4SpiritualSecrets

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

The Apostle Paul had a “seminary” in Ephesus for two years. He apparently rented a school that was closed during the hottest hours of the day. There he trained people like Timothy who became the overseer of the church at Ephesus. He also mentored the man who became the pastor of the Church of the Colossians to whom he addressed his letter to that church. This seminary is described in the inspired history book of the Bible:

“He… withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 19: 9, 10)

In that context he was the vision caster for the men he taught there. He challenged them to be keepers of that vision. He charged Timothy to find other faithful men who in turn would find other faithful men who would be keepers of that vision. One size does not fit all. We must therefore disciple people in one-on-one relationships.

The strategy of Paul worked. It produced churches in Asia like the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation. In 1973 I visited the archaeological sites of all those churches in a month long seminar led by my college Bible professor.

Do you have a vision? Have you shared or are you sharing that vision with faithful people in such a way that they will be keepers of the vision God has given you and recruit other faithful people to be vision keepers?

“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one Spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel…” (Philippians 1:27)

In these words we have the vision of the Apostle Paul for his best and favorite church, the Church at Philippi. This church was Paul’s sending church because they supported him while he planted the Church of Jesus Christ on the world map. Paul is in prison as he writes and he is not sure that he will ever be physically present with this church again. However, his vision for them is that they would be what he calls a “Fellowship of the Gospel.”

According to Paul a fellowship of the Gospel is a spiritual community in which every member is an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ. Every member is Christ-like and all the members are Christ-like together in ways that convince the world of the truth of the Gospel. When the world observes these people who live and act as if they only have one mind between them because they stand fast in one Spirit, the world believes the Gospel.

In the words quoted above Paul is being the vision caster for the Church in Philippi. His vision for his favorite church should cast a vision for our churches today. Especially those of us who lead churches should aspire and pray to see the churches we lead become and continue to be a fellowship of the Gospel.

Love is not love until it is shared and a vision is not a vision until it is shared by a vision caster.

“Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
(Matthew 4:19, 20)

Our Lord Jesus shared His vision. If Nehemiah had not shared his vision he would have been on the wall by himself and the wall would not have been finished. Since serving Christ is a team sport we must share our vision.

I was greatly blessed to have a pastor who mentored me for thirty years. He had a vision and he always had a plan. His vision was for world missions. Even though I believed this in my head, world missions was not in my heart. On one occasion he scheduled a retreat for the two of us and in the middle of the night he told me with tears that if he could have his heart placed in my chest cavity to give me an authentic burden for missions he would do it!

He planned a seven-week trip for me all around the world visiting missionaries. That experience moved world missions those eighteen critical inches from my head to my heart. He went to be with the Lord a few years later. If he knows what has happened and is happening to me thirty years later I am certain he is a happy camper!

What did it take for Jesus to take four fishermen and give them a vision for catching men rather than fish? Do you share your vision with others, especially those you mentor? Do you do have a plan for them and are you willing to sacrifice for them to the point of a heart transplant to communicate your vision to them?

“… But for this reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”
(John 12: 27, 28)

When we have a vision we must also have a plan. It has been said that without vision the people perish, but without a plan the vision perishes. Nehemiah not only had a vision to repair and rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. He had a plan to do so. As an enslaved exile his plan was to present his vision to the emperor for whom he was a cup bearer.

This was extremely dangerous because there was a death penalty for being sad in the presence of the emperor, or for bringing anything negative to the attention of the emperor while he was serving him. Nehemiah had the faith to pray silently and then present his vision to the emperor. The emperor showed empathy and compassion for Nehemiah. He not only approved his plan. He supplied everything that was needed to see that the plan was followed to the letter.

Has God put a vision in your heart of what He wants you to do? If you have a vision do you have a plan? In that context consider this formula for your vision: vision + faith + sacrifice = miracle. If you have a vision and a plan to carry out that vision, are you willing to sacrifice for that vision? Are you willing to die for that vision?

Our Lord had a vision and a plan. He was willing to sacrifice and die for His vision and plan. He mandated that we should follow His example. Regarding your vision and plan, are you willing to pray essentially: “Father glorify Yourself and send me the bill. Anything Father, just glorify Yourself?”

“…what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem…” (Nehemiah 2: 12)

When Nehemiah learned of the dreadful condition of the wall around Jerusalem he wept, fasted and prayed. He then became a supreme example of what it means to have a vision. His definition of vision is what God had put in his heart to do. I have heard missionaries describe how they were reading the Gospels and when they got to the Great Commission they knew what God had put in their heart to do.

When I was a new believer studying for the ministry I heard a great Bible professor survey the entire Bible. He made it so clear and relevant. I felt as if he was introducing us to sixty-six of his holy little friends and I wanted to spend the rest of my life getting to know them better. I also knew in my heart that God wanted me to put together a devotional, practical survey of the Bible for lay people and make it even more simple than the one I was being taught. That vision eventually became a reality.

As you grow in your faith and your relationship with God have you been close enough to God for Him to put in your heart what He wants you to do? The whole Bible and church history affirm the reality that God loves to work that way.

The Apostle Paul stood in chains before a king and said some beautiful words. He said he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision God gave him (Acts 26: 19). Has God put in your heart what He wants you to do? Will you make the commitment that you will not be disobedient to that vision?

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

“The Great Commission is the charter of the Church. Like any other organization the Church must fulfill the terms of its charter or it should cease and desist.” So wrote a missionary statesman of another generation.

For more than twenty years I was the pastor of a church that was near a naval base and more than seventy percent of my church members were military. I soon learned that when a military man received his orders he read them very carefully and obeyed them to the letter. Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ gave us our orders. The man I have quoted was saying that we as a church must obey our orders or we should cease and desist as a church.

General George Patton once arrived before dawn at a station in North Africa much earlier than he was expected. Everything was in disarray. He kicked a soldier who was asleep on the floor. When the lowly GI realized who had kicked him he jumped to his feet, saluted and said “I’m sorry sir. I was just trying to get some sleep!” The general responded, “That’s OK son.” In his profane way, which I will not quote, the general essentially continued, You’re the only one around here who knows what he’s trying to do!

How it must grieve the risen living Christ to realize that so many in His Church today don’t know what they’re trying to do. We not only ignore His clear orders – many have never even heard that He gave us our charter, which is repeated at the end of every Gospel and at the beginning of Acts, the inspired history book of the Church.

“So he said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’” (Acts 9:6 NKJV)

Two Men named Marx and Engels authored The Communist Manifesto. For years after their book had been written the membership in the Communist Party was meager. When a man named Lenin appeared on the scene he wrote a very short pamphlet entitled “What Is to Be Done?” His thesis was that if you read the book authored by Marx and Engels and then look at the world, what do you think should be done by those who truly believe what they wrote? Until the collapse of the “Iron Curtain” there were a billion people under the control of the Communist Party.

During the height of what we called “The Cold War,” for at least a decade I was obsessed with this question: “As a devout follower of Jesus Christ why not write a short booklet entitled ‘What Is to Be Done?’ by those who believe the Bible and then look at the world?” I asked many of the spiritual heavyweights I met this question. The best answer I received was from a man I highly respected. He told me that no one could write that booklet for everyone. Each individual disciple of Jesus needs to write his own booklet by asking the question the Apostle Paul asked the risen Christ on the road to Damascus which is quoted above.

The way we each receive the answers to that question from the Lord could be called our personal vision statement. Sadly, so many followers of Jesus do not have a personal vision statement. I challenge you to work out your own personal vision statement by asking the risen Christ, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

“… But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them …” (2 Timothy 3:14)

Paul wrote these words to Timothy, his son in the faith, from the dreadful prison in Rome where he was very soon executed. These were the last words of the Apostle Paul and his last words to Timothy. That reality should add much weight to these words. He was telling Timothy it is vitally important that we continue in the things we have learned and have proven to be true.

The Apostle John records words of Jesus (John 8:31-36) where He told people who had just professed faith in Him that they must continue in His Word and become His disciples indeed. He promised them that if they would continue in this way they would come into a relationship with the One Who is the Truth, and when that happened, they would be free indeed. Disciples indeed, free indeed, if they continue.

Why is it that so very many do not continue? That’s the bad news. The good news is that a “committed minority” does continue and when they do, they eventually establish a relationship with the risen, living Christ. Paul answered that question for us. When he was in prison and could not be present with his favorite church at Philippi he wrote them that he was confident that they would continue in the faith because God had begun a great work in their lives and He would continue that work until Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6; 2:13)

Will you acknowledge the critical importance of continuity and cooperate with the One Who wants to continue His work in you by continuing as a disciple indeed?

“… But one thing I do… I press toward the goal of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 13, 14)

Are you entering into this New Year with resolution? Can you reduce your priorities to just one thing? In the excerpts above from the writings of the Apostle Paul, the greatest missionary the church ever had wrote that he had just one priority: “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The great apostle often used athletic terminology in his writings. Here he likens life to a race and the goal at the end of this race is what God was calling him to be and do, in Christ, until he was called home to be with his Lord forever.

When an athlete is pacing a race their objective is to give everything they have to winning the race at the instant they break the tape at the end of the race. If they spend all their energy before they break that tape they will collapse before the race is over. If they have not given it all when they break the tape at the end of the race they have not done their best to win the race. That is the race plan and life plan Paul is describing here.

As you run your race of 2010 do you have a race plan for your life span? Are you pacing your race in such a way that when you break the tape at the end of the race you will have given it all for what God is calling you to be and do for Him in Christ in 2010?

“He turns rivers into a wilderness,
And the water springs into dry ground;
A fruitful land into barrenness,
He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
And dry land into watersprings.
He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their cattle decrease.

Then they are diminished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction and sorrow,
Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand
The lovingkindness of the LORD.”

(Psalm 107: 33-35; 38, 39, 43)

The risen Christ chastises complacency in the lives of His authentic disciples. We learn this from the third chapter of the book of Revelation. This is a letter to a lukewarm church in which He tells them He would rather they would be hot but if they’re not going to get hot He prefers them to get cold because their complacency makes Him want to vomit! He chastises those He loves in their church. He is knocking on the door of their lives and that knocking is chastisement motivated by His love for them.

We have the same message here in this great psalm of redemption. God blesses His people and then at times He diminishes them and they are brought low. After expressing that truth with beautiful and eloquent metaphors this inspired hymn writer informs us that if we are wise, when we observe these things we will see in them the lovingkindness of the Lord! This is God redeeming us from our COMPLACENCY because He loves us.

It is easier to see the Providence of God when we look back. As you stand on the threshold of a new year and you look back over your life can you resonate with this fifth level of redemption? Then say so!