“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13).
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith.” What this scripture means is simply this: If we’re ever going to become truly powerful in the kingdom of God, if we’re ever going to be any great threat to the devil, we’re going to have to grow up—together.
It won’t be enough for just a few of us to grow up on our own and say, “Too bad” about everybody else. It doesn’t work that way. We’re a part of each other. The Bible calls us one body…the Body of Christ.
Let me give you an example. When I began teaching God’s revelation on the laws of prosperity, I started getting incredible flack. Preachers started calling me and chewing me out because I wouldn’t borrow money and things like that. Finally God said to me one day in prayer, Don’t teach on the laws of prosperity any more until I tell you to.
“Why not?” I asked.
There’s strife in the camp, He told me. Other preachers are mad at you and in strife over it.
I didn’t realize then that the level where we stopped would affect us all. I didn’t realize that even I wouldn’t be able to go on and operate in the additional laws of prosperity until the rest of the Body would go with me.
We’re not islands unto ourselves. I can’t do anything without affecting you. You can’t do anything without affecting me. We’re joined together by God but held together by one another (Eph. 4:16). We can only grow up together!
Learn to walk in love. Refuse to fall prey to division and isolation. Feed on the Word daily and encourage your brothers and sisters by feeding it to them too, so we can all grow up to be “a perfect [or mature] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:13-28
Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
They have seven ministry offices around the world: United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Ukraine and Latin America. Their God-given directive is to preach and teach the uncompromised WORD of God on every available voice, which is being accomplished through a variety of channels, including our Believer's Voice of Victory TV and radio broadcasts, podcast and magazine; Believers' Conventions, Victory Campaigns and Living Victory meetings; published books, website, and social media channels, to name a few.
With the expansion of technology, they have more work to do now than ever. They are determined to let the world know Jesus is LORD, and they are not slowing down anytime soon!