No Father without the Son
No matter how much we wish for it to be, there is simply no father without the son. No one can claim a relationship with our heavenly Father without abiding in Jesus Christ the word of God.
Being under authority is the norm in the body of Christ, this is the same for men and women. There can be no ministry unless we are first discipled in a church and then sent.
The gifts may work, so will the devil against us, because we stand alone.
This question of accountability and submission is so vital that I tell people that when they meet a minister for the first time, the first question they should ask is “Who sent you?” or “Who do you submit to?” If the minister or pastor says “God” then, I warn that they should run from these quakes as fast as they can!
You see, if such women/men of God are sent, there is submission, obedience and accountability, If not they simply don’t want to submit to anyone else or have someone over them telling them what to do!
The Lord Jesus set an example by constantly referring to the fact that He was “sent” or “given” things to Him by His Father to do the work He gave Him to do. This shows He never called Himself to minister; Jesus needed to be sent or given ministry by someone higher than Himself for His ministry to be legitimate, even though He is God the Son (John 17:2-4, 6-9, 11-12, 18, 21, 23-25).
The early church also functioned with this concept of sending. For example, even though Saul and Barnabas had already felt called by God into ministry they didn’t dare send themselves until the leaders of the church in Antioch also received a confirming word from the Lord to send them. (Read Acts 13:1-2, in which the tense of the original Greek wording shows that God had already called Saul into the ministry before the leaders of the church received the confirming word.)
Even Paul the apostle submitted the gospel of grace he was preaching (to the Gentiles) to the leading apostles of the Jerusalem Church (Peter and John) for fear his work was in vain (Galatians 2:2, 9).
- Galatians 2:2 2 I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.
- Galatians 2:9 9 James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.
The bible specifies that while it is the God who calls, it is the church that sents.
Jesus said in Mathew 9:37 that the harvest is ready, but the workers are few. This shows that it is not just a matter of calling. In Matthew 22:1-14 we understand that many are called but a few are chosen. Even among those called, there was one present without the wedding garment who resolved to yield no homage, but to assert his independent self-sovereignty. What that symbolizes about that man is that
- He came into the banquet when he was told to, but he came only in appearance, he came not in heart.
- The banquet was intended for the honour of the son, this man was willing to eat the good things, but he intended no respect to the prince.
- He said, “I will come, but it shall be in such a way that the royal purpose shall not be served, but rather my purposes and needs be met.
- I shall be present myself as an onlooker, but take no share in the ceremony
- I will, on the contrary, show that I have no care for the business in hand, except so far as it serves my turn.
- The man came in full exercise of self-will and self-love.
The Lord calls every one to his kingdom regardless of sex. The wedding garment highlights in a special way that he also expects all of us to abide by his expectations. Those who do not will be cast into the exterior darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. These are called but not chosen. ( cf Mt 22:14). THEY CAN NOT BE COUNTED AS WORKERS OR LABORERS FOR THE HARVEST.
Jesus stated his expectations for preparations of the laborers in Matt 28: 18-20
i) 18Then Jesus came to them and said,
(1) “All authority in
(a) heaven and
(b) on earth has been given to me.
ii) 19Therefore
(1) Go (Remember, they are already his disciples, not untrained strangers)
(2) and make disciples of all nations,
(3) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
iii) 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
iv) And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul tells Timothy “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” (NIV). How will they be qualified? By being entrusted with the things Timothy has heard, they will be qualified. They are reliable, they can be relied upon to walk the talk, to obey and to do, to submit to their calling.
Jesus discipled the 12 and sent them. Jesus expects them to make disciples of all nations. Discipleship requires submission to authority. It is those proven disciples in the church who are marked by the Holy Spirit to be sent by the elders.
This is the way it is according to the Bible. The choice is ours to abide or not.
A sister in the church has this line at the bottom of all her emails “A man cannot touch his neighbor’s heart with anything less than his own.” The fact is that we do touch others with the contents of our heart, and if our heart is set on rebellion, it will affect others in the church. This is the principle behind 1 Cor 5:9-11, 2 Timothy 3: 1-5, and Eph 5:11; where the bible tells us to have nothing to do with them, talking about those who call themselves Christians: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
There is simply no Father without the Son. No one can claim a relationship with our heavenly Father without abiding in Jesus Christ the word of God.
Those who claim to do so are under deception. Have nothing to do with them.