Building Up All the Brethren
Jesus set the example for His disciples to daily submit His will to the Father and to love, serve, and care for the souls and spiritual well being of all those who were in His company. Even on His last night with the disciples, our Lord washed the feet of His beloved disciples and humbly served them.
As Paul continues his third missionary journey, we see him doing much of the same thing as he was so devoted to the spiritual "progress" and "joy of faith" of the disciples, as he shared with the brethren in Philippi (Phil. 1:25). It was there in Madedonia, where Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, and he expressed his heart so clearly when he listed all of his troubles but added this sentiment, "besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28).
Paul went from being a persecutor of the church to being a builder of the church. From Jesus to Paul and from the earliest established churches to the churches of today, we are to continue to see God's heart for His Church and to be committed to doing what will build up others in the faith.
HOW ABOUT YOU? Do you have a clear revelation of what or rather WHO the church actually is?
The church is the body and bride of Christ. We are the "called out" people who are united together in Christ by faith through His indwelling and enabling Spirit to carry out the will of God and to fulfill His purpose here on earth as it is in heaven.
It was for this reason that Paul would write his letter to the Romans when he arrived in Corinth in Greece and say, "Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God" (Rom. 15:7). Let us open our hearts and welcome the body in a manner worthy of Christ!
There will always be those in the body of Christ who have diverse backgrounds, diverse ways of thinking, and have been graced with diverse gifts, but we are all united in Christ by the same Spirit and in mutual faith, to be built up in Christ until we are glorified together. We even see a reference to those who came from a wealthy family background like Aristarchus, whose name is associated with the aristocracy, and those who formerly lived in servitude such as Secundus, whose name alludes to meaning "second".
The Apostle Paul put it this way, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased...And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another" (1 Cor. 12:18,23-25).
In Ephesians 4, we see God’s Design for the Church laid out for us:
The Church IDENTIFIED.(4:1-2)
The Church UNIFIED.(4:3-6)
The Church DIVERSIFIED.(4:7)
The Church QUALIFIED.(4:11)
The Church EDIFIED.(4:12-16)
The Church GLORIFIED.(4:13)
Eph. 4:13 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
Let us catch the Shepherd's heart and stay invested in what Jesus loves. Beloved, if we say we love Christ, then we must continue to love what Christ loves and give ourselves to that which He died for.
ACTS IN ACTION CHALLENGE POINTS
As Paul continues his third missionary journey, we see him doing much of the same thing as he was so devoted to the spiritual "progress" and "joy of faith" of the disciples, as he shared with the brethren in Philippi (Phil. 1:25). It was there in Madedonia, where Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, and he expressed his heart so clearly when he listed all of his troubles but added this sentiment, "besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28).
Paul went from being a persecutor of the church to being a builder of the church. From Jesus to Paul and from the earliest established churches to the churches of today, we are to continue to see God's heart for His Church and to be committed to doing what will build up others in the faith.
HOW ABOUT YOU? Do you have a clear revelation of what or rather WHO the church actually is?
The church is the body and bride of Christ. We are the "called out" people who are united together in Christ by faith through His indwelling and enabling Spirit to carry out the will of God and to fulfill His purpose here on earth as it is in heaven.
It was for this reason that Paul would write his letter to the Romans when he arrived in Corinth in Greece and say, "Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God" (Rom. 15:7). Let us open our hearts and welcome the body in a manner worthy of Christ!
There will always be those in the body of Christ who have diverse backgrounds, diverse ways of thinking, and have been graced with diverse gifts, but we are all united in Christ by the same Spirit and in mutual faith, to be built up in Christ until we are glorified together. We even see a reference to those who came from a wealthy family background like Aristarchus, whose name is associated with the aristocracy, and those who formerly lived in servitude such as Secundus, whose name alludes to meaning "second".
The Apostle Paul put it this way, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased...And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another" (1 Cor. 12:18,23-25).
In Ephesians 4, we see God’s Design for the Church laid out for us:
The Church IDENTIFIED.(4:1-2)
The Church UNIFIED.(4:3-6)
The Church DIVERSIFIED.(4:7)
The Church QUALIFIED.(4:11)
The Church EDIFIED.(4:12-16)
The Church GLORIFIED.(4:13)
Eph. 4:13 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
Let us catch the Shepherd's heart and stay invested in what Jesus loves. Beloved, if we say we love Christ, then we must continue to love what Christ loves and give ourselves to that which He died for.
ACTS IN ACTION CHALLENGE POINTS
- Do you SEE the church as the living body of Christ?
- Are you SERVING as an active participant in the church?
- How can you be SEEKING to build up your brethren?
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