The disciples came to Him and asked, “Do You realize You offended the Pharisees by what You just said?” Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by My heavenly Father will be uprooted.” (Matthew 15:12,13 NLT)
Organized Christianity as it is
today cannot understand anything that is not organized, that is not advertised,
that is not run. It must have names that carry weight, that mean influence. If
you can get people with some title, you are going to have the guarantee of
success for your Christian enterprise. And so the letters and the titles strung
on are a necessary requisite for the success of the Lord’s work. You must write
it up in the press, you must give a report of it, you must be able to make some
kind of return that people can read, and say, "This is a successful thing." If you
cannot do that, the whole thing is doomed to failure. They say, "You must
advertise, you must have publicity, you must organize, you must bring in all
these things to support it, to carry it on." If you did none of those; if you
were never heard of in the press; if you never had a report; if you never had
any names; if there was nothing at all that came out in a public way for people
to take account of, what is the verdict of organized Christianity? "Nothing is
being done. You are doing nothing. It is a-hole-in-a-corner sort of thing." Is
that true? What must we say about that? There was a striking absence of all that
in the beginning, and a marvelous manifestation of power, of progress, of
effectiveness, so that nothing could stand in the way. We must only conclude, we
are driven to this extremity, that the Lord can do His own work. Evidently the
risen Lord is able to carry on His own work; the Holy Ghost knows how to manage
things. What a surprising discovery! Forgive my irony. I say, this is that upon
which Hebrews 12:26-28 is fixed. “I will shake the earth and the heavens”; that
which can be shaken will be shaken; that which cannot be shaken will remain; and
what is that? It is what God has done. “Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for
ever.” What God does is done in a spiritual way; it is spiritual, it is heavenly, it is eternal.
That may leave you perhaps in a
vague, perplexed position, not knowing where you are, but I have no doubt about
the truth of the message. If you do not feel you can accept it; if you disagree;
if you revolt; if you feel it cuts clean across all your training, all your
acceptance; if you feel that it runs counter to all that you know, all I ask of
you is honesty with God. I ask you to come and ask Him to open to you the
meaning of the letter to the Hebrews, why it was written, what its significance
is, why God has preserved it, what its application is now. Have honest dealings
with the Lord. Please do not go away hot in spirit, antagonistic; do not lay
this at the door of any man. At least give God a chance.... May the Lord give us His
own interpretation, give us honesty of heart, and show us His meaning in having
brought us to this consideration.