The Man who fears the Lord
One of the greatest threat to Christianity in the modern church is not persecution, other religions or any threat from the outside, but the internal threat of apathy that draws men into complacency. Whether we like it or not, God has appointed the role of eldership to men within the church and this leadership cannot be fulfilled until we understand what it means to be a leader. There are roles of leadership for women within God’s design, but the eldership, deacons and pastorship has been appointed by God to the men of the church.
The fastest way to destroy a structure is to damage the foundation. A building built upon sand will not stand for long. Even a building on solid ground will fall if the foundation has been weakened. This is what is happening in the church today. The leadership God has given men has become inferior because of apathy, sin, and rebellion against God. Men, like it or not, God has placed on your shoulders the authority of the church and if we do not fulfill that role, the church will struggle and be lacking in God’s power. God empowers those who obey, not those who look to their own wisdom, understanding or strength.
Sin, apathy and complacency have become the tools that Satan has used against the church. Satan has no power over the church or God’s people; however, he can appeal to your flesh and draw you out of godliness and by your actions affect the church. The church of the last days will have a form of godliness but no real power because it is not of God. The foundation God has put into place will be substituted for man made ordinances which will give an outward appearance of faith, but it will have no real power from God.
In this modern era, the false church has given the illusion of power, but it is the form (or semblance) of the true work of God. Just take a moment to look around and see if there is any power. There is a lot of showmanship and even large crowds, but the true power of God is a life built solid upon the rock of Jesus Christ. Everyone claims to be filled with the Spirit, but their personal lives contradict this. I personally know many, many people that claim to be slain by the Spirit each week, but their lives are not changed. They are still overcome by their sins and are drawn back into the world each week. Yet the Bible tells us that true religion that comes from God keeps us unspotted from the world as it produces good works (James 1:27). The true Spirit of God creates the fruit of the Spirit as it purges out the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-24).
We have the promise that the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church, but we also know that without setting ourselves apart for God there is no way to win against the culture of sin. True power from God empowers us to live godly, holy lives in a culture where this is impossible by our own strength. On every side there are temptations, lusts, greed and an entire world driving its current against us. It is impossible to fight against this current by our own efforts and even those claiming to have the anointing of the Holy Spirit have been swept away. Just look at the public shame we have seen in the church. One of the top leaders of TBN has paid millions of dollars to cover a sex scandal (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Broadcasting#Sexual_Harassment_Settlement ); the leader in the conservative agenda to protect marriage was exposed for paying male prostitutes. This man was one of the top apostles in the ICA (International Coalition of Apostles) and is one of the twelve anointed ones in the ‘National School of the Prophets’ where you supposedly take courses in becoming a prophet. Those who claim to be apostles and prophets of God are riddled with scandal, greed and sin. A survey of America’s evangelical leadership revealed that 87 percent of all pastors surveyed admit to viewing pornography in the last two weeks; one of the largest churches in Atlanta made the news this week when the pastor got in a fist fight with his preacher wife in a hotel parking lot. The list goes on and on and on.
Why is it that these ‘anointed ones’ can claim to have the fire of God on Sunday, but then are overcome by sin during the week? The answer is because the modern church that claims to have power only has a form of godliness. It resembles the work of God as long as you do not go beyond the surface. The true power of the Holy Spirit takes people who are sinners that would normally be powerless against the current of this sinful culture and gives us the strength and the life to swim against the stream.
Only God has the power (true power) to turn your sinful heart to purity and can give you the power to prevail against the culture that is putting all its effort into carrying you downstream with it. In this study we will look at the role God has appointed to men for accomplishing this purpose. Men, if you do not overcome, the power of the family, church and culture will be affected for God has ordained you for this role. A mother can fight to keep the family intact, but the prosperity of the family hinges on the faithfulness of the father. Look at 1 Corinthians 11:
3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Many have argued that this was just a cultural perception but does not apply today; however, the Bible makes this unmistakably clear. After appointing the responsibility to men and making the roles in the church clear, the Bible goes on to make sure we understand that this is a commandment of God as stated in 1 Corinthians 14:37-38
37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
It does not matter if you agree with this statement or not; it is your responsibility to fulfill this calling and you will be judged accordingly (Romans 13:2). Anyone who challenges God’s appointed authority challenges God. Mutiny can never result in blessing even if we feel like we have succeeded. Unfortunately when obedience contradicts our own ideas of the way things ought to be, we have a tendency to substitute the wisdom of God with our own wisdom. We become like rebellious teenagers who think that we have all the answers and our Father does not know what He is talking about. Anyone who shrugs off God’s authority is also challenging the commandment of God. If you want to see God’s real power in your home, church and this culture; the responsibility rests on your obedience to God’s call.
Leadership in the Home
We have already looked at the passage that plainly states that the man is the head of his home, but is subject to Christ. If you are not subjecting yourself to Christ, you cannot fulfill your role as a husband and father. You are not called to be a king sitting on a throne calling out to be served; your role is to pursue Christ as you lead your family to do the same. Look at this promise from Psalm 128:1-4
Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. 2 When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. 3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD.
Most messages I have heard claim that to fear the Lord is not to be afraid of God, but I disagree and so does the scripture. In 2 Corinthians 5 we are told that we, as Christians, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. After making this statement, the Bible says, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men”. This was addressed to the church being called to obey the word of God. Since we are going to stand before Christ and give an account for everything we do, good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10), and every word we say (Matthew 12:36), it should give us fear if we are in disobedience. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10) so it is important to apply this to your life. Contrary to the modern church message that claims that we will not be held accountable for our actions, Jesus taught that those who knew God’s will and disobeyed will be severely punished and those who did not know and disobeyed will still be punished but not as severely (Luke 12:42-48). This is not meriting salvation but is our accountability for what we have done after salvation.
The reason the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is because when we understand that we will be accountable for our actions, it makes us stop and look at God’s instruction and wisely consider what we are doing. As you grow in wisdom, you will not be driven by fear because you will see the value in obedience. Until that realization dawns in our hearts, fear is the motivation to keep us from sin. A child doesn’t obey because he recognizes the value of wisdom. In the beginning, it is the fear of punishment that keeps a child from doing the things he or she knows is wrong. As they mature, they begin to recognize that there is a reason for the rules and they begin to do what is right because it is right. Then punishment is no longer necessary and fear gives way to wisdom.
The man who fears the Lord and walks in God’s ways has the promise of blessing on his family. When you walk in God’s ways, God has promised to bless your family, bless the labor of your hands and make your home go well. The wife is the heart of the home and if a man walks in God’s ways and leads his family in God’s ways, God will plant her in the heart of the home. How many homes are missing the heart? How many homes are broken and without unity? Unity is of the Lord and God can turn the heart of anyone just as He can turn the course of a river flow (Proverbs 21:1). God has promised that if you walk obediently in His ways, your children will be planted firmly in prosperity around your table. God has the power to take what is disorderly and bring it into order. God has the power to give you wisdom to lead your family and raise your children to be wise and straight in their ways. Psalm 127 explains it this way:
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep. 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
This is a picture of success, wisdom and prosperity – true prosperity. Many people have fat banks and foolish children. They live in shame, but the home founded upon Jesus Christ will not be ashamed. You will have the wisdom to give direction to your children and accomplish God’s will through your family. This culture may try to destroy your family, but like a warrior, you will prevail and plant your children as conquerors in this culture by God’s power – not your own. They will not be ashamed but will stand before their enemies in positions of honor. In the culture in which this Psalm was written, the men of honor sat in the gate of the city and were viewed with respect. God is promising that even the enemies of your family will not prevail but God will bless your efforts and give honor to the family under the leadership of the man who is submitting to the leadership of Christ. God promises to honor those who honor Him and those who walk in wisdom will receive honor.
Not only does God promise to prosper you when you obey, but God also promises to watch over and protect your family. Look at Psalm 91:9-16
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."
I don’t think we fully grasp the promises God has given those who obey. First, take note of who inherits this promise – you, who have made the Most High your dwelling place. Because you set your love upon God, God promises to accomplish these things in your life. If you do not set your love upon God, you do not have this promise. It is not the one who says, “I love God” but the one who obeys is the one that has truly set their love upon God. Jesus explained this in John 14:21-24
21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
…
23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
If you do not obey the scriptures you do not love God, cannot make Him your dwelling place, and cannot abide in Christ. Submitting to Christ as our head is essential in God’s wonderful plan for your life and family. If you do not abide in Christ, you do not have this promise. You can’t get this by being slain in the Spirit; you can’t get this by shouting praises on Sunday morning; you can’t get this by repeating the prayer of Jabez; you can’t even get this by claiming it. True worship is a life abiding in Christ. If you make God your dwelling place – the refuge of your life and the focus of your life, you have this promise. You can’t receive this promise by claiming it and indeed you do not need to, for God has said that it is His desire to give these things to those who set their love upon Him.
As you seek God with all your heart through the word and prayer, you will have communion with God and grow into an abiding relationship with Him. Prayer is not a mystical practice nor is it a vain repetition of ‘breath prayers’ or meditation techniques. Prayer is communing with God. God speaks to us through His word and we speak to Him through prayer. This promise does not mean that no trials shall come upon us for verse 15 promises that God will be with us in trouble and we will be delivered from our trials. This promise is that every single thing that enters our life and our home have to come through the shield of protection God has hedged around us. God will allow us to struggle so that we grow in our character and look expectantly to Him. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear God (Psalm 34:7). If you do not walk in God’s ways and live in the fear of the Lord, you have no such promises.
When you walk with the Lord and set your love upon Him and trouble comes, instead of saying, “Where is the Lord”, you will look expectantly to the Lord who you are already abiding in fellowship with. Instead of getting angry at God for not meeting your expectations, you will look upon the God you trust to walk with you in trouble to deliver you and reveal His honor through you. Oh how wonderful it is to know that behind every problem is the expectation of the good of the Lord. Without being established in trust and walking in an abiding fellowship with the Lord, this promise cannot be obtained. This promise is established by God on the fathers who submit themselves to Christ as their head.
Leadership in the Church
The church cannot experience the power of God without the men of the church submitting themselves to Him. Clearly the women have a powerful role in the church, but the authoritative leadership has been appointed by God to the men God has called to grow into elders. Satan knows this and the attack against male leadership is his key assault against the church. Everywhere I look I see many women eager to learn of God and grow but only a few men have any passion. Men are drawn into apathy or are blinded by pride so that they do not recognize their need to seek the Lord. Women, pray for God to move the hearts of the men who live in apathy for without fulfilling God’s call in the church, God will not bless the church. We don’t want a church that has a form of godliness that we have established; we want a church founded upon the godliness of God poured out upon all believers by His Spirit. To understand this, let’s look at James 5:14-16
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Why don’t we see this scripture being fulfilled? I used to believe that this passage was not a guarantee, but I now believe God said exactly what He meant. The key to this passage being fulfilled is the phrase, “The prayer of faith will save the sick”. In a previous study I showed that the Bible never gives us the responsibility to build our own faith – and indeed we cannot. Faith is measured from God (Romans 12:3); faith is a gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11); and faith is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Never once does the Bible tell you to build your faith, but to build yourselves upon your most holy faith (Jude 1:20). If the elders are not walking in the Spirit, there can be no prayer of faith. Since faith is by the Spirit, is the gift of the Spirit and is made manifest in our lives by the fruit of the Spirit, if faith is lacking, there has to be a spiritual problem in the church. If there is a spiritual problem in the church, the problem resides in the lives of the individual believers. Since God has appointed the elders to lead the church in this area, the problem must be resolved in the elders before God will bless the church as a whole. Knowing this, let us look at the qualifications of elders in the church. Look at Titus 1:5-9
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you -- 6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
First off, the elders are the men of the church for he must be the husband of one wife. Of course since this was written during an era where polygamy was common, this can be a bit confusing for our modern culture. If a man has multiple wives, he cannot possibly have the time to effectively oversee the church. Another thing to remember is that the pastor is an elder but an elder is not always a pastor. This is also covered in 1 Timothy 3. The qualifications of a bishop (pastor) and an elder are identical. The qualifications of a deacon and elders have some similarities but the elder is held by a much higher standard that a deacon. The apostles were also elders (1 Peter 5:1, 2 John 1:1).
The elders are the spiritual leaders of the church and the qualification of being an elder is based on the fruit of the Spirit. Look at Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
If you compare the fruit of the Spirit to the qualifications of an elder, you will see that this becomes the standard of leadership within the church. You can appoint elders and call them by any title you wish, but if the leadership within the church are not fulfilling the requirement of scripture, it is not of God and cannot be blessed of God. If the fruit of the Spirit is coming out in someone’s life, this is the evidence of their surrender to Christ and that they are applying their lives to living within the gospel as they abide in Christ. If there is no self-control, a man cannot lead by the Spirit for the Spirit is not leading him. The same is true for all the qualifications of the eldership. Human nature always seeks its own, but when the Spirit is leading a man, selfish ambition is suppressed and the leader is able to govern based on what is edifying to all and not based on what benefits the individual. When the leadership of the church is not being led by the Spirit, the entire direction of the church is in jeopardy.
Since this is plainly seen, it should also be self-evident that if you do not have men surrendering themselves to Christ, the church cannot prosper – nor can it receive the power of God to have faith, much less say the prayer of faith. As the church slowly shifts away from the true Spirit which produces these fruits in the individual lives of the believer, other things come in to be presented as counterfeit works of the Spirit. You can sing spirited worship but have no truth and have excitement without the Holy Spirit. Feeling excited is not the evidence of God’s move. You can sing traditional hymns without ever pleasing God or seeing the Spirit of God truly move. Regardless of what anyone says, the evidence of the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit. People call many things fruit, but the only true fruit is what God has revealed as the fruit of the Spirit. If the fruit is absent, it is not of God – period. The fruit of our works is to produce disciples, but the fruit of the Spirit is the individual conforming to the image of Christ.
Men, if you are not seeing the fruit of the Spirit, there is a deep spiritual need in your life and until you surrender yourselves to God, you cannot see God move within your church. The best you can hope for is ‘a form of godliness’ which mimics the work of God but has no power and is not of God. This indeed is the church foretold in the last days. Even if the church as a whole falls away, you have the power by God’s Spirit to put your church within the center of God’s will by teaching and growing leaders within the church who will live according to the Spirit. Those who are not appointed to leadership have a powerful role in church leadership by praying that God would stir the hearts of those who are complacent and rebelling against God’s call. Your walk of faith will directly affect the church regardless of your role within the church. Indeed, each person within the church, both man and woman, have the call of God to walk in the Spirit and allow God to work in their lives. When you yield, you have the prayer of faith to seek God to raise up elders who will lead the church into obedience. Until this happens, the church cannot experience true growth – spiritual maturity.
Leadership in the Culture
As the church goes, so goes the culture. God has called the church to be salt and light to the culture around us. Light to expose sin and draw men out of darkness and salt to preserve the culture from decay as they add the flavor of God to the culture. Each time judgment has come, it has always been because God’s people turned from the truth, imitated the culture and allowed the sins of the world around them to change their lives rather than the other way around. Sin in the culture is always the result of complacency and even outright sin within the church. When God pronounced judgment upon Israel just before the entire nation was destroyed by Babylon, God sent the prophet Jeremiah to find anyone who walked in obedience. Look at Jeremiah 5:1
"Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.
God promised to pardon the city of Jerusalem from the coming judgment if one man could be found who walked in the truth. Not one was found. The city was filled with religion and men who looked outwardly religious to others, but none who sought God and truly walked in His ways. When God determined to judge the 5 cities of the plains that were led by Sodom and Gomorrah, He promised a similar deliverance. Look at Genesis 18:23-26
23 And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."
Genesis 18:31-32 31 And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty." 32 Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten."
Historically we know that there were approximately 350,000 people in these cities and God promised to spare all if 10 righteous were found. That is one person out of every 35,000 people. Yet these five cities were destroyed. In Ezekiel, God promised to turn from judgment if anyone was found to stand in the gap. Look at Ezekiel 22:30-31
30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 "Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord GOD.
God has placed within your hands the privilege of standing in the gap for not only the church, but the entire culture around us. When God finds none, judgment begins and it starts at God’s house. Men, you make up the wall that protects the culture from the wrath of God. You as the individual stand in the gap and become the light of the gospel to the culture. We have begun to fear the culture that has no power against God and no longer fear God who can judge us and the culture. Where is faith? Where is holiness, righteousness and obedience to the word of God. When there are no longer faithful men to preserve this culture, God has given the church the following warning from 1 Peter 4:17-18
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"
In Luke 18, Jesus told the parable of an unrighteous judge who sought his protection against her adversaries. Even though the unrighteous judge cared nothing about the woman, he agreed to avenge her because she continued to come before him. Jesus then said, “Shall not God avenge His own elect that cry out day and night”? However, Jesus ended this by revealing that there will not be real faith on the earth when He returns. We are in that time. God has promised that He will avenge the culture that hates the church if we cry out to Him and remain faithful, but this will not happen as long as our men are faithless and walking in their own ways.
Almost every church I have been in has the same problem – only a handful of men serve God while the rest are complacent and care nothing about living for God. In Sunday School you will often find 10 women for every one man. In one church I served the men gathered outside and read biker magazines while the women came in to learn about the scriptures. Why? Because if Satan can lure the men outside of God’s will, the church will surrender its right to overthrow the gates of hell.
Men, you have the power to be victorious in Christ or to be like Esau who despised his birthright. The birthright gave the eldest son authority over the family and made him the priest that led the family that carried the promise of God by which Christ would one day be revealed. For a moment of physical satisfaction, Esau sold his birthright for a pot of stew and for this reason God rejected Esau and took away his blessing. Men, you are in the exact same position as Esau. You have a birthright where God has made you the elder by which Christ also is revealed in both your family and the church. If you reject God’s call for eldership, you reject the blessings and promise of God. When God judged Esau, He gave no room for repentance even though Esau sought it diligently with tears (Hebrews 12:15-16). Right now the prayer of a righteous man avails much; however, once God performs the judgment He has warned, tears will avail nothing.
Today you have the promise God has given His people in 2 Chronicles 7:
14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
If you are unwilling to humble yourself, seek God’s face and turn from your ways, God will not hear and will not heal. If we do indeed turn, seek God and humble ourselves, God has promised that God will build our families, build His church and overcome the world. Men, it begins with you. God has already established His work and has given us His Spirit. You must humble yourself, have a teachable spirit and submit yourself to His perfect will. Women, it is equally your responsibility to humble yourself, seek God’s face, turn from your own ways and pray to the Lord to raise up leaders that He has called. Your prayer also avails much if you are walking in the center of God’s will and obeying His word. Pray that God would stir up the hearts of your husbands as you also surrender completely to God’s will through His word.
True power comes from the hand of God. To receive power by the Spirit of God, the church must be walking in surrender and complete obedience to God. The spiritual condition of the church is directly affected by the leadership of the church. God always works within the hearts of the believer to accomplish His will. If the church or its leaders are resisting God’s word, they cannot expect God to reveal His power. However, if God’s people truly humble themselves, pray and seek God’s face as they walk in obedience, the gates of hell cannot withstand the move of God within the church. Only then can God’s people be salt and light to the culture as God draws individuals out of the culture and into the light. The people within the church must be walking in the light so that God’s Spirit is producing the fruit of righteousness in the lives of the individual members. It starts with you.
Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
http://www.exchangedlife.com
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