Daniel 12:6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

Can you see the man standing of the water is Jesus? If you can praise God for He has given you eyes to see and ears to hear. What does it take to receive eyes and ears that come from the Holy Spirit?

Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

First someone has to speak the truth in love. No one can receive and believe if they have never heard. We cannot make anyone understand, that isn’t within our power. We should not let that be our excuse to remain silent. Hurtful words won’t get the job doe either. I’ve been guilty of using such words, much to my shame. I’ve learned from my mistakes but I cannot let my mistakes keep me silent either.

“None are so blind that refuse to see.” That may be true, but it alienates the listener. Getting angry and frustrated does work either. We were not sent to argue the bible.

Ezekiel 13:3 Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

Let the two witnesses of Daniel 12 speak for themselves.

Genesis 30:30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

If you know this scripture then you will see me take it out of context, for it has nothing to do with the church. It does however serve to make a valid point about church growth. Leadership isn’t responsible for church growth. We often look to the church leadership because they lead.

Let me point out two vital points to growth as it relates to Genesis 30:30; 1) growth comes from the Lord in blessing your activities, 2) future leaders are grown from within.

So often churches are so concerned about keeping the lights on that they look only to the short term problem and expect too much from too few. A church that depends solely on a few faithful men will die out when those men die. The answer isn’t in large churches either. Large churches focus on numbers and financial success, those conditions tend to attract men who like to serve themselves rather than God.

Raise up godly men whom the Lord will bless and growth will come according to God’s will rather than out of our concerns.