Monday 26 March 2018

The Church Part 3

Friday 23rd March


Continuation of the discussion on The Church and its Members


Ephesians 4:11-12 New King James Version (NKJV)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ,

From this verse we can see there is a 5-fold ministry. These ministries are given to different
people and work together to build up and edify the people in the church, which is the body of Christ.

Last week we looked at the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12
In this study we continued from verse 9


to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same[b] Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

In verse 9 above, faith and healing are listed together.
When the disciples were praying for people, there were a few times they got frustrated because the person didn't get healed or demons didn't leave.
When they approached Jesus about it, Jesus told them it was because of their 'little faith'
(Matthew 17:19-20) Faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to move mountains.
On another occasion Jesus was asleep on the boat and a storm came. 
The disciples rushed to wake up Jesus. Jesus calmed the storm and told them they 
had little faith. (Matthew 8:26) So faith must be present for healings / other miracles
to take place and without faith you can't please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Prophecy and Discerning Spirits
Prophecies are revelations from God to us. They may tell us what to do in that moment.
We must check that they line up with THE WORD OF GOD. If not then the prophecy is
not from God.

People with the gift of discernment know when there is a bad spirit around. 
Bad spirits can turn up in church and someone may appear to be doing well
But suddenly a lot of  things not aligned with God's Word may start coming out. 
We must test everything against God's Word and be spiritually on guard.
The enemy likes to come into our camp and cause confusion and deceit. 

Acts 16 has the story of Paul encountering a demon possessed girl. 

We must be wise in dealing with these instances. 
Also be aware of preachers who just say what is pleasing to the ear. 

In our church the vision is to WIN, BUILD and SEND. 
If our local church catches the vision, it changes attitudes. 
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, 
and upon this rock I will build my church; 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

1 Corinthians 12:12 tells us that we are one body 
And one in Christ. 






























Sunday 18 March 2018

The Church Part 2

16th March, 2018


In the previous study, we discussed the first 3 points:
1. The Church is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
2. The Church is the body of Christ.
3. The Head of the Church is Jesus Christ.


In this study we discussed points 4, 5 and 6.




4. The Church is a constitution of true believers, born again of
    the Holy Spirit.
    John 3:6  'Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.'
   
   Discussion on why splits happen within churches: power, ego,
   difference in vision, lack of humility...... because of fleshly desires.


   But we cannot have one foot in the world and one foot in the Bible.
   Colossians 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17  and   1 Peter 4:2   remind us that
   the old person has been put to death, including all fleshly desires.
   In the ideal church, there is harmony, one vision (God's vision),
   people open to correction, humility.... God came to build a spiritual
   church.


   Our church's vision is to WIN, BUILD and SEND.




5. The believers are also born of the Word.
     1 Peter 1:22-23 (NKJV)

The Enduring Word

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit[a]
    in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
  23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through
     the word of God which lives and abides forever,[b]








      We can see the Holy Spirit is coming in again. The true Church is born
       of the Word of God. What is of the flesh will die on day.
      The Word speaks to us, breaks lies, strongholds, .... and the Word
       remains forever.




6. The believers also live an overcoming life.
     Ephesians 5:27
     27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having
        spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and
        without blemish.
 
    To achieve this we must be overcomers in our walk with God.
    
     Revelations 21:27







The Church and The Members.
1 Corinthians 12:7-12
This passage talks about the spiritual gifts.
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one and is
for the benefit of everyone.




Interesting to note that wisdom and knowledge are together
What is the difference?
Knowledge is knowing but wisdom is knowing with understanding.
God can give one person knowledge and give a different person
the wisdom to understand that knowledge. Knowing alone could be
dangerous.
As a Church we should use these gifts to edify and build each other up.



Faith and healing are also put together.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (Faith is a gift from God)
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes
to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those
who diligently seek Him.


Each of us has been given a portion of faith. We can operate
in faith and build each other up in faith. We pray for healing in faith.




Miracles includes healing. Other miracles are...
changes in government policies, seeing unbelievers start believing,
being kept away from a car crash.....




We should desire these gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:7-12






























































   
   

Saturday 10 March 2018

The Church part 1

9 March 2018
Foundations of Living: The Church

Introduction: 
The word CHURCH can be found in the New Testament
only. The Greek word is EKKLESIA (1577) which means
'called out ones'. That means called out from their homes
to the gathering.

Ephesians 5:24-27

Matthew 16:18 (Jesus speaking)
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it.

1 Peter 2:9
But ye (are) a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. 

So going to CHURCH on Sunday is not about going to a
place (building) but it is a gathering of the CALLED OUT 
ONES.

The bible always compares the church with a marriage.
To understand why check the Hebrew culture of marriage.
In the Hebrew culture the bride only needs to prepare
herself for her groom. But she must be ready not knowing
the exact time and absolutely spotless.
The groom must prepare the room before going to pick up
his bride. There will be a shout when the groom arrives.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/revelation/
related-topics/the-jewish-wedding-analogy.html

As the church, we are the bride of the King of Kings.
His is preparing rooms for us in Heaven and will
return to take us. We just need to be ready. The
trumpet will sound and we will gather in the air
(the rapture). John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

1. The Church is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that
which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:20
..having been built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
CORNERSTONE,.....
Church is not another business or programme.
Everything has to be centered around Jesus, the chief
cornerstone. The church must not replace Jesus with
their own doctrines.

2. The Church is the body of Christ. 
Romans 12:5
so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members of one another.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and members
individually.
and it goes on to refer to different members of
the church having different gifts (gift of teaching,
gift of helping, gift of healings...) and roles but
being one body.

3. Christ is the Head of The Church.
One body cannot have two heads.
Otherwise it will have 2 minds and
will malfunction.
Jesus never called anyone to be the head of the
church. We are the body and in subjection
to the head.
Ephesians 1:22-23
And He put all things under His feet, and
gave Him to be the head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness
of Him who fills all in all.

Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in all things He may have the
preeminence.


Note
Refer to the Jewish festivals including
the firstfruits.
After rising from the dead, Jesus presented
himself to God as the firstfruits. We are
following in his footsteps and will also
rise up from the dead.

1 Peter 3:18-20
This is the reference for the discussion on
what Jesus did in those 3 days between dying
and rising again. It mentions that He went to
preach to the spirits in prison