WHO NEEDS CHURCH?

New Believer’s Bible Study Guide Series

Thomas A. Lenz

PUBLISHED BY:

Thomas A. Lenz

Copyright © 2014

Edition 1.0

thomas.a.lenz@NewBelieversBibleStudyGuide.com

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Except where noted, all Bible quotes from New King James Version.

INTRODUCTION

Central to our lives as believers is our personal relationship with God. That’s a widely understood fact. Most believers can readily explain why that’s so:

Jesus came to give us life. (John 10:10)

Eternal life is to know God. (John 17:3)

Compared to knowing God, everything else is dung. (Philippians 3:8-10)

Many have concluded that in light of this fact, church isn’t so important, as long as one’s relationship with God is maintained. In fact, there’s a man who lives about a hundred yards from where I’m writing this, and whenever he sees me he says sheepishly something like “I haven’t been to church, but God is in my heart.” Should he feel sheepish about not going to church?

Believers are redeemed from spiritual death and have access to the throne of grace. They have the Holy Spirit inside them, guiding them and empowering them. That spirit gives them a knowing in their hearts that they are children of God. They have their Bibles. They have a direct line of communication with God. In many countries throughout the world, there’s access to excellent teaching materials in books and audio and video recordings. Frequently these things can be accessed through the World Wide Web at no direct cost. Why would someone need church?

To find the truth on any given subject, the first question to ask is “What has God said about it?” That’s the focus of this book. What has He expressed about His regard for the church? What has He described concerning our involvement with it? What has He said about its future?

CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

The word “church” is the usual translation of the Greek word “ekklesia”. Its general meaning is a gathering of citizens and it is sometimes translated as “assembly” or “congregation.” This explains its use in Acts 7:38 in the King James Version (KJV):

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us (Acts 7:38 KJV)

The New King James Version uses the word “congregation” in this verse and it is perhaps clearer here because what we think of when we read the word “church” didn’t exist yet.  Usually, “church” is used in one of two ways. Often, when the Bible mentions  church”, it means all of God’s children scattered throughout the whole world. In other words, the church in this sense, sometimes called the universal church, consists of all redeemed by the blood of Jesus believers, regardless of denomination. Other times, “church” refers to a specific group of people that meets at a specific place. People sometimes use the term “local church” in this case. It’s easy to tell by the context what meaning is attached to the particular mention.

Here are some examples of “church” used in the sense of the universal church:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (Ephesians 5:25)

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:28)

Here are some examples of “church” used in the sense of the local church:

Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. (Acts 13:1)

Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house. (Colossians 4:15)

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:…” (Revelation 2:8)

Although we need to understand the different meanings to help us understand certain scriptures, many times we don’t need to concern ourselves with making a distinction. One such time is in Acts 2:47:

Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47)

Did the Lord add to the local church or the universal church? Yes! Taken either way, there’s no meaningful difference.

As another example, take my neighbor who feels sheepish about not going to church. He has removed himself from the local church. Nominally, he is still part of the universal church, but practically speaking, he has removed himself from it.

As a general rule, when we speak about the church conceptually, as in this section where the church is described, we are referring to it in terms of the universal church. When we speak about practical matters, like what happens there, we are referring to the local church.

The Bible uses a number of metaphors to describe the universal church. The church is the bride of Christ. It’s the city of God. It’s the body of Christ, with Jesus as the head. A temple. The Bible contains many more such metaphors, but we’ll focus our attention on these often mentioned few.

THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

A close look at the New Testament will reveal how greatly God esteems the church. Of course we know that God loves you and I as individuals and sent Jesus to redeem each of us. He sees us individually, but he also sees us and loves us collectively as the church.

God, wanting to express the depth and fervency of Christ’s love for the church, compares it to the love between a man and his wife:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25)

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32)

This is remarkable! The most intimate and powerful love amongst humans is the love between a man and his wife, and God compares His love for the church with it! This is why the church is known as the bride of Christ.

Paul E Billheimer, in his book, ‘Destined for the Throne’, places the universal church in the center of God’s plan for mankind:

“The human race was created in the image and likeness of God for one purpose: to provide an eternal companion for the Son. After the fall and promise of redemption through the coming Messiah, the Messianic race (Israel) was born and nurtured in order to bring the Messiah. And the Messiah came for one intent and only one: to give birth to His church, thus to obtain his bride. The church then – the called out body of redeemed mankind – turns out to be the central object, the goal, not only of mundane history but of all that God has been doing in all realms, from all eternity.

The entire universe in its totality is cooperating with God in His purpose to select and train His Church as His Eternal Companion. The entire universe is ordered for this purpose, for all things belong to the Church and are for her benefit (1 Cor. 3:21-23). As the Lord of history, God is controlling all of its events, not only on earth but in all realms, to serve His purpose of bringing to maturity and eventually to enthronement with His Son, not angels or archangels, but the Church, His chosen Bride.

Thus the Church, and only the Church, is the key to and explanation of history. The Church, blood-washed and spotless, is the center, the reason, and the goal of all of God’s vast creative handiwork. Therefore, history is only the handmaiden of the Church, and the nations of the world are but puppets manipulated by God for the purposes of His Church. Creation has no other aim. History has no other goal.”[1]

Given the importance that God places on the church, we would expect that the church would figure in the culmination of all of the ages. That is in fact the case.

THE CITY OF GOD

The 21st chapter of Revelation describes a city that descends out of heaven. Sometimes I think people believe that this is a literal description of a physical city. One obvious problem with that view, based on the stated dimensions, a cube, 1,200 miles in length, width and height, is that eighty percent of the city would be outside of earth’s atmosphere. No, in verse nine an angel says to John, the author of Revelation, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” We’ve already seen that the church is known as the bride of Christ. Here John then goes on to describe the bride, the church, as the holy city of Jerusalem:

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Revelation 21:10-27)

So not only is the church of central importance to God’s plan in the here and now, it will also be the eternal dwelling place of God!

THE BODY OF CHRIST

And He (God) put all things under His(Jesus’) feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

To understand what it means that the church is the body of Christ, we have to understand two things:

1. How Jesus operated in His earthly ministry

2. How believers operate

How did Jesus Operate?

Here’s a truth that defies human reasoning: Jesus, in His ministry on the earth, was 100 percent man and 100 percent God. Perhaps because it is hard for the natural mind to fathom this truth, there are lots of ways to misunderstand the implications. It’s easy to assume that the works that Jesus did on earth He could do because He was God. But the truth is, all that Jesus did, miracles, healings, and so on, He did as a man, empowered by the Holy Spirit. It’s important to understand this fact because if we get it wrong, we’ll miss entirely the fact that follows: Jesus did what He did, not to impress us with His powers as God, but to set an example of what a human being, yielded to the Holy Spirit, can do. God intends that Christ’s body continue doing the works that He did.

There is of course only one Jesus, and there will forever only be one Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. He is worthy of all of our praise and worship and honor forever and ever. Amen. But that’s not why He could walk on water and calm storms. No, He became a man. As a man, he got tired, hungry and thirsty.

He didn’t know everything. For instance, after the lady with the issue of blood touched Him, He asked “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30)

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)

God’s plan required that Jesus become a man. That’s why we don’t see Jesus perform any miracles until after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. He said

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus ministered as a man anointed or empowered by the Holy Spirit.

How do we Operate?

In the 14th chapter of The Gospel According to John, Jesus makes an astonishing statement:

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (John 14:12)

Does that mean that those that believe in Jesus can heal the sick for example? Yes. How? The short answer is, the same way Jesus did, by the Holy Spirit.

In chapters 14, 15 and 16 of John, Jesus explains to His disciples that He will leave them. They are not happy about it, but Jesus said it’s better that He goes away:

But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. … However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:6-7, 13-15)

We may be reluctant to believe that we can do greater works than Jesus, let alone the same works. But the next book of the New Testament after John is The Acts of the Apostles. There we see the fulfillment of that promise begin:

- Peter healed a crippled man (Acts 3:1-8)

- Many signs and wonders wrought by apostles (Acts 5:12)

- Peter’s shadow heals (Acts 5:15-16)

- Ananias laid hands on Paul so that he recovered his sight (Acts 9:10-18)

- Peter raises Tabitha from the dead (Acts 9:36-42)

These are just a sampling, there are more. Some would argue that these miracles in Acts were wrought because those doing them were apostles. There’s some truth in that. However, though we should expect to see relatively many of these kinds of things in an Apostle’s ministry, it doesn’t mean that they are limited to an apostle. Ananias for example, was not an apostle. Besides, Jesus said signs would follow those who believe:

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:17-18)

This is a brief introduction to a topic too large to fully cover in this book. However, a statement from Bill Johnson summarizes this truth in a concise way that will make it easy to keep the force of it in our minds:

What were the distinctions of Jesus Christ’s humanity?

1. He had no sin to separate Him from the Father.

2. He was completely dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit working through Him.

What are the distinctions of our humanity?

1. We are sinners cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Through His sacrifice He has successfully dealt with the power and effect of sin for all who believe. Nothing now separates us from the Father. There remains only one unsettled issue –

2. How dependent on the Holy Spirit are we willing to live?[2]

Just as the human body carries out the directions of the head, so Jesus does what He does in the earth today through His body, the church. For example, to draw someone to Himself. Though occasionally He might send an angel or give someone a vision or whatever, God usually sends a member of His body, a believing human being, to preach the gospel. If He wants to bring provision to someone, He’ll send it through a person. If He wants to show love to someone, He will use one of His children to express that love. He ministers healing to one through the hands of another. This is the universal church, continuing the works of Jesus on the earth.

A TEMPLE

Many times we’ll refer to the building where we meet to hear sermons and sing worship songs as “church.” The Bible never uses it that way. The Lord doesn’t dwell in such buildings.

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. (Acts 17:24)

He does, though, dwell in His people, the church.

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22 KJV)

God is present everywhere,

“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

but not in all places in the same sense. Sometimes His presence is in a certain place at a certain time in an unusually tangible way or for a specific purpose.

And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. (1 Kings 8:10-11)

Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. (Luke 5:17)

There’s a lot to say about why God desires to dwell in His people. However, perhaps this prayer in Ephesians provides us with a good summary:

May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, [a]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses [b]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] [c]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and [d]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]! Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]— (Ephesians 3:17-20)

God lives in us collectively and individually so that we can be rooted in love and be strong to experience for ourselves the love of Christ. By the action of His power in us He can carry out His purpose.

CHAPTER 2

WHAT HAPPENS IN CHURCH?

As we’ve seen, God is everywhere but not in all places in the same sense. God is in every believer, but when believers are together, God is present amongst them in an additional sense:

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)

When we apply electricity to appliances, we expect to see that power do something. We expect to hear music from speakers, feel heat from heaters and get motion from motors. What should we expect to see in the local church as a result of God’s presence there?

Picture for a moment, a believer leading someone in the sinner’s prayer. Picture also, someone preaching the gospel. Picture people getting baptized and taking communion. Where did you picture those things happening? Many have fallen into a trap where they would only see these things happening in a church meeting rather than at the grocery store or on the street, or some other such place. The devil is happy to the extent that he can confine our activity as believers to church buildings. In contrast, many of the things recorded in the gospels about Jesus are what He did and said outside of any temple. Jesus’ actions and teaching were woven into His life so that He taught, preached, did good and healed wherever He was. Of course He did these things in synagogues, but He also did them walking somewhere, sitting in a boat, visiting someone in their home, and so on. Whenever and wherever. That’s the example set for us to follow.

And yet, all that being so, God’s plan also involves us having fellowship with one another, praying together, worshipping together, working together, and ministering to one another when we are assembled together as believers. In other words, when we’re in church.

BUILDING

What is Jesus doing in the earth today? Exactly what He said He would. In Matthew 16:16, Jesus told Peter

“…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church…”

Jesus is building His church. The agent He is using is the church itself. God’s plan is that the church builds itself up by having its members minister to one another.

And yet, sadly, you’ll find few believers that think in terms of building. More often you find believers that think mostly in terms of blessing.

You can tell by listening to how they pray:

Their prayers center around getting things for themselves, rather than furthering the purposes of God in the earth. You’ll find among them little enthusiasm for the directive for prayer given in 1 Timothy:

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

You can tell that they think mostly in terms of blessing by listening to them talk:

“I was reading my Bible today and God really blessed me.” Or “Oh, that was great meeting, I got really blessed.” God does bless, but it’s a side effect more than it is His main goal. God’s agenda is for us to be built into the image of Christ. God’s messages to us will include exhortation, warning and correction. These kinds of messages don’t seem like blessings; they can sting. But if we take them to heart we will be built up.

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

Building Through Gifts of the Spirit

Although the New Testament mentions building or edifying the church a number of times, there are three consecutive chapters on the subject in 1 Corinthians. Chapters 12, 13 and 14 were written to explain the use of spiritual gifts, beginning with “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.” (1 Corinthians 12:1) A paraphrase of these chapters in a few sentences might be something like: “You are all parts of one body, each with different functions. The gifts work differently through each part, but the purpose in everything is to build each other up in love.”

Chapter 13, often thought of as the love chapter, reminds us about the all importance of love, the motivation from which the gifts of the Spirit must flow. Chapter 14 contains some detail about using the gifts to edify one another. We find that the context is what we might call a church meeting. The working of the gifts take place “in public worship” (verse 19), and “when you meet together” (verse 26).

There are instructions for prophesying:

But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. (1 Corinthians 14:3).

But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)

Instructions for various utterances:

How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

Instructions for tongues and interpretation:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. (1 Corinthians 14:27)

Evidently gifts not mentioned are also expected to operate, but don’t require further instruction.

There are altogether nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. One way that God does miraculous things is through these gifts. In an earlier section we mentioned a few things from the book of Acts such as signs and wonders wrought by apostles, people getting healed in Peter’s shadow, and Peter raising Tabitha from the dead. The book of Acts also records things like Peter knowing that Ananias and Sapphira lied about how much they got for selling their house and Phillip getting translated from near Jerusalem to Azotus (Ashdod). These all involve gifts of the Holy Spirit. See the Appendix for more details about them.

Church meetings where gifts of the spirit are flowing benefit two groups of people, those who need a miracle and those who want the Holy Spirit to work miracles through them. Often the Holy Spirit is able to work because of the atmosphere created in a meeting. For example:

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2)

As they were ministering to, or worshipping the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke. We don’t know exactly how, but it was probably through the gift of prophecy or the gift of tongues plus interpretation.

For those who want the Holy Spirit to work through them, these kinds of meetings will help them in two ways:

1. They are making themselves available for it by putting themselves physically in the right place at the right time.

2. They are associating themselves with people through whom the Holy Spirit already works. This is taking advantage of a spiritual principle: you can acquire things from other people through association. For example, David killed Goliath. There were at least 4 other giants killed in the Bible, and they were all killed by people that followed David.

God has created human beings with a hunger for the supernatural. Some try to ignore that hunger or adopt the attitude that the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace and so on, are more important than the power of the Spirit. But God is the one who put the desire for spiritual gifts in us and besides that, also commands us to desire them. It is not for us to pick and choose which commands we obey.

In fact, God uses strong language in this regard. The church at Corinth was a place where the gifts of the spirit were already in operation (1 Corinthians 1:6-7), and the Corinthians were already zealous for them (1 Corinthians 14:12). Yet the apostle Paul still writes to them to “desire spiritual gifts.” The Greek word translated as “desire” could have also been translated as “earnestly covet.” God instructs us to earnestly covet spiritual gifts!

So, God is building his church, and one way He is doing it is through the gifts of the spirit. Being in church makes you available for involvement as a recipient or a channel.

Getting Equipped to Build

There is a different set of gifts, often called the ministry gifts. Church is one of the places where God expects us to receive what He imparts through these gifts. A list of these ministry gifts is found in Ephesians 4:11:

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers

Each one of these ministry gifts has its own function within the body of Christ. Each one has its own unique anointing or grace for ministry that God uses to equip the church.

Pastors --

Though Jesus is the Chief Shepherd He shares this shepherd work with pastors. As do worldly shepherds, pastors help to feed and shelter the flock and keep wolves away. Pastors have a grace that enables them to comfort people. When you are near a pastor, it can feel like you’ve come into a sheltered, safe place.

Evangelists --

Evangelists proclaim the truth with power. Evangelists can stir people to action, whether that be to accept Christ or make a deeper commitment to Him or to rise in faith and receive the gifts that grace has provided.

Prophets --

Prophets are the ears and eyes of the church. The grace working in them helps them to hear and see what God is doing and make it known. When prophets minister, the presence of God manifests in such a way that it makes you want to be totally still and quiet so that you don’t disturb it. Revelation flows to your spirit through a prophet’s ministry.

Teachers --

Teachers explain. Teachers can help you to see the scriptures clearly. They can make you feel about the scriptures “That’s so simple, so clear, how come I didn’t see that before?”

Apostles --

Apostles are sent to accomplish certain tasks. There are different classes of apostles with different giftings and mandates. Modern day apostles don’t share the status of the 12 Apostles of the Lamb who were eye witnesses to Jesus’ ministry and resurrection. Nor are they laying the foundation of the church as did Apostles such as Paul, Peter, James and John. Rather God is using apostles now to do such things as establish churches and form His church on a macro level. There’s a certain power and authority accompanying the speech of apostles, even when they are communicating simple truths.

Verses 12 through 16 of Ephesians 4 explain the purpose of these ministry gifts:

…for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:12-16)

Notice that it’s the saints that do the work of ministry, not the ministry gifts. The ministry gifts equip the saints. This is contrary to the traditional view of this scripture that the ministry gifts to do the work of the ministry. The following notes from a Bible school class taught by Tony Cooke (www.tonycooke.org) illustrate this misconception:

Society’s thinking gets into the church.

Christianity began as a dynamic relationship between God and man through Jesus Christ,

went to Greece and became a philosophy,

went to Rome and became an empire,

went to Europe and became a culture,

and went to America and became an enterprise,

Christianity will fill in people’s normal way of thinking. We have to make sure we embrace God’s Word on his terms, not our terms. Not what’s convenient, fits into our lifestyle, and doesn’t require us to make a radical change in how we think, believe and act.

God wants to radically transform and revolutionize our lives.

…And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12)

People think that the pastor is supposed to:

1.              Perfect the saints.

2.              Do the work of the ministry.

3.              Edify the body of Christ

If the pastor is supposed to do all that, what does the church do? Sits back and says “Perfect me Pastor. I want to be perfected so that I can better watch you do the work of the ministry. And we think it’s great the way you edify the body of Christ.”

If you take that traditional definition you have a pastor doing 100 percent of the work and a congregation doing 100 percent spectating. Combine that with people’s tendency to be passive, and you get church members acting like they are at a football game:

Sunday afternoon, stands are packed with fans come to watch the quarterback out on the field. They pay the big ticket to sit in the stands and watch two teams go up and down the field. They cheer their favorite team.

But before the football game starts Sunday afternoon, Christians have their own activity. Fans pour into the stands, paying their admission price, tithes and offerings. They watch their star, not a quarterback, but the pastor, they see him on the playing field performing. When he’s done playing the game they leave the stadium, the sanctuary, and go home and say

“Wasn’t it a great game?” or

“He should have passed more.” Or

“Didn’t he fumble that scripture?”

What you have is the same mentality of armchair quarterbacks observing passively. This is based on entirely the wrong concept of that scripture.

The Amplified Bible says it more like the Ephesians would have understood it:

His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church), (Ephesians 4:12)

The sanctuary is not the stadium, it is the locker room.

The pastor is not the star player, he’s the coach.

You don’t watch the pastor play the game, you hear him give the pre-game instructions. Church is not the place where most Christianity should happen. You come here to get trained and equipped so that when worship is over the service can begin. When you’re dismissed from the Sunday morning service, that’s when you step into the arena of life and play the game of Christianity. Wednesday is the coach’s half time talk.

Because God’s design includes us being mutually dependent on one another, He will speak certain things to us through people. Just as surely as there are some things that you will only get directly from God in your times of intimacy with Him, there are other things that God will only speak to you through other people. Often it will be through apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, though He might use acquaintances, friends and family members as well.

To illustrate, here is an example of God speaking through one minister to another from Mike Murdock’s book “The Assignment”:

I recently had a very unusual experience that changed my life. Each year I host a World Wisdom Conference. Two years ago at this conference, one of my friends, a visiting evangelist, came to me saying, “I feel that God spoke to me to receive an offering for your ministry today.”

To this I replied, “Well, I will let you know whatever God impresses me to do.” I appreciated what he said, but really felt that I was able to hear from God as much as anyone present. And I felt no leading whatsoever that an offering was to be received at that time.

Then a few minutes later, another evangelist handed me a note. It reiterated what the other brother felt impressed to share about receiving an offering. They both felt it was God and wanted me to hand him the microphone.

I was agitated. I had a personal schedule for the time that offerings would be received and my basic attitude was, “This is my own conference, and nobody is going to receive an offering unless I approve and know that it is God’s will. This is neither the time nor the place for an offering. I had already received an offering that morning, and I did not want the people to feel harassed.

I am not a novice in the ministry. I have walked to the pulpit more than twelve thousand times since I started preaching at the age of eight years old. I spoke at my first crusade when I was fifteen. I entered full-time evangelism at the age of nineteen. Since then I have been in thirty-six countries of the world. So I was a little peeved that another man of God would push me in this manner.

Now, while I was speaking and preparing to dismiss the people for lunch, this same evangelist walked up to me publicly. He was weeping and crying. “Brother, could I say a word?”

I was still frustrated. It bothered me deeply. I pray, fast, and make every effort to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. And I was hearing nothing from God. I felt nothing and really believed in my heart that he was totally out of order. But he was a man of God. I knew he was a man of God. His ministry was proven. His anointing was obvious. He had passed the test of time. He wore the badge of endurance. He was gentle and kind, but very persistent. So I reluctantly handed him the microphone.

As he began to speak, tears ran down his cheeks. Then within moments, my partners began to step out of their seats streaming to the front with $1,000 faith promises for the ministry. They kept coming, and coming, and coming. I stood there, still feeling nothing. I could hardly believe what was happening. I cannot say that I felt joy, because I did not feel joy. Neither did I feel any confirmation. During the entire time that he received the offering, I never felt the winds of the Holy Spirit, and the offering that day in cash and pledges totaled more than $100,000.

So I prayed, “Oh Lord, I thought I knew Your voice. I thought I knew when You spoke.”

But you see, God had spoken something. He had spoken to another man something that He had withheld from me. And it concerned me deeply. In fact, I was incensed. I was embarrassed. I was puzzled. I am sure that was the way Eli the priest felt when God spoke to Samuel, the little boy, instead of to him, the high priest.

I felt the timing was wrong. I had my own schedule. The only reason I had finally allowed and permitted him to do what he did was because I really knew he was a man of God. The touch of God was upon him while I felt nothing. I saw no vision and experienced no revelation as I simply trusted in the man of God that my Father had decided to use that day.

The whole thing continues to irritate me, but I learned a valuable lesson that day.

I learned that God tells others things He will not tell me. And I learned that my success can depend on my ability to recognize a man of God when I am in his presence.[3]

Notice here that Mike Murdock is not so much doing something that he doesn’t sense God’s leading to do as he is allowing others to do what God is leading them to do. This is an important distinction. It is never right to do something just because someone else tells you to do it. You must see with your own heart that a thing is right before you do it. We are to remain humble and open to what God might tell us through someone else, but we are to test all things and never violate our own conscience.

We hear people say things that are true. We hear people say things that are false. God expects us to know the difference and to receive the true and reject the false.

The Thessalonians did exactly that and Paul commended them for it:

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

Actually, the epistles themselves are examples of God speaking through His ministers. The epistles are messages written to churches. As was the case then, that those people that were not a part of those churches would not have received these messages, so it is now. Those who are not part of a church will miss much of what God is saying presently.

Similarly, consider chapters 2 and 3 of The Revelation to John. These chapters contain messages to seven churches. Each message starts with “To the angel of the church in…” The angels delivered the messages to the churches. It’s likely that messages to particular churches can still be delivered this way. Again, a believer who is not a part of a church won’t receive these messages.

A side note here. What a minister is able to deliver to a given church depends a lot on the character or makeup of that church. To some degree any message that is delivered is a product of both the speaker and the hearer.

Sometimes I’ve listened to a certain minister in both what I consider my home church and in other churches. I always get more out of the ministry when I hear the minister at my home church (ministry would include the message given, the grace transferred and the operation of gifts of the Spirit). The ministry is more closely tailored to my needs when I am among those with similar needs. This is one of the reasons it is important to stay where God plants you. He may lead you on from there, but don’t go until He leads.

Obviously, we need these gifts or God wouldn’t have given them. If you are not receiving ministry from each of these ministry gifts on a somewhat regular basis, you are missing out on much of what God has provided for you. The local church is one of the main places that these gifts do their work. If you have removed yourself from church, you most likely have put yourself out of reach of these gifts.

Modern day Apostles and Prophets?

Now some might say “I thought that apostles are not meant for the church today.” Not true. For one thing, God gave all these ministry gifts together. If pastors are meant for today, so are prophets. If teachers are meant for today, so are apostles. For another, verse 13 tells us till when these gifts are given:

…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13)

Has the body of Christ come to the unity of faith? Has it come to a perfect man? I know I’m not perfect, how about you? Neither have I reached the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. I’m not there yet, maybe some people are, but this verse says “till we all…” Another scripture describing the condition of the church at Jesus’ return is in the fifth chapter of Ephesians:

…that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)

The Bible points to many events that must take place before Jesus returns. However, given that God’s central focus is His church, it follows that the condition of that church would be the ultimate time indicator. In other words, even though every other sign is fulfilled, Jesus won’t come back before the church has reached the condition outlined in these scriptures.

Until every member of the body of Christ has reached the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, until the church has grown up to be her glorious, spotless and wrinkle free self, we still need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

For much of church history, most of these ministry gifts have not been recognized by the majority of believers as they should have been. One hundred years ago, pastors were the only ministries generally understood and received. Then in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, God raised up many evangelists. People were saved and healed in record numbers. In the 1970’s, the teaching ministry gift came to prominence. Now there are many good teachers. People appreciate and seek out teachers. More recently, acceptance of prophetic and apostolic ministries has moved towards the mainstream. Considering that it’s only in the last half a century or so of the last two thousand years of church history that these ministry gifts have been restored to their rightful place, we understand that God is accelerating the building of His church.

No doubt, much of what God does through people on behalf of other people, is through the spoken word. But that’s only part of it.

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— (Romans 1:9-11)

The Apostle Paul said here that he longed to see the believers in Rome so that he might impart something to them. There are spiritual things, or spiritual substance, that people can carry and transfer to other people. One way these spiritual things are transferred or imparted is through the laying on of hands. Hebrews 6 lists “laying on of hands” as one of the elementary principles of Christ, and there are plenty examples throughout the Bible of things transferred through laying on of hands. Often in the New Testament, healings and baptism in the Holy Spirit are imparted through the laying on of hands.

A gift was given to Timothy through the laying on of hands:

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (2 Timothy 1:6)

These gifts can take the form of a special ability or empowerment to minister. Additionally, things like peace and joy can be transferred from one person to another. These transfers of spiritual substance can and do happen apart from any meeting, but meetings afford the opportunity to minister to hundreds or thousands in relatively short order.

One of the most astounding miracles I have ever witnessed came through the laying on of hands. I was in some revival meetings one summer. There was a pastor who, during these meetings, would serve as a kind of assistant to the main speaker. He would make announcements and introductions and things like that. He seemed nice enough, but there was a blandness and dryness to him. To me it seemed almost as though there were a mask over his face.

A few years later I was at a conference. I volunteered to help another minister by selling his books and CDs while he went somewhere for dinner. One of those who came to buy something was the pastor that I had seen a few years back at the revival meetings. When I saw him approaching, I did a double take, because he was evidently the same person, but so different. The mask was gone, the blandness and dryness was gone. The love of God seemed to flow out of him. He seemed to take a genuine interest in me, a total stranger, selling books for someone.

I asked him if he was who I thought he was. He said yes. I commented that he seemed so different. He agreed emphatically. I asked if it had happened slowly or all at once. He explained that though he was confident that God had been steadily at work in him, it seemed to him that the change happened suddenly a few nights back when a minister laid hands on him. God touched him and deeply changed him. I told him he was going to have to go back to his congregation and reintroduce himself so that they would know it was him.

Besides the laying on of hands, spiritual things can be imparted through speech or even by proximity. For example:

Now it was told Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. (1 Samuel 19:19-21)

Now I have, and probably you have too, received great benefits from audio and video recordings of ministry, but these are no substitute for actually being there in person. I believe there are a lot of things that go on in the spirit realm that we don’t know about. When we are obedient, being in the right place at the right time, good things happen, when we are disobedient bad things happen, and we may not be immediately aware of what those things are.

So, as we’ve seen, God has given the ministry gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) to equip the church. The ministry gifts do the equipping, whereas the saints, or believers, do the work of ministry. In any case, whether it’s ministry gifts equipping or believers working, the local church is the hub.

We have an example of this very thing in Acts 13:

Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. (Acts 13:1-3)

Barnabas and Saul were already called, but they didn’t go until they were sent from this church meeting in Antioch. Evidently, part of the provision they needed came through the laying on of hands. (We’ve already seen how spiritual things can be transferred by the laying on of hands.) Barnabas and Saul most likely received a grace or an empowerment for the work they were called to through the laying on of hands in this meeting of the church at Antioch.

Ministering to One Another

When believers are together, the presence of God is more tangible. Watching a Swedish Stove work reminds me of this. A Swedish Stove is made by splitting a short log into quarters lengthwise. The pieces are stood up on end, arranged in their original relative positions except for a small gap between them. Once a fire gets going in the center of this arrangement, it will continue to burn nicely, creating a good amount of heat. If you separate these pieces by too large a gap, the pieces become just smoking charcoal. Bring them together again, and the pieces reflect heat to each other and air drawn up through the gaps fans the flame. Whether you’re a smoking chunk of charcoal or a brightly burning brand is determined to some degree by how close you stay to fellow believers.

Here’s the example that was set for us by the young church:

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42)

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, (Acts 2:46)

They were together daily in the temple. It’s interesting to see the prominence that fellowship is given. God places a high priority on believers’ fellowship with one another.

Not only does the Bible call us into fellowship with one another, it also warns against fellowship with unbelievers:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

If a person is not part of a church, there is a good chance that person is not in fellowship with other believers but instead with unbelievers. That is one of the graver mistakes a person can make.

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-6)

As mentioned before, 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13 and 14 contain instructions about edifying one another in a public setting by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God wants us involved on both the receiving and the giving ends. There are other scriptures carrying the same theme:

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (Ephesians 5:18-19)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:16-17)

We read in 1 Corinthians 12, that we are all part of one body, needing each other. As it is with the human body, no single part of it can live apart from the body, so it is with Christ’s body. Here’s Ephesians 4:16 again:

…from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Every joint supplies something, every part does its share. Body parts share life with each other. A doctor friend of mine gave me a brief overview of how life flows through our physical bodies:

“When food is digested, nutrients are absorbed through the cells walling the intestines to the bloodstream, where they form complex molecules (depending on the type of nutrient – whether it is a carbohydrate, amino acid, lipid, vitamin, etc) which are then carried all over the body by the blood. Some of the nutrients are metabolized in the liver or somewhere else and only then carried all over the body, etc.

Blood is connective tissue which is basically everywhere. Only in large vessels like arteries and veins it is more or less separated from other tissues, but in capillaries it is already mixed up with everything. Red blood cells have the special function of carrying oxygen, but basically blood carries everything everywhere.”

If a body part gets separated from the body, it gets separated from a grand system designed to bring life to it. A person who has separated himself from other believers has cut off the flow of life both to and from himself. It is as absurd to expect he can live in that situation as it is to expect that a heart or lung or brain or whatever body part could live outside the body.

Just Showing Up is Not Enough

If it’s mysterious to you how life might flow from one believer to the next, I might know why. It’s easy to fall into the habit of being involved with a church in only a superficial way. You show up, sit in the back, maybe toss a few coins in the offering bucket, act like you hear the message, then leave early. What happens in the church you go to is partly dependent on you. Just showing up is not enough.

We are mutually dependent on each other. We need to be humble enough to receive from others and loving enough to give to others. Perhaps our greatest need is not what others can do for us, but what we can do for others. We can be in position for these giving and receiving relationships when we report for duty at the post we’re assigned to in the local church.

I attended a church in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the 1970’s called The Answer. It was full of people that were constantly giving. At The Answer, once the teaching and worship portions of the service were finished, the next main part of the service began. The congregation formed groups of maybe 2-5 people in the foyer, or sanctuary, the parking lot, sitting in circles on the grass or wherever. In these groups, people would pray for each other, to be baptized in the Holy Spirit or saved or healed or whatever was needed. Some would answer questions about the Bible or Christian life. There may have been a little small talk, but I don’t remember any. I do remember a number of times where someone said, “I was praying for you and I felt like the Lord wants to tell you…” and it would be accurate. During these times, the pastor and other leaders of the church where participating in a similar way as everyone else.

I don’t recall that we were ever instructed to pray for each other. People just naturally did it. There was a tremendous amount of zeal and excitement in everyone and the prayer time was a spontaneous thing. I have been to other churches where the pastor might tell people to find someone around them who has a need and for a small group of people to pray for them for a few minutes before returning to the program. That never seemed to work as effectively as the spontaneous ministry at The Answer.

The personal ministry directed toward me at The Answer is a good example of the way things worked there. The first time I attended, in this people ministering to one another part of the service, the guy who brought me asked me if I wanted to get saved. I said yes. He found someone a little older spiritually than he was to pray with me. That person led me in the sinner’s prayer. Later, someone else greeted me and asked if I was saved. I replied that yes, just that night in fact I had accepted Jesus as Lord. He asked, “Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?” I asked “The what?” He said “Sit down here,” and got me filled with the Holy Spirit.

A few months later, during that same part of the service, I remember sitting in a circle praying in the spirit with some others. One young lady asked if I’d been involved in witchcraft. I said no. We prayed more. She asked again, I said no. More praying. This time she asked other questions about things that I had been involved in. I described some yoga type meditation that I’d done. She said that she believed that the devil had gained a foothold in me through that, and that I should have the pastor’s wife Bev pray for me. Bev agreed that I needed to renounce the meditation and have the power of the spirit forces behind the meditation broken. When she laid hands on me and broke the power of those spirit forces, I felt something like a tight band around my head snap free.

For sure, the few-to-one or one-to-one ministry that I’ve just described is a powerful channel through which God touches lives. But it is limited in one important sense: it only meets certain types of needs at certain times and certain places. Church services occupy a relatively small portion of our lives. Our lives continue during the rest of the week too.

The church that I attend at the time of this writing is Jarva County Christian Center in Paide Estonia. It’s a good example in that, as opposed to being a group of people that merely meet together at certain times of the week, it’s more like a big family or a group of friends whose lives are in continual contact with each other. People in the church stay fairly close, and are eager to help others. If someone is moving, men show up with trailers and help the family move. When someone has a baby, church members will help with that family’s meals for a while. People have helped our family with everything from food, cash, clothing and firewood to accounting and advice when buying a car.

Sometimes a team of people can make a big difference. A group of young believers from Sweden were in our town helping our church in various ways. The pastor’s wife at the church saw that our family could use some help with the 80 year old house we’d bought. Around a half dozen of the Swedish youth spent a day giving our remodeling and cleaning up project a big boost. They helped clean out the water logged and moldy basement, dragging out rotted wood and mud and old bottles. They cleaned the bottles. Some removed old gypsum board from the ceiling and removed the deteriorating plaster from the walls. Some help me clean out the shed and others shoveled gravel. You can see the finished product at www. jarvahouse.com.

Maybe you are in a situation where you feel as though you never receive any kind of help from anyone. That’s good! You’re in a perfect situation to set a good example! Plant the kind of seed that will yield the harvest you desire. If you wish someone would invite you over for dinner, invite someone to dinner. You will reap what you sow.

Provision Awaits on the Path of Obedience

Here is an excerpt from John Fenn’s book, “Pursuing the Seasons of God.” It shows how God uses people to meet other people’s needs, and how costly disobedience can be:

The Lord told me that many times provision is made for his people in accordance with their prayers and angels are sent to make it happen, but when time comes for them to step into what the Lord has done in the Spirit, people go their own way instead and get into trouble. He told me that many have even died because the angels prepared in one area but the people went in another direction, and the angels have to stick to their assignment and can’t rescue people in these cases.

He showed me an example of what he was talking about. Suddenly we were standing in the air looking down into a church and I saw below us a young single woman with two children sitting on the back pew. She was listening to the sermon, but her mind wasn’t on the sermon and I heard her thinking to the Lord about some answers she needed.

One child appeared to be about 3 or so and the other was a baby. The 3 year old was standing up looking over the back of the pew and the baby was in her lap. I heard her prayers and thoughts as she ignored the sermon and complained to the Lord about her situation.

The Lord explained that her husband had left her and she was living with her parents and that is why she was in that church. He said she hadn’t gotten a job yet and her car was broken down (he said it was the alternator). In her mind she was saying things like: “Lord, you said you’d be the Father to the Fatherless, but look at my kids, where have you been faithful to them? Why have you abandoned me? Where is your provision? How am I going to get a job without a car and how can I get the car fixed without a job? This isn’t mom and dad’s problem, I can’t keep sponging off them. Show me how to get my life and finances back in order...” and many other things like that.

My heart went out to this young mother who was thinking the Lord had abandoned her and she couldn’t understand why he was allowing this difficulty. Then I turned to my left to ask the Lord what could be done, but what I saw stopped the words in my throat: Tears were streaming down his face as he heard what she was saying.

He said,“She is in this church because of loyalty to her parents, but she knows she is supposed to be going to another church.” Just then I saw a church to our left, that was across town and a pastor delivering a message to his congregation that I heard this woman asking the Lord about. Jesus said he was teaching a series on finances and establishing God’s order in life. She should have been in that other church getting her answers!

He said that beyond her, her children had a call on their lives that was being delayed and stifled because of her emotional unwillingness to do what was right.

He said, “She is seeking answers, and I have provided the answers but she is looking in the wrong place. He turned to the church across town and pointed out a man in a T-shirt sitting towards the front left. He said, “Do you see this man? He is a mechanic. I have commanded him to fix her car.” He pointed out an older woman sitting with two friends: “Do you see this lady? She babysits children in her home and I have commanded that she watch her children.” Then he pointed out another man. “Do you see this man? He owns a business in the town that has an opening for a receptionist, and I have commanded he give her that job.”

I was reminded of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath in I Kings 17: 8-16. In verse 9 the Lord told Elijah that he had commanded a widow to sustain him, but when he got there the lady was preparing what she thought was her last meal, completely unaware a miraculous provision had been commanded from heaven. She was ready to die not knowing the blessing had been commanded. This was exactly the case with this young mother I was observing.

Suddenly I saw angling off to our left at about forty five degrees what appeared to be something of an assembly line. It was like a pathway into the future and there were angels at either side of this path. There wasn’t a conveyor belt or anything like that, but I saw angels darting in and out of the path, while some stood on the side arranging things.

Jesus said: “This is my will for her for the next two years. The angels have prepared a job for her as I’ve said, as well as the job and an apartment within two months, and I’m also sending her to school to complete her education. All this has been prepared for her to walk in.”

Then off to our right I saw another path going two years into the future. Unlike the other path, which was lit by God’s glory, this was dimly lit and had only one or two angels on the side looking rather inactive. Before I could ask what I was seeing he said: “This is the path she is heading down, which is outside my will. As soon as the command goes forth for the Father’s will the angels are assigned to make ready everything needed. People will often start out along the right path, but when decisions that require growth or character are required they sometimes back off our perfect will and go their own way. This is what you are seeing. I am faithful and will do what I can, but the angels respond to the command in the perfect will of the Father and cannot changes assignments at their will to excuse people’s disobedience. We will not be blamed on the final day of judgment, when all is revealed everyone will see we have faithfully kept their words of commitment to us.”[4]

The epistles contain many instructions about caring for one another:

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:3-15)

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. (Romans 14:19)

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” (Romans 15:1-3)

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10)

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)

Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it— (Hebrews 12:15 AMP)

Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers [in the brotherhood—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2 AMP)

Do not forget or neglect to do kindness and good, to be generous and distribute and contribute to the needy [of the church as embodiment and proof of fellowship], for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:16 AMP)

And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities, Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25 AMP)

There are many more of these kinds of scriptures, these are just a sampling. We are to be involved in our fellow believers’ lives, actively working to bless them and keep them from falling away. The local church gives us access to other people’s lives and those people access to our lives.

WORSHIP

The New Testament doesn’t say a great deal about worship. That’s because the practice was already firmly established in the Old Testament and continues today.

I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. (Psalm 22:22)

During worship, such things can happen as:

A manifestation of the glory of God:

… indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:13-14)

The hand of God coming on an individual:

“But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him (Elisha). (2 Kings 3:15)

Deliverance:

And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him. (1 Samuel 16:23)

Healing:

I’m not aware of any scripture stating this, but I know it happens. For example my wife Beth got healed during worship once. Her neck was damaged when the car we were in was rear-ended. Weeks later while she was worshipping at a meeting in Rapid City South Dakota, she felt something snap in her neck like a rubber band breaking and the pain was gone.

Yes, any of these things can and do happen when people worship privately. In public worship however, they often occur at higher levels and with a greater frequency. Worshipping God in church with fellow believers is one setting where we consistently experience God and all that He is. These times are some of the best that can be had this side of eternity. It would already be a tragedy if this was the only thing a person missed out on by missing church.

OUTREACH

Jesus gave His church a mandate to make disciples of all nations. Although people can and should do their part to fulfill this on an individual basis, people in churches can band together for group outreaches. For example members of a church can create skits with an evangelistic message and find public places to perform them. Some may be the characters in the skit, some may set the stage, some may handle the sound equipment, some may make the costumes. See nightmaretulsa.com for a good example of this.

Church members working together can do all sorts of things to benefit their community. Churches feed homeless people, provide relief in cases of natural disasters, form crime fighting groups, etc.

Contributions from groups of believers can send others on missionary journeys abroad or support all sorts of national ministries.

CHAPTER 3

WHAT HAS GOD SAID ABOUT OUR INVOLVEMENT IN CHURCH?

It’s often the case that these people who could go to church but won’t, do not see this as an act of disobedience. Yet the Bible is clear. Here is the direct command in Hebrews 10:

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

God said about Jesus, into whose image we are destined to be molded, “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” (Hebrews 1:9)

In contrast to that, an indifferent and careless attitude toward sin seems to be on the rise within the body of Christ. Instead of following God’s instructions, many people make up their own rules and follow them. They forget that the wages of sin is death.

Of course there are some that would dearly love to attend church, but are prevented by physical condition or location or whatever. God can provide for them and help them because their heart condition is completely different from that of those who don’t go to church because they’ve decided to do things their own way.

The reason it is so dangerous to continue to walk by your own rules is found, among other places, in James:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22)

If you don’t do what you know to do, you will be deceived. Part of the deception is that you become convinced that your wrongdoing is right.

You will always be stuck at your last point of disobedience. In that sense your life, at least in its progress towards your destiny, is like an electric train. The engine only has power when it’s on the track, it’s motionless off the track. Disobedience knocks you off the track. Repentance followed by obedience gets you back on track.

Some may try to justify their disobedience by saying to themselves “Well, I don’t go to church, but I do x, y and z.” God wants you to do what He told you to do and no amount of something else will please Him or help you or anyone else. As the prophet Samuel said to Saul:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. ...” (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

Some Christians who are not in church may be aware that they are violating the Hebrews 10:25 commandment to assemble together. They try to tell themselves that it’s not a big deal breaking this one commandment. What they may not realize is that in so doing they have removed themselves from the environment that God designed for them into a barren realm where a large portion of New Testament commandments are impossible to obey. How can you “be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another”, “bear one another’s burdens”, “do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith”, “exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace”, “consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another,” and so on, when you’ve separated yourself from the body of believers?

CHAPTER 4

STRATEGIES TO GET YOU OUT OF CHURCH

The devil is intelligent. He can reason and communicate. He is constantly at work in our lives to take us out of the race that God has set before us. He scores a major victory to that end if he can get us out of church. He tends to use the same strategies over and over because they work for him. From the devil’s perspective, here are some tried and true strategies.

OFFENSE

John Bevere, in the title of his excellent book, calls offense “The Bait of Satan.” That’s an accurate way to picture this strategy. It may seem tempting, but taking the bait will get us trapped.

We experience things that other people do that we find hurtful. Maybe somebody else was chosen to do a particular thing instead of us. Maybe we didn’t get invited to so and so’s birthday party. Perhaps we have suffered a genuine wrong. People make mistakes that hurt other people.

Besides that, if we’re not careful, we can feel hurt by something that isn’t actually real. Maybe we thought that the pastor was addressing his message directly to us, when in fact he didn’t have us in mind at all. Or maybe we misheard or misunderstood what someone said. We can misinterpret actions too.

Walking in unforgiveness is a quick way to strangle our relationship with God. It will cut off our prayers and hinder our fellowship. If we let it go so far as to separate us from church, we’ve let one strategy do us double harm.

Whether the offense we’re tempted with is real or imagined, the solution in both cases is to walk in love. Recognize that the temptation to be offended is a strategy of your enemy to take you out. Choose to forgive, choose to walk in love. Love covers a multitude of sins. It endures all things.

SIN

Sadly, this kind of thing happens a lot. Someone becomes involved in a sin and this separates them from church. Perhaps the person feels guilty and finds it too uncomfortable to remain in church and be involved in sin at the same time. Or perhaps the leadership of the church tells this person that he or she can’t be a part of the church and continue in sin. Since the person already chose to let sin in, it’s easiest to go with the current momentum and forsake church rather than the sin.

Carnal relationships are probably at the top of the list of sins that get people out of church. Here’s a typical scenario: Christians can tend to have a social life limited to members of their own church. Single people, not finding anyone there to their liking in their current circle of friends and influenced by instinct and culture, start to look elsewhere. And, even though the New Testament commandment is clear “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers”(2 Corinthians 6:14),many believers fall into the age old trap of violating it. Certainly loneliness is a miserable thing, but eyes of faith can see ahead to know that nothing is worth sacrificing your destiny for.

A CRITICAL SPIRIT

It’s a human tendency to find fault, and of course no church is perfect, it is made up of imperfect people. There will always be things about any given church that can bother a person if that person isn’t careful. People who fall for this tactic may have tried a bunch of churches and have found enough to dislike in each one of them that they forsake going to church altogether. However, it’s for our own good that the Bible says:

Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves] (Philippians 2:14 AMP)

There are some who have yielded to this critical attitude to the extreme that they’ve built a doctrine around it. They teach, create websites, write books about and so on, an idea something like “The existing churches are so corrupt that you shouldn’t be a part of any of them.” While it may well be that churches in our age don’t measure up to what was seen in book of Acts, disobedience is never a solution.

SELFISHNESS

A lot of times when you listen to a person’s reason for not wanting to go to church, you’ll hear an “I” in it. In other words, the reason is expressed in terms of what’s in it, or not in it, for them. In fact the title of this book implies a selfish perspective. “Who needs church?” betrays the attitude, “What’s in it for me?” Some people stay away from church because they don’t like church people. Perhaps they feel that the people in church are not intelligent or boring or something. This is a selfish perspective. If you are there to give, to love, to edify others, to obey the scriptures, why should it matter what kind of people are there? When your frame of mind is focused on what’s in it for you, it’s easy to become unhappy.

Jesus is our example. He is far superior to anyone you’ll ever find in church, yet He comes. Thank God, Jesus comes.

So, since Christ suffered in the flesh for us, for you, arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose [patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God]. For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having the mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases God], So that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living by [his] human appetites and desires, but [he lives] for what God wills. (1 Peter 4:1-2 AMP)

Arm yourself to purposely suffer rather than fail to please God. What a great commandment!

The Lord told me something that helped me in this area. As I was considering a certain church, I thought to myself “There sure seems to be a large portion of flakey people at this church. I don’t understand it, because the pastor is definitely not flakey, and the teaching is sound.” I believe the Lord spoke to me and said “They come here because they are loved.” What I could have easily taken as a sign of a defect in the pastor or in the church he shepherded, was actually a tribute to his love and the love of that church. The pastor is not pastoring that church because he enjoys being around flakes, he’s doing it because he loves people, flakey or not.

In his book “The Final Quest,” Rick Joyner shares what he believes the Lord Jesus told him: “There is no greater folly than to know the great salvation of God, but then go on living for yourself.”[5] Such great folly and so easy to be infected by it. But we have the antidote. The love of God has been poured in to us. We can pray that it displays itself.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

PROBLEMS SUBMITTING TO AUTHORITY

To some, because going to church involves submitting to authority, they resist. God has always put certain people in authority to lead His people. Those who have yielded to pride find it difficult to submit to that authority. The classic example of this is found in Numbers 16. Korah, Datah, Abiram and On led 250 leaders against Moses and Aaron, saying “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:3)

God took it personally, as He answered through Moses “… Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. …” (Numbers 16:11) God’s severe reaction gives us a clear example of His attitude towards those who don’t accept the authority He has put in place. The earth opened up and swallowed all the men with Korah and their goods. The 250 leaders were consumed by a fire from the Lord.

I know of a couple of cases, and I’m sure there are more, of people who could not bring themselves to submit to the leadership that God had in place in their city. Instead, they tried to start their own churches. Of course the churches never grew out of their living rooms. It’s dumb to try to do something without God’s direction and grace, but trying to pastor that way is one of the worst mistakes a person could make.

STUPID THINGS THAT PEOPLE SAY

Let’s face it, part of being in church includes associating with certain people with whom we would otherwise not have anything to do. Some of them have a knack for saying stupid, irritating, humiliating or aggravating things. They may be well intentioned and sincere but nevertheless misguided. The advice they give, and or the way they give it, instead of helping people, drives them away from church. To be sure, sometimes we need reproof and it can be upsetting regardless of its accuracy. Our part is to prayerfully judge whether it applies to us or not. If it’s right, we make the adjustment, if it’s wrong we forget it, and we love the messenger in any case. I decided a few things a long time ago. One, I’m never going to let another person get between me and God. Two, I’ll never get everybody else to talk right, drive right, act right, and so on, so I might as well not let it bother me.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

We Have A Race to Run, a Destiny to Fulfill

It could be that non church going Christians are unaware of certain things. For one, if a person’s goal is merely to “make it to heaven,” he is lacking an understanding of what God has destined for his temporal life. Getting saved is much, much more than a ticket to go to heaven when you die. We have eternal life now, it’s not something that starts when our bodies die. Jesus said that eternal life is to know God. God wants an intimate relationship with us now, knowing Him by experience as God Almighty, our Provider, our Peace, our Victory, our Righteousness, our Healer, as all He is.

Each person has a race to run, a destiny to fulfill. God has a specific plan for your life. It is vitally important that you know very clearly what that plan is. If you don’t know what it is, or if you only have a vague idea of it, I urge you to seek God earnestly until you clearly see the next step.

Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16 AMP)

God has given you gifts and abilities. When you are in your place, these gifts and abilities come into action. You will gain a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment as you do what you were put on the earth to do.

Life is filled with distractions. It’s important to focus to make sure that you don’t get to the end of this life and discover that you didn’t finish what you were supposed to.

One fine sunny day when I was in Bible school, I drove my car to the grocery store to get the week’s groceries. As I got into the car to head for the store, I noticed a hole in the paint on the hood that was getting larger. (You may remember that in the 1980’s General Motors put out cars with primer to which the finish paint wouldn’t stick. I had a 1987 Firebird with that problem.) I listened to music while driving with the windows down, enjoying the pleasant weather. At the store, while paying for what I’d selected, I thought to myself “Hmmm, nice looking cashier” I drove home and when I went to get the groceries out of the back seat, I realized that I had forgotten them at the store. I got distracted enough with trivial stuff that I failed to accomplish my goal. So I had to make another trip to get my groceries.

We don’t want to stand before the Lord on that day when we give account of what we did with our life here and the gifts that God entrusted us with and realize that we left the groceries at the checkout counter so to speak, that we failed to do what we were destined to do. A second trip won’t be possible.

We need to have the heart of Jesus:

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. (John 4:34)

Until you know that you know that you are in the center of God’s will for your life, your life won’t resonate as it should. It’ll be like some forgotten series airing on a black and white TV at low volume.

Grace is for Good Works

For some, the temptation to stay away from church is fueled by a misunderstanding of grace. At the time of this writing, much false teaching about grace is widely popular. What has happened is exactly like what the Letter of Jude describes:

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)

Some ministers teach that because of God’s grace, our works are not important. We can sin and it’s not a problem. This is a lie of catastrophic proportion. Don’t believe me? Then how do you explain Ananias and Sapphira dying because they lied to the Holy Spirit? (Acts 5:1-11) Lying is a sin, and it is a problem.

Grace is not an excuse to sin, it’s an empowerment to live above sin.

A good friend and an excellent teacher, Guy Duininck, left this post on Facebook about grace:

The New Testament epistles are filled with instructions to believers. There are instructions about thinking, speaking, praying, loving, standing, running, resisting, holding fast, etc. Many of these instructions contain Greek verbs in the Present Imperative Mood.

The Imperative Mood of a Greek verb is a command or instruction given to the hearer/reader. It charges the hearer/reader to carry out, or to perform, that certain action mentioned. This mood of a Greek verb addresses the volition and the will of the hearer/reader, making a demand upon their will to obey the command. It is the mood furthest removed from certainty, however, since the hearer/reader may choose to not do what is instructed.

The Present Imperative Mood of a Greek verb is an instruction to continually, habitually follow the command given. The actions called for are not "suggestions" but commands to make each instruction a habitual practice. There are over 850 uses of verbs in the Present Imperative form in the New Testament.

Here are a few examples of Greek verbs used in the New Testament in the Present Imperative form:

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Romans 6:12

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Ephesians 6:11

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

II Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The multiplied use of verbs in the Imperative Mood in the New Testament epistles, and especially those verbs used in the Present Imperative Mood is one of the primary reasons it not possible for me to embrace the popular teaching of “Effortless Christianity.”

I can see how people might take a few scriptures and come to a wrong conclusion based on them. There’s Ephesians 2:4-9:

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

And Romans 4:1-6:

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.

And Romans 9:16:

So then [God’s gift] is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy. [It depends not on one’s own willingness nor on his strenuous exertion as in running a race, but on God’s having mercy on him.]

A person might read these scriptures and conclude that God doesn’t care about our works and that there’s no benefit to exerting ourselves. To take these scriptures that way though is to ignore some other aspects of truth: God is a rewarder.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

But wait you say, “How can God’s gift not be a question of ‘human will and human effort’, and at the same time, God be a rewarder?” Here’s how:

Our inheritance is based on Jesus’ work.

Our rewards are based on our work.

The fact that we are saved and that such things as righteousness, healing, prosperity, eternal life, etc., belong to us, is because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Bless His name forever! There’s nothing you can do to earn any of that, because, though it cost God the most precious thing in all of eternity, the blood of His only son Jesus, our inheritance is a free gift to us! That is what the previously mentioned scriptures are talking about when they say things like “not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation can’t be bought with works.

Be all that as it may, now that we are saved, God expects a return on His investment. Let’s look at Ephesians 2:8-9 again but with verse 10 as well:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

See? Not saved BY works, saved FOR works! Saved FOR good works! God has prepared good works for us to walk in, and now that we are saved, we can do just that.

Would you be shocked if I told you that God tests us and rewards us if we pass the test?

God does indeed test us:

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

We pass or fail the test by our actions. For example, God tested Abraham, asking him to sacrifice Isaac. God, the all-knowing, knew what was in Abraham’s heart. He knew in advance what Abraham would do, but He still put him to the test. He still gave Abraham the chance to prove himself:

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Genesis 22:1)

And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Genesis 22:10-12)

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18)

Revelation chapters 2 and 3 contain messages from the Lord Jesus to seven different churches. To each church, Jesus says “I know your works...” God knows our hearts, yes, but he rewards us based on our works.

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)

Obedience to God’s commands brings reward. Reward in this life, and as noted in this scripture, reward on judgment day. Disobedience, sometimes brings immediate pleasure or relief, but the result is never good. Disobedience, like obedience has both immediate and eternal consequences. I believe that the most painful aspect of judgment day will be our realization of all that we missed out on because of disobedience.

The grace of God is wonderful, but those who think they can do as they please and have things go well for them, should give careful consideration to the fact that God has a severe side and there is a danger of falling from grace, of being cut off from the vine.

You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:4)

Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:22)

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:5-6)

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:26-29)

If you’re human, you make mistakes. You can ask God to forgive you, and He will cleanse you from sin and its effects. On the other hand, to sin on purpose will bring judgment. This is why, in the verses just before these, Hebrews 10:24-25, we are told to stir one another to love and good works and to assemble together and exhort one another. We can help others avoid seeing the severe side of God.

PERSECUTION

We know that in some countries today, being a church-going Christian can be dangerous.  Depending on where you live, you may face intense persecution. Your decision to go to church may cost you your physical life. Here is the message given to those in a similar situation:

“I know your works, tribulation, and poverty … “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:9-10)

An unbelieving spouse can make life difficult for their believing husband or wife. If that’s your situation, don’t let it cause you to stumble.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

CHAPTER 5

STAYING HOME

Theoretically at least, some could find themselves in a situation where it’s just not possible to go to church. Maybe there’s a physical condition or some other logistical barrier that makes it impossible. What could a person in this situation do?

First of all, remember that God is the one who sees ahead and provides. You will never be in a situation that God didn’t know about ahead of time. God has a way for you.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Ask God to reveal His provision for you in your present situation.

Of course there is much good ministry available on television and the World Wide Web. Some people rely entirely on these for spiritual input instead of going to an actual church. If you’ve followed along with this book so far, you can readily see that even though a person might get decent teaching this way, he or she would still be missing much of what is otherwise provided by a church. One obvious problem would be that many of these programs aren’t pastoral ministries.

There are however, churches that broadcast their services live. This would likely be the best remote solution for a homebound person. If that person can find such a church that is relatively close by, I recommend that that he or she look for further involvement with the church:

1. Develop relationships with other church members. Is there someone from the church that could visit the homebound person’s home on somewhat of a consistent basis?

2. Ask about home group meetings. Perhaps some of these meetings could take place in the homebound person’s home. If the church does not have these kind of meetings, perhaps some kind of home meeting can be arranged.

3. Look for ways to contribute time and talent to the church. Make telephone calls? Help with some kind of light work like stuffing envelopes? Do data entry?

4. Become financially involved with the church by tithing.

CHAPTER 6

FINDING THE CHURCH

One of the most important parts of your life is what church you go to. What God will do for you and through you spiritually, materially and socially is all dependent upon you being in the church He has destined for you.

You have no right to decide what church to be a part of. You must discover God’s will concerning the matter and give it one hundred percent until God says something different.

What price would be too expensive to pay to go to the right church? How does that price compare with the price that Jesus paid to redeem you? What if that price included having to move your whole family to another city, or even another country? I can tell you from my own experience, it is worth it, even if you have to move your family to another country.

Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

It’s a great bargain to forsake temporal ease and comfort for eternal gain.

There are a lot of good churches on the planet earth. There are by far more lifeless churches though than there are good ones. You’re going to have to rely on God to find a good one.

Because I’ve moved from one city to another half a dozen times or so in my life, plus perhaps because I did a less than stellar job of following God’s leading, I’ve been to quite a number of bad churches trying to find a good one. I’ve been to some that seemed so off I slipped out about five minutes into the service. Sometimes I’ve stayed through whole services and felt so bad by the end that I regretted staying.

There were two churches I went to for two or three years that seemed okay on some levels but lacked power. There was a certain blandness to them. It took me a long while to understand what the problem was.

First, a little personal history. As I mentioned previously, I attended a church called The Answer. The program there for new believers was to read your Bible, stop listening to rock music, get an Amplified Bible, and absorb all the Kenneth Hagin materials you can find. I’m glad I followed that program and I still recommend it.

Kenneth Hagin’s ministry centered around his mandate from the Lord to teach His people about faith. His main message is summarized by Mark 11:23-24:

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

God has moved powerfully on my behalf through the application of these truths. I would not be alive and in fellowship with God apart from these promises.

Because of the clarity and simplicity of this message of faith, and because of its vital action in my life, I assumed that most believers understood it. I was wrong.

While attending the second of the aforementioned powerless, bland churches, I heard from a friend of mine that did office work for that church. She said that she overheard the leaders of that church criticizing Kenneth Hagin’s message. I began to understand that the lack of power and the stand against the message of faith were related.

There may be some subjects that you can be in the dark about and not be greatly hindered as you go about your life. Faith isn’t one of those subjects. Faith is what separates the saved from the damned (Mark 16:15 KJV). Believing, or having faith, is the work that God requires of us (John 6:29). We are exhorted to fight the fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). We walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith is our defense against the attacks of the enemy (Eph 6:16). Faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). It’s impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). Not understanding how to operate faith will leave a person unable to please God, powerless, ineffective and completely vulnerable to the actions of the enemy. So finding a church that believes that Jesus means literally what He said in Mark 11:23-24 is a top priority.

The first thing to do in seeking to find God’s will concerning church, is to ask Him to make it clear to you which church you are to be a part of. Trust Him to do it.

The Holy Spirit is the one who lives in you to guide you into all the truth. However, let me make a few suggestions to serve as a framework within which a church should fit.

Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

Here are four criteria to test:

1. Does what is taught line up with scripture?

The Bereans set a good example for us:

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:10-11)

2. Does what is taught bear witness with your spirit?

The most reliable indicator that you have is peace:

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]. (Colossians 3:15)

That peace can settle with finality all questions that arise. It can help you understand if what you hear is true or false. If, when you hear something, you say to yourself something like “I think this is what God is saying, I’m not quite sure, but it looks right to me,” that’s not peace. Peace is when you know for sure. There’s no question about it.

Sometimes you can be completely wrong about something. Maybe you’ve misinterpreted certain experiences or have listened to wrong information in the past. That’s why it’s important to be humble and constantly ask and believe for wisdom. The peace that is sensed within your spirit is a very accurate tool to discern truth. It may take some development to recognize it and act on it, but once you do it is very reliable. Thoughts can come to your mind that could just as well be true as they could be false, but the enemy cannot counterfeit the peace of God in your spirit. Keep seeking God until you know that you know.

3. Does what is taught glorify Jesus?

Any person that draws attention to themselves or anything else other than Jesus is someone to be avoided. One thing to remember is that criticizing other people does not bring glory to Jesus. I mention that because some ministries have as a main thrust the criticizing of other ministries. There is a place for correcting error but a ministry whose main purpose is to find fault with other ministries, besides being a pitiful excuse for a ministry, does not minister life.

4. What kind of fruit does the ministry carry?

When God speaks, the result is the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy and peace and the like. I remember just before the year 2000, people were predicting all sorts of bad things that were going to happen on midnight of December 31st, 1999. I remember listening to a lady that had heard some of this stuff and was pretty worried about it. The Holy Spirit witnessed to my heart that she was simply yielding to a spirit of fear. When God speaks through his ministers, it’s edifying, it brings life, it brings joy and peace and encouragement. Even God’s correction, though it may be painful, still carries encouragement and hope and comfort.

CONCLUSION

Who needs church?

Those who:

1. are consecrated to the will of God, whose heart cry is “Not my will but yours be done.”

2. are humble enough to accept the fact that God’s way is better than their way.

3. plan to fulfill their destiny.

4. plan to finish their race.

5. are willing to take their place in the body of Christ.

6. are willing to look beyond themselves and their needs and let Jesus build His church through them. This involves giving of their time, substance and prayers.

7. love God and therefore strive to obey His every command.

8. want God’s best for themselves and their loved ones.

9. want to hear everything that God is saying.

10. don’t want to reap the wages of sin.

“I can be a Christian and not go to church.” True or false? It’s certainly true for those who would go to church if they could. However, if you are in willful disobedience about it, are you willing to gamble your destiny on it? Are you willing to gamble the destiny of your children on it?

Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:40-42)

Maybe you think simply believing in God will save you from hell. It won’t.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! (James 2:19)

But in a way, it’s beside the point. If your heart is in the condition that brings you to even say such a thing as “I can be a Christian and not go to church,” your relationship with God is in great peril. Your love for God is growing colder each day.

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12)

People who turn their backs on God don’t do it with a single decision. They do it in steps. The steps are small in the beginning, growing larger as momentum builds through the wide gate and down the broad way that leads to destruction. First their times in prayer and reading God’s word are compromised. Wrong thoughts and bad attitudes are allowed to grow in their minds. The peace and joy in their heart dries up, the light in their countenance goes dark. They go to church less frequently until they’re not going at all. What used to bother their conscience becomes easy to do. Eventually they’re completely fallen away. Unless they turn, the day will come when it’s too late.

I urge you to consider the truths I’ve shared and get plugged into what God is doing, in the world and in your life. Get plugged in to spiritual and material provision. Get on track to fulfill your destiny. Cast off the yoke of lawlessness, become a slave to righteousness. Get in church.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)

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Appendix

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The intent is to give at least a rough idea as to the depth and breadth of this aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work.

These are the gifts of the spirit, all nine of which are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10:

Word of Wisdom

Word of Knowledge

Faith

Healings

Working of Miracles

Prophecy

Discerning of Spirits,

Different Kinds of Tongues

Interpretation of Tongues

To summarize the workings of these gifts, we can divide them into three groups:

Power Gifts

Faith

Healings

Working of Miracles

Revelation Gifts

Word of Wisdom

Word of Knowledge

Discerning of Spirits

Utterance Gifts

Prophecy

Different Kinds of Tongues

Interpretation of Tongues

The power gifts do things. They transcend physical laws to heal people, supply provision and give protection. Although there are a number of ways to get healed, many of the healings in Jesus’ ministry and in The Acts of the Apostles are examples of the power gifts in operation. Jesus turning water into wine, walking on the water and calming storms are further examples of power gifts as is Philip’s translation from one place to another.

Note that the power gift of Faith is different from saving faith and the faith that every believer uses on a daily basis.

The revelation gifts reveal things. These gifts reveal a small portion of the knowledge of God. The revelations could be facts about the past, present or future. For example, Jesus frequently knew what people were thinking. He frequently knew what was going to happen in the future. Visions, or glimpses into the spirit world come by the action of the revelation gifts. Peter saw a sheet with all kinds of animals in it let down to earth. Paul saw a vision of a man pleading with him to come to Macedonia.

The utterance gifts say things. The utterance gifts work when a person speaks not from his own understanding, but as the Holy Spirit guides. What is said may or may not contain revelation. That is, the utterance may contain knowledge that comes to the speaker through one of the revelation gifts, or it might just be an inspired utterance of known things. 1 Corinthians 14:3 describes prophecy this way:

But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

The gift of tongues plus the gift of interpretation of tongues are similar to prophecy but may involve more than one person. That is, one person speaks the message in tongues, the other speaks the interpretation.

The wide range of ways that God moves through the gifts of the Spirit, reveals His eagerness to bestow mercy on us. Our assembling together is an occasion for these gifts to work through us and for us. A believer who removes himself from the church environment severely limits his opportunities for spirit ministry, whether it be the receiving end or the ministering end.

This is an extremely brief treatment of the gifts of the Spirit. For more information see:

How Can I Get the Holy Spirit Today, Thomas A. Lenz

Questions and Answers on Spiritual Gifts, Howard Carter

The Holy Spirit and His Gifts, Kenneth Hagin

RECOMMENDED READS

The Eternal Church

Destined for the Throne

Church History

Church: Why Bother?

The Jesus I Never Knew

About the Author

Thomas A. Lenz's life experience includes work as a jeweler, hang glider maker, mechanical engineer, professional musician, software developer, Bible school teacher and missionary. He is a member of RHEMA Ministerial Association International and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Theology degree. For most of the last twenty years he's served as a missionary as part of Jarva County Christian Center in Estonia. He currently lives in Estonia with his wife Beth, and sons Jed and Rock.

ENDNOTES

[1] Billheimer, Paul E. (1996) ‘Destined for the Throne’, Minneapolis MN : Bethany House, p. 22, 23, 25, 26

[2] Johnson, Bill (2003) ‘When Heaven Invades Earth’, Shippensburg, PA : Destiny Image Publishers, Inc, p. 29, 30

[3] Murdock, Mike (1997) ‘The Assignment’ Tulsa, OK : Albury Publishing, p. 173-174

[4] Fenn, John (2000) ‘Pursuing the Seasons of God’ Mounds, OK : John Fenn Ministries, p. 95-98

[5] Joyner, Rick (1996) ”The Final Quest”, New Kensington, PA : Whitaker House, p. 89

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