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Waiting for the
SPIRITUAL ENDOWMENT
Not By Human Strength
It is 1 March 1996 today and I have been doing alot of thinking about the Spiritual Endowment or Anointing that we have been praying for for so long. I remembered how the Jews, who were expecting a political Messiah, did not recognise Him when He came as a spiritual one. And then I remembered the Day of Pentecost, when the Church was spiritually born by an endowment of the Holy Spirit. Might we, I asked myself, be expecting the Lord to act as the Pentecostals believe when in fact He has planned to anoint us in a totally different way? What assumptions have we made about spiritual rebirth which may, in fact, not be what the Lord plans for us?
One thing the whole membership acknowledges is that we need a "spiritual shot in the arm". We need to be equipped for spiritual service in a way that we have never known before. But what kind of spiritual anointing ought we to expect?
Since this event has not (I don't think!) occurred at the time of writing I don't wish to be dogmatic. The endowment may well have been received by the time this article is published in the April Witness. But I would like to ask various questions so that we can broaden the scope of our prayers.
God Has Spoken
Throughout the last year -- our anno horibilis, as we have called it (because of persecution) -- the Lord has spoken a great deal. Not in a sudden theophany or in a burning bush, but in dozens of small ways which, when added together, present a very clear picture of what we are to do and what we are to expect.
Firstly, the Lord has said many times: Continue in the direction you are going. He has not said (as a recent apostate fraction has claimed): "Change direction!" And yet, paradoxically, He has said: "Lay everything aside!" But he has not meant: "Discard your beliefs!" (as a recent apostate faction has also claimed). Rather, He has said: "Come before Me spiritually naked, weak, and helpless."
Not by Power or Might...
Many times I have asked the Lord if He would endow us with those great apostolic and prophetic gifts of old. He has never answered directly "yes" or "no" but has said, tantalisingly: "Not by power, not by might, but by My Spirit" without explaining what that "Spirit" is, save to remind us what the fruit of the Spirit is (Gal.5:22-23).
He has also spoken to us through numerous revelations over many years, which we have recently studied, and through numerous articles and sermons. Everything points in one direction. We know that our families have to move, but to where, and how, we do not know.
Indeed He has told us enough to make us commit ourselves to the faith journey without mapping it out in such detail that faith is needed no more. We know that we are going to be very, very busy, and that at the beginning we may find ourselves only just economically solvent [1]. I believe He may keep us on the sharp edge of faith for a while so that we will rely upon Him more and more.
I have asked many other far-reaching questions: Might He, for instance, want us to dissolve the Church altogether and simply establish a ministry like the "Billy Graham Foundation"? Though that seems unlikely, we have opened ourselves to the possibility. Might He, as the apostate faction has claimed, just want us to be involved in no Church whatsoever and just become free-standing Christian families? To that we have received a very definite no.
We therefore move forwards with "by the Spirit" in one hand and "keep on the present direction" in the other. We are moving to an altar of sacrifice, and on 1 April -- the day of Christ's death -- we shall, with His help, lay everything on that altar and simply wait to see what He gives back, if anything [2]. Though He may speak again before then, I somewhat doubt it, for in the next four weeks or so He is going to see who will dedicate him- or herself 100% to the Kingdom or not. Those who won't, won't be sent out, but will likely be sent away.
I do not know what the Lord is about to do, but I do know this: I am, with His help, willing to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice. I am sure I will shrink back, as we all will, but I understand there is no other way to go. I invite you all to be with me and the Church in Bergen, or in the Spirit, when we do [3]. Amen.
Historical Endnotes (170498, 111107)
[1] This was prophetic. From July 1997 and through 1998 the Church lived in considerable economic poverty, yet always had what it needed -- just -- to survive.
[2] In General Conference of 1996 in Bergen, Norway, the outer Church organisation was dissolved and B'rit Chadashah Evangelical Association organised as a stop-gap. BCEA continued for a while before being replaced by the New Covenant House Church Fellowship (NCHCF).
[3] The period from April 1996 was an exciting one indeed for the Church as it learned more and more to reply wholly on the arm of God and release its dependency on the arm of flesh. The Church grew and matured spiritually much in this period.
This page was created on 17 April 1998
Last updated on 17 April 1998
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