The Closed Door

The Closed Door
Gateway to Spiritual Fullness

                          Simply Stated
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Much like people of the world, Christians also fancy extraordinary
phenomenon, give heed to supernatural events and take stock in outstanding
accomplishments. The fixation with outward greatness and notoriety - and by
association, prosperity - has driven many Christians to seek after experiences
that excite the soul but do nothing for the spirit.

There is a whole culture that gears toward nurturing and heightening man’s
senses for the sensational. Everywhere we look, today’s churches are
programmed to accommodate this culture and take it to new heights.
Churches that are successful in this endeavor are magnets for new converts
and are looked upon with envy by their peers. Many such churches even give
seminars to fellow-pastors with aspiration for outward greatness and success.

Sad to say, all the fuss about success, programs and greatness has distracted
Christians from their one and most central issue – Christ. A.W. Tozer once
told a church congregation that if Jesus walked in today, no one would
recognize Him.

The reason we would not recognize Him is because we are preoccupied with all
these programs, hypes, promotions and productions instead of focusing on the
person of Christ. The familiar story of Elijah at Horeb might illustrate this
point. The prophet fled from Jezebel and came to a cave in Horeb where he
saw the Lord passing by with a violent rushing wind tearing the mountains and
breaking the rocks, but the Lord “was not in the wind.” Then there was an
earthquake, but the Lord “was not in the earthquake.” Then there was a fire,
but the Lord “was not in the fire.” Then there was the sound of a “gentle
blowing” (I Kings 19:9-12).

Too many Christians, ministers and churches are too grossly preoccupied in
the outward and sensational “winds,” “earthquakes,” and “fires” to hear the
Lord’s still small voice any more. People want quick-fixes to their problems,
and churches want instant success for their plethora of programs.

Genuine spirituality is always opposite of and hidden from the flashy and
sensational "winds, quakes and fires." Genuine spirituality on the one hand is
the result of being dealt with in fleshly lusts, natural ability and religious zeal;
on the other hand, it is being brought forth from a closer walk with Christ and
fuller apprehension of the person of Christ. Closer walk with Christ requires
cultivation through time and the privacy of closed doors before the possibility
of fruition.

In today's culture of instant gratification, time has become the neglected
element in true spiritual development. Instead of following the foot-steps of
the Lamb in taking the time-consuming way of the cross, Christians have
taken to the "just add water" culture in their pursuit of spirituality.

Jesus is the one grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died, and as a result
of His death, fruitfulness is produced (Jn:12:24). In the same way, our true
spiritual development can only come from surrendering to the slow dealings of
the cross to facilitate the laying down of our self life. It is through the dealings
of the cross which strike a blow to our lust for the "winds, quakes and fires"
that we learn to hear His still small voice and acquire the lowly and sweet
character of the Lamb.

However, the dealings upon the natural man, the dying to the self life, and
becoming lowly and hidden are not messages Christians want to hear
nowadays. To put things in perspective, today’s churches almost have to
operate under the hypes of “winds,” “quakes,” and “fires” to some degree.
Take the “winds,” “quakes,” and “fires” away, most churches will suffer
immediate membership decline! It is a classical case of new wine vs. old
wineskin syndrome.

On the other hand, enlightened believers want to fix the leaky wineskin by
patterning after the "early church" in the New Testament. Ornate religious
buildings, pews, liturgical forms and clergy-led programs are now replaced by
the simplicity of home fellowship and spontaneity of worship.

But it is not uncommon to find many early church experts doing a sort of
reverse engineering and coming up with wonderful discoveries of the missing
pieces from the biblical early church.

While the biblical early church blueprint does reveal the Lord's mystical body
functioning organically on earth and expose the woeful departure from such
pattern in today's churches, reverse engineering is a far cry from the Lord's
way of securing His desired church.

Simply stated, it is the increasing and maturing life of Christ that enables us to
experience and express the reality of the organic church life. The reverse-
engineered church life is only a look-alike, no matter how much it resembles
the biblical early church. The true Bride of Christ does not come into being by
"just add water," she is the result of travail.

A few lowly remnants who have been through the rabbit trail of "first-century
church" or "organic church" finally discovered that these efforts - failed or not
- were also just another patch work in the same old wineskin.

By the Lord’s grace and mercy, simple and unpretentious brothers and sisters
in many parts of the country and around the world are realizing that the
various attempts at biblical early church as mere mechanical processes that
leave out the Spirit, and shortcuts that cut out the work of the cross. Saints
whom the Lord made simple are learning to discover that the way to genuine
spirituality is through the cross, the gateway to spiritual fullness and maturity
is through a closed door of intimate relationship with the Lord.

Today, many of the non-traditional churches that gather outside of the
institutional environment claim a return to simplicity, which is a hallmark of
the early church, but simplicity is not merely the doing away with clergy-laity
system, glamorous church buildings and the programs. It is first and
foremost a work of the Holy Spirit through the cross to diminish the self life
and increase the character and likeness of the Lamb within. Being made Lamb-
like in character is what confirms the claim of simplicity, all other claims pale
in comparison.

May we learn to look to Him and holdfast Him who is our All to make us simple
from the inside out. Quietly, the Lord is working inwardly to “drive out the
nations” (decrease of self) and “enlarge our borders” (increase of Christ) as in
Ex 34: 24.

Little by little, as we learn to surrender to His merciful dealings, the Lord then
has a chance to gain some ground in us; and quite unexpectedly, a sweet and
real church life emerges without anyone working up a sweat trying to copy or
mimic the so-called “Early Church” pattern (not to say we haven’t tried
before).

Whenever the "self" is in charge, the most first-century-like church is merely
an empty structure, whether it gathers in a house or an ornate building.

On the other hand, when our focus is shifted from the church to Him, a wealth
of treasure is opened to us not the least of which is a genuine church life that
many saints elsewhere devote themselves to but have difficulty laying hold of.
When the focus is the church, we lose sight of Christ; when the focus is Christ,
we gain both the new wine and the wineskin. It’s not about us, dear saints, it’s
all about Him.

Over the years, the Lord has graciously brought many dear extra-local friends
to fellowship with us and help us return to Christ. We are most grateful for
these dear friends from Louisiana, Dallas, Memphis, California, North
Carolina, Ghana, Mexico, Virginia, Chile, India, Canada…who have enriched
our lives through their fellowship. Our oneness is not found in uniformity, it is
found in Christ alone, and Christ is manifested in diverse members that are
distinctly different. May the Lord teach us the secret that an open door of
fellowship with the saints comes through closed door of His intimate dealings
by grace (more on this in the next message "The Closed Door").

Prayerfully and humbly, we submit the articles in this website for your
considerations with a hope for fellowship unto an enlargement of the portion of
Christ in His saints. Amen.

Oliver Peng