Equipping the Saints, Moving to Maturity, 2

Ephesians 4:11-16

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare (or equip in the NKJV) God's 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.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. NIV

We said that word “prepare” (NIV) or “equip” (NKJV) in Eph 4:12 means: “to make fully ready”. In its root meaning, it communicates the following: “to repair; to restore; to make something fit (as in a frame); to adjust; to put a thing in its appropriate condition; to mend that which is broken; to set right that which is in error”. The same word is translated as “formed” or “framed” in Heb 11:3.

Hebrews 11:3

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed (or framed in NKJV) at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. NIV

We also said that equipping is not just the on-going generic teaching but it involves the following issues:

1) Equipping firstly involves discerning a God-ordained state, quality and functionality of the church in a particular season. That is, you can not even begin to equip until you have been able to prophetically discern a correct church configuration for a time in which we find ourselves (refer to 1 Chron 12:32).

2) Secondly, equipping also involves the development of appropriate systems of impartation (leadership, doctrine, development systems, teachings and training) required to bring the church to that prophetically discerned God-ordained state, quality and functionality.

Equipping moves the Church towards a Pre-determined State

The word “equip” means, among other things: “to make something fit (as in a frame)…to put a thing in its appropriate condition…to set right that which is in error…”

The idea communicated in this definition is that equipping does not begin in the activity of ministry (teaching, preaching etc.) but it begins in the Sight of God and His design for church and therefore for human life.

Understanding the Sequence of things: The building of church begins with an understanding that God makes human life in its various levels (Gen 1:26-27, Acts 17:26). The fall of Man in the garden was nothing but the deformation of life God had created in the beginning. The word that’s translated as “sin” (hamartia in the Greek) means “to deviate from the prescribed law”. The word (sin) therefore emphasises a progressive movement away from the set definitions and laws that govern human life. What really happened in Gen 3 is that man moved away from God’s positions, definitions and laws and fell into “self-will”. The current world system has been produced by the agency of self-will and not divine-will. The fall did not mean that man was no longer interacting with the spirit realm and or worshipping. As a matter of fact, the concept of sacrifice existed long after the fall. Man still understood that he had to offer something to God. It is in this context that Cain is introduced to us and it is in this context that Cain becomes a metaphor for wrong life – the word clearly says, “do not be like Cain” (1 John 3:12). But Cain was a “Worshipper”, a spiritual pioneer (he was the first to stand before God with a sacrifice); one who sacrificed, one who heard God speak to him etc. Therefore, in terms of spiritual activity, Cain resembled Christian characteristics that most of us still long for today, e.g. the ability to hear God etc. (and these characteristics are obviously very important). The problem though is that God distances Himself away from Cain.

1 John 3:12

12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. NIV

“Cain” defines a life that is Christian in actions but deficient in its state, nature and design. Essentially what Cain teaches us is that God is looking for something that goes beyond our Christian-spiritual activities – He is looking for a correct human life in the earth.

Isaiah 1:15-17

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even if you offer many prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds

out of my sight!

Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow. NIV

Isaiah 58:1-7

1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,

'and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?'

"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed

and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter —

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? NIV

In Isa 58, God is confronting spiritual activity that is not connected to correct human life. It therefore seems that in God, correctness of life carries more weight than just preaching, praying and fasting (this does not in anyway mean that these things are not important) - we have to pray as commanded by Jesus Himself.

Consider this scripture:

Matthew 23:23

23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. NIV

In Mat 23:233, we are being called to spiritual balance. Jesus clearly identifies issues of justice, mercy and faithfulness as the more important matters of the law or as things that carry more spiritual weight before the Lord.

In Isa 58, the Prophet identifies the following issues:

• 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? It seems here that spiritual discipline and input are not bearing the desired results.

• Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife: spiritual activity and discipline emerge from an environment that is devoid of true community life. As church and as the saints we are walking in broken relationships but we still expect God to come through when we pray.

• Is this the kind of fast I have chosen? God here is confronting our definition of spirituality as though to suggest that there is another correct way of doing these things. The implication is that we have to search that correct way.

• Only a day for a man to humble himself? This does not mean that God is against one day fasting. The point being made here is that we only seem to be stepping into correctness only when we are involved in some deep spiritual activity, e.g. fasting, worship. God is against people who seem to only humble themselves when they have to fast, pray or teach. We do not want to only honour God or our brothers when we have to fast, worship, pray etc. but lack these very same qualities in the normal outflow of life. So therefore we have to stop a false outward humility and walk in dimensions of correct internal humility as we engage in our lifestyles.

• "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice: the point is that issues of justice carry more spiritual weight than just prayer and fasting alone. We have to pray, worship, fast, preach but all these things need to proceed from the correctness of life characterised by a deep concern for our brothers (issues of justice).

• Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter: this disqualifies the self-indulgent Christianity that has infiltrated the ranks of the church in the past decades. In the name of “faith” and “God’s blessing” we have not taken care of the oppressed in our midst. It therefore does not help to fast and pray and yet be accumulating material resources as if we were the only humans walking the soil of the earth. There is much we can learn from the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21. God is not against wealth nor is He for poverty; God is after a people who understand communal life – he who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have (Luke 3:10-11). The basic duty of the kingdom of God is to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27); to do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31)…this sums up the law or therefore the Word of God (Matt 7:12, Matt 22:37-40, Rom 13:9). The gospel of Prosperity that has been preached over the years is nothing but Capitalism spiritualised. So basically this is an issue of the second beast (church-religious system) honouring the image of the first beast (world economic system), Rev 13:14-16.

What is the point of all this?

• God made life (Gen 1:26, Acts 17:26) and we fell from that life through deception and self (2 Cor 11:3, Rom 5:12). We did not fall from the church service. So therefore even if we may master “the church service”, if we have not mastered life itself then we have not been restored fully.

• The principle of Cain tells us that we did not fall from the church service (sacrifices etc.) but from correct life.

• God is now building life through the church (Matt 16:18). That is, the responsibility of the church is to demonstrate correct life to the nations:

Isaiah 2:1-3

1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days

the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established

as chief among the mountains;

it will be raised above the hills,

and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways,

so that we may walk in his paths."

The law will go out from Zion,

the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 60:1-3

1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth

and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the LORD rises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn. NIV

Revelation 21:23-24

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. NIV

If God’s Objective is to demonstrate Life to the Nations, then what is Equipping all about?

“The word “equip” means, among other things: “to make something fit (as in a frame)…to put a thing in its appropriate condition…to set right that which is in error…”

The idea communicated in this definition is that equipping does not begin in the activity of ministry (teaching, preaching etc.) but it begins in the Sight of God and His design for church and therefore for human life.”

If church’s mandate is to demonstrate life before the nations, then we are equipping the saints to be competent in life and lifestyle.

What then qualifies me to equip the saints is not my ability to preach and move people but it’s my sight into correct life. The new season of God we are entering into will see a different kind of leaders emerge, operating by a different kind of anointing. These leaders will be known not by their ability to move crowds neither will these leaders be known by their ability to build huge church organisations. The new leaders will be known by their insight into correctness of human life. What Paul says about leaders in the Book of Timothy therefore gets amplified in this season:

1 Timothy 3:4-5

4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) NIV

These new leaders are Managers of Life; they are skilled in the affairs of life and will therefore be able to lead the church into new frontiers of life. The acceptance and functioning of these new leaders will in turn usher us into a dispensation where church will not be known as simply a Centre of Worship but as a Place of Human Development. It is in this context that nations will come to us (Zion).

We have to equip the saints so that they may become mature…attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The fullness of Christ is the fullness of life we have in Christ:

John 1:4

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. NIV

John 10:10

10…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

NIV

Are individual saints having the fullness of life in the church? Are men having the fullness of life in Christ? Are women having the fullness of life in Christ? Are families and married people having the fullness of life within the church? Are our teenagers having the fullness of life in Christ?

We have to equip the church until it becomes mature in the life of Christ.