The Body of Christ.

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There is only one Body of Christ. Most of the Body is in Heaven at any given time. The entire Body is being built up in Christ by that which every part supplies. We are all, in Heaven and upon the earth, moving toward perfection together.

(1/23/2005) As we stated on the previous Sunday, we are going to have to change our perception of what constitutes a church. Instead of a platform ministry and a congregation to which it ministers, the entire assembly of believers is to be invested with gifts and a ministry.

The concept of a "local body" is not scriptural, I believe. Too much stress on the local body tends to promote a self-contained kingdom. Rather all true disciples of the Lord are part of the one universal body.

When a believer receives a ministry from the Lord, that ministry will operate wherever the believer is—even on occasion in the world. Perhaps the gifts of mercy and encouragement are notable among those gifts that can help meet the needs of the people in the world.

We must revise our thinking about our own life. In America we view ourselves growing up and being educated; being married; working at one or more jobs and supporting our family; retiring; and then dying and going to Heaven.

For the disciple of Jesus, this is an incorrect viewpoint with incorrect goals and priorities. We must seek God until we discover what our role is in the Body of Christ. I mean, every one of us, not just the pastors and elders. Then we are to build our life around our service to Christ. We derive our goals and priorities in terms of our God-given assignment. Otherwise we are lukewarm church members, and we know the end of that!

If we do not turn to God in the present hour and begin to function under the guidance of the Head of the Body, we are going to be of no use to people during the age of physical and moral horrors that even now is on the horizon.

We minister first to ourselves, and then to our fellow members of the Body of Christ. When we are built up in Christ we are a light to the people in the world. Then the entire Body is the Lampstand of God, revealing the Person, will, and ways of God, and His eternal purpose in Christ, to the nations of the earth.

When we view the possible outcomes of the current clashes in the world, considering the hostility of many nations toward the United States, we are faced with the possibility that in the not too distant future we may be defeated by a coalition of Russia, China, North Korea, Syria, and other countries.

Such disaster may come upon us because of widespread abortion, and homosexual practices and other perversions. It may be true of us, as it was of King Josiah, that America already has gone past God’s mercy.

Whether or not such is the case, our response should be as that of Josiah. We should do all in our power to obey God, calling upon Him to send a mighty revival of repentance that will sweep across America. Perhaps if we will be obedient and pray, turning from our sinful ways, God will hear us and delay what appears in the present hour to be inevitable destruction.