Spiritual Leadership & Divine Authority

 

Watchman Nee (1903 – 1972) became a Christian in mainland China in 1920 at seventeen and began writing in the same year. Throughout the nearly thirty years of his ministry, the Lord clearly demonstrated that Watchman Nee was a unique gift from the Lord to His Body for His move in this age. He was responsible for the establishment of more than 4,000 house churches throughout China. In 1952, he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until he died in 1972. His words remain an abundant source of spiritual revelation and supply to Christians throughout the world.

One of his greatest works was “Spiritual Authority.” The truths it promotes are essential to understanding and living the life of Christ in this present world. I highly recommend it to all believers. That book has inspired this writing. 

Introducing the Kingdom

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." Therefore, Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this, I have been born, and for this, I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."                 John 18:36-37

Before Jesus was baptized onto the scene, John the Baptist was preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Jesus took up this same mantle in Matthew 4:17 as he began speaking to the masses and then extended it to His disciples’ charge in Matthew 10:7, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” But what did this all mean? Was Messiah ready to demonstrate his physical authority, or was there some other, more profound meaning of the kingdom of heaven? The answer to this question may be found in the above exchange with Pilate:  My kingdom is not of this realm… For this, I have been born, and for this, I have come into the world to testify to the truth. 

Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst [within you]."             Luke 17:20-21 

The term “within you” is often misunderstood. The Pharisees were rejecting Him as the Messiah and were not believers. It would not make sense for Jesus to have told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was within them as if it were some sort of spiritual kingdom. It is better to translate the phrase "within you" as "in your midst." Some feel that the force of the expression is "within your possession or within your reach." Jesus's point was that He was standing right in their midst. All they needed to do was acknowledge that He was indeed the Messiah who could bring in the kingdom as its king, and they could begin to experience the promised kingdom in a spiritual sense. 

In His public ministry, Jesus taught many parables that address the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. In fact, eight of them appear in Matthew 13. He was teaching the dynamics of this kingdom, which all of His disciples and followers need to understand. These principles allow us not only to grasp the conditions of entry but also how to function and thrive within the kingdom.

Submission to Authority

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason, also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.    Philippians 2:5-11

Jesus acknowledged that He was a king to Pilate, yet Paul recognized that His greatest attribute may be humility, submission to authority. This attitude created in Him the capacity to be a bond-servant, to accept even humiliation to fulfill God’s will for His life. According to Watchman Nee, “He had to empty Himself of His divinity and then humbled Himself in His humanity.” Although He was the Son, He would be treated as a man and willing to accept whatever the Father willed, even when He didn’t understand the purpose (Matthew 26:42). According to Hebrews 5:8-9: Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey [hupakouo – listen with attention to obey] Him the source of eternal salvation. Watchman Nee further states: 

The Lord came to this world emptyhanded; He did not bring obedience with Him. He learned obedience through what He suffered and thus became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. By going through suffering after suffering, He learned to be obedient unto death, even death on a cross. When the Lord came forth from the Godhead to become man, He truly became a man – weak and acquainted with suffering. Every suffering He bore ripened into a fruit of obedience. No suffering of any kind was able to stir Him to murmuring or fretfulness.      

Jesus established God’s kingdom by perfectly obeying God’s authority and absolutely submitting to His rule. This most clearly defines walking in the spiritual kingdom that is ordained for those who recognize Jesus as king. It is the basis for those prepared for spiritual leadership.

Delegated Authority

"We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men… And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey [peitharcheo – submit to authority] Him."            Acts 5:28-29, 32 

In Romans 13:1- 7, Christians are instructed to honor governing authorities as having authority established by God. All legitimate authority comes from God as delegated authority and is acknowledged within the kingdom as a means of recognizing God’s will. When God’s authority is challenged by those delegated in His authority, they must be resisted. The disciples were put in jail by Jewish leadership because they were having great success leading Jewish citizens to receive Jesus as Messiah, and the leaders were filled with jealousy. The disciples responded to the leaders’ demands to cease evangelical activities: "We must obey God rather than men. Delegated authority is always subject to divine authority. 

The Authority of Moses 

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman), and they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble [anaw – see others as more important], more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, He said, “Hear now My words: if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. “Not so, with My servant Moses, he is faithful in all My household; With him, I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why, then, were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?”        Numbers 12:1-8 

Before Moses was ready to be the man God chose to lead the nation of Israel from bondage by the Egyptians, he had to spend forty years in the land of Midian. What qualified him for this important position? The above passage tells us that Moses had been humbled to become the most humble man on the face of the earth. More than any other characteristic, humility (anaw), by force, seeing others as more important, became his most important commodity to fulfill God’s purpose for him. It was necessary for him to experience enforced humility in order to experience genuine humility. It would be this foundation that would allow Moses to speak mouth-to-mouth with the Lord. Yet, Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses’ authority, some might say for legitimate reasons, but Moses did not defend himself. God had entrusted His delegated authority to Moses in the work, and God would protect him. True spiritual leaders are secure in their positions under divine authority and need not defend themselves.

Challenging God’s Man 

So, the anger of the Lord burned against them, and He departed. But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. “Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!” Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward, she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again. Afterward, however, the people moved out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.           Numbers 12:9-16

God responds to Mirian and Aaron with anger as evidenced by the fact that the cloud (His presence) was withdrawn from over the tent. Yahweh needed to deal immediately and specifically with their attack against God’s anointed. Whether legitimate or not, God will deal directly with his delegated authority; man should leave it up to Him. When Miriam was found leprous, Aaron immediately went to Moses to admit their foolish actions and ask God for mercy, and Moses did just that. Yahweh responded that His punishment for her was appropriate – seven days of leprosy outside the camp. God will enforce His authority with justice.

Don’t Touch God’s Anointed

Now, when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now, David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.        1 Samuel 24:1-7

Another example of true spiritual leadership is found in the life of King David. He had been anointed by God to be king of Israel as a teenager but would not be able to take his throne until after Saul was dead. David recognized that Saul was still God’s delegated authority even though Saul continued for many years to try to kill him. As he hid with his men in the cave at Engedi, an opportunity presented itself for him to eliminate his enemy. David was convicted in his conscience after he cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. He understood that he nor his men had the right to touch the Lord’s anointed. After over a decade of being on the run for his life, David eventually became King over Judah at Hebron when he was thirty and then over all Israel at Jerusalem seven years later. 

The Word of the Kingdom

In Jesus’s day, the Pharisees were dividing the Law of Moses into a hierarchy, with some being greater than others. Yet Jesus had quoted a Scripture from the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 8:3) in Matthew 4:4 when He stated, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" Jesus was teaching the importance of every Word, that all Scripture is necessary food. 

In His public ministry, Jesus taught many parables addressing the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. In fact, eight of them appear in Matthew 13. He was teaching the dynamics of this kingdom, which all of His disciples and followers need to understand. These principles allow us to grasp not only the conditions of entry but also how to function and thrive within the kingdom.

The first of the eight parables from Matthew 13 directly references the Word of God, “the Word of the kingdom.” The King’s primary method of communication in the kingdom is the Word. Success in the kingdom is tied to hearing the Word and understanding it. The parable defines that the condition of the heart is the primary criterion that determines success. The seed sown beside the road has no room to establish its roots and, therefore, is easy pickings for the devil. This condition of the heart is determined by how the Word is received. In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul says, “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” The Word has an intended work (see Isaiah 55:11), and it cannot do its work without having been received from God (the King) with the divine authority accompanying it. According to Hebrews 4:2, the Word must be united by faith to accomplish what God intends. 

Reasonings

For as he [a man] thinks [saar - to calculate or to set a price on] within himself, so he is (Proverbs 23:7). So much of the quality of a person’s life can be tied to one's thought life. The word translated “think” is that of misers who count the cost of everything that their guests eat or drink. They find no enjoyment in their guests but only worry about the cost of it all. There is intense spiritual warfare surrounding one’s thought life. The mindset defines how the believer connects with God. In Romans 8:5- 6, those who are according to the flesh set their minds [phroneo – mindset, involving the will, affections, and conscience] on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Setting one’s mind on things above and not on earthly things propels the believer into the spiritual mind, thus finding life and peace. 

Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! I ask that when I am present, I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses [ochuroma – any strong arguments in which one trusts]. We are destroying speculations [logismos – reasonings hostile to the Christian faith] and every lofty thing [hupsoma – a lofty tower or fortress built up proudly by the enemy] raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.          

    2 Corinthians 10:1-6

According to Watchman Nee: Paul mentions that we must destroy reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God. Man likes to build reasons as strongholds around his thought, yet these reasons must be destroyed and thought taken captive. Reasons are to be cast aside, but thought is to be brought back. In spiritual warfare, the strongholds need to be stormed before the thought can be taken captive. If reasons are not cast aside, there is no possibility of bringing man’s thoughts into obedience to Christ. 

Man has a tendency to try and solve all of his problems and challenges by reason and his ability to map out the conclusion to any difficulty utilizing his cognitive skills. Spiritual leadership follows a different pathway. Once the believer has found obedience to divine authority as his modus operandi (mode of operation), deferring the decision process to the Divine will opens the door to true spirituality (that which is born of the Spirit is spiritual – John 3:6) and provides a victory over the strength of sin. In 1 Peter 1:14-16, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." Holiness is a willful decision to be set apart from worldly influences for a life in the kingdom under divine authority.

A Kingdom Which Cannot Be Shaken

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN [Jesus Christ]." This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable [well-pleasing] service [latreuo – to worship God] with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.          Hebrews 12:25-29

The above passage demonstrates the letter to of Hebrews' final warning concerning a kingdom that cannot be shaken. These warnings can come from earth or heaven. The warfare against the believer is the clash of two kingdoms, and the end result is the shaking away of all created (man-made) things. The administration of this unshakable kingdom allows the believer to experience the blessings of that kingdom, producing a heart of gratitude. The end result is well-pleasing worship of God with reverence and awe. These words speak of the fear of the Lord, which brings the believer wisdom (chokmah) and knowledge of the Holy One (Proverbs 9:10). This wisdom represents the knowledge and the ability to make the right choices at the opportune time, a manifestation of spiritual leadership.