Ephesians 2:
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit..
John 14
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
For God’s increasing presence to be manifest amongst us, we have to be continually built in Christ; growing in His knowledge and growing in stature as Christ Himself. The foundation of everything is the love experienced from and in Christ and reciprocated as obedience to Him.
We need to be built in Christ till we reach the place of maturity mentioned in Ephesians 4
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.
Ephesians 4:13 and Ephesians 2: 20 to 22 correlate.
Ephesians 4:13 is fulfilled when we reach unity in faith and full stature as Christ Himself. This stature only comes from the full revelatory knowledge of Christ. It is the fulfillment of Ephesians 2:21,22 which is everyone of us, individually perfectly fitting into Christ and perfectly into one another collectively as His body. Then we can see the full manifestation of God amidst us!
If we think that it is not possible on this side of eternity, Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 for the church seems to the contrary.
Ephesians 3:18,19 says that we can be filled with all the fulness of God as we comprehend the heights and depths of God’s love together and the love of Christ which surpasses understanding.
We are transformed by the revelatory knowledge of the depths of God’s/ Christ’s love for us that it produces in us a lifestyle of obedience. An obedience at all or any cost. This is what hosts the greater measures of God’s manifest glory amongst us.
If we are on this road and are making progress, then surely, we should have His presence manifest amongst us in greater measure by the passing day.
Today, much of the focus of the church has been on our times of gathering. We think that if we sing certain songs or have certain people minister or minister a certain way, God will visit us or manifest Himself. If we pray a certain way or emulate what led to revivals in the past, we will see God move.
All those things by themselves stand meaningless if the focus our gathering is not on knowing Christ and being transformed to be like Him.
If we are not consistently and systematically building towards this goal, then we are building haphazardly.
All our songs, prayers and sermons combined, amounts to nothing in eternity’s light if the foundation isn’t Christ. There is no such thing as an anointed song or an anointed prayer or an anointed sermon if THE ANOINTED ONE is not central to it.
If in our individual lives we are not growing in the knowledge of Christ and being transformed as a result, how can we expect Him to be manifest or move powerfully when we meet collectively as a body?
What good is a worship song, if those that lead the songs aren’t being built in Christ. What good is a sermon, regardless of how eloquent and thought provoking and appealing it might be if the man or woman giving the sermon hasn’t been growing in Christ.
In ministering in some of the very remote parts over the years, with no proper music or even songs that clearly don’t convey the truth (due to the little light that people had when they wrote it), I’ve seen powerful manifestations of the Spirit. Have seen the personal ministry of Christ not just His anointing at work in some of the extreme circumstances. No music, no proper songs and no proper facilities just the heart to see Christ exalted and for people to know Him and be built in Him (to some degree at the least). In all of it being poor in the spirit.
When it came to the church we co pastored under my brother, God taught me many things. One of which was on how to lead people into greater measures of God’s presence and glory.
At times, we would have increasing measures of the presence of God at work each time we would gather but then there would be a dip or dryness, especially when I would be away for travel. I would notice the stark contrast when I returned.
It was then that God helped me see that our walk and the decisions we take during the week ( in this case as the leadership collectively or individually) can hinder or prevent the presence of God or have quenched the Spirit when we gather. Growing in Christ in our individual lives is imperative to seeing Him increasingly manifest when we gather. If we are not being built in Christ, how can we build others in Him? If we are hindered in our walk in Christ, we hinder His work and His building.
If the lives of those leading on a Sunday or in a gathering aren’t aligned with God, that could serve as a hinderance too, especially when it is the worship team or any guest speaker that may have given a word or for that matter any who leads from the front. It is because everyone in that capacity is there to build whether they know it or not. They can release things in the spirit… damaging the building.
Selfishness is the greatest affront to Christ centeredness. It greatly hinders His work, and it greatly grieves His Spirit. Any worship or sermon or prayer regardless of how theologically correct or eloquent or perfect it may be stands in direct contradiction to the Spirit’s work if self is its root. How can God be present in a place where self is exalted and served and His Son isn’t? where people are building their own kingdom’s than God’s.
In the spirit, God’s abundant blessing is only on the genuine efforts of those that work with Christ as the chief cornerstone, wanting people to be fitted into Him.
Dearly Beloved, it’s my heart’s desire and cry to see a group of people host God in their midst! It will happen and it is soon coming; a mighty habitation of God amongst common people that the world will witness!
Here is the question that needs to be asked though. Will there be master builders or just builders sovereignly chosen and empowered by the Spirit during that time? The recent scandals in the church aren’t just a judgement from God on leaders but on the leadership structure as a whole. Who is wise and understanding? God is looking for servants who can best serve His people. His chief(best) servants will be the ones to lead in what He is about to do next! They will be from every walk of life! A sign of His maturing bride!
