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WHAT DOES GOD WANT?

 

The preceding articles begin to throw some light on what God wants for His church in this end-time. Having begun to see the light by revelation of the Spirit, let us be very careful not to try to fulfill that which we have seen by the wisdom and energies of the flesh. These articles emphasize that this is a spiritual plan for a people who are willing to be completely led by the Spirit. What the Lord has revealed He will fulfill and accomplish if we will just make ourselves available and obey Him in every­thing He shows us to do.

 

What the Lord has been willing to put up with and even use in a measure in the past is different from what He wants today. God is a perfectionist and He will not settle for any­thing less than His perfect order for His church. This church age cannot end until that which is revealed in His Word is fulfilled. The times of our ignorance God has overlooked, but now He commands us to repent and change our ways in light of that which He is revealing. To say we were walking in God's revealed light last year does not mean we are walking in His full revealed light today. We must continue to walk in the light as the Lord gives us further understanding and illu­mination of that which He wants. If we feel we have arrived at the ultimate of what God wants then we will surely miss His perfect will for His people in the closing years of this church age. What we have known in the past is not sufficient for now, and what we know now will not be sufficient for the tomorrows. Only as we walk in the (full) light of that which He is revealing, and will continue to reveal, can we have (full) fellowship with one another and continue to progress in His plan for this end-time.

 

Of one thing we can be sure. God is not interested in try­ing to remake the old. The church systems of the past have served their purpose, and are still serving a certain purpose, but they are old garments on which God is not going to put a new patch, and old wineskins into which He is not go­ing to pour His new wine (Mk. 2:22}. The Lord wants local churches established according to His Divine Plan and or­der. He wants a people who are willing to come out of that which they have known before and begin to walk in the new light He is giving for His people in this hour.

 

As you consider these articles, you will see that they reveal that which the Lord wants when His Body begins to function in His divine order, with each local assembly or cell unit hav­ing come to the place where elders are set in by the Holy Spirit, and where the ministries are being led of the Spirit to minister wherever the Lord directs and for as long as He deems wise. We must remember that we are now in a period of transition and very few local churches or assemblies are functioning in God's divine order. Therefore we must be patient and let the Lord set His house in order as He reveals His Plan. We must not try to do or to build something on our own. Those who want to be a part of that which the Lord is doing should meet together with others of like mind and seek the Lord earnestly for His directive, waiting for Him to send the ministries they need. If the Lord directs them to call for a particular ministry to help them they may do so. In the Lord's time and providence that ministry will be sent.

 

Any ministry may be used to help begin a local assembly or church, but only an apostle can appoint those who are to be the elders, and this only by the revelation of the Spirit. Great havoc has been wrought by man-appointed elders as well as man-appointed ministries. There should be no at­tempt to ordain elders in a certain place until the Holy Spirit appoints them through apostolic calling. Any ministry who is used of the Lord to help establish a local church retains the official and spiritual authority over that group until the Holy Spirit sets in elders. The ministry then relinquishes his sole authority and works with the elders or shepherds to build up the Body of Christ in that place. He will continue to come forth with greater spiritual authority because of the ministry which the Lord has given to him, but his official authority will be limited to that of an elder among elders. After the Holy Spirit has set in elders, the ministry must be sensitive to the Spirit to know how long they are to continue their minis­try in a certain place, realizing that the Lord may want them to minister to other groups and to send other ministries where they have been.

 

[Next: THE HARVEST OF THE AGE ]

 

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