Monday, July 25, 2005

A Christian's Personal Perfection in Christ

At first glance, the word "perfect" gives an impression that to be perfect means you will never say or do anything wrong or never make any mistake. This is obviously quite unattainable.

The word "perfect" in Scripture comes from Greek word "teleios", which means mature, fully grown up, complete all-round, nothing deficient or defective. Notice that a person can be fully grown up but can be defective in some area of his body. Or he is mature but may not be complete. Therefore, a more accurate description for a perfect person means, a person who is fully mature and grown up in "full personality" - in body, soul and spirit in the sight of God.

To be perfect is a command of Christ. If personal perfection is not attainable Jesus would not have commanded His people to be perfect.

Jesus said to His disciples, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as you Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48, NKJV, emphasis added).

The word "therefore" indicates that the meaning of being "perfect" is revealed a few verses earlier. In the context, Jesus said that a person is considered a perfect person if he:

"Loves his enemies, bless those who curse him, do good to those who hate him, and pray for those who spitefully use him and persecute him" (Verse 44).

In my opinion, the ultimate goal of personal perfection is that divine love, agape love or the love of God is manifested in the character and personality of a person. Without the love of God in a person it is quite impossible for him to love his enemies. In this message we shall examine the Scripture to find out whether it is true that divine love is the ultimate goal of our personal walk with God.

Paul's Teaching on Perfection

Paul's ministry is not only to preach Christ for the sake of His Body, the Church, but also to present every man perfect in Christ:

"I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His Body, which is the church. Him we preach, warning everyman and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfection in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1:24,28, emphasis added).

Paul admitted that he had not attained complete maturity yet. There is still something lacking in him:

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected: but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me" (Phil. 3:12, NKJV, emphasis added).

The next few verses in Phil. 3 and 1 Cor. 9:24 to 27 show that Pual compared himself to a man running a race and heading for the finishing line. He was not going to stop until he got there. He would not look behind but did all he could to reach there. In order to do that he needed self discipline and self-control. Towards the end of His ministry Paul did see the finishing line and he ran for it!

"For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I hve finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:6).

Peter's Teaching on Perfection

In the Second Epistle of Peter beginning from verse 2 to verse 8 of Chapter 1, Peter gives a vivid picture of a Christian's walk to perfection by faith in the promises of God. By grace God has given every true Christian His divine nature - the nature of God (2 Peter 1:4).

Christian walk is a walk of faith. Beginning with faith there are actually seven steps to Christian perfection - Virtue, Knowledge, Self-control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly kindness and Love (verses 5 to 7). Without faith, no one would be able to take the first step!

1. "Virtue" comes from the Greek word "arete" meaning exellence, be trustworthy or being faithful. Exellence is revealed through faithfulness. An example is:

Jesus said, "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much" (Luke 16:10).

2. "Knowledge" means knowlege of God, His Word and His Will. The opposite of knowledge is ignorance. God's people must not be ignorant of the "signs of times", "God's timetable for the nation of Israel and the Church". Every Christian needs to know that God's purposes for men cannot come to their full consummation unless Israel and the Church are included.

3. "Self-control" or "temperance" comes from the Greek word "egkrateia". It is one of the nine-fold fruit of the Holy Spirit. I believe we can view self-control and endurance or perseverance together as "bottle-neck" of our walk with God. If we fail to make through these then we can make no further progress. Take as an example of Paul in 1 Cor. 9:24,25 as an athlete running a race:

"And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things ...." (1 Cor. 9:25).

"temperate in all things" means having self-control.

Notice that we are not to compete with our fellow Christians, but are competing with the forces that oppose us and keep us from obtaining the prize. The forces can be lust, fleshly desire or fleshly appetite or moodines.

4. "Perseverance" comes from the Greek word "hupomone" meaning endurance, patience or constancy.

The writer of Hebrews said, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promise" (Hebrews 6:11,12, emphasis added).

"For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise" (Hebrews 10:36, emphasis added).

In other words, we need endurance to do the will of God in order to recieve the promises of God.
5. "Godiness" comes from the Greek word "eusebeia" meaning peity, holiness, devout and well-reverant.

In my opinion, a godly person or a person with godliness means the presence of God is with such a person. In other words, when such a person is with you, he makes you think of God.

Paul wrote to Timothy, ".. exercise youself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come" (1 Tim. 4:7,8, emphasis added).

In other words, godliness requires excercise to develope. Godliness excercise is more important than physical bodily exercise because there is promise of the life both now and and eternity! I believe all spiritual exercise are towards godliness. Examples are prayer, Bible study, Scripture memorisation and fasting.

Jude wrote Christians, "...to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 15, emphasis added).

Notice that "ungodly" is mentioned 4 time which indicates that all true Christians need to cultivate godliness.

6. The phrase "Brotherly kindness" comes from the Greek word "philadephia" meaning fraternal affection, brotherly love or love of the brethren. This is the love for our fellow Christians.

Many of us assume that we love our fellow Christians. But, if we are honest enough many of us are likely to admit that it is not easy. In my opinion, this is one of the most severe tests in our Christian walk. But, the Scripture is very clear, through the new birth we are in covenant relationship with our fellow believers and so expected to love one another. Peter said, to love our Christian brothers is an act of obedience:

"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart" (1 Peter 1:22).

To love one another is a new commandment of Christ. It is also the most powerful method of evangelising the world:

Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34,35).

7. "Love or Charity" comes from the Greek word "agape". It is the love of God or God's kind of love. God loves the world with agape love (John 3:16).

Paul said, "For when were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6,8).

That is the reason why Jesus commanded us (His disciples) to love our enemies, love sinners, love the ungodly with agape love (the love of God) if we want to be perfect! (Matthew 5:43 to 48).

Monday, July 18, 2005

When was a Disciple called a Christian?

My readers should read my earlier postings "True Disciple and True Christian" (28th. March 2005) and "Paradigm Shift for the Body of Christ?" (11th. April 2005) before they read this. This posting is the extension of the earlier postings with some new revelations.

In most comtemporary Local Churches, the purpose of a discipleship program is to make or teach Church members to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. In other words, to the contemporary Bible teachers, Church members are not disciples unless they are trained by a series of man-made "training package" or man-made system or rules.

The purpose of this message is not in any way to criticise any Local Church having a discipleship program. This is strictly a Bible study message.

The difference between a Disciple and a Christian

The Nelson's Bible Dictionary defines "disciple" as "a follower of Jesus", and "Christian" as "an adherent or follower of Christ". Clearly, there is very little difference between a disciple and a Christian except that being an "adherent" of Christ indicates that the Christian is a serious and more committed follower of Christ. In other words, a belivever being a Christian has grown to a higher level of maturity than a disciple. Therefore, if a person is not a disciple, he is also not a Christian. If he is not a Christian, there is no way we can make him a Christian. If he is a Christian, then he is automatically a disciple - a logical conclusion.

The Scripture reveals an important difference between a disciple and a Christian. Please read Acts 19:1 to7.

Paul found some disciples in Ephesus. They have not heard of the Holy Spirit and said they were baptised with John's baptism of repentance. Then Paul ministered to them and baptised them in the name of the Lord Jesus (baptism in water). When he laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. The implication is that, before water baptism a believer is a disciple. After water baptism the disciple is qualified to be a Church member when the Church was founded. Notice that in early New Testament Christianiy, disciples are water baptised before they join a Church.

Making of Disciples

The Bible commands believers to make disciples (not Christians or Church members) of the unbelieving world:

Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, bapitizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19, emphasis added).

"And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch" (Acts 14:21, emphasis added).

Notice that, disciples are made by the preaching of the Gospel which is "the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). About three thousand disciples were made after Peter's first sermon (Acts 2:41).

When was a Disciple called a Christian

There are three questions we can ask. When was a disciple called a disciple, when was a disciple called a Christian and when was a Christian called a disciple? The last is an invalid questian. The only valid reason why a Bible teacher or a pastor tries to teach Church members how to be disciples is, he is assuming that believing members in the Local Church are not Christians. Not only they are not Christians but not disciples as well. All Church members must be Christians. It is true that Church members have different levels of maturity, but, all of them are Christians.

In the New Testament a disciple of Christ is called a "disciple" at one time and called a "Christian" at another time. In Gospel Time all disciples (including the apostles) and followers of Jesus were called diciples. When the first Church was founded, disciples were called Christians. Since then all Church-going water baptised disciples are called Christians.

Notice that, you cannot find the word "Christian" in the Old Testament Scripture. The word "Christian" occurs three times in the New Testament, and all three times appear after the Christian Church was founded:

1. Luke recorded, "And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26, NKJV, emphasis added). In other word, the disciples were not called Christians before the first Church was founded in Anotioch.

2. Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to be a Christian" (Acts 26:28).

3. Peter exhorted, "If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed" (1 Peter 4:16).

Other Names for Disciples and Christians

1. Disciples are those who are taught or instructed:

"Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples" (Isaiah 8:16).

2. At Romans time, a Christian means a slave of Christ as Caesarian a slave of Caesar

3. Before the Church in Antioch was founded (prior to the adoption of the name Christian), disciples called themselves as "believers":

"And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women" (Acts 5:14).

They were also called "saints" (Acts 9:13,32,41) or "brothers or brethrens" (Acts 6:3). These names continued to be used after disciples adopted the name "Christians".

Monday, July 11, 2005

The Importance of Discerning Times and Seasons

Jesus said to the multitudes concerning the discernment of time:

"Whenever you see a cloud rising out to the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time" (Luke 12:54,55,56, NKJV, emphasis added)?

In the context, "this time" mean the time when the Messiah should appear. Jesus said, God's people who fail to discern the time of such an important event are hypocrites. In fact, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they "did not know the time of your (God's people's) visitation" (Luke 19:44)!

To discern the times is an improtant command of Christ. It is the spiritual responsibilty for children of God to discern the times.

Times and Seasons

Solomon "the preacher" listed 14 pairs of opposites in the book of Ecclesiastes:

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill , and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.

It is not always the right time to do any of those 14 things listed above. It is not always right to speak, it is not always right to build up and not always right to plant. I believe to a very large extent success in life depends on doing the right thing at the right time. But, the question is how are we, as Christians going to know when it is the right time to do a certain thing? Or, how are we to know what to do at a certain time? I believe the answers to these questions largely determine whether we are going to succeed or fail in life. Similarly, the answers also determine whether the Church, as the body of Christ is walking in the will of God, or out of the will of God.

The Mystery of Times and Seasons

I believe He who holds the key to the mystery of times and seasons is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shows the individual Christians and the Local Church what to do at what time. There is nothing we can do effectively for God without the Holy Spirit. There is no system or any set of rules that will work to please God without to Holy Spirit. The tragedy is, without the Holy Spirit the Local Church is likely to do what seems right to the leadership.

A common practice in the contemporary Church is that, when the leadership has discovered a "success formula" they will keep on following this formula. Other Local Churches are likely to follow the same "success formula" of another Church. As I said in my previous message every Church congregation needs ongoing visions and "fresh olive oil". What worked perfectly well 20 years ago, may not be workable now. Also, what works well in one Church congregation may not works the same ways with another congregation!

I believe in discipleship and the making of disciples because it is a scriptural principle. But, if the Church makes it a system or a set of rules suggested by men, it will not work better than any other religious system or set of rules which has gone before. You will find that different men suggest different sets of rules in discipleship. It will not accomplish the purpose or will of God without the soveraign direction of the Holy Spirit. The biggest mistake of the Local Church is, trying to make it through without the Holy Spirit. God forgives us but He will never proper us.

The Holy Spirit is the administrator of the entire wealth of God's Kingdom. He is the steward and administrator of our inheritance. He imparts divine wisdom, knowledge and understanding to any Christian who has the ears to hear.

Daniel said, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding" (Daniel 2:20,21, NKJV, emphasis added).

In other words, God is the source of all wisdom and knowledge and He gives wisdom and knowledge to those who have understanding so as to enable them to discern the right time and season to do the will of God.

Consequences of failing to discern Times and Seasons

After the Babylonian exile, it was time to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. God spoke through Haggai, the prophet to Zerubbabel, the governor and Joshua the high priest saying:

"The people says, 'The time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built'" (Haggai 1:2).

But God said it was the right time to rebuild the temple and it was not right for the people to dwell in these own houses when the temple was in ruins (Verses 3 and 4).

The Lord said, because the people refused to discern the time to rebuild the temple the following things happened:

"You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to to put ino a bag with holes" (Verse 6).

"You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. The heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit" (Verses 9 and 10).

To me, it sounds like a "financial curse" upon God's people. The rest of the Book of Haggai says that, the people received the message from Haggai. They changed their way and began to prosper. The people responded to the words of the Lord's prophet. That changed the destiny of God's people.

"Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper" (2 Chron. 20:20, NKJV, emphasis added).

I believe there is a parallel truth applicable to the New Testament Church. In other words, the Lord is also speaking the same thing to His Church if Christians fail to discern times and seasons. God is trying to get a message to the Church. If the Church of Jesus Christ fails to receive God's message, we must be ready to face the same consequences!

An important thing to note is that God did not speak to the people directly. He spoke through the Prophet (Haggai), to the Governor or king (Zerubbabel) and to the Priest (Joshua).

In my opinion, the Local Church needs all these three ministries - prophet, king and priest to discern times and seasons, in order to do the right things at the right time and to walk in the perfect will of God. These three ministries are also needed to restore or rebuild every Local Church.

It is interesting to note that the Lord has also given these three ministries to one person in every Christian home - the father! Every God-fearing father is responsible and accountable to God to discern times and seasons in order to ensure his family does the right thing at the right time.

I believe God reveals an important spiritual principle here - Wherever God builds, He calls for all three ministries; Priestly, Prophetic and kingly (government).

Monday, July 04, 2005

The Local Church needs Divine Visions

Solomon said, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive revelations of God), the people perish; ...." (proverbs 29:18, The Amplified Bible).

The word "vision" comes from the Hebrew word "chazown" which means a dream, a mental sight, revelation or oracle.

The truth is that, all God's people both in the Old Testament and the New Testament need visions. In my opinion, the type of vision that the Local Church needs to seek is a continuing, on going, relevant revelation of God's will and purpose at any given time and in any situation. In other words, the Church of Jesus Christ always need to be hearing from God and to do what He says.

The writer of Hebrews said, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe" (Hebrews 1:1,2, NIV, emphasis added).

In other words, in Old Testament time God spoke to His people through His prophets of old. But, in the last days, or at the present time Jesus spoke directly to Christians through the Spirit of God. It follows that any Christian Group or Local Church fails to hear from Jesus when He has spoken, there is something wrong somewhere!

The following verses of Scripture show that God wants His people to hear His voice and obey what He says at all times:

Moses said to Israel, "If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth" (Deut. 28:1, The Amplified Bible).

God said to His people through Jeremiah, "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you" (Jeremiah 7:23, NKJV).

Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27, NKJV).

In other words, Jesus Himself says that those who are known by Him will follow Him when they hear His voice. It is obvious that only a true Christian will hear His voice, because any person who does not hear His voice is not his sheep. If the Christian fails to hear his voice he cannot follow Him and He does not know him. Therefore the true Church must be able to hear Him continuosly and able to discern the revelation or vision given by Him at any particular moment of time.

I believe God has an on-going vison for any particular group or congregation of the Local Church, and any particular ministry, at any particular situation. God usaully gives a different vision for different Local Church groups at a particular time under different situations. What is a correct vision for a group is not necessarily correct for another group. Each Local Church needs to seek fresh visions from God to do God's will. In other words, there is no such thing as a "success formula" for all Local Churches to follow!

What happens when there is no Vision

Let us look at a situation in the Old Testament to see what happened when God's people failed to hear from God.

A good example is at the time when Samuel was called:

"The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions" (1 Samuel 3:1, NIV, emphasis added).

Notice that there were not many visions before Samuel was called because the Lord was silent. During the time of "Judges" the nation of Israel has sunk to a low ebb in which moral authority was no higher than self-will. The inspired Scripture sums up it up with a disappointing epitaph - the last verse of the Book of Judges:

"In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" Judges 21:25, NKJV).

I believe when God's people start to do what is right in his own eyes, the end result is backsliding. Israel had the Law, they had the tabernacle, the priesthood and everything that religion could offer. None of these things kept them from backsliding. It is the same with the Church. Any Local Church group that does not have visions will backslide, in a religious way - they are missing God. They do what is right in their own eyes and not what is right in God's eyes. They seek after man's teaching and man's method because they lack spiritual discernment.

Lampstand and the Olive Trees

We need to understand that everywhere in Scripture Lampstand typifies the Church and Olive Old typifies the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Olive Tree typifies the source of the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah saw a vision of a lampstand with two olive trees beside it (Zechariah 4).

"Then I answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive trees - at the right of the lampstand and at the left?' So he said, 'These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth'" (Zech. 4:11 and 14, NKJV).

The lamp depends on the oil to give light. A continuous supply of fresh olive oil flows from the olive tree is needed to keep the lamp burning. In fact, verse 13 says that the oil is so fresh that it actually comes directly out from either sides of lampstand.

Now, let us refer to the book of Revelation. John described the two witnesses in Chapter 11 in this way:

The angel said to John, "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth" (Rev. 11:3,4, NKJV, emphasis added).

I believe the "olive trees" speaks of the prophetic function in relationship to the Church of Jesus Christ. It is the prophetic function of the Local Church that keep the fresh oil flowing into the lampstand to give light to the world. In other words, we the Church must not live on "stale" vision or revelation, not on stale bread and stale activities.

God has something new to say to the Church today! Do we have the ears to hear?