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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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