There are several weapons that the devil has formed
and uses against the Church of Jesus Christ in America. Some of those weapons have been used very
successfully by him to keep the Church off track, keep it weak, keep it bond in
mere religious activities, or utterly destroy it. In the very near future, we will be
addressing some of these weapons in detail.
However, for today’s blog posting, I would like to discuss one of the
most successful weapons the devil has ever used against the Body of
Christ. And, what makes this weapon so destructive
and successful, is in many cases the Church is helping the devil perpetuate this
weapon. What is this weapon Steve? It is the division of the Ministry Leadership
or “Ascension Gifts” that God established for His Body the Church! Let’s take a look at these Leadership Gifts
God gave to the Church:
Ephesians 4:7-8 & 11-13 NIV.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says: When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” … 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
These five Leadership Gifts given by Christ Himself make up the Leadership Offices of the Body of Christ. The craftily devised attack of the devil, is to get many segments [Isn’t that an interesting use of words?] of the Church to believe that some of these Leadership Gifts are no longer needed or in use today. Just for a moment, think what would happen if with your car you accepted the engine, the battery, the cooling system but REJECTED the steering wheel and the transmission!....... You wouldn’t get very FAR! This is the EXACT plan of the devil for the Church! Get many to believe, and even teach, that certain parts of the Leadership “Engine” of the Church is not for today;……………… And the Body of Christ doesn’t get VERY FAR!
The division created by the devil within the Leadership Structure of the Church is this: For the most part, EVERYONE accepts the gifting and offices of Pastor, Evangelist, and Teacher. However, many of these same people, blinded by this cleverly devised plan of deception by the devil, deny the remaining two Gifts of Leadership within the Body of Christ, namely Apostle and Prophet! The Apostle and Prophet, which according to the Apostle Paul, just happens to be the “Foundation” of the Church God established, with Christ Jesus as the “CORNER STONE!” Isn’t that interesting?.......... Those gifts that are relegated to the past ONLY, just happen to be the ones that Christ uses as the FOUNDATION of His Church!
Ephesians 2:19-20
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
1 Corinthians 12:28
28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
These 2-Gifts just happen to be the Gifts that when used properly, establishes Churches, corrects Churches, corrects the Body of error, speaks the Words of the Lord, points out sins, strengthens Pastors and Churches, and hears “what the Spirit is saying to the Church!” Now, if I were the devil, ……….. THOSE are the two gifts I would try to eliminate, and sadly, he has been extremely successful! He has been successful even among those who claim to be Spirit-Filled, for even among these Believers, there are many that do not even recognize these Gifts and Offices!
Interestingly enough,
one has to remember that it is Christ who gives these Gifts to the Church, to
develop, strengthen, and establish HIS body. Also interesting, is the fact that Jesus was
either referred to, or modeled, each of these Gifts He was giving to the
Church! Let me show you:
Of course we know that no one can dispute the fact that Jesus, in His ministry here on earth, was the consummate Evangelist, winning MANY souls to the Kingdom of God!
But, He was also referred to as “Teacher” as well…
John 3:2
2 He came to Jesus at night
and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no
one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus was also referred to as our “Shepherd”
(The term for “Pastor”)…
1 Peter 2:25
25 For “you were like
sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of
your souls.
……..Also asProphet…..
Matthew 21:11
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
….And, as Apostle……
Hebrews 3:1
Therefore, holy
brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on
Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.
However, the devil knew that he could not leave a vacancy, a giant “hole” in the Leadership of the Church, so he cleverly rearranged the Gifts given by God to the Church, and with the Churches support, we elevated those with the Gift of Administration to the Leadership “slot” that was meant for the Apostles and Prophets. Now please understand, the Gift of Administration is a VERY needed Gift, given by God Himself to the Church! However, in most Denominational Structures, those with this gift, lead those denominations in place of the Apostles and Prophets. What is so unfortunate is, many within the Body of Christ don’t even recognize the absence of these 2-Foundational Leadership Gifts nor the “rearranging” of the remaining Gifts! But someone may ask: “But Steve, the Church of Jesus Christ in America has done some wonderful ministries, and has helped many people and causes! If we were absent of these two Gifts, why was this able to be accomplished?” And in response I would say: “This is very true!” A lot of good ministry has been done through the Church, but, what might have been accomplished IF we had the proper Leadership Structure in place?” Let me illustrate my point this way. My Family and I live in Tennessee but we like to go to Florida every now and then for vacation and we usually drive there. Now, if we got in the car and put it in REVERSE and got on the highway and drove all the way to Florida in REVERSE, we would certainly get there EVENTUALLY, but imagine how much faster we could get there driving FORWARD? We have done a LOT of good through the Church, with the INCORRECT Leadership structure! Imagine what could be done with the CORRECT Leadership Structure in place!
The Lord is reminding HIS Church, that HE has put together a Leadership structure for His Church, and more and more Followers of Jesus are beginning to see the truth and absolute necessity for the Modern Day Apostles and Prophets, to complete the task of advancing His Kingdom to the WHOLE WORLD!
