John wrote in verse 5, "They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them." What does it mean to be of the world and to speak as of the world? Jesus gave us the answer to that question when He said, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors'. But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves" (Luke 22:25, 26). The world's system is such that, those who would be great, pay their dues, work their way up, and climb the ladder, so to speak, in order to gain an office of authority over the people. They attain greatness. The church, unfortunately, has brought that same worldly system and thought pattern into the church, just as the disciples began to do when they argued about who would be the greatest among them. When you see people gathering around a man or a woman, rather than as brethren gathering around Jesus, to some degree, you see the spirit of antichrist at work. "Oh, no one teaches the word of God like my pastor." "Oh, no one speaks with the anointing of my bishop." "For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?" (1 Cor. 3:4). We are gathering unto Him (Ge. 49:10, Mat. 13:2), not unto a person, a ministry, an emphasis, or a lifestyle.
The world's system that is animated by the spirit of antichrist, the spirit of error, is that same spirit that is behind ministry as a profession, and behind the unscriptural and ungodly principle of the clergy/laity class. It has so permeated the organized church that the leaven of this world system has leavened the whole loaf. Many accept it as God's way, for it is all they have ever known, and God has blessed it to a great degree in the past, but it is not scriptural, and it is not of God, but it is of the world, and is of the spirit of this age: the spirit of antichrist. Like the Israelites who rejected God as their king by demanding a man to be their king, many in the church will gladly follow a man, rather than following Jesus directly. God blessed Israel, to a great degree, under Saul's rule, but it was a rejection of God as their king, and He has blessed the church under the leadership or the headship of man, but to a great extent, it has been an answer of judgment for the church's desire to be like the nations.
"Don't ever let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are on the same level as brothers and sisters" (Mat. 23:8 NLT). What was Jesus saying when He said that you shall call no man rabbi, or father? He was saying that the world's system of leadership has titles of authority, but in His Kingdom, there are no titles or offices. Teacher, Evangelist, Pastor, Prophet, Apostle are not titles to go before a man's name, indicating his office of authority in the church. No, these are the operations of gifts expressed through members of the body of Christ in order to serve the body, not positions of authority over the people. They are not to be used as separatists would use them: to make a distinction between the clergy and the laity. We are all brethren, and those who use these titles to establish themselves over the people are operating in the spirit of antichrist; the spirit of the world. "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there" (James 3:14-16).
The new wineskin that the Lord is establishing in the Earth today is much farther reaching than just moving outside traditional church walls. I've said before that the house church movement, as a popular movement, will fail to restore New Testament Christianity because, though it is a move in the right direction, to this point the movement has not, and does not seem inclined to address the real issue, but is more window dressing. It matters not how you structure it, color it, organize it, whether it's in a cathedral or a home, if you continue to operate by the world's system where men rule over men, you will never have the new wineskin. The new wineskin requires a completely new type of leadership than what we've seen. It requires Kingdom leadership, and not those whose hearts are filled with the error of the spirit of antichrist that causes them to seek positions of authority over God's people. It requires those who will truly be examples standing before the people; examples of Christian living (not just Christian preaching), and examples of service motivated by love, caring for God's family like a mother hen for her chicks. It will require the leadership, the headship of Jesus Christ and not of man. That, I believe, is a main emphasis within the portion of the house church movement that will, and actually is, restoring and rebuilding.
Today, we have many pastors, teachers, and prophets going about the body of Christ seeking greatness, seeking influence and a following, trying to establish "their ministry." We have many apostles establishing networks or federations or what-have-yous, seeking influence over large segments of the body of Christ. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ (2 Cor. 11:13). For a description of a true apostle, see 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and 2 Corinthians chapter 11. In light of those passages, it's obvious that many who claim to be apostles are not, but are simply seeking a title in order to be big shots. In light of those passages, it's unlikely we'll see very many lining up to be a true apostle.
The apostles were the last, the least, and the lowest, and so it is with any true apostle, as well as with any ministry gift to the body of Christ. The five-fold ministry, or any other ministry gift, springs forth as needed to meet specific needs in the body as the whole body "joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" (Eph. 4:26). Did you notice that it said that "every part does its share"? You who have the Spirit of Christ dwelling within you truly "do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." We are to admonish one another (Rom. 15:14, Col. 3:16, Heb. 3:13, 10:25), not to sit in a pew while the "professional" or the "man of God" does it for us. Teaching and instruction are important, but the goal should be to establish the disciple on the Rock Christ Jesus, where the disciple can be connected to Jesus and hear from Jesus for himself, and be a blessing to the rest of the body. The goal is not to build a ministry or to make disciples of so-and-so, but to make disciples of Christ.
Now, with that in mind, take a look at the preacher, pastor, elder, bishop, or apostle, and ask yourself, "Does he or she hear us?" Is he as open to the word of God, to correction, direction, revelation, or encouragement through the rest of the body as they are him, or does he see himself as a little christ who cannot receive from others and who is the voice of God to a people who cannot hear God, or uncover the treasures of scripture, or receive vision for themselves? Does she see herself and her ministry as indispensable to the people? Do they see themselves as one (one of many brethren) who ministers and leads by example from beneath, as a servant, as the least, as a foundation stone and not a capstone, or do they see themselves as above the people because of an office or a position that they occupy? The world's system has offices of authority. The Kingdom of Heaven has channels of authority. The New Testament words translated as office and as rule are poorly translated. Ministers don't occupy offices, but rather do works, and they don't rule over God's people, but stand before them leading by example. "The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock" (1 Pet. 5:1-3).
The world's system, in which the great rule the lesser, has been adopted by the church, and it has created a dysfunctional family of God, and it has created abuse - abuse that flows in both directions. The interesting and unfortunate thing about both dysfunction and abuse is that when someone grows up in a dysfunctional or abusive family, and it's all they've ever known, they believe it to be normal. However, when one comes out of the dysfunction or abuse and discovers healthy relationships, healthy family life, or healthy loving discipline, they recognize as unhealthy the family life that they once believed to be the norm or the standard.
So it is in God's family. The spirit of the world has influenced God's people to such an extent that we have "senior pastors" (both an unscriptural term as well as position), and we have individual churches and ministries set up as corporate entities competing with other organizations for the attention, devotion, and finances of "the people". We have the abuse that comes from prostituting ourselves with the spirit of this age, and multitudes believe it to be normal Christian life, for many of us have had no higher paradigm with which to compare it, all the while attempting to force scripture to match this modern mutation, taking the square peg of scriptural truth and pounding it into the round hole of meager experience with the hammer of man's tradition or even doctrines of demons. "For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face" (2 Cor. 11:20). In other words, "You put up with them abusing you as they strive for a position." "The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?" (Jer. 5:31).
I used to believe in "Great men of God". I no longer believe there are such. I now know that we are all just common clay (James 5:17, 2 Cor. 4:7). The treasure is Christ Jesus dwelling within the earthen vessel, and He is the only great one. He is to be the only head, the only ruler, the only Lord and Christ, and to the degree that we continue to hold men in esteem one above another, and to the degree that we continue to limit and abuse God's people, both in the pulpit and in the pew, is the degree to which we embrace the spirit of error and deny the world impacting presence of Jesus Christ in His people. And let us remember, dear preacher, they are His people and not ours. Oh, that we might be one, perfected in one, even as Christ and the Father are one. The competitiveness in the body of Christ, the ambition, the desire to rule, to control, and to own; the spirit of this age, the spirit of antichrist only disintegrates, deforms, fragments and sickens the body of Christ who is meant to represent Christ in the Earth. "As He is so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). He is come in human flesh, and not just in the leaders, but in the universal body of Christ.
It takes a miracle of revelation for you to begin to see something for which you must have Kingdom vision, for natural vision will only allow you to see what you've always known. It will only allow you to see what is obvious to the natural mind which embraces the logic of this present world where the great rule the minor, and where the masses follow the political leaders, and these leaders are considered benefactors, as Jesus said, or servants of the people, when in fact, they rule over, and at times feed off of the people, and in the end leave the people disillusioned and disappointed. However, it is not to be so among us. We are of a different Kingdom, a Kingdom in which the least are the greatest and those esteemed as great are the least. It's a Kingdom in which we esteem others greater than ourselves and where we esteem others, not because of their greatness or their position, but for the work's sake and for the sake of the gift of God within them, and that esteem is to flow in all directions, from every member to every member, and not just from pew to pulpit (incidentally, I don't believe in either pews or pulpits as the normal expression of church gathering). It's a Kingdom in which to go up is to go down and to go down is to go up, and believe me, through a very intense, at times painful, and prolonged time of stripping, God has taken me yet lower and lower, and the more I go down toward nothingness, the more I find the correct position from which to minister to, as well as receive from God's people, and I see this process going on in many of God's servants.
Those who continue to rule over God's people, holding offices, seeking greatness, separating themselves from the people as from the lower class, are of the world, and they speak as of the world, and those who are of the world hear them.
The Spirit of Antichrist Series