It has been stated previously that our purpose is to be used of God to restore the Four-Fold ministry to the Church, and thereby the True Church to the Earth. If that statement did not arouse some sentiment in the reader, this writer would be surprised. But what sentiment was aroused? Offense? Agreement? Argument? Suspicion?

No doubt many would read that far and cast this paper away as the drivel of another heretic who has it 'in for the Church.' But hear me out, I ask you, and consider if the following is an attack against the Church, or against the incursions of the World, Flesh and Devil into those Holy precincts where only God and saint should be? It is my heart to serve the True Church of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture. Heretics are denoted by their deviation from Scripture, not their adherence to it. Please consider with an open heart whether it is this writer who is deviating from God's revelation, or what calls itself The Church. I might add that I am not a lone voice calling out for this repentance. Many others have received the same message from God about a 'Bride who is without Spot or Wrinkle', who must return to her first love and put away all the contaminants of the world. Let us examine the differences between what God formed in the First Century, calling it the Church, and what exists today under the same name.

If asked to define the Church's mission, what would you say?

*A place of Evangelism, where people hear the Gospel and get saved?

* A place where believers are trained and discipled?

* A gathering place for like-minded believers to pray, worship & learn?

* A social meeting place of similar age groups, customs and beliefs?

The Church is to be all these things, and the congregations found on any street corner in America are busily engaged pursuing such goals on a given Sunday (or Saturday). This is as it should be IF... none of these are their defining mission and goal! Instead, these are to be by-products of proper goal orientation, not the goal itself. The mission of the Church is not to produce converts! The mission of the Church is not to produce disciples! Nor is it the mission of the Church to provide religious instruction and opportunity for worship or a safe haven to meet trustworthy, dependable people from which to make associates and friends! These are duties and goals of the Church to be used in fulfilling her Mission, but are not the primary Mission of the Church.

An NFL lineman working out in the weight room has a goal of not merely benching 500 lbs, but something far beyond. His ultimate goal is to be strong in the line so that no enemy rusher can run over him and sack the quarterback. Lifting the 500 lbs. is merely a short term goal he uses to reach that ultimate objective. But if he becomes short-focused, and loses sight of the next game, concentrating only on getting that weight off his chest so many reps, and building his biceps and triceps to a certain size, he quickly adapts to a lower standard and thinks his job is done when the weight room session is over. He fails to integrate this with the other aspects of his training-- wind sprints, calisthenics, scrimmage, playbook study, etc.-- and ultimately the goal of winning the game. Game day comes and he is obsessed only with making sure everyone knows how much weight he lifted and how impressive his muscles are. He has not given serious consideration to the tactics of his team or his opponent's, and thus he is a liability, even though he accomplished what he regarded as 'his mission'. His goals were short-sighted, and he lost the overall concept of winning the game.

This is, sadly, a picture of the Church today. We have become focused on the short term goals to the exclusion of the ultimate mission God has given us. We have become obsessed with evangelism, discipleship, church growth & expansion, building projects, franchising of denominations, 12 step self-help groups, political rights and responsibilities, worship, preaching & teaching, aiding the unfortunate, retreats, seminars, and all manner of programs. Like the egocentric NFL lineman, we do not keep focused on the true mission, and so, have been on a losing streak for generations.

"Wait a minute!", some may object. "Our church is growing, people are becoming closer to the Lord, the locality around us is benefiting from our presence through our social concerns-- how dare you suggest this is not the purpose of God!"

Acts 15:4 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

We must begin with a biblical concept of the Church and her mission to understand that all this 'busyness' we are presently engaged in is not necessarily born of God! To many it looks like this Acts passage is a confirmation of the evangelistic duty of the Church, and partially, it is, but evangelism is not the ultimate goal. What is the goal, the defining mission statement of the Church?

God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

God did visit-- reveal truth-- to the Gentiles to take from among them a people for His Name! God is going to again re-establish Israel so all mankind will seek Him as He rules from Jerusalem-- but first he is calling forth a people who will come under His name-- that is, His nature and image to glorify Him. The purpose of Israel being chosen by God to live in His ways was to show to the Gentile nations how God blesses those whom He has called, causing others to be envious and seek the Lord too. Israel's defining mission was to glorfy God before the heathen.

So too, God wants us in the Church to manifest His glory so that all men will seek Him. By receiving His name as adopted heirs, we need to be mindful to manifest our new nature and show the world of men who our God really is. Evangelism, discipleship, social programs etc. only show some of the works of God, not His whole nature and character. The duty of the Church is to show forth God Himself through our lives, our meetings, our churches. How does the Church show forth the glory and power of God to change lives when she resorts to low esteem psychological counseling or worldly 12-step programs? The true Church of God resorts only to the power of God, staying within the confines of Scripture, seeking only His deliverance. And if deliverance does not come from God, none else is sought! Where in the Book of Acts do we see the apostles and prophets arranging self-help groups to get alcoholics off booze? Instead we see admonitions to fast and pray and seek the power of the risen Christ to deliver from demonic oppression, and we see lives liberated into the glorious liberty of the sons of God!

But, today we see programs of man replacing deliverance from demons. This is because we are short-sighted, forgetting we have a 'game' and an opponent to face, being concerned and content only with such mere things as personal devotions or street witnessing duties. We have lost sight of the Biblical injunctions to be wary, for our spiritual enemy like a roaring lion walks about seeking someone to devour! We have forgotten we are in a war! We don't teach men to overcome, but to cope! Oh sure, we talk about the Devil, and how defeated he is, and then go to our church's psychological sessions to help us cope with our sins. How is the name of Jesus Christ glorified in this? Where is the life transformed by the Spirit of God without man's structures and supports? How is God's Name manifested among the Gentiles in this manner? God is only glorified by doing something the world cannot do. And the world not only has seminars and counseling on how to cope, but does it better than the Church! That is because the Church has been feeding from the wrong Tree, a tree that is poison to her, though her members seem to know it not. The world has no choice but to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but the Church should know better. Examine a philosphy's or a methodology's roots and you will know of which tree it is. The Church is given a different Tree that the world can't have unless it comes to Him on his terms-- The Tree (Cross) of Life!

Eph. 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

Not only to the world of men is the Church to demonstrate God's wisdom, nature and character, but to the unseen, invisible, yet very real realm of spirits-- both fallen and unfallen. The earth we inhabit is filled with beings, carnal (of the flesh), that is limited to time and space; and spiritual- outside the bonds of time and space. God has created all things, spiritual and otherwise, and wishes all His creation to know and respond to Him. To understand the revelation Paul alludes to about the principalities and powers in heavenly places, we need to understand what transpired during the rebellion of Lucifer.

We are not given much information on this conflict and war in Heaven, just enough to derive the purpose and mission of the Church in relation to God's plans. These things are not gleaned easily, nor are they revealed to the mildly curious, but as John was told in Rev. 1:1 that certain things are to be revealed only to those who are His bond slaves-- that is, those who in their hearts have died with Him, and are prepared to die physically anytime He should call. Bond slaves have nothing else to live for except Him and His Name. They have abandoned all thought of being anything great in the world or Church, and only want to glorify Him no matter the personal cost to themselves. To such ones only can God safely entrust the revelation of His mysteries, for they will never use such information to their own advantage. Evidently Paul was given more revelation than he was at liberty to reveal in his letters.

Exactly why Lucifer rebelled, what caused his pride to set itself against God, can only be surmised, but that there was rebellion to God and His will is certain. Lucifer violently erupted against God's will, making a rift among the angels, causing a full third of them to reject God. We need to keep in mind the magnitude of these beings. These rebellious beings were majesties, great and wise powers of spiritual strength, exercised in doing great things for God prior to the War in Heaven. The way some believers rail against Satan and his followers shows that they have no understanding of God's ordering of authority, nor of the nature and character of whom they are dealing with. Jude warns us against reviling (fallen) spiritual beings from the enemy's camp, describing those who do such things as actually being under the enemy's influence themselves! The truth of it is that we are so shallow in our understanding of our spiritual foe and his operations in our lives, homes, and churches that we have let his devices lead us away from true spiritual service into mere soulish busyness.

The Church in the first century had the blueprints of God's own design. They thwarted Satan and his minions at every turn, overcoming the fear of physical death, leaving Satan with nothing with which to defeat the Church. The Church demonstrated the very wisdom of God to the angelic realm, both holy and demonic, by living in the nature the Holy Spirit birthed into each member, declaring the glory, power, authority and wisdom of God. The holy angels were vindicated before their fallen brethren for not following their rebellion as they faithfully adhered to the order of God's plan. In the same way, The Church is to follow and manifest in the observable realm the order of God's Creation as it is restored and exhibited by the Spirit. God chose to manifest not only His nature, but the wisdom of His order through the Church; a rebuke to the fallen angels for abandoning their given place in His hierarchy, and benison to those angels who remained faithful. (This is also why Paul mentions angels in I Cor. 11:10.)

Risen out of the dregs of fallen humanity, but infused with new life and nature from God Himself through Jesus Christ, the Church was formed into a company of the redeemed from the world, performing the will of God despite all the power of the spiritual hosts of darkness arrayed against it! Did the Church resort to programs, seminars, retreats and the like in that 'Primal Century' of its existence, or did it rely solely upon the Life of God within it to sustain and uplift her over her enemies? When the Church resorts to the same ways and means that the world uses to survive-- retreats, seminars, university educations, 12-step programs etc., it operates in the wisdom of this world which is under the rulership of the Prince and Power of the Air, and does not give glory to the God who gave her life. Even though Christ's name may be tacked on to the various programs, one has to consider which 'Tree' the Church is eating of. Any tree other than the Tree of Life is of the Knowledge of Good & Evil and is of this world, and only glorifies this world's god. Where is the root of Christian Psychology? In worldly psychology! Can Christ's name be tacked on to something that is rooted in the world with godly results, much less redound glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? The same is true of seminary education, so-called Christian Investments, Christian Business Opportunities, Christian Social Involvement, Young People's programs, para-church organizations, and so forth. Does it originate in the world? Then it is of the world, and no amount of trying to graft Christ's name onto it is going to give God glory when its roots are still in the world. Satan is not fooled by seeming results. In fact, he is the inspiration of many 'results' proving that Christ works for some, while another god or higher power works for others just as well. Transcendental Meditation works, if all you consdider is visible results. So does Karate, or Yoga, or Silva Mind Control. But... do they glorify God in the way He desires? Just an increase of statistical numbers, or spiritual feelings' or 'wholeness and well being' do not prove God is involved. Man has shifted very well for himself, all things considered, getting along is this world utilizing the wisdom of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, but not before God.

God's wisdom is only manifested by those with Christ's life in them, and that only when they are living under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. His power is manifest by a new, intrusive nature, not reforming the old nature. The wisdom of God is manifest in heaven by hierarchy and order, each one knowing his place and fulfilling his task. Satan is not subcontracted in heaven to overcome difficulties, but God alone is the source of Heaven. So too, the Church, is not to resort to the god of this world, but to Heaven, showing forth God's wisdom down through the ages. The intelligence of benighted spiritual beings was confused and turned to greater darkness by His brilliance in delivering mankind from certain, eternal disaster. But this is only so when the Church operates within the limits of God's ways as revealed in the Scripture. Every time the Church seeks some alternate method that produces results like the world, she dishonors her Head. Every time she resorts to worldly methods of fund raising, or manipulation or hyped-up emotions, or appeals to human intelligence, she is copying the world, and gives glory to the ways and god of this world.

Some may take exception to my inclusion of seminaries and Christian universities in the ways of this world, stating that the great universities in the Western world were primarily established to train and ordain preachers, and that only later did some fall to worldly influences. But, they insist, the pattern is that they were godly first.

That is a short-sighted treatment of the subject. Those who hold such views do not go far back enough in their examination of history. True, Yale and Harvard etc. were established to train clergy, but where did they get their example? From other universities in England such as Oxford which also was established ostensibly to train and ordain men to the ministry? But where did the original idea of university come from ( let alone the concept that ministries are to be trained in such schools)? Search the New Testament and you will find that such a concept is foreign to God and His ways. Universities were founded upon the exposed roots of Grecian schools of Humanism. The original idea was Satan's, and no matter how you look at it, so called 'Christian Education' has faltered and fallen away from the Truth of Scripture because it is adulterated with worldly philosophies and methods. More on this in the next chapter.

3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest

to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the

living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Thirdly, the Church is to be the Pillar and very ground of God's truth. The guardian of God's revealed will and purpose working in humanity. God's ways are as different to Satan's ways as light is to darkness; and in keeping with that, the Church's ways are to be as opposed to and above the world's mays and means as God's are above Satan's.

What is Truth? Pilate asked that once, when confronted face to face with the Truth Personified. The Church is asked the same question by the world today, which, ironically, is called by God to be the very pillar and support of the Truth. So the world ought to be facing truth incarnate again when it asks the age old question 'What is Truth?' Pilate did not recognize the Truth when he spoke with Him because he had no heart to understand and obey. He had not 'ears to hear'. I wonder why the world doesn't recognize us as truth? Partly because it has not the ears to hear, but also because we have taken and watered down God's Word for our own convenience to a few basic concepts, claiming no matter what else a person holds to, if he holds to these he is in the truth.

These basic tenets of Evangelicalism, according to Christianity Today, pg. 31, first column (September 16,1996) are:

1. Inerrancy of Scripture

2. The Virgin Birth and Divinity of Christ

3. The Substitutionary Atonement

4. The Bodily Resurrection

5. The Second Coming of Christ .

While holding fast to these things which are undeniably true and necessary to be a true believer, one can 'hold' to these tenets and still not be born again! And when the church narrows down what is required of a believer to such formulae, does she not carve away great chunks of truth from her vast treasure trove of valuables? Where are the gifts and power of the Spirit? Where is mention of the traditions given by the apostles to perpetuate a knowledge and understanding of the doctrines of God in 'living picture form'?

And, how can the Church give an answer to what Truth is, when she has lost touch with the truth herself? She has so watered down scriptural doctrines, or replaced them with man-made ones so that she has actually relegated the worship of the Living God to ancient history, and has brought in strange fire that God did not ordain. She has mutated or even deleted altogether the use of valuable traditions given by Christ to His apostles to teach the Church till He come again. How can the Church answer the question "What is truth?"

Chief among her problems is division. The truth is not divided, it is one. Any alteration or addition or subtraction of truth makes it something less than truth. Truth must be inviolate, or it is no longer true. Mix just a smidgen of anything in, and it is no longer Truth. Truth cannot be divided, for it cannot oppose itself. Yet the Church is divided, opposing itself on countless issues. Even the fact that we are so divided is a denial of theTruth we claim to represent, for we are commanded in Jesus' name to not be divided over anything!( I Cor. 1:10). This means denominations, for doctrinal issues divide us not only from each other, but from the Truth as well. And thus, our mission to uphold the Truth before the world is a failure.

The resolution of this present state of affairs is not an easy one, but it can be accomplished-- must be accomplished! It starts with repentance and crying out to God with prayer and fasting, confessing our own role in perpetuating this hoax that calls itself Church. Our play acting and role playing dominate our gatherings as if the meeting were the important thing, and not the One we come to meet. Does He not regard our sanctuary games and know we are pretending to be spiritual when we go through our rituals, whether they be staid and silent as a wake, or boisterous and loud with polished emotional manipulators exhorting wild exhibitionism?

Pilate felt the guilt of his condemning the Truth, though he probably did not know why he felt as he did. Does the world today feel any guilty compunctions when they turn away from us, or do they feel justification in rejecting our shallow lives and empty doctrines?

Are we playing Church, or really having a meeting with God? If we are primarily concerned with achieving short-term results, we are playing Church, and yet we dare point to partial results as proof that we are not playing Church. But, the question looms... Are we glorifying God the way He blueprinted in Holy Writ? If we are glorifying God through His revealed methods, the spiritual realm as well as the natural realm and the world of men will be affected by our obedience.

To be continued....
 
 

LETTERS
 

Q. One of our readers in Brick, New Jersey writes asking if we do not mean the Five-fold ministry instead of the Four-fold ministry?

A. The passage in question about the 'name' of the ministry, is it a five-fold or four-fold ministry has been in debate by scholars for a long time. I personally have preferred to use the term five-fold until recently. Watchman Nee, in writing about Eph.4:11 shows that the words 'and some' precedes apostles, prophets, evangelists and the combined gift of pastor and teacher indicating a four-fold distinction, else it would be 'and some pastors, and some teachers' indicating a five-fold ministry. It seems a debatable point, and quite moot as to what we call it as long as we are submitted to it. Whether pastor /teacher is one gifting or two, pastors are to be apt to teach( I Tim. 3:2), and likewise teachers are accountable for what they teach by example (James 3:1), so that they are required to be 'apt to pastor'.

The term elder itself is misused and misunderstood in our American Synchretistic form of the Gospel. An elder in our church society is a sort of helping hand to the real pastor, and deacon is relegated to even less status of underhelper and financial comptroller/advisor. Scripturally speaking, there is no distinction between elders and pastors. A closer study reveals that John, an apostle of the Lamb, called himself 'the elder' twice in each of his shorter epistles. To assume that an elder is of less authority in the body of Christ than, say, a pastor, is to assume that John must have been demoted at some point. But to understand that elder is a generic term is to perceive that John held his apostle status and elder status simultaneously. In the armed forces we have ranks that go from General to Colonel, to Major, to Captain, to Lieutenant in descending order, and these are called officers because of the varying degrees of authority they carry. In the same way the elders in the Body of Christ are its officers. One can be an apostle and still be called an elder. One can be a prophet and still be called an elder. Eldership is merely a term denoting those who are more mature in spiritual things, and recognizes their status, no matter what their particular rank may be.

Apostles carry the most authority in the Body of Christ, having been given deeper revelation of how to build the Body of Christ than any of the other elder offices. The apostles position is not unlike that of a general. We are given a listing of degrees of authority in I Cor. 12:28 that first in authority are apostles, then prophets, then teachers and so forth. Where are the pastors? Where are the Evangelists? Not mentioned! One could surmise from this passage that it is a three-fold ministry. The important thing is to recognize those God has placed in leadership, and give them the honor their work and calling deserves.

One more point on this subject. In Zechariah 1:20 we are introduced to four craftsmen (NAS) whom the Lord is sending to rebuild what the four horns have destroyed. I see this as a distinct reference to the Eldership ministry given by God to build the Church/Bride of His Son. It has been suggested that since evangelists do not necessarily rebuild, they are excluded in this Zech. numbering of the ministries. In actuality I see them as part of the rebuilding, and believe that pastor/teacher is one gift. Hence my use of the terminology four-fold ministry. This is not a doctrinal issue at all, for whichever term one prefers, one still believes in the validity of the gifts placed upon the men. JM

Replies, questions, comments are welcome, and may be used in a 'Letters' column in future issues, unless otherwise specified.
 
 

In His Service, and at yours...

John & Bev MacLeod

© John MacLeod 1997