Will you please turn to the letter to
the Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 4, we'll read the first sixteen
verses.
Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1.
I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you
therefore to walk worthy of the calling wherewith
ye have been called, with all loneliness and
meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in
love, using diligence to keep the unity of
the spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
There is one body and one spirit, as
ye have been also called, in one hope
of your calling.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God
and Father of all, who is over all
and through all and in us all.
But to each one of us has been
given grace according to the measure of the
gift of the Christ.
Wherefore, he says, having ascended up on high,
he has left captivity captive and has given
gifts to men.
For that he ascended, what is it?
For that he also descended into the lower
parts of the earth.
He that descended is the same, who has
also ascended up above all the heavens, that
he might feel all things.
And he has given some apostles and some
prophets and some evangelists and some shepherds and
teachers for the perfecting of the saints, with
a view to the work of the ministry,
with a view to the edifying of the
body of Christ, until we all arrive at
the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, as a
full-grown man, as a measure of the
statue of the fullness of the Christ, in
order that we may be no longer bathed,
tossed and carried about by every wind of
that teaching, which is in a slate of
man, in unprincipled cunning, with a view to
systematize error, but holding the truth in love.
We may grow up to him in all
things, who is the head, the Christ, from
whom the whole body fitted together and connected
by every joint of supply.
According to the working in the measure of
each one part, works for itself the increase
of the body to itself, building up in
love.
Let's have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we do want to thank Thee
again for gathering us together unto Thyself this
morning.
Lord, Thou hast been good to us.
We praise and thank Thee that Thou art
the one whose delight is to reveal Thyself
to Thy people.
Dear Lord, we pray that even at this
time Thou will continue to speak to us,
open our understanding, fill our hearts with warmth,
with love, knowing that how much Thou has
done for us.
Dear Lord, we just commit this time into
Thy hands and ask, Lord, that Thou will
complete the work which Thou has begun.
We ask in Thy precious name.
Amen.
Thank God He has brought us to the
last full day of this conference.
The theme of this conference is the eternal
purpose of God.
It is an old theme, and I think
there is probably no theme older than this
theme, because it begins from eternity, and yet
it is forever new.
It continues throughout the ages, and it will
reach to the eternity to come.
This morning I'm thinking this is the oldest
theme we can ever talk about.
But does it get a little bit old
to you?
Are you tired of hearing this theme again?
Are you saying that, well, you have heard
it so many times?
Why is there not something new?
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the oldest
theme, but it is forever new.
If it begins for you to feel that
it is getting old, you better go back
to the Lord.
Humble yourself before the Lord, and ask the
Lord, why is it that this theme becomes
old to you?
Why is it it does not have that
sharpness, that freshness, that livingness that you ought
to sense?
Why is it that the theme does not
stir your hearts up to think of the
great love of God in giving His beloved
Son to you, and with Him all things?
To think that He can love you so
much, as He is willing to die for
you, to bring you into that union with
Him, to experience His fullness.
To think that you are a sinner, He
is going to bring you into glory, to
sonship.
Dear brothers and sisters, this theme shall forever
stir our hearts.
This theme is so intimate, so dear, so
close.
It is something that governs not only the
whole universe, but it governs your life.
It means everything to you.
So I do cry to the Lord, that
even though we are at the, almost towards
the end of this conference, that this theme
should never end.
It should be ringing in our hearts, day
and night.
And especially, dear brothers and sisters, when we
are coming to the close of the age,
how much more important that we are, literally,
daily, living in that theme.
And that theme is our daily food.
So brothers and sisters, my prayer is that
we will go away with a fresh, living,
anointed sense of the eternal purpose of God.
My responsibility is the eternal purpose of God,
as seen in the church.
And this morning, we are going to fellowship
together on this matter of church life.
The church is not just a theory.
It is not just a topic in theology.
The church is very real.
You know, in the beginning, when you look
into the book of Acts, the name Christian
was not given yet.
And yet you find, when the Spirit of
God tries to describe the church, those
who are in the church, He uses the
word, way.
That name, that term, way, was given by
the Spirit of God to the people of
God, even before this name Christian was invented.
The name of Christian, actually, was given by
the world.
The world looked at these people, they do
not know how to label them, so finally
they say, well, they are Christians, because they
are Christ's men and women, because they are
intoxicated with Christ, because when they open their
mouth, they speak of Christ.
When they gather together, they gather unto Christ.
When they sing, they sing unto Christ.
When they talk, they talk about Christ.
So people say, well, these are Christians.
But before this term was given, the Holy
Spirit gave these people a name, and the
name is People of the Way.
In Acts chapter 9, verse 2, you find
that Saul, how he persecuted those who are
of the way.
He will seize upon men and women in
Jerusalem, and will bring them to the court
to be judged and sentenced.
People of the Way.
And again you find in Acts chapter 19,
verse 9, when Paul was in Ephesus, he
was reasoning with the people in the synagogue
for three months, and then some people began
to talk evilly of the way.
So he began to separate those people of
the way from the people of the world.
And while he was in Ephesus, you find
again in verse 23, because of the way,
there was a great turmoil in the city
of the way.
When you come to chapter 22, you find
Paul, when he was seized by the Roman
soldiers, going to be brought into the tower,
he asked for permission to speak to his
fellow citizens.
And he told them how in his early
days he persecuted the way.
Again you will find before the council in
chapter 22, Paul said, the way that you
consider as a sect, this is the way
that I am serving the Lord.
Even before Felix, he testified
how he persecuted that way before.
And Felix knew all about that way.
So brothers and sisters, the other name of
the church is the way.
Why the way?
Because it is a way of life.
The church is not a teaching.
The church is a way.
It is a way of life.
You know, when I first came to this
country, I often heard people telling me, this
is our American way.
Every nation has a special way of living.
And we are proud of our way.
The Jewish people have their way of living.
But suddenly you discover, there are people who
are Jews.
They are not living the Jewish way of
life anymore.
They live a strange way of life.
And stranger than that, the Gentiles, people of
the nations, they began to quit their Gentile
way of life.
And began to adopt a new way of
life.
They live differently.
And strangest of all, both the Jews and
the Gentiles live the same strange way of
life.
It is a way of life that is
not lived in any nation on the earth.
A way of life that has never been
seen.
And yet, without consultation, without negotiation, you find
people who believe in the Lord Jesus, whoever
they are, wherever they are, at whatever time
they may live, strangely, they begin to live
the same way.
It is so different from the world.
The world has never seen such a way
of life.
It is a heavenly way upon the earth.
And they live it.
So brothers and sisters, it is very evident
that the church is not a doctrine.
The church is not a teaching.
The church is a way of life.
We not only believe in the church, we
live the church.
So what's before us is this.
You have heard about the church.
You may think that you know what the
church is, that it is not that brick
building at the corner of the square.
You think you know all about the church.
But the problem is, are you living it?
Do you know what church life is?
Are you today living that life?
When you read the Letter to the Ephesians,
we usually say the Letter to the Ephesians
can very clearly divide it into two parts.
The first three chapters is on the teaching,
as it were, of the truth of the
church.
And then the next three chapters is on
the life, the living of the church.
In the first three chapters, now as a
matter of fact, the third chapter, except the
first verse, is all in parenthesis.
Because in a sense, they belong to the
first part.
And you find when Paul is trying to
share with the brothers and sisters to describe
what the church is like, in order that
they may understand the church, he teaches them
as an apostle.
He said, I apostle Paul.
As the one who has been given revelation,
one who is sent by God to help
people to know what a church is.
But when you come to the second part,
you find that Paul said, I, the prisoner
of Christ Jesus.
I, the prisoner in the Lord.
Exhort you.
In other words, when you come to the
practical living, the only way you can live
the church life is to be a prisoner
of Christ Jesus.
Unless you are a prisoner in the Lord,
you are not able to enter into this
church life.
Church life is not for free men and
free women.
If you want to be free, you will
discover that you are never able to enjoy
church life.
You will be afraid of it, scared of
it.
You want to get out of it.
But if you are a prisoner of Christ
Jesus, if you are imprisoned by Christ, if
you have lost your freedom, your own freedom,
if you have given up your right to
be a prisoner in the Lord, captured by
the Lord, then, brothers and sisters, the church
life is for you.
And you will be able to not only
live that life, but even to enjoy it.
I know many brothers and sisters who try
to live the church life, and they do
not enjoy it.
They hate it.
If it is possible, they want to get
out of it.
Too much for them.
Why?
Not because the church life is not beautiful,
glorious, wonderful, but it is because we are
too independent.
We are too of I, me, mine.
We haven't surrendered our life to the Lord.
Heaven accepted him as the head.
But if we do, there is nothing more
precious than church life.
In the second part of the letter to
the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul is trying to
tell us what church life is like.
To me, I feel, in these last three
chapters, we can look at church life from
three directions.
In other words, church life is three-dimensional.
There is one dimension that is looking within.
You look at church life within.
And the other dimension is you look church
life without.
And there is another one, you look at
church life beyond.
Chapter four is looking at church life within.
How do we live church life as members
one of another?
Chapter five to chapter six, verse nine without.
How will we live this church life as
a testimony to the world without?
And chapter six, verse ten to the end
is beyond.
How church life is to live in that
unseen world.
Now, first of all, we will consider together
this morning, and probably we will spend most
time on it.
How do we live church life together as
members one of another?
Now, first of all, of course, to live
church life you need to have a certain
attitude.
Before you begin to live church life you
need to have a certain mental attitude or
spiritual attitude.
And that comes from being a prisoner in
the Lord.
Now, if you are a prisoner in the
Lord then you'll find He will create within
you certain character that is essential to live
in church life.
So the Apostle Paul, he said, I, the
prisoner in the Lord, exhort you therefore to
walk worthy of the calling wherewith He has
been called.
Now, in the first part of Ephesians you'll
find a calling.
We are called to be the body of
Christ.
We are called to be the new man.
We are called to be fellow citizens of
the kingdom of God's Son of Love.
We are called to be the household of
God.
We are called to be the house of
God.
We are called to be the bride, the
wife of the bridegroom our Lord Jesus.
And we are called to be the spiritual
warrior.
So you'll find that so far as the
church is concerned there is a calling there.
We are called out from every nation, every
tribe, every tongue, every people.
He called us out of all these and
gather us together unto Himself.
That's the church.
But when you come to the second part,
you'll find it's the walk.
We have been called.
Now, let us walk worthy of the calling
wherewith we have been called.
Brothers and sisters, do you know your calling?
Sometimes when we think of calling, we always
think in terms of individual.
I feel called by the Lord to do
this or to be that.
We forget that there is a calling upon
every one of the redeemed of the Lord.
We are called together into one calling.
We are called to be the body of
Christ.
We are called to be members of the
new man.
We are called to be fellow citizens, members
of the house of God.
Living stones built up together into a spiritual
house.
Habitation of God in the spirit.
And we are called together to be that
glorious church that will be presented to our
Lord Jesus as His bride.
And we are all called into this spiritual
warfare.
Not as individuals but as one warrior.
We are all called.
But brothers and sisters do we walk worthy
of our calling?
Is our walk agreed with our calling?
Does our walk express our calling?
I think there is much that we need
to think meditate before the Lord.
And in order to have this walk, this
living of church life, a certain attitude or
spiritual character is needed.
So the apostle Paul said with all loneliness
and meekness with long suffering bearing with another
in love.
That's to start with.
Brothers and sisters are you ready to live
the church life?
Has the Lord worked in your life?
His life?
His character?
Our Lord is lowly in heart.
Meek and lowly in heart.
He said take my yoke upon you and
learn of me for I'm meek and lowly
in heart and you shall find rest in
your soul.
This character of meekness that is selfless.
Not considering yourself all the time.
Thinking of yourself all the time.
Grasping for yourself.
No.
Meekness.
Denying yourself.
Not knowing yourself.
Giving up yourself in a spirit of lowliness
of meekness.
Willing to take the lowest place is the
character of our Lord Jesus.
Long suffering.
You know when I read 1 Corinthians chapter
13 I always wonder why does love when
it is described begins with love suffers more.
To me I think it's too negative and
then one day I realize because this chapter
on love has something to do with the
body of Christ.
In chapter 12 you find the body of
Christ.
Many members with different gifts but one body.
In chapter 14 you find the body functions.
How one with a psalm, one with a
prayer one with a revelation, one with a
prophecy, one with a tongue you find how
the body functions.
Here you have the body and the body
is to function.
But for the body to function properly, healthily
you need a more excellent way.
And the way is love.
And love begins with long suffering.
Suffers long.
Have you discovered that already?
When you are all by yourself fine.
But when you are with your brothers and
sisters and in close quarters ah, you begin
to suffer.
How long can you suffer?
You want to pack up and leave?
Are you able to suffer long?
As long as you live.
Long suffering.
Think of our God, our Lord Jesus.
How suffer long he suffered.
Even to the last minute on the cross
they would not let him go.
They ridiculed him.
Even the robbers on his right and left
in the beginning, they also ridiculed him.
And he suffered.
Come from the cross, he suffered.
He wouldn't come down for your sake, for
my sake.
Bearing with one another in love.
Have you come to a place where you
said, I cannot bear that brother any longer.
It is too much.
Not knowing that the same is true with
your brother towards you.
Certain character of Christ is necessary for us
to live church life.
Church life is not cheap at all.
You can live very easily a congressional life.
Because you only meet one hour a week.
You put on your Sunday best.
Nobody can touch you.
You slip away.
But try to live church life.
Body life.
And you know the difference.
Thank God we have the life of Christ
in us.
But the character of Christ has to be
gradually cultivated.
And it is usually built up through suffering.
So dear brothers and sisters, be ready for
it.
The first thing when you enter into church
life is using diligence to keep the unity
of the spirit in the uniting bond of
peace.
That is the first thing.
The first thing is the unity of the
body of Christ.
And unfortunately when you look around you look
into church history that is the one thing
that is so prominent it is not there.
The body has been broken up.
God's people are not together.
God's people are not one.
They are at odds with each other.
Keep means something has been given.
You cannot keep what you do not have.
But what has been given to you and
if that thing is very, very precious then
you want to keep it.
And if it is so precious to you,
you want to keep it diligently.
You know sometimes I say when you are
walking on the street especially when you are
walking on the street in New York in
the early days in Flushing, now if in
your pocket you have a hundred dollars bill
there how do you walk?
Your hands is there in your pocket.
You keep it diligently.
Now suppose you have a few pennies in
your pocket how do you walk?
You walk freely.
If somebody were to steal your few pennies
let him have them.
Brothers and sisters do we keep diligently the
unity of the spirit in the uniting bond
of peace?
That unity of the
spirit has been given to us and it
is described in the following seven ones.
There is one body, one spirit one
hope of your calling.
We know there is one body it is
the body of Christ this body is composed
of many members and yet one body so
also is the Christ.
Every believer every redeemed child of God is
born to that body to be a member.
This body is so precious because you cannot
join this body by any other means there
is only one way to join this body
and that is by being born into it.
To be born of the spirit.
To be born of God and that's the
only way to be a member, a living
member of that body and this body is
the body of Christ this body does not
belong just to anybody even to some great
man.
This body belongs to Christ.
He is the head of the body he
is to fill the body with himself he
is to express himself through this body.
So it is a so precious body one
body.
Our Lord Jesus does not have two bodies
or more bodies.
He has only one body that's the reason
why you'll find when the Corinthian believers began
to have that party spirit.
I'm of Paul I'm of Apollos, I'm of
Cephas I am of Christ in a special
way superior way Paul said, is Christ divided?
Brothers and sisters, we do not take it
seriously on this matter of divisions but that
is dismemberment of the body that brings a
living body into death.
Serious Christ has only one body.
One head one body.
And how does this body come about?
One spirit in one spirit you were baptized
into one body you know on the day
of Pentecost you have 120 believers but there
are 120 individual believers they are the best
you can find in this world the most
faithful and yet it is just a congregation,
an outward gathering but on the day of
Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down in
one spirit they were baptized into one body.
No longer 12 members, 120 members of a
congregation but 120 members of a living life
joined together in one as soon as
you believe in the Lord Jesus you were
baptized by the same spirit into that body
you know the Holy Spirit did many things
to us on the day when you believe
in the Lord Jesus he begets you he
comes and dwells in your new spirit and
he you are baptized in him into the
body of Christ one body, one spirit and
one hope of our calling.
What is our calling?
Our calling is to be the body of
Christ.
What is the hope of our calling?
The hope is when the body is fully
matured, built up then it will become the
bride of the Lamb that's our hope to
be joined to Christ forever and this is
the work of the Holy Spirit God the
Spirit he has made us one body he
is the one spirit who dwells in each
one of us and he is not only
given up that hope but he is bringing
that hope into reality in our lives.
These three are already there.
Then one Lord one faith, one baptism these
three refer to God the Son we have
only one Lord.
The apostle Paul says in the world people
have many Lords many Gods but we have
only one Lord.
Our Lord Jesus Christ Jesus is Lord to
us one faith.
It is that faith that Peter confessed before
the Lord.
Thou art the Christ the Son of the
Living God because without that faith you cannot
be saved you cannot be born into the
body of Christ one faith one baptism it
does not refer to the forms of baptism
it refers to the reality of baptism what
is baptism?
Baptism is to be baptized unto Christ formerly
we belong to the world formerly we are
under Satan that usurper but we are baptized
into Christ now we belong to Christ He
is our King one faith, one baptism these
three refer to God the Son what He
has done for us what He is to
us and these three are already given Jesus
is your Lord you have that one faith
in Him and you have been baptized unto
Him then you find one God and Father
of all God is not only God to
us, God is God to everybody He is
the God of the universe the Creator of
all but He is not the Father of
everybody but He is your Father my Father
we cry out, Abba we have one Father
it is God He is over all, through
all and in us all thank God for
that God the Father so you will find
in the seven ones you see the work
of the Triune God the work of the
Holy Spirit the work of our Lord Jesus,
Son of God and the work of God
the Father here you will find in God
in Christ Jesus, in the Holy Spirit we
are one that's how our oneness comes from
that's the unity of the Spirit and that
unity has been given to us to be
kept brothers and sisters, have we kept it?
do we diligently keep it?
or have we already lost it?
so precious and we need to keep this
in the uniting bond of peace peace with
one another you say, how can I have
peace with my brother and sister?
because we are so different our understanding of
the Bible is different our experience of the
Lord is different we have different ideas, we
have different opinions even in spiritual things how
can we be bonded together in peace I
have to tell that story many, many years
ago I was in Peru, South America I
went there to visit a couple of missionaries
the aliens you remember one alien brother was
martyred in Ecuador and this is his brother
Bert he and his wife, they are still
there serving the Lord they went to Peru
work among the natives I visited them I
had to fly into that city because there
is no road and then we spent a
week on a little boat sailing through the
Amazon River visiting different villages and then we
spent another week in a truck climbing the
high mountains in Peru visiting saints here and
there on the mountains I really
enjoyed that and then before I left there
was a conference in that city and the
natives began to come from different villages to
that conference they walked through the jingles and
came together and I was leaving the next
day I was staying with this couple and
another missionary came from the neighboring village he
came in the afternoon so when he saw
that I was in the home of that
missionary he began to talk to me but
the way he talked, you know he is
examining me he wants to know what I
believe, where I was and so forth but
he did it in a way that is
very subtle he began from the circumference he
began to question me and the questions began
to get closer and closer I know what
he is aiming at because I know his
background he came from an exclusive brothering background
so he began to question me and of
course he discovered that I am a believer
in the Lord and then finally the question
that I was afraid he will ask came
out just before breakfast he said brother how
about rapture I tried to avoid that question
so I said all believers will be raptured
oh he said when?
how?
how many times?
I know the exclusive brother in belief that
all believers will be raptured before the great
tribulation but unfortunately or fortunately my
understanding is a little different but I have
to be honest with him oh I said
the whole church will be raptured he is
not satisfied so finally I have to tell
him well brother I know I have a
different interpretation that you have because there is
a debt and you know what he said
you don't believe the bible I said brother
I believe the bible just as you do
the only difference that our interpretation our understanding
are not the same no you don't believe
the bible and after supper we are walking
to the meeting because I was going to
leave the next morning so the brothers asked
me to speak that evening and as we
walked to the meeting place he walked by
me and said if you speak I won't
speak if you speak I won't speak what
should I do he is from a neighboring
village he will be there I won't be
there should I deprive him of his speaking
certainly not so I told the brother my
host and said I'm not going to speak
and the next morning before I leave all
these native brothers came together and demand to
know why I didn't explain I left brothers
and sisters do you see my point keep
diligently the unity of the spirit in the
uniting bond of peace why does it say
in the uniting bond of peace because God
knows that even with the seven oneness the
basis of our fellowship the unity of the
spirit we have many differences we are still
different we haven't arrived yet at the unity
of the faith and of the knowledge of
the son of God you know in chapter
4 you have the unity mentioned twice verse
3 the unity of the spirit and then
verse 13 the unity of the faith and
of the knowledge of the son of God
not two unities the two ends of one
unity this unity begins with the unity of
the spirit and we will arrive at the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the son of God brothers and sisters
we haven't arrived yet it is evident we
haven't arrived at the unity of the faith
one faith the faith are different one Lord,
one faith, one baptism that one faith refers
to the basic faith in the Lord Jesus
thou art the Christ the son of the
living God that is one faith we all
have that one faith if you don't have
it, you are not the Lord but the
faith is what James said what Jude said
in the book of Jude you remember Jude
he said when I'm trying to share with
you on the whole salvation I feel that
I must contend for the faith that has
once delivered to the saints in other words
the faith includes all the truth that you
find in the word of God the faith
has been delivered once to the saints all
the truth you can find in the Old
Testament, in the New Testament concerning our Lord
Jesus, of course all centered upon our Lord
Jesus that is the faith we haven't arrived
at the faith yet because we have different
understanding different degree of understanding different interpretations but
that does not affect our one faith the
knowledge of the Son of God it is
the full knowledge of the Son of God
in other words, it is the experiential knowledge
of the Son of God our experience of
our Lord Jesus is so or so different
some people they only experience the Lord Jesus
as their personal savior other people may experience
the Lord as their sanctifier other people may
have the experience of being filled with the
Holy Spirit brothers and sisters, our experience of
our Lord Jesus is so different He is
so big He is so full no one
can experience Him in fullness all by himself
you experience something of Him I experience something
of Him and together we experience Him all
this is something we ought to arrive at
but dear brothers and sisters what's unfortunate is
we reverse the order when we meet our
brothers and sisters we start with the unity
of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God when you meet a
believer the first thing is to discover whether
he is a believer but are you satisfied
now?
you are not your curiosity will drive you
to ask more questions which denominations do you
belong to?
oh, if you belong to, say the Methodist,
I'm a Baptist you, you belong you believe
in free will I believe in divine election
nothing to do with each other we are
different, how sad
how our actions grieve our Lord when
He looks upon us what does He see?
we are all divided nothing to do with
each other even become enemies and the enmity
among God's people religious fanaticism you cannot believe
it begin with
the beginning diligently keep the unity of the
spirit in the uniting bond of peace in
spite of all the differences you have with
your brothers and sisters different temperament, different background
different culture different upbringing, different teaching different experience
in spite of that we are members, one
on another keep that unity and as long
as you keep that unity you are able
to fellowship with one another and as long
as you keep on fellowshiping there will be
the opportunity of arriving at the unity of
the spirit of the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of
God otherwise there is no hope thank God
I have known people who are very different
in their understanding of the word and yet
they are the Lord's they love the Lord
and because we do not reject each other
we receive those whom the Lord has received
eventually we arrive at one mind I have
seen this but if we do not fellowship
there is no hope so first of all
how do we live this church life do
we have a church life do we diligently
keep the unity of the spirit in the
uniting bond of peace do we continue to
fellowship with one another in spite of all
the differences and when you are fellowshiping you
do not insist you should share what the
Lord means to you, what He has given
to you, your understanding of the word your
understanding of the Son of God you should
love your brothers and sisters who differ with
you and try to share with them what
the Lord has given to you but do
not insist that He must believe what you
believe He must be what you are don't
do that, on the other hand be open
to your brothers and sisters when they share
with you that is different be open, go
to the Lord and ask the Lord whether
it is of Him, then receive it now
if we can fellowship in that nature, how
glorious a fellowship it is and then of
course you find the Bible tells us when
our Lord Jesus ascended upon high, He led
captivity of captives and He gave gifts to
man you know in Psalm 68 verse 18
where it is quoted it is a little
bit different He ascended upon high led captivity
of captives and received gifts in man even
the rebellious to be a household house
of God brothers and sisters our Lord Jesus
when He ascended up He led captivity of
captives who are the captivity of captives, sometimes
we say well He led all the principalities
and authorities in the air that rebellious angels,
He led the captivity of captives, yes on
the cross, He led them captive and displayed
them but to me I feel the captivity
captive is you and me we were in
captivity but He captured us He receives us
as the gift of God to Him we
who are the rebellious but He makes us
His house He gives gifts to us and
by these gifts to build up the body
in love so brothers and sisters how do
you live that church life you live that
church life not only in the spirit of
unity fellowshipping, sharing loving one another but you
live this church life by functioning as a
member of the body of Christ every member
has been given a gift the gifts are
different but the purpose is the same we
need to function exercise the gift that God
has given to us together for the work
of the ministry it is the body ministry
and only when this body ministry is being
exercised then the body will build itself up
in love the problem today is we are
looking to a few to build up the
body we are looking to the apostles the
prophets, the evangelists the shepherds and teachers thank
God for these men the ministers of the
word of God but brothers and sisters their
work is to perfect the saints their work
is to mature the saints their work is
to equip the saints and it is the
saints through their exercising of the gift and
grace that God has given to each that
the body is built up that is the
reason why you find the body still hasn't
been matured our Lord is still waiting for
that day it is because we let a
few to do the work it cannot be
done never will be done every brother and
sister who is living that church life you
have a responsibility not what you do not
have but what you have been given grace
gift that the head has given to you
exercise it together submit one to another in
the fear of Christ and when we are
doing that the body is built up in
love and dear brothers and sisters when we
arrive at the full grown man as the
measure of the fullness of Christ we will
no longer be as babes being tossed about
by every wind of doctrine but we will
be built up and the Lord said my
bride is ready for me he will not
delay he will come to receive the bride
to himself shall we pray