Spiritual Leadership 19.12.84 — George Verwer

Father we love your word. We love your word. And we're here to feed on your word. To be challenged to be taught to run the race. Help us now. Jesus name. Amen. Hebrews chapter 12 is one of the great chapters.

Prayer and the Marks of a Spiritual Leader

As we think of spiritual leadership, you know, I wish we had more time To share some of the great things God is doing. I'd like to say that tomorrow night is our night of prayer here on the ship and though this is largely for the The crew and the staff of the ship, you know, if a few of you showed up, I'm sure we would find a place We may have to spread to the lounge.

We do a lot of our praying in small groups, but We Believe that the victories in the spiritual life are one upon our knees in intercessory prayer. And that's one of the marks of a spiritual leader. He's a man of prayer.

He's a man that Knows how to wait upon God. He's a man who knows how to engage in the whole sphere of prayer. Praise worship Thanksgiving Thanksgiving contrition adoration worship, you know if we don't know some of that reality.

Whatever other things we may learn about leadership sooner or later. It gets a little bit hollow and It doesn't stand the test. Hebrews chapter 12. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about verse 1.

With so great a cloud of witnesses Let us lay aside every weight and the sin does so easily beset us and Let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

Who for the joy that was set before him? Endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.

Lest she be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin. You have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto sons. My son despise not thou The chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.

For whom the Lord loveth he Chastened and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth if you endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chastened not? But if you be without chastisement Which all are partakers then are ye?

Bastards and not sons. Furthermore we had our fathers of our flesh who corrected us. We gave them reverence. Shall we not? Much rather be in Subjection unto the father of spirits and live. For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous. But grievous nevertheless afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness. On to them who are exercised by it. Wherefore lift up your hands which hang down and the feeble knees and Make straight paths for your feet.

Lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace. Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently. Lest any man fail of the grace of God.

Spiritual Leadership as Running the Race

That's any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and by many be defiled. Spiritual leadership is like running in a race in London. They had a marathon recently. They had 20 ,000 people enter that marathon.

Something like that to run 26 miles. One man was 60 some years age. Running in order to run that kind of distance. You have to train your body for a long time. One thing I've noticed here in your beautiful island is that quite a few people are running.

I Go out quite early in the morning 530 and people are running all over the place so this exercise Program has come here to your island. Well, I'm not here to talk about running. But it's interesting that the Holy Spirit Uses this to drive home a truth to our minds.

That we're running in a race. We have the same thing in 1st Corinthians chapter 9. Paul said I therefore so run I so run. He in the same chapter speaks about buffeting his body bringing it into subjection.

So that after preaching to others He does not become a castaway. In some countries the moment a man can preach they make him a Christian leader. He can't pray. He can't discipline his life. His marriage is a mess.

He can't discipline his children, but he can preach make him a Christian leader. I Hope you don't do that here. Because preaching without reality in the heart Can add or can end up in a very very disastrous situation.

People may be carried away with our oratory with our illustrations with our ability to speak sooner or later. They're gonna find out. There's nothing in the heart. It's just words just words. God has called us to run a race and Our great goal in that race is To become more and more like Jesus Christ.

God's race is a race spiritually speaking in which our goal is to become more Christlike. And that's to me the greatest goal in our whole life. You know, it's so easy To get Christian service ahead of Christian character.

Christian Character and the Fruit of the Spirit

We want to do this. We want to accomplish that and God is trying to impress upon his people the need for Christian character. What should be the great mark of a Christian leader. It's simple so simple.

Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 The fruit of the Spirit is love joy. Peace long-suffering. Goodness faithfulness meekness. Self-control against such there is no law and They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh.

With the affections and lusts, that's that's a strong statement. This is not just for leaders. This is for all believers. They that are Christ's Have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

And you know why many people are defeated they're defeated in their spiritual life. They're not experiencing reality and prayer reality and worship reality and witness because Don't want to see self-crucified.

Self wants to live it wants its own way. They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. And if we live in the spirit Let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory provoking one another.

Envying one another. So the spiritual leader. Is the man running in God's race? Bringing forth God's fruit in his life. Now. We just have this session together this evening and there's a danger. That in sharing this burden, which is so much upon my heart with you, we'll just get into too many areas and We'll say things that you've already heard.

So I wanted to target in especially I've said some very basic things and you probably already believe those things about the crucified life about the fruit of the Spirit about character first and gifts second.

Reality not just words. And now I'd like to focus in on a basic area that I feel is greatly neglected. I Realize what I share in your life tonight is just a small Amount of truth you're receiving. You're reading books.

You're studying the word. You may be listening to some great Bible ministry cassettes this morning when I was running I was listening to the memorial service of one of the most anointed men we've had in Great Britain in the past ten years a man named David Watson and in a very mysterious way as a young middle-aged man David died last year of cancer this year actually and water.

He wrote 15 books. His book on discipleship is destined to be one of the greatest Christian books of all times. That's my conviction. Whenever I take it on my book table, they're all gone. I don't even think the ship has any of that book.

Do they? Sold out. But all how my heart was ministered to by that tape. This morning, but I want to focus in on something That I know was on David Watson's heart. We spoke about it together and it may be an area where perhaps you haven't heard so much.

Maybe you have that's a risk. I have to take I Want to speak to you about? Maintaining spiritual balance in your leadership. That's the key word. Maybe it's already an important word in your vocabulary.

Good. John Stott wrote a brilliant book balanced Christianity. Do we have that one on the ship? Sold out to. Very significant book. I also wrote a book on that subject not so significant but It's called revolution of love and balance.

Balance, Commitment, and Avoiding Extremes

You see it seems that Satan's first strategy is to keep us From total commitment the crucified life and the fullness of the Holy Spirit there did this that's basic for spiritual reality and leadership.

Total commitment fullness of the Spirit. The Lordship of Christ there are many ways you can express it. You know what I'm talking about and It seems that Satan will do anything to get people from getting into that Mainstream of Holy Ghost blessing, but when people begin to experience that kind of life and begin to understand the fullness and the glory of God the power of praise and of worship.

Then Satan changes his strategy. Second strategy is to get that Christian leader into extremism. Get him off get him to neglect one truth. As he gets caught up about another truth. There was a great man of God.

I only met him once or twice. His name was mr. Maxwell. He was the founder of the prairie Bible Institute the Bible Institute That has put more missionaries on the field than any other Bible Institute in history.

I preached there number of times. I'm going back there again in 1985 what a great place and Maxwell would always emphasize Spiritual balance. In fact, they would say Maxwell one one in all things balance.

Billy Graham the same thing spiritual balance. There's a great Bible College in the United States called Columbia Bible College. A Great man of God leads that college. Then Robertson McQuilkin great leader in the Keswick movement and he had the same emphasis.

I Wrote something in my Bible. That has really helped me when I thought about this whole area of spiritual balance. It's from Robertson McQuilkin Who pointed out that it's very easy. Very easy to go into extremes.

This is what he said. It is easier to go into extremes than to stay at the center of Biblical tension. Now balance does not mean compromise. For some Christians the word compromise. Yeah, you know. Jump some probably won't come to this ship because they think oh, this is compromise is Whatever they might think some little thing they've heard.

This is compromise. We can't go to the ship. They're not they're not 100 For Jesus, whatever little some little thing they may have heard of the word compromise means different things to different people.

I don't believe in compromising with the devil, but I do believe in compromising with my wife. Forgive me. If she says we're gonna do it this way and I say I feel we should do it that way. We sit down and we negotiate.

I don't just hit her on the head and drag her down my road. We sit down and maybe we say all right today. We go your way and tomorrow we go my way. Some other compromise in that sense is simply an agreement and Your church is not going to go very far if sometimes you're not willing to compromise.

Because God's people can get very stubborn. One church recently announced in London. We will have no clapping in the Sunday evening meeting. You know the British a lot of the churches they like to be very quiet.

People don't want to be wakened as they're falling asleep. And so this church they announced no clapping in the evening meeting. And of course many of the young people now are really upset. They like to clap a little bit with a few of the songs.

It's ridiculous. They should sit down and discuss how they can you know? Maybe you could have one or two quiet hymns with no clapping and then maybe you could have one or two choruses with clapping. That's that's a compromise.

There's nothing wrong with that. So we're not compromising with the devil. We may be compromising with our own human stubbornness and Giving in a little so spiritual balance is not compromise. It's it's not being less Dedicated it's not being less on fire.

Spiritual balance is combining the great truths of the Bible love. Very important truth. Let me point out some of the areas where as a Christian leader and Our burden for this meeting was to get some potential leaders young.

Men and women and I see we got a few. Because you're the leaders tomorrow. Five years from now ten years from now. Why do we wait in some countries? They wait till you grow a beard before they allow you to be a leader in the church.

They think the word elders means old people and we know that wisdom Sometimes comes with age, but not always. Sometimes age is just a readjusting of your prejudices that you had when you're young. Not necessarily the wisdom that comes from God and that comes from God's Word.

So we want to find Spiritual balance in our ministry. In our preaching in our teaching. I was once sharing at a breaking of bread meeting of 200 Christian leaders and I I was finding it very difficult.

It was a meeting of brethren elders of the Brethren assemblies in Great Britain a very strong group in Britain. They like Often a very certain kinds of media messages at the breaking of bread and I didn't have that kind of message.

But I opened my heart and I gave a plea from God. For spiritual balance in our ministry in what we say because we can say things we can say things to people. That that that are hurtful. They hurt people.

Hurt the young people we get all excited about something. We just we just blurt out and everybody feels terrible. Everybody feels guilty not because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but because the whole thing is just a heavy human guilt trip.

And you know the Holy Spirit moved in that meeting when I spoke on this subject of Developing balance and sensitivity all that we say and Revival came to many hearts. That article actually was printed up and one of the main Brethren magazines went throughout the world.

And I mentioned that because I believe a lot of people a lot of Christian leaders. They really do want more balance in their ministry. They really do want that fruit of the Spirit to be predominant Preeminent in their ministry.

They really do want Jesus Christ to be lifted up and exalted. Well, here are a few areas. I hope this will be practical where you have to work for balance in your leadership. Number one. Maintaining the balance between life in the church.

Life in the family. I had a woman Come to me broken. She was completely broken. And she shared how her husband left her. He never came back. She was very dedicated to the church. She was a very gifted woman very extrovert and her husband was a little quiet.

It's a very interesting combination. Mine is the reverse. I have a very quiet wife except in certain circumstances and I'm a bit of an extrovert. Anyway, this lady was in church Sunday morning afternoon and evening.

She had choir on Tuesday night prayer meeting Wednesday night Bible study Thursday night door-to-door visitation Friday night the husband He hardly ever saw her. He wanted to talk to her. I Mean, is that wrong?

And the husband wanted to talk to his wife and because he was very quiet. After about a year He just put a note on her bed. Ten reasons why he was leaving Left he never came back. Now none of you want to have that kind of note any of you who are married.

I Believe this is an area where Satan really attacks Christian leaders. You say well, I'm young. I'm not married. Look learn the things now. You don't learn them afterward. Learn them now before you're married that there must be a balance Between our work at church church life prayer all these things and the family Christian leaders who neglect their children and never have time to play with their children.

I Saw a film where a girl was getting more and more worldly. Her daddy was the preacher and he was getting really upset and daughter was getting more and more worldly. Chasing all the crazy music and one night.

She wanted to talk to her. She wanted she was struggling. She knew she was in trouble. She wanted to talk to him. He was busy preparing a sermon. He had no time to talk to his daughter. I tell you I hope With all my heart that you men and women Will work for balance in that area.

My own practice because I had the privilege of learning something about this. Before I was married and after I was married that I gave my children large Chunks of my time. In fact, I would even take him with me all traveling different parts of the world.

I'd take him even when they were three years old. I used to have my son in one arm running up the gangway of an airplane to go off to preach and It's an interesting experience is changing the nappies in the airport trying to get things being the plane was gonna leave and I'm in the bathroom with a baby and I Thank God that He helped me find the balance in this area.

Fellowship, Worship, Work, and Recreation

I only wish I could have been even more balance. The second area where we have to work for balance is between fellowship worship fellowship and worship work and recreation. There are four basic ingredients in our lives and in our churches.

We we need times for fellowship. Church should not be just one sermon after the other they all line up in rows like little ducks and we give them a sermon as If everybody in town wants to come and listen to us preach our great sermons.

We need preaching. We need teaching. Amen. But it's good when God's people can fellowship. Maybe they'd like to say something maybe they'd like to share a verse or a testimony and the importance of the time after the church service when people can remain and And fellowship together and In most places in the world where the church is growing.

And I've observed about 50 countries. They are putting into practice the small group concept if you you may already have this but if you don't have it and the only thing you get from the visit of this ship to your town is the importance of the small Fellowship group concept it will be well worth our time.

That's how the church has grown in Korea. That's how the church has grown in England. That's how many of the big churches have grown in the United States. It doesn't mean you don't have your main church service you do.

But you also have house groups. You teach house group leaders. How to teach the Word of God to groups of five or six. Many people who may not come into your church Would be willing to go into somebody's home again.

Maybe your country's the exception you have to decide that. But all over the world God is using the house group. There's a church in London right now that I'm linked with and It's amazing the growth that they have had.

A number of West Indians are going to that church, and I believe one of the reasons these small house groups are growing and Helping the church to grow. You know the one church in Korea has a quarter of a million members a quarter of a million members one church the secret of The growth of that church has been the small group.

You can have groups out in little towns. You can have groups in parts of the city that may be a long way from your own Church, and then once on a Sunday they can come together in a larger meeting. One of the reasons that these groups are so helpful it gives people an opportunity to share fellowship to meet one another.

Rather than just sit in rows show me one scripture that says God's people must sit only in rows one scripture. I'd be happy to examine it together with you and It's a beautiful thing when we can sit in our homes.

Study the Word of God pray together worship together fellowship together. On the other hand fellowship must be brought into balance with worship. Fellowship we're ministering to one another in the presence of God worship.

We turn away from one another and we look to God and we worship him. Now you can do that in rows. You can do it in circles. You can do it sitting you can do it standing. You can do it running. Hallelujah, you can even do it in the bathtub, but God is looking for worshippers and those two things have to be kept in balance and then work.

Now in some countries I go to Work is a dirty word people don't even know how to spell it anymore. Some spell it or K or SIT or SLE EP. But God is calling us Into a labor, you know that word a labor of love and work Has to be brought into balance by rest and by recreation.

The Bible says you all know the verse That our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. And I've seen many ministers. Many ministers great men they push Their body and their mind as part of the body. They push it to breaking point.

Now some of you men if you have a job where you have to earn some of the bread to put on the table and Then you also have a church responsibility. I Tell you I want to pray for you. You write me a letter and tell me about it because I know that's not easy and I feel That it's good.

Recreation, Rest, and Long-Term Endurance

For Christian leaders. To have some legitimate areas of recreation. Maybe running maybe swimming maybe music maybe some other sport. It may be a hobby collecting stamps. Standing on your head. That's a big thing in some places.

I've heard. But something that relaxes you something that you enjoy on the human level. I find young people Who become very dedicated to OM week to the Lord we get them, you know at Most of the young people on this ship.

They're very committed. They're very zealous. You know what they do. They try to deny the human factor you write that down the human factor. I was gonna call my book the human factor because there's a lot of human factors in this book and Then a great British writer Graham Greene an unconverted writer.

He wrote a book and he called it the human factor. I saw it in Smith's bookshop, and I thought Beat me to the title. So I called it no turning back. But there's a lot in this book. The similar material to what I'm trying to share with you this evening how to maintain the balance.

How to keep your sanity when everybody else is losing theirs. That's leadership. Everybody in the church is crawling up the walls jumping out the windows yelling screaming and you're thinking praying.

Organizing trying to calm down the situation. So we got to find the balance in that area. Fellowship and worship work rest recreation. Recreating. Of course is nothing like sleep the Bible says Our God giveth his beloved sleep.

This is God's provision. And you get some people they're trying to burn the candle at both ends. They're staying up late at night preparing their sermons. They're trying to get up early in the morning and I've seen them even in our very work operation mobilization.

I've seen them come right apart right apart. I don't know about your situation here, but in some countries many ministers are having nervous breakdowns. Others are suffering from intensive depression.

Physical depression not just spiritual depression and it's a great concern to me. You're gonna find the balance in that area. If you do is a better chance, you're going to be running the race 10 20 30 years down the road a few more areas.

Discipline and Liberty

The balance between discipline and liberty. Discipline and liberty or organization and freedom. How are you doing in that area if you over emphasize discipline? Without the balance of freedom you go into legalism.

We get it right on the ship. We need both. Galatians says God has called us unto freedom. But The same chapter. Don't use the freedom as an occasion. To the flesh you've ever been in a situation where the pastor tries to get everybody to come to church by threatening him.

I Was in a meeting where the pastor more or less told him if they weren't regular church attenders, they'd go to hell. I would have called that a little bit of dangerous legalism. Sometimes if we can't attract the sheep, we like to scare the sheep.

But it's not God's way and I believe that people Need more of the biblical emphasis. That we are free in Jesus Christ. Now we need to beware that we don't get into the the extreme of constantly judging people.

Constantly judging. Why did he spend this money and buy this thing or why was she there that night? She should have been in church. Or did you see him? He was down go. He went in that place there where I think I think maybe they sell liquor in there and I saw him walk out of there.

For all you know He might have been in there selling Christian books and people easily get into judgmentalism. And God wants us to find the balance if we have something against a brother. We don't judge.

Just you know lay a judgment trip on him. We go and talk to him. Fellowship with him and say well look brother. I think I saw you the other night Punching your wife and I thought maybe you know, maybe maybe God's given you some new truth.

You'd like to share with me. And you may find out That he wasn't even home that night that was some other man was in there punching his wife finding the balance. We get some people on our ship. They're very strong undisciplined.

They not only get up early. They make sure everybody else finds out they get up early and Then the guy who doesn't get up at 530. He feels He's a second-class citizen. He gets up at 630. I'll tell you I'd rather get up at 8 o 'clock filled with the love of God than at 530 a judgmental hyper-disciplined legalistic Pharisee, I Believe we need discipline.

But we're all different. My wife never went on went along with my get up early exercise program. I Believed you know when I got married we're gonna get up early and we're gonna have exercises push-ups and jumping jacks and jogging and My wife didn't go along with that.

She said I'm staying in bed. You get up and when you're done doing your exercises you bring me a cup of tea. Took many many years before I could handle that theology many years indeed. But I discovered my wife's whole metabolism is very different from mine her physical makeup.

The way she wakes up more than that. My wife sleeps very lightly. Especially after having children she wakes up three or four times in the night. So she's she wakes up tired. I Wake up often just ready to like a rocket right out of the bed.

Feel great sleep like a brick. Nothing disturbs me. Baby screaming wife getting up and out of bed noise lights. No, I don't hear anything. I'm dreaming away world evangelism, but ships second ship and If only we'd understand How God's unity comes in the midst of diversity, we're all not going to be the same.

That's why God has allowed different churches. You get noisy churches. Some people like to praise the Lord with a lot of noise. You get other churches where people prefer things a little more quiet. You get preachers that give good Bible exposition.

You get other preachers that give good exhortation topical messages. God is working in different people in different ways. And we need to find that balance between Discipline and Liberty. It's not easy.

Zeal and Wisdom in Christian Leadership

Study Romans 12 1 you study James 3 17 about that wisdom that comes From above that's led me into my next subject the next area to find balance zeal and wisdom. You know what zeal is. William Macdonald in his amazing book true discipleship.

I think it's back there he says. We're without excuse if we don't have zeal. I had zeal from the moment of my conversion. You don't need to go to college. You don't even need to go on OM. Zeal is just basic.

All you need is Jesus in your heart and You're gonna have some zeal. That's why I cannot understand How so many of God's people lack enthusiasm? Lack zeal. For for soul winning and for prayer and and for loving the brothers and sisters and for working in the church.

I just I still can't understand that I've been trying to for 30 years. I must be slow. Because zeal is so it's so easy to have zeal now wisdom. That's something else and our movement when we were born as a spiritual move.

We were heavy on zeal and we were weak on wisdom and so we made mistakes and God from his word passages like James 317. I talked about that in. In this whole book this book incorporates an early book that went an earlier book that went all over the world.

Which is a very small book called revolution of love. And I talked about James 317 the wisdom that comes from above. Some people they misunderstand this ship project. They think oh the miracle ship. I remember when we came into Indonesia.

Where they've had some amazing miracles and when the ship came in and somebody said the miracle ship is in town and they expected us just miracles raising the dead new houses constructed in midair and I went to a big meeting.

I was preaching to about a thousand people in this big meeting and people thought George Burr he's the leader. He must just be a miracle worker and they brought some of the most difficult cases. They brought a crippled man.

His body was completely crippled and the greatest Healers in Indonesia had prayed for this man. Nothing happened. Sometimes we don't like to face that reality that sometimes we pray and nothing happens and there's a dishonesty that gets into the church in this area of healing and You know in the United States because of extreme teaching about healing in one church brothers and sisters.

There are 52 people dead. 52 people dead because somebody says we don't believe in doctors. That's all of the devil. So they got 52 dead people in one church. And all the extreme things that I've seen I believe Jesus heals.

I have seen people heal. I'm willing to pray with you if you need some healing we'll go in a corner and pray but I believe God has given us Electricity. Otherwise, we're gonna all be sitting in the dark here.

I Believe God has given the gift of modern medicine. God uses many different things. We get people in the United States. They still won't drive an automobile. No, that's of the devil an automobile. They're driving in carts and they're fighting.

They're fighting different groups. One believe in carts with rubber tires. The others are opposed to rubber tires. They believe only in carts with steel and wooden tires and They've split into different groups and you go in a big city.

Driving a Mercedes-Benz. He's in another group and here's a man driving a Ford and right behind him a man is coming along hitting his horse with the rubber tires and the man behind him with his wooden tires and When people see this you wonder why they say religion.

I've had enough. You know, I'm going down to the bar where people are a little bit more sane. That's what some people say in some of these countries, you know when religion. When religion has lost its savor, you know that passage in the Gospels when the salt has lost its savor.

It's worthless when our religion has lost its savor. It stinks. It's just Pharisaism, it's just words. It's just religious practices. It's taboos and superstition. It's judgmentalism, it's it's words without love and reality and joy and compassion.

That's why we so strongly believe. That we need revival need revive. While we pray for revival, we need balanced biblical Christian leadership, yes zeal but wisdom wisdom. As I shared with you yesterday A .W. Tozer.

I know many of his books. Were on the ship. How are we doing on this? Get some of those books the best of A .W. Tozer. Gems from Tozer. And A .W. Tozer said the greatest gift Needed in the church today was the gift of discernment.

That's why it's good to read some of these books. That's why it's good to listen to other people. I'm glad you you took a chance and you came to to the ship. You weren't sure what you know, what is this?

You came. You have a mind. God has given you a mind. You can listen to what I say. If you don't see it in the Word of God as you study as you pray, you just throw it away. I Can't force anything on you but sometimes as Christians, we're afraid and.

Denominational Division and the Unity of the Church

And and what do we do? We get our little sheep and we get them in our little pen our little denominational pen and we say now don't talk to those sheep down the road and. And and don't go to that interdenominational meeting there's there's black sheep there and there's spotted sheep and there's there's sheep with cavities in their teeth or whatever other kind of thing and.

Then of course, I don't know if you have this problem here but in England we have a lot of a lot of fighting over the sheep and sometimes the brethren they get that they get the sheep by the tail and the Pentecostals get the sheep by the neck and the Baptists get the sheep around the bellies and.

Some other group tries to get the sheep by the ear and and they're pulling the poor sheep all different directions. Then they wonder why the sheep gets tired and just drops down. I don't know if you have that problem here.

But you know, there's thousands of people around here. They're they're not they're still goats they don't they're not even saved. They don't know Jesus at all and Rather than just grab other people's sheep from other churches.