DESTROYER #1: THE TONGUE
In this book we have been speaking about the glorious
experience of the true church. We have been examining
many of the aspects of the bride of Christ which are truly
remarkable and enjoyable. This sublime intimacy with
God and other believers is something which flows freely
from the heart of the Father. It is something which should
be a natural experience for all Christians.
Yet in practice, this is often not the case. While the true
church experience should be easy, it is frequently not
found at all, or quickly lost after it has once been known.
Believers living in love and meeting in godly simplicity
should be a normal and common experience. It seems as if
this should be something which is natural and easy, since
it requires nothing dramatic, spectacular or expensive. Yet
in practice it is one of the most difficult things on earth to
find.
The problem here is that God has an enemy. The devil
is constantly at work trying to destroy something which is
so much on the heart of God. Since God loves His bride
and since the experience of the true church is such a powerful
vehicle to effect growth and perfection in His body,
Satan always does his best to destroy any such expression.
Not only does the devil have many demons and fallen
angels to aid him in his destructive work, but he also finds
many Christians who are ready and willing to help him. I
am not saying that these believers wittingly are cooperating
with the devil, but nevertheless, they are people in
whose lives he finds much which he can employ. Any
untransformed, sinful part of our soul is something which
the devil can and does use. When our natural, sinful nature
is intact, when we have not thoroughly seen and repented
for our sins, then we are easy prey for God’s enemy.
Many believers can be and often are used by him to
destroy the work of God. Perhaps your experience in the
Christian church will verify this unfortunate fact. When
believers are infantile, carnal, untransformed and have
very little intimate communion with God, they are easily
used as tools of the devil. Since they are in the very core of
the church and have access to many hearts and lives of
other believers who make up the body of Christ, they are
the perfect instruments for the works of Satan.
One of the best uses to which the devil puts carnal
Christians is to slander others. The devil loves an untransformed
tongue. He likes nothing better than someone who
likes to gossip, speak evil of others, recite others’ faults and
tell everyone the bad things they have heard about someone
else.
You see, natural soulish believers are still very much
like worldly people. They like to imagine that they are better
than everyone else. They think that by criticizing others,
they are elevating themselves. By sharing their
demeaning thoughts concerning others with you, they are
trying to convince you that they are superior to those they
are defaming. They imagine that by putting others down,
they are lifting themselves up. However, what they are
really doing is revealing their spiritual infancy and their
distance from true intimacy with God.
Many Christians, when they hear something bad
about another brother or sister, can’t wait to tell someone.
It is like something burning on their lips, just waiting to
spread to someone else. Proverbs 16:27 reads: “An ungod-
ly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire.”
They find a certain glee in exposing the faults and failings
of others. They take delight in trying to demonstrate how
weak others are and how they have been caught in some
sin or other.
The Bible teaches us that it is “...out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34). No one but God
can see into our hearts. Our interior life is invisible to other
men. But when we speak, we reveal what is inside of us.
Therefore, what we say is a clear demonstration of what
we are. What comes out of our mouth is a transparent
expression of what is in our heart. So, when we speak gossip,
criticism and defaming things about others, this shows
that our souls are not yet transformed.
This is why James speaks so forcefully about our
tongue. He explains that it is an unruly member. It is often
“set on fire by hell” (Js 3:5,6), that is to say that it is a part
of us which is frequently used by the devil. He further
asserts that if we are able control our tongue, this reveals
that we are people in whom God has done a miraculous
work. He has perfected us, transforming us into His image.
You see, if we have been changed inside, then nothing evil
can come out. But if we remain fleshly, then our speech will
reveal this lack.
When we speak something evil about another brother
or sister, we are talking about a member of Jesus’ body.
Therefore, we are also speaking about Him. We are using
our words to hack and tear at the fabric of His church. We
are being used by Satan as a weapon to wound and destroy
others. Our words are his tools to separate and divide
believers. They are instruments of the devil used to cause
others to think worse of someone else. We “bite and
devour” (Gal 5:15) one another, being stimulated by our
fallen nature, for fleshly gratification, amusement and a
sense of being superior.
All this then serves to destroy love, break down unity,
sow discord and in general tear down the work of God.
When we slander and gossip, instead of building up the
church, we tear it down and desecrate it. In place of edify-
ing His body, we hurt and crush it. This is the work of the
devil. He has come to steal, kill and destroy (Jn 10:10).
When we allow our tongue to speak evilly or demeaningly
of others, we are simply instruments of the king of darkness.
We are being used as his pawns to tear down the
work of God.
One common sin which often generates sinful speaking
about other believers is a lack of forgiveness. When we
refuse to forgive others for things which they have done
against us, we become bitter. This bitterness gives rise to
angry thoughts and feelings which eventually find their
expression in our words. Springing from the fountain of
our flesh, these words tear down and divide. When we do
not obey our Lord in forgiving others, we easily become an
instrument of the devil to destroy the work of God.

LOVE COVERS

As we have been seeing, God’s way is the way of love.
God is in love with His body, His church. When you love
someone, you don’t speak badly about them. Let us imagine
that you have a son or daughter whom you love.
Perhaps they have sinned in some way or another. They
have slipped up in their spiritual walk and committed an
error. Since you love them, you don’t go around spreading
this news. You don’t tell everyone you know about their
failure or moral lapse. Instead you cover their sin, keeping
it between you, them and God.
The Bible teaches us that “...love will cover a multitude
of sins” (I Pet 4:8). When we are filled with God’s
love, we don’t advertise and expose the sins of others.
Instead, we cover them. Being motivated by divine love for
them, we deal with the situation and with them, involving
the minimum number of persons and with an attitude of
lowliness and love.
This is not to say that we should tolerate sin. Certainly
anyone who is sinning needs to be spoken to. They need to
be admonished, rebuked, counseled or dealt with in any
number of ways. Yet, because we ourselves are sinners in
need of mercy, we must deal with them in the same way.
Without an air of superiority, but with humility and love,
we must go to anyone who is in sin and try to help them
come to repentance.
In no way is our job to advertise and tell the world
about this person’s sin. Instead, because we love them, we
do our utmost to rescue them out of the snare of the devil
and restore them to an intimacy with God. This kind of loving
care for them is an expression of Jesus’ heart.
As we have been seeing, the true church is held
together by love. Our loving communion with others is the
substance which causes believers to adhere to one another.
So the devil constantly tries to attack this bond. He will put
into weak believers’ minds various thoughts of criticism,
judgment and rumor. Then, since these believers are vulnerable
to his thoughts, he stimulates them to verbalize
these thoughts to others. Then they too function as an
“accuser of our brethren” (Rev 12:10).
When we hear something bad about someone else, our
immediate reaction is to pull back from our relationship
with them. We begin to think that if they are so deficient,
who wants to be close to them? If they have such serious
weaknesses and problems, we might get hurt or abused by
remaining in relationship with them. So our reaction is to
close our hearts to that person and tend to spend less time
with them.
In this way, Satan uses believers to attack others verbally
and tear down the fabric of the church. When many
Christians are weak and fleshly, then the body of Christ
will be full of such talk. This is one of the most powerful
tools which the devil has. It is one thing which is extremely
destructive to a genuine church experience.
Therefore, those who wish to experience the reality of
church must come to an important and firm decision. They
must choose never to speak evil of another brother or sister.
We read: “...speak evil of no one” (Tit 3:2). Also that we
should “...not speak evil of one another” (Js 4:11). This decision
is absolutely essential. We must constantly watch our
tongue. We must be vigilant that we do not let our mouth
express words of reproach against another, even if our
mind is full of them and our tongue is itching to say them.
When and if we gossip, judge or defame another, we
sin against them and against God. If we do let these words
slip out, we must immediately repent to the person who
heard us and to the Lord. Only in this way, can we maintain
the loving unity which God has for us. Only in this
way can we build up the body of Christ instead of being
used to tear it down.

SOWING DISCORD

There are some things which God hates. One of them
is “...one who sows discord among brethren” (Pr 6:19).
When we allow ourselves to become an instrument of the
devil, we put ourselves in opposition to God and all of His
purposes. Whether we realize it or not, we are cooperating
with the kingdom of darkness. When we have a habit of
speaking evil of others and gossiping about their failures,
then we are a regular member of the devil’s staff.
Sadly, there are many believers who do much more to
promote the devil’s kingdom than the kingdom of God.
Since they have not been convicted of their sins, including
their sinful speech habits, they are not repentant before
God. Their lack of repentance inhibits their transformation.
The direct result of this is that they are not very effective in
any work they do for the Lord. But even worse, they are
frequently and powerfully used by Satan to tear down
what God is trying to build up.
Let us be very clear that just because what we are saying
might be true, this does not justify our saying it. Many
suppose that if the gossip or judgment they are sharing
with someone else is true, then it is O.K. with God. Those
who imagine this are sadly deceived. Any words of ours
which denigrate someone whom God loves and tear down
loving relationships between brothers is a work of darkness.
Many of the faults and failures of others about which
we become aware are true. Much of the rumor and evil
speaking about brothers and sisters is based upon some
fact. But love does not speak these words. Again, love covers
sins (I Pet 4:8). Love always hopes the best for and
speaks well of others.
God our father loves each of His children enough to
die for them. Unless we too arrive at this position, we will
never succeed in living in the reality of the one true church.
Instead, we will remain someone who is susceptible to the
influence of Satan.

JUDGE NOT

No one of us is in a position to pass judgment upon
another brother or sister. We are not able to see into their
hearts. We don’t know their inward desires, problems,
fears or experiences. Therefore, we can’t really know their
motives for what they did or said. Only God is in a position
to rightly judge. Let us leave this judgment with Him.
Jesus teaches us to: “Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to
you” (Mt 7:1,2). This means that, unless we repent, God
will use the same standards to judge us which we used on
others. The exact measurement in terms of judging others’
motives and actions will be used to expose us before the
universe.
We are all sinners. All of us have faults and weaknesses.
Therefore, we are in no position to sit in judgment of
others who also are weak. We read: “Do not speak evil of
one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and
judges his brother, speaks evil of [or according to] the law
and judges [according to] the law. But if you judge [using]
the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge” (Js 4:11).
We are not allowed to judge others using the standards
of the Old Testament law or even what we might
believe to be “New Testament principles.” Our standard
must be the love of God. It is only by seeing through His
eyes and sensing the love of His heart that we can act and
speak in a way which pleases Him.
No doubt there are times when the words and actions
of others displease Him. There are occasions when we
must rebuke, exhort or correct someone else. Yet this does
not allow us the liberty to share with others the sins of the
offending person. Our words must be given to the person
who is offending and not to the rest of the body.
So we see that one of the principle ways in which the
loving unity of the body of Christ is destroyed is by our
uncontrolled tongue. Our words are powerful instruments
which Satan can use to further His purposes. Therefore, we
must seek God to do a transforming work within us. We
must pray that it would be His Spirit which would be
expressed through our mouth. We must be vigilant so that
we do not let our tongue express many thoughts which
might come into our mind. It is only by submitting our
thoughts and our words to the control of the Lord Jesus
that we can build up His house instead of tearing it down.

DESTROYER #2: AMBITION

Another thing which works powerfully to destroy the
house of God is human ambition. Natural human beings
often have within them certain desires. They desire to be
admired. They like to be seen and heard. They love it when
others think and speak well of them. They enjoy accolades,
praise and even worship which comes from other mere
human beings. Some love to rise up above the others to
control and dominate them. They are proud when others
look upon them with envy due to their position and fame.
Not a few strive with all their might to achieve just such a
status in this present world.
These desires are works of the fallen flesh. They are
ugly, putrid, stinking expressions of the sinful nature
which lives in unholy, untransformed men and women. It
is the manifestation of such ambition in the church which
frequently serves to tear apart and destroy the work of
God. The impulse that many have to rise up and dominate
others is the cause of much division, confusion and lack of
spiritual life in the church today.
When we become born again, we receive gifts and
spiritual abilities from God. These things are given for us
to use in serving one another so that all can grow up into
the fullness of Christ. However, when some believers have
within their hearts a desire and ambition to rise up, be
noticed and even adored, then they can begin to use these
gifts to try to impress others and so obtain the results
which they are seeking. They want to do a mighty work
“for God.”
For example, let us suppose that someone has been
given a powerful gift of preaching or teaching. When this
person opens their mouth in the exercise of this ministry,
there is a supernatural anointing which accompanies their
gift. Naturally, others are impressed. So when this child of
God is not humble, when there is in his or her heart an
ambition to rise up, then they begin to use their gift to
achieve their goals.
These men and women are constantly seeking an ever
larger audience. They are eager to accept any and all invitations
to show off their spiritual prowess. They are always
anxious to be able to make their impression on the maximum
number of people possible, thereby increasing their
fame and their sphere of influence. This tendency is not
limited to preachers and teachers but also to those with
gifts of healing, prophecy, miracles, singing, etc.
The heart attitude which Christians need to have is
entirely different. We read: “Let nothing [this really does
mean nothing] be done through selfish ambition or conceit
[vain glory], but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others
better than himself” (Ph 2:3). You see, pride and the
ambition to rise up, be seen and heard and to dominate
others have no place in the life of a true follower of Jesus.
Let us think about this together. Who was the first person
to use the talents and gifts which God had given him
to secure a group of followers? Who was the one who had
the intelligence, good looks, and spiritual abilities to attract
and hold a large number of adherents and devotees? This
gifted person was Satan himself. He was the first one to
take the things God had freely given him and use them to
carve out a personal following. Therefore, it is logical to
conclude that those who follow this path are not following
in the footsteps of Jesus, but someone much more sinister.
When ambition is the motive behind someone’s
works, many problems occur. One is that they begin to
divide the body of Christ. Obviously, every single
Christian is not going to be impressed with them, so they
must naturally try to carve out of the church a special
group for themselves. They work to separate to themselves
a part of Christ’s body which is enamored with their person
and their works. This then becomes their “church” or
group, resulting in a division within the body.
Those who are so divided become limited in their contact
with others. The ministry which they receive is also
limited, coming from only one or a few approved sources.
Thus their spiritual growth is restricted since they do not
have free access to the many facets of the entire body of
Christ. The division of the church into factions which
embrace and follow certain gifted leaders is a very common
ailment today.
Still another, much more serious problem is that these
leaders who rise up to attract a following begin to substitute
for the leadership of Christ in the lives of their adherents.
It is very easy for many believers, especially those
who are not spiritually mature, to begin to look to and trust
in human leadership for their direction. When these leaders
rise up, exhibiting spiritual gifts and supernatural powers,
this only serves to stimulate this misplaced confidence.

INVISIBLE AND OMNIPRESENT

Today Jesus is invisible. We do not know Him physically,
but we know Him through the Holy Spirit. This
invisibility is necessary for Him to be omnipresent. If He
were visible as He was almost 2,000 years ago, He could
only be in one place at one time. But since He now is “the
Spirit” (II Cor 3:17), He can be present with all of His people
all the time. It is through His spiritual presence that
Jesus leads and guides each one of His children. It is this
invisible leadership which produces the reality of the one
true church.
Any time any other person begins to substitute for the
headship of Jesus in His body, serious problems arise. The
ability of the Head to guide each one is proportionally
restricted. Further, the focus of each member of the body is
shifted from seeking God alone to looking to human
sources. This then serves to paralyze, confuse and hinder
the full functioning of the church. It keeps them from following
every direction and nuance of the Head.
Human beings are made with a certain physical
restriction. They can look in only one direction at a time.
There are other creatures, such as lizards and fish which
can look in two directions at once, but people cannot.
Although this is a physical limitation, it has spiritual applications.
It is not possible for Christians to have two “heads,” or
sources of direction and ministry. They simply cannot
focus constantly on them both. It is not possible to have
two masters (Mt 6:24). These will continually compete
within us for supremacy until one wins. Usually, the one
with a more tangible presence dominates, since human
beings are much more attuned to the physical world than
to the invisible world of the Spirit.
We have already studied in chapter five about the
meaning of the Greek word “antichrist.” This would be
someone who is taking the rightful place of Christ in the
assembly. Such a substitution is extremely prejudicial in
the lives of those who are then governed by mere human
beings. But it is also extremely dangerous for the spiritual
life of the person who is rising up to take the place of Jesus
Christ in any assembly. Although in today’s “age of grace”
we do not see the judgment of God falling on us for our
errors and sins, when He returns to judge His people, these
failures to obey His clear instructions will have serious and
eternal consequences.
The carnal desire of Christians to rise up and dominate
the others was present even in the early church. We
have already studied about the works and words of
Diotrephes who took control of and began to dominate the
church as described in III John. But there were many others
who, lacking spiritual understanding and humility, also
had natural ambitions.

PAUL’S EXAMPLE

Paul was a man who ministered to the churches as a
servant. He never exalted himself. He often appeared
“weak” and was sometimes reviled and despised for his
lack of a commanding human appearance which awed
others (II Cor 10:10). His service to the body was one of
helping them to become attached to Christ as a bride is to
her husband (II Cor 11:2). He did not seek to become some
great, famous leader. Yet God had revealed to him that others,
who came later, would seek exactly this position.
When Paul visited the leaders in Ephesus on his way
to Jerusalem, he explained this future peril to them. They
were all together on the beach weeping and expressing
their love for one another (Acts 20:37). In this situation he
said: “I know that after I leave...even from your own number
men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw
away disciples after them[selves]. So be on your guard!
Remember that for three years I never stopped warning
each of you [about this future problem] night and day with
tears” (Acts 20:29-31 NIV).
These coming individuals were people who would
twist the scriptures and the truth of God. They would use
these slightly altered truths to justify and fortify their position
of rising up and attracting followers. These were
Christians who would have ambitions to be “leaders” and
so use their gifts and the things which God had given them
to satisfy their fleshly desire for position and fame.
Paul constantly warned about this danger. He knew
that others would come later who did not have the same
heart attitude as he did. They would not have the same
understanding of the importance of maintaining the headship
of Christ. And he was right. Later on we read of Paul
telling Timothy: “This you know, that all those in Asia have
turned away from me...” (II Tm 1:15). (Remember that
Ephesus was in what was called “Asia” in that day). Just as
he had prophesied, some had risen up in these churches to
attract followers for themselves and so turned them away
from Paul.
You see, as in any such situation, these kind of leaders
have to defend their turf. They have to “protect” their flock
from others who might compete with them for leadership.
So they begin to undermine the influence of anyone else.
Using words, innuendoes, subtle inferences, or outright
lies, they attack anyone who might be seen as a competitor.
In this case, because Paul was influential due to his relationship
with Jesus and his anointed ministry, these leaders
in Ephesus and Asia had to turn people away from him.

BEING DEFRAUDED OF YOUR REWARD

In Colossians 2:18,19 we read: “Let no one defraud
you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and
worship of angels, intruding into those things which he
has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not
holding fast to the Head...” Upon first reading, these verses
seem to describe an animal which I have never seen in
over 30 years of ministry. It seems to speak about someone
who is falsely humble, yet puffed up, worships angels and
claims to have visions. Although there may be a few who
could fit into this category, it seems strange for Paul to use
a part of his short letter to warn about such a rare bird.
But perhaps with a little help, we can see something
much, much more common here. First, we can understand
that these people were not holding onto the Head. They
were not submitted to Jesus. Further, they were disrupting
the relationship of others with this true authority, thus
depriving (“defrauding”) them of spiritual rewards which
come from such a submission. This is exactly what we have
been discussing.
They were teaching a “false humility” which could
easily be understood as encouraging others to submit to
them. Further, they taught them to worship “angels.” The
word “angels” here is literally “messengers” which many
Bible scholars see as referring to “pastors” or church leaders.
So here we very probably have a description of exactly
what we have been studying. Men and women who rise
up, encourage others to humble themselves (submit to
them) and even “worship” or exalt them, substituting
themselves in the lives of the believers in the place of the
true Head. Unfortunately, this animal is not rare at all.
The interruption of the flow of authority from the
Head is something which paralyzes and destroys the true
functioning of the body of Christ. It is an extremely common
but dangerous practice which causes confusion, limits
spiritual growth and retards His full expression here on
earth. It is a custom which generates strife and contention,
generated by those who are promoting their own leadership
and seeking personal followers.
When men take the place of Jesus in the church, many
evil results are seen. This gives rise to competition for more
members and bigger ministries, envy, jealousy, contention
and strife. We read: “But if you have bitter envy and selfseeking
in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the
truth.” “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion
and every evil thing will be there.” “This wisdom does not
descend from above but is earthly, sensual [soulish],
demonic” (Js 3:14,16,15).
It is very sad but I have heard horrible stories about
some meetings of Christian leaders who held positions of
authority over congregations. In these “conventions” there
were leaders who shouted and argued, fought with fists,
swore at each other and even pulled out knives and guns
striving to get or maintain positions of power. Others
bought, sold and traded congregations for money to try
and achieve more influence and income. This kind of wisdom
is certainly earthly, soulish and demonic.
Christians need to be alert and aware of this serious
problem of ambitious men seeking to dominate and run
the church. It is such a common practice in today’s world
that many do not see anything wrong with it. Yet it is one
of the things which most destroys the house of God and
ruins His work among us.
So, believers need to be taught this truth. They urgently
need to understand this message. Every Christian
should be diligent to avoid this error and stay away from
all who insist upon it. Such enlightenment will greatly
improve our experience of the true church.
The biblical understanding that men do not and
should not have their own authority will serve as a kind of
divine quarantine. It will work to isolate those who have
ambition and drive to dominate others. When believers
correctly understand spiritual authority, it will be hard for
someone to exalt himself and lead the rest astray. In this
way, the errors which arise should be limited in their
scope.

THE IDEA OF COVERING

In the church today there is a popular teaching. This
teaching is that everyone should be under some kind of
“covering.” The thought behind this is that every man
should be in submission to another leader or group of leaders
who supervise their lives. They believe that through
this supervision, many errors, excesses and sins will be
avoided. They imagine that by submission to other men,
they will be protected and properly guided. Since this
teaching is so prevalent today, it is necessary to spend
some time examining it.
So what does the New Testament teach us about covering?
There is, in fact, one very important passage which
specifically addresses this subject yet it is not often well
understood. In I Corinthians 11:3-7 we read about the
importance of women using some kind of head covering
when praying or prophesying to demonstrate their submission
to a man, be it their husband, father, etc. This covering
then is a symbol of their submission to a man.
The reason I use the word “symbol” here is that it is
possible for a woman to physically cover her head, but not
be in the least submissive. A woman could be extremely
rebellious, yet wear some kind of veil or hat. So it is only
logical to conclude that any covering she might use is only
symbolic of her heart attitude. The true covering means
that she has humbled her heart before her husband or
father and is willing to let him be her head in all the senses
of this word we have been studying.
In the first part of this same passage men are strictly
forbidden to use any sort of covering. When men are exercising
their spiritual gifts in the church – praying or prophesying
for example – they are not permitted to have their
head covered (vs 4). Why is this? It is because their true
head is Christ (vs 3). If and when they use a covering, they
dishonor Him.
Let me repeat here that any physical “covering” is
simply a symbol of the position of their hearts. Following
our previous logic, this must mean that if and when they
put themselves under the covering of, or in submission to,
another man they shame their true Head. They “dishonor”
Christ who is their Head (vs 4).
When a man places himself “under,” or in submission
to another man, he declares that his true Head is not sufficient.
He is placing his confidence in someone else. If a
woman who has a husband places herself in a position of
submission to another man (which occurs in the case of
adultery for example) she shames her husband. In essence
she declares that her husband is not manly enough to lead
and satisfy her.
In the same way, any man who substitutes Christ’s
headship by taking another man as his covering is doing
the greatest dishonor to Him. It is a disgrace. It is declaration
that they prefer and have confidence in the leadership
of a human being instead of their true Head. They are testifying
by their actions that Jesus is not sufficient for them.
However, our Lord Jesus is totally capable of being the
head and leader of every man (vs 3).
While many believers over the years have used this
passage to argue about and divide from each other over
the subject of women using or not using hats or veils, it
seems that very few have really understood the main point
of this teaching. Paul begins this discourse with the issue of
men, not women. His first instruction is about the possibility
of a man dishonoring his true Head by accepting another
covering.
It is only further on that he brings in the issue of
women, using them as examples to more exactly explain
his meaning. If we miss the warning here about men submitting
to an authority figure other than Christ, we have
missed the message completely. Certainly Paul’s main concern
was not about men wearing hats in meetings but
about them accepting a head other than Christ.

DISPUTES AND CONTENTIONS

One thing which does severe damage to the true
church is when brothers dispute and contend with each
other about ideas and Bible doctrines. Many imagine that
when they strive with others about what they believe to be
the truth that they are doing the work of God. Yet this is
not the case.
We are taught by Paul that: “...a servant of the Lord
must not quarrel [strive, argue, contend] but be gentle to
all, able to teach, patient...” (II Tim 2:24). Further, “contentions”
and “strife” are clearly labeled as works of the
flesh (Tit 3:9; I Cor 3:3; Gal 5:20; II Cor 12:20; I Tim 6:4; II
Tim 2:23). Jesus, as our example, never wasted His time
arguing or contending with others about His teaching.
You see, we are not required to try to convince anyone
of what we think we understand. The work of God is not a
mental thing. It is based upon revelation. Someone else
will only be able to receive a revelation given to us or
through us when they are open, ready and willing to
receive it.
When others are not open to something which seems
important and even precious to us then there is a temptation
to try to appeal to their mind. Perhaps we think that
we can convince them. We might begin trying to explain
what we mean or even arguing with them when they do
not understand or agree. But when we do so we move from
the spiritual realm to the carnal, from the spirit to the
mind. Such discussions can do nothing to edify anyone.
An even worse situation occurs when brothers argue
in front of other believers. Sometimes these others are
young or new converts. When they see brothers contending
and disputing, this can harm their faith. They see an
unholy activity which leaves an unpleasant impression in
their minds. This can undermine their respect for those
who are striving. Such activity is very harmful and is forbidden
by God’s word. We read: “Remind them of these
things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about
words to no profit, to the ruin [destruction] of the hearers”
(II Tim 2:14).
Very often, such arguments are a result of someone
wanting to appear more spiritual or advanced than others.
Sometimes this willingness to dispute reveals a hidden
desire for recognition and influence among the other
believers. When brothers strive and contend it is often
because one or both of them are wanting to be seen as leaders,
showing how the others are wrong and they are right.
Such activity only reveals a lack of maturity and a natural
desire for power and influence. This is the work of the flesh
and it damages rather than edifies the one true church

DESTROYER #3: DISOBEDIENCE

We have been discussing the glorious possibility of
experiencing Jesus as the head of all things to His body. We
have been seeing how it is possible and desirable for Him
to lead everything and everyone. He will lead us individually
and He will lead the church as a whole. However,
when we opt for divine leadership, we begin to tread on
holy ground. When we leave the worldly idea of following
man and decide to follow the King, then we enter into a
very serious relationship with Him. When we declare that
He is our leader, then we must obey His instructions to us.
He must actually be our leader.
The necessity to hear and obey Jesus is not only true
for each individual, but for the congregation as a whole.
Any time Jesus’ authority is rejected, He simply moves on.
He moves on to others who are ready and willing to hear
and obey. As we have stated previously, He is not bound to
our ways of practicing the church or even our revelation
concerning this theme. Simply understanding His will is
not enough. We must also do His will by following His
leading every day.
Through the years I have seen several groups of
believers, who were meeting more or less informally, simply
disappear. Some of them had been meeting together for
quite a few years and then suddenly were gone. Often this
dismantling of the meetings and relationships was something
which occurred quite unexpectedly. Why did this
happen? It was because Jesus had spoken to them, clearly
and over a period of time, concerning a direction which He
wished them to take. Yet they did not hear. They did not
obey. So He moved on and their group fell apart. Since
these meetings did not have any human structure to hold
them up, when Jesus moved on, they collapsed.
The reason for this disobedience varied. Perhaps they
were so pleased with the way things were that they did not
want to change. Possibly, they had a personal resistance to
what Jesus was saying. But for whatever reason, they stubbornly
refused to move in God’s direction and so He simply
withdrew from them. Lacking the presence and guidance
of the Lord, these groups fell apart. Some of these
members are still, to this day, wondering what happened.
Jesus spoke to the church in Ephesus: “...repent and do
the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and
remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev 2:5). This
meant that this church would simply disappear. And to the
church in Laodicea He says: “I will spew you out of My
mouth” (Rev 3:16) thus indicating a rejection of them. The
Lord was issuing some instructions to these believers. If
they did not hear them, then they would suffer the consequences
which He promised.
Dear brothers and sisters, these things are very serious.
We cannot play around with God. Perhaps while we
are participating in human constructions for God, we can
get away with acting and doing as we please. Possibly we
can play around with our Christianity. But when we enter
into a covenant relationship with Him, then we are obligated
to hear Him and do His will.

DIVINE JUDGMENT

In the early church, sometimes sudden divine judgments
occurred. The story of Ananias and Sapphira lying
concerning what they did with some money is an extreme
example of this. Further, in I Corinthians 11:29, 30 we read
that God judged believers who did not rightly discern His
body. They did not treat other believers as if they were
members of Christ but simply as other human beings.
Due to this failure, they ate and drank “judgment” to
themselves. Many became weak and sick. Some had even
died due to their sins of mistreating others. Although these
judgments of weakness, sickness and death could, and
probably do typify spiritual problems which some might
suffer, there is no doubt that Paul was also referring to
actual, physical illness and death. These judgments were a
result of believers’ disobedience to Jesus.
Many are curious as to why we do not see such severe
judgments happening today. Why is it that so many believers
are so far from obedience – sinning so much against
each other and against God in so many different ways –
but yet we don’t see this divine judgment falling on them?
What is different about our situation today?
The answer to this could be that many of the “churches”
which we see today are not really the work of the Lord.
They are perhaps works which some man or group of men
is doing for God, but they are not the work of God. They are
not something which God Himself is doing. Therefore,
since it is not His work, God feels no need to defend it. He
senses no impulse to severely judge errors. Since it is not
really His in many senses of the word, then He feels no
necessity to protect His testimony. He has no need to
defend His Name from being degraded since the work is
not truly His.

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

This means that if and when we decide to let God be
our commander in chief, we must walk in the fear of the
Lord. When we set out upon the course of truly enthroning
Him among us, then we must act with the consciousness
that He really IS among us. Consequently, His presence,
His leadership and direction must be respected. We must
esteem very highly His position and His will.
To live in the presence of God and under His authority
is a very sober, solemn proposition. This is not a game.
His church is precious to Him. It is not something which
we can treat lightly. Although He is very loving, He is also
the Judge. We must therefore only enter into a covenant
relationship with Him with a sincere heart and a readiness
to follow Him wherever He goes.
No doubt, Jesus is full of mercy. He is patient, kind
and good. He is certainly not going to turn His back on us
just because He sees that we are a little stubborn, short
sighted, fearful or some other such thing. As long as He
sees some small possibility of our going His way, He will
continue to work with us.
But if and when our resistance to His will is strong and
prolonged, then we can expect to experience some consequences.
If and when we begin to resist Him and even
destroy His work with our words, attitudes and actions
His judgment cannot be far behind. When we seriously
enthrone Jesus as our Head, we may see Him begin to
judge some situations in ways which we have not seen
before. One of the saddest of these results is that Jesus simply
moves on to work with others who have an opening to
what He wishes to do.
Again I would like to stress that Jesus is not committed
to our doctrine. He is not bound by the fact that we
have the “right” vision or practice. He is only attracted to
those whose hearts are humble and broken before Him. He
will work with any who are pliable and willing to move
and work along with Him in His way.

HOW GOD SPEAKS

Jesus, our Head, communicates with us personally in
many different ways. But when He speaks to the assembly,
He almost always speaks through another person. For
example, He almost never speaks audibly to the group as a
whole. Instead He uses men and women, the members of
His body, to direct His body. As we have seen, He most frequently
speaks through members who have the greatest
intimacy with Him. He uses the vessels who are most open
and available to Him to express His authority.
All of us need to hear and respond to God’s direction
being given through such members. When the church fails
to heed the Lord’s direction, His expression is limited.
When the participants in any communion of believers will
not obey the voice of God flowing through a brother, then
the collective experience of His presence is diminished.
Being tuned in to the voice of the Lord, we all must be able
to receive His instructions through others and obey (Ecc
5:1).
It is not uncommon for Christians to have a very difficult
time recognizing and submitting to genuine spiritual
authority. This is because those through whom it is flowing
are humble people. They are not exalting themselves. They
don’t put on a special attitude of superiority or greatness.
They don’t have distinctive uniforms, or titles. They don’t
exude self-importance or have that almost imperceptible
swagger of those who are rich, famous or have positions of
power.
Natural people easily respond to these outward
expressions of importance or authority. But since those
who are simply transmitting the authority of Jesus do not
exhibit these characteristics, it is very easy for immature,
unspiritual believers not to recognize or to ignore their
words. It is extremely easy to miss the voice of the Lord
speaking through someone who appears unspectacular.
This then becomes a real challenge for the church. We
must not look simply at the appearance of our brothers.
When we fail to hear God speaking through humble men
and women, we lose our direction and blessing. If we are
not finely tuned to His Spirit, it is easy to miss His voice
and consequently not enjoy His leadership. It is essential
that we escape from our worldly concepts of how and
through whom God speaks and remain open for His word
to flow through the brethren. If we don’t, then our church
experience will be greatly limited.
There are also times, perhaps more often than we
would think, that God speaks through other members who
are not perceived as “leaders.” Perhaps the usual vessels
are not open to the particular revelation or direction which
He desires to give. Possibly, He wishes to test us to see if
we can hear Him speaking and not just rely upon the more
mature to lead us. But for whatever reason, God can and
does sometimes speak to the group through a member
who may not stand out to us as special. This might be a
person whom we don’t expect the Lord to use.
Perhaps this one through whom God speaks is young
in the faith. Possibly he or she is not thought of as being
really “spiritual.” Maybe they have some sort of physical
deficiency or are not especially beautiful or well thought
of. The result of this is that we must continually be sensitive
to His Spirit. We must be attuned to hear His voice. We
must be ready and willing to hear and obey Him, no matter
how He chooses to speak to us. We must be “...submitting
to one another in the fear of God” (Eph 5:21). Our need
is to have humility, the genuine fear of the Lord and a
readiness to receive His word and follow Him.
Disobedience destroys the work of God. It cuts off the
flow of divine life which is the source of the church and all
that is genuine in our Christian experience. When we, individually,
become resistant to His leading then our spiritual
life will suffer the consequences. We will lose our sweet fellowship
with Him and end up only walking in the soul.
Further, when any group of believers begins refusing
the direction of the Holy Spirit, they are in great danger.
They run the risk that Jesus will simply move on and leave
them without His tangible presence and leadership. This
removal of the divine presence from any group is disastrous.
Without it the group will simply fall apart or begin
to rely upon human methods and means such as natural
leadership and authority to hold itself together.

IN THE MEETINGS

We have spoken in earlier chapters about how we
must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our meetings.
Such gatherings, conducted by the Lord Himself, are full of
His presence and beneficial to all. This is a wonderful experience
and a divine privilege. In such meetings, all have the
opportunity to share and minister.
Yet there is something which we must be sure to do.
The authority of Jesus must be maintained. We must preserve
His rulership over these gatherings. If not, this sublime
experience will be destroyed. Those who are more
sensitive to Him must have the boldness and faithfulness
not to let someone take control of the meeting and deviate
it from the Holy Spirit’s track.
We have covered this ground in an earlier chapter, yet
it bears repeating. There is a danger here which I have
encountered many times over the years. This is that some
men and women, coming into a situation in which there is
no apparent leader, see this as an opportunity to express
themselves. Perhaps they imagine that they can become
the leader which this group seems to be lacking. Possibly
they love to talk and to be seen and heard. Conceivably
they are young in the faith and do not know how to follow
the Holy Spirit. Maybe they begin speaking or praying in
the Spirit, but continue on too long, following some emotional
stimulation and get into the flesh.
For whatever reason, there will be times when someone
is talking, singing and/or praying on and on and on in
a way which is not led by the Lord. If this situation is
allowed to continue on too long, it will quench the Holy
Spirit. It will destroy the work of God. It will drag everyone
down to a natural, human level and the presence of the
Lord will be lost.
If we are to meet in God’s presence we must maintain
His authority. Therefore, when such a situation occurs,
those with discernment and maturity must act. In gentleness,
kindness and with all consideration not to hurt the
other person, they must bring the meeting back under the
direction of the Lord. This might be done with a simple
prayer or word. It might involve speaking directly to the
offender. Whatever is done must serve to stop the action
which is taking the group out from under Jesus’ dominion
and bring it back on His course.
As mentioned earlier, there is some room for error. We
don’t need to jump on anyone immediately when they
stray. But if fleshly, human participation is allowed to continue
too long, the whole meeting will suffer. When this
happens frequently, people will lose their enthusiasm to
meet together since their spirits will be unsatisfied. Soon
the work of God will be destroyed by the lack of action on
the part of more discerning believers to preserve the
authority of the Holy Spirit.
There are also many other things which serve to
destroy God’s work. These include allowing a “root of bitterness”
(Heb 12:15) to grow in our hearts; the failure to
forgive others; allowing sin to continue without confronting
the offenders; and many other such things. It is
impossible to detail and deal with all the possibilities in
this writing. However, Jesus is capable of leading His people.
As we walk in intimacy with Him, He will lead us in
dealing with every situation and need. May we entrust our
lives and hearts ever more to His leadership and care.