It is time now to build up the members of the Body of Christ to maturity, as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ. According to the Scripture, the Body is built up by that which every part supplies. This being the case, we who are leaders must do all in our power to assist each believer in learning what his gifts and ministries are and how and when to use them.

Every member of the Body of Christ has been given one or more gifts or ministries by which he or she is to build up himself or herself as well as the other members, as the Holy Spirit directs.

No member is excluded. All have a service to perform to the Body, just as every part of the human body has a service to perform.

As far as I can see in the Scripture, a gift or ministry is not given to a local church but to the universal Body of Christ.

But how many Christians know what their gifts are? How many are truly obeying the Holy Spirit in the use of their gifts? I expect, very few. And this is why we do not come to maturity. The members of the Body of Christ can come to the stature of the fullness of Christ only as each part is operating.

It is evident that God is going to have to make some changes in the churches of the United States, perhaps forcing us to adopt communal patterns of living and economics, if we are to see widespread participation by all the members of the Body of Christ.

I have heard glorious prophecies go over people as members of a presbytery have laid hands on them. Yet these individuals have grown old and have died without the promises being fulfilled. Were the prophecies not of God? I do not believe this was the reason they did not come to pass.

Why, then, are so few members of the Body of Christ effectively functioning in the ministry they have been given? Probably several reasons.

Many believers do not present their body a living sacrifice, as we all have been commanded to do.

Many believers do not set aside their own interests, take up their cross, and follow the Lord Jesus.

Many believers do not understand they have been called to be a saint, a person set apart for God's special use; and that once an individual has been called to be a saint he or she has no other calling. Whatever work he may do to support his family, the work is not his calling. His calling is to be a holy one of God, a member of the royal priesthood.

Many believers do not understand they have a gift and are required to use it diligently, or face having the gift removed and they themselves thrown into the outer darkness. The role of Divine grace (forgiveness) has been emphasized at the expense of the duties enjoined on every believer.

To be continued.