7:00 PM – 7:45 PM Session # 7
Friday
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto
the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of
God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou
make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
·
When Moses was about to build the tabernacle for God, God
cautioned him to accurately construct it in accordance to a specific pattern
that He would show him. The Lord has a
particular and unique pattern of ministerial construction for every local
assembly, and every corporate and individual ministry.
·
In our Greek scriptures
the word “admonished” is defined as “divine instruction
according to revelation.” This is an exhortation for us to cautiously build our
ministries step by step in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes.
·
Every earthly ministry is as “an example and shadow of
heavenly things.”
·
“An example”, is a copy or a model of the
original. Every ministry, which God
calls us into, is the copy of an original, which God has already created and
dwells with Him in the heavenlies. The brilliancy
and the glory of these heavenly ministries create for us a shadow, or lets say
an outline, for the ones who have been called to faithfully reproduce these
ministries here on earth. The vast responsibility of all believers is to
reproduce its heavenly original with the greatest of earthly accuracy. The blessings of God will fall upon
each ministry in proportion to how accurately it has been reproduced in
“accordance with the pattern shown in the mount.”
·
One of the church’s great problems is that it has failed to
grasp that every ministry has a “pattern shown in the mount.” Because of this failure, we actively
subscribe to, and create many church
activities. Sadly enough, not many of
them have much to do with any “patterns” that God has initially for them. We sow much and reap little. We will do much more by seeking and waiting
upon the Lord for revelation, than in busily getting wrapped up in a host of
church activities.
Different Patterns
Not of Man
Heb 8:2
A minister (
a religious minister) of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the
Lord pitched, and not(
absolute negative) man.
q
Greek: A minister of the
sanctuary and of the authentic and genuine tabernacle of God, which the Lord
fixed in place, and had absolutely
nothing to do with man.
q
The church of God must be
built upon the authenticity and genuineness of God’s pattern.
q Every ministry
that God truly raises up never has the scheming, planning, or programs of man
within it. Our job is simply to hear the voice of the Spirit and build
accordingly by God’s direction, timing, authenticity and reality of what is in
heaven. Many a problem with our
churches and ministries is that we are not building the authentic and genuine
tabernacle of God. We are co laborers
with His voice.
. Heb 11:10 For he
looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder(technician or craftsman)and maker(the author of a
work) is God.
q All ministries
must be authored and built by the Lord.
Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone,
thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted
it.
·
A stone which has been cut
Not Made With Hands
Acts 17:24 God that made
the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with
hands
q
;Greek: Absolutely never dwells in handmade temples
q
Heb
9:23 ¶ It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens
should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better
sacrifices than these.
24For Christ is not
entered(absolutely never made by hands.) into the holy places
made with hands, which
are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us:
Heb
9:11 But Christ being come an high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building;
q Greek: A greater and more perfect tabernacle, absolutely never made with hands,
and not of this creation.
q It cannot be
of the earthly or fleshly creation.
q Our hands
cannot touch it.
q God’s must be
genuine and accurate according to the heavenly plan.
q It has nothing
to do with man’s agendas and plans.
q The Lord must
be the one to author and build it.
.
The Church in Action
Ephesians 2:21 In whom
all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord:
·
Both are in the present tense.
Ephesians 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.
Fitly
Framed Together
·
·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 by giving testimony of Him.
·
This
is defined as to frame together perfectly the members of Christ’s body, as
parts of a building are brought together.
·
Paul adds
furthermore another the phrase; “According to the effectual working in
the measure of every part” . Here, he tells us, that “EVERY” parishioner has
the responsibility to work within a congregation at his or her “PEAK LEVEL OF
SPIRIT LED PERFORMANCE”. This requires
uncompromising obedience to God, and dedication to the local body. All of this must be done in line with the
giftings, callings, and ministries deposited within each of member of the local
body by the Lord.
·
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!
·
A local assembly increases,
and grows, as each parishioner within the local body supplies his or her part
in accordance to the gifts and ministries, which the Lord has given to each of
them. This is what Paul means in verse
sixteen when he employs the term “every joint supplieth.”
·
Spiritual
gifts reveal the Person of Christ. By the use of spiritual gift the Man Christ
is cemented and fitted together until the church becomes The man in Eph 4, the
fullness of Him that filleth all and in all, and the Holy of Holies which gives
testimony of God to the world.
·
This fitting, joining, and growing to achieve spiritual growth
continues as every member seize the head, which is Christ.
·
Many of
our churches do not follow the model described in verse sixteen. Too many churches have too few ministers;
there is too much control by leaders whom prohibit the exercise of spiritual
gifts and ministries. Likewise there
are too many complacent pew sitters who do not grow in their spiritual gifts
and ministries, and consequently do not “carry their burden” of testifying to
Jesus. The end result is always the same.
Only part of the Lord’s fullness is evident, only part of His glory is
manifested, the man Christ Jesus is not complete so is the testimony of God.
·
Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Knit Together
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;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. {In
whom: or, Wherein}
4 ¶
And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am
I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness
of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
·
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.
·
Knitting together can only come as the body is knit into the
revelation of the Son which is the product of being fitly framed together.
·
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.
· Fitting, knitting, full
confidence of understanding of the mystery of Christ, conduction our lives in
it, being rooted, built up, and finally grounded against backsliding.
The Full Assurance of
Understanding
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;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. {In
whom: or, Wherein}
4
¶ And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am
I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness
of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished
in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
·
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 and give
tesimony
· This fitting, joining, and
growing to achieve spiritual growth continues as every member seize the head,
which is Christ.
The Church is an Habitation or
Dwelling Place of God in the Spirit
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.
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through 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. This
describes a totally yielded life on the part of every believer and each local
assembly. No man can control.
Revelation
5:8 And when he had taken the book, the
four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every
one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of
saints.
The Church Is
The Fullness of God”
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23Which
is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all
in all.
·
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 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
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 ON