於2022-09-16發佈


 

選擇 17
雷克-喬納
2022.9.13

本週我們將繼續學習如何遵守《哥林多後書》13:5:"你們總要自己省察有信心沒有,也要自己試驗......" 我們的另一個方法是檢查我們如何在基督的身體裡的位置上成長。

在使徒行傳中,所有獻身跟隨主的人都加入了教會。根據今天的估計,在那些為基督決志的人中,只有大約5%的人真正加入了教會。這在很大程度上可以歸因於現代教會與聖經中的對應教會相比有多麼不同,以及今天以真實、重要和個人的方式建立連結是多麼困難。儘管如此,我們必須考慮這些為基督所做決定的果子。如果沒有果子,我們必須問,我們是否被引導認為我們處於屬靈的安全狀態,或者我們永恆的命定仍然處於危險之中。

另外,當我們對參加我們特會的人進行調查,瞭解有多少人知道他們的恩賜和事工時,結果總是不到5%。如果你的身體只有5%的功能,你會做得多好?這就是基督的身體的現狀。造成這種情況的一個主要原因是,很少有教會機構按照新約《以弗所書》第4章的模式來裝備他們的成員,使他們知道自己的恩賜和事工並在其中發揮作用。今天的大多數教會機構並不是真正作為主的身體在運作,而更像是羊圈,每週給羊群扔一兩次食物。

很明顯,在恢復基本的新約教會生活之前,教會的改革還有很長的路要走。要做到這一點的一大步就是教會要致力於履行大使命,使人成為門徒,而不僅僅是信徒。教會在各方面都很膚淺,因為很少有教會成員成為真正的門徒。相反,許多人仍然停留在深深的淺層狀態,只是作為信徒。這並沒有完成 "使人作門徒 "的大使命。

根據基督的定義,一個人要成為主的門徒,就必須把祂的子民成為祂在地上的身體的異象看作是對其目的最激動人心的啟示之一。這種對在祂裡面的生命更深的奉獻,將不可避免地導致祂的子民更深地結合在一起。

我們被稱為 "活石"(見彼得前書2:5),被建造在一起成為主的聖殿。大多數會眾不是被粘合在一起成為一座活的建築,而是仍然是一堆石頭。由於沒有被粘合在一起的石頭很容易被偷走,許多基督徒沒有留在教會裡。每個基督徒都應該對自己在主的身體裡的位置非常肯定,覺得自己被固定在那裡了。

今天典型的教會生活與聖經中的例子相比是膚淺的,原因之一是以弗所書4章中的新約事工是一個團隊,而不是一個人。它需要使徒、先知、傳道人、牧師和教師來裝備和成熟身體,而現代教會一直由一個事工主導,即教牧事工。這一個事工是如何主宰教會生活的呢?

根據以弗所書4:12,主把這五重裝備的事工都賜給了他們,"為要成全聖徒,各盡其職,建立基督的身體",而不是讓他們自己做事奉的工作。裝備是四個階段中的第三個階段,假定前面的教導和培訓階段已經完成。然而在現今的教會模式中,幾乎所有的事工都是教導。下一階段的準備工作--培訓--要等到我們被允許做我們被教導的事情時才開始。

今天約有95%或更多的基督徒從未經歷過新約教會生活的設計方式。這種情況將會改變,因為它必須改變。一個 "新品種"的事工即將到來,真正的使徒式基督教將再次撼動世界。當使徒的事工完全恢復到教會中時,所有其他裝備的事工都將得到充分的發揮。然後所有的聖徒都將得到裝備,基督的身體將作為世界上有史以來最強大、最像基督的人的身體進入其位置。
 

Sep 13
Choices, Part 17
Rick Joyner

This week we will continue studying how to comply with II Corinthians 13:5: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith…” Another way we do this is to examine how we grow in our place in the body of Christ.

In Acts, all who gave their lives to follow the Lord were added to the church. According to today’s estimates, only about 5% of those who make decisions for Christ are actually added to the church. Much of this can be attributed to how different the modern church is compared to its biblical counterpart, and how difficult it is to get connected today in a real, vital, and personal way. Still, we must consider the fruit of these decisions for Christ. If there is no fruit, we must ask if we are being led to think we are in a spiritually safe condition, or if our eternal destiny is still in jeopardy.

Also, when we have polled the people attending our conferences to learn how many knew their gifts and ministries, it was always less than 5%. How well would you be doing if only 5% of your body was functioning? That is the present state of the body of Christ. One primary reason for this is so few church bodies equip their members to know and function in their gifts and ministries according to the Ephesians 4 New Testament model. Most church bodies today are not really functioning as the Lord’s body, but more like sheep pens where the sheep are thrown some food once or twice a week.

Obviously, the Reformation of the church has a long way to go before fundamental New Testament church life can be restored. A big step toward doing this would be for the church to devote itself to fulfilling the Great Commission to make disciples, not just converts. The church is superficial in every way because so few church members become real disciples. Instead, many remain in the profoundly shallow state of just being believers. This does not fulfill the Great Commission to “make disciples.”

For one to become a disciple of the Lord according to Christ’s definition, they must see His vision for His people to become His body on the earth as one of the most exciting revelations of their purpose. This deeper devotion to life in Him will inevitably lead to a much deeper bonding together of His people.

We are called to be “living stones” (see I Peter 2:5)to be built together as a temple for the Lord. Instead of being cemented together in a living building, most congregations just remain piles of stones. Since stones that have not been cemented together are easily stolen, many Christians do not remain in a church. Every Christian should be so sure of their place in the Lord’s body they feel they are being cemented in place.

One reason typical church life today is superficial compared to the biblical example is that the Ephesians 4 New Testament ministry was a team, not a person. It takes apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip and mature the body, while the modern church has been dominated by one ministry, the pastoral ministry. How did this one ministry come to dominate church life?

According to Ephesians 4:12, the Lord gave all five of these equipping ministries “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,” not to do the work of the ministry themselves. Equipping is the third of a four-stage process and presumes the previous stages of teaching and training have been done. Yet in the present-day church model, virtually all ministry is teaching. The next stage of preparation—training—doesn’t begin until we are allowed to do what we were taught.

About 95% or more of Christians today have never experienced New Testament church life the way it was designed. This will change, because it must. A “new breed” of ministry is coming, and true apostolic Christianity will again shake the world. When the apostolic ministry is fully restored to the church, all the other equipping ministries will come to their fullness. Then all the saints will be equipped, and the body of Christ will come into its place as the most powerful, Christlike body of people the world has ever seen.