Building up believers and the New Testament church
God's Plan in the Church
The Body of Christ - A Glorious Reality
The church, the body of Christ, is designed by God to express His life and to reveal His love and character. It is not a mystical entity, "one" in God's eyes but with no practical expression of oneness on earth. God has put each member into the body as it pleased Him. We are now members of one another under the headship of Christ, and our part is to express the oneness God has made and "be careful to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). As we move in God's plan in the place where we live, He will be revealed and glorified in reality, and His will done on earth as truly as it was done in Jesus, two thousand years ago. Because God is perfect, His plan will not fail. This article was written to encourage us to lay aside our own concepts and ask God to reveal His plan to us so that we might move confidently in faith to see it worked out. [Read Full Article]
Built Together a Habitation of God
"Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house..." (1 Pet. 2:4,5) This is the reality of what God is doing today: building a people together in His life and love, dwelling in their midst in power, and revealing the riches of who He is in all His wisdom to the world around--that all who will may come in and be a part of His household. When we come into Christ, we become His "living stones," prepared and fit to be joined with others in God's building. God places us according to His own wisdom, plan and order. This booklet describes the spiritual reality and purpose of God's building, shows what we should look for in a true expression of the household of God in our locality, and describes how the actual building takes place as God shapes and joins His living stones into a beautiful habitation for Himself. [Read Full Article]
The House Church
Fueled by dissatisfaction with the religious systems of our day, the "house church" movement is growing. But when we come out of what man is doing, we need to come back to God and see what He is doing. The term "house church" is not found in scripture, but it may be used to describe a local church that is meeting under the headship of Christ alone. Seeking to find or form a true expression of God's purpose here on earth, we may ask questions such as, "What is the church? and "How can I recognize the true church?" This booklet outlines scriptural principles and essential qualities to seek in a "house church" or any other expression of the body of Christ, while encouraging believers not to look for "perfection" but a true foundation and the reality of Christ's presence. [Read Full Article]
I Will Build My Church
When Jesus said, "I will build my church," what did He mean? Many movements of our day are trying to build the kingdom of God with natural authority. With a lack of spiritual understanding and discernment, we may start from our own experience and build on that. But Jesus said that if we want to build on the rock, we must hear God first, then act on what we hear. We need to know what God is really doing in this hour--how His plan works out in believers' lives. This article takes us back to foundational issues such as the importance of seeing God's authority, the scriptural position and function of apostles and elders, and God's plan and order for the church. As the Spirit brings discernment, we are encouraged to leave man's ideas behind and return to God's original purpose, abiding in the Vine and walking by faith in Christ alone. [Read Full Article]
God's Wisdom Revealed
God has one plan: to call out a people from all nations to be called by His name. God has one pattern, and we must build according to His pattern. His plan brings us to His end purpose; therefore we cannot lay it aside and bring in our own plan. Man's ways may look good for a time, but God's wisdom is revealed for eternity. In a true expression of the body of Christ, the basis of gathering is the life of God, the purpose of gathering is to be made one and to contain the fullness of Christ, and the order of gathering is in faith, directed by the Spirit. We must see the church for what it is in Christ, and also we must see a proper, practical outworking in the local expression. We must see the goal of our walk in Christ. The strong exhortations of this article are to stir up spiritual men and women to know God's plan and become a part of what God is doing in the world today. [Read Full Article]
His Ultimate Goal
God's purpose encompasses many things, but His ultimate goal is to bring us into perfect oneness with Himself. The purpose of God is God himself, and for us to move in this purpose, we first must see it by the Spirit. His plan is perfectly designed to bring us into His purpose. Within God's plan, He has an order--for the family, for the church, and for our lives. This short message of encouragement will cause you to focus and meditate on God's purpose, plan and order, profound even in their simplicity, and all designed to bring us to His ultimate goal. [Read Full Article]
Spiritual Understanding of the Church
God has chosen the church, the body of Christ, to express Himself, and He is not building anything outside of His church. His divine and perfect plan is to present and receive unto Himself a body without spot or blemish (Eph. 5:27). This group of people, the 'ecclesia' or 'called out ones,' is led of the Spirit completely. It is not upheld by human strength. Local expressions of the body of Christ are established so that the Lord might have a testimony of Himself in every place where His name is preached. As we begin to understand God's eternal purpose in the church, we discover that the body of Christ is spiritual in nature, one in reality, alive in the Spirit, local in expression, and practical in application. The message of this booklet is offered with the prayer that it will edify the body of Christ and help to bring spiritual understanding. [Read Full Article]
All Begins in Revelation
Having a personal "revelation" may not be something most of us have considered. But if we look at this area, we will begin to realize how essential it is. We need revelation from God to see who we are in Christ, to function in the body, to work by the power of the Spirit, and to bring forth spiritual fruit that lasts. Without a revelation we cannot move in faith. Revelation determines the course we take, what we say and what we do. It took Paul to the end of his life, and he could say, "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." The revelation of Jesus Christ and His purpose controlled and possessed him to the end; it caused him to stand firm. God does not reserve this for one or two; the revelation is for all His people! This exhortation will shed new light on the foundation of your daily walk in Christ. [Read Full Article]