ONLY CHRIST CAN BUILD HIS CHURCH

Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. ~ Genesis 16:1-2

If you want to see the church, where it is now and where it has been, you must look to the scriptures. It is here you will find a most detailed picture of the beginning and the ending of the church of Christ and the starting point is Abraham and Sarah. It is here that you will see that the true church, through impatience and the arm of flesh gives birth to an Ishmael church that must be repented of.

Where Sarah said, “It may be that I may obtain children by Hagar”, the margin reads, “It may be that I will be built by her.” This agrees with Hebrews 11:11, “Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed.” One of the meanings of conceive is to lay a foundation. The call is clear: Sarah was called by God to carry the church in her womb and give birth to its very foundation, thus building from the ground up that which is Christ.

The problem then and now is that this church is built on divine promise, not human perspiration. Please understand that I know we have our part to play. We hold out our rod over the Red Sea; we march around the walls of Jericho seven times; we roll the tombstone away from Lazarus’ grave. But we know who is really at work and anything less than His coming on the scene and working through us is a work of the flesh. If you don’t believe this go and find a four day grave, go and rent a backhoe and excavate the body. You will find that the power to remove the headstone is really no power at all!

Sarah referred to Hagar as “my handmaid.” Hagar was something she could control and something she could see. In other words, through Hagar, Sarah could see how this would work and best of all, it was something she could manage with careful strategy . . . and much posting on Facebook.

But this seeing how things can work out in the natural is not faith.

This had been Sarah’s problem all along. For her to come to the conclusion that she couldn’t do it can only mean that at one point she believed that she could produce the promise. She was the right woman married to the right man with the right promise and abounding opportunity. After all, Abraham was “alive” and she was having “periods” and everybody knows that “fourteen days after” is the right time to get pregnant. And above all, they had been in the absolute Presence of God who had entered into covenant with them and told them, “Your seed will be as the stars.”

Surly if God was going to move through her he would have done so by now. And God knows, Abraham isn’t getting any younger . . .

It was from this mindset that “another” church is birthed: We must do something to help God out! Amazingly this new church has none of poor Sarah’s issues. Whereas she had struck out for years, Hagar hits a homerun her first time up. One pitch, one swing, one baby.

What a fast growing church!

And what a despised old wore out church Sarah became with all of her promises that had yet come to pass: “And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes” (Genesis 16:4). There was a spirit operating through Hagar that was screaming out to Sarah: “It’s obvious that your way is a way of weakness. I don’t want to hear nothing you have to say!”

This is, in large part, the church today. How many faithful pastors of small congregations have been surrounded by the four “fastest growing” church’s in America? These new church’s have more members their first service than the old church have after many years of service. How dare you say that it is not of God!

Listen to what one of these “Hagar’s” said when rebuked by someone who dared to question a “move of God” that was led by a man who was drunk and in adultery:

“Lee, I think what you call “the Lakeland disaster” would be disputed by multitudes of people who got healed or touched there. If you are such judge of this what gives you the credentials? What moves of God have you led? What have you built?”

The credentials are the scriptures.

Hey, nobody ever said Ishmael didn’t exist and didn’t look good—in fact he looks a lot like the promise. But the root of this “church” is only skin deep—its origin is in the mind of man and not of God. As such, its error is fundamental: It seeks to change the unchangeable counsel of the Lord. From eternity the call was for Sarah to birth Isaac in the womb of impossibility, not for Hagar to birth Ishmael in the womb of the ordinary.

Are you holding on to a promise of a revelation of Christ that has yet to come to pass in your life, in your church? “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10: 35-37).