God’s Representatives

“According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.” 1 Tim. 1:11. Imagine be­coming an entrusted co-worker of Christ. People like this, who are absolutely faithful, are always blessed. They have joy and peace in their faith because they have learned to know the heart of the Father. Jesus counted Paul faithful, and so He placed him in the ministry, and he became a co-worker with God. God raises up co-workers like this from His field. They have a stewardship for the people they serve, and they under­stand what the church needs. They serve in a way that enables the saints to grow up and become an adornment for the doc­trine of Christ.

God puts His servants to the test—often regarding power and honor. If they prove faithful in their tests, God can entrust them with extremely important things. There is a vast differ­ence between a person who has been entrusted and one who has not.

“Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him. ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” Matt. 16:16-19.

The prophetic word came straight from Peter’s heart, and that same prophetic Spirit then came over Jesus, and He said He would build His church on the prophetic Spirit Peter was in. The keys to the kingdom of heaven are still in the church today. An invisible divine power emanates from the lives of these people. No one can get around that. People like this have become God’s representatives—they understand His will and act according to the counsel of the Lord and the promptings of the Spirit. This demands an unfailing faithful­ness and purity from everything that tastes of seeking your own. That is why they have power in their spirit—an invisible spiritual power—to bind people and to set people free. If someone is bound, his “lights go out,” and spiritually speak­ing he has no idea where he is going. They can only be liber­ated again by the representative of God, and then light floods into them. Carnal people cannot have such power. It would be awful if they did. It is extremely wise to humble yourself and submit under what faithful men of God say—those who know the heart of God to such an extent that they can exhort in Christ’s place. They have separated the precious from the vile and have become as God’s mouth. “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘If you return, then I will bring you back; you shall stand before Me; if you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, but you must not return to them.’” Jer. 15:19.

We have to have an ear for what is going on in the spirit world and in humility esteem others better than ourselves. A church that has brothers like this will grow. They rejoice over the others and strengthen them so that they can grow. They can strengthen those who grow up in God’s field. They keep themselves pure from accusing and reproaching the flock, and they labor with the sheep with tremendous love, patience and long-suffering. They work with individuals according to how they see God is opening the way for each one. God knew our mind and gave us His calling before the foundation of the world was laid. This is part of His foreknowledge and fore­sight.

David was a man after God’s own heart. See how he pro­tected Israel and totally annihilated their enemies. In Psalm 101 we can read about David’s principles of government:

“I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O Lord, I will sing praises. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A per­verse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure. My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.” Ps. 101. Servants of the Lord today need to have that same zeal to eradicate sin. Then there will always be, even in dark times, a burning lamp of the Lord, bringing joy to upright souls.