Weep With Me

A MESSAGE TO THE UK BRIDE FOR CORPORATE POSTURE CHANGE

Transcript

INTRO

Weeks before lockdown someone asked me: What are you doing right now? And I replied that: “I’m considering the landscape of the nation and the church within”. I received a bewildered look.

Now, every church in the UK has shut its doors. And since lockdown I have carefully watched the response of the UK bride of Christ.

I weep.

OUR RESPONSE

Our response:

Firstly, has been to send corporate messages dealing with the individuals who are hurting.

Secondly, our response indicates that God’s purpose is to unify the church and the nation.

Thirdly, there is a general assumption it is of Satan’s doing, and God’s just strapped an application on the back of it. So, we are praying for God to stop Satan in his tracks, to bless us, and so forth.

MISJUDGED RESPONSE

These things tickle the ears. Yet, I believe this is misjudged. It is off-point with the whispers of the Holy Spirit. It is the result of our cultural lens. If my general observations are accurate then on each point, we have made an error in judgement.

Let me address these in reverse somewhat.                                                                            

GOD OR SATAN

SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

We often have a confused view of God’s sovereignty. Partly because we don’t grasp God’s formation of the universe and God’s dwelling and ruling within it. We don’t have time here, but I will teach on that soon.

We ask: is it God? or is it Satan? or is it man? We have these distinct divisions in our western minds. But that is not how the bible portrays judgement, or bad things happening, or anything for that matter.

It is a complex matrix of a continuous series of events where: man is up to much, Satan is up to much, and God is working his redemptive plans through all. Nothing bypasses God’s sovereign filter. Not a molecule shivers without his authorisation.

Judgement by God in the bible can be seen in raising up evil men, allowing Satan to run with it and thinking he’s in control, when actually God is accomplishing his purposes.

It isn’t one or the other.

GLOBAL PANDEMIC

Our corporate messages, perform as though this virus with its affects are wholly of Satan's doing with no recognition of the state of the bride.

I’ve heard Christians say: “this isn’t judgement from God for the UK, this is a global pandemic”. This for me reveals a shallow grasp of God’s incredibly complex ways and means.

I’m quite sure Jeremiah didn’t say that the calamity would come only from within Israel and therefore we will know it is from God. No, God raised up the nations within what the bible describes as the “world” to then come to the land in judgement.

“Yeah but it is affecting other nations too”. Well, maybe he is doing something in their nations simultaneously. And if you do want to follow that reasoning then you have to account for the fact that Britain now has the highest death toll in Europe.

“Maybe then it’s not the church God is angry with, it’s the whole country”. With you and I included. Let us stop and take stock in our own house.

HIS MERCY AND PATIENCE

God has shut the doors of your church. Man, and Satan may be involved, but this is orchestrated by God. And we should welcome it.

What is the Holy Spirit saying?

This pandemic is in God’s great patience and mercy.

We call it a pandemic, but this is a gentle rock, a lullaby to wake the ill-stricken bride… giving her an opportunity to repent. It also forces the nation to stop and think - granting opportunity for others to come to know the Lord for the first time.

This is the kindest thing to happen to the UK for decades. Particularly the bride.

CONFUSED PURPOSES OF GOD

THE HURTING

I know people are hurting at this time. I don’t want to downplay that for anyone. Of course, if you have lost loved ones, it’s a terrible season, it’s tragic. And the correct response is for churches to reach out locally and send those messages of light and hope.

But what I’m witnessing is that the overarching messages, sent out to the nation or church body – the corporate message – speaks to the hurt individual. Which patches them up for a moment. Which makes people feel good for a moment. Of course the gospel of the kingdom should be sent out – but that should be bread and butter anyway.

The bride is in desperate need of a Heimlich manoeuvre. But a bandage for the hand - that represents an individual - feels better, sells better.

Our corporate message should be not directly at individual parts of the body, but as the body as a whole. Which I will look at in a minute.

UNITY OR DIVISION

Time and time again I hear how “it’s amazing that the country is coming together”. Really, people were hording toilet roil. Like, a lot of people. “It amazing how churches are coming together.” This is not the purpose of God, at this time. Is he starting to make us think more corporately? Yes. But God’s purpose is not to unify the church at this stage. He’s not going to strap a beautiful bright white dress on this ugly mess. He’s not in the business of unifying that which is unholy.

His purpose is to divide individuals, softening and hardening hearts, so that he can form the corporate. He will slowly cleanse the bride until he has a pure, whole, mature bride. That means cutting some individuals out, grafting some in, and transforming the individual hearts of this remnant to form a corporate body.

God cares for you, so immeasurably, that he would rather you lose everything so that he can have you all to himself. So that the remnant will begin to shine brighter, some will come to know the Lord for the first time, and many will continue to walk toward the bottomless pit.

So, I believe our corporate messages are confused because we fail to recognise the purposes of God.

Our corporate messages are speaking to the individual hurt and not our standing with God. Even the messages I’ve heard that address our standing with God are calling on God to do something – to bless us, to prosper us, and so forth. Good prayers, but I believe missing the opportunity and the correct Spirit-led call for such a time as this.

Our overarching corporate messages should be calling the church into a new posture.

PICTURE VS MIRROR

The approach at the moment that I see, resembles a ugly mess of a bride, a sick bride, looking at a beautiful picture of a bride on her wedding day and calling out to God: “look how beautiful we are Lord, bless us, save us, prosper us, we’ve done great”.

But, What we are required to do is to change our posture. To lower ourselves in humility and stare into the mirror below it. And if we do that, we will be faced with the truth. A Gollom-like figure of a bride.

If you do that… you will weep.

When I saw my wife on our wedding day, I couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked. I was thrilled to take her, gleaming in her dress. But what if, I turned round and saw a woman whose dress was ripped and soiled, and her hair covered in sick, and she hasn’t even put shoes on. I would have a word with the ushers: go sort out the bride, help her get prepared. We will wait.

CORPORATE SIN

I weep over the bride. Not that I’m separate from the bride. I weep over my own sin. The accumulation of my own sin. The sin of my ancestors. I weep over the corporate sin of the nation. I weep over the corporate sin of the church. And the accumulation of both.

RECOGNITION

When we look in the mirror and discover the true health of the body…. With that image of ourselves we being to grasp:

1. What God purposes are in this season. And,

2. What is required of us – corporate recognition and repentance.

INDIVIDUAL VS CORPORATE

In Ezra 9 we read about how the Identity of Israel as the bride of God, this holy people had become idolatrous. They had welcomed people that were not holy into the group. They had flirted with others when God had said “you are my people”. He is jealous for them.

We read from the top:

“The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations.” (Ezra 9:1b).

What is Ezra’s response: “I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.” (3)

He altered his posture toward God and prayed:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.”

Ezra recognises the corporate sin: “our iniquities.” He paints this picture of a mountain of sin and acknowledges it before the Lord.

“From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt” (7a).

It’s not just the present-day sin, but a recognition of the sin past generations. This is important.

“And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today” (7b).

He makes the connection that judgement came because of the sin, of not just the people but he points to the sin of the regal-political and religious leaders. We are all in it together.

He goes on to praise God for leaving a remnant of the holy people and he finishes the chapter with: “Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.” (15)

It continues in the following chapter:

“While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly” (10:1).

Listen also to the following wording:

“We have broken faith with our God” (2)

“let us make a covenant with our God” (3)

Ezra called on the people to repent. Some refused.

PROPER CORPORATE MESSAGE

EZRA’S RESPONSE

This pattern I believe should be in accord with the overarching message for the UK bride. A corporate call for corporate repentance.

The leaders of bride should be tearing their clothes apart, ripping off the filthy rags we call a dress. We should bow our heads, ashamed and blush before the Lord.

We must recognise before the Lord the mountain of sin that WE, the people, the leaders of the church and the leaders of the nation have mounted up.

We cannot shift the blame. OUR SIN, OUR INIQUITY! OUR GUILT. WE HAVE SINNED. IT IS ON US. Generation after generation, IT IS OUR SIN. OUR FATHERS SIN IS OURS.

We must recognise that this pandemic is judgement from God because OUR MOUNTAIN OF SIN.

We must praise him for his mercy and patience is leaving a remnant.

We cannot stand before the Lord because of the sin. We must cast ourselves down before the Lord. We must weep together. Turn together. Ask for forgiveness together.

The call is primarily one of posture change.

MEN WHO SIGH AND GROAN

Those that know me personally, know that I joke around a lot. But when it comes to the state of the bride and things that matter, you bet I’m serious about it. Yet, we have this thing in the UK that it’s seen as been too intense, divisive, negative. I’m not doing nicey nicey churchianity – plenty of churches for that. Plenty where they keep everything surface level, and plenty that shout “are you not entertained”. Quite honestly. Grow up. It’s not a spirit of pessimistic or cynicism. I don't place my hope in this age. It’s a case of looking in the corporate mirror and saying what you see. Being honest with the health of the bride.

Ezekiel describes a vision of judgement because of Israel’s corporate sin in chapter 9. And the Lord has told an angel – who is possibly the angel of the Lord, we understand as the Son of God, the pre-incarnate Jesus – and he’s told this angel to:

“Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” (Ezekiel 9:4)

The mark – which is the shape of a cross – is symbolic of those who share God’s view of sin. Who are those that will be preserved – is it the entertainers? Is it those who say, calm down dear, don’t get too hot and bothered? No, it’s those “who sigh and groan” over the accumulation of sin.

You want to call me intense, a groaner, a sigher. Cool, I’m hoping to get a cross on my forehead. I’m trying to view sin as God does.

This vision by the way is a picture of end time judgement to come. Specifically for Jerusalem, but we can apply the picture.

Where is the groaning? Where is the lamentation?

OUR RESPONSE

Rather than looking at the picture and asking of God. We look in the mirror and ask of ourselves, to alter the posture, and then we acknowledge before God our evil ways, and ask for forgiveness and cleansing.

When you look in the mirror, you will weep.

FEAR OF LOSS

If we responded in the spirit of repentance, it would mean that we got some things wrong. And, I sense this fear of church leaders, who, in putting their hands up, would lose what they have worked hard to build. And that means we remain in preservation mode – we are doing everything we can to make sure that the numbers remain when lockdown ends to ensure the tithes keep coming, to keep the thing ticking. But look at Ezra who “put his hands up” so to speak – the people didn’t consider him the worse leader, on the contrary he is held in great light. I would suggest that those who do put their hands up in humility, will be received by their own congregation. Sure, some will cut themselves off and we should rejoice the Lord is purifying the church. The shepherds who do not groan and continue in defiance without acknowledging any wrong, will be eventually removed from their post, and if not marked by the Lord, to judgement.

DISCERNING THE TIMES

WHO CAN DISCERN?

Jesus said we should be discerning the seasons.

A friend of mine who isn’t a Christian called me up about a week into lockdown and I answered it and he said, “hello. Is that dial a prayer?”. Of course, he is joking around with me. But he knows full well that I believe Jesus is returning soon, from the conversations we have from time to time.

Why is it that he can discern that something is up? Those that are not Christians can figure out that this season is different, as if we are heading toward the climatic end of the age.

Why can’t most Christians? I would suggest it is because of the fear of loss. Losing our brands, our ministries, our influence. We are so bound up with the abominations of the other people of land that divorcing ourselves from these things will mean we loose out. We choose a blindfold.

BECAUSE OF OUR REFUSAL HE MUST SEND CALAMITY

The Lord will return soon.

All indications reveal that we will continue as if nothing happened when lockdown ends. In fact, our use of technology has compounded the issue. God may have to turn off our internet for a season in the future.

He’s going it to get our attention. One way or the other.

He will bring calamity because we are currently refusing to rip our clothes, to blush, to cast ourselves on the floor before him.

POSTURE CHANGE

It’s not that we stop life. I’m currently building a giant tree house for my kids. We don’t stop building tree houses, and planning for the future… but we don’t place our hope in those things. We’re not trying to preserve the idols we’ve erected. We recognise the urgency of the season.

It a posture change.

The posture of the heart that is sometimes expressed in a physical posture too.

END

God is behind this. Churches should be preparing the people for worse calamity in the coming years. The corporate call should be a deeply challenging corporate posture change – weeping bitterly… not something that makes us feel good for a moment – of course that will go viral.

Come, look in the mirror with me.

Weep with me.