Is God is calling His Remnant out of the established church?

“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your

God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end then you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.” (Deut 8:11-17)

For students of the Bible, the concept of the wilderness should be most familiar. Abraham left his homeland and family to venture forth into an unknown land of promise. Moses left the palatial comforts of Egypt to dwell among the rocks and wild beasts. The tribes of Israel wandered 40 years in the wilderness prior to occupying the land of Canaan. Job lost everything that He might glimpse the Eternal One at the edge of the valley of death. David fled from Saul and spent years eluding him in the pathless wilderness. Most, if not all of the Lord’s holy and faithful prophets abandoned all they knew and loved to live alone with the Lord in His company and care. John the Baptist conducted his prophetic ministry as one “crying in the wilderness.”

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness forty days and forty nights, tempted of the devil and ministered to by angels. The Apostle Paul spent much of His life and ministry imprisoned, isolated, imperiled and alone. And the woman of Revelations 12 is sheltered and nourished in the wilderness immediately prior to our Lord’s return to this earth. My friends, this wilderness theme runs all through the Scriptures, and through the varied lives and experience of God’s children. It has always been an essential concept to be grasped, yet I believe this may be more true today. It is vital that we understand what it teaches us about how our Heavenly Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit bring us to true faithfulness and blessing.

Now the concept of the wilderness as it affects others is one thing – yet the actual experience of the wilderness as it impacts our own life and faith is quite another. It is a very intimate matter you see, challenging everything we think we know about God and the Christian life, the church and community, the actual and the superficial. It is wrought with difficult questions and seemingly few answers. It is typically invested with profound emotion, loneliness and even confusion. And it is more of a valley than a mountain-top, with again, seemingly little evidence that heaven is still there, and that Our Lord is still caring for His sheep.

To understand the wilderness we must go deeper and further into the very heart and mind of our Heavenly Father, as He loves and nurtures His children. We must look beyond our teachers and books, for they, by and large, don’t really understand it. We must divest ourselves of any fluffy religious notions that really don’t get to the heart of a man or what really happened in that garden. We must also resist the theological urge to generalize and systematize, as God’s wilderness is as varied as His people, and as unlimited as His vast, creative mind.

We are addressing this topic generally, in order that we might understand it better. We are also more specifically hoping to edify and encourage those who like ourselves, find themselves outside and apart from the traditional church organization, having left it behind in order to more perfectly hear and follow the Lord.

The Exodus from the Organized Church

Today we are witnessing an interesting phenomenon where many – God knows the numbers – are leaving the relative structure and security of organized churches, denominations and memberships, to follow hard after their God, to a wilderness of sorts, a strange and unfamiliar place little understood by establishment Christianity. Perhaps the Lord is calling His remnant to Himself in simplicity and purity at the end of this age? Perhaps the prophetic ministry from outside the walls has begun, or at the very least is being perpetuated at this time?

Perhaps a time of final testing for the church and Israel is poised to begin? Whatever the ultimate reason, many are coming out, and almost immediately they will need to adapt to this new and strange environment where the Lord alone is all that they have. It is quite common to hear the following sentiments today from God’s people “The glory of God has left my church.” “Jesus is no longer at the center of our fellowship!” “My church has aligned itself with the ways of man and the world.”

“My church functions more like a club, than an expression of the life of Jesus Christ!” “The Holy Spirit has gone out of the church.” “The church is of the world and the world is in the church.” Indeed, the world has infiltrated the church to such a degree, and corruption has become so rampant and pervasive that it is practically impossible to keep abreast of all of the apostasy and defilement within. By much spiritual evidence and observation, the ‘church on the corner’ is either dying or already dead. This is obvious and apparent to any with eyes to see, to those with true spiritual insight.

Only those with a vested and carnal interest in perpetuating the corpse, and holding it up with strings will deny this. True spiritual discernment speaks otherwise however. A.W. Tozer and Leonard Ravenhill, for example, 20-40 years back can still be heard on creaky recordings woefully proclaiming the life of God pouring out of contemporary Christianity. Theirs were the prophetic forewarnings from within, all decrying the forces marshaled against the historic church – materialism, humanism, pragmatism, psychology, modern marketing, etc.

Then, such corruptive forces were pressing at the edges; today they are rooted into the very fiber of institutional Christianity, across all lines, divisions and denominations. Those who would weep the tears of our Lord are indeed weeping, with great heaviness of spirit and heart.
“Come out of her my people!” is the message of the hour! Come out of her, lest you share in her sins! But to where and to what – this is the question of the hour? Quite often when the Lord draws us out of something and back to Himself, we are led by way of the wilderness. It is this wilderness that concerns us here, and by His grace we will endeavor to more completely comprehend it.

The Christian church cannot rise to its true stature in accompanying the purposes of God when its members operate largely through the gifts of nature, neglecting the true gifts and graces of the Spirit of God. Much of the religious activity we see in the churches is not the eternal working of the Eternal Spirit, but the mortal working of man’s mortal mind-and this is a raw tragedy.

From what I see and sense in evangelical circles, I would have to say that about ninety per cent of the religious work carried out in the churches is being done by un-gifted members. I am speaking in the context of men and women who know how to do many things but fail to display the Spiritual gifts promised through the Holy Spirit. This is one of the very evident ways in which we have slowed down the true workings of God in His Church and in the hearts of unbelieving men all around us- acknowledging and allowing un-gifted members of the Body to do religious work without possessing the genuine gifts of the Spirit.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and reminded believers that they were all baptized into one Body by the Spirit. But He went on at great length to explain the necessity for the functioning of the gifts of the Spirit in the Church- and I believe he was explaining that these Spiritual functions and capabilities are the birthright of every Christian. Lets bring it down to our level. Religious activists have many things of which they can boast. They build churches. They write hymns and books. Musically they sing and play. Some of them will take time to engage in prayer. Others will organize movements and crusades and campaigns.

No matter how early in the morning they begin and no matter how late at night they stay with their project, if it is an exercise in human talent for religious purposes, it can only wind up as a mortal brain doing a mortal job. I have taken the pains to say all this as a reminder that mortality and temporality are written all across the church of Christ in the world today because so many persons are trying to do with human genius and power of the flesh what only God can do through the Holy Spirit. (A.W.Tozer)

Brother Tozer here highlights the greatest tragedy in Christendom and the root cause of its fall all around the world. Without the gifts of the Spirit in operation in the Body, which was designed to edify, then the Bride would starve to death. The audacity and sheer arrogance to think we could ignore the express instructions of the Word of God and think we could do well. Well did Paul say to the Galatians “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” Paul here highlights the beginnings of the problem, disobedience. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” It is the truth, of course, that the saints of God are made perfect by the Spirit of God and the gifts that He gave for that precise purpose. This is what Christendom needs to repent of. The disobedience that is manifested by ignoring the Holy Spirit and His gifts for perfecting the saints. There are not many ways to follow God, there is only one way and it is by His Spirit and the gifts that the Spirit gives. Human talent can achieve mighty things, it could even build a tower to the skies and say it was for God’s glory, but unless the Lord builds the house then we labor in vain and that tower built by the talents and ingenuity of man will come crumbling down by the hand of God, not one stone left un-turned……bro Frank

Time must become our primary resource for encountering God rather than the primary cause of our disconnect from Him -Nick Franks

Time is so mysterious. One hour spent in an enjoyable pursuit can seem like a day if doing something we don’t like. If I were to spend a week with my grandson on an a Island as a couple of beach bums, building rafts and building sandcastles and building fires, that week would “fly past.” On the other hand if I were to spend a week in solitary confinement, it would “seem like an eternity?” The difference between the two scenarios is not time, for one week is one week no matter what you are doing. Yet, we know what we are doing is part of the calculus of how fast time actually passes where it counts, in our minds. We are told in Scriptures that “one day in your court is better than a thousand elsewhere.” We also know that one day is as a thousand years unto the Lord. Time spent with God is the perfect use of time and everything else, no matter how good, how virtuous or noble, is something lesser.

Nick Franks, the author of the above quote shares with us a word the Lord spoke to him in the same book “Body Zero.” “Nick, are you willing to wait for me for an unreasonable amount of time.” For those of us who know something of the Lord’s presence , who have been touched by the glory, have tasted of the good things of God , waiting on God can seem like a week in solitary confinement. How long are you willing to wait upon God? How do we live when the vine-dresser has gone? Do we faithfully, patiently wait, carrying on, knowing He will return? Or do we, after a while, begin to act as if He shall never return? I cannot sense His presence, I cannot hear His voice. Have you walked through seasons like this? How long Lord is your cry. Saint, you will be tested on this. Would you serve God with joy and gladness and faithfully if you never sensed His presence again in this life? Would you love Him even if you knew that for the rest of your life you would not hear His still small voice? Is He not worthy to be praised and worthy to be worshiped for who He is despite what we “feel,” or in this case do not feel? Moses went up the mountain and in less than 40 days the people had thrown of God and created for themselves an idol that allowed them to rise up and play.

The saints of God worship Him no matter what, this is what distinguishes them from false professors. They have been sealed and their faith is not dependent upon circumstances or feelings. They will wait upon their God, it will be difficult but they know in their own spirits that God is always working whether they see it or not, whether they feel it or not, whether they hear it or not. The Word of God is a lamp unto their feet and bread unto their hungry souls and metaphorically speaking they use that lamp and go down to the docks and scan the horizon of their souls to see if today is the day. With infinite patience they faithfully wait upon their Lord. And even although they would wait a thousand years, their patience is rewarded when suddenly He comes to them in the depths of their spirit. They find themselves at the banqueting table, feasting upon His presence with a banner of love flying over them. Time stands still, it loses its meaning. Was it a moment or was it a thousand years? Wait faithfully upon the Lord saints, it pleases our Father in heaven to see that no matter what, we love Him unconditionally. And when we do experience his manifest presence it is all the more glorious for the waiting. And the ultimate coming of the Lord, when He comes with all of His glory, very soon I believe, will be so above and beyond what we could think or imagine, that we just have to leave it in that part of our spirits that just “knows.”

I want to contrast two men from the Scriptures. First, the Roman centurion from Matthew chapter eight and secondly, Diotrephes whom John speaks of in 3 John verse nine. Look and see the Roman centurion. We are told that Jesus marveled at his faith, in fact we are told that according to Jesus there was no greater faith in all of Israel. Imagine that, God Himself marvels at your faith. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? The centurion gets it, he understand what authority is. He himself is under authority, but in the presence of God he knows that Jesus has all authority, whether it is over the wind or the rain or storms or even life or death, the centurion gets that and bows to that. He acknowledges that he is not worthy, and specifically not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof. He knows that the one to whom he is speaking to is preeminent and with just a word Jesus can heal his servant. Jesus is blown away with this man who is humble and contrite. The centurion will be known for all time because he is memorialized by Jesus Himself in the Word of God. What a beautiful thing.

Now, contrast that with Diotrephes. John the beloved writes of him as one who loves the preeminence. This could very well be the start of the one man system. A man elevates himself in importance and refuses to entertain the apostle John. Imagine telling John that he was not welcome among them because he wanted the limelight for himself, he wanted the preeminence. In this letter John starts out referring to himself as an elder. He does not elevate his status. True men of God do not elevate their status, they never seek the preeminence. Men who seek to build their own kingdoms are enemies to any man who would humble themselves before men and who elevate Jesus. The centurion remains nameless to men but known of God as one who has possibly the greatest faith in all of Israel. The centurion’s reward would come by the fact that his servant was healed, but his reward would also come in the world to come. Diotrephes undoubtedly wanted to make a name for himself, he wanted to be known by men. Well, he certainly got that wish just not in the way that he imagined. For sure God knows the heart of men. Jesus says that many who are first shall be last and again a few paragraphs later the Lord repeats Himself in order to show the importance of what He is saying “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” Mat 20:16 Many are called brothers and sisters, but few are the remnant saints of God. When a man’s name is elevated, he surely8 finds himself on dangerous grounds for the Lord our God is a jealous God and He will have no other before Him.