The Lord lays it on my heart: if we talk about a man of God — "man of God," fascinating title. At least to me it is a fascinating title. What is a man of God? What is a woman of God? And how do we become a man of God or a woman of God?
As a young Christian I read in the Bible and I saw there this term: "and the man of God went here or there, and the man of God said this or that." But "man of God" — what is that? What kind of a person is he? The Scripture tells us that man is body and spirit. And most people only know how to function in the body but not in the spirit. And that is why there are so few men of God.
In the pages of the Bible you will see, in the course of human history, the rare figure of a man of God walking through the pages of the Bible. And he presents to us a fascinating picture, precisely because he is so rare — almost as rare as diamonds. And I wonder why a man of God is so rare. What do you think? Why is he so rare? Well, I have just suggested that most people do not know how to function, how to work, how to live in the spirit.
Now the Bible tells us that man has a body — or is a body — and he has a spirit — or is a spirit. You have a body which is very obvious to you, and you have a spirit which is much less obvious to you. Why? Because most of the time it doesn't function. And if it doesn't function, you are not aware of its existence, unfortunately.
Let me take us to a few passages in the Scripture just to establish this point first before we go on. There are too many passages in Scripture, but let's look only at a few concerning the spirit of man. Now if you have been in the church for a long time, you are much more familiar with the phrase "the Spirit of God." God is spirit. And it's quite clear that you are not going to communicate with Him with your body. If He is spirit, you are going to have to communicate with Him at the level of spirit. And if you don't know how to function in the spirit, then it's quite clear you are not going to communicate with Him at all. He is not going to be able to get through to you.
In 1 Corinthians, chapters 5, 6, and 7, Paul speaks again and again of the spirit of man. Here we are not talking about the Spirit of God; we are talking about that part of you which is spirit. And I'm hoping that through this message I am going to be able, by the Spirit of God through His word, to stir your spirit.
First Corinthians chapter 5. And here, twice within a few verses, he speaks about the human spirit. First he speaks about his own spirit, and then he speaks about the spirit of a person in the church whom he is trying to save. And in this case, through an act of severe discipline, unfortunately. First Corinthians chapter 5 verse 3: "For though absent in body, I am present in spirit, and as present I have already pronounced judgment." He is physically at this time writing to the Corinthians; he is not physically present in Corinth. He is in another place. But something has happened in the church in Corinth which requires discipline. But the fact that Paul is not physically present in Corinth does not prevent him from being spiritually present in Corinth and carrying out the necessary action.
Now most Christians find this very hard to understand, isn't it? Why? Because you are not used to the idea of functioning in the spirit. "I am absent in body but I am present in spirit with you Corinthians, and I am going to carry out an act of judgment." Striking, isn't it? Why does he carry out this severe act of judgment? Because judgment is an act of mercy. He wants to save the person who has sinned.
And so in verse 5 he speaks about the spirit of the other person, the person who is under judgment. Verse 5: "You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh." Again, flesh and spirit. "Destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." When we talk about salvation and you being saved, what are we trying to save? Are we trying to save your body? Are we trying to save you as a physical person? No. Paul is trying to save his spirit, the eternal part. This body, this physical body of mine and of yours, is subject to death and corruption. It is not eternal. It will pass away. Christians die like everybody else. They die physically. And yet in another sense they do not die. The spirit, if it is saved, will enter into salvation. If it is not saved, the spirit will also be destroyed.
The Lord Jesus said to the disciples in Matthew chapter 10, "Don't be afraid of those who can only destroy your body but can do nothing to your inner person, to your soul, to your spirit. They can't do anything. But fear Him who can destroy both body and soul." Soul is often a synonymous term for spirit in the Bible — the spirit, the spiritual part of man. God can destroy both in hell. So when we speak of salvation, we are talking about the salvation of that spiritual part of man which is spirit.
Now he goes on to the next chapter. I am just showing you how he repeatedly speaks about the spirit of man. In chapter 6, the next chapter, in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and in verse 17, we see another remarkable statement, a very remarkable statement very important to understanding what it means to be a man of God. And this is what Paul says in chapter 6 verse 17: "But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him." Now he is drawing on the analogy of a physical union in marriage, or in any other physical relationship between a man and a woman, and he says that these two, if they join together physically as man and woman, they become one flesh. One flesh. It is a physical union. But he says the spirit of man and the Spirit of God united together becomes a spiritual union.
So we begin our first step of understanding what a man of God is. A man of God is first of all a person who is united with God in a spiritual union. This is also hard to understand, right? At this stage. When you experience it, you know what it means. Spiritual things can be understood when they are experienced. When they are not experienced, in terms of mere knowledge, they are very hard to understand. There are many things in the Bible that as a young Christian I couldn't understand, but when I experienced it, it's very easy to understand.
I've shared many times: when I read in the Bible, it says in the Old Testament, "and the word of the Lord came to the prophet," and "the Lord said to the prophet," and I thought, how does He speak to the prophet? And one day the Lord spoke to me and I understood. Ah, so that's how it is. If somebody had explained to me, "You see, the word of the Lord comes to the prophet and this means this and that," by the time he finished explaining, I'm even more confused. What is he talking about? If he knows what he's talking about, I'm not too sure. But if he himself had experienced it and he tried to share it with you, it's still very airy-fairy. If I tell you the truth of the matter is the Lord has spoken to me on various occasions, it's still difficult for you to understand, isn't it? But one day when the Lord speaks to you because you are united with Him in one spirit — oh, I know what it means because I've experienced it.
If somebody tries to explain regeneration to you — oh, very hard to understand. "You become a new person and the Spirit of God comes into you and He transforms your life," and you're scratching your head and saying, "I'm sorry, I don't understand any of this." But one day, by the grace and power of God, you are regenerate. You become a new person. "Oh, see, that's what regeneration is all about. Now I understand." This is what I mean, that spiritual things are understood through experiencing them. I don't know of any other way to understand them.
Now we go on to chapter 7 and we see another example. In chapter 7, which most people know very well because it's a chapter about marriage or non-marriage — everybody is very familiar with it. If there's one passage in the Bible that most Christians know very well, especially young people, then 1 Corinthians 7 should be it. But maybe you're less familiar with this particular verse, verse 34. Maybe we have to read from verse 33: "But the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife." We are also familiar with this in terms of experience. Unfortunately we are more familiar with these kinds of verses. This one doesn't need anyone to expound to you. You don't need that because you have experienced that if you're a married man.
And then: "And his interests are divided." He wants to serve the Lord and he wants to please his wife, and therefore he is torn apart. He doesn't quite know which direction to go. And this you have lived out in your experience. See, you understand the Bible when you live it. I show you a very down-to-earth example. But then we go on: "And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord." Now if that's true, it's only true of those who have been united with the Lord in spirit, one spirit with Him, as we saw in the previous chapter. Paul is concerned that you have no dividing interest, that you can focus entirely upon the Lord. This is so characteristic of Paul's heart and mind. And he goes on to say this: "How to be holy in body and spirit." You see? Body and spirit. Again.
But the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband. So the husband is trying to please the wife, the wife is trying to please the husband. And Paul is saying, this thing is getting me very worried. Where does the Lord get into all this picture? So he said, for this reason I think it is best that you concentrate your devotion upon the Lord.
Now why are there so few men of God? Because Paul is trying to answer the same question that I have posed just a moment ago. The problem is, even among Christians, that we are so anxious about each other, and particularly in the family about husband, wife, and so on, that in the end the devotion to the Lord is divided. So few men of God. So few. How many are concerned to be holy in body and spirit? The two cannot be separated. Here is a point where body and spirit cannot be separated. You cannot be holy in spirit but sinful in the body — that must be a joke. Or you cannot be holy in the body and sinful in the spirit. No, you have to be holy both in body and spirit.
Now, let's come back to think about functioning in the spirit. You know, I shared with you the first Sunday that I was here after I had arrived, that in Manila, in the Philippines, I met this lady, this American lady from California, about 65 years old, a church member. She used to be in the church before. She left the church that she used to go to and joined these kinds of transcendental meditation type of people. And you know why she left the church? I say it to the shame of all of us in the church. It's because she couldn't find anyone in the churches that she went to — more than one church, she went to several churches — she couldn't find anyone in the churches who knew anything about functioning in the spirit.
She told me that when she went to Sunday school at the age of 12 or 13 and so on, the Sunday school teacher was more interested in cars than in the Bible. And that's not uncommon in churches today. But she wanted to know spiritual things. She was not interested in cars. She didn't come to Sunday school to learn about that. She wanted to know spiritual things. Her heart hungered and thirsted for spiritual things. So rare to find a person who is interested with that intensity in spiritual things. Everybody is interested to some degree or other in spiritual things — at least you are willing to spend a few hours in the week, go to church and learn a few spiritual things, provided it doesn't get too heavy going. But here was a person who intensely wanted to know spiritual things. I felt deeply challenged.
And because she could not find it in the church, she went elsewhere — anywhere, anybody who could teach her spiritual things. And this is the reason why she was on that flight to Manila. Because she was passing through Hong Kong, as I told you, and going on to Kashmir in northern India. And why was she going there? Because she wanted to look for "the great ones," as she called them. And I said, "What great ones are you talking about?" She said, "The great ones are the spiritual masters, the spiritual masters who could teach her spiritual things." And in the last 25 years of her life, she has learned a lot about spiritual things. A lot, I would say. She knows a lot about spiritual things. She is able, even in broad daylight like this, to communicate in spiritual matters. She has visions in broad daylight of the spiritual world.
You know that in all the time I spent with her in Manila — because we were both of us going to take the afternoon flight to Hong Kong, there was a morning flight but it was already booked full, and only two passengers could not get onto that morning flight, she and I — and the Lord had worked all this thing out in advance without our knowing it. So we arrived at 6 o'clock in the morning in Manila, and we had to catch the 4 o'clock afternoon flight to Hong Kong, so we had about 10 hours in Manila. Nothing happened by accident. The Lord had worked it all out.
And during those 10 hours, I was wondering, "Am I going to sit up and down for 10 hours in the airport?" But to my astonishment, Philippine Airlines had already arranged that transfer passengers going in the afternoon would be sent to a hotel in Manila. They were very kind to make that arrangement, and we were sent to a five-star hotel. Very luxurious. We were looking around — the likes of the Hilton and all these places that people like us don't normally find ourselves in. And we were provided, each of the passengers were provided with a room for themselves to rest in, and we were given two free meals, breakfast and lunch. We were given the tickets and we could order what we liked for breakfast or lunch.
But the Lord's plan was that I would have contact with this lady. And I was saying that what struck me was here's a person who knew how to function in the spirit in the way that most Christians could not. And through that entire period, I never once told her who I was and what I do. Not once. And yet, in the spirit, she knew who I was. She never once asked me, "What is your job? Why are you going to Hong Kong?" In fact, she never asked me one single question in all those ten hours. Why? Because she's not interested? No. Because in the spirit, she knew who I was. Isn't that remarkable? She didn't have to ask me any questions. She said to me, "Ever since I met you this morning, I have been under the guidance of God." That's the exact words that she used. Exact words. Word for word: "I have been under the guidance of God." She realized directly, as soon as she had contact with me, as soon as I spoke to her, that I am a servant of God.
I had no external label by which to show her that. I don't even have a cross on my lapel. Nothing. I did not carry any Bible in my hand. Nothing at all. And yet, as soon as she talked with me, not only did she know that I was a servant of God, but she felt herself to be so affected as to be under what she called the guidance of God. Could you have that spiritual sensitivity? Would you know? Without asking once, "What is your job? Where are you going? What are you doing?" She even knew something about my family. She even knew something about Helen. She even knew that I had one child. I never told her anything. She knew it all. And so I was the one asking her questions all the time, because I was trying to lead her thoughts through the questions.
Very interesting in the Bible how the Lord constantly asks questions. Have you ever noticed that? Right from Genesis: "Adam, where are you?" God doesn't know where Adam is — "Where are you?" And that kind of question goes on and on through the Bible. You notice even the Lord Jesus, how many times He keeps using questions. "Which of these people I have mentioned in the parable was the neighbor? Which one?" You think about it.
So all through this time I was asking her questions. I asked her questions like, "Why are you doing all this? Why are you going to Kashmir? What can these teachers really teach you? Why did you get into this in the first place?" And so as I went on, she revealed to me that her spiritual hunger — she needs spiritual things. Why? There is a remarkable characteristic about this lady. She was interested not so much about the life that is now, as about the life that is eternal, that is to come, and how to enter into that life. That was the one question that persevered.
And she told me. She said, "You know, there are three gates that lead to the next life. I have been through two of them. There is one more gate. When you go through that gate, you don't come back again to this life. You go into the next world." She also told me that, "You know, one day as I was sitting in London airport, I saw the world to come. And I even saw JFK, John F. Kennedy." And I said, "Well, what did he look like?" She said, "Well, he looked like a young man of 22." I said, "Why that?" She said, "Well, you see, because in the next life, you can choose your own age." That's very interesting. In other words, what is the peak of your life in this world — if your peak was, say, you want to choose to be 22, which apparently JFK did according to her — then you would be 22. She is not far wrong. As you know, when angels appear, they appear as human beings in the Bible, and they generally appear as young men. Have you noticed that? Even at the resurrection of the Lord, there was one young man sitting at this end, one young man. They were young men. They were angels, in fact.
She said, however, that in the case of another person — if I remember correctly, she was referring to her husband who died some years ago — she saw him at the age of 45. I said, "Why 45?" Because that was the peak of his life, the high point of his life, and so he chose that time. And so she went on discoursing about spiritual things in the spiritual world.
Are you able to function in this way? Would you be able not only to discern about the other person without asking any questions about that person, but would you be able to have this kind of spiritual understanding? Now, unfortunately for her — unfortunately for her — she knows almost nothing about God. She knows a lot about the spiritual world, but she does not know about God. That is where the difference between herself and myself was. You see, the truth of the matter is, I am not really interested whether there are three gates or four or five or ten that go to the next life. I am not interested in any of this. I am interested solely and wholly in God. Like the Apostle Paul, I would say, "That I may know Him, that I may know Jesus." That is all that matters. I am not really concerned whether in the next life you are 22 or 45 or whatever. I am not interested in this. But you see, she is willing to clutch at any crumb about spiritual knowledge because she cannot know God.
No man, the Lord Jesus says, no man comes to the Father but by Me. That is why she could not get to the Father. She cannot come to know God because she hasn't really come to know the Lord Jesus. Even though, rather touchingly, she believes that it is through the death of Christ and through His death alone that we will be saved — even that she knows. That amount of spiritual knowledge has been granted to her. But she does not know how to come to Him. That is why my compassion went out to her. The church failed her to lead her into spiritual life and spiritual things. The church failed. I wonder what will happen to the church on the day of judgment, brothers and sisters.
Let me be a little bit more personal. I wonder whether your relatives, your friends, your father, your mother, your brother, your sister will say to you on the day of judgment, "How is it that I have known you all these years and I have not seen anything spiritual in your life? How is it that you were not able to lead me to the way of life? Did you not know that I also have a spirit? Did you not know that this body will die one of these days? And did you not care enough for me to share with me what you know? Or is it that you don't really know? You also can't function in the spirit. That's why you couldn't help me." I wonder, in the day of judgment, brothers and sisters, what will your answer be to the Lord?
Because if you function in the spirit, a person cannot remain neutral to you. Cannot. Even the non-Christian will sense that there is something about you that is different. But if your life is making no impact upon the people immediately round about you, there is something wrong with your life. I have no hesitation in saying this: there is something wrong about your life that needs to be set straight. Because on that day, like this woman, she will be able to say to the Lord, "King of all, Judge of all, God of gods, King of kings, have mercy upon me, I beg of You. I went to the church — the Evangelical Church" — she mentioned to me that she went to a church called the Evangelical Church — "and nobody was able to tell me about You. They were talking about cars in the church. Have mercy upon me. In search of spiritual things I wandered all over the world, seeking, even to Kashmir I went. No distance was too far, no expense was too much." How many of you are willing to pay once a year one month to go to Kashmir? To save up your earnings — she is a retired teacher — to use her savings to go and travel to Kashmir every year so that she could learn a little bit more, a little bit more about spiritual things? Are you that desperate?
I wonder what will happen on that day, not just to her, but what will the Lord say to the Christians she met? "Where have you been all this time? Have you not read My words that say that you are body and spirit and you are not willing to function in the spirit?" How many Christians, like the one in 1 Corinthians 5, have not only not functioned in the spirit but have gone so far in the flesh as to commit sins in the flesh, so that Paul had to deliver that person to Satan with the last attempt to save that person's spirit? You are controlled by the flesh. You want to sin. Oh, young people in the church are sinning. I know it. I have to counsel them again and again and to take the necessary disciplinary measures to help them, and we try to stop it before it goes too late. And I'm saying, where are the people who know how to function in the spirit? Why are they always falling into the flesh?
How rare is the man and the woman of God! How rare. In the Bible, as I said, we see these rare instances of men of God walking through the pages of the Bible. This earth was better for the presence of such men. But how few they have been. Moses, in Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 1, is called "the man of God." Elijah and Elisha are frequently called "the man of God" in 2 Kings. Even David is called "the man of God" in 2 Chronicles 8:14 and some other passages. And I don't want to suggest to you that only Moses and David and Elijah and Elisha, these kind of people of such fame, are called men of God. There are some unknown men of God, at least not known to most Christians. I doubt, for example, that you have heard of a man called Shemaiah, who is also described as "a man of God" in 1 Kings chapter 12 and verse 22, who spoke to King Rehoboam. I also doubt that you know of a man of God called Igdaliah in Jeremiah chapter 35 verse 4. And I mention this because it's a comfort to us. We might not think we can attain to the stature of a Moses or a David, but perhaps we can still manage, by the grace of God, to be on the level of a Shemaiah, for example, or an Igdaliah.
Now in the New Testament, the title "man of God" is actually applied by no lesser figure than the Apostle Paul to Timothy: "And you, man of God, shun these kinds of things." What things? You read that in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 11. In the whole context: shun the things of the world. You cannot be a man of God. You cannot function as a man of God if you fall into the love of money, if you fall into the desire for material possessions, which afflicts so many Christians. Why have we so few men of God? Oh, the world — the world pulls them like a magnet and they can't fight off the attraction. And soon you find Christians and pastors and everybody all drawn into the world, all in bondage to the love of money.
Yes, when I was last in Hong Kong, a brother who used to be in our church in Liverpool in England invited me to meet certain church leaders in Hong Kong. I won't mention their names; I'm not here to attack people. One was his own pastor, the other was one of the church leaders in Hong Kong. And so he thought by inviting us he would have a wonderful time of fellowship. His investment was simply the cost of the meal in a nice European restaurant downtown, and he would have these three pastors gathered together and he would have a spiritual feast on top of whatever that stuff was on the table. And what was the intensity of his disappointment when he discovered that you can't even talk spiritual things with pastors.
Oh no, no way. That great figure of a church leader in Hong Kong was interested in talking about church business and church administration and church outreach and church expansion and church this and church that, and the Lord was nowhere in this at all. And by the end of the meal and after the end of the discussion, the time was up. I had to go. He and I tried to divert the subject again and again to the Lord, but it was no use. It was just brushed aside: "I wanted to discuss about this. Let's get on with talking about church business." So after the dinner he walked out of there and his head was hanging down and he was looking so miserable and so disappointed. So I put my arm around him and said, "I'm sorry about this experience for you. It's nothing new to me, but it must be a shock to you that even among pastors it is hard to find a man of God."
Now let's press on a little more quickly. What does "man of God" mean? The first point I have already mentioned to you. A man of God — we can speak of it, the "of" — what does "of God" mean? We can speak of it in terms of a Greek grammar called an objective genitive. That is, the man of God is one who focuses wholly upon God. His attention is fully occupied with God — not even with church business. His attention is absorbed with God. Does it mean he is very airy-fairy, that he is out of touch with things of the world? Not at all. There is no man so practical as a man of God. You will find, as you get to know men of God, they are very practical in their thinking. It does not mean that because you are so absorbed with God that you become impractical, that you are out of touch with current affairs, with matters that go on in the church. No, no — quite the reverse. Precisely because you are constantly in touch with God, you see more in one glance than the church administrator can see in weeks and months. Striking, isn't it?
When you look at the men of God like Elijah and Elisha, you are struck by how practical was their perception of what was going on in Israel at the time. They knew what was going on in Israel about things that other people didn't even see. Being devoted to God, contrary to what most people suppose — and they suppose that because they don't know what a man of God is and how he works — they think he is impractical. It is from the advantage position, the bird's-eye view, if you like, of looking down. When you are at the level, you look through the crowd, it is very hard to see things clearly. From the position above, the spiritual advantage looking down, he sees everything with a remarkable spiritual perception and clarity.
So a man of God, in its first definition, is one who is occupied with God, but occupied with God in such a way that he sees all things in the world very, very clearly. Can you? Can you see things clearly? Do you see what is going on in the church if you are a church leader? Do you see even what is going on in the life of brothers and sisters? Do you see even what is going on in your own life? Not unless you are so preoccupied with the Lord. Seems contradictory, isn't it? I told you: spiritual things are hard to explain until you experience them. When you experience them, you know exactly what I mean.
Now the second thing about a man of God. As well as the objective genitive, there is also a subjective genitive in Greek, which means that a man of God is a man who is motivated by God, and motivated by God because he is fully controlled by Him. So not only does he look upward and outward to God — and notice from that he is not an inward-looking person; an inward-looking person is not a man of God. He is an outward-looking, upward-looking person. And the second thing is: he is a person fully controlled by God.
Now I don't want you to think that a man of God is a spiritual robot — you know, that God presses certain buttons, and when He presses the right button my arm goes up, and the next moment this other arm goes up, and I speak because He pressed another button and the words are flowing out, so I am some kind of a spiritual tape recorder. No, no, no. By being fully controlled by God must not be understood in the sense of being turned into a mechanical robot. But it means that the man of God is consciously or unconsciously — and most of the time unconsciously, because it becomes a habit of mind — cooperating with God all the time.
I would like to say something that might be described as the courtesy of God. You will notice that men of God are very polite. If he is not polite, he has not yet understood what it means to be a man of God. You know why he is polite? Because God is exceedingly polite. Did you know that? You know the God in whom you believe? He is almighty, He is all-holy, He is so powerful, and yet He is a God who is exceedingly, exceedingly gracious. Oh, that is why it says to the Christians, "And be ye courteous." A man of God is a strikingly courteous man because he is a servant of a God who is exceedingly courteous. Remarkable.
What do I mean by all this talk about courtesy? Look at this. When I say that He controls my life, it does not mean that He kicks me around like a football. It's so beautiful to walk with God. I wish I could describe this thing to you. It is so wonderful to walk with God because you discover His gentleness, His meekness in dealing with us. We are only like ants upon the ground. He could step on us as almighty God. No way. He treats us with a courtesy that's enough to make your tears run down. He could say to me, "Go here, go there, do this," and I would run as His servant. He doesn't do that. He would say to me, "Would you like to go there?" And even the question is in my heart: "Lord, of course I will go. Why do You put it so graciously into me? Give the word and I will run." No — "Would you like to go?" Oh, it's so beautiful. It's incredible to walk with God. Does this sound mysterious to you? You try walking with God and you'll soon understand what kind of a God He is.
I worship and adore Him not because His might terrifies me, His holiness frightens me, but His love and His courtesy melt down my heart. What a God! What a God He is! And that's why it has to be reflected in my own conduct. Anyone who runs a church saying, "You do this, you go there, I am the pastor! Do you know me? Me! And when I cough then you better be standing at attention! I am the big man around here!" — anyone who runs a church like that does not begin to understand what kind of a God he is serving. And you say, "How are people going to respect me? I mean, I can only run the church by giving orders. Hey, you go there! That one! Everyone at attention, yes sir! This is a well-run, efficient church." And you say this pastor is only saying, "Perhaps you would like to do it like this. But," he said, "perhaps. Would you please go over there?" He is not authoritarian. Maybe he hasn't studied leadership psychology. "Don't you know what it is to be a leader? Go to a special training course! This pastor is too gentle." Let me tell you something, brothers and sisters. I know leadership psychology. I was a leader long before I became a Christian. I know all the techniques of leadership, and I don't want to use one of them. No, we turn away from this kind of worldly mentality. The way my God is, that's the way I shall be.
A man of God — thirdly, therefore, "of" is a descriptive genitive as well: objective genitive, subjective genitive. I'm giving a lesson in Greek grammar, and descriptive genitive. There are different ways of describing these terms in different Greek grammar books, but I'll just use these particular terms. What do we mean by a descriptive genitive? It means a man of God bears the same character as God. Of course not to the same extent — we are being conformed to His image. But you know, a man of God will conform to the way God is. He will be holy. He will be loving. He will be meek. He will be powerful. It is a dangerous thing to raise the wrath of a man of God, just as it is dangerous to raise the wrath of God Himself. Because there is nothing so terrifying as the wrath of a meek person.
The Lord Jesus is so meek, so gentle. But when He became angry against sin, it terrified everyone. When He walked into the temple and saw these people making money in the temple, His wrath came forth. And then you notice: He was outnumbered hundreds to one, and not one person dared to touch Him. Not one dared to touch Him. He was unarmed. He had no bodyguards. He had no one to defend Him. And yet when He overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple and said, "How dare you turn My Father's house into a den of thieves!" — nobody there dared to stop Him. The money changers could have grabbed Him and said, "What are you doing? Look at my money, it's all running around on the ground." Ten against one, fifty against one, they could have beaten Him up. And yet there was a holy power that not one of these ungodly people dared to lift a finger against Him.
You see, divine power does not depend on psychological techniques. The power of God can paralyze the enemy in a terrifying manner. And I'm sure that as He overturned these tables, He was not shouting, He was not in a fit of temper. The quiet anger: "Why have you turned My Father's house into a den of thieves? Answer Me this question." Nobody could answer. Nobody could answer. You know, there is a priestly bodyguard, a priestly defense force in the temple. There are guards in the temple. It was those temple guards that came to arrest the Lord Jesus. And not a guard dared to lift a finger against Him. Not a guard dared to lift a finger against Him.
# Man of God - Part 2
It does not depend on rank. "I am a pastor, therefore it's my rank and you have to listen to me." If you have to work like this, you are not fit to work in the church of God. Because the pastor is a servant. "He who would be leader, chief among you, must be the servant of all." I am your servant. I have the privilege to wash your feet and to brush your shoes. I do not stand here by rank to demand obedience or order. Either I have the power from the Lord, or I don't.
That is why Paul said to the troublemakers in the various churches, especially at Corinth: "When I come to Corinth," he said, "I'm going to look at those troublemakers to see what is their power." That's the word he uses. You want to fight against me in the church? Fine. When I come, we will see who has the power from the Lord. Quite frightening, isn't it? He didn't say, "I'm an apostle. I outrank you as an apostle. How many apostles are here? Put up your hands. Nobody. I am the apostle, now you listen to me." He said, "I am not going to outrank you, but when I come I'm going to see what power these people have. I'm going to test it." And woe will be to them if they are trying to fight against the Lord in His church.
You see, these are remarkable things, and I'm telling you these things so that you can understand what is a man of God. Three things: he is devoted to God absolutely; his life is controlled absolutely — as last week I was trying to mention this thing to you, that "I am crucified with Christ," Paul says. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." And the third thing is: we bear His image.
Now I would like you to notice that all these three things can apply to any Christian, to any one of you. And the purpose of my preaching this message is that from this group there will come forth men and women of God in this generation. When the church has more or less become dominated by the world, the church has become a shame in the eyes of the world. It has no glory that is worth looking at. But may it be, if God will grant to us this kindness in these last days, that you will become men and women of God, because all three conditions that I have mentioned are already true of every Christian.
All these I must close. Our time is gone. Let me point to you one last thing before I close. There is a verse in John chapter 3 that we all should be very familiar with. And I think when I mention John 3, many of you already would be thinking of certain verses in John 3, especially if you have been Christians for a long time. The beginning part has to do with regeneration: "How can a man be born again?" This part of the discussion I will not even go through now.
Nicodemus, a great teacher in Israel, came to the Lord Jesus and asked Him about these things. And the Lord Jesus was saying to him, "Unless you are born again, you will not enter the kingdom of God." And this teacher in Israel was struck by this. He had not even understood the teaching, and the Lord said to him, "Are you a teacher in Israel and you don't understand these things?"
Then verse 5: "Truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh" — you see again the contrast of flesh and spirit — "and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born anew."
Now I want to take you to a verse which is much less familiar, and that's the next verse, verse 8: "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." I mentioned to you in Toronto only last month, at the laying on of hands for Joe and for Eric as they were appointed pastors of the church, that I heard the sounds of the wind rushing over the top of the church with such power that even the wooden beams were creaking. The Lord says, "And you hear the sound of the wind."
Now it's very interesting, because any of you who know a little bit of Greek will know that the word "wind" and the word "spirit" are the same word in Greek. "Pneuma" is the same word which can be translated "wind" or "spirit." And the Lord Jesus is playing on this dual meaning. In English it is called a pun, a play on words. He's playing on the dual meaning of this Greek word "pneuma," which means spirit or wind. He says, "The Spirit moves where He wills, and you hear the sound, but you do not know where He comes from or whither He goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
I don't have time to develop this point now. I have so much material here in front of me. But it is remarkable that it is the mark of a man of God that he is so controlled by the Spirit, so led by the Spirit, that nobody knows what he is going to do next. You see, the carnal man is predictable. You know what he wants. You know his mind. You know what he wants to do. The spiritual man is unpredictable in that sense.
And this was the mark of Elijah. Let me read one more verse to you and then we must close for today. In 1 Kings chapter 18 and verse 12, we read this very thing about Elijah. "The wind blows where it wills and nobody knows." First Kings chapter 18 and verse 12.
Now the story here is about the fact that Elijah, the man of God, exercising his spiritual authority under God, being led by the Lord, dealt with Israel in its disobedience to God in a disciplinary act that was absolutely devastating to the nation. And I think you know, at least some of you who know the Old Testament will know what this man of God did. One man could bring the whole nation to its knees. That's what I said: the power that God invests in a man of God. He shut the heavens for over three years. He shut up the heavens — not a drop of rain would come down. That would destroy the economy of the entire nation for over three years. He said to Ahab, "Because you have been unfaithful to Yahweh, the God of Israel, I tell you, not one drop of rain will come out of this sky for the next number of years." For more than three years it never rained again, and Israel's economy was in shambles. And you know it's very dangerous for the king because that's when an economy falls apart — it's going to be rebellion. That is the normal course of Asian history.
And then Ahab was desperately trying to find Elijah, hoping that he would reverse his words by the power of the Lord. But God had instructed Elijah to hide himself by a brook called Cherith on the east side of the Jordan. And they couldn't find him anywhere. He searched high and low. The king sent messages to all the neighboring states, all over the place: "Have you seen Elijah? Have you seen this man of God?" Nobody saw him. Of course not. He was by a brook where he was fed by ravens and drank the water from the brook until that brook also dried up.
And so they searched for water and for green lands, and Ahab was searching one part of the country and Obadiah, one of his ministers, was searching in another place — searching just to survive. And then the man of God appeared to Obadiah. Obadiah was so shocked by suddenly running into Elijah that he collapsed on the ground in terror. And then Elijah said to him, "I have a message for you. Tell Ahab the king that today I'm going to see him face to face." And Obadiah was terrified. He said, "Are you trying to get me killed?" Why was he terrified? The passage tells us here, in verse 12: "And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you whither I know not. And so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he's going to kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth."
Obadiah was faithful to the Lord, unlike the king. The king was very disobedient to the Lord. But he was terrified, saying, "If I tell Ahab that I have seen you, and you said you're going to see the king, and then the Spirit of the Lord will catch you away and you go somewhere else because you are entirely controlled by the Spirit — what's going to happen to me? I get my throat cut! You see, you've got to remember me, my poor little me! I have been faithful to the Lord, remember!" Now I'm citing this instance to show that his concept about a man of God was precisely this: "The wind blows where it wills and nobody knows where it's coming and going. And you are a man of God, and I don't know whether you're going to be there when I announce your presence. The Spirit of the Lord may just whisk you away somewhere else." You see, he didn't understand how a man of God works, right? Just like today — he was faithful to the Lord, but he still didn't understand how a man of God works.
And so Elijah said to him, "Look, I have told you I'm going to see the king, so you just pass the message on to him." You see, that passage so beautifully illustrates John chapter 3 verse 8. A man fully led and controlled by the Spirit, but — oh, what a God — so gentle and gracious in all His ways.
My time is gone, and there is so much material here. I have to leave it at this point and stop here. Perhaps another time we'll continue to expound about being a man of God. But I hope that enough has been said to challenge you to function in the spirit. Because I quoted John chapter 3 verse 8 to show you that it has to do with anybody who is regenerate. "So is everyone born of the Spirit," which means that anyone born of the Spirit could be like Elijah. You see the connecting point? That is the point I'm getting at. Any one of you should be able to be a man of God, in the same way as Elijah was led completely by Him, directed completely by Him, so that you can be mightily used by God in these last days and know the joy, the sweetness of walking with the living God.
Let us pray.