that man under the fig tree.’ The only reason that Nathanael would be impressed enough to declare that Jesus is the Son of God is if something about what He said in this passage was supernatural.
If Nathanael had been under a fig tree in a public place, and many people saw him there, there would be nothing surprising about what Jesus said. If, rather, Nathanael had been in the wilderness or outside of the city where no one could see him, he would therefore know that Jesus had never physically been at the place where he had been sitting. This would infer that Jesus had a vision of Nathanael sitting under a fig tree, and that vision was accompanied by a word of knowledge regarding the man’s integrity. Now that would be amazing! That would be something worth noting as a powerful supernatural experience.
From the context of the vision, it is probable that Jesus had a ‘dream’ in which he saw Nathanael under the fig tree. I say it was probably this kind of vision because what He saw in this case was not something that happened in the spiritual realm (since, remember, an ‘open vision’ is seeing something in the spiritual realm with your physical eyes), but something that had happened in the natural.
And Jesus follows up the conversation with a promise to Nathanael, beginning in verse fifty he says:
"You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Essentially Christ is saying: ‘You believe I am the Son of God, simply because I had a vision of you before I met you? The visions that you will have shall be far more powerful and amazing than that!’
Jesus promised other believers that they would have visionary experiences when he proclaimed in Mark 9:1 "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." Clearly this speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which was at that time still yet to come, however the ‘seeing’ is also strongly implied here, and this did happen. For when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, they saw cloven tongues: ‘like as of fire’ (KJV) come to rest on each of them.
And in John 14:19-21 Jesus declares to his disciples and to all believers: “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Indeed, the King James of this says: ‘will manifest myself to him.’
So, here in John we have a clear promise that we can see Jesus. But how?! Jesus will not be physically manifest in the earth again until the end of the age. So how do we see Him?
Matt 13:15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
One of the biggest keys to opening your spiritual eyes is to open our hearts to Him. Does this mean that if someone doesn’t have a vision right away that their hearts are calloused before the Lord? Absolutely not, but to many of us the notion of seeing a dream or vision of God seems so far out of grasp that we would not presume to think ourselves worthy, but John 14:21 negates that; stating that Jesus will show himself to ANYONE who loves him, that is: any of His followers.
Jesus said that He only did what He could see His Father doing (John 5:19); if we are to be like Jesus, should we not spend time watching God with the eyes of our spirit so that we can see what He is doing, and so do it?
Another thing that seems to hinder us is that we frankly don’t know how to see in the spirit. Sometimes there are open visions, but these are generally sovereign acts, when God chooses to open our physical eyes to Him. However, even secular psychologists will tell you that you can control your dreams. Does this mean that you can control God in visions? Not at all, but to dream is a gift bestowed on all mankind, where an open vision, as I said, occurs at God’s sovereign choice. Everyone has a lens with which to see Jesus, or He’d have been lying when he said that He would show Himself to us. In any visionary experience, whether open vision or dream, our spiritual senses are heightened. The Word states in Ephesians 2:6 that we have already been raised with Christ and seated with Him in heavenly places. And this must be so because if we are one with Him in spirit (1Corinthians 6:17) our spirit must be united with Him wherever he is, while His spirit also is united with us wherever we are.
If you want to begin to open your spiritual eyes try this: turn on some worship music and spend some time seeking God in prayer; establish an atmosphere of worship, one that is inviting to the Holy Spirit. Then simply close your eyes and imagine God. See yourself standing before Him, think about what He looks like, and watch what He’s doing. If you find it helpful read some passages in Ezekiel or Revelation that describe God. If you see something you’re not sure of, pray about it, perhaps the Lord is showing you some characteristic about Himself, or revealing something about you. Spend time looking at Him; if it is good for no other purpose it can be a form of worship between yourself and Him. We cannot appreciate anything unless we perceive it.
Many of us have notions that our imagination is of the sinful nature, but it is a tool that God has given to every person who has ever lived. Is it not possible that this is because God wants to reveal Himself to His people?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Eph. 2:6
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
1 Cor 6:17
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
1 Thess 5:10
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
Col 3:1&2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
2Corinthains 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
How can we ‘fix our eyes on what is unseen’? In John 14:19-21, Jesus said:
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
Even so, how is it that the world cannot see him, but those who love Jesus can?
2 Cor 4:3-6
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Col 3&4
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Luke 17:20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
1 Cor 6:15&19
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit…?
2 Cor 1:21-22
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Eph 1:13-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.
1 Cor 2:6-16
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"- 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Col 1:25-27
I have become its [the church] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness- 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Col 2:2-4
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
John 14:25-26
All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Col 2:9-10
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
2 Cor 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
We are blessed beyond the blessings of the disciples, though many today proclaim things like: ‘I would love to have walked with Jesus when he was in the earth.’ How much we are missing if we think this way! Paul the apostle never – as far as we know – even met Jesus while he walked the earth, and yet his revelation of Him through Holy Spirit was so great that an enormous percentage of the New Testament was written by or about this late blooming apostle. And we know from Galatians 2:1-10 that none of his ministry was taken from the teachings of the apostles who had been with Jesus; rather Paul through revelation and the Old Testament Scriptures discovered Jesus powerfully!
We can know Jesus more intimately than the disciples ever could while He was in the earth, we have Christ INSIDE of us, if we are believers. And we should be missing nothing that the disciples learned from Him because: John 14:16-21
…I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
1 Cor 6:17
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
1 Thess 5:10
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
Col 3:1&2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
2Corinthains 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
How can we ‘fix our eyes on what is unseen’? In John 14:19-21, Jesus said:
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
Even so, how is it that the world cannot see him, but those who love Jesus can?
2 Cor 4:3-6
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Col 3&4
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Luke 17:20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
1 Cor 6:15&19
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit…?
2 Cor 1:21-22
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Eph 1:13-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.
1 Cor 2:6-16
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"- 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Col 1:25-27
I have become its [the church] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness- 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Col 2:2-4
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
John 14:25-26
All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Col 2:9-10
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
2 Cor 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
We are blessed beyond the blessings of the disciples, though many today proclaim things like: ‘I would love to have walked with Jesus when he was in the earth.’ How much we are missing if we think this way! Paul the apostle never – as far as we know – even met Jesus while he walked the earth, and yet his revelation of Him through Holy Spirit was so great that an enormous percentage of the New Testament was written by or about this late blooming apostle. And we know from Galatians 2:1-10 that none of his ministry was taken from the teachings of the apostles who had been with Jesus; rather Paul through revelation and the Old Testament Scriptures discovered Jesus powerfully!
We can know Jesus more intimately than the disciples ever could while He was in the earth, we have Christ INSIDE of us, if we are believers. And we should be missing nothing that the disciples learned from Him because: John 14:16-21
…I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The Day of Judgement
Isa 13:2-3
Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath — those who rejoice in my triumph. (NIV)
Why do we not live victoriously as we should? Why do we tremble with lack, when there is our God? In His hand are our provisions, in His hand is our wealth. We need not toil to seek it from the nations, but His hand holds the key to our blessings, to our destiny.
Are we not the people of His pasture? Are we not the children He loves? Yet we strive and fear trembling before worldly masters. Do you not know we are seated with Him in the heavenlies? (Eph 2:6)
Do not fret, or fear, but call on Him in faith. We are indeed saved by grace through faith. We are His people, therefore the land should be well.
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (NIV)
If we, the people of God humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from OUR wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven, forgive OUR sin, and heal our land. We must stop blaming the lost for the condition of our land; if we believe that the bible is the word of God we must believe that this is true: it is OUR responsibility; if we walk rightly before God and seek Him in prayer He will heal the land.
So often I hear people proclaiming that because of the wickedness of the gay rights activists, this or that will happen, or because of the liberal agenda; because of this group of sinners or that group of sinners devastation will occur. No, it is on us: the people of God.
If judgment comes it is not because of Joe-blow unbeliever, but those of us who should – and profess to – know better. And judgment always comes first to the house of God. Just read the book of Malachi. And if we are walking uprightly and seeking Him truly in prayer, then we should not fear; yet we know that there is complacency in us, don’t we?
On the Day of Judgment we will be held accountable for the condition of the land we live in. Why? Because if we who call ourselves by His name seek His face and turn from OUR wicked ways, He would hear us and heal our land.
Even the scriptures say of the end times that the day will not come until we see what? The abomination that causes desolation (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14) and what is ‘desolation’? It is of course the word ‘desolate,’ which means devoid or deserted. So then the day will not come until an abomination causes desolation where? God’s temple! Thus the end cannot come until the church has become desolate: it is on the people of God to walk with Him for the healing of our land!
What we need is not great political drive, but spiritual drive, to press in to a place of intimacy with the Father.
Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath — those who rejoice in my triumph. (NIV)
Why do we not live victoriously as we should? Why do we tremble with lack, when there is our God? In His hand are our provisions, in His hand is our wealth. We need not toil to seek it from the nations, but His hand holds the key to our blessings, to our destiny.
Are we not the people of His pasture? Are we not the children He loves? Yet we strive and fear trembling before worldly masters. Do you not know we are seated with Him in the heavenlies? (Eph 2:6)
Do not fret, or fear, but call on Him in faith. We are indeed saved by grace through faith. We are His people, therefore the land should be well.
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (NIV)
If we, the people of God humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from OUR wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven, forgive OUR sin, and heal our land. We must stop blaming the lost for the condition of our land; if we believe that the bible is the word of God we must believe that this is true: it is OUR responsibility; if we walk rightly before God and seek Him in prayer He will heal the land.
So often I hear people proclaiming that because of the wickedness of the gay rights activists, this or that will happen, or because of the liberal agenda; because of this group of sinners or that group of sinners devastation will occur. No, it is on us: the people of God.
If judgment comes it is not because of Joe-blow unbeliever, but those of us who should – and profess to – know better. And judgment always comes first to the house of God. Just read the book of Malachi. And if we are walking uprightly and seeking Him truly in prayer, then we should not fear; yet we know that there is complacency in us, don’t we?
On the Day of Judgment we will be held accountable for the condition of the land we live in. Why? Because if we who call ourselves by His name seek His face and turn from OUR wicked ways, He would hear us and heal our land.
Even the scriptures say of the end times that the day will not come until we see what? The abomination that causes desolation (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14) and what is ‘desolation’? It is of course the word ‘desolate,’ which means devoid or deserted. So then the day will not come until an abomination causes desolation where? God’s temple! Thus the end cannot come until the church has become desolate: it is on the people of God to walk with Him for the healing of our land!
What we need is not great political drive, but spiritual drive, to press in to a place of intimacy with the Father.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Jesus Died to Free us from Religion
I am not user friendly. I am a sinner. I am a worldy man. My lips are unclean, and I speak things I should not.
When I began to come to terms with these things and give them to God, religion then began to take ahold of me. I did not see it at first but I became filled with all kinds of self-righteous evil; I began to learn the Word of God, which puffed up my head, and made me a know it all. Religion was infiltrating me, I would find myself not associating with people who were not 'sanctified,' and judging people for their beliefs. I was mistaken and believed that being right was important.
Jesus died to save us from religion.
God created man; man sinned and was therefore imperfect, no longer able to enter God's presence for God was perfect. Then God created religion, He set in place a list of rules that man had to follow in order to be Holy in His sight; I believe this was mainly to point out the worthlessness of religion, which man clings to, because NO ONE was capable of following the rules. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
Finally God sent His one and only son, Jesus Christ. Christ came to fulfill the Law that God had set in place. Jesus was the only one to ever successfully follow any religion flawlessly. HE DIED TO SAVE US FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH; THE LAW OF MOSES. CHRIST DIED TO SAVE US FROM RELIGION.
"because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)
I am a sinner. So are you. We were eternally separated from God because we can never act perfectly Righteous. Jesus did what we couldn't so that we don't have to. Now we have free access to God, all we need to do is believe in Jesus' sacrifice for us, and *poof* we can be in God's presence; when we believe in Him and accept that its all we need to do to be righteous, it lets God kill religion in us, thereby we die with Christ, and since we die with Him, and He united Himself to us in death, God sees only Jesus blood, which makes us clean when we go to Him. Drop the religion; it died with Christ. Don't falsify Jesus, or make God to be a liar by putting rules on people. And don't try to be right, that's God's job. Jesus said:
"my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mathew 11:30) And what was this yoke, this burden Jesus placed upon us? It was this: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34) Jesus took religion and gave us love in its place. He also said: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35) By this I'd say: If we're getting on peoples' case all of the time because they're not 'right,' we're not loving people as we ought; and if we're not loving people as we ought, I may wonder: "If Christians are known by their love, and I am slandering and being cruel to people, am I really a Christian?"
The reason that it only takes faith to be a Christian, is that faith is all God needs to transform us into His image. If you dissagree with someone: love them. If you feel better than someone: love them. If you someone doesn't share your faith: love them. It is God's job to decide their eternity, not yours. Religion is dead, this means all we have to do is believe, talk to God so that the Holy Spirit can speak for Himself; and LAST OF ALL, if God tells you to say something, say it. If you THINK He told you to say something, and it is demeaning He probably DIDN'T tell you to say it.
Just remember: Religion died with Jesus - Jesus came back to life, religion didn't. You're saved by grace.
When I began to come to terms with these things and give them to God, religion then began to take ahold of me. I did not see it at first but I became filled with all kinds of self-righteous evil; I began to learn the Word of God, which puffed up my head, and made me a know it all. Religion was infiltrating me, I would find myself not associating with people who were not 'sanctified,' and judging people for their beliefs. I was mistaken and believed that being right was important.
Jesus died to save us from religion.
God created man; man sinned and was therefore imperfect, no longer able to enter God's presence for God was perfect. Then God created religion, He set in place a list of rules that man had to follow in order to be Holy in His sight; I believe this was mainly to point out the worthlessness of religion, which man clings to, because NO ONE was capable of following the rules. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
Finally God sent His one and only son, Jesus Christ. Christ came to fulfill the Law that God had set in place. Jesus was the only one to ever successfully follow any religion flawlessly. HE DIED TO SAVE US FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH; THE LAW OF MOSES. CHRIST DIED TO SAVE US FROM RELIGION.
"because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)
I am a sinner. So are you. We were eternally separated from God because we can never act perfectly Righteous. Jesus did what we couldn't so that we don't have to. Now we have free access to God, all we need to do is believe in Jesus' sacrifice for us, and *poof* we can be in God's presence; when we believe in Him and accept that its all we need to do to be righteous, it lets God kill religion in us, thereby we die with Christ, and since we die with Him, and He united Himself to us in death, God sees only Jesus blood, which makes us clean when we go to Him. Drop the religion; it died with Christ. Don't falsify Jesus, or make God to be a liar by putting rules on people. And don't try to be right, that's God's job. Jesus said:
"my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mathew 11:30) And what was this yoke, this burden Jesus placed upon us? It was this: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34) Jesus took religion and gave us love in its place. He also said: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35) By this I'd say: If we're getting on peoples' case all of the time because they're not 'right,' we're not loving people as we ought; and if we're not loving people as we ought, I may wonder: "If Christians are known by their love, and I am slandering and being cruel to people, am I really a Christian?"
The reason that it only takes faith to be a Christian, is that faith is all God needs to transform us into His image. If you dissagree with someone: love them. If you feel better than someone: love them. If you someone doesn't share your faith: love them. It is God's job to decide their eternity, not yours. Religion is dead, this means all we have to do is believe, talk to God so that the Holy Spirit can speak for Himself; and LAST OF ALL, if God tells you to say something, say it. If you THINK He told you to say something, and it is demeaning He probably DIDN'T tell you to say it.
Just remember: Religion died with Jesus - Jesus came back to life, religion didn't. You're saved by grace.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Five-Fold Ministry
Eph 4:11-13
It was he [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (NIV)
If Christ did give some to be apostles, some to be prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, why is it that we see in the church today mainly ‘pastors?’ We generally see no apostles, prophets, evangelists or teachers, though our ‘pastors’ are required to fulfill all of these positions simultaneously.
The ‘gifts,’ or callings listed above are what many refer to as the ‘five-fold ministry,’ that is to say that there are five ‘positions’ so to speak, which are required for the fulfilling of what ministry? (V. 12 & 13) to prepare God’s people for works of service… until we all reach unity in the faith… attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
This seems a very important and foundational call in ministry; indeed rather than ‘unity in the faith’ often see a whole lot of: ‘quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.’ (2 Cor 12:20-21 NIV)
Now certainly the above mentioned things don’t usually manifest within a singular church body all at once (though upon occasion…) rather I speak of the body of Christ as a whole. Have we not fully factionalized? Do we not have denomination upon denomination of believers who are unwilling to work together to evangelize their own cities? Rather we slander, and gossip over doctrines, we are jealous when something great happens for another church in the area that doesn’t believe as we do.
Some of the things that separate us so strongly are things like: how people should be baptized, which translation of the bible to use, prosperity theology, church government, the importance of ‘sacraments’ (the use of the word sacraments :) ), etc., etc.
Point is they generally don’t have to do with any real GREAT issue of importance in the faith of Christ, whose message is: ‘Believe in me; love one another, and reach out to the lost in love.’
Jesus said that they would know we are His disciples for what? Our love for one another (John 13:35). Let me point out that often we drop the last part of this sentence; we say, ‘They will know we are his disciples by our love,’ and leave it at that. But what does the word say? By our love FOR ONE ANOTHER. If we are disciples will we love the lost? Yes. Will we love our enemies? Yes. Will we love all men? Yes. But Jesus said that the outward sign for those who do not believe would not be our love for them, but our love FOR ONE ANOTHER. If we do not demonstrate love for one another, how can we ever expect to reach the lost?
Indeed how often it is that non-believers will refuse to come to church not because they refuse the teaching of Christ, but because they refuse it from people who do not love one another. I’ve been told one thing on numerous occasions when doing street evangelism: “There are just too many denominations…” They’re basically saying we are too over-opinionated to be united, if there is no unity, what is the point in church anyways?
Unfortunately we have no argument against this; they are absolutely right, what is the point in even going to church if there is no unity? Is not the point of church to be ‘the body of Christ’? But because one denomination acts more like an eye than a foot we disassociate them (1 Cor. 12:14-20).
Now that I’ve established some points of the problem, let’s go back to five-fold ministry. First I must point out that I’m not advocating that we all move to an apostolic denomination, but pointing out that we need to understand the parts of ministry which God has instituted for our growth into unity and the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. The point here is not about titles but about the work of ministry which God has called to the church.
So then, let’s go chronologically and look first at the call of an apostle. The word apostle comes from:
apostolos (ap-os'-tol-os); a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ ["apostle"] (with miraculous powers)
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
As you can see the word, specifically means delegate, ambassador, and official commissioner of Christ. So then, we have first all someone who is ‘sent’ of God, second, a commissioner is a governmental, or administrative head. So then there are two specific roles for an apostle 1) he is an ambassador of Christ 2) he is an administrative head of the church.
Often we seem to believe that there were only twelve apostles in scripture with the addition of Paul (as one abnormally born (1 Cor. 15:8)). However, the bible refers to many other people as apostles than just those thirteen. For example: Acts 14:14 calls both Paul and Barnabas apostles; in 1 Thess. 2:6 Paul groups not only himself but also, at least, Silas as apostles (since referring to his accompaniment which had gone to Thessalonica (which included himself, Silas and Timothy) he says: As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you… (1 Thess 2:6 NIV)); Romans 16:7 states that ‘Andronicus’ and ‘Junias’ are “outstanding among the apostles.”
Thus here are a few other mentioning’s of apostles other than the twelve apostles; again let me point out that I am not attempting a denominational movement toward apostolic church hood, but pointing out that the call for the five-fold ministry still exists today.
Now then if we look historically at the commonality between the apostles we find some distinct similarities. 1) Each of the apostles planted, or helped to plant churches. 2) Each of the apostles were overseers of churches (generally those that they planted.) So then, in modern lingo an ‘apostle’ is much like a missionary. That is not to say that all of the missionaries we send out are apostles, since not all plant and oversee churches; it is also not to say that all apostles are what we usually consider ‘missionaries.’ For example, if we were from the early church we would probably consider the apostle Paul a missionary since he traveled the world, and won many gentiles to the faith. The apostle Peter, however, did most of his ministry as an apostle within the confines of Jewry (Gal 2:8).
The apostles are church fathers; they have a fathering spirit toward the church which they love as their children. This is exemplified in many of the epistles. In 1 Corinthians 4:14-15 The apostle Paul wrote: I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (NIV)
Or 2 Corinthians 12:14: Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. (NIV)
Certainly the apostle John calls those he writes to ‘dear children’ nine times in the book of 1 John alone. And to hear of what the apostles did for the church, enduring beatings, torture, mocking and martyrdom. Surely they endured all of this as worship to God, but it was also to do what? Build His church; they did not go out and suffer simply so that they could ‘share the sufferings of Christ’ but they shared in His sufferings by loving the church as He did. If it were not to build the church then their sufferings and martyrdoms were without purpose.
So then to sum up we know that apostles, both by the very definition of the word, and by historical account were church fathers: planters and overseers.
The prophet; the prophet is probably the most scripturally defined, and yet the most seemingly mysterious callings of those within the five-fold ministry. We often assume that the prophet’s sole purpose is to wait on a lofty mountain somewhere listening for the voice of God and then come down and shout it at the people. Yet what can we really wean from scripture about a prophet’s role?
prophetes (prof-ay'-tace); a foreteller ("prophet"); by analogy, an inspired speaker; by extension, a poet
We get some glimpses into the role of a prophet from the New Testament, but truly a much richer and fuller depiction of them can be found in the Old Testament. There are several things that mark the prophet, I’ll choose to forego the stereotypical points having to do with the supernatural, and move right to the make-up of a prophet.
Thus chiefly we see in scripture that a prophet’s job is to make the will of God known. Prophet’s are people whose absolute desire is to see the will of God done. Certainly there are times when a prophet is resistant to God’s will (see Jonah, or the later years in the life of Elijah), but when walking in the fullness of their calling, and crucifying the flesh their desire is to see God’s will be done.
Now apostles also have this desire, but as we discussed apostles have fathering spirits, so often they can discern the will of God, and their reaction, is ‘how can I move the body in that direction?’ Whereas a prophet can discern God’s will and their initial reaction is: “That’s the way I’m going and no one’s going to stop me.”
Thus it could be said that apostles empathize with the father heart of God, and prophets have a greater empathy with the direction and purpose of God; His will in the earth. Certainly both apostles and prophets have a desire to see both His heart fulfilled and His will done, but each comes from a slightly different perspective. We can see that God has established the church much like the trinity, every part working in unity, but each with their own definitive purpose.
For this reason prophets generally have a great desire for church reformation. And for the most part, they are unconcerned with how comfortable those around them are with that reformation. A prophet can discern the will of God and proclaim it, if someone doesn’t like it that’s their problem. Now that isn’t to say that a prophet is without compassion, but simply that his passion is so strongly to the service of God that he or she is unwilling to be hindered by nay-Sayers of what they believe to be the word of God, and usually for a good cause. Often the prophet can discern what may happen if the congregation does not follow God’s will on a certain issue.
A perfect example of this can be found in the boo of Exodus, the prophet Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai, where the Lord was revealing His will to him for the Israelite people; when the people of Israel began to rebel God told Moses that He would kill them and make him (Moses) into a great nation (Ex. 32:9-10). Of course then, when Moses came down the mountain, he came in a great rage, not because he didn’t love the Israelites, but precisely because he did, and knew what God wanted to do with them because of their actions.
I think of the evangelist the church has somewhat more clear of a view. Evangelists are people who want to see the lost saved. They have a special desire to see those who are without the grace and mercy of God to come to a place within the body where they share fellowship with the Lord.
euaggelistes (yoo-ang-ghel-is-tace'); a preacher of the gospel
Evangelists are key on the point of salvation; while they consider spiritual growth important, it is not their passion to see the young in the faith grow as apostles do.
Evangelists are very relationship oriented, and often are somewhat of ‘misfits’ in the church. This is precisely because they are not as concerned about the affairs of church politics, or direction as apostles and prophets are. Often evangelists have a very ‘street people’ sort of look. Some of the most effective evangelists I’ve known have long ‘rock star’ hair, and tattoos or piercings. Now that isn’t to say that evangelists are image driven, but they see the importance of being approachable to a lost and hurting world. Rather than being concerned for the growth and direction of church, they have a greater love for the homeless man they see sleeping on a park bench, the stoners and witches, homosexuals and prisoners, and they get right in among them and share the love of Jesus.
Now we’ve gotten to the part of the leadership we are most familiar with: Pastors.
poimen (poy-mane'); of uncertain affinity; a shepherd (literally or figuratively)
A pastor is usually the overseer of a single congregation; his concerns are for the welfare of those in his congregation; this becomes very clear if we spend any amount of time learning about shepherds, or even reading Jesus teachings’ on them. A pastor often operates in the gift of administration, as he needs to organize different events, oversee small groups and bible studies, etc. On top of being the corporate shepherd, pastors are often counselors for members of the church.
There can be, however, somewhat of a dichotomy in the ministry for pastors. What I mean by that is this: since they do have a shepherding heart the pastors are very concerned with the needs and emotions of the individuals in the congregation. It is because of this compassion that pastors are often hesitant to move in a direction that would cause the congregation to lose members. That is certainly not to say that pastors are push-over’s, or that they are too ‘seeker friendly’ to follow through with God’s will, but that pastors go through a greater deal of strain than probably any of the other five-fold ministers do when it comes to making decisions that may offend or expel members of the congregation. Even as Jesus, speaking to shepherds, told the parable of the lost sheep, and how the shepherd would leave the ninety-nine to save the one (Matt 18:12-14), so pastors are much concerned with each and every member of their congregation.
Teachers:
didaskalos (did-as'-kal-os); an instructor (genitive case or specially)
This calling is fairly straightforward; a teacher is someone who teaches, believe it or not. Generally in the church today pastors are those solely responsible for performing this role, though we can see even in the context of this passage that this was not the case in the early church, or why would Paul have distinguished teachers from pastors? That is certainly not to say that it is a bad thing for a pastor to teach, but simply that there is a distinction between the two roles. A modern pastor has to be concerned not only with the welfare of his congregation, but also has the duty of preparing lessons, this can be a good thing in that the pastor may have a better understanding of what the greater part of the body needs to learn BECAUSE of the fact that they are operating in the role of a pastor; yet it can also be a weakness, as there may be times when a pastor is performing his duties by caring for some tragedy that has occurred in the church, or other administrative duties and is stretched for time to prepare a lesson for the congregation. In such a case the pastor should have teachers that he can call on in a moment’s notice to prepare a sermon for the congregation.
I should also break down the difference here between teachers, and preachers. Generally we have no real understanding of the difference between teachers and preachers in the church, we simply assume that these are simply different words for the same thing. However, preaching is much more emotionally based, where teaching is instructionally based.
A teacher may get in front of a congregation and break down a particular passage of scripture and look at, what each part of it really means, and instruct a congregation on how to apply it to their lives. Or perhaps he may write a disclosure of the different elements of the five-fold ministry :).
A preacher on the other hand would get in front of a congregation and share something spiritually uplifting, perhaps a prophecy, or revelation. Rather than instruct, the preacher would inspire the congregation: get them really charged up.
Now it must be noted that each of the five-fold ministry has its own place in the church. As the passage proclaims, each of these callings are: to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
Thus each member of the five-fold ministry should have their opportunity to address, instruct, teach or charge up the body.
It was he [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (NIV)
If Christ did give some to be apostles, some to be prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, why is it that we see in the church today mainly ‘pastors?’ We generally see no apostles, prophets, evangelists or teachers, though our ‘pastors’ are required to fulfill all of these positions simultaneously.
The ‘gifts,’ or callings listed above are what many refer to as the ‘five-fold ministry,’ that is to say that there are five ‘positions’ so to speak, which are required for the fulfilling of what ministry? (V. 12 & 13) to prepare God’s people for works of service… until we all reach unity in the faith… attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
This seems a very important and foundational call in ministry; indeed rather than ‘unity in the faith’ often see a whole lot of: ‘quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.’ (2 Cor 12:20-21 NIV)
Now certainly the above mentioned things don’t usually manifest within a singular church body all at once (though upon occasion…) rather I speak of the body of Christ as a whole. Have we not fully factionalized? Do we not have denomination upon denomination of believers who are unwilling to work together to evangelize their own cities? Rather we slander, and gossip over doctrines, we are jealous when something great happens for another church in the area that doesn’t believe as we do.
Some of the things that separate us so strongly are things like: how people should be baptized, which translation of the bible to use, prosperity theology, church government, the importance of ‘sacraments’ (the use of the word sacraments :) ), etc., etc.
Point is they generally don’t have to do with any real GREAT issue of importance in the faith of Christ, whose message is: ‘Believe in me; love one another, and reach out to the lost in love.’
Jesus said that they would know we are His disciples for what? Our love for one another (John 13:35). Let me point out that often we drop the last part of this sentence; we say, ‘They will know we are his disciples by our love,’ and leave it at that. But what does the word say? By our love FOR ONE ANOTHER. If we are disciples will we love the lost? Yes. Will we love our enemies? Yes. Will we love all men? Yes. But Jesus said that the outward sign for those who do not believe would not be our love for them, but our love FOR ONE ANOTHER. If we do not demonstrate love for one another, how can we ever expect to reach the lost?
Indeed how often it is that non-believers will refuse to come to church not because they refuse the teaching of Christ, but because they refuse it from people who do not love one another. I’ve been told one thing on numerous occasions when doing street evangelism: “There are just too many denominations…” They’re basically saying we are too over-opinionated to be united, if there is no unity, what is the point in church anyways?
Unfortunately we have no argument against this; they are absolutely right, what is the point in even going to church if there is no unity? Is not the point of church to be ‘the body of Christ’? But because one denomination acts more like an eye than a foot we disassociate them (1 Cor. 12:14-20).
Now that I’ve established some points of the problem, let’s go back to five-fold ministry. First I must point out that I’m not advocating that we all move to an apostolic denomination, but pointing out that we need to understand the parts of ministry which God has instituted for our growth into unity and the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. The point here is not about titles but about the work of ministry which God has called to the church.
So then, let’s go chronologically and look first at the call of an apostle. The word apostle comes from:
apostolos (ap-os'-tol-os); a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ ["apostle"] (with miraculous powers)
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
As you can see the word, specifically means delegate, ambassador, and official commissioner of Christ. So then, we have first all someone who is ‘sent’ of God, second, a commissioner is a governmental, or administrative head. So then there are two specific roles for an apostle 1) he is an ambassador of Christ 2) he is an administrative head of the church.
Often we seem to believe that there were only twelve apostles in scripture with the addition of Paul (as one abnormally born (1 Cor. 15:8)). However, the bible refers to many other people as apostles than just those thirteen. For example: Acts 14:14 calls both Paul and Barnabas apostles; in 1 Thess. 2:6 Paul groups not only himself but also, at least, Silas as apostles (since referring to his accompaniment which had gone to Thessalonica (which included himself, Silas and Timothy) he says: As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you… (1 Thess 2:6 NIV)); Romans 16:7 states that ‘Andronicus’ and ‘Junias’ are “outstanding among the apostles.”
Thus here are a few other mentioning’s of apostles other than the twelve apostles; again let me point out that I am not attempting a denominational movement toward apostolic church hood, but pointing out that the call for the five-fold ministry still exists today.
Now then if we look historically at the commonality between the apostles we find some distinct similarities. 1) Each of the apostles planted, or helped to plant churches. 2) Each of the apostles were overseers of churches (generally those that they planted.) So then, in modern lingo an ‘apostle’ is much like a missionary. That is not to say that all of the missionaries we send out are apostles, since not all plant and oversee churches; it is also not to say that all apostles are what we usually consider ‘missionaries.’ For example, if we were from the early church we would probably consider the apostle Paul a missionary since he traveled the world, and won many gentiles to the faith. The apostle Peter, however, did most of his ministry as an apostle within the confines of Jewry (Gal 2:8).
The apostles are church fathers; they have a fathering spirit toward the church which they love as their children. This is exemplified in many of the epistles. In 1 Corinthians 4:14-15 The apostle Paul wrote: I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (NIV)
Or 2 Corinthians 12:14: Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. (NIV)
Certainly the apostle John calls those he writes to ‘dear children’ nine times in the book of 1 John alone. And to hear of what the apostles did for the church, enduring beatings, torture, mocking and martyrdom. Surely they endured all of this as worship to God, but it was also to do what? Build His church; they did not go out and suffer simply so that they could ‘share the sufferings of Christ’ but they shared in His sufferings by loving the church as He did. If it were not to build the church then their sufferings and martyrdoms were without purpose.
So then to sum up we know that apostles, both by the very definition of the word, and by historical account were church fathers: planters and overseers.
The prophet; the prophet is probably the most scripturally defined, and yet the most seemingly mysterious callings of those within the five-fold ministry. We often assume that the prophet’s sole purpose is to wait on a lofty mountain somewhere listening for the voice of God and then come down and shout it at the people. Yet what can we really wean from scripture about a prophet’s role?
prophetes (prof-ay'-tace); a foreteller ("prophet"); by analogy, an inspired speaker; by extension, a poet
We get some glimpses into the role of a prophet from the New Testament, but truly a much richer and fuller depiction of them can be found in the Old Testament. There are several things that mark the prophet, I’ll choose to forego the stereotypical points having to do with the supernatural, and move right to the make-up of a prophet.
Thus chiefly we see in scripture that a prophet’s job is to make the will of God known. Prophet’s are people whose absolute desire is to see the will of God done. Certainly there are times when a prophet is resistant to God’s will (see Jonah, or the later years in the life of Elijah), but when walking in the fullness of their calling, and crucifying the flesh their desire is to see God’s will be done.
Now apostles also have this desire, but as we discussed apostles have fathering spirits, so often they can discern the will of God, and their reaction, is ‘how can I move the body in that direction?’ Whereas a prophet can discern God’s will and their initial reaction is: “That’s the way I’m going and no one’s going to stop me.”
Thus it could be said that apostles empathize with the father heart of God, and prophets have a greater empathy with the direction and purpose of God; His will in the earth. Certainly both apostles and prophets have a desire to see both His heart fulfilled and His will done, but each comes from a slightly different perspective. We can see that God has established the church much like the trinity, every part working in unity, but each with their own definitive purpose.
For this reason prophets generally have a great desire for church reformation. And for the most part, they are unconcerned with how comfortable those around them are with that reformation. A prophet can discern the will of God and proclaim it, if someone doesn’t like it that’s their problem. Now that isn’t to say that a prophet is without compassion, but simply that his passion is so strongly to the service of God that he or she is unwilling to be hindered by nay-Sayers of what they believe to be the word of God, and usually for a good cause. Often the prophet can discern what may happen if the congregation does not follow God’s will on a certain issue.
A perfect example of this can be found in the boo of Exodus, the prophet Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai, where the Lord was revealing His will to him for the Israelite people; when the people of Israel began to rebel God told Moses that He would kill them and make him (Moses) into a great nation (Ex. 32:9-10). Of course then, when Moses came down the mountain, he came in a great rage, not because he didn’t love the Israelites, but precisely because he did, and knew what God wanted to do with them because of their actions.
I think of the evangelist the church has somewhat more clear of a view. Evangelists are people who want to see the lost saved. They have a special desire to see those who are without the grace and mercy of God to come to a place within the body where they share fellowship with the Lord.
euaggelistes (yoo-ang-ghel-is-tace'); a preacher of the gospel
Evangelists are key on the point of salvation; while they consider spiritual growth important, it is not their passion to see the young in the faith grow as apostles do.
Evangelists are very relationship oriented, and often are somewhat of ‘misfits’ in the church. This is precisely because they are not as concerned about the affairs of church politics, or direction as apostles and prophets are. Often evangelists have a very ‘street people’ sort of look. Some of the most effective evangelists I’ve known have long ‘rock star’ hair, and tattoos or piercings. Now that isn’t to say that evangelists are image driven, but they see the importance of being approachable to a lost and hurting world. Rather than being concerned for the growth and direction of church, they have a greater love for the homeless man they see sleeping on a park bench, the stoners and witches, homosexuals and prisoners, and they get right in among them and share the love of Jesus.
Now we’ve gotten to the part of the leadership we are most familiar with: Pastors.
poimen (poy-mane'); of uncertain affinity; a shepherd (literally or figuratively)
A pastor is usually the overseer of a single congregation; his concerns are for the welfare of those in his congregation; this becomes very clear if we spend any amount of time learning about shepherds, or even reading Jesus teachings’ on them. A pastor often operates in the gift of administration, as he needs to organize different events, oversee small groups and bible studies, etc. On top of being the corporate shepherd, pastors are often counselors for members of the church.
There can be, however, somewhat of a dichotomy in the ministry for pastors. What I mean by that is this: since they do have a shepherding heart the pastors are very concerned with the needs and emotions of the individuals in the congregation. It is because of this compassion that pastors are often hesitant to move in a direction that would cause the congregation to lose members. That is certainly not to say that pastors are push-over’s, or that they are too ‘seeker friendly’ to follow through with God’s will, but that pastors go through a greater deal of strain than probably any of the other five-fold ministers do when it comes to making decisions that may offend or expel members of the congregation. Even as Jesus, speaking to shepherds, told the parable of the lost sheep, and how the shepherd would leave the ninety-nine to save the one (Matt 18:12-14), so pastors are much concerned with each and every member of their congregation.
Teachers:
didaskalos (did-as'-kal-os); an instructor (genitive case or specially)
This calling is fairly straightforward; a teacher is someone who teaches, believe it or not. Generally in the church today pastors are those solely responsible for performing this role, though we can see even in the context of this passage that this was not the case in the early church, or why would Paul have distinguished teachers from pastors? That is certainly not to say that it is a bad thing for a pastor to teach, but simply that there is a distinction between the two roles. A modern pastor has to be concerned not only with the welfare of his congregation, but also has the duty of preparing lessons, this can be a good thing in that the pastor may have a better understanding of what the greater part of the body needs to learn BECAUSE of the fact that they are operating in the role of a pastor; yet it can also be a weakness, as there may be times when a pastor is performing his duties by caring for some tragedy that has occurred in the church, or other administrative duties and is stretched for time to prepare a lesson for the congregation. In such a case the pastor should have teachers that he can call on in a moment’s notice to prepare a sermon for the congregation.
I should also break down the difference here between teachers, and preachers. Generally we have no real understanding of the difference between teachers and preachers in the church, we simply assume that these are simply different words for the same thing. However, preaching is much more emotionally based, where teaching is instructionally based.
A teacher may get in front of a congregation and break down a particular passage of scripture and look at, what each part of it really means, and instruct a congregation on how to apply it to their lives. Or perhaps he may write a disclosure of the different elements of the five-fold ministry :).
A preacher on the other hand would get in front of a congregation and share something spiritually uplifting, perhaps a prophecy, or revelation. Rather than instruct, the preacher would inspire the congregation: get them really charged up.
Now it must be noted that each of the five-fold ministry has its own place in the church. As the passage proclaims, each of these callings are: to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
Thus each member of the five-fold ministry should have their opportunity to address, instruct, teach or charge up the body.
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