19 September 2007
Rhema Inspiration
ARE YOU CONCERNED ENOUGH?
“The restoration of the
Church will take a team effort!”
I have seen evidence for a long
time that many Christians are not only concerned about
the condition of things in the United States, but are
concerned about the condition of things throughout the
whole earth. I, too, am concerned about things
throughout the earth, but I have a greater concern
about the condition of the Church. I can easily find
Christians and non-Christians who are fervently doing
things about their world-wide concerns. I can hardly,
as it were, get the time of the day from Christians who
are concerned about the state of the Church. In other
words, I can hardly find any Christians who share my
concerns.
I have been preaching, teaching,
and writing for a long time about the need for the
Church to be restored. A few people here and there have
acknowledged their agreement, but most of those few end
up getting distracted by other concerns. Some of their
concerns are legitimate and actually need attending to,
but not to the degree that it prevents them from taking
care of the real business at hand. God never intends
for legitimate concerns to become a distraction for His
people.
The kingdom of God is at hand, and
disciples of Jesus are supposed to be seeking the
kingdom of God and His righteousness above all else.
They are, in fact, supposed to be witnesses of the
gospel of God’s kingdom in the entire world to
all nations. I see and hear many Christians working to
carry different messages around the world, but I know
few who even know about the gospel of the kingdom. I
know even fewer who, in truth, know what it is. Now do
you see at all why I am concerned about the Church?
If you know the Word of God, all
you have to do is turn on your radio or TV to hear
preachers preaching all kinds of messages that they
should not be preaching. I saw a man on television
recently that I knew personally many years ago. He
evidently now travels around the world ministering, and
he referred to himself, as did others on the show, as apostle. He
actually touched on some real concerns in his dialogue
and even noted that the Church needs reform. But as I
listened and watched closely, I saw and heard things
that concerned me. I saw pride and the absence of
humility; I heard truth mixed with lies and deceptions.
I saw other ministers praising the man and calling
error “great truth that is needed in the body of
Christ.” My spirit was grieved!
Yes, I am concerned! I am trying
to do something about my concerns. I am seeking God and
trying to totally yield to the Spirit of Christ. I am
asking Him to make me decrease so that He may increase
(John 3:30). I am asking Him to make me the kind of
minister that He can trust for others to join with in
spirit. I have been made aware by the Spirit of God of
what needs to be torn down and what needs to be built
up, but I have also been made fully aware that it is a
team effort. The restoration of the Church will take a
team effort! It will take people who are real and
dedicated disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. These
disciples will be so committed that it will astound
most church members, but their witness will also wake
up many slumbering Christians. Does this strike a chord
within you? Do you share my concern? Are you concerned
enough to do what will bring restoration to the Church?
_____________________________
BIBLICAL APPLICATION:
7 Now
to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given
for the common good. 12-14
The body is a unit, though
it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts
are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For
we were all baptized by one Spirit into one
body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or
free—and we were all given the one Spirit to
drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of
many. 18-20 But in fact God has arranged the parts in
the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to
be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 24b-27 But
God has combined the members of the body and has given
greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that
there should be no division in the body, but that its
parts should have equal concern for each other. If one
part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part
is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are
the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of
it. Excerpts from 1
Corinthians 12 NIV
Pastor Wayne Wilson
New Covenant Church of Jesus
Christ
3147 Klondike Road, SW, Conyers,
GA 30094 USA
770-760-1101
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© 2007 New Covenant Church of
Jesus Christ, Conyers, GA USA
www.JesusAndHisWord.org
