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were having concerts no longer have the concerts. For a long
time Jesus cooperated with them but there comes a time when
He turns it around and He says, “Now you start obeying Me.”
I had a hard time when I left the pastorate. People didn’t
understand. They thought I was backsliding. In my heart I
knew I was no longer going to drag Jesus from place to place.
I was going to wait until He talked to me. At age thirty Jesus
started His ministry. I had a great ministry but Jesus had none.
He hadn’t even started His ministry. He started His ministry
when I learned that principle. When I look back at my ministry,
I ask, “Where are the Christians? Who is following the Lord?”
There weren’t very many.

When I set my heart to seeking the Lord, He started His
ministry. That’s what brings me to France. It’s Jesus. It’s His
ministry! It’s not mine. I don’t tell Him what to do anymore.
I don’t try to drag Him from place to place. I wait on the Lord
so He can tell me where He is. That’s the first principle of
union. Union is Lordship. I am related to Him and I have no
expectations. Whatever He wants is fine.

Let me give a second principle. Union with Christ is not
only Lordship, it’s the flow of His life. There are two great
pictures. One is the vine and the branches and the other is the
title that Christ is the head of the body. In the New Testament
the word “head” is used several different ways. One is that
Adam was the head of the race and Christ is the last Adam, the
head of the race.
Sometimes the word “head” is like the head of a
company. Ephesians 1:22, “And He put all things in subjection
under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the
church.” 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to understand that
Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a
woman, and God is the head of Christ.” It’s the head like an
authority. Colossians 2:10, “…and in Him you have been made
complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.”

I don’t want to talk about the federal headship of Christ.
I don’t want to talk about headship being about authority.