Good morning. And so some of the gifts that were given to the Church – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And why were they given? It wasn't just so they could lord it over the rest of the church; it was for the equipping of the Saints for the work of the service, to the building up of the body of Christ. God did not give us our pastor just so we can hear some funny stories on Sunday morning. Those are like the BOGO ads. They get you into the store so you will buy things other than those. His funny stories get you into the "store" so that you will "buy into" all of the rest. If you put his teachings into action, they will build you up. And just how long are these gifts to be building us up? Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Previously we talked about that you did not have to attain to the unity of the Spirit; but here we have to attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of Jesus. The Church is not unified in those. That is part of the reason we have so many different denominations believing in different things. Some of the differences are minute. Indeed we act like children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. Some people are not trying to build the church; they are trying to build themselves. We had that in a previous church I attended. We had some people coming in to speak to us that supposedly were apostles (I've mentioned this before). However they were not trying to build up our church; they were trying to build up themselves with their "pyramid scheme". By the way the word translated trickery actually means cube as in dice playing, where people tried to cheat one another. Father thank You for giving us our pastor. Give him/her the wisdom to help build up the church. Thank You that the reader is being built up into a mature Christian. He/she is not tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds

  Good morning. And men repented, right? And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and the water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Previously, the 6th angel blew his trumpet and told them to release the four angels at the river Euphrates so that the army of 200 million could cross over. Back to the bowl: and I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great Day of God, the Almighty. Father continue to bring blessings upon the reader and his/her family every day  of their lives.
Read more

So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed

  Good morning. We left John at the entrance of the tomb, stooping and looking in. “Shy” Peter then arrives following John, and enters the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. So the other disciple, John, who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. It does not say whether or not Peter believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. I’m not exactly sure what it means by their own homes. They were originally from Galilee and would not have had homes in Jerusalem. Perhaps it means the homes where they were staying while in Jerusalem. Apparently, they were not staying in the upper room, or it would have said so. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped (just like John) and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been l...
Read more

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body

  Good morning. After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pounds weight. Remember that myrrh was one of the gifts that the magi brought when Jesus was a baby. Also notice that he had 100 pounds of spices. Normally one does not have that much just lying around the house. Since most likely he was older, he may have been storing it up for when he himself was going to die. Or perhaps while Jesus was hanging on the cross, he went to the merchants and purchased it, because there was no time to do so after Jesus died prior to the beginning of the Sabbath. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. My Bible says that these were thin ...
Read more