SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-13

Ephesians 4:11-13 states, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;…” One of the reasons the church is in the condition it is in today is because our pulpits are dominated by pastors and evangelists. This reality excludes three-fifths of what Jesus ordained to contribute to maturity. Consequently, we have infantile Christianity in a world that needs warriors and a strong apostolic input. We do not have the full tel-i-os measure of the stature of Christ. We would have it if the Body of Christ was consistent in opening pulpits and distributing ministry time among each of the five-fold ministry. But if our church does not, it does not mean we cannot grow into the full measure of who Christ is! We can get books, we can get CD’s and we can grow into this dimension of who Christ is, just not on Sunday mornings. We can grow into Christ’s image by learning from people who walk in it, dispense it, pray afflicting prayers and watch the Hand of God bring affliction. Affliction can be the love of God that forces change! If we are going to walk in even a measure of this, we must learn to represent the afflicting Hand of God! Jesus will not change – we must change!