A Remnant Grappling With Their Captivity

By Matthew Chapman

(Author's note: This article is actually the first chapter in a book I am working on

entitled, Understanding Spiritual Geography—A Navigation Aid for the Remnant)

 

When it comes to partaking of the ongoing, manifest presence of the Lord Jesus in the midst of His people, scores of Christians—and I mean those who have truly been born of the Spirit—find themselves in a real predicament. They “get with the program” of whatever church organization they attend and go along with the way things are, and yet they feel a gnawing emptiness in their soul. They ache to touch the Lord in a genuine, real, and meaningful way that truly satisfies the longing in their spirit and see Him truly abide among His people the way He did in the New Testament scriptures. Yet they feel stuck on a treadmill. They are active but not truly progressing, hyped but not edified, busy but accomplishing little that matters eternally.

Multitudes, multitudes of deeply insecure Christians go to church services week-in and week-out craving and hoping for some kind of real touch from God, some tangible sense that He is with them, some unmistakable sign of His approval of them, but, truth be told, most leave “empty-handed.” They know biblical truths, facts, and principles, but feel unable to connect with the Person, the Lord Jesus Himself, and the abundant life that is in Him. Fighting off discouragement and even depression, they debate within themselves whether it is even worth the effort to keep trying, or hoping, again. Those who do experience some sort of touch from God find that the effect is short-lived and then they are back to feeling distant from Him again, wondering “what happened?”

Over time, this recurring cycle spawns an underlying sense that something must ultimately be fundamentally wrong with either their church, or them, or both. But these thoughts, and the seeking of God they should evoke, are mostly kept pushed back into the sub-consciousness and seldom allowed to develop for fear of where it might lead. Like sheep, they go back to staying primarily focused on what is familiar and right in front of them and wherever it is they are already doing. Tragically, like drug addicts, they show up at the next "service" looking to get their next “fix” from God, and with that look in their eyes that is a cross between hopeful and scared, they go through the motions of this vicious cycle all over again.

The leanness of their spiritual plight also shows up in their families. These same lost lambs look at the condition of their family and the families around them in the church and find little encouragement. Statistically, the divorce rate is slightly higher than what is found in the world, and they see the reality of this all around them. Families are also out of order biblically. Men live passively and abdicate their authority as head of their home, both spiritually and in the physical and practical sense. Many of them work hard at making a living, and can be aggressive in playing sports, but they otherwise run along two or three steps behind their wife, scrambling to do whatever will make her happy and content for the moment. Wives are becoming evermore unsubmitted and dishonoring of their husbands as well as immodestly dressed—all of which are opposite of primary Biblical characteristics of true godly women—and yet these same women are esteemed for being the driving force behind the family and are commonly given roles of leadership in the church (1 Tim. 2:9-15, Titus 2:3-5, 1 Pet. 3:1-6).

As parents, they generally consider their children to be more of a liability than an asset (i.e., a curse and than a blessing—Ps. 127). They complain about the inconveniences of parenting, and tend to view their children as obstacles to the life they wish they could get on to. This attitude is revealed through things like their openly teasing to others—though they are making a serious point—that people are smart to limit themselves to just one or two children, at times even saying this in front of their own children.

The children themselves are largely out of control, but that is chalked up as "kids will be kids" with the parents either blind to or avoiding facing that their children are the product of their parenting. Children are fed entertainment by their parents in an attempt to keep them “content.” Most are allowed to spend large amounts of time watching television, videos, and DVD's, both at home and now even in their time spent riding in the family vehicle. They are given access to the Internet, cell phones with "unlimited texting," computer games, and a host of other things with little real accountability with which they develop their own little secret world.

As a result, children and teenagers manifest the lack of being “brought up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4) and instead reflect the worldly influences that the parents have allowed to shape their lives even while faithfully attending their Sunday School classes and youth groups. Thus they disrespect authority, walk in independence and rebellion, and live very separate and heart-disconnected lives from their parents, as well as pursue such things as immorality of every kind, alcohol, drugs, obscenely immodest fashion, “body art” (tattoos and piercings), and music that reflects their attitude and lifestyle. And remember, we're still talking about families in the church!

Put all of this together, and you have a mosaic of the predominant Christian landscape today. On the one hand, people are caught in a trap. They know that ideally there is abundant life in Christ to be found and they should be abiding in it. And because they have tasted of it at isolated times in their lives, they cannot let go of this standard, and so they maintain a guarded hope for change. Yet on the other hand, they are reaping the fruit of their own choices, even if made in ignorance (remember those scriptures at the beginning of this chapter?). They persist in doing things that clearly contradict God's word and go against the witness of the Holy Spirit and yet they are are altogether desensitized to the fallacy what they are doing and unable to see the connection between their choices and the bankrupt spiritual condition of their lives. This has become an entrenched lifestyle for most Christians—one they inherited from previous generations, "improved" upon, and are carrying along further until they pass it on to the next (1 Pet. 1:18). The real tragedy is that this is now believed to be the “normal” Christian individual life, family life, and church life, as they have resigned themselves to believing that this is just the way it is and you just have to make the best of it.

Does this, or some similar variation of it, sound like your life and family and church? If so, you need to know two things... One, this hasn't come about by accident—there is a “cause and effect.” And Two, there is a way out of this seemingly inescapable prison and into the true freedom and abundant life of Jesus and the kingdom of God. Are you willing to be completely honest, go beyond the surface, and deal with the underlying roots that are keeping you in captivity?

Discerning our Spiritual Geography and the Time in which We Live

All of us are aware of our physical geography—what town, city, county, state, region, and nation we reside in. Because of this, we have an understanding of what the land, the laws, the economy, and the people are like where we live. However, we need to be equally aware that we are just as much a part of an unseen, spiritual geography. Within this spiritual geography are different places where we can abide. Two kingdoms are in existence here, with no neutral territory. Throughout the moments of the brief time we live on this earth, we are always abiding somewhere in this unseen land, whether we are aware of it or not. The choices we make, the words we speak, the things we do, and the way we live, all reflect where we are abiding.

Today, most Christians, like Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, reside as captives in a foreign spiritual land. They have grown up and become comfortably established in this place, and have learned well the ways of their captors. Yet many, or at least a “remnant” of them, are sensing the Holy Spirit calling and leading them on—on to something far greater than what they have experienced thus far in their life in Christ. The difficulty, however, is in trying to discern just what exactly this “something far greater” is, and how to cooperate with what the Lord is doing to bring us into it.

For this reason, I have used terms like “spiritual geography,” “places,” and “foreign spiritual land” to help you get in touch with a realm. This is very important and not just a matter of semantics, because if we ever hope to move on to what God is calling us to, then we must correctly discern the spiritual place where He is calling us to abide, as well as the spiritual place where we currently reside as captives and need to leave. These are distinct places in the unseen spiritual realm, and our movement from one to the other will directly affect our lives and will be evident in ways that can be seen.

If we ever hope to get free from captivity and make real and lasting changes, we must be diligent to first begin with the unseen spiritual aspects of where we are in bondage and deal with the ways we have sinned and erred in our hearts and gone astray. Then, and only then, can true expressions of our repentance, lifestyle changes, and the resulting freedom be subsequently expressed as fruit. I say this because if we fail to do it this way and instead simply try to put on the outward expressions in some misguided hope that this will produce the inner reality, then we will end up with little more than another dead, legalistic form. In other words, if we do not first deal with spiritual and heart issues that have landed us in captivity, then any outward changes we make are merely fruitless, self-imposed codes of conformity that the scriptures refer to as “dead works.” And the end of this will be frustration, disillusionment, cynicism, and the loss of treasure that could have otherwise been laid up in heaven.

Some who read this will laugh at the notion of “most Christians” living “as captives in a foreign spiritual land” and maintain that this is certainly not true of themselves, despite their acknowledgment of the accuracies in how the overall situation and condition of the church today has been described. They would say, “I'm no captive! I am free in Jesus. I have been ‘rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son' (Col. 1:13-14). This doesn't apply to me.” Assuming that you have indeed been justified and born again, my focus here is not on your sonship but on the location of where you are yielding your heart and abiding in the moments of your daily life. Do you not agree that the New Testament teaches that Christians—those truly born of the Spirit of God—can afterwards be ensnared in darkness if they yield themselves to it? Consider these scriptures (and others like them)…

Many more scriptures could be cited, but the evidence is clear: true Christians can in fact be entangled in darkness and participate in things of demonic origin, and we live in a day when such is commonplace. The only way for us to even begin our departure from captivity is to first be honest about where we are. Only then, in humility, can receive grace from the Lord to see what to do (and undo) and begin progressing toward what the Lord has for us and then learn to so abide in Him. Do not be like the chosen yet hard-hearted people of Jesus' day…

The Holy Spirit's Stirring of a Remnant

As mentioned earlier, we are living in a time, prophetically speaking, that corresponds to the days of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. What took place in and among the captives of Israel during that period of time is an Old Testament picture, or type, of what I believe is happening in and among a remnant Christians today. Ezra writes:

The Holy Spirit stirred the hearts of a remnant of Jews who were living in captivity in Babylon to leave, return to Jerusalem, and rebuild the temple of God. As they “arose” and were obedient and stepped out on His leading, God provided everything they needed to do just that, and they did. The Lord even told them that “the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former” (Haggai 2:9).

Corresponding to this, the Holy Spirit is “stirring” the hearts and spirits of a remnant of His people today. They long for a book-of-Acts-quality experience of the Lord Jesus and His church, which they believe in their heart is somehow possible, yet the obtaining of it remains painfully elusive. No longer content with captivity, a repentant, seeking, heart-cry is ascending: “Lord, where is the ongoing experience of Your abundant life? Where are You in all the denominated, institutional "church" mess that is called by Your Name? Why is it that we seem barred from experiencing Your glory and power and presence in the church like what we read about in the New Testament? How can we have family life that is reflective of You and keeps the enemy from destroying our marriages and stealing our children?” Coupled with these inner groanings is a growing reluctance, perhaps even a resolve, on the part of honest, hungry Christians to quit making excuses for a man-made religious system that is full of sin, strife, and hypocrisy, and continues right along on schedule while being largly devoid of the presence and power of God.

Many of you are well aware that you are caught in this predicament, and it leaves you in a very difficult dilemma: what do you do? Do you hang in there and try to implement change within the system for the better? Do you wait expectantly for the next “sovereign move of God” and hope you are alive when the Lord finally “decides” to let it happen? Do you keep moving “from church to church” trying to find “like-minded brethren” whom you can fit with, even though you eventually discover that the new one you start going to practices the same old basic routines as the last one, only in different circumstances? Do you let your heart go to discouragement and disillusionment, become passive, and quit seeking the Lord for His kingdom to come “on earth as it is in heaven?”

This may come as a shock, but for those of you who are becoming increasingly aware of this dilemma and frustrated by what you are experiencing—this may actually be the result of the Spirit of God working in your life! You, like many other spiritual captives, are beginning to awaken from a deep sleep. As you do, you are becoming increasingly sensitized to the fact that something is horribly amiss in your situation, and you are caught in the middle of it. What you read about in the scriptures and what you experience in your life are two very different things, and the same is true for virtually everyone you know. Your heart cries out to know the truth. Dear Christian, what is happening is that you are being roused to rediscover the realities—not the dead doctrines or the idealistic fluff, but the livable, lofty, yet attainable realities—of the kingdom of God among the people of God. You, too, are being “stirred” by the Holy Spirit to go back and rebuild—but go back where and rebuild what?

 

Back to the Spiritual Geography

If you are going to take a trip, you must first know where you actually are and you must then determine where it is you are wanting to go. Only then can you realistically define and "map out" the way to get there. For captive Israel this was fairly simple: they wanted to go back to Jerusalem. The problem was that they were living as captives approximately 540 miles due east from there in Babylon. The problems they faced in going back to rebuild the temple were enormous and yet easily defined. They needed to leave Babylon, make the 540 mile trip west across the desert to Jerusalem, evaluate the situation at the temple site, begin acquiring and utilizing the necessary building materials, and start rebuilding the house of the Lord. Since all of this was physical, it was obvious to them where they were, where they wanted to go, and how to get there, as well as defining their task upon returning, because they were dealing with things that are seen.

Having made this point, and recognizing that “God is Spirit” and the kingdom of God is a spiritual realm (John 4:24, 18:36-37; 2 Cor. 3:17), we need to face that our task is not as easily defined because we are dealing with things that are unseen. It is not readily evident to most of us where exactly we are in this spiritual geography or where exactly it is we are trying to “return.” Our hearts are willing but the way is unclear. And if we ever do actually return, what exactly is it that we are supposed to rebuild—a bigger and better church building? God forbid!

The return of a remnant of the captives of Israel to Jerusalem from Babylon for the purpose of rebuilding the temple is a prophetic picture of an event that is now taking place. A small, weak, little-esteemed remnant of God's people are facing life in captivity for what it is, and are willing to do whatever it takes to leave all that is foreign to Jesus and His kingdom and lay hold of what is truly of Christ. In the Old Testament type, they returned in three main groupings. The first group came with Zerubbabel, and they rebuilt the temple building itself—the structure of the house of God. The second came with Ezra and they restored the priesthood—the work of service which filled the house of God. The last group came with Nehemiah, and they rebuilt the city walls—that which set apart the house of God from the rest of the world and defined the city of God.

We are living in the days of a fulfillment of this Old Testament prophetic picture, and are being “stirred” by the Holy Spirit to return to abiding in “the heavenly Jerusalem ” and rebuild our shared experience of the Lord Jesus as Immanuel, “God with/among us” who are “the house of God.” This is our birthright in God to do, and it is very doable and attainable, yet it is also very lofty and the Lord will not “cast these pearls before” those whose hearts are like “swine” nor will He “give what is holy to dogs” (Matt. 7:6, Phil. 3:2-3, 2 Pet. 2:19-22, Rev. 22:10-16). We must deal with our captivity first—what we did that brought us here, and what we do that keeps us here—and we must truly repent. Only then will we “have room” in our hearts to receive the light we need to see in order to return and rebuild and be able to live and dwell in it.

 

Kindling Publications

6303 CR 233

Tyler, Texas 75707-3147

USA

www.KindlingPublications.com