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Tuesday, January
22, 2008
Still In Play
Ephesians 4:11-15 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: (3) 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: (14)
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive; (15) But speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (KJV)
There are some today that claim there are
no more apostles and prophets, and no more miracles because they ceased
after the disciples and the work they accomplished. But if you look at the
above verses we see they are given and called by God for the work of the
ministry to help build up the body of Christ and teach them how to grow and
mature in Him. So simply put, as long as there is a body of believers in
Christ and as long as there is a ministry work being done, then nothing
could be further from the truth than to think that there are no more
apostles and prophets out there still answering the call. The reason people
preach this nonsense is because they haven’t answered their own call to the
ministry work and have limited God by what others tell them and not what
the spirit of God would be speaking. Many think of a prophet as one that
just speaks of future events or someone the Lord has worked a miracle
through; and because they don’t see it for themselves then they think it
doesn’t work for others.
Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees also with
the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign
from heaven. (2) He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye
say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. (3) And in the morning,
It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the
signs of the times? (4) A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet
Jonas. And he left them, and departed. (KJV)
The Lord Himself was confronted with
those that limited the things of God by the outward not realizing the plan
of salvation that would be manifested to the believers by an inward change.
Many today are looking for some outward sign and miracle, and fall short of
their calling because they miss the greatest miracle of all which is
salvation and being able to be born again into the realm of the Spirit.
Things that were previously hidden and unable to be understood by man are
now being unveiled and revealed to them through the Spirit and the miracle
of this new life and beginning. The Old Testament prophets could only speak
as the Holy Spirit came upon them and delivered the message of a messiah
that God would send for the salvation of the world. The New Testament prophets
are the ones that should be teaching the Church the mystery of the gospel
and enlightening them to the Messiah that has come; pointing them in the
direction of the spiritual realm and to quit looking for an outward
manifestation or sign. God is still more than capable of miracles; which to
us they are awe inspiring but to Him it’s just business as usual. The
question is ‘where are you looking for the answer to the mystery of the
gospel; will you keep looking for an outward sign or will you seek the inward
confirmation that will build a firm foundation for you to stand on’?
Luke 17:20-21 And when he was demanded of
the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and
said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: (21) Neither shall
they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within
you. (KJV)
People today still look at Jesus the man
and the demonstration of the power of God he allowed to work through him
which was only done by the spirit of Christ within Him. Today many still
teach and preach the blessings of God and relate it only to the outward
manifestations they can see, totally ignoring all the spiritual blessings
we have been blessed with which are in the heavenly places and can only be
found by those that are able to operate within the realm of the Spirit.
Matthew 10:7-8 And as ye go, preach,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (8) Heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely
give. (KJV)
Before our conversion we were all
spiritually sick. Spiritually we were like the lepers; which when they
contracted the disease, had to be separated from others so as not to spread
this deadly disease. We have all been raised from the dead spiritually and
are able to walk in a newness of life leaving the old ways and the old man
behind us. I am able to cast down every negative imagination of the devil
which he would try to mislead me with by the renewing of my mind; so that I
can operate with the mind of Christ. With all that is available in the
spiritual realm, why are so many still looking for an outward sign in a
realm where the Lord said He wouldn’t be found? Freely we have received
this gift of Christ and freely we should be distributing it; which is why I
don’t understand why so many have put a price tag on the word of God. If
one is truly called of God and preaching His word then they will be
distributing it freely without fleecing the flock and making merchandise of
them.
Ephesians 3:3-5 How that by revelation he
made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, (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; (KJV)
Obviously this mystery that Paul wrote
about, ministering to the Church his personal knowledge of Christ, is still
a mystery to many which claim there are no more prophets today. As long as
there is the Church, the body of believers still left here, there will be
those that are still called to this position; the question is, will they
answer the call in the Spirit or will they miss out because they seek the
answer in the flesh. Paul found his answer in the realm of the Spirit and
wrote to the Church that is in Christ, the Son of God, that this mystery is
only revealed through a personal knowledge in Christ.
Ephesians 3:6-10 That the Gentiles should
be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in
Christ by the gospel: (7) Whereof I was made a minister, according to the
gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his
power. (8) Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace
given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ; (9) And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all
things by Jesus Christ: (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, (KJV)
The answer is in Christ. Those that have
been called to His ministry will not limit their calling to what man tries
to dictate; rather they will come to a personal knowledge of the mystery of
the gospel so that they not only can see for themselves the unsearchable
riches in Christ, but continue to teach others and allow the truth in Him
to still be in play. The manifold wisdom of God is still available to all
that would seek a relationship with the Father; but it only can be
accomplished by those that seek to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
Don’t limit God and don’t be taken in by these false doctrines of man that
have chosen to limit Him and their own calling, but rather walk by faith
and let Him reveal Himself to you. God bless and keep the faith.
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