Study #457 - Winning The Lost But Losing The Saved {To God’s Purpose}
WINNING THE BATTLE BUT LOSING THE WAR
At least a good part of the current church system has focused upon “winning the lost.” Of course this is good and the beginning preparation for the church life. However, because all the focus has been upon “winning the lost” this church system has lost too many of the ones that were already “found.” In other words, instead of the ministers developing the “saved” people so they could both know and do the will of God they have ignored that calling. For that reason the “believers” have been “lost” to the purpose of God of having full grown sons to rule over the world yet to come. It appears that both the world and the believers are “lost” to the purpose of God. This may be the source of some of the disappointment and dissatisfaction we find in the visible church today.
Let us take as an example of one who is lost from Luke 15:11-32 in what is called the “Prodical Son.” The youngest son insisted upon receiving his share of the inheritance while the father was still living. (Similar to the prosperity and faith movement) Then he wasted everything his father gave him and became destitute. When there was no more hope of survival he returned to his father’s house to become a servant. The father received him with open arms and said Luke 15:24 “for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ And they began to be merry.”
All the focus of the household began to focus upon the one who was lost. The elder son generally becomes the object of scorn because he was offended at his brother who had returned after he wasted his inheritance by an immoral life. He had both lost his position in the family and his fortune by stupid living and he had lost the respect of the elder brother. His elder brother considered him as a reprobate son.
Luke 15:30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘My child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
The elder son is presented as selfish, self-centered and without compassion. What is generally missed is that he had remained faithful, protected his inheritance and would receive everything that his father had. If the father had not been VERY wise he could have won the lost but then lost the faithful son who was loyal and steadfast and did the right thing.
It is my opinion that in many churches, that focus upon winning the lost, they have seriously neglected the ones who are already found. Very little emphasis is placed upon developing the faithful believers so they may inherit all the Father has for them. With this parable the elder son automatically inherited his share in the first division but then in addition to that he inherited ALL the father had acquired since the first division of funds.
In the Kingdom dimension we don’t automatically inherit everything just because we believe something about Jesus. In the Kingdom dimension each of us must be counted worthy in order to participate in the eternal inheritances. That means each Kingdom believer must be faithful, loyal and steadfast in living our life for the Father. The younger son was not worthy but the elder son remained faithful and was counted worthy of receiving the entire estate.
The gospel of the bargains and the gospel of the give-a-ways and the gospel of the half-priced sale reduces the need for faithfulness, loyalty and steadfastness down to just believe something about Jesus and you will inherit everything! Why this strange doctrine? Because they have lost the Kingdom!
2Thes 1:5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
Mat 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.
Rev 3:4 ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.
Many put the emphasis upon the father who had great compassion upon the unfaithful son and received him back into the household, not as a servant but as a son. Evangelism focuses upon the son who is lost. This concept is valid and is certainly part of the story. However, was the elder son justified in being offended that his own faithfulness was overlooked? The father had not disregarded the elder son’s loyalty but received the foolish son into the household but without any further inheritance. Of course in the Kingdom dimension our faithfulness will NOT be overlooked and the Father is totally righteous in all His judgements.
So has the teaching ministry failed the visible church so that faithfulness, loyalty and steadfastness is just directed horizontally, in the time dimension; maybe directed toward the pastor? My supposition is that the teaching ministry has not been faithful in emphasizing the eternal dimension of the Kingdom Government of God and by insisting the believer’s responsibility to remain faithful to His calling.
The teaching ministry MUST begin to focus upon bringing the saints to perfection and to speak about the eternal inheritance but NOT in the fantasy realms that are being presented by the public ministries and the gospel singers! In other words this higher ministry is not just restating the common cliches that are more lies than truth. Promising everyone who believes in Jesus a throne in heaven is a lie. This “eternal inheritance”is clearly ONLY offered to those who are faithful, remain loyal to His calling and remain steadfast in fulfilling His purpose and doing His will and then overcoming in all these areas of Christian life.
In the eternal realms the faithful son will receive everything. That Son is certainly Jesus Christ who has already received His inheritance and been given authority over both heaven and earth! He has already taken His seat at the right hand of God and must rule until every enemy is put under His feet! Now God is preparing many FAITHFUL sons to bring them to His same glory. In the eternal realms the unfaithful son may be “saved” because he was lost but finally was found. However, he wasted his entire inheritance and lost his closing share of all the father had (along with the Kingdom) while the faithful son got his double portion and his position of authority over the father’s property. In the Kingdom Realm this “inheritance” is eternal and the unfaithful son lost everything relating to inheritance and authority. His stupidity lost him the Kingdom.
There is an open lie being preached that because Jesus overcame we don’t have to because His overcoming, faithfulness, loyalty and steadfastness is attributed to us. This fabrication is preached by including each believer in “imputed righteousness” and claiming this as being the exact same thing as overcoming. They preach that since we are in Him and He made it to the throne we also have made it to the throne “in Him.” This lie is accepted as truth in many evangelical churches!
Many new believers are still unfaithful sons who attend the church meetings. Why is that? Some have focused upon the “freedom we have in Christ” and they have been warned to never let anyone bring you into the bondage of the Kingdom. Most “Christians” desire to be “free” to do their own will. They are still like the prodical son. Because, they are “found” they think they are once again free to do as they please. This is just a psychological freedom that is based upon some perceived “independence from responsibility” now that “I am saved.” Of course we are free from the Law and free from the kingdom of darkness. What is missed is that we are translated into the Kingdom of His dear Son. Therefore, we are either in one kingdom or the other. We then becomes slaves of the one we obey. This “slavery” to the Kingdom of God is not psychological but spiritual. This “freedom of salvation” is NOT some “imputed” independence from certain restrictions that makes us free to do our own thing. There is a kind of physical and psychological freedom in which we try to control our own life and destiny with our independence from responsibility which we “call” salvation. All this is a fantasy that is rampant among those who are ignorant of the Kingdom dimension and its demands. This “freedom” is even preached as THE gospel in some churches.
When we present the “consecration of the Kingdom” from Romans 6 many are offended and think I am trying to cancel out the freedom they have “won”in Christ! Being a slave either of sin or a slave of righteousness is a strange concept in the church today because it is assumed we can be free from “slavery” to both. Why? Because we believe something about Jesus or have accepted Him as personal Savior.
Rom 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Rom 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
Becoming freed for sin includes being enslaved to righteousness and also being enslaved to God. This is the normal Christian Life. Very few can fit that “slavery to righteousness and to God” into the promise of ETERNAL LIFE by faith only! Why? Because “eternal life” is only presented as the free gift of God and this other dimension of “eternal life” is ignored. In other words the “minimum life” imputed to the foolish son when he is “found” is assumed to be the same “maximum life” imparted to the faithful son who inherits everything.
Rom 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Can we really find the will of God for our lives UNTIL we present our bodies as living sacrifices? After 40 years of ministry I have concluded that this is God’s only way and His design for developing believers {who are “found”} into sons who are faithful, are loyal, stand steadfast and do His will. Losing the true believers to some sloppy gospel of the bargains by teaching “super grace” is too common and in my opinion a disgrace among evangelicals. Even though they are radical in “winning the lost” they have very little zeal in taking the “found” on into maturity and God’s Eternal Purpose.
We have identified HOW the teaching ministry has failed by WHY has it failed?
Luke 14:27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
In other words this man was able to “win souls” and even lay the foundation but was not able to
build anything eternal. Why? He possibly got caught up in super grace and considered “building in the Kingdom dimension “ as irrelevant because “we are already saved.”
Then there are those who insist upon building with earthly, carnal and temporary material that is not acceptable in the Kingdom of God.
1Cor 3:11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.
Even though this scripture is very clear and not at all ambiguous it is more or less ignored as eternal truth. This very clearly tells us that if we are not building with silver, gold and precious stones we are wasting our time preparing ANYTHING for eternity. All our work WILL be burned up and we will have squandered our inheritance in stupid ministry.
In other studies we have presented the absolutes of the Promise of the Father, the New Covenant and the Kingdom Government of God as basic to the Christian Life. When these absolutes are neglected or ignored the result is clearly seen in the carnal immaturity of the visible church. I am assuming that these “absolutes” will not be neglected or ignored in the church He is building! Why do I assume that? Because Revelation 2 and 3 clearly reveals how Jesus is building His Lampstand Church. His method is very demanding and radical and unconcern, lethargy and lukewarmness is fatally judged. Why? Because none of these things are acceptable in the Kingdom of God.
But what about the foolish son who was ignorant and lost his inheritance but was welcomed back into the father’s household? Isn’t THAT the gospel? Yes! That is the “gospel of salvation” that is being preached. However, that is NOT the gospel we have been assigned to preach. The Gospel of the Kingdom IS the “gospel of the Lampstand Church.” We could call that the “Gospel of the New Jerusalem” or the “Gospel of Zion” or the “Gospel of the Kingdom.” The “gospel of the unfaithful son” is the “gospel of the New Earth” or the “Gospel of the Outer Court.” Well, isn’t that also “good news?” It certainly is for the unfaithful son! However, the “gospel of the faithful son” is this; “And he said to him, ‘My child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
It is my opinion that preaching the “gospel of grace afforded the unfaithful son” as “the good news of the Kingdom” borders on scriptural ignorance and foolishly ignores God eternal purpose and may be considered as criminal in the government of God.
Preaching the “freedom from responsibility” just leads more people into bondage to the flesh and human opinions. The “doctrine of freedom” is welcomed by people who are not free. The concept that believers are free from discipline or divine correction and spiritual demands is justified by human opinion but condemned by the gospel of the Kingdom. Many come into bondage to these very doctrines, customs and traditions of men. They get tied up by verses, concepts and this human gospel of just believe and you will be saved.
We must NOT ignore the eternal differences between Life and death. Does our “salvation” really depend upon having correct doctrines or on having the correct Life? Does it depend upon our “order of service or the quality of our music?” Of course not! There is a “psychological freedom” that ignores the “Law of Christ” and the “Law of Life” and the “Law of the Spirit.” Those who ignore the “Laws of the Kingdom” are called “lawless.”
Mat 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Just because we “work in a ministry” will not excuse us from doing His will and living within His Laws. Success in ministry may even be failure in the Kingdom of God. There is a great danger in falling into a “conceptual religion” based upon a few “proof” verses but that ignores the whole theme of the Word of God. There is a diversity of doctrines being presented to new believers that are dangerous to their eternal destiny. Some of these “doctrines” keep the new believers in the lower realms of His Life and in the basic beginnings of so great a salvation. The solution to advancing the “lost who are found” into the higher realms of His Life is to immediately present the Promise of the Father, the New Covenant and the demands of the Kingdom of God.
Those who have His living presence as an inner reality will not be adversely affected by strange doctrines or by radical life styles. Why? Because the Living Presence of His Life and the indwelling Holy Spirit will protect them from conceptual religion, customs, traditions of men, and human religious orders. Each group has conceived their own religious concepts and argue their concepts against the concepts held by other groups. However, no one can establish eternal truth that way. Many of those who were “found” are then “lost” by human reasoning and carnal concepts. Some who are “found” are brought into a religious system that holds them in bondage by promising them freedom.
2Pe 2:18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20 For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.
1Pet 2:15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
In the “gospel of the half price sale” using our freedom to make ourselves Bondslaves of God just does not fit into the “human concept” of salvation that is now causing “the saved” to be lost to God purpose. Even those who recognize our predestined call to fulfill God’s Purpose as our essential goal will just ignore it because “we are saved.”
All Kingdom persons, who are living within the Government of God, have already begun to see from God’s viewpoint and have placed themselves into the elevated, eternal perspective. To enter into this dimension we each must have experienced the Promise of the Father, the New Covenant and the Kingdom of God as inner reality. While each of these is part of the eternal realms, the unfolding truth is progressive and leads us to a growth experience that does not depend upon human teaching or church services or the religious concepts of men. In fact religious concepts are eliminated in the eternal realms and the eternal realms demand reality and a genuine inner Life that reflects the qualities of Christ.
Since none of this makes any sense to the natural man, it is certain that living in this dimension MUST be preceded by a subjective inner transformation that causes the natural man to decrease and the new inner man to increase as our primary Life force.
I am guessing {from scripture} that the Promise of the Father, the New Covenant and the Kingdom Government of God, as an inner reality, is the means that God uses to accomplish this state of His ultimate grace. Living in the fulness of this state of grace is the key to experiencing the Kingdom of God as an inner reality. But why has this simple truth been hidden from the visible church?
I believe this question is answered by Luke 14 which shows the “minister” who began to build but was not able to finish. He was able to begin to lay the foundation but was never able to build any structure upon it. He becomes the object of ridicule by outsiders because of this failure. The main problem we see today in the visible church is that NOT even a full foundation is being laid. It fact the popular doctrine today is that we don’t even need to lay a foundation because “we are already saved.” This implies that since “we are already saved” that nothing further needs to be done. That conveys the thought that any “full foundation” is unnecessary.
1Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it.
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
This scripture is given as proof that nothing but this one foundation is necessary and accepting Jesus as your personal Savior is all that is needed. Even a casual reading will tell us that AFTER this foundation is fully laid THEN the building can begin. If no building can be built on the foundation this “failure” becomes the object of scorn.
If the Resurrection Life of the King- which IS the Life of the Kingdom- is functioning within the person, there should be a crying out for some valid experiential reality. “ {this reality is what we are referring to as the basic building} It is amazing that since this {building} is not the actual experience of the visible church, it then confirms to us that the visible church is Not the one He is building. In other words the Lampstand church will have both the foundation which is Christ and the building erected upon that foundation. The One who IS the foundation is also the One who is building upon the foundation. However, Paul says that he, as master builder, has laid the proper foundation but now others must build upon that. After this foundation part of the building is laid by men, the King of Glory will begin to erect the final building. It is this building that the gates of hell shall not prevail against. To apply that “gates of hell” verse to the visible church reveals how little is known about the Lampstand Church that He is building or how powerless the visible church really is.
It seems that the “evangelist” has been expected to be a ministry that functions on its own and its purpose is to bring people into the visible church to sit in a pew and pay tithes to support the “local work.” However, in Ephesians 4 it is clear that the evangelist is firmly and scripturally attached to the other four ministries whose purpose it is to bring the saints to perfection. In other words the Apostolic Ministries include the evangelist as an integral and functioning part. One or two parts working without the inherent support of the other three cannot be the five-fold ministry. If it is the evangelist that is winning the lost it must be the other four that are losing the saved. It is assumed that if a believer spends the rest of his life in a pew and is faithful to the visible church he cannot be lost to God’s Eternal Purpose or to his predestined calling.
We are challenging that concept as too shallow for the church He is building. Is winning the lost to the visible church the stated and predestined plan of God? What ministries are predestined to lay the full foundation of Christ that include the forgiveness of sins, water baptism, the removal of the sin nature and separation from the genealogy of Adam? Which of these ministries are assigned to minister the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the full promise of the Father, the New Covenant as a life experience and consecration to do the whole will of God and at very least the beginning life of the Kingdom within?
According to Ephesians 4 that IS the corporate function of the five-fold ministry. Preparing the church in full preparation to make the transition to the Lampstand Church that He is building appears to be where the real failure of ministry lies today. In other words, according to the pattern given to us, it is the five-fold ministry’s responsibility to move the believers, experience by experience, through the seven Outer Court experiences. This will prepare the believers to make the transition through the second veil to take their place in the Lampstand Church where He will teach them. Revelation 2 and 3 reveals how intensive, serious and final that training will be as He builds His Church. To prepare, discipline, correct and mature each believer so he can take his place in the Eternal Kingdom Government of God is the purpose of the intense and absolute requirements revealed in Revelation 2 and 3. This ministry is beyond the capacity of man and is therefore assigned to the Lord Jesus Christ who walks among the Lampstands and demands change or each one who does not conform to the King’s requirements is eliminated.
When this is openly preached, the fear of God will fall on the visible church for its backslidden and lukewarm condition. Many will consider the message too hard and will reject it. Others will recognize the truth and change but only a remnant will have ears to hear and be converted.
Mat 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. 14 “For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.
Mass evangelism is a “wide gate ministry.” However, it is NOT preparing people to enter by the narrow gate. It is assembling multitudes outside with a serious shortage of ministers that can LEAD them in. Broad Way ministers are everywhere, preaching verses and collecting tithes, but the people are giving up for the lack of a clear message on how to continue into the purpose of God. When the five-fold ministries remain “wide gate ministries”, preaching prosperity and abundance but neglecting the revealed purpose of God, the visible church continues to sit in this static condition. The famine in the land is for the clear word of God.
The Evangelists are winning the lost but the ministries are losing the saved.