The Happen Stance

How to Make Things Happen In Your Christian Life

K. Neill Foster

"I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU husband and wife."

These are momentous words, romantic words, dramatic words, beautiful words. And those of us who have stood before a minister in the marriage ceremony will never forget them.

They are powerful words, too!

If the Bible is to be taken seriously (and I do take it that way), then one shall chase a thousand but two who have become one will put ten thousand to flight. Marriage is divinely instituted, corporate power.

Such unity power is never far removed from the pages of Holy Scripture. We find a corporate ministry in creation in the very first verse of the Bible. "In the beginning, God created. . . ." The word used for God is Elohim, a plural noun. And since Hebrew nouns can be singular, dual; or plural, the very first verse of the Bible teaches that creation was accomplished by the Trinity, working together in unity.

When man was created. God said, "Let us make man in our image" (Gen. 1:26, italics mine). Creation itself was an act of unity. The creation of man, the highest act of God's creation, was also an act of unity, an act of the Trinity.

When a stop had to be put to the tower-building at Babel, God said, "Let us go down and there confound their language" (Gen. 11:7, italics mine).

Creation and judgment, both mighty manifestations of God's power, were acts of unity. - demonstrations of divinely instituted corporate power.

SPIRITUAL POWER STRUCTURE

Human marriage, to which we have already referred, is a physical union, but it is more - it is a spiritual power structure. For example, when continence within marriage is agreed upon, it defeats Satan (1 Cor. 7:5). Husband and wife are heirs together of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7).

These facts being so, Satan wars against marriage. Divorce is his victory. Not surprisingly, he also campaigns to keep the unmarried single if he realizes that God's plan for that person includes marriage. (Marriage, of course, is not always God's plan.) The enemy campaigns vigorously and continuously against marriage, either to block it from happening or to ruin it after it has taken place, because he sees it as it is: a spiritual power structure that blocks his path to ruining mankind.

We should be thankful for the spiritual power that is locked into this most basic human experience of oneness, marriage.

Unity is especially important in warfare and this is made exceptionally clear in the Bible. Moses wrote, "And five of you shall chase an hundred and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight. . ." (Lev. 26:8). Saul's great warriors were of one heart (1 Sam. 10:26). Jonathan and his armor-bearer, both valorous men, were as one (1 Sam. 14:1-17). The great soldiers of the Old Testament were successful because they understood the necessity of unity.

DIVIDED WE SHALL FALL

These lines are written in an era when the western democracies have allied themselves against communist armies and ideologies. Unity before a common enemy has preserved freedom until this day, but even the casual observer can readily see that the enemies' strategy is to divide the western alliance. If they are successful, divided we shall fall.

What was true on the battlefields in Joshua's day is true in the nuclear age. And the generals of the twentieth century know it.

What is less generally known is that the principles of unity especially apply to spiritual warfare. Striving together in prayer brings deliverance (Rom. 15:30). "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them. . ." (Matt. 18:19).

If two men cannot even walk together except they be agreed (Amos 3:3), the absolute importance of unity surely must be understood. It is good for brethren to dwell together in unity (Ps. 133:1). One of the dominant themes of Paul's writings in the New Testament is togetherness (Eph. 1:10; 2:5,6; 2:21,22; 4:16).

The principles of unity also apply to Christian experience. Before the early believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, they continued with one accord (Acts 1:14). When they were later filled with the Holy Spirit they were again, or perhaps still, of one accord (Acts 2:1). Later, being together, having all things in common, they continued daily in corporate worship, and God was pleased to give them evangelistic effectiveness (Acts 2:45-47).

A CORPORATE CRY

In the fourth chapter of Acts, the setting was similar. First there was unity and a corporate cry toward God (v. 24). Then they were filled anew with the Holy Spirit (v. 31). When they were all of one accord in Solomon's porch, signs and wonders were done in Christ's name (Acts 5:12). When Philip the evangelist preached Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, there was a positive, united response (Acts 8:6). Later the first missionaries were sent out by men in agreement.

The conclusion is inescapable. Operations of the Holy Spirit which involve a community of persons require an atmosphere of unity. And that unity coordinates the unleashing of God's power. And when unity power is demonstrated, the results are likely to be obvious.

Therefore, a small group of Christian believers which is marked by complete unity will certainly have more spiritual power than will a badly divided congregation of eight hundred.

GROUP EXPERIENCES

Another basic observation needs to be made. If unity unleashes spiritual power, then unusual spiritual experiences are not reserved for individuals. Nor are all the mighty acts of God for the closet. There is such a thing as a corporate spiritual experience. A whole group may experience together a work of the Holy Spirit which God Almighty has planned for it.

The arrival of this truth to my heart was timed perfectly - just before an overseas trip to Mali, Upper Volta, and the Ivory Coast.

At a place called Bono in Mali, sixty-three African preachers plus several missionaries, all of the Christian and Missionary Alliance mission, gathered together. From the very first the meetings were marked with brokenness and confessions. For several days we met and one by one the Christian workers made peace with one another and with the Lord.

The symbol of forgiveness in that tribe is the stretching forth of both hands. On the last day of the conference at about four in the afternoon, we finally arrived at the place where all of us - more than sixty men (and one woman!)-could all extend our hands to each other. We were of one accord.

I know I had never before preached to a congregation so thoroughly right with one another. My text was the proper one - Acts 2. And the message was one of the briefest I have ever delivered. Essentially it was this: The Holy Spirit wants to fill us. We need to be filled. The phenomena vary. The tongues of flame, the wind, the speaking in other languages was God's way in that day. Today God can repeat any, all, or none of those signs. But he does want to fill us. We will know, feel, and hear.

MARKED FOREVER

Then we had simple, corporate prayer which included the words, "Fill us with the Holy Spirit." That was all. Then the Holy Spirit came upon us. Audibly. And when He began to manifest Himself, He immersed us in a veritable ocean of love. He washed our eyes with tears. He poured joy into us! I believe most of us were marked forever that day. I was. The Holy Spirit had given us our own Pentecost. Unity was the key and if the details of that mighty day all fade from my mind, I will still remember one thing: I saw unity power.

The power of unity is well known to Satan. He fears Christian unity and labors mightily and tirelessly to short circuit or destroy it by uniting his own workers against it.

The unity of evil at the tower of Babel triggered God's judgment (Gen. 11:5-8). When the evil and the righteous are joined in marriage, the tendency is toward evil (Gen. 34:16-22). Ananias and Sapphira agreed together to tempt the Lord (Acts 5:9) and Peter made it clear that Satan had filled their hearts. When Stephen was murdered (Acts 7:57), he was martyred by evil men in one accord. In the book of Revelation the strategy of evil is the same: the ten kings have one mind to give their power and strength to the beast (17:13).

PAY ATTENTION!

We had better pay attention and we had better believe the devil knows the power of unity. He seeks to destroy it in the kingdom of God and he seeks to harness it in the kingdom of darkness. It is time we realized our agreeing power is devastating on the offense. "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven" (Matt. 18:19).

'Believers are united with Christ. We are one with Him in death and resurrection (Rom. 6:5). We are part of His body (Rom. 12:4,5). The human spirit becomes one with the Holy Spirit when we are joined to the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17).

Christ Himself was and is and always shall be one with the Father (John 10:30; 17:21).

But if we are believers, if we are one with Christ then surely our Savior is trying to teach us that the "throttle of omnipotence" is in our hands.

Stagger if you will at such a thought. As for me, with God's help I do not want to be among those who stagger - I want to dare to think God's thoughts God's way. United with Him, we will partake of His life. He is the Vine. We are the branches.

Oh, to believe it, to discover the throttle, and to use it for His purposes!

Chapter 11