In This Issue:

Hearing The Voice of God Follow Up Gathering

Al West and I have been working to schedule a follow-up gathering at Al West’s home to share and reflect on what God has done since Neil Gamble was with us back in July. We have now scheduled this gathering for Saturday, September 29th. The plan is to have a potluck at 5:00 followed by worship and sharing about what God has been doing in our lives over the past couple of months. Neil Gamble is looking at his schedule to see if he may be able to join us for this time! So, put Saturday September 29th on your callendar. Bring a dish to share, bring a friend you think might benefit from the time, and come with an expectant heart!  I'll post updated details on the website this weekend! My prayer is that this gathering may, in fact, be the beginning of a regular, monthly, area-wide house church gathering where we can all touch base and share what God is doing in and through our various ministries.  Don't forget that, if you missed Neil's visit but would like to hear what happened,  we have posted MP3 recordings of Thursday, Friday and Saturday on our website. You can access these at http://www.parousianetwork.org/Cyber_Cafe/Neil_Gamble_Conference.htm  or via the House Church Equipping page on our website. NOTE: These are LARGE audio files so be patient when you download them (see if a friend has a DSL or Cable connection).

 

The Fear of The Lord - Part 2

 

Editor’s Note: I began this two-part message in my e-letter for August 29 which is now posted in our newsletter archives on the website. Those of you who have regularly endured these e-letters will be aware of the profound experience which I related in my May 2, 2007 newsletter (which you can find in our newsletter archives on our website). Since that "encounter" I have wrestled with how to adequately relate to you and to others the nature and the importance of the three words or "planks" which emerged from that experience (holiness/fear of the Lord, repentance & intimacy). This week’s newsletter is another attempt on my part to further explore one of those planks, namely, holiness or "the fear of the Lord". Time (and your responses) will tell whether or not I’ve been successful.

 

What Tozer Knew And Isaiah Experienced

 

In part one of this message I quoted an extended passage from one of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer. I feel that this quote is so pivotal to this message that, at the risk of boring you, I want to encourage you to take a moment to re-read that quote from my previous newsletter which you can acces at this link: www.parousianetwork.org/Newsletter_Archive/Parousia_Weekly_E-Letter_For_08_29_07.htm. Let me re-iterate Tozer's point. Make no mistake. The most important thing about any man or woman is what he or she thinks about God, because "We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God." It was true of King Uzziah, it was true of the Prophet Isaiah, and it is true of us as well. As I have examined Isaiah 6:1-6 I have been struck by the reality that it clearly teaches us four things that each of us must know in order to truly walk, serve and minister in the Kingdom of God: 1) We need to know God for Who He is, not for who we imagine Him to be; 2) We need to know who we are in relation to this God; 3) We need to know what He has done for us; 4) We need to know what He is calling us to do. These four issues are at the heart of the Church in every generation, including ours and including simple church or house church. The answers to these four issues will determine the DNA of the simple church/house church movement for the next generation, so they are of more than mere passing interest. This helps me understand why God chose the "Express Delivery" method of communicating this message to us (again, see my May 2, 2007 newsletter in our website archives) and why He "interrupted" my vacation to re-emphasize it’s importance (see my newsletter for August 22 on our website). I do not claim any unique insights on this passage. Rather, I come to this passage as one working to come to terms with it's meaning and significance. Hence, what follows are my reflections:

 

1. Here’s Who God Is (vs. 1-4)

In the year of King Uzziah,s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

I would dare say that the vast majority of churches in the western world are led by teachers, in keeping with our overall "rationalistic" approach to faith. Teachers are one of the 5-fold giftings of Ephesians 4, which means they are important to the overall equipping and building up of the church. But the weakness of every 5-fold gift lies in the shadow of its strength. The weaknesses of a teacher is that they have never met a problem that couldn't be solved with more teaching. Unfortunately, this approach doesn't work. How do I know? After 35 years of teaching on biblical finances in the church, Christian giving as a percentage has fallen by 35% (yep, 1% each year).  There is more teaching on biblical marriage today than at any time in the life of the church (a la "Focus on the Family" et al), yet our divorce rate is equal to that of the non-church world. Why? Because good teaching alone is inadequate to solve deeply rooted spiritual problems. The same could be said of the issue of holiness. You cannot teach your way into the holiness of God any more than you can teach your way into a loving marriage. It is relational, not educational. What we in the Church need today is not a study on holiness. What we need is a genuine encounter with a living, holy God before Whom even the angels cover their eyes and declare "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."  That is what Isaiah needed. He needed to see God for Who He is, not for who Isaiah imagined Him to be. And that is what we need, too. In the absence of such an encounter men create pseudo-holiness by means of legalistic rules. Religious legalism is like the veil over Moses' face when the glory of God's presence began to fade. It is man's attempt to convince himself and others that the glory of God's Presence has not departed; that the fire of God's holiness remains when, in reality, the fire is gone and altar has gone cold.

2. Here’s Who I Am (vs. 5)

Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

I am bothered by a trend I see in the church among believers today. It is a trend of self-exaltation. I hear it expressed in phrases such as "we're kings" or "God is releasing kings". I am bothered for several reasons. First, it is unscriptural. No where in the New Testament are believers ever referred to as "kings," except in 1 Corinthians 4 where Paul is ridiculing the idea (basically, "I wish you were kings, because then we would be reigning with you!). We are described as a "kingdom of priests", but never as kings. Second, Jesus impressed upon His disciples the importance not of ruling and reigning, but of serving. Consider this passage from Luke 17:  "Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down to eat'? But will he not say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink'? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done." (Luke 17:7-10) The word "slaves" in this passage is the Greek word doulos, the same word Paul used to describe himself repeatedly as as "bond servant of Christ Jesus" (see Romans 1:1; Titus 1:1). Third, I am bothered because in my limited experience of 36 years in the church I have found that Christians are at their best when serving, and at their worst when "ruling". Fourth, I am bothered because Jesus is our model, and He declared that He did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

So, who am I in relation to this passage from Isaiah? And who are you? We are sinners, saved by grace . . .  and called to serve.

3. Here’s What He Has Done For Me (vs. 6-7)

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs. And he touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven."

As Isaiah discovered, the holiness of God has an amazing effect upon us. It "clears the sinuses" (so to speak) and places everything in its proper perspective. This includes the reality that our sin and lack of holiness is so great that it requires a divine remedy; a supernatural act on God's part to deal with it and to rescue fallen mankind. The very One Whose holiness demands our judgment and condemnation is the One Who provides the remedy for our predicament. Scripture describes this divine solution with the use of imagery and metaphor: fire, burning coals, washings, "as far as the east is from the west," etc. But they all point to one thing: The God Whose holiness cries out for our condemnation has made it possible for our iniquity to be "taken away" and for our sins to be "forgiven." And all of this imagery points to one thing: What God Himself has accomplished on our behalf through the atoning death of His Son, Jesus.

4. Here’s What He’s Calling Me To Do (vs. 8)

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Having been a believer and in the church for some 36 years now, I have heard innumerable missions messages built around this verse. Such messages almost always close with an exhortation that we need to tell God to "send me". But to use this verse out of context is to rob the passage of its spiritual power. It wasn't until Isaiah saw God for Who He truly is in all of His "terrible holiness", understood who he was in relation to this God and what this God of Holiness had done for him, that Isaiah was in a mental and spiritual position to answer the call and to say "send me". It was an encounter with God's holiness, resulting in a genuine "fear of the Lord" that motivated Isaiah to "go".  I find it both interesting and instructive that this was the Apostle Paul's motivation as well: "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men . . . ." (2 Corinthians 5:11).  Holiness and the fear of the Lord motivate people to a life obedience and service in a way that no amount of teaching or cajoling ever could. No amount of teaching can produce this kind of obedience. It cannot be taught. It must be caught. And fire doesn't respond well to teaching; but it is always in search of dry kindling.

And this brings us to the simple church/house church movement. One of my greatest fears is that the simple church or house church movement will become co-opted by teachers who reduce it to a book writing, conference holding, note taking, notebook producing movement that seeks to offer "Fire building 101" courses taught by people with no burns (if you missed the subtlty of that one, let me know and I'll 'splain it to you). I suspect that this is the Lord's "fear" as well, hence, the "three planks" He gave us (again, see my newsletter of  May 2 on the website). Again, let me be clear. We cannot teach our way into the kind of simple church/house church movement God wants to unleash. What is needed in the house church movement today is a band of believers who have had an Isaiah 6 encounter with the holiness of God and are prepared to say, like Isaiah, "Here am I, Lord. Send me."

The River of God’s Spirit, the River of Exekiel 47, is preparing to flow in power and blessing the likes of which this generation has not seen before. And the "three planks" of the channel He is preparing consist of Holiness/Fear of God, Repentance and Intimacy. Are you and your simple house church part of His channel? Are you seeking Him for how He wants you to build with these three planks? He is preparing to bring His "available church" into an Isaiah 6 encounter with Himself that will shape the DNA of the simple church/house church movement for a generation. Are you "available" to hear what it is He wants to say?

"A Gathering Of Angels . . . And A Time To Dance"

 

 Our next gathering is scheduled for this FRIDAY evening the 21st of September at 7:00 PM at the Smith's. Check the website before coming!