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“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV)
All throughout biblical history we have had people called of God for the specific purpose of the perfecting of God’s people in preparation for them to serve the Lord God with their lives. First we had the prophets of the Old Testament, then Jesus Christ (on the earth), then the New Testament apostles, and then all those gifted of the Holy Spirit who are called of God to be teachers, pastors (shepherds), and evangelists, etc. But all of us within the body of Christ are to help one another to follow Jesus with our lives.
Therefore, you do not have to be in some official capacity within a congregation of followers of Christ to help your brothers and sisters in the Lord to walk with the Lord in obedience to his commands and to serve him in the areas of ministry to which the Lord has called and equipped them. For we all have our specific “body parts,” i.e. our roles (callings of God) within the Body of Christ, and we have all been given specific spiritual gifts (of the Spirit of God) so that we can minister to one another.
And none of us have to have human credentials and titles given to us by other humans in order to serve the Lord and one another in these capacities. If we believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior, and we have died with him to sin, and we are now living for him and in his righteousness, in obedience to his commands, then we are qualified of God to encourage one another in our walks of faith in Jesus Christ and to help one another to grow to maturity in our relationships with the Lord Jesus.
And this “equipping” of the saints does not come through human marketing schemes and business plans and goals for how to grow people’s “churches” (businesses). For this is about preparing us spiritually to serve the Lord Jesus in the areas of ministry to which the Lord has called us. For you can be a great teacher in the eyes of the world, but if you are not anointed of the Holy Spirit, and if the Spirit of God is not the one guiding you in what to say to the people, then you may sound good, but you are not feeding the flock.
For the whole purpose of this “equipping of the saints” is so that we will help one another to follow Jesus Christ with our lives in pure devotion to him in walks of holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. For we are all necessary to the proper working of the body of Christ and to the spiritual maturity of the saints of God. And it is so we will all warn one another, too, against sin’s deceitfulness, and against those who by human cunning and craftiness, in deceitful scheming, are leading people to follow after false doctrines and not the gospel of Christ that He taught.
But this isn’t just the job of the “preacher,” many of whom today are not following Jesus with their lives but who are following after other humans and their marketing schemes and goals for how to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” into their gatherings. And so many of them, thus, are not teaching the gospel that Jesus taught, because the message of the cross is an offense to them. And so they alter and dilute and misrepresent the truth of the gospel to make it more appealing to human flesh.
So, we who believe in Jesus Christ are to be, first and foremost, followers of God/Christ who are in the practice of denying self, dying daily to sin, and following the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands (Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-24). And then we are to be listening to the Lord and following him wherever he leads us, and who are answering to his callings upon our lives, and who are doing what he has called us collectively and individually to do in service to God.
And then we are to be those who are putting into practice, by the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit within us in ministry to the Body of Christ and to the people of the world. And we are to be those who are speaking the truth of the gospel (of God’s Word) to one another, in love, in order that none of us will be led astray by those crafty ones in their deceitful scheming, and so that we all grow to maturity in our walks of faith in Jesus Christ.
And we are to be addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and who are teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom (of God), and who are exhorting one another every day so that none of us will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And we are to be stirring one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet with one another, for we are to be encouraging (exhorting, urging) one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord in faithful service to the Lord, for his glory.
[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]
In Truth
An Original Work / January 10, 2012
Fellowshipping with my Lord, Savior, King.
He is Lord of all; Lord of ev’rything.
He is with me through ev’ry hour of day,
List’ning to me speak, as I humbly pray.
He cares for my needs,
and He intercedes for me,
‘cause He loves me in ev’ry way.
Obey His commands, and do all He says.
Sitting at His feet, daily in His word,
Let His word speak to me in ev’ry way,
Giving comfort and healing through each day.
Oh, how Jesus loves,
And He cares for you,
Which is why He died for our sins, in truth.
Love our Lord God, Savior, and King of kings.
Worship Him in truth, for He reigns supreme.
He created us with a plan in mind
For us to be His servants, and Him mind.
Follow Him in truth;
Go where’er He leads.
Share His love with others, and their needs meet.
Others: their needs meet.
