The Philosophy of the New
Testament Church.
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Our
human body is made-up of 200 bones fastened together by tissues and
ligaments. The circulatory system
employs our blood as it is drawn through the heart’s right chamber and winds
into the lungs. The lungs secure the
blood with much needed oxygen, mail it back to the heart via its left chamber,
and finally propels into the main artery or aorta. The aorta’s blood branches into smaller and smaller places. The
first are arteries, designated as arterioles, which ebb into the furthest
recesses of our bodies through minute capillaries. Our immune system fends off unfriendly proteins, and infectious
microorganisms, with a one two punch of antibodies. A deadly left uppercut makes holes in the foreign cells, and a
swinging right hook engulfs and digests foreign matter. Our digestive system starts up in our
mouths. The food is broken into fragments by our chewing and is mixed with
saliva. It then goes down the esophagus
and right into the stomach. The
digestive process is redoubled by the ferocious activity of gastric and
intestinal juices. The digested
nutrients are then sucked into the small intestine. The remains of unassimilated foods, and waste substances from the
liver, are passed into the large intestine and gloriously expelled from our
bodies. The pituary gland secretes a
variety of hormones. One of them
governs the rate at which the cells utilize oxygen, and another imposes the
metabolism of carbohydrates, sodium, and potassium. Finally, our skin is one big living organ! It protects us from drying up, controls the
loss of fluids, and shields us from harmful substances. Its sweat glands are our body’s air
conditioning, the skin receptors discriminate levels of body temperature and
pain, and our fat cells insulate us. (Excerpts are taken from
Microsoft’s 1999 edition of the Encarta Encyclopedia
In my reading of the above passage of God’s beautiful scheme for the
function of our human body, three things really struck me about its functions.
·
There
are “no personalities and no pew sitters” within our bodies’
members! Wow!
·
Every
member knows exactly what its function and calling is. It does it effectively and naturally, it
does not take glory or attention for itself, and it always works at its peak.
Eph
1:6 To the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph1:12
That we (the church) should be to the
praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. {
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
·
Glory, is
that principle which makes the invisible Christ become visible in the church
and through out the world. Glory is the
invisible God’s visible mode of being.
The Lord’s mighty deeds, glorious interventions, the manifestation of
His presence, and the activity of the invisible are all brought forth through
His glory. God’s glory then manifested
through the church becomes the object of the world’s praise to God. The more glory, the more praise. The more glory, the more that Jesus Christ
will be lifted up, and draw all men unto Himself.
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that
filleth all in all.
·
The church
is viewed as a receptacle into which all of the blessings, the presence of God,
and God’s inheritance, through Christ is funneled into, and manifested by.
·
God from His fullness fills all believers’
with all blessings, which belong to their being and welfare. If Christ filled the whole universe, so the
church is filled with all.
·
The body of
Christ will be filled with Christ’s fullness as, and when, it grows up into the
fullness of Christ. The more is the
maturity and obedience of every believer, and the more that each believer
fulfills his or her calling, the more will be the fullness or the very essence
of the Lord in that local body.
·
The church
then is a society that is in vital connection with the Lord, sustained by His
power, and it is the instrument by which our Lord works.
·
The church
is what makes Christ complete.
·
The church
is also Christ’s divine receptacle, into which all that belongs to Christ is
funneled by Him, so as to be used exclusively for His purposes.
·
It is by
filling every person in a local church with His Spirit through their
uncompromising obedience, and by becoming Lord of every aspect of each person’s
life, that Christ becomes all and in all.
His glory becomes fully manifested in that local body, and He draws all
men unto Himself through the power of God and a subsequent revival.
·
This church
then is filled with Christ’s pleroma or with all that constitutes the very
Christ Himself. The analogy of Christ’s
pleroma is simple. What is a bottle of
coca cola filled with? Coca cola, of
course! What is Christ filled with
then? Christ Himself of course! This is the pleroma of Christ. A local body in a state of total maturity is
the treasure bearer of Christ’s pleroma!
·
The church then, is not only Christ’s body,
but is the ONLY universal agent that is filled by Christ and can fully manifest Him.
Eph 3:10 To the intent
that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known
by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
·
Another
object of the church is that the numerous and multicolored wisdom or ways of
God, so opposite to the world, might be known or be declared. God desires that His arrangements, His will,
and His works might be displayed to angels, demons, and men, by the
church. Basically the church’s job is
to declare the ways of God, and to make the invisible God, visible in glory to
the whole universe!
Eph
2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord:
·
This
is defined as to frame together perfectly the members of Christ’s body, as
parts of a building are brought together.
Joining, cementing, and fitting together to form a building must take
place, so that the building can then be raised up. The church accomplishes this, as all of its members perform to
their peak efficiency by their callings, ministries, and giftings, in uncompromising
obedience. Every one must participate!
·
This
holy temple is in actuality, a Holy of Holies for the Lord.
·
The
great lie of the enemy has been to place the function of the church into the
hands of the few, and encourage most others to be pew sitters, thus severely
hampering the glory of God and the salvation of men.
·
Today,
church philosophies that curtail the use of spiritual gifts for the purpose of
not offending the lost, are deceived by the enemy to stop the manifested
presence of Christ, and block the salvation of those very people whom these
churches are seeking not to offend!
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
·
Every
believer individually and corporately also are being built up together with the
object of constructing and abode or dwelling place for the Lord in the Spirit.
A dwelling place is an abode where God will feel totally at home, and will have
full rights to do as He pleases.
Col
2:2 That their hearts might be
comforted, being knit together
in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the
acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
·
The
knitting together comes after every member of the local church has been fit
together into a proper building for the Lord through the ministries and
callings of every individual. The
believers’ hearts are then knit together in affection. This oneness, in combination with the
effectiveness of every member’s ministries and spiritual gifts, will bring this
local body into a full understanding of the accurate knowledge of the mystery
of the Godhead and Trinity. This then
is the fullness of the glory of God, which should be displayed to the world.
·
Thus
the church can be seen as an entity that is in a continual process of being
fitted together by every one’s ministry and gifts, being joined together in
love and intimacy, and growing in to God’s Holy of Holies to manifest His
glory.
·
This
fitting, joining, and growing to achieve spiritual growth continues as every
member seize the head, which is Christ.
It denotes the compact connection of one part with another.
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
·
Every member
then, of a local body, must work to his or her peak performance through the use
of spiritual gifts, callings, and ministries. There can be no “one-man show,”
and no pews sitters.
·
Every member
must find his or her place in the body in terms of his or her ministry,
giftings and callings and raised up in them.
This is the job of the five fold ministry whom the local pastor heads.
·
The main
role of the pastor is spear heading the five fold ministry. Elders and deacons
should shoulder some of the ongoing activities of the local body so that the
pastor can be feed up to do this.
1Cor 12:12 ¶ For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
·
Paul
in this scripture then confirms what we have already stated. The human body, and the body of Christ as
His church, should function alike.
1cor
12:14 For the body is not
one member, but many. The Greek makes use of
the “absolute negative” for the word “not”.
Literally defined, we are told that under no circumstance, should a congregation be made up of a few
active members. One pastors whom
literally controls the governing life of a church, makes for all intents and
purposes, the body of Christ into a “non body”. Like wise, parishioners who fail to discern,
and fulfill their ministries, forcing pastors and ministers into positions of
control, do just the same.
1Cor 12:15 If the
foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it
therefore not of the body?
1Cor12:16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not
the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
·
What an incredible dependency we must have for each other. An independent spirit towards the Lord
Jesus, or towards one other, will stunt our process of growth. Every member is called to sharpen each
other, through their callings and ministries.
1Cor 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, where were
the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
·
The
fewer the number of members serving and ministering within a local body, the
fewer will be the giftings available to it.
This particular congregation will be greatly hindered in its discernment
of demonic infiltration. There will be
a deficiency in the prophetic that administers guidance, exhortation, and
encouragement, and the confirmation of God’s will.
1Cor14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
If the apostolic ministries are deficient,
how will the right foundation be laid?
A church without the revelation of Jesus through the apostolic witness
of the risen Christ will build lopsided.
Eph
3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by
the Spirit;
Every church that I have attended in the
last twenty years, for the exception of the one that I go to now, has been unable to discern the presence of wolves,
gross sin, and major doctrinal error, blatantly obvious in its midst. In due time God always exposed these forces.
Considerable damage had been done to the flock however, or God finally closed
the congregations down. Much of this
has to do with the lack of commitment and participation of the church’s members
or the prohibition of spiritual gifts by the elders.
1Cor12: 18 But now hath God set the members every one
of them in the body, as it hath pleased him..
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
Literally the Greek admonishes us, that not even of the
weakest member can we say “I have no need of you” and not be
lying! The superior members are in
desperate need of the inferior
22 Nay, much more
those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. The weakest members are indispensable.
23 And those members of the body, which we
think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely
parts have more abundant comeliness.
Literally “we place a wreath of superabundant honor upon the weaker or more unseemly members”, says the Greek. .. Our deformed, indecent, and unseemly parts always require special care. That same care should be given to all weaker members within our congregations.
24
For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having
given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: “To temper” means That God has caused each part of His body to be
melted and hammered together into an organic whole.