God Gives the Increase
Sunday, June 01, 2008 – AM
By Pastor Jim May
Since 1999, when Victory Temple was first formed as a church, God began to let me have dreams and visions of the church that seemed so impossible to me at that time. In those days we were still in that little store front rental building on Highway 44, struggling to make ends meet, and praying for God to help the church to grow.
In those dreams I saw the church in a building, but it wasn’t the building we were using then. It was a larger building with a bigger auditorium and space for classes that just didn’t exist in that little place. In those visions I could see a crowd of people, but there were very few faces that I could recognize, and I wondered why I didn’t know anyone.
As time went on, the congregation would increase, and just as quickly as it would grow, people would leave and we would be right back where we began. All during this time, the devil was constantly on my shoulder screaming into my ear that it was all my fault, my failures to plan, my inability to dream bigger and my lack of knowledge and understanding that was the reason for the church not growing. And I must say that everything he was accusing me of was true. I never was a big dreamer and I still have great limitations even today.
Some people can begin with a big dream, a big vision, and they can somehow claim to be a man of faith and then go after those dreams with gusto, but I’ve never been like that. I’m more of a Realist, and quite often I see the dark clouds and miss the silver linings.
So I cannot contribute the growth of the church to anything that I have done other than two things, and even those things aren’t anything special.
One is that, like most of you, I determined to remain faithful in serving God in the place where he has called me. Secondly, I determined to not allow the devil to force me into quitting, though there were a number of times that I wondered if that would not have been the best thing to do.
One thing that kept ringing in my ears were the words of the first pastor of Victory Temple, Bro. Pack, who said, “Bro. May, it nearly always takes at least 5 years before a new church will begin to grow. People have to know that you are established and that you won’t quit on them, then the Holy Ghost will begin to lead them to you.” I can say that those words have a lot of truth in them, although the time frame isn’t set in stone.
In the dreams and visions of those days, I saw the church and the people in it, and by-in-large, this church matches the dreams and visions of those days. I have no doubt that God brought us here. He gave us this place of worship and it is the Holy Spirit that is leading people to us.
Several years ago, I asked another pastor in the area whose church has grown much in the past several years, “What did you do to get people to come.” His answer caught me off guard. I was expecting him to say, “Well, we witnessed on the street corners, and preached in every place that we could. We canvassed the neighborhoods and sent out mailings across the parish. We spent a lot of time in the homes of prospective members. We fed the hungry, bussed in underprivileged kids and did everything humanly possible. We taught the 40 days of Purpose, and created all sorts of different ministries.” Instead, he simply said, “I didn’t do anything but be faithful. God built the church through people talking to people and getting excited about their church.”
That just seemed too simple. People got excited about God and their church and kept bringing other people with them. WOW! WHAT A NOVEL CONCEPT! PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT SERVING THE LORD!
I had read the books written by so many preachers on how to build a big church. It was all so overwhelming, and on top of that, many of the things that they said were necessary for the church to grow, I could not agree with. I resolved that I would not follow the teachings of men just to get the numbers. I believe that as long as I am called to be the pastor, that we were going to be different from the mainstream church of today.
Let me tell you of the kind of church that God gave me the vision for then and still wants us to have today.
God wants us to have a church that is very traditional, hanging on to the old ways, singing those old songs that caused a whole generation to come to Christ; but not a church that is stuck in the past so deeply that we cant embrace those contemporary ways that will allowed God to move and give him glory.
We must have a church that is very people oriented, but still Christ centered; very loving, compassionate and tolerant; but uncompromising in the preaching of the truths of God’s Word, teaching holiness and righteousness.
Most of the people who walk in those doors will enter this church with all of their battle scars of life still showing, and with the fresh the wounds of lost battles with the world still causing them pain.
Our mandate from God is simply this; Preach the truth to all who come, but let God do the rest. Have a church where people can come and feel love and acceptance, let Jesus do the work of changing them into his image without condemning them; and never compromise the message of holiness, purity and salvation only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And when they reach that place where Jesus becomes the Lord of their lives, then teach them about the infilling power of the Holy Ghost to help them to be over comers and victorious Christians.
A lot of people will not be seeking the kind of ministry that will be in this church, because to stay here and be a part of this congregation there will be times when the convicting power of the Holy Ghost is going to move on us and make us uncomfortable. Those who only want to feel good probably won’t like it here for long.
But I’m convinced that Jesus is coming soon and the he is making his Bride ready for the Rapture and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. He is going to lead people to us who want to know the truth because they want to be ready for that day. The most important thing in their lives is Jesus, and though they must live in this world with all of its demands, their ultimate purpose is to be ready for the coming of the Lord.
It’s not always easy to get ready for a wedding. A bride must go through a lot to make herself ready. It’s hard work to look perfect, to examine every part of how you are dressed and to make your appearance right. That bridal gown has to be perfect in every way. Even one smudge of mud on the train or on the veil will stand out like a sore thumb and ruin that perfect day, so our garments must be clean and white as snow. That can only happen if we are constantly being cleansed and renewed by the blood of the Lamb.
What can wash away those stains of sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make us whole again, and ready for the groom, nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What constantly rinses away the impurities in our thoughts, the inconsistencies in our walk with the Lord and the filth of the world of sin around us that we are exposed to every day that we live? Paul gives us that answer in his teaching to married couples found in Ephesians 5:25-27, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
And what about the faces of that vision; why did I not recognize any of them? Now I can tell you why. It is because not one of those who began with this vision has stayed with this vision. Right now, the only people who are still here from the birth of this church, are myself and my wife. All others went their way for one reason or another and most were just led to go another way.
God has replaced every one of them with you who are here now. The church is not filled to capacity yet, but the day is coming and I sense in my spirit that it won’t be very long at all until we will be searching for bigger facilities. Just as God led us here, he is already preparing where we will go next.
How do I know this? Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what God is doing. He is building a church here, in spite of our weaknesses. He is putting people together who love one another and love Jesus; a people with a vision, with a dream and with a will to work for the Lord. That’s a combination that can’t be stopped. WE ARE THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT, AND WE ARE BUILT WITH THE HAND OF THE LORD!
Last night, I began having a new dream, or maybe it’s a new vision, and it is vastly different from the last one. God is fulfilling that first dream right now, but God’s vision is always for more than what we can see here and now. He sees the future and he knows where he wants to take us, even when we can’t fully see it.
In this new vision, it begins by taking me completely by surprise, as though God just dumps me into the middle of it, totally unprepared and without any knowledge of what he has done.
I believe that’s the way it always is. God works in ways that I cannot understand. I can stand here and claim to know the ways of God, but I really don’t, anymore than you do. God does things that defy human reasoning and understanding. Though I must have been in the midst of it all, I didn’t see what God was doing. I was just another piece of God’s giant puzzle, put there by his will, but moved only as he said so.
It was getting close to time for church to start and I drove up to the church and got out to go into my office to put on my suit and get ready for the service. The place where I arrived was not this place, but very different.
In that vision, or dream, there were people everywhere walking, coming into the doors of the church. At the doors there were ushers and security people, there to help people find their way and maintain control so no one would be where they weren’t supposed to be.
As I approached the door, a young woman with a small child had fallen and was badly hurt on the church grounds so I went to try to help her. Brother Larry, you were there somewhere because I called you and told you to be prepared to cover the morning service until I could get there. This hurting lady needed my help right now and helping the hurting had to take precedence over anything else at this moment.
God’s number one purpose is to reach out to a lost and dying world. All of the preaching and teaching we can do, and of the wonderful works of the church mean nothing, if we aren’t seeing souls saved and people touched and aided by the power of God. The church is all about helping people to get to Jesus.
After medical help arrived, I started into the church to hurry and get ready for the service but then I began to realize something strange was happening.
I was the pastor, but no one knew me. I was there in name only. At first this bothered me, that no one would recognize me. Was I that detached from the people? How could I be the pastor of all these people and they didn’t even know who I was? I was even turned back at the door, until someone recognized me, and then there was a feeling of great respect and admiration from those who let me in. I couldn’t understand it. How could they respect and admire a pastor that they didn’t even recognize?
As I entered the building, I crossed a downstairs room that was quite large as set up like a small stadium. Everywhere there were small children, sitting and listening to the teachers on the stage and there were several teachers. They too, didn’t know who I was.
My thoughts were, “These people are doing a great job, but who are they? How can anyone be a teacher in my church and not we don’t recognize one another? What kind of a pastor would let people teach small children without knowing who they were or what they were teaching? I’m I even here enough to be called the pastor or what?
As I entered the office and finished getting ready, the service in the main sanctuary was beginning.
As I stood there the Lord revealed what was happening and the message came to me as God spoke to my heart and said, “My son, you are the pastor, but I am the Shepherd. You lead my people but I lead you. They honor you as their pastor, but they look to me as their Guide. I called them and I put them where they need to be. They don’t need your guidance or man’s wisdom, for I have placed inside of them the work that they are to do. It is the Holy Spirit that leads this church. The people hear my voice and their admiration and respect for you are based upon the fact that you allow me to be the head of this church. Whatever work they do, it’s because I give it to them to do. Whatever position they hold, I put them in it. Just rest in the place where I have set you and let Me do my work in this church, for it is my church.”
What a relief it was to know that this is what was happening. It was not through my neglect, or my ignorance or anything that I had done wrong, that I did not know what was happening in my own church, but it was because God alone was in control. I was a figurehead, put in place to watch over the flock, but it was God who was the leader.
Now that’s the way it is going to have to be. I believe that’s the kind of church that God is putting together right now, and you are already a part of that church. We are in a place of privilege today because we are privileged to be called and anointed to do a work for the Lord. He is revealing to us in his own time, what we are to do for him. It’s our job just to listen to the voice of the Lord and step out in faith when he speaks. God is doing a great thing in our midst, and we are going to occupy, build, grow and see many come to Jesus while we are waiting for the coming of the Lord.
That was the extent of the dream that I had but I know there’s more to come. I can’t help but believe that the future of our church is going to be something marvelous and wonderful and I’m so glad to be a part of it.
The thing I want us to notice most of this morning is that for God to build the kind of church that he wants us to be, something has to take place in our midst.
If you will turn to John’s gospel and turn to chapter 3, I want to show you what has to happen before the vision can begin to be fulfilled for our church.
John 3:25-31, "Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all."
Jesus’ earthly ministry had just began and John’s ministry, as the forerunner of Christ, one who preached repentance and preparing for the coming of one mightier than he whose shoe latchet John was unworthy to unlatch, was just coming to an end.
In the same fashion, God calls you and I to be his forerunner. We are to go before him preaching repentance, preaching salvation and pointing souls to Jesus. We are not worthy to preach of him, but by his grace he calls us to work for him, just as he did John the Baptist.
But among the followers of John there began to be questions, “Why is everyone following Jesus and not you, John?” After all, you are the man of God for the hour. You carry the message of repentance and baptism. You preach the coming of the Lord. Why aren’t you on that pedestal? Why do men forsake you and follow Jesus?
That’s the way that much of the church world is today. We are more concerned about building a follower for the preacher, or putting the pastor on a pedestal, or praising the leadership of the church, than we are about making sure that people follow Jesus.
Churches have been destroyed and souls lost because too many people follow a man. If the preacher fails, people lose their faith. Why do they leave the church? Is the church only a man? Is their faith only in a man? We must be focused on Jesus and him alone. Man will fail but Jesus never fails.
The modern church has become a man-centered church instead of a Jesus-centered church. Victory Temple isn’t Pastor May’s church, or Pastor Larry’s church. It isn’t even your church. It’s God’s Church. Jesus is Lord and there is no other. We are all privileged to be the servants of God in His Church. He puts us in order. He establishes our way and lays out our path. As long as we allow Jesus to be Lord in Victory Temple, we can’t fail. We might not be well thought of among many other churches and people, but then the worldly church hated Jesus too, so we’re not in bad company.
My greatest dream and vision for this church can only be fulfilled when Jesus is in full control. Like John, that’s when I can say that my “Joy is fulfilled”.
But for all of that to happen, “I must decrease and Jesus must increase.” Titles and positions only mean something if God establishes them, not if we set them in order. It’s God that must put the pastor, assistant pastor, youth ministries and teachers, and all of the ministries of helps in their place or all we will have is confusion and pandemonium. It’s the Lord who can put it all together and make it a cohesive force to bring about his will.
The leadership and guidance of the Holy Ghost must be there for I have no power to lead or guide outside of him and no one else does either. It would be like the blind leading the blind. I can’t see where we are going any more that you can. My vision is limited and my dreams are small. My plans won’t work, unless they are appointed by Jesus.
I’m simply a man, chosen called and anointed by God for a time and place to hold the position as Pastor while Jesus does the work. I must decrease, but Jesus must increase. It must be that way in the church leadership and it must be that way in the pews. My plans can only be born out of an earthly mind, but God’s plans are born in the eternal mind of God and the portals of Heaven.
God is taking us on a journey of faith; a journey of victory and a journey of joy – and we will have a wonderful road to travel when we let Jesus be the Lord of our lives.
