Why is it not working? Part 2.

 

Why is it not working?  PART 2.

In the Christ confessing churches of today how many people are being equipped for works of real ministry?

 

EPHESIANS 4 : 4-16 NKJV

Walk in Unity

4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Spiritual Gifts

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.”

 

9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first

descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

 

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 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; 14 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, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 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.

The above scripture is so vitally important! It describes some of the basic essentials to the growth of the body of believers and therefore the places where satan has successfully prevented the growth, maturity and the equipping of the believers for the works of ministry.

First of all mentioned is unity. How does satan destroy unity? There are several ways, but I will mention a few. Congregations judge one another and do not speak openly to one another about what they are really believing or thinking on a particular subject. Instead they pretend to agree or even humour one another, believing that it is ok. Really there is a lot of underlying competition between members and many believe that they are superior to the others. In these ways satan wins because there is little to no transparency or accountability to one another. How will this body of people ever work together to build one another up in love, as described above?  

Another place of victory for satan is in the time of fellowship of the believers after a service. Satan delights in distraction, so he brings up worldly subjects like football, cricket, holidays, etc. as topics for believers to discuss. I am not saying that these things should never be discussed, but for the short amount of time that the brethren have to spend with one another, surely God should be the focus and it is a good time to minister to one another.

Secondly, how many congregations know or recognise Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists or Teachers? These are 4 of the 5 vital appointed positions of Jesus Christ and if you do not recognise them or are submitted to those giftings within your church then satan has blinded your church. Without them your church is immature and can not ever succeed. How can anyone succeed at anything if they are not properly trained? The role of these appointed leaders is to raise up the body of believers to a place of maturity in Christ and equip them for works of ministry. Therefore if these ministers are not recognised and submitted to then your church remains immature and ineffective.

It is time then for all believers to pray for these things to be exposed and put in order by God Himself, so that the churches will grow and flourish. This kind of prayer will bring change. The church in general in Australia will either change in ways that are pleasing to God or it will die.