Post by LDM on Jun 7, 2010 13:59:07 GMT -5
My Sister Starla has some wonderful words from the Lord below which speaks to the heart of spiritual authority and our role as the Lord's servants. It may be a bit long, but I pray you take a minute to read it. I hope this blesses you!
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I am going to share a very hard valuable lesson that I have learned over the last few days. Bear with me it may be a bit long.
Make No Self Defense
"No one on earth could ever be more authoritative than Christ, yet He NEVER defended Himself. Authority and self-defense are incompatible. The one against whom you defend... yourself becomes your judge. He rises higher than you when you began to answer his criticism..."
"...He who speaks for himself is under judgement; therefore he is without authority. Whenever one tries to justify himself, he loses authority."
Paul stood before the Corinthian believers as a delegated authority, yet he said: "I judge not mine own self" (1 Cor. 4:3). Vindication comes from God. The moment you justify yourself before a person, he becomes your judge. As soon as you try to explain, you are fallen before him.
All who desire to be God's spokesman and desire to help brothers & sisters must learn not to listen to slanders. Let God do the listening. On your part, do not pay any attention to how people criticize you; do not get angry because of others' words.
To be God's servant simply means that I belong to God, I am His possession, I have been sold to Him, and I thereby have lost my freedom. This explains why God cannot remain quiet but speaks out when His servants are slandered. We have no need to vindicate ourselves. What good is it for me to speak if God does not step forward to do it? Why should any of us try to reinforce our authority? If our authority is from God we need not strengthen it.
Whoever offends God's delegated authorities offends the One whom they represent. Authority is set up to execute God's order, not to uplift oneself. It is to give God's children a sense of God, not to give a sense of oneself.
As a delegated authority we are not to express our own views nor to itch to interfere with others' affairs. Some pretend to know everything in the church and everything in the world. They have a ready opinion on anybody and everything, freely dispensing their teachings as if they were the gospel. A subjective person has never learned discipline, nor has he ever been seriously dealt with. He "knows all" and "can do all". His opinions and methods are as countless as the many items in the grocery store. Such a person is basically unqualified to be an authority, because the basic requirement for being God's delegated authority is to entertain no thought or opinion of oneself.
"Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what He seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son doeth in like manner...I can myself do nothing..." (John 5:19,30)
In like manner should we too learn to listen, to know, and to understand. This can only come through intimate fellowship with the Lord.
Never try to establish One's own authority
Authority is established by God; therefore no delegated authority need try to secure his own authority. Do not insist that others listen to you. A delegated authority ought not to strive with men."~ (excerpts taken from the book listed below)
Moses many a time had slanderous accusations cruel words thrown at him but he fell on his face before the Lord and the Lord answered for him...David was anointed the same time that Saul was also anointed but David did not kill Saul when given multiple opportunities to become king~he respected the authority that God had given Saul and the Lord took care of the rest.
I have learned so much from this book, "Spiritual Authority" by Watchman Nee. I want to be meek and humble before the Lord and not strive with men when they oppose me but let the Lord handle it.
By striving with men I am being fleshly and thinking only of myself. By being careless with words to others I can greatly offend God. I want to respect the authorities that God has delegated whether they be government, church, husband, or fellow saints because that is truly pleasing unto the Lord. Jesus Christ is King of [kings] and Lord of [lords]~ He reigns supremely~ may we bow to His authority and those He has established to be over us here on earth.
A good example for me to learn by is Mariam and Aaron. They thought they were doing the right thing by reproving Moses for his marriage, they thought that they were being pleasing unto the Lord YET the Lord shocked them, read below:
Numbers 12:
1And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
2And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. ... See More
3(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
4And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
5And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
7My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
8With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
9And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.
10And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
11And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
12Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
13And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
14And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
15And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
And to finish my thought, as Christians we need to realize that we are no better than any other Christian. We must learn to humble ourselves, obey, and be meek so that then God may use us for His glory.
As Mariam and Aaron tried to take authority not given them, God said these frightening words, "Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?"
To Him, such slander was simply terrible. God, being God, knows what is love, what is light, and what is glory. But does He know what is fear? No doubt He does, because here He was fearful for Aaron and Miriam. As God, He has nothing to fear; nonetheless He was telling these two persons what a terrible thing they had done. Whereupon He ceased speaking with them and left in anger.
This was how God maintained His authority, not Moses' authority. He did not say, Why did you speak against Moses; rather, why did you speak against My servant Moses. He would not suffer anyone to impair His authority.
******
I am going to share a very hard valuable lesson that I have learned over the last few days. Bear with me it may be a bit long.
Make No Self Defense
"No one on earth could ever be more authoritative than Christ, yet He NEVER defended Himself. Authority and self-defense are incompatible. The one against whom you defend... yourself becomes your judge. He rises higher than you when you began to answer his criticism..."
"...He who speaks for himself is under judgement; therefore he is without authority. Whenever one tries to justify himself, he loses authority."
Paul stood before the Corinthian believers as a delegated authority, yet he said: "I judge not mine own self" (1 Cor. 4:3). Vindication comes from God. The moment you justify yourself before a person, he becomes your judge. As soon as you try to explain, you are fallen before him.
All who desire to be God's spokesman and desire to help brothers & sisters must learn not to listen to slanders. Let God do the listening. On your part, do not pay any attention to how people criticize you; do not get angry because of others' words.
To be God's servant simply means that I belong to God, I am His possession, I have been sold to Him, and I thereby have lost my freedom. This explains why God cannot remain quiet but speaks out when His servants are slandered. We have no need to vindicate ourselves. What good is it for me to speak if God does not step forward to do it? Why should any of us try to reinforce our authority? If our authority is from God we need not strengthen it.
Whoever offends God's delegated authorities offends the One whom they represent. Authority is set up to execute God's order, not to uplift oneself. It is to give God's children a sense of God, not to give a sense of oneself.
As a delegated authority we are not to express our own views nor to itch to interfere with others' affairs. Some pretend to know everything in the church and everything in the world. They have a ready opinion on anybody and everything, freely dispensing their teachings as if they were the gospel. A subjective person has never learned discipline, nor has he ever been seriously dealt with. He "knows all" and "can do all". His opinions and methods are as countless as the many items in the grocery store. Such a person is basically unqualified to be an authority, because the basic requirement for being God's delegated authority is to entertain no thought or opinion of oneself.
"Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what He seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son doeth in like manner...I can myself do nothing..." (John 5:19,30)
In like manner should we too learn to listen, to know, and to understand. This can only come through intimate fellowship with the Lord.
Never try to establish One's own authority
Authority is established by God; therefore no delegated authority need try to secure his own authority. Do not insist that others listen to you. A delegated authority ought not to strive with men."~ (excerpts taken from the book listed below)
Moses many a time had slanderous accusations cruel words thrown at him but he fell on his face before the Lord and the Lord answered for him...David was anointed the same time that Saul was also anointed but David did not kill Saul when given multiple opportunities to become king~he respected the authority that God had given Saul and the Lord took care of the rest.
I have learned so much from this book, "Spiritual Authority" by Watchman Nee. I want to be meek and humble before the Lord and not strive with men when they oppose me but let the Lord handle it.
By striving with men I am being fleshly and thinking only of myself. By being careless with words to others I can greatly offend God. I want to respect the authorities that God has delegated whether they be government, church, husband, or fellow saints because that is truly pleasing unto the Lord. Jesus Christ is King of [kings] and Lord of [lords]~ He reigns supremely~ may we bow to His authority and those He has established to be over us here on earth.
A good example for me to learn by is Mariam and Aaron. They thought they were doing the right thing by reproving Moses for his marriage, they thought that they were being pleasing unto the Lord YET the Lord shocked them, read below:
Numbers 12:
1And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
2And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. ... See More
3(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
4And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
5And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
7My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
8With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
9And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.
10And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
11And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
12Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
13And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
14And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
15And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
And to finish my thought, as Christians we need to realize that we are no better than any other Christian. We must learn to humble ourselves, obey, and be meek so that then God may use us for His glory.
As Mariam and Aaron tried to take authority not given them, God said these frightening words, "Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?"
To Him, such slander was simply terrible. God, being God, knows what is love, what is light, and what is glory. But does He know what is fear? No doubt He does, because here He was fearful for Aaron and Miriam. As God, He has nothing to fear; nonetheless He was telling these two persons what a terrible thing they had done. Whereupon He ceased speaking with them and left in anger.
This was how God maintained His authority, not Moses' authority. He did not say, Why did you speak against Moses; rather, why did you speak against My servant Moses. He would not suffer anyone to impair His authority.