Today, throughout the United States it is a national holiday entitled,
Memorial Day. It is a day in which Americans remember the service men
and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives so that
others may have freedom. They did not give their lives for the United
States alone, but also for others throughout the world in efforts to
bring an end to demonized dictators who, like Satan their father, have
only one desire, power over humanity. Their objective is to steal, kill,
destroy and or hold in bondage to slavery their fellow man in efforts
to promote their tyrannical reign.
Although people may have many thing to remember, for Christians the greatest Memorial Day for them should be, the day that we "confessed with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and were saved." (Romans
10:9) We celebrate the fact the Jesus Christ also paid the ultimate
sacrifice by giving His life to save (redeem, heal, deliver, make whole)
all humanity from Satan, the most evil, murderous tyrant known to man.
We should remember as Paul said, "And you He made alive, who were
dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:1-2)
Notice that before one confesses Christ they "were dead in trespasses
and sin" not spiritually sick, but spiritually dead. Cut off from and
unable to communicate with God. This was due to the fact that before one
is born again, they walk according to the world, according to the ways
of the devil. Paul tells us that the devil, "The god of this age had blinded your mind from the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ..." (2 Corinthians 4:4) However, one day in the history of man, God took it upon Himself the fix the problem, "He
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who
went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,
for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38) Then a glorious thing happened. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him..." (John 6:44) Our heavenly Father drew us to Jesus, gave us the grace and faith to confess Christ. Then God immediately "delivered
us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the
Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14)
When we consider what Jesus did for us and all mankind, the mind can hardly comprehend it. The apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore,
as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in
condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came
to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many
will be made righteous." (Romans 5:18-19) This means that not one person in all of humanity had the ability to provide redemption.
God Himself became a man and provided man’s redemption. (John 1:14) It
was God who redeemed man from the dominion of Satan. (1 John 3:8) It was
God who destroyed death. (Hebrews 2:14) It was God who restored man’s
authority over the Satan (Luke 10:19) It was God who adopted us through
Jesus Christ and made us His children (Romans 8:15-16) It is God who
gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness. (2 Peter 2:3) It
is God who gives us exceedingly great and precious promises. (2 Peter
1:4) It is God who gives us the victory at all times (1 Corinthians
15:57) and it is God who gave us eternal life (1 John 2:25) all through
Jesus Christ.
I could go on and on concerning what scripture says as to what God
Himself did for humanity through Jesus Christ and what He gives to those
who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. When we look to the promises that
God has made throughout the Bible, there are several estimations. They
range from 3000 to 7000 promises. Many of these promises were spoken by
the Prophets and have been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. However, in
the New Testament there is an estimated 750 promises that God has
bestowed upon the believer. PTL Although today is Memorial Day, for the
believer remembering what God did us and what he has given to us, should
be a Memorial Day celebration everyday.
Monday, May 31, 2021
Remembering
Monday, May 24, 2021
We Have Purpose - Worship
I believe that the chief purpose for the church's existence is to glorify and worship
God. My reasoning comes from what will take place in the presence of
God at the end of time which is recorded in Revelation 4:8-11 "Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"..."You
are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You
created all things, and by Your pleasure they exist and were created." Notice
that worship is directed towards God alone. What I mean is that if we
look at many of the hymns of old and most of what we call contemporary
Christian music of today, we will find that the majority of the lyrics
are not focused on God but on the believer. For instance, many hymns put
everything that believers are entitled to in this life off until they
leave this life for the next. Also, the larger portion of the lyrics of
contemporary Christian music tend to be beggarly prayers, that is,
pleading with God by asking Him to do something that He has already done
and made available to believers through Christ. Some other lyrics have
taken scripture out of context or have declarations that are never acted
upon and sadly, the lyrics almost never mentions the Name of Jesus.
Neither the Old or New Testament reveal a specific form or order of worship,
but there is a way that God is to be worshiped. In John's gospel Jesus
encounters a woman from a city called Sychar near the plot of ground
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph, by a well. Although she insisted that
she, a Samaritan (basically backslidden Israelites) worshiped the same
God as the Jews worshiped, Jesus gives her a revelation of true worship,
"Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you
will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You
worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is
of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father
is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:21-24)
Jesus reveals to the woman that God is Spirit. This removes any concept
that God is an image or relic of any type. He also reveals that true
worship of God will only be accomplished by worshiping Him in spirit and
truth. Any other worship is actually idolatry. To worship
in spirit believers must understand that God is Spirit and relates to
humanity in the spiritual realm. With this knowledge, the believer then
yields to the Holy Spirit who moves upon and energizes the believers
recreated spirit to connect with God. God's Word is truth (John 17:17)
so to worship God in truth means to worship according to His Word. In
other words, the Bible records various ways to worship God, singing and
speaking praise, shouting, lifting hands, clap, stand, bow, dance and
playing a variety of instruments.
The bottom line is, worship
is not just songs to sing that contain nice lyrics, but an attitude of
the heart, exalting, honoring and adoring God Himself. The Holy Spirit
speaking through the apostle Paul says, "For we are the circumcision, (Christians, circumcision of the heart) who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians
3:3) This too should challenge believers to lay aside all the songs
that take the focus off of God and causes believers to petition God for
all their needs, wants, worries and concerns that He has already met and
provided for His children through Christ. We should also consider
eliminating songs that put all the promises that God has made available
to His children off until we reach heaven as well as songs that have
taken scripture out of context. These things may sound callous and even
difficult to do, but they are necessary if the church is to truly
worship God. Let's look once again at the revelation that John received
concerning true worship.
"And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four
living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as
though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are
the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and
took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now
when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and
golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And
they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll, and to
open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your
blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made
us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth." Then
I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the
living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a
loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches
and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing! And every
creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying,
blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever. Then the four living creatures said,
"Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who
lives forever and ever." (Revelation 5:6-14)
This my friends is worship!!!
Monday, May 17, 2021
We Have Purpose
Over the next several weeks I will be sharing what the purpose of the
church is and why it exists. Before we start, there are some things that
we must understand concerning the church. The church
is not a parenthetical revelation which came due to the failure of the
Jews to recognize their Messiah through unbelief. God had the church in
mind before the foundations of the world. In Ephesians 3 the Holy Spirit
through the apostle Paul reveals the mystery of the church, "To me,
who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that
I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from
the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things
through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God
might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in
the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He
accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:8-11)
Several times the New Testament mentions the two ethnic groups that
encompasses all of humanity, Jew and Gentile. However, Paul tells us, "Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God."
(1 Corinthians 10:32) God in His eternal plan has brought forth another
ethnic group in which He is at work combining both Jew and Gentile, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, (Jew and Gentile) and
has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His
flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in
ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, (Jew and Gentile) thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body (The Church) through
the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and
preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For
through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." (Ephesians 2:14-18)
This third ethnic group as mentioned by Paul is "the Church of God." The word church is
a translation of the Greek word "ekklesia' which consists of two other
Greek words, "ek" which means out of and "Kaleo" which means to call.
Thus the word ekklesia literally mean, "the called out ones." So, the
church consists of every person, regardless of nation or culture who
through Christ "are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were
not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy
but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10) The church has been
called out of the world, (John 15:18-19), out of the flesh (Galatians
5:13, 16-18) and out of the devil's dominion (Colossians 1:13-14) for a
fourfold purpose.
The four main purposes of the church's existence are, to worship God,
build one another up in love, win souls and make disciples, and uphold
and enforce Jesus' triumph over Satan and his kingdom. As we progress in
this series we will explore each of these areas which concerns the
purpose of the church's existence that will help us see if we are truly
flowing in what God has called the church to be. It will also give us a
benchmark do what God called Jeremiah to do if need be, that is, "to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down..." the worldly concepts that have crept into "the church of God" so that we through the Holy Spirit can "build and plant." Jesus said that He would build His church, so the question we must ask ourselves, "Is Jesus really building His church or are we building what we think is the church?"
.
Monday, May 10, 2021
Sons and Daughters
One of the greatest misunderstandings concerning how God deals with the believer comes from the writer of Hebrews, "And
you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons, My
son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when
you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and
scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals
with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not
chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become
partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have
had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we
not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and
live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to
them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:5-11)
To understand what the writer of Hebrews is conveying we must define the
word chasten. Chasten is defined as: To train up a child; instruct;
educate; teach; discipline. Where we tend to go wrong is when we look at
the word discipline. Discipline to most means punishment. Although the
word discipline has the word punishment in its definition, it also means
to correct; to instruct; to chasten. As we can see the words chasten
and discipline are synonymous words. Now let's look at what it means for
God to chasten or discipline the believer, His child.
First and foremost, God loves us and His chastening is always immersed
in His love. Next, He deals with us as with sons and I might add
daughters. This is very foreign to most peoples thinking. For many
parents, when it come to disciplining their children there is a tendency
to punish the out of frustration, disappointment and even anger, rather
than through love. This has nothing to do with the method in which
parents chasten their children but the attitude of the heart when
bringing discipline. Gods most potent characteristic is love and we must
always keep in mind that He chasten His children through His abounding,
surrounding love.
Next, we see that the chastening of the Lord is for the believers
profit. Honestly, how can the believer profit from chastening? We profit
because it is always for our good. It is always to promote our welfare.
Look at one of the benefits that we profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. The believers becomes so holy that it may be said that we are partakers of the very holiness of God. "And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."
(Ephesians 4:24) Now for some this may be hard to believe, nevertheless
it is fact. However, finding such a claim hard to believe actually
reveals doubt in the believers heart. The evidence that the new man, New
Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) was created according to God, in true
righteousness and holiness has nothing to do with how we feel or our
performance, but faith in Jesus Christ and the integrity of God's Word.
Next, we see what else the believer profits from the chastening of the Lord, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. What is the fruit of righteousness? To determine this, we must look to Jesus. The prophet Jeremiah refers to Christ as the "Righteous Branch." (Jeremiah 23:5) At His death, a Roman centurion glorified God by saying, "Certainly this was a righteous man." (Luke 23:47) The apostle Paul states, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus tells us, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit..." (John
15:5) The fruit of righteousness is doing the works that Jesus did and
speaking the Word of God in the same manner as He walked the earth as
the Son of Man. It is carrying out the will of the Father as Jesus did.
Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the
works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will
do, because I go to My Father." (John 14:12)
As parents, so also the methods to which God chastens His children may
vary. The misunderstanding concerning the chastening of the Lord come
from such phrases as, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him, He scourges every son, If you endure chastening, Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Unfortunately,
believers take these phrases and twist them to mean that God chastens
His children with financial struggles, sickness, disease and so on. If
this is true, if God truly uses financial struggles, sickness, disease
and so on to chasten His children, then one of two things come into
play. First, we do not truly know Him (Job 42:1-3, Hosea 4:6) or we
believe that He does these things contrary to His Word which is so very
far from the truth (Psalm 89:34, 107:20, 119:89, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews
13:8, John 1:1)
In fact, God punished Jesus (Isaiah 53:4-10) so that those who confess and believe
that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9) could enjoy all the benefits and
privileges of being sons and daughters. (Romans 8:15-17, 32) He took our
infirmities and bore our sicknesses so that we are healed (Matthew
8:17, 1 Peter 2:24) He came to give us abundant life here on earth.
(John 10:10) He died in our place to give us eternal life (1 John 2:25)
He was made sin to make us righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21) He was
condemned so that we could go free. (Matthew 27:22-23, 34-35, Galatians
5:1) We also must realize that the believer is a member of the Body of
Christ. If we truly believe that God chastens His children with
financial struggles, sickness, disease and so on, then we must also
believe that Jesus Himself, the head of the body deals with the same. We
must also believe that the Holy Spirit who dwells in the believe has no
problem with sickness or disease defiling our body, which is the temple
of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16) No, God child trains;
instructs; educates and teaches His children through love.
Always remember that no one has a better new birth, a better
righteousness, a better Savior, a better Healer, a better Provider, a
better Father, a better right standing with the Father than the
believer. No one can get closer to the Father's heart than we His
children. So when the Lord chastens us, let us stand in the confidence
that it is for our profit because God loves us and wants to reproduce Himself in us.
Monday, May 3, 2021
Thank you Mom
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring motherhood and the influence of mothers in society. In the USA it is always celebrated on the second Sunday in the month of May. The modern Mother's Day began in the United States, at the initiative of Anna Jarvis in the early 20th century. It is not directly related to the many traditional celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have existed throughout the world over thousands of years, however, in some countries, Mother's Day is still synonymous with many older traditions. The American version of Mother's Day has been criticized for having become too commercialized. Even Anna Jarvis herself regretted this commercialism and expressed that this was never her intention. In response, Constance Adelaide Smith successfully advocated for Mothering Sunday as a commemoration of a broader definition of motherhood in many other parts of the English-speaking world.
Mother's Day marks an important holiday to honor the woman who raised you. I believe in the of God, mother's hold a special place. There are numerous scriptures concerning mother's so let look at some that you may want to share with your mother...
"The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living." (Genesis 3:20)
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me
together in my mother's womb.I praise you, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."
(Psalm 139:13-14)
"Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice." (Proverbs 23:22-25)
"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." (Proverbs 31:25)
"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."
(Proverbs 31:26)
"Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also,
and he praises her: Many women have done excellently, but you surpass
them all." (Proverbs
31:28–29)
"Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." (Proverbs 31:31)
"Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?"
(Isaiah 49:15)
"As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13)
"You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." (1 Peter 3:4)
Of course we will always remember a woman named Mary who was the mother of our LORD. "But when Mary saw the angel, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:29-34)
So, as we close in on Mother's Day, let us be mindful of the woman who birth us, nursed us, changed us, fed us, nurtured us, coddled us, had sleepless nights for us and so much more. Let us be thankful and honor our mother's. For without them, we would not be here today. Thank you Mom...
Monday, April 26, 2021
Gifts To The Church
Last time, we looked at the real reason as to why 20% of church members
actively function in the work of ministry while 80% sit idle. We saw
that it is due to the erroneous philosophy accepted in the church that
once the last of the apostles, like Peter and Paul died, that the gift/office of apostle and
prophet as well as miracles faded away. That we have no need of them
because we have the Bible and yet there is not one verse of scripture
(unless taken out of context to agree with certain man made
philosophies) that says the gift/office of apostle and prophet
has faded away and with them the miraculous. So, how do we know that
apostles and prophets (although maybe not recognized) along with
miracles are still alive, well and needed in the church today?
The Hebrew usage of the word apostle is to "send away; one who was
commissioned and authorized by God." The ancient Greek usage refers to
"a personal envoy, emissary or ambassador; a delegate." The Koine Greek
usage (Greek language commonly spoken during the time of Jesus' earthly
ministry) refers to, "a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with
orders." In other words, the word apostle simply means "a sent one, an
ambassador, a delegate, one who is sent forth, one commissioned and
authorized by another to represent another and carry out his will and
purposes.
To say that Matthias and Paul were the last apostles chosen by the Lord a
part from the original twelve and that there is no
apostolic secession is not a valid statement. (For the sake of space, I
will list others that were apostles after these two men, based on the
definition shown above.)
- James, the Lords brother (Acts 1:14, 1 Corinthians 15:7, Galatians 1:9, 2:9)
- Barnabas (Acts 4:36, 11:22-30, 14:1, 4, 14, 1 Corinthians 9:6)
- Apollos (1 Corinthians 4:6-9)
- Andronicus (Romans 16:7)
- Junia (Romans 16:7)
- Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25)
- Titus (2 Corinthians 8:23)
- Two unnamed brethren (2 Corinthians 8:23)
- Timothy Acts 19:22, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2:6)
- Judas (Acts 15:23, 1 Thessalonians 2:6)
- silas/Silvanus (Acts 15:23, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2:6)
- Erastus (Acts 19:22)
- Tychicus (2 Timothy 4:12)
Along with the gift of apostle, the gift of prophet has also been rejected by many sectors of the church today. Keeping in mind that the church has been in the last days since Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the prophetic ministry of the prophet is still a much needed gift to the church today. One of the signs of the last days is the prophetic word coming as a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh. (Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:14-21) Notice that neither the prophet Joel nor the apostle Peter quoting the prophet Joel say anything about the prophetic fading away or ceasing in operation, on the contrary. The word says, that these things would come to pass in the last days. The last days are those which continue until the return of Jesus.
The misunderstanding of the prophets (prophetic) role in the church is one of the main reasons why it is rejected as a viable ministry to the church. The word prophet is defined as, "to foretell events, to speak under inspiration, to proclaim a divine revelation, and to break forth under sudden impulse into inspired discourse." The nature of prophecy is two fold; forth-telling, which comes in the form of preaching. It is to speak for God to the people, communicating the mind of God. Often the past (prophecy) will be used to deal with the present. This comes in the form of exhortation, reproof, warning, edification and comfort. This is seen in the New Testament prophets. New testament prophets are also considered non-writing prophets because they confirm the Word of God through guidance, words of wisdom and words of knowledge.
The other is fore-telling, which comes in the form of prediction. The prophet speaks for God, communicating His mind for the future. Often both the past and the present will be used to deal with the future. This is seen in the ministry of the Old Testament prophets. The Old Testament prophets were chosen, inspired by God and their words became scripture. There were Old Testament prophets that wrote historical books, poetical books and prophetical books. It can then be said, that the major difference between the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament prophets is writing scripture (Old Testament prophets) and confirming scripture (New Testament prophets) Unfortunately, many in the church have misunderstood the difference between the two and have rejected prophets/prophecy today believing that it is extra-biblical because it adds to scripture when in fact it is very biblical because it only confirms scripture.
Another aspect of the gift/office/ministry of the apostle and prophet is that they generally work closely together in the Body of Christ. For instance, Gods divine order in the church states, "First apostles, second prophets..." (1 Corinthians 12:28) We also see that the church is "built on the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone." (Ephesians 2:20) We see an example of this as the apostle Paul and the prophet Silas worker together (Acts 15:22-40, 16:6-7) Although there is opposition to these gifts/offices/ministries functioning in the church today, we will see the Lord bring all of the ascension gift/office/ministries together. We the will once again work in unity of heart, mind, spirit and faith for His glory. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen...
Monday, April 19, 2021
Building Together in Love
When we observe how the local church functions and how many people are
functioning in some capacity what do you see? Do we see all the members
actively working with other members building up the church? Do we see
75% of the members actively working with other members building up the
church? Do we see 50% of the members actively working with other members
building up the church? How about 25%? No, statistics reveal that
regardless of the size of a local church, less than 20% of the members
actively get involved with its function and many of them are heading
towards burnout. Why is this happening? Why does it seem to be almost
impossible to mobilize the members of the local church? I am sure that
there are numerous reason such as, a lack of leadership, a lack of
vision, a lack of discipleship, people are to busy, and so on. But I
believe the primary reason behind the limited mobilization of the
members of a local church comes down to one thing. Swapping the Lords
ingenious plan for man's faulty plan(s). Let's look at what the Holy
Spirit spoke through the apostle Paul.
"Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." (Ephesians 4:8) "And
He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the
work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all
come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in
the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in
love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ, from
whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does
its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in
love." (Ephesians 4:11-16)
Many church leaders for centuries have rejected the idea that the ministry gifts of the apostle and prophet
have continued beyond those of the early church. Their thinking is that
the gift or office of apostle and prophet have faded from the scene
when the apostles and prophets of the early church died. This thinking
goes even farther by saying that along with the passing of the apostles
and prophets miracles, signs and wonders have also passed away. They
site 1 Corinthians 15:8 which says, "Then last of all He (Jesus) was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time"
to mean that Paul was the last of the apostles appointed by the Lord.
They also use Ephesians 4:13-14 (shown above) along with 1 Corinthians
3:10; 13:11 to say that these gifts along with the miraculous only
functioned as scaffolding while the church was under initial
construction, and were removed or faded away once the structure had been
completed because the book we call the Bible is the totality of God’s
written revelation to the human race. Consequently, people now have
access to everything they need (2 Peter 1:3) to enter into a right
relationship with God via Christianity and the church of Christ. Without
doubt, the Bible is the totality of God’s written revelation to the
human race. However, if we look at Ephesians 4:8 again, some light will
shine upon us revealing the truth, "Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
First, notice that it does not say that Jesus gave temporary gifts to
men or that He gave gifts to men only for a season or a certain period
of time. Paul tells us, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29) James tells us, "Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the
Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning." (James 1:17) The Lord does revoke the gifts and calling
that He gives to His church, because His gifts are good and perfect.
Also, notice that James reveals to us something about God that Malachi
also reveals, "For I am the LORD, I do not change..." (Malachi 3:6) The writer of Hebrews puts it this way, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
(Hebrews 13:8) In other words, from eternity past to eternity future
there is no change in Gods character, nature, purposes, plan or his
mode of being. What He says is what He means, period. "God is not a
man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He
said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it
good?" (Numbers 23:19)
If we say that the gift/office of apostle and prophet
have faded away and have no need for them because we have the Bible,
then we also have to conclude that the gift/office of evangelist, pastor
and teacher have also faded away for the same reason. If we also say, "But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away"
meaning that the gifts of the Spirit, especially miracles have also
faded away, because we have the Bible, then we also have to conclude
that knowledge has also vanished. (see 1 Corinthians 13:8-10) The
context of what Paul is conveying in 1 Corinthians 13 has nothing
whatsoever to do with the fading away of gifts and the miraculous that
Christ gave to His church. Paul is telling the church to grow up or come
into maturity, especially to mature in love because without love the
gifts will not function properly. He is telling the church that when
Christ returns, "that which is perfect" there will be no further
need for any of the gifts that He gave to the church. So, how do we grow
up and mature especially in love until Christ returns? Let's reread
Ephesians 4:11-16
Another thing that we must consider is found in Paul's description of the church, "And He (Jesus) put
all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to
the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
(Ephesians 1:22-23, also see 1 Corinthians 12:12-27) The church is
describe as a body filled with the fullness of Christ the Head. So with
this in mind, how would a person operate if two of their fingers, say
their thumb and index finger, were missing from both hands? They could
function, but they certainly would be limited. What about if a person
was missing any two of their five senses? Again, they could function but
they would be limited. With that said, how can we logically believe
that the Lord would limit His body by removing two important
gifts/offices along with the miraculous?
How can we honestly think this especially when he gave all five of these
gifts/offices for maturing the church? His would not do such a thing!
Do we honestly believe that for the last seventeen hundred years the
church has reach or surpassed the maturity that Ephesian 4:1-16 is
talking about? Do we suppose that the last seventeen hundred years of
the church is more mature than the first three hundred years?
Many proponents of the extinction of the apostle, prophet and miracles
will say to those who know that the Lord has not removed from His church
apostle, prophet and miracles , beware "For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And
no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform
themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according
to their works" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) not even considering that
it is they that Satan has deceived. Certainly the church must beware
that false apostles and prophets
can appear, but the context in which this passage appears is Paul
defending his apostleship. He is not insinuating or alluding too at all
that when he leaves this life there will be no more apostles.
Next, we also see another fact that sheds light on the existence of
apostles (maybe not recognized) today. Paul, tells us the all of the
ascension gifts were given "till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ." How can any church leader look at church
history for the past 1700 years and honestly believe that the church.
has arrived any time, "to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ." Do we honest believe that what we call the
church is unified? That the church operates in the full knowledge of the
Son of God? That the church completely functions in the fullness of
Christ? Let's be honest. What we call the church today is not even close
to just being united, let alone these other important issue that makes
the church one in Christ.
So, why do statistics reveal that less than 20% of the members of most
local churches do all the work while 80% remain idle? I truly believe it is due to
eliminating the gift/office of the apostle and prophet by church
Pharisees who have embraced the philosophies of men over the word of
God. They have been blinded by the god of the world, Satan, who is still
at work against the church to do what he did in the beginning, that is,
discredit God and His Word. (Genesis 3:1-5) Jesus gave to the church "some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers, to work together, "for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry." Their is not one verse of scripture (other than ones taken out of context) that says that the gift/office of the apostle and prophet have
faded away and are of no long any use once the early church apostles
and prophets died We do not seem to understand the harm that we have
done to ourselves by eliminating these key gifts/offices for our "better
ideas." Grace be with all those who
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen