Seeing in the Spirit
Introduction
I was praying recently in a small group dedicated to asking the Lord to heal the emerging schism (1 Cor 1:10) in the Anglican diocese of Perth between conservatives and progressives. On the surface the issues are about human sexuality, but everything is always deeper than it appears. I felt led to this rather puzzling text on divisions. “For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.” (1 Cor 11:18-19). In a day when the catch cry across most of the Church if for practical unity (Ps 133; John 17; Eph 4 etc.), this passage points us in a vital but very uncomfortable direction.
The Healing and Killing God
In The Wounding and the Healing (https://www.newcreationlibrary.org.au/books/covers/162.html) my old mentor, Geoff Bingham quotes from the Bible that, “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.” (1 Sam 2:6). That God does seemingly contradictory things, i.e., kills and heals, is a teaching too weighty for our time. Yet it contains a word (Jer 8:22) for the restoration and maturing of the sad and sorry state of the Church we so familiar with today. Here are how the genuine people in the Body can be recognised: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (1 Cor 11:27-30).
In Corinth the Spirit of the Lord was both healing (1 Cor 12:3, 9-10) and killing (1 Cor 11:29-32) Christians. With cases of Old Testament divine slaughters as “an example…written down for our instruction” (1 Cor 10:11), plus Jesus’ very personal words that he was coming to make war against sinful believers, “with the sword of my mouth” (Rev 2:16 Cf. 2:22-23; 3:16), we should not be surprised at this, though we should be embarrassed (1 Cor 15:34). Only when we take the “kindness and severity of God” seriously (Rom 11:22) and the fear of God visits us (Mal 3:1-17) will this prophetic word come to pass: “Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” (Mal 3:18).
The Hand of God Today
Throughout scripture “the hand of God” is something that is visible in its effects, even if this requires some level of discernment (1 Sam 5:11). Given the gift of the Spirit to the whole Church in Corinth (1 Cor 1:7), just like today (Rom 8:9), why did the Corinthians have to be informed by their apostolic father (1 Cor 4:15) that the Lord’s hand was afflicting some of the congregation with illness and death? Why didn’t some of their Spirit-filled number prophetically warn the leaders of the congregation of what was happening (1 Cor 12:10; 15:15-16)? The answer is simple and devastating, it is that this side of Easter the hand of God is a crucified-and-glorified hand (Rev 1:17-18). Jesus embodies and brings to completion the wounding and the healing of his Father in himself. The outwardly thriving Corinthian congregation were spiritually blinded to the work of the hand of Jesus because in their worldly-wise hearts they did not embrace the way of crucified discipleship (1 Cor 1:18-2:16). The relevance for us all today is dreadfully clear.
Look Carefully and Mourn
We are not in mourning (Jer 8:20-22) because we have sidelined the cross and resisted the prophetic voice. Here in Australia the recent resignation of megachurch founder pastor Brian Houston made national news (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-23/hillsong-church-founder-brian-houston-resigns/100932318). That Houston behaved inappropriately to several women, and was under the disorienting influence of sleeping tablets, anti-anxiety meds and alcohol, and that he seems to be addicted to these, is hardly “kingdom news”. The point of deception is his ignorance to recognise the Father’s discipline on his life through the way of the cross so that he might ask his congregation(s) to intercede for his needs. He was less than fully transparent with “the sheep of the pasture” who always need to know the sufferings of the S/shepherd on their behalf (Ps 100:3; Matt 26:31; John 10:11-12; Eph 3:13; Rev 1:9 etc.). Whatever his call and gifts, Brian Houston and the Church of God in Australia seem to have been permanently robbed of the gift of the revelation of Christ crucified through his life. Such is the power of a self-maintaining religiously hypocritical system (Matt 23:13ff; 2 Tim 3:5) which beneath surface appearances is always Babylonian (Isa 2:11; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1). This is merely the latest and Pentecostal form of a demonic stronghold whose goal is to steal from the saints the full revelation of the Lamb of God (2 Cor 10:1-6; Gal 6:17). If spiritual leadership is our core problem today, what will the true new apostolic reformation look like?
Broken Leaders
“I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Cor 2:3 cf. 2 Cor 12:5, 9; 13:4). The coming elders of the Church will be a group of visibly beaten-up men and women, who from the world’s viewpoint look like those whom God has failed to protect (Matt 27:42-43; 1 Cor 4:13; Gal 6:17) but who know in the Spirit their beatings and bashings, often in the Church, have all been the loving discipline of a Holy Father (Heb 12:5-11). (See http://cross-connect.net.au/about/cross-connect-vision/. Here is a foundational illustration of this truth. When in AD 325 the ruler of the world (Luke 2:1), Constantine, called the bishops of the whole Church together to preserve her unity, he was deeply impacted by those who still showed visibly the signs of exile, imprisonment and torture for their faith (https://www.fuller.edu/next-faithful-step/resources/arius-and-nicea/; https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/is-jesus-god-11629651.html). One was missing an eye. Another, also with an eye gouged out, dragged hamstrung legs, another’s hands had been scorched, others wore the scars of scourging beneath their shirts. Their appearing was a manifestation of the glory of God alone and through them the success of the Council was assured, so we stand on this glory as one Church today. It is this order of revelation we desperately need to lift us out of our fleshly spiritual infancy!
Conclusion
Many pray for revival but are not up to the raw spiritual reality of wounding, healing and Satanic power in the Church (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tim 1:20) which penetrates the New Testament. I exhort you to ask the Lord to have his way, no conditions, no holds barred, all Glory to God alone.