The Daily Word of Righteousness

Ministry by the Spirit, #13

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)

It is time for the members of the Body of Christ to grow in the image of Christ and to experience the Divine unity of all those who are abiding in Christ in God. All of God's elders must come to understand with utmost clarity that organizational divisions (denominations) among the saints, while they may have served and may yet serve a necessary purpose, were never part of the new covenant.

Because we are close to the coming of the Lord and the emergence of a Bride without blemish or wrinkle, the elders must be prepared to overlook their organizational loyalties when necessary and embrace all true members of the Body of Christ. All of the saints (not just "our little group") must be prepared for their role in the last-day testimony of the Kingdom of God, and then be made ready for the Lord to come, for resurrection, and for eternal life with the Lord Jesus.

We of today are by no means a bride without blemish. We are, rather, a valley of dry bones. It is time for the Spirit of the Lord to create a holy army from the scattered bones of God's people.

Both the glory and the tribulation that are at hand have a part to play in the maturing and unifying of the Body of Christ. First will come the latter-rain downpour of the Spirit of God. Then the burning sun of tribulation will arise to ripen the wheat. From the blessing and the suffering will come the perfection of spirit the Lord is seeking in the members of His Bride.

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers, miracles, faith, discernment, and everyone and everything else needed to bring the Body to maturity and unity, must arise in the Lord's churches. The local elders must assist the believers in the development and operation of the ministries and gifts, as the Holy Spirit gives wisdom and power. Christ must be formed in us by that which every part of the Body supplies.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of [maturity as measured by] the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:11-13) (from Ministry by the Spirit Rather Than by Organizational Assignment)