The Vision of God's Man
When seeking to bring the help of a man of
God into a certain place to do the work of God, there are a few necessary
principles found in the Scripture that must be followed if God's man is to be
had. The first and most obvious is the man must be actively serving the Lord
where he is at the present time (Acts 16:1-8). Paul, before God gave him the
now famous Macedonian call/vision, was aggressively serving the Lord and
seeking to know the Lord's will for his present and future place of ministry.
Secondly, the right man of God must have a
vision from God including a burden for the people and the attitude of being a
helper/servant of the people of God (Acts 16:9). This vision must include not
only the burden for the people, but also a plan for carrying out the work. And,
he must receive a promise from God that He will do the work through him. (Acts
16:10)
Paul had all of these significant and
necessary principles of the Word of God given to him and thereby knew without a
doubt, or better said with great assurance that God had called him to go to
this 'new' place of service. He made specific plans and got into the place of
God's calling and proceeded to win the first convert (Acts 16:10-15). Notice
that he not only won people to Christ, but he built them up in the faith
demonstrating the two foundational principles of local church building,
1. Evangelism of the lost
2. Edification of the believer.
Without the balance of both of these the
church will suffer greatly and in essence is not really a local New Testament
Church for it is not
fulfilling the commission that Christ gave in Matthew 28:18-20. It just becomes a place for God's people to
gather to do whatever they decide instead of what God has already commanded!
Therefore, the local church really doesn't exist, if it is not fulfilling it's
primary purposes according to the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In every healthy, growing local church God
supplies a man that utilizes these basic foundational requirements for in time
of Satan's assault on the man of God he must know that God sent him there to do
His work, and no man can 'shut the door' of opportunity for service until God
Himself closes the door so that 'no man can open'!
Although it might seem obvious, it must be
understood that when God calls He arranges the surrounding circumstances, such
as Bible doctrines, beliefs and preferences held by the man of God vs. the
doctrines, beliefs and preferences of the local church,, a place for him to live,
provision for his needs etc., for nothing is too hard for the God of heaven
when He is ALLOWED to provide the plan. Notice, the word ALLOWED.
Too often man interferes with his own
desires and totally upsets the plan of God through haste which always creates
waste the Dutch proverb says, or through expediency, or just plain stubbornness
which the Scripture says is the same as idolatry. Bringing ourselves under the
authority of God is a must when we attempt to make any important decision that
will affect the life of so many of God's people.
Therefore, when seeking that certain man
of God, it could be that the Lord already has chosen a man and all that must be
done is to ask the right questions the first of which should be:
1.
Has God given
you a vision for the people and work here at __________________ Church?
2. Has God given
you the necessary plan and promise to do the work and keep you here in times of
trouble?
3.
Has God given
you the necessary gifts to 'feed and lead the flock of God?'
His outward appearance and
preaching/teaching ministry might be great, but if the inward man is not
supplied by the vision God must give him in order to be effective in the place
God wants him, there is no hope of an enduring ministry for the Lord!
Just as in the case of Paul, entering into
the prospective area of ministry to survey the situation many times will
provide the man of God with the information the Lord wants him to know before
God will give him the necessary vision for his future ministry.
Attending the church,
introducing himself and family to the people, exposing himself to the culture
of the area are ways for the man of God to put himself in the right
surroundings for God to give the vision which every man of God so desperately
needs before he can really 'spend and be
spent' for the Lord.
Although this might not sound like the
average method of a 'pulpit committee search' it definitely is the way God
would have it to be accomplished if His man is to be 'the man' for your local
church.
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