According to Paul the
apostle, the Ephesian church was given “apostles, prophets,
evangelist and pastor-teachers” by Jesus Christ. In chapter
four and verse twelve of his letter, Paul gave the reasons for these
offices which were “perfecting, working and edifying” where
we read:
For the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the
body of Christ:
The
verse begins, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry,...” Paul began with the words, “For the
perfecting” which means “the complete furnishing and
equipping” “of the saints” which refers to “the
sacred, pure, morally blameless ceremonially and the consecrated”,
“for the work” or “business, employment, that which any
one is occupied or undertaken to do whether by industry or mind”
“of the ministry” which means “service of those who
execute the commands of others”. The offices and ministers were
provided to “complete and equip” the Christians within the
church so they might “care for the services” which were needed.
The
verse continues, “...for the edifying of the body of
Christ:” Paul added, “for
the edifying” or “building
up and promoting growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness and
holiness” “of the body”
which means “a large or small number of men closely united
into one society or family as it were;”
“of Christ” who is
“the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God”. In addition
to “completing and equipping” the Christians within the church,
these offices were to “build up and promote growth in wisdom,
piety, happiness and holiness” within them.
When we
consider these words of Paul, we see the importance of the “apostles,
prophets, evangelist and pastor-teachers” within the church.
The church members need to be “perfected and complete”, and they
need to be “built up” to live their lives within this world.
Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ need to see examples of
Christians who have become mature, fully grown and filled with
“wisdom and piety”. We are to “be” witnesses of Jesus Christ,
and those who minister in the church are placed there by God Almighty
and His Son Jesus to furnish all that is necessary to do so.
Next
time Paul shares about “unity”,
“knowledge” and
“measure”, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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