Bible Study With Jairus

Bible Study With Jairus – Leviticus 1

God Moves Towards Us

Bible Study With Jairus – Leviticus 1

 

God’s Care for Young Believers.

When we read Leviticus, we are often discouraged by its complexity and the excessive details of the sacrificial system. However, if we look at this from another angle, every minute detail is necessary to truly depict the gentleness of God’s character and the depth of his love.

When we want to get to know a historical figure, we read his biography. If we only read a few hundred words of the introduction, we will have a limited understanding of this person. However, if we read a detailed biography which contains millions of details about the person's experiences, we will know a lot more about this individual.

The same is true for Leviticus. The details of these offerings form a biography and image of God himself. As we read Leviticus chapter 1, we pay special attention to details. For instance, why do sacrificial cattle and sheep have to be male, but sacrificial birds do not specify a gender? Why do all parts of a bird except its crop and feathers need to be burned? Why are they put in the ashes of cattle and sheep? Why did the priests pull the bird’s head off and burn it at the altar until the bird’s blood flowed at the side of the altar? Why do priests have to sacrifice birds, whereas Israelite citizens perform these actions themselves on the cattle and sheep?

It is difficult for people to differentiate the sex of the pigeons or turtledoves. Even professional breeders have a hard time differentiating their genders. In addition, those who offer birds as sacrifices are poor people. They symbolize people who do not have enough strength and are poor spiritually. God takes special care of them, giving them a low bar to meet. He does not request special details such as gender specifications. If a poor person finally managed to afford a turtledove, but then found out it was a female one and the sacrifice required a male one, it would naturally cause him a lot of trouble. In addition, God does not require the person to do the slaughtering; the priests help them out. It reminds me of how we treat newcomers in the church. When we invite them to join our services, we do not request them to bring food to a potluck. Instead, we go the extra mile to help them. We may even give them a ride to and from church. We are just grateful they can attend. Their presence in the service is already a sacrifice for them, and we don’t require additional sacrifices. This is a beautiful picture of God’s love, full of gentleness and warmth.

When we are young spiritually, we are not yet capable of the discernment necessary to offer sacrifice. We need the help of others. However we should not stagnate here. We can start by offering pigeons and turtledoves, but we need to continually grow spiritually so that we become capable of offering cattle and sheep as well. At first, it’s ok to rely on others (such as a pastor or priest), but as we grow, we will be able to offer more advanced sacrifices all by ourselves.

Burnt Offering

The burnt offering is the first sacrifice recorded at the beginning of Leviticus. In verse 1, the Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. These words about sacrifices come straight from the Lord’s heart. These sacrificial laws are not just dry regulations, but a description of God’s character and heart. Christ is the manifestation of God, and these sacrifices are a description of Christ himself.

 

When Abraham offered Isaac, he offered him as a burnt offering. This sacrifice was a prelude to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Just as Isaac abandoned himself completely to the will of God, Jesus willingly offered himself as a sacrifice to obtain God’s favor. Therefore, the different animals used for burnt offering in this chapter-- bulls, rams, turtledoves or pigeons--are all pictures that point to Christ as the sacrifice.

 

Christ being our sacrifice has the same effect for all of us: it saves us from sin and death. However, we differ in the amount to which we personally experience the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice. For example, we know that Christ provided salvation for us, but have not accepted this salvation. Or we may have accepted his salvation, but are not living in the full experience of his love. This is a very important point.  

 

In Verse 2, God says, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord , you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.” Clearly, God is pleased with either goats or sheep as offerings. In verse 14, God says that if someone uses a bird as a burnt offering, he must offer turtledoves or young pigeons. However, birds do not seem to be God’s first choice. Using a bird is a special exception for poor people. Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, must have been poor, because she and Joseph offered a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons as burnt offerings (Luke 2:24).

In Verse 3, it says, “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish.” This offering represents Christ.  A bull without blemish and defect points to the strength of Christ’s flawless life. The burnt offering is burned completely without anything left over. This shows that Jesus Christ offered himself fully to God. This is the first sacrifice God asked Moses to prepare. This points to the fact that God will use Jesus Christ as a sacrifice to save us. The sin offerings and trespass offerings mentioned later are needed for the full experience of salvation.  However, if Jesus Christ had not first offered himself as a sacrifice to complete God's salvation plan, we would not have the opportunity to use him as a sin offering and a trespass offering later. We would have no way to enter into the beautiful reality of the peace offering: having peace with God.

In God’s eyes, time does not exist. Revelation 13:8 says that Jesus Christ was “the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.” NLT Furthermore, in 1 Peter 1:20, God says that Jesus was “foreknown before the foundation of the world”. From these verses, we understand that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is eternal and transcends time.  God made the first move in solving the problem between God and man when He planned Christ’s sacrifice before the world even began. That is what John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”.

The tabernacle of Israel represents the heavenly tabernacle. The most holy place in the tabernacle is a type of the most holy place in heaven. God lives in the Holy of Holies, where people could not enter in the Old Testament. Only the high priest could enter the holy of holies, and only once a year.

A way needed to be opened so that people, including the high priest, could enter the holy place to meet God. The way God provided was through the sprinkling of blood. When the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place, Moses could meet with God and hear His voice. God was present on the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant under the glorious gaze of cherubim (Numbers 7:89).

In the Old Testament, the blood of the sacrificed cattle and sheep was used, but in the New Testament, the blood of the flawless lamb of Jesus Christ atones for sin. Because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we can come to the throne of grace without fear to receive mercy, grace and help in time of need (Hebrew 4:16). Therefore, without God's initiative to send his son Jesus Christ as a flawless sacrificial lamb, we would not be able to enter the most holy place to get close to God. By preparing Jesus Christ to be the sacrificial lamb, God made the first move to open his hidden, holiest place to us. God meets us through the salvation of Christ. That is the reality of Christ as burnt offering.

God and Man Move Towards One Another through Sacrifice.

After the burnt offering is the grain offering. The grain offering points to Jesus Christ becoming flesh and giving his life as a sacrifice.  Grain offerings signify human nature, so this sacrifice signifies that Christ became human and put on human flesh. We would not have had a sacrificial lamb if Jesus had not come to earth. Without Jesus Christ becoming flesh, God’s sacrifice would not have been completed in time to achieve salvation for us. Hebrews 10:5 says, “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me.’” From this verse, we can see that God prepared a body for Jesus so he could come in the flesh and become our sacrifice.

The peace offering points to peace with God. Through it, we see that God and humans are finally reconciled. God prepared Jesus Christ as a sacrifice (grain offering), and we offer Christ as a sin offering and a guilt offering. Through these sacrifices, we are enabled to meet God. This is the reality that the peace offering points to. Peace offerings come in a lot of different forms, including total sacrifices, as well as heave offerings and wave offerings that the priests were allowed to eat.

Imagine God coming out of the Holy of Holies to see us. He has prepared his son as a burnt offering and grain offering for our salvation, to cover our sins. But if we want to enter from the outer court outside the tabernacle into the Holy of Holies to meet God, we must first go through the sin offering and guilt offering to remove our sins. At this very moment, when we meet God, we experience the peace offering. We meet God near the Mercy Seat, where Moses met and listened to God under the gaze of the glorious cherubim. When God saw the blood on the mercy seat, he forgave Moses’ sin. God only saw the blood, rather than seeing Moses’ sin.

The order of the five basic sacrifices in Leviticus (burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering and guilt offering) indicates that God comes out of the Holy of Holies into the outer courtyard and meets us through these sacrifices. By means of the various sacrifices, He meets people in different situations. If you are a sinner wandering in the world, like the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15, He will meet you through the sin offering. If you have experienced forgiveness but need more sanctification, God will meet you through the guilt offering. If you want to experience more encounters with God and to hear from Him, God will meet you in the peace offering. As you experience more transformation through Jesus Christ, God meets you in the grain offering.  If you want to experience Jesus Christ's total commitment to God, God will meet you in the burnt offering.

God comes out of the Holy of Holies and meets people in their circumstances through these sacrifices. We, in turn, experience the blessings of the sin offerings, guilt offerings, peace offerings, grain offerings, and burnt offerings as we get progressively closer to God. This is the spiritual meaning of the order of the five different sacrifices in the first five chapters of Leviticus.

However, chapters 6-7 mention the five different sacrifices in a slightly different order. Here, the order is burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, guilt offering and peace offering. The regulations for the peace offering were placed at the end of the list. In my personal opinion, this means that both God and man take the initiative to move towards one another, and the final peace offering is the place where God and man meet.

A simple parable speaks to the shared initiative of both God and man. The story says that prayer is like digging a deep tunnel through the mountain of our suffering. Whenever we dig one foot, God also digs a foot from his side. When we give up and stop, God does not continue to pursue the answer to our prayers. We may feel that we did all the work, but in reality, God was also working the entire time to answer our prayers. If we persist in praying and don’t give up, we will meet halfway eventually. This story reflects the truth that both God and man must move towards one another, which is the basic lesson of the sacrifices.

Going on to Maturity

Let’s continue to learn about the details of the burnt offering so that we can understand its spiritual meaning more clearly.

Verse 3 says that the bull must be offered at the entrance of the tent of meeting so that the individual may be acceptable before the Lord. This verse shows that we must experience Christ as a sacrifice before we can enter the tent of meeting, which is the dwelling place of God. Though the burnt offering represents the initiative of God (lamb slain since the foundation of the world), it also shows our own initiative to enter his presence by way of the sacrifice.

Verse 4 says that the Israelites who are offering the burnt sacrifice have to lay their hands on the cattle’s head to show that they are united. In this way, the sins of the Israelites are transferred to the cattle.  Similarly, when we offer Christ as a sacrifice, we must be united with Christ. Christ then takes away our sins.

Verse 5 says that the Israelites themselves should kill the bulls before the Lord. Practically, God gave this command because it was difficult for the priest to kill so many bulls for so many Israelites. Spiritually, it also signifies that everyone must take the initiative to receive salvation for themselves. Though God has prepared Christ as our sacrificial lamb, we still must accept Him in order to receive salvation. Our initiative is necessary.

The second half of the verse says that Aaron’s sons, the priests, would bring the bull’s blood and sprinkle it against the sides of the altar at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Verse 6 says that the Israelites would flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. Verse 7 says that the priest would put fire on the altar. Verse 8 says the priests would arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that was on the fire on the altar. Verse 9 says that the Israelites should wash its entrails and its legs with water. The priest would burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

We must pay attention to the specific details here. The priest serves God, but the priest and the Israelites each shared the responsibility for the sacrifices. The Israelites would kill the bull, lay their hands on its head, skin it and cut it into pieces. The priest would sprinkle blood, place wood on the fire, place the sacrifice on the wood, and burn the sacrifice on the altar. Just as God took the initiative to meet us and we also take initiative to God, every Christian has their own individual responsibilities in service.

When we mope around, relying only on God's initiative and the help of the priest (or today's Priest or pastor), we are living in spiritual laziness. Spiritual laziness is a great problem for church members today. D L Moody once said that he had never seen a lazy man get saved. In today's church, many Christians only attend church to listen to sermons. They are "Sunday Christians”; during the week, they never read the Scriptures, pray, or offer any sacrifices to God. Although such Christians can meet God, they are all living in the outer courtyard.

In Verse 10-13, the Bible gave instructions about offering sheep and goats as burnt offerings. Sheep and goats must be without blemish, just like the bull. Verse 11 specially instructs worshipers to kill the sheep on the north side of the altar. After that, he would cut it into pieces, with its head and fat, and wash the entrails and legs with water. The priest’s job was sprinkling the blood against the sides of the altar, putting the sacrifice on the firewood of the altar, and offering the sacrifice on the altar. The same basic principles that we saw with the last burnt offering also apply to this offering. However, please note that this passage does not mention laying hands on the sheep to identify with it. This shows that to a certain extent, this worshiper’s experience of Christ is not as mature as the one who offered the bull.

The person who offers birds as a burnt offering is even more immature (Verse 14-17). The worshiper’s only job is bringing the turtledove or pigeon; the priest does the rest. The priest would bring the bird to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar (vs. 15). Its blood would be drained out on the side of the altar.  The priest would remove the bird's crop with its contents and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes (vs 16). The priest would tear the bird open by its wings, but not sever it completely (vs 17). And the priest would burn it on the altar, on the wood that was on the fire. This burnt offering was a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

These images are very thought-provoking. In many churches, most Christians are only mature enough to offer birds as sacrifices. That is, they attend Sunday Services, but all other responsibility for their growth is shouldered by the pastor. Years have passed since they came to know Christ, yet they have not matured spiritually. This is not God’s ideal wish for us. God desires that we offer the bull, but if we really can't afford to offer the bull, we can offer the sheep instead. If we can't offer sheep, we can offer birds. In his mercy, God meets us in our differing degrees of spiritual growth. However this is not God's ultimate goal for us. God hopes that we can experience the growth and maturity of life in Christ, and that we can continue to advance to the Holy of Holies to meet Him.

But didn’t Jesus’ own mother offer a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeon as a sacrifice when Jesus was circumcised at eight days old? Yes, that's right. However, remember that when Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice on the cross, the sacrifice offered was no longer a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Nope. He became the flawless Lamb of God.

To sum up, Christ has become the sacrifice through which we receive salvation. However, we each experience that salvation to varying degrees. We need to experience more of the of Jesus Christ’s salvation and move closer to him. Our experience of Jesus’ salvation is our spiritual sacrifice to God today. As we offer ourselves freely and lovingly to God, He will be satisfied by the fragrant offering of our lives.

 

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 9

God’s Perfect Plan

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 9

Peter and Paul

In Acts 9, we see an abrupt transition from the transformation of Saul/Paul (vs. 1-30) to the story of Peter’s ministry (vs. 31-32). Why this abrupt transition? Why does the storyline seem incoherent and inconsistent?

To answer this question, let’s look back briefly at chapters 7 and 8. Chapter 7 tells the story of Saul guarding the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death, and Chapter 8 talks about Philip evangelizing. Chapter 9 tells the story of Saul’s conversion. These chapters introduce Saul (Paul), preparing readers to recognize him as the leading apostle and one of the main characters in the book of Acts.

Before Paul’s appearance, Peter is the leading force of the first-generation apostles, along with the twelve disciples he represents. At the beginning of the book of Acts, Jesus tells the disciples to wait at Jerusalem to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter preached a powerful message through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, bringing salvation to 3000 people. The twelve disciples worked together to preach God’s word and bring others to Christ.

Later, some widows complained about being ignored in the daily distribution of food. Stephen is introduced as one of the deacons who helped serve meals daily. Writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Luke chose to include the story of Stephen so that he could introduce Saul. After Saul is introduced briefly, we continue to follow Peter’s story. Peter remains the main figure for a few more chapters.

The transition between Peter’s storyline and Paul’s storyline has not yet completely occurred. Slowly, the focus will be shifted from Peter to Paul. In Acts 13:2, when the prophets and teachers were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work that the Lord called them to. Paul was officially named an apostle, and from then on, he became the main character in the book of Acts. Paul wrote 14 New Testament letters, over half of the New Testament (27 books in total). Paul was clearly the main figure in the New Testament.

 

The Authority of God’s Word

Sometimes, we may be tempted to view the structure of Acts as disorganized. We may doubt the authority of God’s word because of its seemingly incoherent structure.

At the time of the Renaissance, the authority of the Bible was undermined. The church believed the earth was the center of the universe, and they executed Bruno, who advocated for the heliocentric theory of the earth.  They persecuted Copernicus, Galileo, and others, mocking their belief that the Earth is only a few thousand years old and revolves around the Sun.

Because of this scientific mistake, many people lost their faith in the authority of the church and the Bible. Instead, science became the mainstream concept. Theology and belief in the Bible were marginalized to an extent.

Recently, I took a Systemic Theology class from the United Theological Seminary (UTS). In the class, I learned how the church lost some of its credibility under the pressure of modern science. These factors helped to produce a liberal theology that does not believe in God’s miracles and even denies that the Bible is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The church persisted in some traditional teachings that were not in line with the facts. For example, they continued to believe the earth was not round. Because of this, modern scientists who disbelieved the Bible had a chance to criticize them.

However, our disregard towards the authority of the Bible can be changed as the Holy Spirit helps us understand it. As the Holy Spirit enlightens us, we will see the authoritative inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit helps us see that the transition between Paul and Peter are perfectly organized, like beautifully orchestrated movie cuts.

If we view the Book of Acts as a movie script, we can see that the Holy Spirit is the best screenplay writer. We may think the organization of certain Bible verses or chapters are fragmented. As the Holy Spirit guides us, we can see that the various storylines in Acts are stitched together in perfect coherence by the best author of all.

 

The Beautiful Structure of God’s Word

I often use examples from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to explain the Bible. According to Chinese Medicine, our bodies have many meridians. Wikimedia defines meridians as “paths through which the life-energy known as ‘qi’ flows."[1] There are about 20 channels and along them about 400 acupuncture points. The acupuncturists use these acupuncture points and their channels to determine what medicine to use for certain diseases. They say a good combination of these efforts will bring better healing results. Of course not everyone agrees with this theory. I am just using this as an example.

When the Holy Spirit inspired authors to write the Bible, he put down lines or hidden structures that flow through the Bible. These lines are just like meridians, or channels, that the Holy Spirit used to express His train of thought. If you are good writer or editor, you understand the importance of following certain threads throughout an entire narrative. A poor writer does not have a coherent thought that flows through his entire writing.

The Holy Spirit is God. If we learn to see the coherent thought patterns behind the words on the page, we will marvel at how beautifully God inspired the Scriptures. If we do not understand it well or do not see the hidden line or channels, we will have a hard time understanding the Bible, in part or as a whole.

Liberal theologians often deny the authority of the Bible because traditional theology was slow to accept the truths of science or to come in line with fact. Other traditional theology tended to be legalistic, so nonbelievers reject the Bible’s truth. To counteract this trend of unbelief, we need to help others grasp the true meaning, coherence, and beauty of the word of God. We can understand this through the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe that God's children will feel it inside their spirit if something is really an illumination from God.

As we study the Bible, we are not trying to just understand the written words. We also want to receive the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Often the questions that disturb us most are the very questions that the Holy Spirit wants to answer. At our church’s Bible study, a believer shares their insights into the passage, and then we have a Q&A session. We allow people to ask questions about the passage. As we talk and discus the answers, we receive insights and inspiration from the Holy Spirit. As each person shares what God is teaching them, we all learn and grow.

Today’s discussion is an example of one of these inspirations. A lady asked about the sudden jump from Paul to Peter in this chapter, and the Holy Spirit helped me understand it. As we were discussing this question, I realized that Saul is introduced for the first time at the end of Acts Chapter 7. At the martyrdom of Stephen, Saul agreed to put Stephen to death (7:60). When Stephen was martyred, he was filled with Holy Spirit. He saw God’s glory and Jesus standing at His right side. He prayed that God would not charge his murderers with sin, because they did not know what they were doing. This testimony is the root cause of Paul’s salvation. The blood of martyrs is the seed that produces the flower and fruit of the gospel. On the one hand, Paul was saved because he was chosen by God and Jesus and because Jesus appeared to him in a vision. On the other hand, he was also saved because of Stephen’s testimony.

When I was still meeting with the Local Church Movement (LCM), I read a testimony about a man that was saved when the Boxers massacred missionaries. The Boxers used a prison wagon to carry a female missionary to the execution ground. The man in the story was so frightened that he hid behind a door and watched through the crack. He noticed this female missionary was not fearful; instead, her face was full of God’s glory. The man was astonished at what he saw. He decided to believe in Christ as Savior. This story shows the power of a martyr’s testimony. Stephen’s testimony in Chapter 7 began to guide Paul towards salvation. As Stephen exits the stage, Paul begins his appearance. In a way, Paul inherited the spirit of Stephen. And eventually Paul was also martyred for Christ.

Luke does not immediately re-introduce Paul in Chapter 8. Instead, he continues by telling the story of Philip spreading Gospel. Philip is not one of the twelve disciples but is one of people chosen to serve food to the widows (Acts 6:5). Here we call him an evangelist. Stephen is also chosen by the disciples to serve food, so the Holy Spirit continues to tell Philip’s story after Stephen dies. Philip is a first-generation worker for the Lord, serving under the twelve disciples headed by Peter. Philip’s story still falls under the category of ministry headed by Peter.

Acts 9:1-31 speaks of Saul meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. After he was blinded by a bright light, Paul received his sight when Ananias laid hands on him and prayed for him. The chapter mentions that no one would accept Saul as a genuine believer, except Barnabas (9:27). This is a foreshadowing of the fact that God wants to raise up Paul as a servant of the gospel, and that he would work together with Barnabas.

This premonition comes true in Chapter 13. Chapters 9-11 continue discussing Peter’s service to the Lord, and it’s not until Chapter 11 that we hear that Barnabas went to Tarsus to find Saul in order to bring him to Antioch to start serving (11:15-26). Acts 11:30 mentions that Barnabas and Saul brought the donations to Jerusalem from Antioch. Chapter 12 speaks of Peter’s miraculous escape from prison. Chapter 12 verse 25 mentions that Barnabas and Paul went back from Jerusalem after they had completed their service, bringing Mark back with them. In Chapter 13, Paul was then introduced formally in the text when the Holy Spirit set apart Barnabas and Saul to become apostles.

There are two stories worth mentioning. The first story tells us how Paul went to Jerusalem right after being saved. He attempted to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple (9:26). Only Barnabas accepted him (9:27).

These two verses are very interesting. We can see that all circumstances are under God’s control. Why did the disciples not want to associate with Paul? God had a hidden purpose for this rejection. God wanted to train Paul first in the wildness. Even though Paul had been saved, God still needed to train him to know Him better and to learn to understand God’s revelation. Therefore, God brought Paul into the wilderness of Arabia (Galatians 1:17). Theologians have different opinions on how long Paul stayed there. Some theologians say 14 years, some say seven years, some have other opinions. Even though we don’t know the exact length of time Paul stayed in the wilderness, we know he stayed there a long time. Paul may have had a lot of time to pray and fellowship with God. Perhaps this is when he was caught up to the third heaven to receive a supernatural revelation (2 Corinthians 12:2). Maybe in the desert, God continued to work on Paul’s personality to prepare him for his future ministry. It was not yet God’s time for Paul to step out publicly. But God was preparing him secretly. The previous mention of Barnabas’ acceptance of Paul foreshadows the later fact that Barnabas went to search for Paul at Antioch (Chapter 11).

The second notable story is the story of Peter’s hypocrisy from Galatians Chapter 2. When Peter came to Antioch, he would eat with the Gentiles, but after certain men came from James, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles, as he was afraid of those who promoted circumcision. Even Barnabas was led astray. Hence, Paul opposed Peter publicly and rebuked his hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-13).

Peter’s weakness may have disqualified him from the responsibility of leadership. Plus, God was ready to bring the gospel to the Gentiles rather than strictly to the Jews. Therefore, Paul’s appearance as the apostle of the Gentiles became unavoidable. Barnabas’s hypocrisy showed his weakness as well, so he was also disqualified from taking on the new role of leadership.

Another important story deals with the relationship between Paul and Barnabas. At first, Barnabas accepted Paul, but later, the two men had a falling out. The Bible leaves no doubt in our minds that that Barnabas was a good man (Acts 11:24). He was very helpful to Paul in his gospel work. When the teachers and prophets had fasted and prayed, the Holy Spirit set apart Barnabas and Saul to become apostles. (When Barnabas was first mentioned, Paul was still called Saul.)

If Barnabas was the only one who accepted Saul when he was first saved, why did they later have a falling out? My answer is this: It is not easy to accept new people, but it is even harder to accept the fact that new people have surpassed oneself. I was taught that Barnabas and Paul had an argument about whether or not to take Mark along on the next missionary journey. Perhaps Barnabas had more problems as well, as the Bible never mentions his itinerary after this. I am not sure if this view is correct or not. But in any case, God used Barnabas to introduce Paul to the church, as Paul was God's special chosen vessel.

On the other hand, we cannot look at Barnabas and Paul in terms of victory or defeat. God’s grace is great, and although the Bible does not continue to follow Barnabas’s missionary journeys, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Paul was better than him. It only means that God’s grace on Paul was greater. Paul was God's chosen vessel, and since he and Barnabas had differing opinions on ministry strategy, Barnabas had to step aside. Barnabas's mission was to bring Paul to the foreground. Now that Paul was on center stage, Barnabas's mission was accomplished. In the same way, John the Baptist’s mission was to bring in Jesus, and his mission was completed when the Lord Jesus began his ministry.

 

Who is Judas?

Verse 11 says, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying.’” Who is this man, Judas? The Bible does not say. But we know it is not Judas the betrayer. Personally, I think that he is a little-known figure that the Bible has never introduced before. But at an unanticipated time and place, God showed Paul what He had planned for him.

 

Waiting on God’s timing

God chose Saul in eternity, but He did not reveal himself to Saul on the first day. God was really holding out on him; he only revealed himself after Saul studied Judaism for many years. In our Christian life, we are all chosen by God, or given a certain calling or promise. God may wait a long time before he reveals your calling to you. Paul was chosen by God from the time he was in his mother’s womb, but only years later, when he was on the road to Damascus, did God reveal himself to him. God revealed himself to Paul while he was at the house of Judas. God sent Ananias there to lay hands on and pray for Paul.

God knows everything. He knew Paul was going to Damascus to persecute the Christians, and he knew he went to the house of Judas to pray. The great light at Damascus turned Paul from the wrong path. Ananias’ prayer in the house of Judas brought Paul onto the right path. After Ananias laid hands on Paul’s eyes, immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained sight. From here on out, Paul started to spread the Gospel enthusiastically in Damascus.

But God’s time had not yet come. Paul soon encountered persecution, and he was forced to leave Damascus and Jerusalem. He went to Caesarea and Tarsus. Later, in Acts 11:25, Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul and bring him to Antioch. Theologians say Saul left Damascus for the first time and then went to the wilderness of Arabia for some time. No matter how long Paul was in the wilderness, the experience in the wilderness was used by God Himself to train Paul and prepare him for future ministry.  Even people like Paul had to go through long periods of training. We should be encouraged that the pruning process is a normal part of God’s work in his children’s lives.

What amazing plans God has for his people! While God was using Peter and the others in the limelight, He was also preparing Paul and others backstage. At the wave of the director’s hand, Paul and his companions would come onstage. Paul definitely did not come out from nowhere; God had already been preparing him for that exact time and place.

Just like the meridians in TCM I mentioned earlier, the Bible has many lines or channels, themes you can follow through entire chapters and books. The Bible has many threads of meaning and storyline that weave through the entire text. All these lines are like meridians through which the spiritual life (or “qi”) flows like a current underneath the ground. They are the breath of God (2 Timothy 3:16)! If we can find these spiritual meridians and acupuncture points while studying the Bible, it will greatly help us to understand God’s word.

The authors who wrote the Bible were definitely inspired by the Holy Spirit. Once you find the “channels” under the surface, you will see how the same continuous thread flows through all the books of the Bible. All the biblical authors follow a coherent storyline.

When we lose sight of these channels or threads of meaning, it doesn’t mean the Bible is wrong. It just means we don’t yet fully understand it. In Acts 8- 9, the Bible is going through a major transition, or turning point. Paul is being introduced on the one hand, and on the other hand, Peter has not yet fully left the stage. The storyline is transitioning from the ministry of Peter to the ministry of Paul. The focus of the book of Acts is being shifted from ministry to the Jews to ministry to the Gentiles.

The Lord Jesus told Paul that he would go far away to the Gentiles, because his testimony would not be accepted in Jerusalem (Acts 22:21). Just like many of us, Paul was very slow in obeying God’s call. He was eager testify for the Lord Jesus in Jerusalem and other areas in Judea, but he met persecution. This forced him to make a slow and roundabout journey to Rome. At the end of the Book of Acts, he finally reached Rome.

The book of Acts is the biography of the apostles, and the representatives of the apostles are Peter and Paul. Peter represents the twelve disciples; they focus on bringing the gospel to the Jews, and they are the direct fruit of Jesus' earthly ministry.

Paul was the apostle who received his call to apostleship after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul’s ministry focus was the Gentiles. His work and ministry are the fruit of Jesus’ heavenly ministry. Jesus is still alive today, and He is working behind the scenes. The end of Chapter 7 mentions Saul briefly, and the first part of chapter 9 talks about Paul again. But the second half of Chapter 9 continues to talk about Peter's ministry, because Peter is still in the frontline of the ministry. Acts Chapter 9 is an important turning point, a watershed moment for the Book of Acts. Paul’s ministry started to come over the horizon in this chapter, and came into full force in when he was anointed as apostle in chapter 13.

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_(Chinese_medicine)

Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 4

Dissension in the Body of Christ.

Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 4

 

Rivalry in the Church. In 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul urged the Corinthians not to idolize him or his coworker, Apollos. Paul said, "I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." As I read this passage, the Holy Spirit highlighted the words puffed up. Why did Paul say that the Corinthians who picked sides, favoring Paul or Apollos, were puffed up?

 

In politics, we often see one politician exalt another for his own personal gain. Those who exalt others usually have ulterior motives. Their purpose is to use the people they exalt to achieve their goals.

 

Unfortunately, such scenarios also exist in the church. People who exalt others in the church often use the people they exalt to increase their own influence. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:11-12, "For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’”

 

Paul pointed out that there was rivalry between the Corinthian believers. These rivalries stem from the flesh. Paul clearly states in Galatians 5:20 that rivalry is an act of the flesh.

 

What is the purpose of a rivalry? The purpose of a rivalry is to pursue leadership, authority and influence. The people who were rivals in the Corinthian church were not really trying to exalt Paul and Apollos, but to gain their own influence. Paul and Apollos were just tools in their hands.

 

 

Stages of Church Decline. Why did some Corinthians exalt Paul and Apollos to advance their own status? To answer this question, we need to cite a pastor Ernest B. Gentile. In his book, Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy: Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today, he analyzed the famous German sociologist Ernst Troeltsch's theory of the degradation of the church. Based on his own experience, he proposed his own research on the "model of the degradation of the church." This model includes four stages.

 

The first stage is "an aggressive sect." At this stage, the leaders of the first generation of churches or denominations are usually very focused on God's mission and actively devote themselves selflessly to the Lord. The leaders and believers of the first generation are also full of energy. Leaders of the first generation often have prophetic guidance. They create new churches and are actively committed to correcting the mistakes of the past churches, purifying the ranks of believers, and actively playing the role of the church in society. There is often external persecution, but the persecution does not restrict them but instead makes them work even harder. The church achieves great growth and the number of people increases. The church achieves widespread gospel influence.

 

The second stage is“ an evangelistic movement.” At this stage, the church continues to expand and multiply. Not only do they maintain their enthusiasm for the gospel, but they also continue to maintain their uniqueness in preaching of the truth. This is a period of consolidation. Because the ministry has expanded, it is necessary to establish a certain organizational structure for management. After such an organizational structure is established, it gradually loses the flexibility of the first generation and instead relies mostly on organizations and institutions for management. At this time, prophetic experiences begin to become less common. Through the efforts of the first and second generations, vivid spiritual experiences and practices gradually morph into sectarian rules and traditions.

 

 

The third stage is "a recognized denomination.” People of the first generation usually lack a management structure. The management structure established by the second generation has begun to help the church or denomination continue to grow, but in the third stage, it will become a limit to the growth and spiritual vitality of the church. The church and believers begin to lose the enthusiasm of the first generation and begin to be more influenced by the world. At first, the church attached great importance to paying attention to the poor, but now the church and believers have become rich and gradually forget this mission. The church begins to focus on more academic and theological teaching and begins to ignore the use and practice of gifts. At this time, prophetic words and gifts begin to be gradually ignored. The church pays more attention to knowledge and reason.

 

 

The fourth stage is "A Spiritless Monument." In the fourth stage, the church slowly becomes a monument to the glory of the past, and the spiritual reality has been lost. Believers do not know and desire God as the believers did in the beginning. The church's interest in the gospel and ministry has also gradually declined. The Holy Spirit gradually loses any freedom, so the Holy Spirit leaves this church. The church continues to operate according to tradition and organization.

 

 

Ernest B. Gentile said that this cycle has been operating throughout the history of the church. After the fourth stage, the Holy Spirit will raise up a new apostolic church movement and start the cycle all over again. Because new wine can’t be put into old wineskins and new spiritual movements often contain new wine, believers in traditional churches begin to leave the traditional church to seek the richness of God.[1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arrogance of the Corinthian Church

Although Ernest B. Gentile’s observations apply to current-day Charismatic and Prophetic churches, the insights may apply to many churches, and even to Paul's ministry. Paul and Apollos were the first leaders of the Corinthian church. They both served in the Corinthian church. But the Corinthian church faced a difficulty: Paul and Apollos were not present in the church as permanent pastors.

 

We don’t know who the pastor or leader of the Corinthian church was. But because Paul and Apollos were no longer there, nobody had enough authority to make others obey. Therefore, there were different leaders trying to exalt Paul and Apollos, using Paul and Apollos to establish their own leadership in the church. Fortunately, after Paul learned of these circumstances, he promptly wrote a letter to correct the situation. But we know that his letter did not prevent the eventual decline of the church. Perhaps the fall of the Corinthian church was delayed because of Paul's intervention. But in his later years, Paul said that all the Asian churches had abandoned him (2 Timothy 1:15).

 

One of the difficulties of the Corinthian church is that Paul was not there. Paul even mentioned that “Some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you.” (1 Corinthians 4:18). Here Paul clearly pointed out that the reason why some people are "arrogant" is that they think Paul will not go to the Corinthian church. A Chinese proverb says, "When there are no great tigers in the deep mountains, even a monkey can become king." This proverb describes the situation in the Corinthian church very well. Since Paul was gone, sin and rivalry were running rampant. “When the cat’s away, the mice can play.”

 

Paul said in verse 19, "But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power." In this book, the word “arrogant” is used three times (verses 6, 18, and 19). This shows that Paul was very concerned about their arrogance. God wants to teach us something through this word.

 

Why are these people arrogant? Rodney Hogue, a teacher in the "Deliverance Ministries,” will answer this question very well in his commentary on 1 John 2: 12-14. These verses say, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

 

Rodney Hogue said that from a spiritual perspective, there are three types of people in the church: children, young people, and old people. Older people are the spiritual fathers. They know the God who has existed from the beginning. What they care about is knowing God and who he is. To them, “being” is more important than “doing.” They will never be jealous of the spiritual progress of young people and children, but are instead happy for them.

 

Young people are those who have overcome evil to a certain extent. They are strong, know the word of God, and eagerly hope to do something for God. But their weak point is their jealousy when they see the progress of other children. They are not fathers, but elder brothers. They will be jealous of younger believers’ progress. They resemble the older brother in Luke 15 who was jealous of the prodigal son. These kinds of people are characterized by an active desire to do things for God, and they care about their ministry (doing).

The third type of person is a child. On the one hand, they simply trust the Heavenly Father. Because their sins have recently been forgiven, they urgently need the love of their spiritual brothers, and to be fed by their spiritual parents. They are characterized by the need to humbly accept spiritual offerings (receiving). Rodney Hogue said that the church needs spiritual fathers. Unfortunately, the church is full of spiritual brothers but lacks spiritual parents. On the one hand, these elder brothers are a little more spiritually advanced than the children, but they are often jealous of others because their lives have not matured into the mindset of spiritual parents. Many pastors and even elders are still at the level of elder brothers.

 

 

The situation in the Corinthian church resembles the plight of many modern churches. Why are some people arrogant? They are spiritual young adults. On the one hand, they aspire to be leaders of the church and accomplish more for God. But when they encounter opposition and interference from others, there will be rivalry. When they see that others also want to be leaders, they will feel jealous.

 

Paul knew their situation well. Paul longed for them to grow into spiritual parents. He knew that the way to become spiritual leaders was to help the Corinthians mature into spiritual fathers. Paul said, "I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:14-16)

 

Paul knew that the growth of the church required leaders, but the creation of leaders required maturity. The church leader must be a spiritual father, not a spiritual young person who will rival and contradict others at every turn. Paul was a spiritual father, so he said, "Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!" (1 Corinthians 4:8) Although Paul was mocking them, Paul's heart really yearned for them like a father who had matured into spiritual life and reigned in a glorified spiritual abundance.

 

 

However, the lives of the rival Corinthian believers had not matured to this point. On the contrary, they were young people. Paul used himself as an example to let the Corinthians learn how to be a spiritual father.

 

He also sent Timothy to the Corinthian church. Paul specifically mentioned, "That is why I sent you Timothy my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church" (1 Corinthians 4: 17). Timothy would follow Paul's example as a spiritual father. Therefore, Paul's purpose in sending Timothy to the Corinthian church was to get them on the path to becoming spiritual leaders. He wanted them to imitate himself, just as he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

 

Living in God’s Power

When Paul talked about arrogant people in verses 19-20, he evaluated their spiritual power, rather than just looking at their words. Paul said, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power."

 

A man asked, “What does power mean here?” In my personal opinion, the power includes the power to cure the sick and cast out demons, but that is not the only power in view here. The real power lies in being able to give birth to other believers, just as Paul gave birth to the Corinthian church in Christ. Abraham's power lay in his ability to have as many descendants as the stars in the sky, and our power lies in fathering spiritual children.

 

I grew up in rural China, where we often dried food on the roof. We would tie a rope to a bucket so we could lift the grain to the roof. This task requires a lot of power. When I was a child, I didn't have enough muscle power to pull it up, and I needed to ask an adult to help me.

 

The Local Church Movement (LCM) often uses this metaphor to explain how you should not marry unbelievers because the Bible teaches that believers and unbelievers should not work closely together (2 Corinthians 6:14). A close association with an unbeliever could pull you down into sin, rather than pulling the other person up to salvation.

 

To illustrate, one man would stand on a chair, and another man would stand on the ground. One man tried to pull the other off the chair, and the other tried to pull the man up onto the chair. As a result, the person standing on the ground tended to pull down the person standing on the chair.

 

The person who gave this example said that it is very difficult for us to lift people up spiritually, but it is very easy to be dragged down by the world and sin. When two people get married, if one is an unbeliever, it is difficult for you to pull the other into belief, but the other person can easily pull you into unbelief. This is a good analogy.

 

 

In the same way, the real power lies in removing yourself from the attraction of possessions, the temptation of physical sin, and the uncleanness of the soul and life. Remove yourself from influences that will complicate your journey to heaven.

 

You can only lead someone to a place you’ve been yourself. If you’re living in intimate fellowship with God (as if you were in the Holy of Holies), you can bring others with you into God’s presence. If you’re living at a distance from God (as if you were in the outer court), you can only bring people into the Outer Court.

 

Therefore, Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 4 demonstrate great power. He not only pointed out the spiritual problems of the Corinthian church, but also regarded himself as an exemplary spiritual father. He told the Corinthians that they must become spiritual fathers like himself in order to become the spiritual leaders of the church.

 

Becoming the spiritual leader of the church does not lie in exalting Paul or Apollos, but in the maturity of your own life. If your life is mature enough to resemble Apollos, you will have Apollos' authority. If your life is as mature as Paul's, you will have Paul's spiritual authority. The true power comes from the spiritual authority we receive from God after we mature in the spiritual life.

 

The book of 2 Corinthians tells us that the Corinthians repented and worried over their downfall, and Paul comforted them himself. This tells us that Paul's message to the church did its job and was effective. Later, the church in Asia rejected Paul, but the Corinthian church did not reject Paul.

 

Parallels in Today’s Church.

While studying this passage, a man asked, “What is the state of the church today? Is today’s divided church puffed up, as well? Do you see situations in our current church today that mirror the situation in 1 Corinthians 4?” I said, “Yes, I do.”

 

In the church where I was saved, I saw Ernest B. Gentile’s principles at work. The first generation of leaders experienced many struggles, and the second generation became more established. However, in the third generation, rules and regulations inevitably entered the church and slowly hindered the work of the Holy Spirit.

 

Therefore, some people began to seek more guidance from the Holy Spirit. Because of this situation, I began to study in the Charismatic Movement and the Prophetic Movement. Once I got in touch with the Charismatic Movement and the Prophetic Movement, I learned that the Holy Spirit has a lot of freedom among them and has done a lot of things.

 

According to Ernest B. Gentile, when the leaders of the second or third generation of churches are not trying their best to open themselves to the Holy Spirit’s prophetic guidance, people will lack the manifestation of the authority and power of God. This makes it difficult to establish trust in the church.

At this time, the leaders of the second or third generation will hold high some of the views or propositions of the leaders of the first generation. On the one hand, it solidifies the teaching of the first generation of leaders, but on the other hand, they use it to establish their own authority. Because they cannot get fresh prophetic revelation from the Holy Spirit and direct authority from God, their authority is often based on the inheritance and consolidation of the teachings of the first generation of leaders. Furthermore, they usually don’t dare to break the restrictions taught by the first generation of leaders. Thus, they lack the ability to create a major breakthrough in the future. This pattern is not only found in the Charismatic and Prophet Movements as observed by Ernest B. Gentile, but also in many different denominations.

 

 

In addition to difficulties within a sect, there are often disagreements between sects. The struggles of different factions within denominations are often not necessarily known to outsiders. But the struggles between denominations are easily visible to the world. Struggles within churches and groups are often concealed in the name of unity. However, the struggles between sects can be seen by the world.

 

Both are from the flesh. Different denominations are like different brothers in the body of Christ. One group said that they belonged to Paul, and the other said that they belonged to Apollos. The struggle in the Corinthian church represents a struggle within a church, but the struggle between denominations represents an internal struggle with the universal church.

 

 

Imagine Paul speaking not only to the Corinthian church, but to the entire body of Christ. Imagine that the Apostle John was not speaking to the fathers, young people, and children in one particular church, but to the fathers, young people, and children in the entire body of Christ. We can see that the situation of the global church is similar to that of the Corinthian church. There are not many people who are truly fathers like Paul was. Most of them are young people or children. The problem with young people is that they cannot accept others. But spiritual parents can accept others. The brother in Luke 15 could not accept the prodigal brother, but his father was able to accept the return of the prodigal son.

 

 

Our God is our Father. Every snowflake he created is different. Everyone has a unique call from God. Every sect is born out of a truth received from God that the group adheres to. None of us are complete without our fellow believers. When we criticize each other and condemn other denominations, we make our Heavenly Father sad, just as the rivalry within the Corinthian church made Paul, their spiritual father, sad.

 

The Chinese church has experienced similar dissension. Many evangelical pastors, such as Pastor Stephen Tong, fight against the Local Church Movement (LCM), and neither Chinese evangelical churches nor LCM churches accept Charismatic churches. My personal study in both the LCM churches and the Charismatic churches, as well as my contact with churches under Tong’s influence, has shown me that the teaching and practice of the LCM would be very helpful to ordinary Chinese churches and Charismatic churches. The LCM can provide insight into the importance of life maturity and spiritual practice, which can help many believers in the Chinese evangelical churches and Charismatic churches to grow up spiritually. In addition, the practice of Charismatic churches can inject more vitality into the LCM and other evangelical churches, giving them more freedom in the Spirit and keeping them from dying.

 

Because Tong strongly criticized the LCM and Charismatic churches, many believers were unable to learn the truth from these two groups. In addition, the LCM refused to accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit and tongues. They have not accepted God’s work in other churches, especially Charismatic churches. Charismatic churches have weaknesses of their own. They generally tend to be immature and place too much emphasis on miracles and marvels, lacking pastoral teaching on the deeper spiritual life.

 

We should be eager to humble ourselves and learn from each other. God’s calling for our time is to bring together different denominations and sects. As we come together, we can learn from each other’s strengths.

 

Another controversy in today’s church is the Hyper Grace Gospel. Many evangelical Chinese churches in China strongly oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel. A woman who studied the Bible with us was deeply hurt by legalism in her evangelical church. She said that her church taught her that she must always condemn herself for not repenting enough and not working hard enough. It was very painful for her to condemn herself over all those years.

 

As a result, she found that Pastor Joseph Prince and his message on the Gospel of Grace helped her. Joseph Prince is often accused of being the leader of the Hyper Grace Gospel. It’s true that some believers go to extremes, overemphasizing grace and ignoring the law of God. However, the reason the Hyper Grace Gospel has become so popular in China is that in many traditional churches, legalism prevails. For believers who have been wounded by legalism, it is particularly easy to accept the teachings of the Hyper Grace Gospel. Because many evangelical churches in China have legalistic tendencies, the message of the Hyper Grace Gospel is like a cool breeze on a summer day for believers who have suffered from legalism.

 

This controversy has caused internal disputes in many churches, causing many church members to become estranged. The backlash from the church has been fierce, condemning the Hyper Grace Gospel as heresy.

 

But there is something commendable in the Hyper Grace Gospel, especially for believers who have been harmed by legalism. The Hyper Grace Gospel finds fertile ground for spreading widely in China. To a certain extent, this is due to God’s desire to correct the mistakes of legalism.

 

Joseph Prince also had a great influence among American Charismatics. Therefore, some Charismatic leaders have begun to worry. For example, a Charismatic and Jewish spiritual leader in the United States, Michael L. Brown, raised concerns that the Hyper Grace Gospel was preaching the grace of God too much and ignoring the law of God. Therefore, he proposed a peaceful meeting with Joseph, and the two men had a genuine dialogue. But I don't know whether their dialogue had any specific positive effects.

 

Personally, I believe that the message of the Hyper Grace Gospel will be helpful to a person whose strict basic theological training has focused on legalism and external behavior. It will not cause them too much harm, because they need this strong correction to the teachings they’ve heard all their lives. But believers who have not received strict basic theological teachings will be more prone to extremes if exposed to the Hyper Grace Gospel.

 

 

There is an extreme example of the Hyper Grace Gospel circulating on the Internet. I have no way to know if it is true or not, but I have heard many similar reports among Chinese Christians. The Facebook post reads: "Now the Hyper Grace Gospel from Singapore has flooded China. They believe that once they are saved, they can never lose their salvation. There is nothing wrong with sin. A female Christian who keeps having an affair talked to a pastor, and the pastor asked her to repent. She told him that according to the teachings of the Hyper Grace Gospel she had received, this is not a sin. Even the Gentiles know that immorality is a shame! The Hyper Grace proponents regard Jesus as a consumer product, giving them heaven for free without holiness and repentance. It's a highway that leads straight to hell." [2]

 

People who have heard the Hyper Grace Gospel first-hand have told me similar stories. I don't believe that Joseph Prince truly teaches these extremes, but some of his followers excessively expanded the grace element of the gospel and ignored the teaching about repentance and confession of sin.

 

We must look at the Hyper Grace Gospel in a balanced way. The Hyper Grace Gospel is like any other movement. If it is not from God, it will not gain much traction. But Satan tries to destroy God-given movements by pushing their teaching to extremes, thereby stigmatizing these practices. This is Satan’s, usual trick and it is called the Straw Man Fallacy.

 

Let me give another example of this tactic. Witness Lee, the leader of the Local Church Movement where I was saved, advocated "calling on the Lord’s name." The practice of calling on the name of the Lord helped believers pray by meditating on the name of the Lord. This is a very good spiritual exercise, and I have benefited a lot from it.

 

But the enemy has tried to destroy this movement by raising up people in mainland China who twisted Witness Lee’s teaching. Some heretical groups in China stole this practice. Instead of calling on the name of the Lord, they call on the name of "Witness Lee" as if he were a god. This is not Witness Lee’s teaching or the LCM. The enemy has harmfully distorted this practice in order to discredit it. Unfortunately, because of the enemy's destruction, not only the practice of "calling on the Lord's name" was stigmatized, but the LCM and Witness Lee were also stigmatized.

Similarly, the Hyper Grace Gospel may contain truth from God’s word, as well as areas that need to be corrected. Believers who support the Hyper Grace Gospel, believers who oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel, and the church as a whole need to be humble enough to dialogue with one other. In some places, these conflicts are already very intense. Those who oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel call the Hyper Grace Gospel heresy. But perhaps those people should reflect on the legalism of the church. Believers of the Hyper Grace Gospel should also reflect on how to avoid the extremes shown in the above examples.

 

 

Instead, the two parties who support and oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel have become emotional and are unable to resolve the contradiction. Like in the Corinthian church, the modern church struggles with rivalry and division. Remember, when believers are immature, they will experience these contradictions and rivalries. True spiritual fathers imitate Paul, who can look at problems from different perspectives.

 

On the one hand, Paul was able to accept weak believers, and on the other hand, he was able to feel joy in seeing believers' progress. We must also look at this issue from both perspectives. Too much emphasis on grace and too much emphasis on the law are both wrong aspects. Legalism will harm believers and prevent them from fully realizing God's grace in Christ; the extreme Hyper Grace Gospel also hurts believers, preventing believers from understanding God’s holiness and strict discipline. These two aspects of truth need to be held in balance.

 

[1] ^[1] Ernest B Gentile, Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy-Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today, (Chosen Books, Grand Rapids, MI), 1999, 247-249

[2] https://www.facebook.com/godjesusloveme/posts/2371476159599706/

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 27

The Mercy and Justice of God

Numbers 27

As we consider Numbers 27 today, it may seem puzzling that the story of Zelophehad’s daughters is juxtaposed with the story of Moses not getting to enter the promised land. Why are these stories put together in the Bible?

Moses’ Lack of Gentleness

Perhaps when dealing with Zelophehad’s daughters, Moses made the same mistake he may have made when striking the rock for the second time: he did not honor the Lord God as holy.

What does it truly mean to honor God? It means correctly representing God’s kindness and compassion in front of the second generation of Israelites. Although the Bible does not say that Moses was impatient with Zelophehad’s daughter, like he was when he struck the rock, we can surmise that he may have ignored the daughters of Zelophehad. Both stories reveal the compassion of God.

Why do I say that? Let’s look at the second section of this chapter. The Bible says that this decision took place “standing at the door of the tabernacle, in front of Moses, the priest Eleazar, the leaders and the whole congregation.” This is a very meaningful verse. Let me illustrate with a modern example.

In the 2020 US election, the right-wing population in some states believed that the election was unfair. They began to bring charges in the district courts. State courts did not accept the cases, and the cases were brought before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court didn’t take the case, either. Under normal circumstances, all complaints are brought first to the district courts, then gradually move up to the Supreme Court.

If Moses truly cared about Zelophehad’s needs, he should have been able to handle this matter before the daughters appealed to the Supreme Court. When Moses first heard that Zelophehad of the tribe of Manasseh did not get any land, he should have asked God how to deal with it at that time, but he did not. When he finally asked God what to do about it, God immediately raised the matter of Moses' disobedience to God after he clarified how to deal with the matter. Was this happening by chance? Moses also lacked compassion for the second generation of Israelis and said something impatient as he struck the rock. Perhaps his way of handling Zelophehad’s daughters’ needs was not gentle enough, either.

Although the leadership responsibility of Moses was transferred to Joshua here, the actual authority was not immediately transferred to Joshua. Moses was still the leader who guided the people’s itinerary. Numbers 27-36 speak of Moses leading the Israelites. The death of Moses is not recorded until Deuteronomy 34, at least 44 chapters later.

If our speculation is correct, then this chapter is still related to Moses' failure. What was wrong with Moses when he smote the rock for the second time? He had no respect for God as holy. Moses knew the principle of God’s character: not to get angry easily, to be full of kindness, to bless the generations of those who love him, to never regard those who hate him as innocent, but punish their sins down to the third and fourth generation. Earlier, when Moses told God about Korah's betrayal, God severely judged Korah. However, when Moses told God about the second generation’s betrayal and complaints, God did not judge them as severely. This may have been one of the reasons for Moses' anger. Moses should have accepted the fact that the first generation of Israelites represent our old man, and the second generation represents the flesh of our new man after salvation. The nature of the two is different, so the way God treats them is also different.

It can be said that the Bible record still got a lot of chances to mention Moses’ disobedience to God, and it is not necessary to immediately raise the case of Moses’ disobedience to God together with the judgment of not allowing him to enter the good land right after mentioning Zelophehad’s daughters’ request to claim the property. This matter must have something to do with the division of property between Zelophehad 's daughter. Where is this relationship? It is God's judgment on Moses. This is God's judgment on Moses regarding the issue of Zelophehad and the way Moses dealt with his matter. Although Moses might not be that impatient, he might have been negligent. What was the cause of Moses' negligence?

 

Pitfalls of Pride

Many leaders start out with humility, but later in life fall into pride and sin. All leaders face difficulties and obstacles at the very beginning, and these difficulties and obstacles will make them humble. David's experience is a good example. When Saul was persecuting David, David submitted to God. Instead of killing Saul, David humbled himself before God, admitting that Saul was God's anointed one. At the end of his life, however, after he had conquered his enemies and made peace throughout the country, David committed sin with Bathsheba and killed Uriah. David sinned for a second time when he numbered the Israelites. Joab opposed David’s unwise decision, and he would have stopped him if he could have. But the Bible clearly records that the King's words prevailed over Joab’s words (1 Chronicles 21:4).

Similarly, although Moses was one of God's greatest servants, he also needed to go through humbling experiences. His brother Aaron and sister Miriam gave him a lot of difficulties. These difficulties helped Moses grow in humility. When Aaron and Miriam attacked Moses, the Bible specifically called Moses the humblest person in the world (Numbers 12:3). The Lord himself came to Moses’ defense and blamed Aaron and Miriam.

However, by this chapter, both Miriam and Aaron were dead. Aaron's son, Eleazar, was priest. Except for Caleb and Joshua, most first-generation people had died. At this time, Moses became the absolute authority. In the eyes of the Israelites, he was like a god. The Israelites were slowly turning Moses into an idol. I believe that Moses knew God and did not agree with their idolatry. But the Israelis indeed elevated Moses to the position of deity. When the Lord Jesus came, many Israelites would not accept Jesus Christ. Instead, they said they would only accept Moses. Moses had gradually become the Israelites’ idol.

Even though Moses did not have the intention to exalt himself, his failure to honor God was a very serious matter in God's eyes. He reinforced the people’s idolatry when he attributed the miracle to himself. Therefore, God must discipline Moses.

When God uses a person greatly as his servant, he also disciplines that person severely. Because of the great revelation Paul got from God, he was also given a thorn from the enemy to bother him. He asked the Lord three times to take it away, but God did not do so. He said his grace was enough for him.

The chapter demonstrates that as leaders, we must not mistakenly represent God and snatch away the glory that is rightfully God’s. God’s judgment is strict and there is no room for pride in His service. Even if you are someone as important as Moses or David, God will still discipline pride in his servants.

 

Inheritance Restored

Zelophehad’s daughters asked Moses for land, and he granted their request. This story teaches us that we can receive what we ask for in prayer and faith, as long as it is promised in Christ.

The first section of this chapter specifically mentions the family tree of Zelophehad and his five daughters. The five daughters came to Moses and the crowd with a request. They were not only fighting for their inheritance, but also for their father's status. The five daughters made it clear to the congregation that their father died in sin, though it was not related to Korah's betrayal. In the Old Testament, the death of an Israeli man in sin would indeed bring danger to his inheritance. Therefore, this story is about God setting a precedent for similar cases in future generations. For example, Ruth's father-in-law, husband, and brother-in-law died in Moab. Naomi, her mother-in-law, took Ruth back to Judah. Not only did these women lose their husbands, but they also had no sons. Because of this, they lost their inheritance in Israel. However, since Zelophehad’s daughters had already asked for protection of their father’s status and inheritance, the precedent was set. This precedent helped Ruth and Naomi redeem their inheritance.

In Ruth and Naomi’s case, their relative Boaz was the one who helped them redeem their property. However, before Boaz could help redeem their land and marry Ruth, he had to give another relative who was closer to Ruth the opportunity to do so. The relative refused, because he knew that if he married Ruth, their son would not belong to him, but to Ruth’s father-in-law and husband who had no descendants. He was worried that this would damage his own property.

This story reminds us that as sinners, we have lost our inheritance: God himself. Christ came as our Kinsman Redeemer to redeem us, even though we could not redeem ourselves. Jesus came in the Year of Jubilee to give us back our inheritance. He is our elder brother and relative, so he can redeem us. He can return our inheritance (God himself) to us, and allow us to return to our inheritance (God himself).

Zelophehad’s daughters are from the tribe of Joseph, and Christ is from the tribe of Judah. The story may seem to have nothing to do with the birth of Christ, but it is indeed related. The precedent set in this chapter led to Ruth’s redemption by Boaz, who later gave birth to Obed. Obed, in turn, was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David. David is the ancestor of Christ. Therefore, the main purpose of this story is to prepare for the appearance and salvation of Christ.

 

The Lord told Moses that if a person dies without sons, he must give the inheritance to his daughters. If there is no daughter, then he must give it to his brother. If there is no brother, then he must give it to the father’s brother. If his father had no brothers, then he must give it to the closest relative in the family. This rule eventually paved the way for Ruth to be redeemed.

What Zelophehad’s daughters did was very commendable. Although their father committed sins and died, God's mercy was extremely generous. This is true in the Old Testament, and even more so in the New Testament. Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer, so we must come to Him without fear and ask for mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:16)

Jesus said to his disciples, "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me something in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14) Jesus also said, "If you live in me, my words will live in you. Whatever you want, ask and it will be done for you."

Mercy and Justice.

The story of Zelophehad’s daughters and the story of Moses’ inability to enter the Promised Land are put together here so we can recognize the difference between God's mercy and God's justice.

Zelophehad’s death in sin and Naomi's husband and two sons’ deaths in Moab were all due to God's righteous judgment. But God granted Zelophehad’s daughters requests and established the principle that Kinsman Redeemers can redeem their relatives.  As a result, the salvation that Naomi and Ruth later obtained was due to God’s mercy.

The Lord told Moses about his mercy and justice in Exodus 34: "The Lord, the Lord, is a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and rich in love and honesty. To save love for thousands of people, to forgive sins, transgressions, and evils, never regard the guilty as innocent. He must be punishable for his sins from his father and his son until three or four generations.” (Exodus 34:6-7) This is God’s character and mode of operation. Moses knew this very well. Therefore, when dealing with the complaints of the second generation who wanted water to drink, he should have been full of compassion and grace for the Israelites, not impatience and anger. This is an extremely important principle.

Although Moses failed, Paul set a good example in the New Testament. The people in the Corinthian church he established had many complaints and criticisms against him. They also committed many sins, including sins of immorality, such as marrying a stepmother. Paul was very angry with their sin. But when he handled this matter, he was very compassionate. He told the Corinthians to remove fornicators from among them--even handing them over to Satan so they would be physically corrupted, but their spirits would be saved in the day of the Lord (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). However, after Paul heard that the disciples in Corinth had repented, he immediately changed his tone. He asked the disciples in Corinth to forgive the sinners, and Paul forgave them too. He urged for restoration for these people, lest they become too sorrowful and be swallowed up with grief. Paul did not want Satan to take advantage of them through the overly harsh treatment of sin (2 Corinthians 1:11).

Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 4:18-21: “Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.  But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.  For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.  What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?” ESV

The people were arrogant because Paul was not there. Paul said that the kingdom of God lies not in words, but in power—and even in the rod of discipline. Paul had the authority and power from God to judge them, just as Moses had God's authority to judge Israel. But Paul's attitude here is very humble, giving the Corinthians choices and begging them to turn from sin. In fact, Paul kept himself under control and stayed humble, pleading with the Corinthians to repent in mercy.

Just like Moses and Paul, spiritual leaders in the church today will face similar tests. People will complain or even misunderstand them. Our responses will reflect our knowledge of God's rules and the manifestation of God's life in us. We must remember that God is merciful and gracious. When we face complaints and opposition, we have an amazing opportunity to demonstrate the life of God in us. The more we have God's anointing and authority, the more we should have God's temperament of mercy and kindness. If we lose the mercy and kindness of God, we lose the authority God has given us. The level of our authority lies in the level of the mercy of God manifested in us.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, he had compassion on people who were like sheep without a shepherd. Whether he saw the blind people (Luke 18:35-43) or lepers (Mark 1:41), he had mercy on them. Jesus is the best manifestation of God's temperament.

The story of Zelophehad’s daughters reveals the compassionate heart of God. Luke 1:78-79 says, “Because of our God’s compassionate heart, the morning sun comes to us from high to illuminate those who sit in the darkness and the shadow of death and lead our feet to the path of peace."

The story of Moses shows that if believers cannot demonstrate a compassionate heart as we serve Him, then in God’s eyes we "do not respect God as holy." We must be strictly disciplined.

But God’s strict discipline to Moses does not mean you cannot pray for God's mercy or that God won’t answer your prayers. If you believe this, you are falling into the enemy's traps. Both stories not only speak of justice, but also of God's mercy. If you are in a similar situation to Zelophehad’s daughters, come to God without fear and ask for His mercy. If you are a person who serves God like Moses, remember to show God's mercy in everything so as to honor God as holy. The more we show God's mercy in our service, the more we have God's authority. However, if we lose God’s mercy, we will also lose God’s authority.

I hope that the relationship between these two stories will help you better understand God’s mercy and how we can apply it in our lives. We welcome you to come to God’s most holy place without fear, ask for grace and mercy, and get help in time of need.

We Are About to Reach the Top

We Are About to Reach the Top

Sean Song, May 9, 2021

 

Climbing Over the Mountain

It is likely that right now many people in the body of Christ feel disappointment in one or many areas of their lives. I recently had a few dreams that encouraged me. I think they may be an encouragement for all of us. We are almost at the mountaintop and a great show prepared by God will soon begin. We need to shake off our disappointments because we are about to have a breakthrough. God’s grace and supernatural strength will help us to stay the course and finish the most difficult part of this final hour.

 

Shake off the Disappointment

I am an immigrant from China. Like many other immigrant Christians, we speak in our native language when we hold Christian services or gather together. It is more comfortable for us to communicate in Chinese. There are approximately 3-4 million Chinese people in the US excluding illegal immigrants and international students. Since the 1970s, there has been a large influx of immigrants and students from mainland China to America, and nearly half of this population became Christian while in the US. Unlike the sizable percentage (estimated 50-70%) of Chinese churches in mainland China that are Pentecostal, the Chinese immigrant church in the US is dominantly evangelical. There are only relatively large Pentecostal Chinese churches in a select few bigger cities in the US. Fewer still are the numbers of smaller Chinese home groups that are Spirit-filled. I have not yet found any large Spirit-filled Chinese churches in Maryland—only a few small groups that are led by Spirit-filled people. Just because I am unaware of them does not mean they do not exist, but in a 50-minute radius of my city, they seem non-existent.

In 2015, I left my evangelical denomination to become a leader of one of these small Spirit-filled home groups. We currently have about a dozen people who participate with us. We read the Bible together and pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit on a weekly basis. Some members have also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues. After I shared my experience of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I taught on this subject. It was then that people in our groups also started having dreams and visions. One sister had a prophetic dream about the future of our group. She saw us meeting in a basement of a big house. I was present talking on a microphone to many Chinese people who were also gathered with us. We consider this a promise from God that our Spirit-filled home group will see great increase in the future.

Our groups went as usual before the COVID-19 crisis hit. Afterward, we adapted to online meetings. Unfortunately, our attendance numbers gradually started dwindling and I understand this is a common experience for small group leaders and pastors alike, even more so after experiencing crises. A pastor friend observed in his friend circle that many churches suffered a 50-70% loss of attendance after COVID-19 emerged. On May 1, 2021, we canceled our meeting due to low attendance and I was very disappointed. Immediately, I reminded myself not to become disappointed in any situation as we should be joyful and thankful always in the Lord. In fact, getting disappointed is a disease that steals our joy and make our hearts sick. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (NRSV).

It was then that I recalled the dream that a woman from our group had. I also remembered the vision the Lord gave me in 2013 that a revival is coming to Maryland. The Lord asked me to not move out of Maryland so that I could be part of this revival here. Our reality in this present moment, however, is the opposite. The reality is that we face demonic attacks on our family, and members get weak to the point that we can’t even hold our regular meetings. Yet, I pray to God to give us strength to overcome the challenges and disappointment of this time, and to bless us with more fervent seekers of God and His Word.

I am sure this was and still is the of situation of other believers—you have the promises of God in one hand, but your reality is the opposite of those promises.

 

Climbing Over the Mountain Supernaturally

In the early morning of May 2, I had the following dream. I was in a mysterious place. I don’t know where I was, but there was a large mountain before me that blocked the road. I wanted to get over the mountain to be able to continue my journey, but I was not sure how. Then I saw a building below the mountain which looked like a welcome center, so I walked in to ask for help. A lady greeted me and proceeded to explain how to get over the mountain. She said, if driving, there would be a different way to lift one’s car there. Since I was walking, I’d have to climb up through the mountain’s steep step trail. This trail consisted of ascending groups of steps like you see on many of the big scenic mountains in China. In my dream, the steps were made of rock. For protection on the sides of the path, there were steel rope chains. It was a bit curvy but still almost 90 degrees around and up. I felt intimidated, but I started to climb. While climbing, I kept thinking about what the woman meant when she said that I would be carried there if I had a vehicle. Then I saw in my mind a picture of a lift resembling a lift in a water dam. At varying levels of water, this lift can carry whole vehicles to the upstream with ease.

Interestingly, the lady at the welcome center not only told me how I was supposed to climb the steps that day, but she accompanied me to demonstrate how. It seemed so easy for her and she reached the top within a few steps. Yet, as I continued to climb the steps, I experienced muscle pains and exhaustion. It was actually quite difficult, but I continued to climb. Suddenly, beside the steel rope chains that protected the steps on my right side, I felt a small steel rope. The steel rope was like the rope on window blinds where you pull down so that the blinds raise up. I pulled this steel rope down, and suddenly the steps began moving upward like an elevator. Although I still had to continue to pull down the chain so that the elevator-like steps would continue to go up, it was now much easier to climb than before. It was that easy. Eventually, I reached the top and I no longer saw the big mountain that once blocked my way. The lady disappeared as well.

I believe this dream was an answer to my prayers on that day of discouragement. It was encouragement from the Holy Spirit. I and many in the body of Christ are facing a big mountain that blocks our way. We all have mountains to climb. Yet, God has supernatural ways to carry us through and past them. I want to encourage us first not be intimidated by the mountain. I believe the lady in my dream represented the Holy Spirit. She was knowledgeable, competent, and a willing guide that not only accompanied me, but instructed me on how to successfully ascend the mountain in front of me. And as this lady guide demonstrated, the mountain can be ascended with ease. However, we must be willing to look for the supernatural or outside-of-the-norm help and deliverance to overcome. This is represented by me climbing a few steps first but discovering the rope as I went along. I was willing to put in the work necessary to climb, but I was also willing to pull the unspecified rope.

I feel the car in the dream represents the many ministries we have. God also wants to help our ministries to overcome every obstacle that blocks them from fulfilling God’s purposes.  Whether your ministry is big or small, we are all called to some work and we all have the promises of God before us. Although we must face mountains, we can be rest assured that God will help us through amidst our weakness and opposition. He will give us a way of deliverance that is beyond our understanding. Please be reminded: YOU WILL CLIMB OVER THE MOUNTAINS SOON!

 

Climbing to the Hill Top for the Big Show

Sometimes God may speak to us in sequels, or we may have similar dreams in a row. This should draw our attention. Prior to the dream I just detailed, I had a similar dream the night before. In this dream, I was climbing to a mountain top to see a big show that was almost ready to premiere. In this dream, a mysterious man joined me and several other persons as we walked on a very long and draining journey. This mysterious man has often appeared to me in other dreams, and he looks like a classmate from a college class. He represents someone familiar to me. I pondered if he was a disguise for the Lord and I now particularly feel it was the Lord because this dream carried the feeling of Jesus walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. We were tired and disappointed, but this mysterious man stayed walking beside us along the long journey. Suddenly, we reached the bottom of a tall hill where we started to climb to try to reach the top. This mysterious man walked with so much ease and reached the top of the stairs effortlessly. Yet again, myself and others were having difficulties reaching the top. We were almost at the top when the steps we were climbing started to resemble the steps on a power grid that you see in a field. They were steep and dangerous.

We were in mid-air when we approached the final several steps to reach the top. A lady in front of me could not reach the top on her last step, so I lifted her up with my hands and she made it. When it was my turn, I felt almost too exhausted to reach the last step. I recall feeling the physical pain in my muscles. I had to use all my strength to stretch one leg in front of me to use as leverage to support the rest of my body. I eventually reached the top. Although I did not see any scenery there, it felt like we were in the clouds. It felt like heaven. In fact, we were covered with clouds, so I could not see far away, but I did notice the mysterious man conversing with another person by the edge of the peak that I had just barely reached.

This new person was faceless. He began to tell us that there was a very big show getting ready to premiere in the movie theater before us. I could not see the theater in the dream either because we were surrounded with so much mist. This new man, however, told us that in order to go to this theater to see the big show, a certain price had to be paid to purchase the ticket. I remember the cost being approximately $51.88. Since I am not completely sure of this number, I will not make an interpretation as to its meaning. Regardless, I was a few dollars short of paying. The former mysterious man that accompanied us seemed to be in my favor, so he spoke and plead on my behalf that I would enter the show. The new man responded that my shortage of a few dollars was therefore forgiven because the mysterious man had paid.

Both of them continued to converse and then walked away. Still thinking about it, I reached into my pocket to see if I had any additional money. I found two quarters. I tried to argue with them that I still had some money to make up for my lack, but they were already at a distance. While they were walking away, the following words continued to resound in my mind and ears: “the difference is forgiven because of the mysterious man walking with us.” They did not pay attention at all to what I tried to say about the two quarters. Then the dream ended. I never saw the show or the theater, but in the air, I felt the excitement and expectation that a big show’s premiere was about to start.

Since hearing of other people having encounters with the Lord in their dreams, I have been praying to encounter the Father too. I feel that both Jesus and the Father were present in this dream as represented by the mysterious man walking with us, and the second faceless man who declared that my debt was paid on the top of the mountain. Although I did not see either figure clearly, they conversed like a father talking with a son.

 

Thank God for the Delay

The worldwide body of Christ is walking a long and tired journey to reach the mountain top. We are climbing stairs that seem to be in mid-air and our vision is blocked by cloud coverage and mist. We are not always able to see clearly what is before us. This is when we need to recall that it was Jesus first who completed the journey. He reached the top of calvary hill. He overcame the giant of death before him. He went before us to pave a path for our victory. Now that he has overcome, we can too.

Jesus is always with us on our journey just as He walked with the disciples to Emmaus. Like the disciples, sometimes we may not recognize him. In other dreams I’ve had, many times the Lord appeared to me as an old Chinese lady. I’ve come to understand that the Lord may disguise himself in certain symbolic forms and this sometimes may give us more understanding and insight into his nature and character traits. Sometimes though, he hides himself in a disguise for a time and we are left to know him simply by the mark he leaves on our heart like the burning the disciples felt within them during their conversation to Emmaus.

Thankfully, Jesus also gave us each other. He commanded us not to neglect gathering together and helping one another along the journey. In the end, our deficit will be eventually paid by the grace of Jesus Christ. Most dazzling of all is that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have already made up their minds to put on a great show when we arrive. As prophesied by other prophets too, I believe revival is going to burst forth while we wait for others to reach the top and join the premiere. The delay we see and feel is God’s mercy because he wants us all to have a ticket and fill the theatre! What a privilege! Don’t get disappointed. You are about to reach your destination. Keep climbing!

 

Bible Study With Jairus - Romans 13

Bible Study With Jairus - Romans 13

 God’s Will for Believers and Politics

Roman chapter 13 is about obedience to authority. Paul tells us that all authority is given by God, and that we must submit ourselves to those who govern us. If we resist authority, we resist God, because God has set up authority to punish evildoers on God's behalf. If we do good, we don’t have to be afraid. Paul also notes that we must pay taxes, because the ruler is God's servant.

Jesus also said “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). The words of Jesus have been interpreted in different ways throughout the ages. Some have used them to argue that Christians should not participate in politics. This will be our study focus today.

How on earth do you understand what is being said here? First of all, the truth has two sides, and we must deal with each side in a balanced way. Although we should obey those in power, the premise is that those in power are doing what God wants them to do, such as maintaining social justice and punishing wrongdoers. But if the authorities persecute Christians by saying that they cannot believe in the Lord or preach the Gospel, this is a violation of higher authority. God's Word charges us to preach the good news to all nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, throughout the ages, many people have disobeyed the orders of those in power by preaching the Gospel.

Second, regarding understanding Jesus' words, Christian participation in politics also needs to be considered with a balanced principle. Let's start by looking at some different historical interpretations of whether Christians should participate in politics.

Should Christians Participate in Politics: A Summary of Views

Anabaptists

First, let's look at the Amish, the Anabaptist view. I live in Maryland. There is a large Amish population in Lancaster, PA about an hour north of us. Over the years, we have taken Bible study group members and non-believing friends on trips to Amish museums and the exhibits of life-size models of tents built by Mennonites. The Amish and the Mennonites are both Anabaptists, but the Amish are more isolated; they don't accept other people or modern things, such as electricity and cars. The Mennonites are more open to other people and modern things. According to what we were told in a tour of the museum, the Amish see modern electricity, cars, and the like as evil, so they still drive wagons and run farms for a living. Students are expected to attend school only through middle school, and there is only one class in a community. Younger and older children alike have classes in one classroom. (This is what I picked up from the tour guide at the museum and it may not be 100% correct.)

The Anabaptists came into being during the Reformation period in Europe. They opposed both Catholicism and Martin Luther's Reformed Church, because both Catholics and the Reformed Church advocated infant baptism. The Anabaptists, on the other hand, believe that you have to be truly saved and baptized after you become an adult, so you have to wait to be baptized. Since many people had been baptized as infants, they started the practice of being baptized after being saved as adults, hence the name Anabaptist. The Amish have chosen to live in isolation, avoiding electricity, cars, and politics. William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was a Christian who was forced out of England because he was persecuted by the state church of England. It is said that his father, who was rich, bought him a piece of land in Pennsylvania and said “you can go to America and do whatever you want.” William Penn made Pennsylvania a land of diverse Christian denominations, including Amish and Quakers. American society also protects the rights of the Amish, who are said to pay no taxes and do not serve as soldiers. (In the process of evangelization in Europe, there were many brutal wars, so Christians suffered a lot in the military. Therefore, the Amish also choose not to serve in the military.)

The Anabaptists do not promote active participation in politics and stay away from some modern things of society. To some extent, these practices keep them away from the evil of the world. But the evil is definitely not only in these modern civilizations; evil is in the human heart.  I do appreciate the Amish's willingness to abandon modern civilization and live a simple life so they can focus more on the Bible and their faith. But most people agree that such an approach is not a good way to have a positive influence in this world.

Local Church Movement

Second, let's move on to the point of view of the Local Church Movement (LCM) where I was saved. In an article titled "Attitudes of Local Churches to Authority and Politics," we find the following statement: "We believe that churches should have no share in, participate in, or influence politics on the ground, but should operate as a purely faith body under the rule of law of government. The church should be wholly of God  and for God. As for the participation of individual Christians in political activities, The Church does not support or oppose it."[1]

The LCM does not object to individual involvement in politics, seeing it as a personal issue. They also believed that the church is spiritual and should not engage in worldly politics. In particular, the LCM has drawn lessons from many difficulties brought about by the mingling of church and state in history. They have made the church less spiritual but more worldly. Therefore, they advocate that churches should not participate in politics. This view is not only the view of the LCM but is also held by many churches and pastors since they see how politics can tear the church apart. Some pastors even prohibit the church members from talking about any politics in the church.

However, this does not solve the problem. This problem still divides churches and Christians alike.

A WeChat post in Chinese I read earlier says that President Lincoln was asked if he thought God was on his side during the Civil War. President Lincoln said,“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

To a certain extent, this post reflects the attitude of some believers in the churches I mentioned towards politics. They are more spiritual and do not express their positions on controversial political issues. Instead, they hide their political opinions in a spiritual cocoon and say they want to remain one with God. But knowing exactly what the will of God is depends on the individual and the Lord. To me it is kind of confusing. One of my fellow members of our Bible study group was confused as well. He asked me since some Christains say God chose Trump, and others say God chose Biden, who did God really choose? I told him that one side must be wrong as God is not a schizophrenic. The view in this social media post does reflect the common view that God is sovereign, so whoever is sitting in the office is what God chooses or allows. This view dictates that as Christians, we just accept whoever it is. This view is criticized by many as being too passive.

Theological Liberals

Third, let's look at the theological liberal view of politics. Liberal theology was influential from Europe all the way to the United States. Theologians from Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher in Germany to Paul Johannes Tillich in the United States are representatives of liberal theology. Liberal theology was in part an attempt to explain theology in contrast to science, or to build a bridge between the rapid development of science and the somewhat stale theology of that time. But liberal theology went to the extreme of disbelieving the authority of the Bible, even accepting homosexuality and so on. Fundamentalism is a reaction to the overrun of liberal theology. It emphasizes the supreme authority of the Bible and the basics of Christian values.

Randy Clark, the founder of Global Awakening and the Randy Clark Scholars program at UTS that I am now a part of attended a liberal seminary, but later in his ministry switched to more conservative and miraculous positions. He recalls that by the time he attended the liberal seminary, he had almost ceased to believe in God. It was only because he had experienced God's miraculous healing after being in a car accident that he had not lost his faith. He criticized liberal theology for the damage it did to seminary students, but he affirmed that one of its merits is concerning social justice and helping the poor. He says caring for the poor and social justice is a constant focus of God in the Old Testament. On this point, conservative churches can still learn from the churches that hold more liberal views. The conservative churches can do more to advocate for social justice and to help the poor.

This type of liberal theology includes the social evangelicals that were once popular in Europe and America. The so-called Social Gospel was also popular in China in the 1940s. They advocated participation in social reform and social relief. They advocated breaking down the systemic injustices of society to help the poor. They wanted to be helpful “in the world” but gradually forgot that the church is “not of the world.” It went too far and gradually lost the spiritual position of the church. Many of these Christian organizations gradually degenerated themselves into welfare institutions. In other words, they are “in the world” to the point of being “of the world”. If you look at the YMCA, which was once a powerful organization of evangelism, you now see a community center for sports. This is also the case for the Salvation Army and many other organizations.

Therefore, the LCM has borrowed from the failings of the Social Gospels in an effort to avoid becoming secular welfare organizations. It is said that in the early Gospel meetings in Taiwan, the LCM publicly declared that their churches did not provide free rice or other welfare like many other churches do, but only provided pure Gospel; the number of people at the next meeting was greatly reduced. It is obvious that the LCM attaches great importance to the purity of the church, and for this purpose they do not advocate the church's participation in politics.

The African American Church

Fourth, we will look at the views of the African American church on politics.

Our course on church history at the UTS included a special course on the history of the African American church in the United States, so I have a slight understanding of the history of the African American church. The history of the African American church has been one of blood and tears. From the first African American slaves secretly learning the Bible and praying, to the rise of African American pastors and churches and the persecution from mainstream churches, to the later civil rights movement in which the church became the central organizing force, the African American church played a very important role in the Civil Rights Movement. The famous Martin Luther King, for example, was a pastor of a church. My personal observation is that the African American church is very politically engaged. And the politics that African American churches engage in tend to be more left-wing and possibly related to the liberal theology. This can be seen in the numbers of the 2016 elections. Only 8 percent of African Americans voted for Trump. The Democratic Party, with its focus on welfare and social equality, has traditionally been supported by African Americans. The percentage of African American people who are Christian is very high, according to certain reports. I don't have exact statistics, but I have heard that 70 percent of African American people in the Baltimore area are Christian. I met a number of African American pastors at our seminary. We became friends on Facebook, and I saw that many of them were staunchly anti-Trump and politically active on the left side. The African American church also has conservative members who support Trump, but they are a minority. I deeply sympathize with the struggles of the African American church throughout its history and have many close friends who are African American pastors. I have absolutely no motive here to criticize the African American church, but simply to describe my observations.

My observation is that the African American church in general has been more influenced by the participation of liberal theology in society, and this, along with the rise of liberation theology in South America, has been very popular. Both had a positive impact on social change during the Civil Rights movement in the United States and the anti-colonial movement in South America respectively. Both black theology and liberation theology played an important role in emancipating those who are persecuted in the US and South America.

But because the African American church is too focused on improving the discrimination against and status of their own race, it has also turned a blind eye to some extent, failing to see God's greater role in politics through Trump. It is through President Trump that American society has tried to stop the left and stop anti-God agendas such as abortion and homosexuality from dominating the political and social processes of the United States. The past and present wounds inflicted on African American Christians and the African American church are indisputable, but on the other hand, the wounds and the bitterness caused by them may also become a stronghold set up by the evil spirits. We must acknowledge the previous hurt of the African American church and people, but we must move beyond this to receive healing from the Lord. We must not allow the hurts and unforgiveness to be used by the enemy.

Pentecostals

Fifth, we look at the views on politics of some Pentecostal preachers. Compared to evangelicals, the Christians in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are more politically engaged. I will cite only one prophet, Lance Wallnau, and in particular the 7 Mountain Mandate, which he and others have proposed. Since I left the LCM in 2015, I have studied and observed in different American Pentecostal churches and attended many special meetings of the Pentecostal church. I also attended many of the meetings where Lance Wallnau was a speaker, so I often listened to his messages online. His so-called "Seven Mountains Mandate Theory" advocates that Christians actively participate in politics and other social fields, including education, religion, family, business, government/military, art/entertainment, and media. These seven fields are known as the Seven Mountains. The main argument of this theory is that Jesus calls on us to be the light of the mountains, and that Christians are to actively enter the world to be influential figures on the seven mountains, thus positively influencing society.

You have to understand the state of American society in recent decades to understand where this doctrine comes from and why it has become so popular among Pentecostal churches. For decades, leftists and homosexuals in the United States have become a vocal minority because of their active participation in society and frequent protests. In the media, especially in the arts/entertainment sector, homosexuality has become a big voice. For example, a Christian baker in the United States experienced a very difficult time because he would not make a cake for a gay couple. As a result, he was sued and his business suffered.

These pastors and teachers in the Pentecostal camp learned that traditional churches do not participate actively in the political process. Based on the reality of American society, they draw a conclusion that because Christians do not participate in politics and hide in an ivory tower of spiritual pursuit, it results in a vacuum. In this vacuum, anti-God people occupy the media, art/entertainment, education, family, business, government/military, and even religion. Therefore, they actively advocated that Christians abandon the past position of not participating in politics and occupy every field with an active attitude of joining public affairs-- that they be in the world but not of the world. They encouraged each Christian to choose his own "mountains" to occupy according to his own gift and God's calling, and to be an influential person on those mountains. The purpose is not for personal success, but to influence society by occupying such a mountain and becoming salt and light to the people around us. These differing views influence churches all over the country.

Churches and Donald Trump

During the 2016 election, Pentecostal preachers began supporting Donald Trump from the very early stages. In addition, he received considerable support from Christians across all denominations in the United States. Stephen Strang, the founder of Charisma Magazine, a Pentecostal Magazine, described the convergence of Trump and Pentecostalism in a recent article titled "Why Most Pentecostals Back Trump." Trump, who wanted to run in 2012, sought Christian support. In the evenings, when he was free, he watched Pentecostal televangelists. One of them was Paula White, a Florida based Pentecostal evangelist. After Trump watched her show, he called Paula White. Paula White gathered a number of Pentecostal leaders, including Christian leaders gifted with the gift of prophecy, to pray for Trump. After some time in prayer, they said that God had told them that 2012 was not the right time for Trump to run, so they advised him to wait. Trump followed their advice, and in 2016 he asked them again to pray to God. When they prayed, they felt that God's time had come for Trump to go out and run.

After Mr. Trump's first election, I attended a prayer gathering for him in Washington, the nation's capital, organized by the POTUS Shield. The event invited key Pentecostal leaders and many prophets to pray for President Trump after his first election. (POTUS stands for President of the United States, and the group aims to offer intercessory support to Mr. Trump.) One of the group's founders, Frank Amedia, a Pentecostal prophet, said he had a divine revelation while helping Mr. Trump campaign before he was elected. He wrote the prophecy in a note that he handed to Mr. Trump to read on the plane. The note read, "God says if you humble yourself, you will be the next President of the United States." There were many such prophecies, all of which said that Trump was chosen by God. I could give you a lot of examples, but that's not the point.

The point I'm making is that talking about whether Christians should participate in politics right now is hard to separate from being for or against Trump. Because Trump is such a controversial figure, the US has acquired the phrase "silent Trumpist". If you openly support Trump's words, you may be attacked, alienated, and misunderstood by the mainstream media and people around you, because so many people in society are against Trump. Many people quietly support Trump, but are afraid to express their views publicly.

One man told me that he had already seen some Chinese American churches split over their attitude towards Trump. Some churches have avoided such internal strife by taking the attitude that the church should not participate, and that individual Christians must choose their own political positions. Individual political attitudes are individual political attitudes, they argue, but the church should not take a collective stance. This would preserve the church's spiritual position and keep it from getting caught up in political disputes.

But there are also people who are against this view.  “Don't worry that if you support Trump from the podium, your church will lose some supporters and followers,” said Mario Marillo, an active advocate for churches teaching their followers to support Mr. Trump. “If Mr. Biden takes office, you might lose your church.” What he said is by no means an exaggeration, because the suppression of Christian power is real. If the left, represented by Biden, is in power, the Christian influence in the United States will be greatly suppressed. So both sides are treating the presidential election as a battle to the death. I personally feel the same way. This is a decisive battle for Christian freedom in America that will decide the future of America and the future of the world. God has shown me many visions of the Great Revival to come, including a Great Revival in the United States, China, and the Middle East. I am convinced that the election of President Trump is a divine intervention to prepare the international political environment for the great revival that is to come. In a strange dream, God took me to Trump's office, where I felt God's presence. I felt that this was God confirming to me that Trump was His chosen one. So at this point, I chose to actively endorse Mr. Trump. By this day (March 23, 2021) Trump is not in the White House but I am still believing that God will intervene and bring Trump back to the White House supernaturally.

But many of the people around me are deeply educated by the LCM, so their attitude towards politics is more reserved. In addition, the LCM does not hold an official  position, leaving individuals to make their own political decisions. As a former member of the LCM, I understand the reasons and considerations for their position. I also see individuals supporting Trump and Biden.

I still agree with the view of the LCM that we should take the lessons of the Social Gospel and not fall into the trap of making church a political or social organization and losing the spiritual side of it.

But I personally accept the Seven Mountains theory and believe that Christians should be actively involved in politics and changing society. Churches should get involved in politics and make it clear that they are taking a stand. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil (Matthew 5:37). This is what the Lord Jesus himself said. Personally, I think it is wrong not to say what should be said. I know from personal experience that we often do not take a stand on many things. It is not because we do not have a stand, but because we are weak and do not dare to take a stand. We are afraid of losing the church, we are afraid of losing the status and salary of the pastor, we are afraid of losing followers, we are afraid of being persecuted if we participate in politics, we are afraid of being attacked, we are afraid of getting into disputes with people and so on. Too often, we are afraid to engage in politics and take a stand out of fear, not spirituality.

If this election is a showdown between God and Satan that will determine the future of America and the world for hundreds of years to come, then silence is appeasement, or even participation.

Of course, my belief that Trump represents God’s side and this election is a showdown was not formed within a day. It came after I left the LCM and went to a lot of Pentecostalist activities, special meetings, and teachings about the Seven Mountains. But many traditional churches and pastors do not teach these spiritual battles from the podium, so naturally, when election time comes, believers are left to decide for themselves. However, do not forget that many believers look at the media for information and are therefore influenced by the media. We also know that a lot of the media in the United States is opposed to God's agenda, so many Christians don't get a good spiritual education. They don't know why they should support Trump or what God's will is. In the end, many believers have made their own choices based on their own personal preferences, personal interests, and the media agenda. This, I have to say, is a natural consequence of the idea that the church does not participate in politics. Even though people say the church should be not involved in politics, the church is still involved. If the churches do not teach believers how to make right choices, many believers will be deceived by the media. In other words, the church, in the name of "church non-participation in politics," is actually abdicating their opportunity and responsibility to educate believers to make divine choices. If this election is a spiritual battle, the church that fails to educate its followers will be partly an accomplice to its enemies, so God will hold us accountable.

This is not a condemnation, but a spiritual fact. The left is pro-gay and pro-choice, with millions of babies said to have been aborted in the United States over the past few decades. To support the left is to support homosexuality and abortion indirectly, which is not a position a Christian should take. And God's choice of Trump as president is just the tip of the iceberg of what God intends to do in the next few decades. The Great Revival is just around the corner, as evidenced by the many dreams and visions God had given me, and by the words spoken to me personally by the Lord and the Holy Spirit. God doesn't just say this to me. He says it to many people with prophetic gifts. But many churches do not accept the gifts of the prophets, which is part of the problem. “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint but blessed is he who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18). Many churches ignore the prophetic gifts that God has restored to the church in the last 100 years, especially in the last few decades, and that is why they don't hear God speak in a timely manner.

The church urgently needs to reevaluate the Pentecostal  movement, especially the prophetic movement, and open itself up to prophetic gifts. I know that the prophetic movement itself has lots of issues, but they have made much progress in the last few decades. Many churches and church leaders need to pray before the Lord, ask these questions, and seek the Holy Spirit's guidance. Don't forget the story of the race between the hare and the tortoise. We may become the hare while belittling the tortoise. That was the shock I felt when I went from the LCM to the Pentecostal churches. I realized that, while I thought I knew a lot of truth in the LCM, the Pentecostal churches have made great progress in some areas. Therefore, I strongly desire to pursue learning these truths. In addition to taking prophetic courses and healing courses, I am currently enrolled in the Randy Clark Scholar doctoral program at the United Theology Seminary. My project there is to compare the prophesying practices in the LCM with the prophesying practices of Pentecostal churches. My personal view is that the practice of prophesying in a forthtelling way in the LCM, including Pray Reading and calling on the Lord's name, helps believers to build a foundation of biblical truth, practice good spiritual practices, and become holier. It is well worth it for other churches to learn, including Pentecostal churches. These practices can help the believers to grow more in holiness, spirituality, and life growth. At the same time, the practice of the Pentecostalist prophecy in a foretelling way can help believers unlock the gift of the prophecy, receive supernatural revelation from God, provide guidance for the church to move forward, and give comfort and encouragement to individual believers, so it is well worth learning for the LCM and  other evangelical churches. The Lord Jesus appeared to me in a dream and told me that two rivers were about to converge, which was also a confirmation of what I am trying to do.

Politics and Love

Finally, we come back to Romans 13:8-10 about loving one another. I know it's hard to get involved in politics because different political views can be divisive. But this is an opportunity for us to learn more about love. I agree with Christians being involved in politics, but I do not agree with the extreme language of many Christians on the right who criticized the left. We are not engaged in a physical battle, but a spiritual one. Even those who are used by the enemy are created in God's image, and God wants them to enter the kingdom. I have been praying every morning not only for President Trump, but also for Mr. Joe Biden, hoping that the people he represents will repent and enter the kingdom of God.

Romans 13:11-12 says, “...the hour has come for you to wake from sleep... The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

To be involved in politics is not to give up love; to participate in politics requires a higher degree of love. Once you get involved in politics, you suddenly find yourself facing a lot of different people. All of this will require you to love not only those who disagree with you, but also your enemies. In other words, staying out of politics comes from a fear of exposing our inability to love. Staying out of politics is ostrich policy. It's not love. It's fear of not being able to love. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Therefore, whatever comes from fear is not from God.

We will open ourselves up to more attacks when we engage in politics. Attacks come not only from people with different opinions, but also from evil spirits. Some have recognized that it is God's will for them to be involved in politics, but they are afraid to take a stand. If this is you, I pray that God will give you a strong spirit that will dare to speak and proclaim your views. Don't get caught up in any kind of political correctness or false religious masks. Yes means yes and no means no. Don't be afraid to stand up for your biblical views.

Fortunately, we have observed that this presidential election has caused many Christians to become politically active and engaged. This is also part of the will of the Lord in the process of awakening the church and believers. When the Church is no longer asleep, the Great Revival is not far behind. So I say again that the fight over Trump's presidency is just the tip of the iceberg of many things that God is going to do in order to prepare everyone and wake up the church. Time will tell. I still believe God will intervene.

My Personal Testimony and Politics

I was born and raised in China and am now a citizen of the United States. Like many Chinese immigrants, we did not have a strong desire to participate in politics in America since we did not come from a democratic country. It took many years to become a citizen of the US, so we usually stayed outside of American politics since we were not citizens for many years. But things changed when I became a U.S. citizen. God called me to be involved in politics, especially in China. I knew I had a calling to evangelize China, but I had never thought of a way to participate in the democratic movement in China. However, several prophetic dreams from God caused me to reconsider my stance.

In one of the prophetic dreams, I was riding a bicycle. A bicycle or other type of vehicle in a prophetic dream often represents a ministry we have. In the dream, I then saw a couple Chinese Democratic dissidents chasing me on bikes as well. I was a little uneasy as I had never involved myself with them, even in the US. Many Chinese immigrants take this stand as well. Some do not like them and others are just afraid to be involved with them due to fear of family members in China being persecuted. When these dissidents finally caught me, they expressed their appreciation for my preaching and books which greatly influenced their effort in this democratic movement. I was surprised by the dream because they were 50 years old. I asked them how this was possible since I myself am not over 50 years old.

Later I realized that this was a prophetic dream- God was showing me that my ministry will have a huge impact on them.

In another prophetic dream, I was dropped down from the air into a chimney at my college in China. God often uses my college or other places I lived in China to represent China in my dreams. I worked at my college for a few years before I left China. This chimney is not actually at the college. These were all images to explain something. No one will come into your house through a chimney except Santa Claus. Santa Claus is a figure associated with Christmas, and Christmas is the birth day of Jesus. So this means I was trying to preach the Gospel to the Chinese people.

However, people in the building were so surprised to see me coming through the chimney and reacted strongly. I was forced to come back. It represented the obstacles I will be facing in preaching the Gospel in China.

In the next scene, I was able to miraculously land on the campus by a tree near this building with a chimney. I saw great battles happening but eventually found myself resting on a bed. By this bed, I saw a former colleague from my college who is a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and an alumni in the US who is a democratic dissident. They were talking with me in peace while I rested on the bed. I felt that this means China will have a great transformation in politics after the great revival in China. China may even become a democratic nation. The tension between those who support or oppose the CCP will be reconciled.

In another recent vision I had several months ago, I was shown that a great revival will come to China. It will eventually transform China into a democratic country. In the last scene of this vision, I saw a fish type monster wrapped in a green military uniform the size of a dolphin. It was bound and taken away by some angels. In this vision, I asked if this was the CCP and the answer was yes. This vision showed me that eventually China will experience a great political change, and the Gospel and revival will play an important role in it.

This is all out of my norm. I was taught to not participate in politics, and I was afraid to stand for justice as well. But I started to realize that my calling to be part of this great revival in China is involved in politics whether I am ready or not. It is like St. Patrick in the old days. His evangelizing efforts in Ireland were greatly involved with politics at that time. He was facing many dangers. Being involved in politics, especially in a country where the Gospel has not been fully preached, is dirty and bloody, but it is necessary.

Politics in the US is much more civil than it was in the time of St. Patrick or how it is now in China. It is because the American people have the firm foundation of the founding fathers of this country and the history of Western Christian tradition and heritages. Those of us privileged to live in the US need to realize that we are very fortunate here to have the freedom that we enjoy, so we must stand up to fight for that freedom.

 

 

[1] https://cftfc.com/%E9%99%84%E4%BB%B6%E4%BA%8C%EF%BC%9A%E5%9C%B0%E6%96%B9%E6%95%99%E6%9C%83%E5%B0%8D%E6%94%BF%E6%AC%8A%E5%8F%8A%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E7%9A%84%E6%85%8B%E5%BA%A6-2/

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 9

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 9

 

The Threefold Office of Christ in Leviticus 9

 

My heart was stirred and inspired by Leviticus 9, which begins in verse 1 with the powerful statement that, “On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the Elders of Israel” (English Standard Version). The subsequent parts of Chapter 9 detail Moses’ induction of Aaron into the Priesthood and his instructions about the offerings and sacrifices to God, and it ends with the appearance of the Glory of God, which consumes the burnt offering. What stands out in this chapter is how the three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, – which, up until this point, had all been held by Moses, – are divided and appointed to separate people. In Leviticus 9 we see those assignments broken down by Moses in the office of Prophet, Aaron as Priest, and the Elders of Israel as King, all of which work together to demonstrate God’s authority and usher His people into His Glory.  

 

Each part of the Threefold Office serves a distinct function in the Old Testament, long before the birth of Christ, just as it did during Jesus’ earthly ministry, when He ultimately fulfilled these roles. The separation of these offices and their duties is similar to the United States Government’s separation of powers into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Moses represents the Prophets that receive God’s Law, which can be likened to Congress’ legislative responsibilities in establishing laws and the Constitution. Aaron represents the Priests, whose mandate is to interpret, explain, and apply God’s Law in the country, comparable to the judicial role the Supreme Court plays. Finally, the Elders of Israel represent the Kings that execute the Law, similar to the executive function undertaken by the President and the Cabinet.    

 

The Threefold Office Exemplified in Moses

 

Every Christian should recognize the threefold responsibilities they possess. Like Moses, we ought to draw close to God daily to know His Law and Statutes. Even though we may not experience God’s Law in the same way, we should remember Moses’ role as a Prophet, who was in direct contact with and received messages from God – with the charge to relay them to others. Although God appointed Aaron as Priest, whose role was to minister to the Lord, especially in the Holy of Holies, Moses also performed these roles, as seen in Numbers 7:89: “And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.” Moses performed the functions of a Priest before Aaron did, and was the one who taught his brother how to be a Priest. The way Moses represented the office of a King can be seen in a couple of ways that are worth noting: first, in how he administered judgement on cases before eventually following his father-in-law’s suggestion to appoint officials who were God-fearing and trustworthy men to serve as judges for the people; and second in his role as an Elder, such as when he led the Israelites out of Egypt. The office of King was later transferred to the Elders of Israel when Moses cried out to God that the burden upon him was too heavy and, “the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders” (Numbers 11:25a).

 

 

Moses possessed within him the three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. He was like a single fruitful seed that grew into a large tree with multiple widespread branches. The roots, branches, and leaves, though they developed from the same seed, performed different functions, just as Moses’ roles as Prophet, Priest, and King, while stemming from the same individual, served different purposes for God’s plans to yield His Fruit. And just as the responsibility to bear fruit is not put solely on one branch, but is divided between all the branches of the tree, so God allowed Moses to share these responsibilities with others, such as sharing the Priesthood role with Aaron, the Prophet role with the rest of Israel (Numbers 11:29), and the Kingship role with the Elders.

 

The Threefold Office Since the Time of Moses

 

After Moses’ death, the threefold offices became increasingly subdivided and specialized, hence only a select few could undertake such responsibilities. For example, only Aaron’s descendants could perform the role of the Priesthood. However, a radical shift took place in the New Testament, when everyone could now participate in the roles of Prophets (1 Corinthians 14:31), Priests (1 Peter 2:9) and Kings (our identity as children of the King of Kings), just as Moses did. As Christians charged with these duties, how do we effectively employ the three offices to glorify God in His fullness?

 

Christians are called to prophesy, to recognize and speak God’s words into whatever situations people are in. In the role of a Priest, Christians are to draw close to God, pray for others, and offer sacrifices to Him. While bringing the reality of God to others, it is also important to bring others into His presence and help them draw closer to Him as well. Christians are called to Kingship, to display God’s authority and power, wherever they go.

 

Returning to our earlier analogy of the small seed that grew into the fruitful tree, in its initial stages, all branches stemmed from the main trunk. However, as the tree grew, these branches continued to split and spread out, and grow further and further away from the trunk. Similarly, the Prophet, Priest, and King roles first branched out from Moses to the people nearest him, such as Aaron (who was both Priest and Prophet according to Exodus 4:16) and Miriam (a Prophetess according to Exodus 15:20). God spoke to them both through dreams and visions, though He only spoke to Moses directly (Exodus 33:11).

 

By the time of the Prophet Elijah, the roles of Priests, Prophets, and Kings had become more distinctive and clearly defined, like branches growing increasingly distant from the main trunk, and each other, as a tree grows. As seen again and again throughout the Bible, the Prophets advised Kings against sin, and evil Kings often attempted to get rid of Prophets. Kings who went against the authority of the Priests were also severely punished by God, clearly seen in the case of King Uzziah, who was a good king who grew prideful and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense, despite knowing this could only done by Priests, and was then struck with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:19). However, in the case of King David, he also served in the roles of Prophet and Priest.

 

Distinctions and Similarities in the Roles of Priests and Prophets

 

Leviticus 8 informs us that Moses followed God’s instructions to prepare Aaron and His sons to be consecrated and ordained for their duties as Priests. This was immediately followed at the beginning of Chapter 9 by Aaron presenting the sin offering, burnt offering and peace offering to the Lord on the eighth day, affirming the close relations between Priesthood, Prophecy, and Kingship.

 

Priesthood leads over the office of the Prophet. Why do we say that? Priests serve and draw close to God, while presenting offerings and sacrifices on behalf of man to Him, allowing God to pardon the sin of man and allowing man to draw close to God. This is the essence of the Law of the Old Testament, which was given through Moses (John 1:17). God first told Moses the Law, but when the Israelites sinned against God by worshipping the golden calf, it was Moses who pleaded with God to not destroy the Israelites by reminding God that He brought them out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand. Moses also asked God, “why should the Egyptians say, ‘with evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth?’” (Exodus 32:12). The Lord then relented from the disaster he had spoken of bringing on the Israelites. This is the role of the Priest, to plead on behalf of the people. Indeed, Prophets also play similar roles, as in the example of Prophet Abraham pleading on behalf of Lot. However, the role of Priests is still higher than that of Prophets, as seen by Prophet Abraham offering sacrifices to Priest Melchizedek. In Leviticus 9, Moses, serving as both a Prophet and Priest, is clearly in a position of leadership over Aaron as both a Priest and a Prophet.

 

There are many overlapping functions of Priests and Prophets, such as knowing God, drawing close to God and man, and using knowledge of God and the Law to serve people by helping them get to know Him more intimately. Jesus serves as another example of a Priest being more important than a Prophet. Jesus is both the high priest (1 Timothy 2:5) and a prophet. Without prophecy, we would not know God and His Law, but without a Priest, the Great High Priest of Jesus mediating between God and man, we would never be able to bridge the gulf created by sin, making Priesthood responsibilities of top priority for believers.

 

Our charge as Priests is to serve as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). As such, the job of a Priest is to draw man close to God through offering and sacrifice and to serve as a mediator between God and man. In the Old Testament, the daily blood sacrifice only temporarily covered sins, but did not take them away completely. However, Jesus provided the sacrifice required “once for all” when He died on the Cross for our sins (Hebrew 7:27). While Christians are neither Christ nor the Old Testament Priests, we are still duty-bound to intercede on behalf of others who have sinned, praying for them to receive salvation bought through the Blood of Christ.

 

 

Priests Atone for their Own Sin First

 

Leviticus 9 records the details of the instructions Moses gave Aaron to follow in offering sacrifices when he inducted him into the Priesthood, which sheds light on how we can better serve as Priests to God and our fellow man, and cross-apply these learnings into our roles as Prophets and Kings as well.

 

The first thing that Moses told Aaron to do was to take for himself “a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord” (Leviticus 9:2), which is the first responsibility of a Priest: to use a blemish-free animal to atone for his own sin. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the perfect, blemish-less Sacrificial Lamb that atones for the sins of Christians.

 

Next, Moses instructs Aaron to say to the people of Israel, “take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord is going to appear to you” (Leviticus 9:3-4).

 

The Lord’s Glory was to appear to the Israelites. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called “the radiance of the Glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). For the Glory of God to emanate from man, man needs to be free of sin, as there is no room for sin in a perfect God. In the Old Testament, sin was atoned for through sacrifices, and in the New Testament, Jesus’ blood atones for believers’ sins. On the one hand, God offered a single sacrifice for all sins for all time through the death of Christ, but on the other hand, our flesh and soul continue to be sinful, which requires daily confession, repentance, and cleansing of sin. This necessitates that we delve deeper to better understand the different aspects of sin atonement through the different sacrifices. 

 

Leviticus 9:8-14 details how Aaron presents sacrifice for himself, including: 1) killing the calf of the sin offering, 2) pouring the blood at the base of the altar, 3) burning the fat, kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering on the altar, 4) burning the flesh and skin outside the camp, 5) killing the male lamb for the burnt offering for the Priests, 6) spilling blood against the sides of the altar, 7) piece by piece burning the burnt offering on the altar, and finally, 8) washing the entrails and legs and placing these parts on top of the burnt offering at the altar. These are the details of the sacrifices made by Aaron himself, which are important, as they reflect the many different parts within man’s fleshly body and soul that need to be cleansed of sins. While believers have received Christ in our hearts, our hearts are not entirely Holy because there are many parts that have not yet been yielded to Christ. For example, our thoughts, emotions, and self-will are three significant parts of our lives that need to be surrendered to Christ to experience His Grace and forgiveness. Emotional aspects such as unforgiveness, not loving our neighbors as ourselves, hatred, and envy also need to be transformed by the grace of God.

 

Dissecting Ourselves First in Order to Minister to Others

 

The issues of the body, soul, and spirit are often intertwined, which further highlights our need for Christ to be our Great High Priest. In Hebrews 4:12 it says, “for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The author of the book of Hebrews is using the analogy of the knife the Priest utilizes to dissect the sacrificial animal to describe the Word of God that pierces and examines our innermost being. This dissecting is meant to help us better understand ourselves and better appreciate the saving grace of God. For example, when we first believed in Christ, there were some things that we repented of, but as time goes on, we may be suddenly reminded of an old offence we committed against someone. This could be the prompting of the Holy Spirit that reminds us to deepen our repentance in a particular area.

 

To offer a sacrifice, a Priest needs to understand how to use the knife to dissect the sacrificial animal for the offerings. Before they can treat patients, a doctor must first dissect a cadaver in order to understand the interconnected parts and functions of the body. Similarly, to fulfill the role of a Priest according to the New Testament, we need to be able to dissect ourselves thoroughly, experience the full grace of God, and be transformed from the inside out, in order to be in a healthy position to help others do the same.   

 

This is also why Aaron had to first offer sacrifices for himself before he could do so on behalf of the Israelites. Now, we look at how Aaron presented these sacrifices. Once Aaron experienced the dissecting of the sacrifices that he had offered, he was then in a better position to dissect the sacrifices for the other Israelites. In the New Testament, the Priest’s role is likened to that of a doctor’s, recognizing our own sinful nature and need for a savior, and then helping others to see the same within themselves and turn to God. A person who has not undergone the process of dissecting oneself spiritually would not be able to help other Christians on the same journey. Remember, grace is from God, but different people experience the same grace to different degrees.

 

Leviticus 9:15-21 details the offering of sacrifices done by Aaron on behalf of the Israelites. The details include: 1) killing and offering the calf and lamb for the sin offering, 2) scattering the blood on the altar, 3) cutting the parts to be burnt at the altar, 4) killing and presenting the goat as a sin offering, 5) presenting the grain offering, 6) killing and presenting the ox and ram as a peace offering, 7) throwing the blood against the side of the altar, 8) removing the fatty tail, the fat which covers the entrails, the kidneys, and the long lobe of liver, and then putting them on the breast and burning the fat pieces on the altar, and lastly, 9) using the breast and right thigh as a wave offering.  

 

 

When reading God’s word, we need to avoid getting lost in the details of scripture, but instead identify the key learning points from these details. The different parts of the animals presented as sacrifices represent the different problems that people bring to God. If anyone seeks help from us (in our roles as Priests), they may not feel able to fully share their issues. Therefore, we should be able to see beyond their words and understand the situation at a deeper level through the power of the Holy Spirit, which requires the development of yet another area that Christians have access to – the gift of prophecy.

 

Understanding the Gift of Prophecy

 

If God’s desire is to cut to the heart of our innermost thoughts and being, this spiritual dissection is achieved not merely through the dismembering and offering of sacrifices, but also through the work of prophecy. God uses His Words, spoken through His Prophets, to divide the issues of men like a knife divides the parts of the sacrifice; not only through His written (Logos) Word, but also through Living (Rhema) Words that release the knife or sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).

 

God’s Law and Word were first shared through Moses, and many more of the Old Testament books were written by the Prophets. Even Prophets who did not pen any Books of the Bible still received Rhema Words. If someone claims to be a Prophet but does not possess Rhema, nor have a deep or even supernatural understanding of their own self and others, it is unlikely that they are truly a Prophet. They need to understand the internal workings and even hidden thoughts of people, to allow them to be vulnerable and wholeheartedly entrust their worries to God. Prophets need to know the Logos Word of God, but also possess the Living Word of God.

 

I had the opportunity to participate in Global Awakening’s Prophetic Certification Course. Randy Clark, the founder, shared his testimony during one session. At first, Randy did not believe nor accept that the modern Church could still have Prophets. However, things changed when he was praying for a sister in Christ at a Toronto Blessing gathering. His prayer had little impact. One of his fellow travelling companions, a Prophet named Larry Randolph, then offered to pray for the woman. While praying, he prophesied something that the sister had kept secret, causing her to finally open up emotionally and receive the prayer, which went on to have a profound effect on her life. This incident impacted Randy tremendously, and it became the driving force behind his ministry to promote prophecy.  

 

 

In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses told the Israelites that the Lord would raise up for them a Prophet like himself from amongst them. Most of the time, it is interpreted that Moses here refers to Jesus Christ, and that He is also a Prophet. However, Moses also said that all the Lord’s people can be Prophets (Numbers 11:29). In Acts, Peter quoted the words of Joel’s prophecy that, “‘in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). While this shows the presence of Prophets in the New Testament, many traditional Churches are still unable to accept this. Of course, not everyone is called to be a Prophet (1 Corinthians 12:29), but all Christians have the ability to prophesy by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:31).

 

 

Even though Aaron was a Priest, he was also a Prophet, likened to the Prophet of Moses. In the words of God, Moses was like Aaron’s God, and Aaron was like Moses’ Prophet. The role of the Prophet links closely to the role of Kingship. For example, King Saul and King David were both appointed by the Prophet Samuel. The functions of Prophets and Priests overlap in many areas and are often interlinked. When both offices are fully developed, a Christian is better able to lead a spirit-filled life and glorify God in all aspects. He or she can be a co-king with Christ and subdue the earth.

 

 

Leviticus 9:22-24 writes that after Aaron completed the offering ritual, he lifted his hands towards the people and blessed them. The glory of God then appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and pieces of fat on the altar. When the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. This image is glorious. As the Church and Christians use their Prophetic, Priesthood, and Kingship giftings, one day the Glory of God will descend and be seen throughout the Church.

Bible Study With Jairus - Acts 11

Bible Study With Jairus - ACTS 11

Acts 11 tells three stories. In the first, Peter takes six fellow believers to Cornelius’s home to bring salvation to Cornelius and all his household. He also baptized them with the Holy Spirit. The second story talks about the advancement of the Gospel by those who were suffering because of the persecution that arose over Stephen. Barnabas also went to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch. In the third story, a prophet named Agabus foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over the entire Roman world.

Our focus today is that we should pay attention to the working of the Holy Spirit, especially the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We also need to pay attention to the ways that the Holy Spirit communicates with us, including visions, dreams, trances, and so on. Before we talk about this, I want to provide a personal point of reference for this discussion. Let me start by explaining how our Bible study group operates in hopes that it will be a help to others who lead Bible Studies.

Our Bible study is usually led by a man or woman who gives a brief summary of the Scripture in the beginning. Everyone takes a turn leading in order to achieve a better understanding of the Scripture as well as to give everyone a chance to practice speaking for God. Leading a Scripture reading session causes the leader to prepare for sharing in two ways. The first is summarizing the background and the basic information of the Scripture to share with the group. The leader may also add some thoughts that they learned from other Bible teachers. This step is very helpful for both the new believers who do not have much Bible knowledge and for those who wish to grow in their knowledge of the Bible. Those who wish to grow can learn to lead a Bible study and share what they have learned from this chapter. Their sharing will help those who are new to the Bible. This also helps those who are sharing to realize they need more understanding.

The second step in preparation, which is a more advanced aspect, is to pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit to give you new understanding and thoughts about the Scripture. The unfolding of God’s words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130) In other words, I try to help the group leaders to grow in their understanding of the Bible and receive Rhema words from the Holy Spirit. [“A rhema word is a specific word which the Holy Spirit quickens in our hearts and minds at a specific time and for a specific purpose. We receive a rhema word from God when the Holy Spirit specifically reminds us of a particular Bible verse or promise, and drops that “word” into our heart.”- Kenny Gatlin] I often show them an example of how to do this. We often get timely Rhema words from the Holy Spirit in our reading sessions.

Providing a Scripture summary in the first step gives newcomers a good introduction to the Bible. And in the second step, the illumination of the Holy Spirit is a fresh bread of life for mature Christians who may find that a basic introduction of the Bible is not enough for their spiritual growth. Most of them have heard the same Bible stories many times already. After the beginning part led by a man or a woman, we will start to discuss our weekly Bible reading with a Q & A session. Sometimes the leader provides a topic and we write down our thoughts based on the topic; otherwise, we write down questions and discuss them together. The following question is a question that was asked by a new believer. He asked, “Why were the disciples first called Christians in Antioch?”

It seems like a simple question- the answer is that the word “Christian” had a negative meaning in that time.

This question did not contain any inspiration from the Holy Spirit at that moment. It was just about historical knowledge. Since the new believers did not have that knowledge, we explained a bit. We have discussed many questions at this level to help the new believers gain more Bible knowledge.

The next question is why does it say Barnabas “was” a good man. (Acts 11:24) My answer is this. The Bible does not tell what happened to Barnabas after he had a disagreement with Paul. Luke, the author of Acts, was one of Paul’s disciples. Arguments between Christian leaders will often have a strong impact on their followers. It is true today and it was true in Bible times. It is my suspicion that Luke might have known more about Barnabas’s weaknesses than he wrote about here. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is kind; He does not want to mention man’s weaknesses unless they are helpful to later generations. (God recorded various sins as lessons to believers, such as Moses hitting the rock a second time and David’s sin with Bathsheba).

I mentioned in another Bible study that Barnabas’ calling was to help Paul and to bring him center stage. The Bible mentions that only Barnabas accepted Paul when he was converted (Acts 9). It was also Barnabas who went to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch (Acts 11:25-26).

Kindness is also one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If we look closely, we can see that many things were dealt with in the same way in the Bible. I don’t think Barnabas made a huge mistake when he had a disagreement with Paul. But it was his time to leave the stage and let Paul become the leading apostle. God used Barnabas as a transition and his duty had been fulfilled. Another example is John the Baptist ushering in the ministry of Jesus; when Jesus started his ministry, John’s mission was fulfilled.

When this second question was asked, I tried to share some inspiration I received from the Holy Spirit instead of just presenting knowledge. However, it was the last question asked that is the main focus and inspiration we got from this Bible study.

The question was “Was [Peter’s] trance a soul out of body experience or a spirit out of body experience in verse 5?” We were reading the Chinese version of the Bible during our Bible study. The version we used renders the word “trance” as a “soul out of body experience” and it is how “trance” was commonly translated into Chinese. However, this brother saw some comments online in Chinese that this should be translated as a “spirit out of body experience.”

Let me give you another example to illustrate this question better. I heard Pat Robertson answer a question on his program the 700 Club. One listener asked if our soul will go to heaven as well. Pat answered that our soul will not be in heaven as we are a spiritual man. Pat is a respected man of God. However, I don’t agree with his view on this. Our soul is valuable and will enter into heaven. Our soul is so precious that Jesus gave up his soul life to save our souls’ lives. If our soul will not go to heaven, why bother paying such a high price to save our souls? Yes, we are a spirit and we have eternal life in our spirit. But our soul will be transformed just as our body will one day be transfigured. We will become a new tripartite being once we are in Heaven.

I understand this is a controversial topic in American Christianity. But as an example, let me present the value of our souls in dreams and visions. I think we have to use both our spirits and souls to receive revelations through trances, dreams, and visions. Why do I say this?

Let’s talk about the difference between dreams and visions. The book of Daniel says dreams are night visions (Daniel 7:2). Visions include internal visions, or the images from inside your head, and external visions that can be seen by your eyes. I have never experienced external visions, but I experienced internal vision once during the day. In 2013, my wife had new job opportunities open up in different cities. We were seeking God’s guidance on whether we should leave Maryland. One day, we were driving to New York to visit a traditional Chinese medical center. My wife was not able to conceive during that time. On the way to New York, I suddenly saw a flow of water come out from between us and rise in a spiral up to the sky. It was like a tornado. I felt it was God telling us to stay. He later told me that there would be a revival in Maryland and that this revival would spread out from us in the future.

I have also had more prophetic dreams, or night visions. I will give two examples. In one of the prophetic dreams, I took my wife to look for her father in a strange place. We went to a place that looked like a Chinese style temple. The people there were very welcoming. My wife walked inside to look for her father and left me outside talking to an elderly lady at the entrance. I asked the lady where I was: was this place a pagan temple where people worshipped idols or a church type of building? She showed me she was studying a large print Chinese Bible. My father-in-law died from a cerebral hemorrhage suddenly when my wife was in college. I never met him. My wife had some arguments with him before he died. She was not a believer at that time. His sudden passing was very traumatic for her and she worried her father would be in hell. This prophetic dream brought much healing to her heart.

I remembered all the details in the dream after I woke up so I wrote them down. Interestingly, my wife dreamed of her father on the same night. She was so happy to see him in the dream, even though she did not remember other details.

I had another prophetic dream in which a couple from my Bible Study group and I were taken by the Holy Spirit to Heaven. The wife had a big house there. The house was surrounded by grape trees and every tree was fruitful. A grape vine grew on the wall and became one with the wall. We picked some fruit while the wife was showing me around her home. There was a music box on the wall besides the main door that could play beautiful music. I later told this woman of how I was taken to Heaven in this prophetic dream to see her house there. She told me she saw the Lord in one of her dreams around the same time, but she did not see the details I described to her.

As I was telling her what I saw in my dream, I told her that this was possibly a dream about Heaven. The house was her house in Heaven, but not in the world. She was very encouraged. She loves music and listens to music every day. Like my wife, she does not remember any other details from her own dreams, but was encouraged by the details in mine.

 

Unlike the experiences of my wife and this woman, my prophetic dreams (night visions) always come with many details. Apart from praying that God would speak to me through dreams before I sleep every night, I also train myself to wake up and record the dreams immediately once I have them. I sometimes get up a few times to record my dreams because people normally forget dreams in five minutes. The fact that my wife and this woman did not remember much of their dreams does not mean their dreams weren’t prophetic. As I saw in my dreams, they were taken to those places with me. God may allow me to remember these details but sealed the specifics for them. Job 33:14-18 says, “For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.” It is possible that many have dreams but don’t remember and understand them. This happened to both Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar.

Many times people just forget their dreams because they did not write them down immediately. They could also just sleep too deeply to remember what God has been telling them in their dreams. Personally, I have been practicing to keep alert while sleeping and trying to record all the dreams.

Many of our prophetic dreams can be spiritual encounters that are happening in spiritual realms. If our soul is not participating in our dreams, we will not be able to remember anything. The Bible tells us that we were chosen before we were born. This means that our spirit already existed before our soul and body were even created. The Bible also tells us that we have been raised to Heaven with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places (‎Ephesians 2:6). But why do most of us not feel that we are seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places? Most Christians do not have experiences of seeing themselves seated together with Jesus in the heavens, though some have prophesied that it is so. It is because God has not activated our prophetic gift to see this in our spirit. But also our soul is not allowed to remember these experiences even if we experienced them in the spirit. My point is that we must involve both our spirit and our soul to experience what happens in our spiritual encounters.

Joel chapter 2 says the Lord will pour out the Holy Spirit on all flesh, old men shall dream dreams, and young men shall see visions.

Our sleep can be seen as another form of “death.” God took out Adam’s rib to create Eve while he was in a deep sleep. God also spoke to Abraham while he was in a deep sleep. God told him that his descendants would be enslaved for four hundred years in Egypt. Our dreams can be happening in a junction of soul and spirit, as well as in the spiritual and physical worlds.

We need both our spirit and souls to remember the dream. We may have experiences in the spiritual realm, but we need dreams to remember them. Why does God speak to us through dreams? One of the reasons is that we are over occupied during day time and there is interference from the world so that we are not able to hear God clearly. The other reason is that we have worldly responsibilities such as our work. For instance, if God speaks to you or shows you a vision while you are driving, it may cause trouble.

Some Christians in the Charismatic church often practice waiting on the Lord. They wait to hear from God through worshiping, praising, and praying in tongues to exclude external interference so that they are able to see visions. I heard a testimony from an American prophetic teacher when I was taking a prophetic course. He said he often saw visions while waiting on the Lord and became half awake.

One assignment that our teachers gave us during the prophetic course was praying in a quiet place and using our imaginations to see a treasure box that was full of God’s gifts. We were to describe what gifts were in there. I was saved in the Local Church Movement where the focus was more on growing as a Christian and study of the Scriptures. What I learned at this prophetic course was too new for me to understand at first. I was not able to see the box from God at all the first few times I tried. It was during a holiday, but since I was under the pressure of the due date, I decided to kneel down and pray again. After a while, I saw a bed sheet come from Heaven and someone passed me a sword. I recorded this initial vision for my assignment. My teacher was a prophet who advised that the bed sheet represented rest and peace and the sword represented war. She believed that God’s Word for me was to rest in Him; He would give me the weapons I needed to win the spiritual battle.

The reason I am sharing this experience with you is to prove that we are able to connect with the spiritual world, and to show that we can get to know more about the spiritual world through certain prophetic practices. With the prophetic class I took and the help of the Holy Spirit, I gradually opened up more to the spiritual world. Since taking the prophetic classes, I have seen angels and evil spirits, had encounters with Jesus in heaven, and so on. I personally think some of them are real experiences that happened in spiritual realms. They are not only dreams.

What does this have to do with the book of Acts?

Many people have a tendency to focus on the chronicles of Paul or other stories related to evangelism when they read the book of Acts. However, this book also contains miracles, visions, angels, prophecies, and healing which are not discussed at many traditional churches.  However, they play important roles in this book too.

A woman said she could not fully understand most of the context of Acts. For instance, Jesus’s disciples seem weak in the Gospels but they accomplish such great things in the book of Acts.

The focal point in the book of Acts is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can really change a person. As we all know, God formed man of dust from the ground. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of God, and the man became a living soul. The word “breath” can also be translated as “spirit.” Therefore, we can also call our soul the mixture of the spirit of God (or the breath of God) and our flesh. Our first breath was given by God in creation of us, and our second breath will be given by the Holy Spirit when we receive him in our regeneration. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and changes our inner self when we become Christians. And the third breath is the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is not talked about much at some churches. Most of the disciples in the book of Acts have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This experience does give us another level of the breath of God.

Our soul is a form that connects our spirit and our body, so our souls are affected by both our spirit and body. For example, if someone falls down when sick, the physical body affects the soul. Our soul also experiences changes and transformation when our spiritual men are regenerated. Our souls get damaged or even demonized by attacks from evil spirits.  However, there is another kind of change in our soul when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Many churches nowadays are not discussing much about these changes. But there are several examples in the Old Testament, such as Saul who had a life change by the empowering of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says Saul had a new heart and became a different man after the Holy Spirit was upon him. Since this was in the Old Testament, it was not the Holy Spirit in his heart (1 Samuel 10:9). It was the Holy Spirit coming upon him.

I was part of a church that traditionally focused on the growth of our spiritual life. These traditions teach the believers to overcome sin and self through the power of the cross. However, they do not talk about or promote the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I was zealous to pursue spiritual growth and overcome all my sins and weakness through denying myself and practicing bearing my cross. However, I found that many people, including myself, could not overcome certain weaknesses no matter how hard we tried. Later I realized that this was not an area only related to my sins or flesh, but also to the strongholds set up by evil spirits. For example, many Chinese families traditionally worship idols, which brings generational curses to our family lines. In my church background, we did not talk much about deliverance ministries. However, when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I found myself delivered from some of these strongholds or generational curses by the sovereignty of God.

Another story from Randy Clark will also help to illustrate this point. He said he had some sexual sins when he was a young believer. He later repented and regretted his behavior. However, he did not realize he had a need to be delivered from evil spirits until the day he met some deliverance ministers who helped to cast out some demons from him. He then realized it was NOT ONLY his personal weakness in the flesh, but a generational curse or the work of the evil spirits who worked in his family line. He found that many in the past few generations of his family had this similar sexual sin. Once the evil spirits were cast out from him and he went through the deliverance ministries, this generational curse was removed from his family line. He testified that his son and daughters no longer repeat the sins he and his previous family members had committed.

When I reflected on my own experiences, I had much failure in overcoming certain weaknesses or my flesh when I was practicing bearing the cross in my previous denomination. I found myself and many others saying the words, “I was crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) but in reality, we still could not overcome certain issues in our souls. You get to know each other very well once you have been in a local church long enough. You will know many people have never overcome certain issues in their life though they try very hard to bear their crosses. Through my own experiences in both the Local Church Movement and Charismatic churches, I found that both aspects (bearing the cross and the baptism of the Holy Spirit) are needed. As He lives in us, The Holy Spirit can work within us to lead us to experience the cross internally. However, we cannot overlook the fact that the empowering of the Holy Spirit can help us to be free from demons and strongholds when we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We need both the inner working of the Holy Spirit in us and also the empowering of the Holy Spirit upon us. The Holy Spirit will empower us to overcome more of our weaknesses or flesh if we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is not as many people think- that it only empowers us with gifts of the Holy Spirit outwardly to do miraculous things.

You simply cannot leave the Holy Spirit out when you read the book of Acts. You cannot ignore the fact of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You cannot downplay the visions and dreams recorded in the book of Acts. One third of the Bible is about visions and dreams. Many traditional churches do not give room to talk about visions and dreams or the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Teachings and doctrines control the podium instead. This will eventually suffocate the church from having the supernatural experiences recorded in the book of Acts, and even hinder people from growing spiritually in the Lord.

Today, churches are separated by how much they know about the Holy Spirit and how much they are willing to allow the work of the Holy Spirit. We need to give room to the operation of the Holy Spirit and heed the ways that the Holy Spirit uses to convey his message to us. Visions, dreams, and trances are great tools God can use to talk with us. It involves both our spiritual man and our soul to receive this message.

Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 3

Unity and Humility in the Body of Christ.

Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 3

Have you ever wondered why Paul seems to expect Christians to leave behind spiritual childhood, while Jesus expects Christians to become like little children? Paul asked Christians not to be “infants in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1), yet Jesus commanded us all to “turn and become like children” (Matthew 18:3)

Which is it? Does God want us to become mature in Christ, or does he want us to become like little children?

The difference between spirit, soul, and body

To understand the answer to this question, it’s important to understand the difference between the spirit, soul, and body. To grow spiritually, our soul needs to be transformed, but that does not mean our physical self—mind, will, and emotions--remain immature and childish. Our will, along with our IQ and EQ, will continue to grow and develop as we mature.

What is important is for us to maintain “child-like innocence” in our hearts. A person controlled by the Holy Spirit should be very innocent. In other words, Jesus calls for our hearts to remain pure like the heart of a child.

Paul, on the other hand, encourages us to grow and mature, so that we do not remain immature, like an infant. Our souls need to experience transformation and renewal through Christ.

This discussion relates to a correct understanding of the heart, soul, spirit and body, and the ways they are perceived differently by different churches.

In the Local Church Movement (LCM), I was taught that a person has three parts – spirit, soul and body. A person’s soul consists of his mind, emotions and will. A person’s spirit consists of his conscience, fellowship, and intuition. A person’s heart consists of the spirit’s conscience and the soul’s mind, emotions and will.

Whether or not these definitions are complete is a discussion for another time. However, by using these definitions, we can focus the discussion on the difference between spirit and soul.

The founder of the LCM, Watchman Nee, preached that a person has three parts, spirit, soul and body, while other famous preachers from Chinese Churches hold the viewpoint that the spirit and soul are inseparable. One of the most famous preachers who holds such a viewpoint is Indonesian Pastor Stephen Tong. This discussion is present throughout the Western Christian community, where different theologians hold differing viewpoints. However, for today, we will focus on the differences between the teachings of Pastor Stephen Tong’s and those of the LCM.

Pastor Stephen Tong denies the three-part being (spirit, soul and body) and claims that spirit and soul are one. This teaching is more in line with the Chinese culture, and hence more widely accepted by Chinese Christians. Because Chinese culture does not differentiate between spirit and soul, many Chinese Christians have been influenced by this teaching.

 The LCM, on the other hand, believes that Tong’s beliefs are not scripturally sound based on mainly two Bible passages. First, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The original Greek text clearly lists the spirit (‘Pneuma’), soul (‘Psuche’) and body (‘Soma), which are three distinct words in Greek. Second, Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Again, two distinct Greek words, ‘pneuma’ and ‘psuche’, were used to describe spirit and soul. From these two passages, spirit and soul are indeed distinct. 

Pastor Stephen Tong does not agree that Hebrews 4:12 highlights the difference between spirit, soul and body. Instead, he believes that this verse is highlighting the power of God’s word in a metaphorical way. Personally, I tend to agree more with the LCM’s belief on this topic.

Teachings that do not differentiate between the soul and spirit lead believers to identify with their soul but not mature in their spirit. Many first-generation Chinese-American pastors have noticed that first-generation Chinese churches often devolve into a social club, where believers build friendships, share their culture, or even network for business. However, they are often lacking severely in spiritual growth. From my personal observation, this issue may be related to the lack of teaching on the difference between the spirit and the soul.

Watchman Nee’s nephew wrote a biography of his uncle, in which he admits that their teaching on the spirit life is an important strength of the LCM movement. Though the biographer disagrees with the One-City-One-Church principle of LCM, he admires their emphasis on spirit life. He admits that many other Chinese churches tend to be more worldly in their outlook and behaviors.

The LCM is a movement that originated in China but has now spread all over the world. In this discussion, however, I will be mainly referring to the Chinese segment of the LCM movement.

Spiritual exercise

The LCM teaches that we can grow up spiritually and train our spiritual being through “exercising our spirit.” Just like we strengthen our muscles and increase their functionality through physical exercise, we can grow “spiritual muscles” by exercising our spirits.

There are many ways to exercise your spirit. One of the most common ways is to “Call Upon the Name of Jesus” and read God’s word meditatively and prayerfully. After I received Christ, these two methods helped me experience tremendous spiritual growth. However, the reputations of these two methods have been tarnished outside of the LCM. For this reason, people outside the LCM have not had the opportunity to reap the benefits of learning and practicing these spiritual disciplines. At LCM meetings, discussions center around spiritual matters, avoiding the problem of “social club” that many other Chinese American churches are facing. 

Many mainstream American church teachings also adopt the viewpoint that a person has three parts: spirit, soul and body. However, the LCM is unique in several ways. The LCM not only differentiates between spirit and soul, but also between our human spirit and God’s spirit. The LCM is unique in its emphasis of practical ways to exercise and strengthen our spirits. The LCM teaches believers to cleanse their consciences, deal with the flesh, and remove external things that suppress the spirit, thereby achieving breakthrough and growth in the spiritual life. Such an emphasis on exercising the spiritual person is something that I have rarely seen in mainstream American churches. Certain methods of spiritual growth, such as meditation and speaking in tongues, are promoted by preachers in both evangelical and Pentecostal churches in the US; however, the majority of believers in the US do not actually incorporate these practices into their daily lives. However, the LCM helps the believers to put these disciplines into rigorous practice.

 

A very important analogy that we can use to illustrate the LCM’s teaching is that of an apple tree. An apple tree does not need to try hard and exert extra effort to develop apples. It is part of its nature to grow apples. No matter how hard it tries to grow pears, it will not be able to do it.  

However, in the growth process, the tree still needs to be cultivated. If weeds are not removed, fertilizer is not used, and branches are not trimmed, the apple tree will not reach its full potential for producing apples. In the same way, a spirit-filled life can be developed through trimming away things that hinder its natural growth, in order to allow our spiritual growth to reach its full potential. Just like weeds and wilted branches hinder the growth of the apple tree, our sin, guilt, and the flesh hinder our spiritual growth. Through the power of the Cross, we can remove these weeds and live an overcoming life that glorifies God.

Just like the apple tree’s nature is to grow apples, we have Christ’s nature within us, enabling us to live out Christ’s love, light, holiness and righteousness. Hence, we do not need to ‘make extra effort’ to live out these attributes of Christ. But we do need to remove the weeds and wilted branches that hinder the development of the spiritual life.    

Renewal and transformation of the soul

Besides teaching the difference between spirit, soul and body and promoting the exercise of the spiritual man, the LCM also emphasizes the renewal and transformation of the soul. Besides the external factors that can hinder our spiritual growth, such as our sinful, fleshly self, a lot of hindrances also stem from the unrenewed mindset of the soul. As such, the LCM emphasizes the transformation and renewal taught in Romans 12:1. This verse teaches us to offer our bodies as a sacrifice and be transformed through the renewal of our minds.

Difficulties encountered in the soul will ultimately affect our spiritual progress and development. For example, when two brothers fight, their conflict is taking place in their souls. Both men harbor feelings of unforgiveness and the unwillingness to compromise and be united in their minds. However, when both are willing to come before the Lord to pray, they exercise their spirit and are ministered to by the Holy Spirit. As they unite their spirit with God’s, they recognize that the conflict is taking place in their souls. Through prayer, they exercise their spirits and recognize their ability to forgive and accept each other. As each man repents and both reconcile, the issue that they were fighting over gets resolved.

The LCM teaches believers to break free from their natural soul, exercise their spirit, and unite their spirit with the Holy Spirit. Believers in the LCM strongly encourage each other to break free from the natural soul and exercise their spirit-man. It is often said that the soul is the “city of problems,” a place full of problems that are difficult to resolve. However, the spirit is a “city of no problems,” where difficulties faced by the soul can naturally resolve.

Pastor Stephen Tong has sharp criticisms for this belief. He believes the LCM overly emphasizes spirituality, neglecting rationality. “I don’t know when it started,” he says, “but I do know that the Church in China is facing a catastrophe. Reason is seen as part of the soul, emotion is part of the soul, will is part of the soul. Believers are taught to only be spiritual, and to abandon anything related to the soul. So, everything related to thought and rationality is said to be part of the soul! Since the arrival of this catastrophe, intellectuals have left the church. The church is full of fools. The more anti-knowledge and anti-cultural Christians become, the less they are able to gain a reputable standing in the midst of global changes.[1]”

From my personal experience in the LCM, I would counter that the LCM focuses on the transformation and renewal of the soul. The teaching emphasizes that as the spirit grows and changes, its benefits will overflow into the soul for its transformation and renewal. The LCM teaches that transformation in the spiritual realm will naturally lead to renewal of the soul. Hence, to solve problems in the realm of the soul, we would first need to grow in the spiritual life.

The LCM also teaches the removal of hindrances such as earthly sins and worldly distractions, so as to allow for the change of the soul. The LCM focuses on the shepherding  of one’s soul, with special emphasis on helping new believers shepherd their souls and open their hearts to receive the life in the spirit.

The LCM teaches us to deny the natural soul life, since that represents our old life apart from Christ. But it does not teach us to deny the functions of the soul, such as the mind, emotions and will. They teach that the stronger our spiritual life is, the more our souls will be transformed. As we lead a spirit-led life, our thoughts will be clearer, our will stronger, and our emotions more filled with love. In my experience, the LCM has never denied rationality. Instead, they encourage believers to diligently study the Bible and other spiritual books. My personal experience of the LCM does not match Pastor Stephen Tong’s observations. Tong does not paint a full picture of the LCM’s beliefs, and his criticisms are overly harsh. As a result, many Chinese Christians have been discouraged from accepting the good teachings of the LCM.

 

Some drawbacks to the LCM’s teachings

While we can learn a lot from the LCM’s teaching on the spirit and soul, there are limits to the helpfulness of their stance. At times, the LCM neglects the care of the body and soul by over-emphasizing the growth of the spiritual life. For example, the LCM discounts miraculous healings because they believe Charismatics over-emphasize healings to the detriment of spiritual growth. However, many LCM believers struggle with physical pain and do not get the healing that they so desperately need.

For example, my wife and I struggled with infertility for 10 years while in the LCM movement. They were not able to help me in terms of praying for a miracle. I had to seek help from the Charismatic movement. There, through the gifts of healing and prophecy, a divine intervention occurred, and God gifted me a miracle baby.

Although many miraculous healings from the Charismatic movement may be questionable, my years of observation and learning in the Charismatic movement have led me to believe that more real miracles occur in the Pentecostal movement than in evangelical churches. I have personally witnessed and heard of many miracle healings and other miracles in the Charismatic church. God’s word says that “By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The LCM teaches believers to exercise their spiritual muscles, but it does not teach believers to exercise their faith to receive miraculous healings through the word of God. Therefore, their spiritual faith muscles remain underdeveloped, and they see few miraculous healings.

There are many sick believers in the LCM who do not get the help they need, which is a great loss to the LCM. This loss is not restricted to the LCM, but also exists in many other evangelical churches. After I left the LCM and posted a testimony of the miraculous healing God granted me, I received private messages from believers in the LCM who were sick. They were wondering how I received the miraculous healing. While I could not completely help them resolve their issues, most have admitted that the LCM provided limited help in this area of miraculous healing.

Secondly, the LCM also neglects certain areas of the soul. While Pastor Stephen Tong’s criticisms of the LCM were too harsh, he has an important point. They often over-emphasized the spirit.

From what I have observed, there is indeed an issue of over-spiritualizing things in the LCM. While there, I actively read my Bible, exercised my spirit, and sought spiritual growth. I did indeed encounter major changes in my life. However, my pursuit of spiritual growth did not resolve some issues that arose from within the soul.

To a certain extent, the seeking of spiritual growth was an excuse for me to avoid dealing with issues pertaining to the soul. For example, my father and I had issues with expressing our emotions and showing care for others. In my growing up years, I always witnessed my father’s coldness towards others and my mother’s anger towards him. As I imitated him, I also became a cold, unfeeling individual.

After I got married, I realized that the same issue that I’d witnessed between my parents was playing out in my marriage. Arguments between my wife and I often resembled those of my parents. I neglected my wife’s feelings, she became angry, and I felt hurt. This vicious cycle continued unabated in my marriage. Coupled with the inability to conceive, my wife and I went through many trials and difficulties. I tried my best to follow what the LCM taught, to diligently grow spiritually: to pray more, read the Bible more and take up my cross. Although it was helpful, it did not completely resolve our problem. We were then led by God to enter the Charismatic church, where we learned about deliverance ministries (casting out of demons) and inner healing ministries.

These ministries that the LCM neglected have really helped us. First, with the help of the Charismatic church, we were blessed with a miracle baby, who provided much healing in our marriage. Second, the Charismatic church’s teaching about inner healing and casting out demons was very helpful. Through Global Awakening, I took several certified, advanced courses on deliverance, miracle healing, inner healing, and prophetic training. In addition, I read extensively on the topic of inner healing and deliverance ministries. Through practical and hands-on learning experience, I have learned that when we see a cyclical pattern appearing in our lives, repeating through several generations, it is often due to generational curses that require the casting out of demons and inner healing. The Charismatic movement’s focus on inner healing and deliverance ministries is often done together with the gift of prophecy, where servants of God receive supernatural revelations from God to help fellow believers who are plagued with issues pertaining to the soul.

In January 2016, I attended a prophetic conference in Oregon. While there, I prayed for God to speak to me and give me healing as well. At the conference, I met a believer who was a former member of the LCM. She is Korean and had left the LCM and has attended a Charismatic church for many years. She shared that she left the LCM because of their unbelief in current-day miracles. At her Charismatic church, this sister received an obvious gift of healing and a prophetic gift.

I watched her praying for the sick. Rather than asking about the person’s condition, she received revelations from God as she spoke to him in tongues. She prayed for me in the same way. After the prayer, she shared that there was conflict between my father and I that drove us apart, and that I needed to forgive him. She also shared that my father was unable to show his love, not because he did not love me, but because he was being spiritually attacked and was bound by generational curses. She added that because I was called by God, Satan was torturing me by punishing my father, hoping that this would stop God’s call in me. She told me to forgive my father and pray for him, speaking out about the deepest pain in my entire life, which was hidden in my heart. I had never met her before, nor had I mentioned any of these secrets to her before her prayer.

God gradually healed the problems that I was facing. Through receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, deliverance from demons, and healing ministries, God provided the growth that I needed. I would not say that I am completely free of problems, but I do know that I have achieved a breakthrough that I never experienced while in the LCM movement.

Many Christians deny the fact of demon influence in Christians’ lives. Often, the life of Christ in the believer has not permeated throughout our inner being. Demons can take advantage of areas of our life that Christ has not fully occupied. 

In the past, I thought that through reading God’s word, prayer, and exercising my spiritual man, I would be able to resolve all the issues that I faced. While these disciplines are important and useful in achieving growth in my spirit, they had limited effectiveness in resolving the issues in my soul. Issues of the soul must be managed directly, which the LCM is hesitant to do. For example, the LCM does not provide marriage counseling, since it is associated with issues of the soul. Many people in the LCM have diligently pursued spiritual growth, but still struggle in their souls. The LCM does not recognize the importance of ministries that address the struggle of the soul.

For example, the LCM neglects the gift of prophecy, which can effectively minister to the soul. (The LCM does focus on the forth-telling aspect of prophecy, but they do not believe in foretelling the future through prophecy.) In the Charismatic movement, the gift of prophecy is not restricted to predicting what is to come, but also includes visions, dreams, and revelations, helping believers understand the hidden difficulties of their souls. A minister from the LCM shared that in his many years of prophesying (in a forth-telling way), he has never witnessed a scene similar to the one depicted in 1 Corinthians 14:25, where “the secrets of his heart is disclosed, and so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.” However, this is a common sight in the Charismatic movement. Many times, I’ve seen a brother fall on his face crying as the secrets of his heart are shared through prophecy.

I spent many years in the LCM, where I grew spiritually, increased my Bible knowledge, and received much loving help from many brothers and sisters in Christ. However, I never have met anyone who helped me like the Korean sister in Christ who revealed the secret hidden in my heart. Many in the LCM could benefit greatly from her gift if they were open to it. Many LCM believers continue to bury their problems under the guise of pursuing spiritual growth. Neglected bodily ailments can also negatively affect some believer’s spiritual growth.

Randy Clark of Toronto Blessings further illustrates the importance of prophetic and deliverance ministries. Randy shared that several generations of men in his family have been involved in promiscuity and other sexual sins. He also sinned in this area, even after accepting Christ as his savior. Even though he had repented, he did not recognize a need to cast out a demon from his life.

Eventually, he met some believers with the gift of casting out demons. Through revoking the generational curses and casting out the demons, the spirit of promiscuity was chased away from his household. He then recognized that generational sin in his family was not a coincidence or his own weakness, but a generational curse. He testified that his son and daughters are not continuing in this generational pattern of sin.

Another time, at the Toronto Blessing conference, a sister in Christ was unwilling to open up and share her heart, and Randy felt like his prayer was going nowhere. Another prophet, Larry Randolph, offered to give it a try. When Larry started praying, he used the gift of prophecy to speak of what the sister in Christ was keeping inside. As a result, this sister opened her heart and received the encouragement of Randy’s ministry. These two examples convinced Randy Clark to strongly promote the ministry of casting out demons and prophecy and to create courses to train others in these areas. I have learned a lot from his courses.

In addition, LCM has the tendency to lean towards over-spiritualizing. The LCM denies the physical aspect of heaven, teaching that heaven is a spiritual new Jerusalem, a mutual dwelling place for God and men. After my prophetic gift was activated in 2015, I experienced many visions of heaven, where I have seen architecture with glass, libraries, animals, gardens, many different types of transportation, various houses, fruits and vegetables that are found in heaven. Combining what I have read with the heavenly accounts of other prophets such as Choo Thomas, Kat Kerr and Lai-Wang Xiulan, I realize heaven is a real world, with mountains, seas, plants, houses, activities and gatherings. Heaven contains all the wonderful things of earth. It is not a purely spiritual realm with no physical things. Based on the words of Kat Kerr, heaven is unlike what people think. Many people think of it as flat, but it is round, like earth—just way bigger than the entire galaxy. In my prophetic encounters of heaven, I often saw different sizes of houses: some were small, and some were large. Kat Kerr believes the sizes of our heavenly homes are determined by how we live for Christ on this earth.

 

The LCM also tends towards speaking in absolutes. Pastor Tong shares his critique of the movement: “The faults of the LCM can be summarized in this way: they speak in absolutes about things that are often not absolute.”[2]

Personally, I came to know Christ through a LCM church and have been blessed tremendously by them. I may be emotionally biased towards the LCM. I do believe Tong’s criticism of them is overly harsh and that he fails to take into consideration the positive teachings there. For example, the LCM invited Pastor Stephen Tong to study their teachings in greater detail, and to have a conversation with the LCM. However, Pastor Stephen refused this invitation. Pastor Stephen Tong made some sarcastic comments about the LCM and was reluctant to humble himself, converse with the LCM, and better understand them. He said that if the first bite tasted bad, he did not need to take a second bite. The LCM’s attempts to dialogue with Tong have not reaped positive results.

While I cannot completely agree with Pastor Stephen Tong’s criticism toward the LCM, I can admit that they have the tendency to perceive things in an absolute manner. The LCM is unwilling to accept the teachings of other Churches, and often does not venture beyond the framework of Watchman Nee’s and Witness Lee’s teachings. After leaving the LCM and joining the Charismatic movement, I have learned many new Bible truths, which helped me grow in areas that the LCM is weak in.

For example, the LCM speaks in absolutes about Christmas. It teaches believers not to celebrate this holiday, since the Christmas holiday originated in the worship of the sun god. They also teach that Jesus was not born in December. The shepherds would not have been out in the field during the middle of December, so Christmas is not the right time of year to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Other churches may concur with them on this point.

However, according to Choo Thomas’ book, “Heaven is So Real,” Jesus celebrated Christmas with her when he appeared to her. Also, American Prophet, Kat Kerr, had thousands of encounters in heaven, where she witnessed the presence of a Christmas town in heaven. In the town, Saint Nicholas was stationed to welcome children who wished to meet Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas used to give children gifts on Christmas, and the legend of Santa Claus is based on his life.

I attempted to share such testimonies with believers attending the LCM churches, but they usually reply with a standard answer: “We speak only of the Bible in the LCM.” The LCM is unable to accept prophetic and spiritual gifts; thus, they would rarely accept such testimonies. However, while these testimonies are not from the Bible, they do not deviate from the Bible. In other words, it is extra-biblical but not unbiblical. Those who have been truly saved will one day see for themselves what heaven is like. God has prepared a real world for believers in heaven.

Through these two examples about Christmas and heaven, we can see that the understanding of the LCM is limited. All of us have limited understanding, and we need to have humble hearts so we can learn and accept what God wants to communicate to us through other believers and other ministries. When we are unwilling to openly learn from others what God has in mind for us, we are unknowingly perpetuating factions amongst believers. We are claiming, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12).

I love my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from the LCM, and I know that they follow the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee out of reverence for God, rather than idolizing these two men. Many Chinese churches criticize the LCM for idolizing Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, which the LCM denies.

Many churches also criticize the LCM for being the most closed-up faction of Christians. The LCM denies it is a faction of its own. However, when we are unwilling to learn from others, we are naturally creating factions among believers. In effect, they are claiming, “I follow Watchman Nee” or “I follow Witness Lee.”

Similarly, many brothers and sisters in Christ from many other Chinese churches are not open to receiving the teachings of the LCM. Due to criticism from famous preachers such as Pastor Stephen Tong, many do not try to understand what God has given us through the LCM, nor do they try to understand the helpful practices that they teach. This is also equivalent to saying, “I follow Pastor Stephen Tong” or “I follow XXX preacher”. I know that there are many Chinese churches that are against the teachings of the LCM and those of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, especially Witness Lee. However, things are not as simple as they seem. I admit Witness Lee is not perfect, but I have learned a lot from his teachings.

We need to “rightly explain the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), objectively understanding and analyzing God’s word and the teachings of his servants, including Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. It is not wrong to be critical of their teachings. While I do not agree with Pastor Stephen Tong’s criticism, I do think he has the right to criticize.

Besides criticizing the LCM, Pastor Stephen Tong is also critical of the Charismatic church. Historical differences, as well as conflict between the LCM, the Charismatic church, and other Chinese evangelical churches, have prevented the uniting of the Chinese Church as one. After identifying the issues at hand, the Chinese Churches should learn to accept the differences and learn from each other, thus unifying the Chinese Church as one. Adopting a punitive, critical approach will not solve the issues.

God has indeed used the LCM to teach much truth related to spiritual growth. However, if we do not critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of the LCM, many people outside may treat them as heretical and refuse to listen to their teachings. As a result, believers like you and me will suffer.

In 2015, God led me to learn from the Charismatic movement. I have discovered that the teachings of the Charismatic Church and those of the LCM can complement each other. My doctoral thesis at the United Theological Seminary discussed this very point. Not only can the Charismatic Church and the LCM help each other, but other Chinese evangelical churches can also benefit from learning from the Charismatic Church and the LCM.

For example, the Charismatic church has been criticized for its over-emphasis on gifts and for neglecting the teaching about growth in holiness. This is precisely the area where LCM can be of assistance. The LCM can complement the Charismatic church by teaching on spiritual growth and holiness. However, many Chinese Charismatics have been influenced against Witness Lee by Steven Tong and others. They perceive Witness Lee and the LCM as heresy. Thus, they are not open to his teaching, and they miss out on an important opportunity to grow in their spiritual lives.

 

God has given me many revelations and visions of revival in China. In order for China to usher in this great revival, Chinese Christians need to be unified, especially on doctrinal beliefs. The LCM, Charismatic churches, and other evangelical churches need to work through their historical differences and doctrinal deviations. I believe that we need to work for unity so God can usher in the revival of the church in China.

Spirit and Soul

Pastor Stephen Tong discussed the issue of the soul and the spirit. He said, “The LCM attributes the mind, will, and emotions to the human ‘soul.’ May I ask for a scripture reference that backs up this point? There is no Biblical text that supports such a theological theory. To say that reason, emotion, and will are in the ‘soul,’ and that the spirit is not the same as the soul, is completely out of line with the Bible’s teachings. God is a spirit. Does God have reason, emotion, and will? Does God have a soul? If reason, emotion, and will are in the soul, and if God is a spirit, does God lack reason, emotion, and will?

“In reality,” Tong continues, “God not only has reason, emotion, and will, but his will determines his decrees. God's decrees come from his will, God's love comes from his emotions, and the truth of God's revelation comes from his reason. Therefore, God is the source of reason, the source of emotion, and the source of will. God is not a soul, but a spirit.”[3]

 

Pastor Stephen Tong rejects the separation of soul and spirit, but his argument above is illogical. We will not discuss whether God has a soul. However, humans, as God’s creation, do have a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Even though we were formed in the image of God, we are not God. Even if God is a spirit, and not a soul, that does not prove that human souls do not have reason, emotions and will.

We have a spiritual body within our physical body. People with prophetic gifts often have the prophetic experience of seeing their spiritual body walking outside of their physical body. Many prophets testify they have seen a spiritual body leave a person’s physical body at the moment of his or her death. They saw that these spiritual bodies have arms and legs, just like the physical body.

Likewise, there is a spiritual person in our soul-person, and the spiritual person may have the same function as the soul-person. Our spiritual man may also have mind, emotion and will, just as our soul has. Just as we are shadows of God, our souls are the shadows of our spirits. Kat Kerr shared that God clearly told her that his omnipresence has many “layers.” Similarly, humans have many “layers,” just as our soul does. Many prophets have the experiences of being transported. When they are asleep or in a trance or vision, their souls (not just their spirits) are brought to other places to minister. (Philip was even taken into other places physically.) These events take place not only in their spirits, but also in their souls. The mind in our soul recorded these experiences in dreams or visions. I have experienced similar situations multiple times in prophetic dreams. If a human’s soul can have many different “layers” that can enter different dimensions of time and space, I suppose there are even more “layers” in a person’s spirit, which function similarly. For example, when I am sleeping and having a prophetic dream, I could be brought to a different place, to testify to others about my testimony of having a miracle baby. Not only can I speak to an audience, I can also interact with them, and even see their tears. This is not just a dream, but my spirit and soul being brought to different places to testify. Hence, prophets can shed light on truths that were never known before. Possibly, when a person’s spirit matures, more layers can be developed. I understand it is still a mystery to us, just like no one knows where our spirit dwells, even though we all know we have a spirit.

However, practically speaking, it is difficult to separate soul and spirit, especially for less mature Christians. A seed contains the life of a tree inside just one seed. The seed can be said to have many “layers,” but is has not fully developed. Paul explained that “The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.” (1 Corinthians 2:15). He also said, “But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually” (1 Corinthians 2:14, Recovery Version).

Some Chinese versions of the Bible translate this verse as “soulish man,” but since English does not have a category for “soulish man,” most English translations say, “Natural person.” However, in the original Greek, the word “Soul” modifies the word “man.”

While we cannot fully or clearly split the soul and spirit, it is important for us to learn and understand the differences between the two. This is something that Pastor Stephen Tong and many other Chinese preachers have missed, which I believe is a major cause of the tendency towards creating a “social club” in the church. It is a mystery for us to divide the spirit and soul, but we know for sure soul and spirit can be and should be separated in our spiritual experiences.

Both the LCM and Charismatic churches, as well as other evangelical churches, preach on the difference between soul, spirit and body. For example, a leader of the Modern Faith Movement, Kenneth Copeland, said, “We are a spirit, we have a soul, we live in a body.” He also focuses on teaching believers to receive healing and develop their faith through the Word of God.

John Sandford is a Charismatic leader who specializes in casting out demons and prophecy. He is also a pioneer in deliverance ministries. He has a strong prophetic gift and was considered a prophet in Charismatic circles. Often, in the process of casting out demons and inner healing, he receives prophetic revelations from God. He uses these revelations to help those who are suffering to receive inner healing and be free from demons. He can use his prophetic gift to pinpoint a hidden, secret problem in the soul or find out what demons are inside.

Jon Sandford has coined a term, “the slumbering spirit.” Through his many years of ministry in casting out demons and inner healing, John Sandford has learned about the important relationship between a person’s spirit and soul. When a child is young, if the child does not get sufficient affection, his spirit will not be able to develop. His emotions and thoughts (in his soul) will develop abnormally. Hence, in his ministry of healing and casting out demons, Sandford would first awaken the slumbering spirit in people, connect with them through their spirit, and slowly awaken their heart and emotions. Then he would be able to heal them. A lot of research has shown that when orphans who live in the orphanage do not receive sufficient hugs, their emotional and mental development is hindered. With sufficient hugs and through allowing them to experience God’s love in their spirit, their spirit would slowly become complete.

Sandford realized that if people only settled issues of the soul and did not resolve issues of the spirit, it would be challenging to resolve the issues of the soul. This point is similar to the teachings of the LCM, which teaches believers to exercise their spirit and receive God’s divine life to renew the soul. However, the LCM misses out on other aspects of John Sandford’s teachings, which is using the prophetic gift to reveal the innermost hidden problems of the human soul.

Issues relating to the soul are often messy, but God is all-knowing. Through the practice and development of the gift of prophecy, we can work with God to resolve the issues pertaining to the soul.

A Korean prophet prophesied over me, saying that God wanted to use me to bring healing to people’s spirits, souls, and bodies. He has given me a holistic, wholesome healing ministry. I respond to God’s call with a hearty, “Amen,” since God has allowed me to experience this kind of healing in the spirit, soul and body. I want to help others receive the same healing.

My father had challenges in building relationships and expressing emotion, which also hindered my own emotional development. Even though I actively pursued spiritual growth and Bible reading in the LCM, they never offered help in the area of emotional development. However, the Charismatic movement’s teaching and practice on inner healing, deliverance ministries, prophecy and the encounters with God, brought a greater breakthrough in these areas. My wife and I had a miracle baby, which provided tremendous healing for us emotionally.

The LCM focuses on the three-part distinction of spirit, soul and body. It emphasizes the exercise of the spirit and the soul’s renewal and transformation but does not focus on physical healing or inner healing and deliverance ministries. While the LCM focuses on the impact of spiritual growth on the soul, it does not focus on recognizing and resolving issues in the soul. It lacks tools in helping people resolve these issues.

The LCM also lacks in knowledge and practice pertaining to the gift of prophecy. Pastor Stephen Tong may be right that the LCM over-spiritualizes things, but his own complete denial of the separation of soul and spirit has also affected many believers negatively. His teachings lead to a lack of understanding of the difference between soul and spirit, a lack of spiritual growth and exercise, and the lack of assistance with issues in the soul. My personal experience of the LCM, my interaction with believers influenced by Tong, my subsequent experience with the Charismatic church, Randy Clark’s testimony on the gift of prophecy and casting out demons, and the teachings of John Sandford have all influenced and shaped my beliefs. These examples show that there are things to learn from the LCM, the Evangelical Church, and the Charismatic Church.

Paul reproached the Corinthian believers for claiming to “belong to Paul, belong to Apollos, belong to Cephas.” At the end of 1 Corinthians 3, Paul writes, “So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).

I prayed through this verse meditatively, as taught by the LCM, and the Spirit gave me an inspiration. The Holy Spirit impressed on my heart the words “so let no one boast in men. For all things are yours.” The Holy Spirit highlighted the word “for” in the verse. The reason why we say that “we belong to Paul, we belong to Apollos or, we belong to Cephas” (and the modern Chinese churches equivalent, “we belong to Watchman Nee, we belong to Witness Lee or we belong to Pastor Stephen Tong,” etc.), is because we have not recognized that “all things are yours.”

All things are God’s. All God’s things are for us, and we should be thankful to receive these blessings. Later, when talking about food sacrificed to idols, Paul instructed believers to receive all food from God with thanksgiving. Every denomination has received certain aspects of God’s truth. We must practice these aspects of truth, not so our denomination can be superior to others, nor so we can put down another denomination. Instead, we should be filled with gratitude and humility and seek to learn from one another. We should not flippantly judge others as heretics. We should not assume that we ourselves are completely right while others are completely wrong.

The Holy Spirit impressed upon me that we should not revere people. Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, the future--all belong to us, who belong to Christ, who belongs to God. Everything works together for the good of those who love God.

In the same way, Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, Pastor Stephen Tong—all of these belong to us, and we should learn from each of them. We belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. God has raised up different shepherds and servants, just like He has raised up Paul and Apollos. Each of us are called to different ministries by God. Some are called to plant seeds, some to water, and some to teach God’s word, all for the good of believers.

If we recognized “the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints” (Ephesians 3:18), we would not be tempted to revere or idolize any man. They all have limitations. However, each of them plays apart in God’s kingdom. We should help each other for the benefit of those who love God. If we recognize the goodness of what God wants to share with us through others, we will be able to grow in Christ and not remain spiritually immature.

Some remain immature spiritually, because they only accept the teachings of their own denomination instead of learning from others in other ministries. Just like cross-pollination increases the quality of the plants and flowers, “cross-pollination” in the church would help us mature in our spiritual lives. We need to overcome the differences between denominations and learn from each other, so we can leave spiritual infancy far behind.

In this message, I have shared about the LCM, the Charismatic church, and other Chinese evangelical churches. We all need to be humble and learn from each other. Many readers or listeners may not be familiar with these three denominations that I have mentioned or with the Chinese church at large. But they can still agree with the principles of humility and unity.

In a prophetic dream, the Lord showed two rivers flowing towards convergence. While the Lord did not specify which two rivers these are, I believe that in our generation, different denominations or streams are going to come together, just like river waters that flow towards the ocean. In this way, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Let us humble ourselves to learn from others in the body of Christ!

 

 

[1] https://congfang.com/2826/

[2] https://congfang.com/2826/

[3] https://congfang.com/2826/

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 19

God’s Purification System

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 19

After God’s discipline on Korah and others (Numbers 16), His warning to the Israelites through the budding of Aaron’s rod (Numbers 17), and His command to Aaron and his sons to bear the iniquity involving their priesthood (Numbers 18), we can see that the content of Numbers 19 explains how to use water to cleanse the impurity of the Israelites.

The Symbolic Significance of Cleansing Rituals

The design and objects of the tabernacle in the Old Testament are very good pictures of our New Testament spiritual experience. For example, we know that the Israelites used the bronze altar to offer sacrifices for their sins. There, in front of the tabernacle, they were forgiven by God. In the New Testament, this represents that Christ is our sin offering to reconcile us with God.

Another item in front of the tabernacle was the laver. This is where the priest washed himself so that he could enter and serve in the sanctuary. In the New Testament, this represents our experience of "washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (ESV, Titus 3:5) and "washing of water with the word" (ESV, Ephesians 5:26). The symbols in the Old Testament and the reality in the New Testament tell us that after we experience salvation, we must undergo further renewal and changes before we can be priests and serve God. We must reconcile with God, experience redemption, and cleanse ourselves in order to serve Him.

Numbers 19 makes this point clear. God’s purpose in leading the Israelites out of Egypt and allowing them to experience trials in the wilderness was not only to save them and free them from Pharaoh's yoke, but also to make them holy. He wanted them to become His royal priests. The Book of Numbers describes how God trained the Israelites in the wilderness. They constantly had to free themselves from the residual impact of Egypt. As they were changed by God’s holy nature, he fashioned them into a holy kingdom of priests.

If we understand this background, it will help us better understand the picture in Numbers 19. The Lord told Moses and Aaron to prepare a red heifer without defect, on which a yoke has never come (ESV, Numbers 19:2). Speaking of red heifers, I remembered a story shared by a Christian brother. He read an article saying that the Israelites successfully bred red heifers and offered them according to the requirements of the Bible. The article said that this red heifer has been lost for many years, but has recently been bred successfully. I did not check the authenticity of this story, and this is not the focus here.

Instead, we want to focus on the spiritual significance of the red heifer as a sacrifice. After the red heifer is burned, the ashes of the heifer must be gathered and be kept for the purification water. This is a sin offering (ESV, Numbers 19:9). Whoever touches a dead body or something unclean should use this water to cleanse themselves. Verse 12 (ESV) says, “He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. ”

We do not interpret the Bible word by word. Instead, we record the questions we ask when we are reading the Bible and the inspiration we receive from the Holy Spirit when answering the questions. A man in our study asked, “Why does verse 12 say that you must cleanse yourself on the third and on the seventh day, otherwise you will be unclean? What does this mean? What if they do not follow the prescribed time schedule, would there be no ashes of the heifer at that time?”

The Bible does not mention a problem with regards to the availability of the ashes of the heifer, so we assume that there is no situation in which the ashes are unavailable. Instead, the people who did not follow the prescribed time schedule for cleansing would have to pay a great price. Verse 13 says that those who did not cleanse themselves must be cut off from the Israelites. It seems that this is a very serious matter.

The Bible also describes other situations in which an individual would become unclean. Someone who touches a dead body or even bones in the open field would become unclean (Numbers 19:16). These people also must cleanse themselves on the third and on the seventh day; on the seventh day he would be clean (Numbers 19:19). Those who didn’t cleanse themselves would be cut off (Numbers 19:20).

This man said, “Why is the timing of the third and seventh day so important?” First of all, this is God’s rule for Old Testament rituals. But we can also draw an analogy to our current-day experience as Christians. The third day represents resurrection because the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day. The number seven is the number of perfection, indicating completeness. The seventh day represents a period of completion. God has given us a period of time in which to cleanse ourselves. Maybe after this period, we will have missed our opportunity. We often refer to the grace period, a metaphor which points to the special period of salvation and repentance that God has given. When the Lord Jesus comes again or when the Millennium Kingdom comes, the perfect time to be saved may have passed.

How do these Old Testament truths remind us of our everyday experience as Christians? The burning of the red heifer to ashes signifies the death of Christ (Hebrews 9:13-14). He died to accomplish our salvation. Mixing the ashes of the red heifer with water to create a purification water reminds us of the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit after we believed in the Lord (Titus 3:5). The Lord Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago. He does not need to be crucified again for everyone to be saved. He was the sacrifice of God once for all, just like this red heifer. His salvation is represented by the ashes of the red heifer. They are mixed with water (representing the Holy Spirit) before they can be applied to people for cleansing.

After a person is saved, he needs to continue to experience the cleansing work and renewal of the Holy Spirit. We must avoid contact with dead things in order to maintain our cleanliness before God and maintain an uninterrupted fellowship with Him. If we do come into contact with dead things, we need to cleanse ourselves by experiencing afresh the salvation accomplished by the Lord Jesus on the cross. The Holy Spirit cleanses us and restores our fellowship with God. Otherwise, our fellowship with God will be broken. Although we will not be cut off from God, we will lose our intimate fellowship with the Lord in the spirit.

Brother Witness Lee, one of the founders of the Local Church Movement, gave an example of this very truth. He said that when he was serving in a church in Shanghai, he often took a bus from one church in Shanghai to another. Both of these churches are in Shanghai, but in different places. As he travelled, he started to casually read some advertisements on the bus. At first, he ignored them because of their inappropriate and unclean content. But by the time he arrived at the other church, he felt that his spirit had been defiled. When he preached, he felt that he was not in the presence of the Holy Spirit. So he learned his lesson. When he took the bus again, he closed his eyes and prayed, contemplating the word of God. When he arrived at the other church, he found himself filled with the Holy Spirit. He also found that he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit when he was preaching.

This is an important story. Although we are not defiled by literal dead bodies like the Israelites in the Old Testament, our spirit can be defiled through contact with unclean things. For example, how many Christians find that they stumble spiritually and lose their power to pray after watching worldly TV programs? If you have had such an experience, you have been defiled by your contact with dead things, and you need God’s cleansing.

How do we experience spiritual cleansing?

First, we must avoid defilement. The world we live in is full of filthy and spiritually dead things. Much of the news we see every day is full of false and filthy things. If we watch too much news without thinking critically about what we see and hear, our minds will be defiled. After our mind is defiled, it will gradually affect our emotions and our will, tempting us to love the world and not God. It will also weaken our will and we will lose our ability to passionately love God. These things will gradually penetrate our spirits, making us weak and prone to stumbling.

Many Christians pray for direction, but they still don’t know understand God’s leading. Their natural soul (personality) and their spirit (connection with God) are tangled together in a mess. They can’t distinguish between the voice of the soul and the voice of the spirit. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (ESV) If we want to hear the voice of God, our soul needs to become quiet. If our flesh is too active and our minds are filled with external noise, our spirits will be unable to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is the defilement by the dead. Our soul and spirit become indistinguishable from each another and our fellowship with the Lord in the spirit is cut off.

The second way we can experience cleansing is to eliminate the influence of filthy things in our lives. After we eliminate external noise and the influence of filthy things from the outside world, we need to further cleanse these influences out of our souls. For example, if you have seen a filthy picture, you may not look at it again next time. But this picture may still be imprinted on your mind and continue to affect your soul. You need the ashes of the red heifer, representing the blood of Christ and the cross. In addition to the red heifer, the purification mixture also contained cedarwood, which represents the noble humanity of Christ. In addition, the mixture contained hyssop (represents the humility of Christ), and scarlet yarn (represents the salvation through Christ) (vs. 6). The ashes have many components and are full of Christ's redemptive power, but water (represents the Holy Spirit) must be added in order to manifest the redemptive effect. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot experience the reality of salvation.

 

God’s Ready-Made Cleansing Solution

This red heifer used for purification must be pure and unblemished, a heifer on which a yoke has never come (Numbers 19:2). This pure heifer represents Christ, our flawless lamb. The priest Eleazar dipped his finger into the blood of the bull and sprinkled some of it seven times in front of the tabernacle. Then people burned the ox before his eyes, and added the cedarwood, hyssop and scarlet yarn mentioned above. Verse 7 specifically mentions that the priest would wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and be unclean until night. The one who burned the heifer would also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and be unclean until night (Numbers 19:8). Afterwards, a man who is clean would gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. The ashes were kept for the water for impurity; it is a sin offering (ESV, Numbers 19:9). The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer would wash his clothes and be unclean until evening (ESV, Numbers 19:10). The priest, the one who burned the heifer, and the one who gathered the ashes of the heifer were all unclean. This shows that because the ashes of the red heifer were a sin offering, they had replaced the people’s sins and were therefor sinful. When these temple workers came into contact with sinful things, they would naturally become unclean.

After the ashes of the red heifer were combined with fresh water (Numbers 19:17), it was filled with cleansing power. This cleansing water points to a spiritual reality in the New Testament. The redeeming power of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, provides us with cleansing. We should allow the Holy Spirit to release Christ’s redeeming power in us through our prayers, so that we can receive complete cleansing.

Traditional Chinese medications are boiled and distilled from many Chinese herbal plants. These different Chinese herbs have many different components, and each component has a different therapeutic effect. After being boiled and refined, the pharmacy will make them into granules. When I take the medicine, I dissolve it in water so I can drink it. I often find that cold water has a hard time dissolving the granules, so I add hot water to dissolve them. After I drink the dissolved granules, the effects of the ingredients in these traditional Chinese medicines will be broken down in my body and play a therapeutic role.

The fresh water in this chapter is like the hot water in this illustration. The ashes of the red heifer can be compared to the traditional Chinese medicine granules. When the ashes are mixed with fresh water, it has a therapeutic effect, like the dissolved granules.

God’s salvation and cleansing power are all contained in the ashes of the heifer, but we need fresh water, signifying the Holy Spirit, to release the therapeutic effects of the ashes of the heifer, the cedarwood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. In Psalm 51, David requests that the Lord use hyssop to cleanse him from sin. In the same way, Rahab, the prostitute, was saved because of scarlet yarn. The benefits of these beautiful illustrations will be released to us through the application of the Holy Spirit.

The red heifer has already been burned, and the ashes have already been made. The Chinese medicine has already been boiled and refined, and the Chinese medicine granules are ready-made. God has already accomplished salvation through Jesus Christ, and His salvation is prepared. For our convenience, God’s salvation comes to us ready-made. But we need to release these effects through the work of the Holy Spirit.

The third and seventh day also have an important spiritual significance. The third day represents Christ's resurrection from the dead, accomplishing our salvation. He has already prepared the ashes of the red heifer. We can use them anytime to cleanse ourselves.

In Christ, all believers have participated in dying and rising with Christ on the third day. Therefore, all those who have been chosen by God have experienced the cleansing of Jesus in their spirit. But we also need to cleanse ourselves on the seventh day. If we sin after being saved, we need to repent at the right time. Otherwise, our sin will bring regret.

The seventh day representing a deadline from God is just my personal understanding; it’s not the most important thing in this passage. What is important is that we make the most of every opportunity and lose no time in cleansing ourselves.

Discerning God’s voice

In the recent US elections, some Christians supported Trump, saying he was chosen by God. Other Christians said that they also received revelation from God saying they should choose Biden. Sometimes, Christians can be very confused by these differences in opinion. Does God say different things to different Christians? I said to myself, “No, one of the two groups of Christians must be mistaken in this area.”

The results of the election will eventually come to light, but this is a good opportunity to learn to verify the voice of the Holy Spirit. I tend to believe the prophecies of those who thought that Trump was chosen by God. But the media in the United States has presented a different side to the story. I personally think that many people in the media are under the influence of the evil spirits in the air, bombarding believers with false information and spiritual death. We must use spiritual discernment to learn to cleanse ourselves and to keep away from dead things.

Such a situation is described in the book, The Final Quest, by the American prophet Rick Joyner. He saw a discouraged army of God. The crows, which were evil spirits, flew over their heads and spewed filthy things, deceiving the army of God. When Rick Joyner observed this situation in his prophetic vision, he thought that if the armies of God had wielded the swords in their hands, they could have killed the crows flying overhead. Instead, they put the swords in the ground. In another prophetic vision, Rick Joyner saw a massive enemy army coming against him. But when it got closer, he saw there were many Christians among their ranks. The Christians were deceived by the enemy and had joined the enemy's army to attack God. One of the two sides is deceived by Satan, and we must pray for God’s wisdom to make sure we are not fighting against the will of God.

This prophetic vision is a good reminder for us. If we come into contact with spiritually dead things and do not cleanse ourselves, we may lose our intimate fellowship with God. More importantly, we may even be deceived by the enemy to become one of his tools in attacking God. Let us pray and search his word for wisdom as we live in these difficult times.