The Perfecting of the Saints for Service

Ephesians 4:11-12 gives us the five-fold ministry gifts that Christ gave to the church and their purpose, "And he gave some, apostles; and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; 12-For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ.”  First of all understand that the church is a body of baptized believers.  The word “Perfecting” here means completion or maturity. If something is being perfected, then it is in a state of being worked on. It is not finish until it is complete or mature.  We don't all mature at the same pace.  Maturity comes as we yield ourselves to Him.  Self is the flesh that we must bring into subjection.

Many make the decision to join the church, but never really get to know Christ or have a personal relationship with Him.  The agents that bring about change in a person’s life are the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No man comes to the Father except by Me.”  When a person sincerely gives his heart to the Lord, a noticeable change takes place in his life. That change constitutes a change of interest, a change of behavior and a change of mind.  While a Christian convert is not perfect or complete by just joining the church, he is symbolic to a piece of clay put on the potter's wheel.  He is molded into the likeness of Christ.  Isaiah 64:8 NCV, “But Lord, you are our father.  We are like clay, and you are the potter;”   To work with clay, it must be pliable in order to give it a different shape.  If the clay is hard, then it will be resistant to molding.  Some of our lives are this way, resistant to the change that God wants for them, either because you have not learned or accepted His teachings.  They may think that salvation is something they can have on their own terms. 

• For one to mature, he must first be born.  We call the new birth into His family, born again.  After you accept Jesus invitation to come, Matthew 11:28, in verse 29, He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me.”  Learning about Him is where getting to know Him begins.  I Peter 2:2 say “As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word whereby you may grow.”  He sent preachers to preach the gospel.  We have the Holy Scriptures.  We have teachers, evangelists, pastors, all for the perfecting of the saints. 
• Honesty between yourself and God is imperative to Christian maturity. Honesty is acknowledging your sins before the Lord and seeking His mercy.  He knows your sins already, but if you want to be made free of them, you must confess them to Him.  For example, in the story of the woman Jesus met at the well, He asked her “Where is your husband?” and she answered, “I have no husband.” He said, “You have told the truth.  The one you left at your house is not your husband, either.”  He knew the truth already, but it was important for her to acknowledge her own sins and confess them to Him.  He set her set free from the lifestyle that she was living.  “He is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins.”  To grow spiritually, we must be wise not to make excuses for ourselves or try to justify our sins by comparing ourselves to someone else who may be doing wrong.  When God ask Cain where was his brother.  Cain responded with “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  God is God.  Don’t try to be smarter than Him.  Humble yourself and accept responsibility for your own errors.  We must remember that Christ is the measuring stick and this is about you and your salvation.  Try to remember what Paul said, "Work out our own salvation with fear and trembling."  
• We, the saints, Christians, must understand is that we are no longer to walk after the flesh, but after the spirit.  The Holy Spirit endues or provides us with power.  He does not work against your will.  If you let Him have rule over your life, you won’t do the things you used to do, because of the change He brings about in your life.  You are your most powerful witness that God is real. The change that he brought to your life is your testimony.  Don't let Satan steal it from you. Remember that it is his job to steal, kill and destroy.  He will do what he can to make you doubt who you are by magnifying every spot in your life.  He will do anything he can to destroy your credibility.  If you buy into his thinking, you won't witness to others about what God has done for you and you remain one of his captives.  He knows that you are a work in progress, but you need to know it, too. If you fall down, you get back up again. You keep going until you have the victory.  As we mature in the faith, we leave more and more of the world behind us until we are completely sold out to the master. This is the maturity that we need to reach. As we submit our will with His will, He is able to mold and make us into His likeness. 
• Maturity is making Christ a priority and fulfilling the great commission for all believers.  This is a commission that He gave all believers.  St. Matthew 28:19-20, “So go and make followers of all people in the world.  Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  20-Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.” As you mature in the faith, you become actively involved in winning souls for Christ.  You become a responsible, committed part in His business, the church.  You will understand that you are not there just to ride the pew and wait for the pastor or someone else to make an impact on the community.  It is your job, too.
• Christian maturity is having the attitude and your mindset that Jesus had.  The Bible gives us an example of Jesus at the age of 12. (scripture)  His family with other relatives had journeyed to Jerusalem for ??????????.  Joseph and Mary discovered that after a days journey they had left Jesus behind, so they had to go back and look for Him.  They looked everywhere for Him and it wasn’t until the third day that they went to the temple and found Him.  They asked him the question, “Why did you do this to us, we were worried about you?”  Jesus said, “It is my job to be about my Father’s business.”  This is the attitude that we must have as Christians, a mind to be about His business.  When we do, we will make time for Him in our busy schedules.  We will seek to learn more about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the more we learn about Him, the more like Him we will become. The more intimate we become with Christ, the more naturally drawn we are to His business. 
• What is the point of it all?  When we, Christians, understand that we are not there to ride the pew Sunday after Sunday, we will get busy doing the work of the church and the church will be a real visible and viable force in our communities.
• We must know that the gifts of ministry are, "for the edifying or building up of the body of Christ."  When we mature in the faith, we will move beyond the four walls of the church building and carry the gospel to the streets. Most of the ministry is outside the walls of the church.

Welcome to the ministry of Dr. Frances Harris, founder of the Progressive Christian Women (PCW).  "Getting to Know Your Bible" is a weekly radio broadcast that airs on the Treasure Coast of Florida every Saturday at 11:30 a.m. EDT.  It can also be accessed by Internet at http://www.wjfp.com at the same time every Saturday.  Frequently this website will give you an inspiring message to help you understand the application of the Bible to your life today so that you can live a life of victory.

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