4SpiritualSecrets

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

The founding elder of the first church for which I was the pastor was a home builder. He did beautiful work and when a couple wanted him to build their home he would take them to a beautiful home he had built and say to them “By the grace of God this is by workmanship.” The verse above is saying to all of us who are followers of Christ that our risen living Christ would like to point to each of us and say “This is My workmanship!”

We are all a work of Christ in progress. In addition to that thought this verse is stating that when we came to faith and were saved by grace through the faith our Lord gave us, He created us for good works. In fact we’re told that before He saved us he had already planned that we would do those works for Him.

I don’t know about you but that truth excites and inspires me greatly! We’re so selfish and self-centered that when we come to faith our focus is often on what trusting Christ to be our Savior is going to mean to us. Many followers of Christ have the attitude “What have you done for me lately?” The Apostle Paul had the right vision when he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and asked the question, “Lord, what do you want me to do for you?”

As a follower of Christ have you been asking and seeking to know what those works are your Lord and Savior had planned for you when He saved you by grace?

“… And He Himself gave some to be … pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry…” (Ephesians 4:11, 12)

According to these words of Apostle Paul, “the work of the ministry” is not committed to the pastor, or to a staff of professionals, but to the saints. Paul’s nickname for those who are sanctified, or set apart to following Christ was “saints.” In many of our churches today people believe the work of the ministry has ended when the benediction is pronounced. This job description of the pastor declares that the work of the ministry begins when the benediction is pronounced and hundreds, or even thousands of saints are commissioned and equipped to go out and do the work of the ministry. This means that the role of the pastor/teacher is like that of a coach.

Which is more productive? To give an invitation and have half a dozen or more people respond to it, or to equip a sanctuary full of believers to go out and reach people who desperately need to hear the Gospel? Is the church a soul saving station or a base from which a multitude of believers are equipped every Sunday to reach people in the neighborhoods where they live or the marketplaces where they work?

It is not merely because it is more effective but because it is God’s plan that we who are pastors should accept our role and calling to be a coach and not just a player. If we will equip, instruct, encourage, challenge and inspire believers to go out and do the work of the ministry it could wake the sleeping giant of the Church.

“… For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)

From about the middle of the seventh to the middle of the eighth chapter of his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul profiles four spiritual laws. The first is the law of God which is the Word of God. One of the many functions of the Word of God is to reveal the law of sin and death. James describes this when he tells us the Word of God is like a mirror which shows us our imperfections.

These first two laws are the bad news and they get us ready to hear the good news which is quoted above. The third law is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ and it can free us from the law of sin and death. It’s almost as if the law of sin and death is a law of spiritual gravity and the law of the Spirit is a law of spiritual aerodynamics because it can raise us above the law of sin and death. If that is true, why are some believers like a 747, lumbering down the runway for 40 years and never overcoming gravity?

The fourth spiritual law is the law of the mindset. Six or more times according to your translation, Paul writes that those who live in the Spirit have set their minds on the Spirit and those who live in the flesh have set their minds on the flesh.

Athletes and many other professions critically depend on the law of the mindset. What is your spiritual mindset today? It can make all the difference, according to these four spiritual laws of the Apostle Paul.

“…those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)

In the context of the Scripture quoted above the Apostle Paul is telling us about four kings. Each of these kings enters, abounds and reigns. The first is King Sin. (He sounds like a Chinese king.) When he enters our life he abounds until he reigns. The next is King Death. He is the consequence of sin and he enters, abounds and reigns right behind King Sin. Those two are the bad news but the next two are the good news. King Jesus enters our lives. He wants to abound in our lives until He reigns in us. The fourth king is King You and King Me. The ultimate good news is that we can reign in life through Jesus Christ!

At the beginning of this fifth chapter of his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul writes the Good News that we have access by faith into grace that makes it possible for us to stand for Christ in this world and live a life that glorifies God. He then tells us that we should rejoice in our sufferings because they force us to access the grace God has made available to us by faith (vs. 3-5). In the verse above he writes that when we receive an abundance of this grace we will reign in life through Jesus Christ.

Do you understand this profound Good News Paul is sharing with us about these four kings? What sounds like a good hand at poker can give you and me the dynamic we need to stand for Christ, reign in life and live lives that glorify God and exalt Jesus Christ.

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked …
Stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law (Word) of the LORD,
And on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water…” (Psalm 1: 1-3)

The First Psalm establishes a pattern. The blessings of the blessed man are not a coincidence. They are a banquet of consequences. He is blessed because he is no mocker; he is a believer. This man is blessed because he loves the Word of God and he walks in the counsels of God he finds in the Word of God. This means he knows that the way to convert the Word of God into a power and a force in his life is to obey and apply the Word of God.

This is described metaphorically when we’re told he resembles a tree which has its roots in watery soil. The Scripture is described metaphorically as water and that helps us understand this metaphor. A blessed man has his view of life and his value system firmly planted in the Word of God. He is in the Word and the Word is in him and that explains his blessings.

Perhaps his greatest blessing is that he does not stand in the way of sinners. Over the last 60 plus years I have picked up the pieces with many sinners. That experience has confirmed the teaching of Scripture that the way of the sinner is the pits.

Would you like to be the blessed man or woman? Read, believe and meditate in the Word of God regularly applying to your life what you are reading.

“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?