Part IV Corporate Prayer
I’ve said some rather harsh things here and there about Christian assemblies, their leaders, and about some of the unconscious habits I’ve seen them forster in young (and not so young) believers. But from that you should not come away from this book with the idea that I believe Christians should be misty-eyed mystical loners who pray and act by themselves.
Quite the contrary. The criticisms that I’ve leveled here concern dysfunctions of the body of Christ, and are not meant to suggest that believers, of any age, can fully function with out being connected to a Christian assembly in some practical way. We all need each other.
Our Need of Each Other
Heb 10:24-25
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
(KJV)
There are two principle reasons why every Christian needs to belong to an assembly of other Christians. 1.) Christ does not give any one individual believer everything he or she needs. He distributes what He has for them among other Christians that they are meant to fellowship with. 2.) No Christian ever gets so mature in the faith that he or she does not need the guidance of another, more mature Christian.
We are all members of the same composite spiritual body of which Christ is the Head.
1 Cor 12:4-31
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts:...
(KJV)
As a member (organ) of a body, you are unlikely to thrive on your own without the other members (organs) of the body that you are part of. They help your spiritual life, and you help their spiritual life. To go on, on your own, is to deprive yourself of them, and they, of you.
In the ideal state, a Christian assembly should be a collegium of equals:
Matt 23:8
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
(KJV)
We are each to know Christ in prayer, and read the Bible, and take direction from Him there. If we are all connected to the same Head, then all our individual dealings with Christ will consolidate into a functioning that looks like someone visible somewhere is directing it. Our individual dealings with Christ in prayer will then give testimony to a very real Head in heaven who gives direction to His body on earth. To the extent that this is possible, prayer in the corporate setting of a Christian assembly should be more concrete and do us less harm then it usually does.
But there is another reality, as I have pointed out before. We are all at various stages of growth (or lack of growth) in Christ. If we are newbies to the things of Christ, then we need the help of those who have gone further on with Him then we have.
1 Tim 3:1-7
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer [ of someone else’s spiritual life ], he desires a noble task.
2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife [ a “one-wife” kind of man ], temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the Devil.
7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
(NIV)
And that leads up to the question of how we can tell if someone is mature enough in Christ to help us along. (It is a given that if someone is less mature in Christ then we ourselves, that we should be helping that person.) Paul has given Timothy some pointers above, but there is an even harsher reality to life in the body of Christ that we also have to consider. The apostle Paul’s last speech to the overseers of the Ephesian assembly makes this clear:
Acts 20:28-31
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
(KJV)
Where Paul could say ...
Acts 20:33-35
33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
(KJV)
... there were apparently others who could not, as Peter makes plain.
2 Pet 2:1-3
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
(KJV)
Even the apostle John ran into these problems.
3 Jn 1:9-10
9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
(KJV)
So when we first come into Christianity, we step into the middle of this mess and find Christian assemblies - some of them Christian in name only - that are in all kinds and degrees of obedience or disobedience to their Head in heaven. And so you begin to try and figure out who you should be listening to and who you should stay away from.
Luke 12:35-38
35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
(KJV)
Luke 12:45-46
45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
(KJV)
If you think I’m exaggerating, please read a copy of Dave Burchett’s When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. Or better yet, read Paul’s espistles to the Corinthians. Things can get that bad.
But why is there a general mess in Christianity? Wasn’t the revelation of the Son of God suppose to bring heaven to earth and earth to heaven? Well, in an inner sense He already has. By becoming a human being, and taking the totality of human sin down into death and then being ressurected back to life, Christ has dealt with the barrier of human sin forever. This dealing with human sin opened up the way for human beings to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God and this in turn opened up a true new age in human affairs:
Acts 1:6-9
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
(KJV)
But, as with all the ages of men on earth, men retain their free will. From each age and each test of the hearts of men, God extracts was is most precious to Him - the deaths of His saints, who then dwell with Him. But the test of each age always ends in human failure, because free will always implies human wickedness as a consequence.
The Age of Innocence ended in Man being expelled from the direct consciousness of the presense of God (this is the signifigance of the Garden of Eden).
The Age of Conscience - men acting according to what was left over from the absensce of God (which is conscience) - ended in universal wickedness and violence and the judgment of the Flood.
The Age of Human Government - where men were given the right to deal with men who had defiled their conscience - ended in the totalitarian enterprise of the tower of Babel, which God judged with the skattering of man, and the confusion of his tongues.
The Age of the Patriarchs - where the God’s divine condescention caused Him to pretend to be the personal God of one man (Abraham) and the national God of the family who came from his loins (the children of Israel) - ended with that man’s family being enslaved in ancient Egypt.
The Age of the Law - where God rescued the children of Israel from their slavery in Egypt and gave them a represention of His character in the form of a written law (that could be compared to their own consciences) - and then bid them to be a testimony to Himself to their neighbors - came to an end at calvary in the judgement of the cross - which Christ, the Messiah of Israel, took upon hmself to bear in totality the penalty of human sin.
The commonwealth of Israel was a tripartite one, consisting of the priests, the prophets, and the rulers (first judges, then kings). So the fall of this age came in three stages. First, the priesthood failed under Eli (“the glory is departed”}. This led to the collegium of judges being replaced by monarchs. Then the kings failed with the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam and the establishment of TWO golden calve idols by Jeroboam the renegade. Finally the prophets failed when they were overwhelmed by the voices of false prohecy that filled Israel with idols. Christ has overcome all as prophet, high priest, and coming king.
The Age of Grace began at Pentecost with the descent of the Holy Spirit of God to earth to take up His place within the spirits of men and women who receive Christ in their hearts by faith in His atoning blood that cleanes of all sin. We are in the midst of this age. And the apostle Peter wrote of it:
2 Pet 1:20-2:2
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Pet 2:1-2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
(KJV)
7 ... for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
(KJV)
2 Tim 2:19
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
(KJV)
The Age of Grace shall end in the Rapture and in Armagedon.
And even the next and last age - the Kingdom Age of Christ’s millenial reign on earth - shall end in a judgment. After a perfect government, and a perfect restoration of the creation, Satan will be loosed one last time to try the hearts of men (Rev. 20:7-9), and he will find takers even then. This last age shall end with The Great White Throne judgment of all who have ever lived - and died - apart from God.
It is only at the advent of eternity that all tears shall be wiped from our eyes, and all that offends shall be removed.
2 Pet 3:10
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
(KJV)
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
(KJV)
Soooooo. While we are in the midst of this current age of grace, there can be a lot of disorder and misunderstanding and hurt.
And part of that is the misunderstanding and misuse of prayer in the corporate setting. Take one of the apostle John’s admonitions about prayer:
I Jn 5:16-17
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall )give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
(KJV)
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily [ None of us are ‘worthy.’ Paul means ‘unworthily’ in the sense of being irreverent during the ceremony. I suspect the Corithian’s may have mixed their “love feasts” with the rememberance meetings and were doing such things as having “food fights” while the rememberance was going on.], shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [ the big one! ].
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
(KJV)
But do we make that distinction in most settings of corporate prayer? Decidedly not. It’s considered to be “impolite” to refuse to pray for somebody, no matter how outrageous their behavior may have been before they got sick.
So in the end, the corporate life of the Christian assembly, though very necessary for the individual members, often teaches some very bad habits where prayer and other Christian things are concerned. That is the nature of my harsher comments. I would not have any Christian give up assembling with other Christians just because bad habits are broadcast.
As for the general mess in Christianity, the apostle Paul left his young protege, Timothy, a word about what to do about it.
2 Tim 2:19-21
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
21 If a man therefore purge himself from these [ the dishonorable ], he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
(KJV)
32 "Now I commit you to God [ in prayer ] and to the word of his grace [ the Bible ], which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
(NIV)
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star [ Christ, Rev 22:16] arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
(KJV)
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
(KJV)
“Prayer has everything to do with molding the soul into the image of God, and has everything to do with enhancing and enlarging the measure of divine grace. It has everything to do with bringing the soul into complete communion with God. It has everything to do with enriching, broadening and maturing the soul’s experience of God.”
E.M. Bounds, The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer
(Baker Books).
Here I am turning back to my prevous discussion about how Christian assemblies sometimes misuse the new babies in Christ that have been given to them.
A Christian assembly should always remember that the temporal walk of a Christian is primarily predicated on growth. Growth is the precondition for all things that involve giving “reasonable service” as a “living sacrafice.”
(KJV)
The above verse is often used to blugeon new Christians into doing things they are not spiritually ready to do (and usually because someone who should know better has an unconscious agenda that has not come from God.). As I said before, that can end up stunting the growth of new Christians because it puts more weight on them then their current level of growth in Christ can support. It’s possible to give a new believer an subconscious spiritual “hernia” that can cripple him or her for a very long time.
Romans 12:1 is taken out of its context anyway. The next verse shows what really makes a living sacrafice possible:
Rom 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(KJV)
It is the transformation caused by the renewal of the mind is what makes for a cheerful giver.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
(KJV)
In the metaphors of sacraficial service that the apostle Paul gives - being an athlete (1 Cor 9:24-27), being a soldier (2 Tim 2:3-4), a being a slave (Romans 1:1) - it is the self-choseness of the sacrafice that Paul was pointing at rather than the external terms of the sacrafices themselves. No one does what an athlete does to his body unless they really want to be an athlete. Involuntary conscription was invented during the Napoleonic era. Prior to then, one was chosen by a superior to be a soldier, and it was considered an honor to be lived up to. And even slaves could either run away (Philemon), buy back their freedom ( 1 Cor 7:21), or be set free by their masters because of superior dedication.
Cheerful sacrafice is only possible with the transformation wrought by the renewing of the mind through growth.
(1 Pet 2:2,KJV)
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb 5:12-14, KJV)
1 Cor 13:1-8
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: ... (KJV)
By the Holy Spirit of God. In the next two verses we have agape translated as “love” and “loveth:”
I Jn 4:8
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
(KJV)
Rom 5:5
... the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost [ Spirit ] which is given unto us. (KJV)
1 Cor 2:11-12
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
(KJV)
It is by the Holy Spirit of God intersecting with our own spirits that we come to have this strong, mighty love that does not require love back from it’s object. To be sure, it is more than reciprocated by God, but it’s the kind of love that enables us to serve others who will not reciprocate that love, and so it has all the qualities that Paul so eloquently lists.
Okay then, when does this intersection between our spirits and the Holy Spirit of God take place? Paul’s letter to the Ephesians makes it clear.
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
(KJV)
I Jn 2:1-2
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation [ the satifying of God] for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
(KJV)
Once we understand that Christ has dealt with all our sins, (past, present, and future), it is then that we can deal with and be receptive to the idea of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God as well as our own spirits.
1 Cor 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
(KJV)
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve [ make sad ] not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
(KJV)
So if He is resident, but not always president, how then does He become more president and communicate to us? Very simply, when we pray.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost [ Spirit ],
21 Keep yourselves in the love [ agape ] of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
(KJV)
In prayer the Holy Spirit of God increases our faith so that we can believe more and thereby gain spiritual eyes to see more. And we receive a transfusion, so to speak, of His mighty agape love.
18 Praying always with all prayer [begging for ourselves ] and supplication [begging for others ] in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
(KJV)
As Christians, we are in the habit of “dating” our spiritual “birthday” from the time we received the good news and believed on Christ. That is well and true. But it is my opinion that the spiritual “age” of a Christian does not start to advance until he or she has started to really understand prayer and pray concretely, while also reading the Word of God. This was always Paul’s concern when he saw assemblies starting drift the wrong way:
19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
(KJV)
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
(KJV)
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
(KJV)
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
(KJV)
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
(KJV)
Let me repeat George Muller’s testimony to this fact:
“God then began to show me that the word of God alone is our standard of judgment
in spiritual things; that it can be explained only by the Holy Spirit; and that in our
day, as well as in former times. He is the Teacher of His people. The office of the Holy
Spirit I had not experimentally understood before that time.
“It was my beginning to understand this latter point in particular, which had a great effect
on me; for the Lord enabled me to put it to the test of experience, by laying aside
commentaries, and almost every other book and simply reading the word of God
and studying it.
“The result of this was, that the first evening that I shut myself into my room, to give
myself to prayer and meditation over the Scriptures, I learned more in a few hours
than I had done during a period of several months previously.
“But the particular difference was that I received real strength for my soul in so doing. I
now began to try by the test of the Scriptures the things which I had learned and
seen, and found that only those principles which stood the test were of real value.”
[The extracts are from a work in four volumes, The Lord’s Dealings with George Muller.
J. Nisbet & Co., London. http://www.ccel.org/m/murray/prayer/htm/XXXII.htm]
But the flip side of this is why we have so many people in our assemblies who have been Christians a very long time, and yet are still spiritual infants. It is ignorance about prayer, and the unconscious inhibitions against it, that are fostering these spiritual migets.
So, lets stop nipping the prayer life of young Christians in the bud by injecting them with unconscious, blasphemous fears brought on by using them for things they are not spiritally ready for. Lets resist the urge to use young believers for things they are not spiritually ready for simply because they are young, available, and can be lead by anybody into anything no matter how futile and unblessed by God.
The soundest thing an assembly of Christians can do for young believers is to teach them to pray concretely and take their spiritual development from the Head of the Body, Christ Himself, through the Word of God in prayer:
Matt 23:8-10
8 But be not ye called Rabbi [teacher] for one is your Master[teacher], even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
(KJV)
Eph 4:15-16
15 But speaking the truth in love, [ we ] may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
(KJV)
Drop the Comparisons!
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. (1 Cor 12:18-25 ,KJV)
17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.
18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. (2 Cor 11:17-18, KJV)
23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. [ This is not as antisemitic as it might be made to appear. This punishment was specified in the law of Moses (Deut. 25:1-3) for transgressions that were worthy of just less then the death penalty. The number of lashes was set at fourty to ensure the person was not permanently multilated. I gather from this that Paul visited five synagogues to present his revelation and found it not well received. Talk about persistance!]
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:
33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.
(2 Cor 11:22-33,KJV)
And yet Paul goes on to make light of all that.
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(2 Cor 4:17-18, KJV)
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
(2 Cor 12:1-5, KJV)
Paul compare himself to somebody? He had seen eternity and had seen that it cannot be compared with anything in time, including himself at that moment.
Prayer is the place where we can imbibe, however fleetingly, of that eternal realm.
1 Cor 4:16-17
16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
(KJV)
1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
(KJV)
17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
(KJV)
Well, lets look very carefully at Paul and Timothy to get a grip on what kind of immitation is being asked for here.
If you follow Timothy’s career in the New Testament, you will find that he was a timid young man who was nutured by Paul as he accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys. Paul’s two letters to Timothy show that Timothy was intimidated by his relative youth and had to be strongly encouraged to take part in preaching and teaching activities. So while he accompanied Paul on his missionary journey’s he was more of a second stringer, understudy, and messenger boy then a bold advance man like Paul. In fact Paul’s two letters to him show him to be more of a brother in an established meeting than an adventurous missionary and troublemarker-type like Paul. We do not read of Timothy getting the “fourty stripes save one” five times like Paul earned himself. (But to be fair to Timothy, there is a legend that he was eventually marytured under the Roman Emporer Nero.)
So when Paul says to the Corinthian assembly that he is sending Timothy to them to remind them of what his “ways in Christ” were, he cannot be talking about duplicating his style of service and personality. What he does say is “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” I.e., the “following” and “immitating”that Paul wanted of them is not neccessarily his service so much as his relationship with Christ. Paul’s “ways in Christ” were borne of prayer, study of the Word and, because of his apostleship, direct revelations. Paul wanted the Corinthians to mimic and grow into the kind of relationship that he had with the risen Christ through prayer.
Heb 13:7
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation [lifestyle, conduct] .
(KJV)
In regard to Christian leaders, we are to immitate their faith, not them. And we decide who’s faith we are going to immitate on the basis of the lifestyle and conduct they have put on display.
Matt 7:15-18
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
(KJV)
But what the community tends to do later is to try to duplicate the founder’s internal relationship with God by copying the founders external life. That is an example of getting the cart before the horse. And it is very dangerous because one can go on doing that without ever acquiring a relationship with God oneself. "
So, lets not only do away with spiritual hernias and comparison, lets also do away with the wrong kind of immitation. They are both hazardous to the individual Christian and the assembly of Christians as a whole.
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