Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1992

The Spirit's Word To the World
John Manlove

Early in the Book of Revelation, the apostle John repeated a statement several times which, if believed, could radically alter the ways we go about responding to issues that arise in our local churches. While "in the Spirit" (Rev. 1:10), John said, "He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (2:7, 14, 29, 3:6, 13, 22) By the content of this statement, and its sheer repetition, it is obvious that John believed something about day-to-day life in the local church that we have not always believed since the great Reformation, from which we take our name. And what John apparently believed is the profoundly encouraging belief that we as the people of God have been given the capacity to develop the kind of spiritual cars that will enable us to hear what the Spirit of God is saying about the issues cropping up in our churches. The question is, do we believe it?

Some issues have arisen in our fellowship recently that have challenged me as to how deeply I believe this radical assumption articulated by the apostle John. I am the pastor of a very young church within the family of the Reformed Church in Canada. We are young in two ways. First of all we are young in the sense that our history is short. A little over three years ago our fellowship was planted in Surrey, B.C. by New Life Community church of Burnaby, B.C. And it was just last January that we officially organized as a congregation of the RCC. Secondly, we are young in age. Nearly 50% of our 70 or so people are children under the age of 10, and finding a person over forty in our fellowship is challenging, though if one looks hard, they will find a few!

Feelings of discouragement

And in the past few months, I have sensed and heard feelings of discouragement being expressed in our young church. We are wondering why we are not growing numerically. We sense that the original vision of our new church has gotten cloudy and less defined. We are struggling with the liabilities of ongoing worship in a rented facility, yet see little potential to attain our own land and building. A recent increase in rent is forcing us to reconsider our present location, and if we can find no other facility at a lower cost it may push us to make hard decisions about staffing. And though we sense a real need for the stabilizing ministry of more mature Christians, we have so far failed to attract them to the ministry of our church. And so, during this season of struggle, I am being challenged to learn to listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us through these issues. And certain questions have arisen in my mind: 1) Do I believe that the Spirit of God still speaks to His people? In the context of Scripture, belief is not mere intellectual assent but instead is something acted upon in life. Does my life as a pastor reflect a true belief in a speaking Holy Spirit? Am I an active listener? 2) Do I have the kind of relationship with the Spirit that will enable me to hear and understand His utterances? The tradition I was raised in focused a great deal on a relationship with God the Father, and God the Son, but very little on having a personal relationship with the third person of the Trinity? 3) How does a person go about recognizing the voice of the Spirit in the midst of many opinions and ideas? When issues arise, I find that there are usually a lot more opinions being offered than prayers. And yet, God has spoken in the past through the lips of people, many of whom were not prayerful people. In fact, God has even shown the capacity to speak through the lips of a donkey. In the midst of a lot of braying (including my own!) how does one discern the voice of the Spirit?

A Speaking Holy Spirit and Listening People

As I have sought the answers to some of "these questions, and as I have sought to hear what the Spirit is saying through the issues arising in our church, I have spent some time reflecting upon some of the experiences of the early church in Acts, where it seems as though a speaking Spirit and a listening people were the norm of church life. And as I reflected, I have sensed the Lord clarifying some of the issues before our church. I have sensed the Spirit schooling me again in some basics!

One of the first things the Spirit reminded me of is that tremendous growth can arise out of difficult times. In the midst of the persecution that broke out against the church, as reported in Acts 8, it would have been very difficult to see any potential for growth. However, as one reads the story, it becomes obvious that the season of difficulty became God's vehicle for driving the church out of its cosy enclave in Jerusalem, and out into Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And I have sensed the Spirit reassuring me that just as difficulty led to growth for them, it will also become God's vehicle for growth and maturing in me, and in our fellowship.

A second impression that came to me from Acts is that I was struck again by how seriously the early church took some of the last words of Jesus. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says to the disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Apparently, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit had a very specific purpose, and that was to transform Christians into witnesses for Christ. Therefore our mandate as the church of Jesus Christ is first and foremost an outward one in focus.

"Put Into Practice the Philosophy You Already Have"

Our fellowship, like many others, has adopted a Philosophy of Ministry statement that puts words to our priorities as a church. And being good evangelicals, we have enshrined this outward focus, or mission emphasis in that document. But upon reflection, I have had to admit that somewhere along the way our focus has changed from outward to inward.

Even though our Philosophy of Ministry takes seriously these last words of Jesus, we have slipped back into that age old rut of inwardness. Admitting this has been hard for me, but has been the beginning of recommitting myself and our fellowship to once again focusing our energy outward. I have sensed the Spirit saying to me, "No, it's not time to strike a committee to rethink your philosophy. Yes, it is time to start putting into practice the philosophy you already have."

A third impression from the book of Acts has to do with expectations. A verse that stood out to me was Acts 2:43 where Luke reported "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." The early church seems to have been a place where the people of God lived with a great sense of expectation that God could and would do mighty things in their midst. This verse reminded me of an issue in my own life that the Holy Spirit had spoken to me about last fall. Last fall, through a number of circumstances, I had come to realize that my expectation for God had sunk very low. I still believed in God, but perhaps I had become one of those that the apostle Paul spoke of who had a form of godliness but who denied its power. (2 Tim. 3:5) As this truth about myself came to light within me, I had felt very ashamed and had repented. Out of this, the Lord had convinced me, in a way I had never experienced before, that life of intercessory prayer was mandatory for me if my expectations of Him were to remain as high as we see witnessed in Scripture. Through this experience, intercessory prayer had moved from being peripheral, to being at the very centre of the life of ministry God called me to. And I have found that as I have sought to be faithful in prayer, my expectations of what God can and will do have risen dramatically.

As I reflected on this I have found it interesting that the season of discouragement that we have been going through recently in our fellowship has awakened this same sense of need for intercessory prayer within the hearts of some of our key leaders. Though we have always described our church as a place where prayer was a priority, I am now seeing a number of people who are actually making it a priority' And through this I have sensed the Spirit saying to me, "I taught you these lessons. Now I'm teaching your church." I am excited that one result of this awakened need for prayer is that one of our home fellowship groups this fall is planning to meet weekly with one purpose in mind - the purpose of intercessory prayer. And what is doubly exciting for me is that I did not initiate the formation of this group!

A Fresh Release of God's Word

There is a fourth way in which the Lord has spoken to me through reflecting on the church in Acts. And this reminder has to do with the place of prophecy in the life of the church. There are many examples of the gift of prophecy being exercised in the early church, but the one that spoke to me specifically was the incredibly encouraging and focusing prophetic prayer which was uttered as the community gathered to pray after Peter and John's release from their interrogation by the Sanhedrin (Acts 4). In that prayer, the people who contributed put into focus, from God's perspective, exactly what had been happening through the circumstances they had been going through. The result was that a situation that could have been disorienting and discouraging, was transformed by the power of the Spirit into a fresh release of God's Word into the community.

I don't want to give the impression that this kind of prophetic word is common in our fellowship, but it does happen occasionally. And as I was reflecting on this passage, the Lord reminded me of a vision from the Lord that had been given to a member of our fellowship several months ago during the Lord's Supper. This vision had been shared with the congregation, and had later been reviewed by our Consistory. And we had sensed at that time that it was an authentic word from the Lord for our fellowship. In the vision was the picture of a dam behind which was sitting a large, dark pool of stagnant waters. Though not very complimentary, this body of water represented our church. Also, off in the distance was a light, and the person who saw the vision sensed the Lord's promise to us that He was going to send a spirit of repentance to our church, and that the dam would be broken, and the stagnant waters would be released, and that our church would become a source of His light in our community.

At the time we received this word of prophecy there was evidence of the Spirit working dramatically in the lives of several people. But as the months have gone by, the memory of this word of encouragement had receded in my mind. But as I read this account from the book of Acts, I sensed the Spirit reminding me that He continues to speak to local churches - that He has spoken a word to our church. And that He will faithfully fulfil that work, even through the events now taking place.

"He who has an car, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Though I feel so new in my capacity to listen and hear, I am excited that the Spirit still has a word to speak today for those who want to hear. Wbat.is the Spirit saying to your church through the issues you are going through at this time? Are you listening May the Spirit of Christ, who brought our Reformed Churches into being, continue to speak! And may He give us the ears to hear.

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