By Charles Carrin
All church failure is directly related to congregations detaching themselves theologically and experientially from the Kingdom of God. Apart from the Kingdom and the Holy Spirit’s empowering, churches, pastors, ministries, have no power. None. They may have great organizational skill, great advertising programs, and possess the best technological aid, but in New Testament terms these are not power. They are deceptive counterfeits.
The next failure most churches make is to re-organize themselves into competitive, denominational groups that treat each other with suspicion and fear. Personal ministries frequently do the same thing. Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it. So must we! But Jesus spoke of the church (ekklesia, Gr.) only three times in the gospels. In contrast, He spoke of His Kingdom some 130 times. Unlike modern Christianity, His focus was on the Kingdom. If we are to be like Him, ours must be also!
While our various denominations have served noble purposes, promoted wonderful charities, they have also rejected each other, encouraged division in the Body of Christ, and weakened the church’s corporate strength. This segregated condition exists solely in the earth-bound church; no trace of such division and powerlessness exists in the Kingdom.
Jesus said, “All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore …” (Matthew 28:18,19). The Kingdom is as invincible as the King who reigns over it. God wills for that same invincibility to be duplicated in the church. To whatever degree churches promote self-centeredness and sectarianism, they cut themselves off from Kingdom-power. The result is dysfunctional congregations and impotent ministries. “The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you.” (1 Cor. 14:21). Yet, that is precisely what congregations practice. America has churches on every corner who eye each other with suspicion and fear. This division originates primarily in the leadership; it rarely begins with the laity.
As a result of Kingdom identity being absent, every week some 50-60 churches from various denominations in the U.S. permanently close their doors. Church statistician, George Barna, estimates that more than 100,000 American churches will shut down unless there is radical change. That will be more than one-quarter of the 375,000 congregations presently existing. This is a shocking prediction. While New Testament revival is sweeping other nations and thousands are being converted, here at home most of the church is in a powerless, degenerate state. A Chinese pastor who toured the U.S. was asked the question what he thought of American churches. He replied, “I am amazed what your American churches have accomplished without God.” This man understood Jesus’ Kingdom principle and the Holy Spirit’s power—very little of which he witnessed in American Christianity.
Jesus explained this power-principle when He told the disciples “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” (Acts 1:8). Pentecost was the Holy Spirit’s act of replacing the disciples human-inferiority with Kingdom-of-Heaven superiority. In that wonderful moment of God’s infusing the 120 believers with power, a conception took place identical to one occurring in the womb. With the Holy Spirit’s arrival, a totally new being was formed and the church was born. Heaven touched earth with glory.
Through the visible church, the invisible Kingdom of God was placed within reach of ordinary men.
The church’s first mission is to reveal the King and the Kingdom; it is not to call attention to itself. Today, our churches have only one God-given model to copy: The church in the book of Acts. There is no other. None. The idea that Jesus established two churches—the Apostolic and a post-Apostolic, with different powers, different instructions, different achievements, is a falsehood. Search the Scriptures! Jesus established one church for all time, all cultures, all conditions.
The gospel of the Kingdom is also unchanging. The modern church has no power because it is more eager to make excuses for its failures than it is to repent of them, Jesus explained this power when He said, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Mat. 12:28). Thirty percent of Jesus’ recorded ministry was in casting out unclean spirits. One of the disturbing evidences of the Kingdom of God in the ministry of Jesus was noise—demonic noise. In His day, unclean spirits were compelled to verbally acknowledge His authority. Though He sometimes commanded them to be quiet, (e.g., Mark 1:34), their racket served a specific purpose: In the same way believers must “confess with their mouths, the Lord Jesus,” and acknowledge Him as Lord, (Rom. 10:9-10), demons also are compelled to publicly admit the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In that admission, they confess the defeat of Satan, their own failure, and the subjugation of their “kingdoms of this world” to the “Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” That is an extremely painful admission for them to make. It is one of ultimate humiliation. While the believer’s confession is “made unto salvation,” the demon’s confession acknowledges his damnation.
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Rom. 14:11). Wherever Kingdom authority falls upon powers of darkness there is audible conflict. We read how “the demon cried out with a loud voice” (Luke 4:33); “the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed” (Mark 9:20); “When he saw Jesus from afar … he cried out with a loud voice” (Mark 5:7); the unclean spirit “cried out…And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him” (Mark 1:23-27). Identically, in the ministry of Philip and Paul, “unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many,” (Acts 8:7), “A slave girl, possessed with a spirit of divination … cried out,” (Acts 16:16,17). Observe that in these New Testament instances, exorcisms were accompanied by demons “crying out.” While it might appear that the one who “fell on the ground and wallowed” was in great distress, the greatest distress had come upon the demon itself. He was not only under the judgment of Christ but also publicly shamed before the devil and other demons. The Kingdom of God sovereignly forced its way upon the devil’s territory (cf. Mat. 11:12). In encountering Jesus, the demons exposed and revealed themselves only because they were forced into absolute submission by His absolute authority.
For modern Christians who claim that such authority and power ended with the original Apostles, hear what Tertullian said in the Third Century in his address to the Roman Senate:
“Let a person be brought before your tribunals who is plainly under demoniacal possession. The wicked spirit, bidden to speak by a follower of Christ, will as readily make the truthful confession that he is a demon, as elsewhere he has falsely asserted that he is a god. Or, if you will, let there be produced one of the god-possessed, as they are supposed, if they do not confess, in their fear of lying to a Christian, that they are demons, then and there shed the blood of that most impudent follower of Christ.
“All the authority and power we have over them is from our naming the Name of Christ and recalling to their memory the woes with which God threatens them at the hand of Christ their Judge, and which they expect one day to overtake them. Fearing Christ in God and God in Christ, they become subject to the servants of God and Christ. So at one touch and breathing, overwhelmed by their thought and realization of those judgment fires, they leave at our command the bodies they have entered, unwilling and distressed, and before your very eyes, put to an open shame.”
Tertullian was not alone. Another Christian pastor of the Third Century, Cyprian, wrote: “Nevertheless, these evil spirits adjured by the living God immediately obey us, submit to us, acknowledge our power, and are forced to come out of the bodies they possess.”
In the past twenty years, I have heard literally hundreds of demons scream, wail, threaten, beg, cry, whimper, plead for mercy. They have sometimes roared through children with ferocious voices, (Acts 8:7), and whimpered in grown men like wounded infants. Whether in Africa, South America, Europe, Asia, other parts of the world, the behavior of demons has been the same. They fear Christ, have mortal dread of the Word of God, and obey believers who speak it with authority. It is truth, not emotion, that sets prisoners free. I have seen countless alcoholics, drug addicts, people suffering mental and physical pain, be set free. We do not honor fallen spirits by bringing “railing accusations against them,” (Jude 9), and I forbid emotional outbursts from those working in a ministry team. Jesus “cast out the spirits with a word.” (Luke 4:36). So must we.
You may not want demonic noise in your church or ministry. Ancient Jews did not want it in their synagogues. But know this: If the Kingdom comes upon you in power, there will be noise. Jonathan Edwards, Colonial America’s great evangelical voice, said, “If there be a very powerful influence of the Spirit of God in a mixed multitude it will cause in some way or other a great visible commotion.”
If Hell is not shaken by your preaching, shame on you! If demons are not terrified by your presence, more shame on you! Jesus ignored His critics, plowed into demonic strongholds and set captives free. When He told us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done,” He knew demonic manifestations would result. If disciples today experience genuine Kingdom-power all Hell will break loose. So be it! Jesus further said, “I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.” (Luke 10:19). Use it or lose it!
Does not the church legitimately experience failure? NO! Jesus promised, “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mat. 16:18). The “Rock” is Jesus, the Messiah-Christ, and unchallenged Ruler of the Kingdom. (Mat. 16:16). The New Testament acknowledges the reality of the church’s pain and persecution but not her failure; she can expect tyranny and trial but not defeat. Demonic attack will come but the church needs never to surrender. In Kingdom-rule, Hell may fight but Heaven will win!
But in spite of Jesus’ promise of victory, we see churches collapsing before the enemy’s assault. Whether the breakdown be spiritual deadness, financial ruin, loss of vision and motivation, attitudes of jealousy and rivalry, church failure is the direct result of her unwillingness to identify with the Kingdom of God. There is no other explanation. The church empowered by the Kingdom is a triumphant church (2 Cor. 2:14). If the Kingdom failed, God would have also failed.
Churches built on our present concept fail frequently. The Kingdom? NEVER! Jesus preached about “this gospel of the Kingdom,” (Mat. 24:14), the “word of the Kingdom,” (Mat. 13:19), “the mysteries of the Kingdom,” (Matthew 13:11), “the keys of the Kingdom,” (Mat. 16:19); and James referenced “the heirs of the Kingdom,” (James 2:5). Jesus “loved the church, and gave Himself for it,” (Eph. 5:25), all the while He pointed men’s hearts to the heavenly Kingdom. Our emphasizing segregated parts of the church independently of the Kingdom is a contradiction of Jesus’ message. Jesus expressed devotion for the church but focused His attention upon the Kingdom. He addressed the subject of the Kingdom more than 130 times, during His fleshly ministry, but referenced the church only three times. (Mat. 16:18; 18:17 [twice]).
The modern church, in contrast, has reversed the Divine order, ignoring her Kingdom-identity and relating only with select, visible congregations. Do I need to cite proof? Worldwide, there are more than 30,000 different registered Christian denominations. Each makes the claim that it is the correct one, has more truth than the rest, is God’s guardian of Scripture, and that to be spiritually and doctrinally correct, you must belong to it. Such bigotry guarantees the loss of Kingdom identity and power. Doctrines and denominations do not create godliness. Relationship with Jesus is the source of godliness. In spite of theological differences, a godly Baptist is just as pure of heart as a godly Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Methodist, or something else. Grace, not human titles, produces holiness. Thankfully, God reads hearts, not church signs.
Hear me carefully: Avoid rebellion, be in faithful submission to God. Stay in whichever local church you know without any equivocation God has set and established you. But, at the same time, become or be sure that you are a Kingdom-believer, vis-à-vis a church-believer. Ask the Holy Spirit for Kingdom power, to give you a Kingdom identity, fill you with Kingdom courage, and to lavish upon you Kingdom love. The Kingdom, not the church, is the source of all these Kingdom attributes. Pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven,” then watch Kingdom-authority transform your life and ministry. You will crawl out of your denominational tent to see the mountain ranges of God’s Kingdom surrounding you. The sight is breath-taking, indescribable, glorious. You will like the new Kingdom-person you become.
Theological liberalism has gutted the main-line denominational churches, and left them in hellish unbelief and spiritual impotence. In many evangelical, so-called “fundamental” churches, denominational interpretation has produced the same results. Though it is not usually recognized, the effects of liberalism and fundamentalism are similar. The first denies the inspiration of all Scripture, the second denies only selected parts of Scripture. Both are spiritually deadly! One produces personal and collective rebellion, the other creates religious legalism. Churches from each group will continue to die, as will some self-identified “Full-Gospel” congregations that espouse these doctrinal viewpoints.
At the same time this is happening, “a little cloud, the size of a man’s hand is rising out of the sea” (1 Kings 18:41-45) that brings the promise of great spiritual rain to the American Church. How? Let me conclude with a final observation: We are in a period of historic transition. Cultural-Christianity is passing out of the scene. Authentic-Christianity is returning, and will ultimately fill up the void. How will this come about? Persecution. We are in the twilight hours of world history and the stage is set for all end-times prophecies to be fulfilled. More people are alive on planet earth at this moment than have ever lived in all its previous history combined. Never in the history of mankind have so many conditions been so ripe for the harvest. But, cheer up!
“God’s purposes may ripen fast
Unfolding every hour
The bud may have a bitter taste
But sweet will be the flower!”
The end-times church will be drenched with grace, as lovely as a Bride adorned for her husband, and as powerful as the greatest army the world has ever seen. The Kingdom will have come!
John Wesley’s words of two and a half centuries ago speak of that church: “When the church gets on fire, people will come for miles to watch it burn.”
Hallelujah! Let it burn!###
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CHARLES CARRIN’S ministry spans the final half of the twentieth century. He was ordained in 1949 and in his youth traveled with men who preached in the 1800′s. For the first twenty-seven years of his ministry, Charles was a hyper-Calvinist Baptist pastor and Presbyterian seminarian who denied the miraculous works of the Holy Spirit. Mid-way in his ministry that abruptly changed. Personal crisis forced him to acknowledge Scriptures he had previously ignored. It was a time of intense pain and testing. The truths he saw were frightening; they had power to destroy his denominational ministry and at that point he had no hope that another, more wonderful ministry awaited him. As a result of his submitting to God in that crisis, Charles emerged with an amazing anointing of the Holy Spirit. Today, his ministry centers upon the visible demonstration of the Spirit and imparting of His gifts. This new ministry has taken him to London’s Westminster Chapel, the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, and other significant places. He, R.T. Kendall, the former, 25-year pastor at Westminster Chapel, and Jack Taylor, former Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention, travel together holding “Word, Spirit, Power, Conferences.” As an evangelist/writer, Charles’ articles have appeared in major Christian magazines in the United States and abroad. He travels extensively, teaching believers how to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. Charles Carrin Ministries
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