Ordinary Christians in the
Hands of the Extra-Ordinary God.
Part 3
I
Corinthians 1:12-13 and 3:4-11 New Living Translation.
12 Some of you are saying, “I
am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow
Peter, [d]” or
“I follow only Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for
you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! …… 4 When one of you says, “I am
a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting
just like people of the world? 5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants
through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave
us. 6 I planted the seed in your
hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does
the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the
seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the
same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s
workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. 10 Because of God’s grace to
me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building
on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.11 for no one can lay any
foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ
Today
when we walk in the places we live, we see buildings that are used for various
purposes, some buildings are where we live, other buildings are where we work,
shop, rest and relax, there are specialist buildings such as Train Stations,
Churches and Hospitals, each building has a specific function and role to
fulfill that more often is unique to that building, sometimes buildings can be
adapted and changed to serve a different purpose than their original purpose,
some buildings have been left desolate and have become ruins and monuments,
some buildings are empty because no one can find a use for them anymore. Each building we see regardless of its use
and purpose needs a foundation.
The
Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:24 NLT, “Anyone
who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a
house on solid rock” see Matthew 7:24-27 and Luke 47- 49 for the context. Luke 6:47-48 NLT says , “47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me,
listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house that
digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and
break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.
Today in 2012, we see various versions
of the Bible, that are available for us to read and study, I use the New Living
Translation for my day to day reading although I do have the English Standard Version
on my phone, and when I write I use Bible
Gateway which has dozens of Bible Versions. I’ve used various versions of the
Bible since I was saved at 11 but at the end of day as The Apostle Paul wrote
in 2 Timothy 3: 15-17 NLT, “15 You
have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you
the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 All
Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make
us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and
teaches us to do what is right. 17 God
uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
To develop and progress in our Christian walk and witness, to
be more effective disciples of our Lord and Saviour we must read and study
God’s Written Word daily. When I was in
Sunday School, I remember singing this song “Read
your Bible, Pray every day, if you want to Grow “If that was important for
me as a child how much more important is for me as a more mature Christian today?
When someone builds a foundation for a building, if they
decide to use cheap or substandard building materials wouldn’t that building
look strange or be dangerous and likely to collapse, yet if we don’t as
Christians build using the correct building materials wouldn’t our lives and
our Christian Witness look equally strange, look dangerous or likely to
collapse see 1
Corinthians 3:12-13 NLT.
We build our Christian
Life and Witness not on the latest fads or fashions, the opinions or
perspectives of others however appealing or relevant they seem, we don’t build
on what the non-Christian or anti-Christian demands of our Society are. We build
on God’s Word the Bible that has been and still is God’s Inspired Word; there
is nothing more relevant to us today than God’s Word
The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20 NLT, “20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.”
To lead
His Church into the fullness and completeness that He always intended it to be,
Our Lord Jesus set apart Leadership
Gifts, that this He has called in the past and is calling today specific individuals to positions of Leadership in
His Church, today we have various names, titles and badges and descriptions of
Leadership that vary from Church to Church!.
We have built man-made structures and systems
from the early days of the Church to co-ordinate what happens in the Church,
I’m not against co-ordination or structure and systems but the organization of
Church isn’t the central purpose of the Church, In many cases we have made a
god of organization. The Church is a living
and breathing organism, the organization is the servant of the organism but
more often or not the organism has become the servant of the organization.
I’m not
saying that the Church and our Church Meetings become a free for all, the place
of gossip and chat, good ideas and the downright weird and wacky, although it
can happen, however, there is a divinely inspired framework for the correct method of Church Structure.
In the New
Testament especially Paul’s epistles, we see God’s structure for the Church and
how the Church should be organized and lead.
Today we have Vicars, Priests, Bishops, Archbishops, Reverends etc etc,
we give people titles and badges and recognition, but are they God given
titles, badges and recognition or are they man given?
We see
both in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, part of God’s structure and framework
for the church, 1 Corinthians 12:28
ESVA, “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. For the
context see 1
Corinthians 12:27-30, and Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT, “11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the
church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and
teachers. 12 Their
responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church,
the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such
unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the
Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. For the
context see Ephesians
4:11-16.
The first part of God’s structure for the Church are The
Apostles, The Prophets, The Evangelists, The Pastors or Shepherds and The
Teachers which are five distinct ministry areas given to certain individuals in
the Church, these Men and their ministries are gifts given by our Lord and
Saviour as gifts to His Church, the second part of God’s structure are the
Elders and Deacons, I believe that all the other ministry areas here are given
to Men, and although I respect and honour the role/s of the Ladies in the
Church, the biblical example of
Leadership in the Church is uniquely for Men. The descriptions of the roles of The Elders
and Deacons in the Church are found in 1
Timothy 3:1-13. Firstly Elders In 1
Timothy 3:1-2 NLT, “This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be an elder, [a] he desires
an honorable position.” 2 So an
elder must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his
wife. [b] He must
exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. Then Secondly Deacons in I Timothy 3:8 NLT, “In the same way, deacons must be well respected
and have integrity.”
I believe
that the correct indeed the only way for His Church to move forward in the 21st
Century and face all the challenges and opportunities that it brings is firstly live as disciples, be in relational covenant with each other and
follow Our Saviour’s leadership and direction in our lives, and
follow the example and influence of those
God has called to lead us, I would describe this a restoration or renewal
of Apostolic Christianity. For my
American readers, I mean New Testament Christianity, not Apostolic in the
context of the Oneness Gospel.
Yours in His Grace
Blair Humphreys
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