Leaving the Congregation and Entering the Body
Zechariah 12:10 states:
And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.
This prophecy specifically addresses the siege of Jerusalem due to Israel's idolatrous acts towards God. However, if we meditate on this passage, we will find great meaning for us as New Covenant believers. The first question that should be addressed is why was Christ crucified for us? For what reasons was He pierced for us in the context of this passage? As believers, we all know that Christ was crucified for our sins, serving as a substitute for us on the cross. However, in this passage, the emphasis is not placed on individual justification, but the emphasis is placed on "the inhabitants of Jerusalem". Looking through the New Covenant, this is a picture of the Church. So, the question becomes in the context of the Church, why did Christ give Himself for us? Why was it necessary for Christ to be crucified on behalf of the Church? The answer of this question lies in John 14:12-14
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father
In speaking to His disciples, Christ says that the person who believes in Him in the full conviction of faith will not only perform the same works as Christ (such as miracles, signs, and wonders), but they will also do works that are qualitatively different and greater than Christ's works on the earth. What works are greater than the works that Jesus did on earth? The answer is the unity and completion of the Church. When Jesus was on Earth, he healed the sick and raised the dead, but He could never make the apostles one. This became the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So on God's priority list, so to speak, the oneness of the Church on earth with Christ is of highest priority. This was so important that the last prayer in John before He went to the cross was a plea to the Father that we may become one:
"...they may all be one, even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that You did send me. And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that You did send Me, and did love them, even as You did love Me." John 17:21-23
This is the heart's desire of our Lord and Savior; He believed that the oneness of the Church is so important that it was worth giving up His life for and sending the Holy Spirit for. The same desire still exist; the Church is still the bride of Christ and Christ constantly repeats this prayer to our Father, pleading that we may become one. Our Father also seeks to find those who has the same passion for the Church as He does. Sadly, in today's church, we don't see an united Body of Christ growing together in love, power, and grace. What we see today is a congregation of isolated members- an Old Covenant representation of the church. We live in a Christianity today where it is perfectly acceptable to go to a church building and passively listen to a preacher preach, while the elders carry the majority of the burden for the Church. Today, it is perfectly acceptable to sit next to a person week after week in a church building and have no genuine concern for their spiritual well-being. Today, it is perfectly acceptable that there are cliques within the Church, wide-scale division, selfish ambition, and jealousy among the members, and these things are accepted. What has been troubling to me is that very few people see this as bondage and captivity. The reality is that although a person goes to church every Sunday and Wednesday, they are very much alone. They live their Christian life isolated from others and many pastors will justify their behavior by stating that true believers usually live their life isolated from other believers. They do not know that they are held in bondage and captivity because a person's spiritual development is intricately tied to their fellowship with others. 1 John 2:10 states that the one who loves his brother genuinely abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. However, to the one who is apathetic towards fellowship with their brothers, he walks in darkness and stumbles because his eyes have been blinded by darkness (1 John 2:11).
What we are seeing in modern times is the destruction of the Church; the question is whether or not anyone truly cares? Going back to Zechariah 12:10, is anyone weeping and mourning concerning the state of the Church? Is there anyone zealous for the house of God, which is the Church? I ask this question because this was my life experience for the first 5 years of my Christian development, until God convicted me concerning His Church. I lived my life, ignoring the true meaning of fellowship until I realized that my spiritual development came to an abrupt stop. I realized that I was living in captivity- in the same type of captivity that Israel experienced when they were exiled to Babylon. I realized that the enhancement and proof of my sanctification is done through the body of Christ and not through a congregation. The passages of scripture that I was led to was found in Nehemiah 1-4, Psalm 133, and Ephesians 4. Nehemiah was the answer of the prayers of several prophets before him who longed to see the restoration of Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity. Nehemiah had a fairly comfortable life as cupbearer to the king and when he heard about the state of the remnant who had survived the captivity, he responded as follows:
"... I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, 'I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven... let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel You servants, confessing the sins, which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned." (Nehemiah 1:4-6)
Here is a man who lived his life comfortably and when he heard about the distress of the captives, it convicted him to the point where he left the comforts of his life and dedicated himself to rebuilding Jerusalem. Moreover, his conviction prompted him not only to confess his own sin in causing the captivity, but he took responsibility for the sins of everyone around him- as a true intercessor does. What was in Nehemiah's heart that prompted him to do this? Ezekiel 6:8-9 describes the heart of the exiles who escaped:
"Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes, which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations."
This was the position that Nehemiah took; after hearing about the distress of the exiles, he was brought to complete repentance because he realized his role in the matter. He realized that his sins not only hurt the heart of God so deeply that it caused Him to bring Israel into captivity. Where do we find individuals like this who understand the modern desolation of the Church literally breaks God's heart? Moreover, where do we find men and women like this who will leave their nice Christian life and dedicate their lives to the rebuilding of the Church? This is why the Holy Spirit needs to be poured out upon the Church; we will only devote our lives to building fellowship when we see how much our Father desires it and we will only become zealous about this matter when the Holy Spirit fills us. After the godly concern for the restoration of Jerusalem was in Nehemiah's heart, we see God's sovereignty at work. God stirs the heart of the king to the point where the king doesn't just give permission to Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem, but He completely financed the entire trip. This is the beauty of our God- when we are zealous for the Church to the point where we begin to labor for Her, our Father does whatever is necessary to restore the Church. Even in the midst of opposition, if our heart is towards the restoration of the Church, then our Father will be as "a wall of fire in our midst" (Zechariah 2:5). Nehemiah and his fellow builders faced great opposition from those around them to the point that the workers became discouraged and fear. However, when Nehemiah saw their fear, he arose and said:
"Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses!"
The same is the case for us. There are many ways by which the Church can become divided, but it has already been promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. Therefore, with this faith, we must fight for our fellow brothers; we must constantly challenge, encourage, and comfort one another. This is how the Church prevails against any opposition: when the opposition comes, it must draw us together closer. Listen to the words of David
"Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commands the blessing- life forever." Psalm 133
It is only when dwell in unity together as a body that the Lord gives us life. When we are isolated and divided, only death and destruction can persist in us. In our divided state, we are very much like the dry bones in a valley described in Ezekiel 37- lifeless and powerless individually. Once again, in this passage, what enables the valley of dead and dry bones to become an exceedingly great army is the Holy Spirit. When God's breath came upon the bones, Ezekiel looked in amazement as the bones began to re-attach to one another with skin and flesh and then through God's breath, life entered into the bones and they became an exceedingly great army. What a marvelous picture of the Church! We see this concept in Ephesians 4
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature, which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness by deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
This is our destination- growing to a mature man in the stature of the fullness of Christ as one body. When this occurs, we will see all of the deceptive powers of Satan and man put to nothing. When God breathes His life in us, He produces a zeal for the Church so that each individual part may fit together so that there is mutual edification and fellowship. However, as this passage states, this only occurs when there is the proper working of each individual part. For this reason, we must all participate in the building of the true Church of God. No gifting is insignificant for the Church, but every single gift is needed so that we can stand as the Church. In reading Nehemiah 3, we see that God takes the time to mention the name of every person who assisted in the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Much of the work was not grand, but it was the heart and passion that moved God to mention them. The same is for us today. To those whose heart is full of faith and conviction for the rebuilding of the Church, He records our name as being faithful to the calling by which He gives us. When we all complete our appointed task, then we will see God works miracles for the Church. It is only then when Satan will be crushed under our feet (Romans 16:20).
However, this process of building the body starts only when we leave the congregational-counterfeit of the Church and enter into the true body of Christ. Our oneness is not based on personality, socioeconomic status, hobbies, vision, or even doctrine; our oneness is based on the foundation of our faith which is Christ Himself. The Church exist for Him and as believers, our destination is to be conformed to His image. We must reject the belief that we can exist as believers on an island; the one who desires to walk the Christian walk is seeking his own desire and acting out of selfishness. It is this person who will never leave the Old Covenant church and will live in constant defeat of sin. To those who are desiring fellowship, I want to encourage you to remember God's sovereignty- because your heart is turned toward Him and His thoughts, He will not allow you to walk this path alone. He will bring others from unexpected places so that you can build fellowship. Remember the story of Elijah; after running from Jezebel, he believed that he was the only prophet zealous for the Lord. However, the Lord rebuked him, saying that I have 7000 who haven't bowed to Baal (1 Kings 19). So like the apostle Paul, I entreat all of you to walk with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit at all cost (Ephesians 4:2-3). Our union as a Body is proved when we refuse to allow any breaches in our fellowship due to unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, or selfish ambition. Let us be filled with His Spirit of grace because grace is the strength that enables us to forgive quickly, to become transparent with one another, to live humbly before one another, and most important, grace is strength that enables us to knit our hearts together as a body, even during the most difficult of circumstances.
I will end this on Psalm 126
"When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them'. The Lord has done great things for us... Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him"
The context of this passage refers to the remnant who survived the captivity finally leaving Babylon, a picture of the counterfeit church, to enter Jerusalem, a picture of the Church. Imagine being an Israelite- for several generations, everyone you ever knew lived in captivity and eventually, after living in captivity so long, you begin to adjust and accept that it is the fact of life. Imagine the joy on the faces of Israelites, after being in harsh captivity for several generation, when they have the opportunity to leave. The moment is so surreal that it feels like a dream, until you realize that it is real. All of the prayers and crying to God has finally been answered as you pick up your belongings and leave captivity. Therefore, all of the tears turn into joyful shouting and all of the prayers that have been sown, so to speak, have now come to harvest.
This is a picture of the multitude of individuals who will escape from the congregation and come to the Body of Christ. Many have been living in a second-rate Christian experience of fellowship that they have begun to accept this as normal. However, there are some who look around them, observing the captivity, and refuse to accept this situation. They will leave the congregation and actively in faith pursue the rebuilding of the Church. They will give up their lives and comforts for this because they know how valuable our Father views the Church. All of the labors, tears, and hardships that will be faced will all be worth it because God will fulfill His promise. God promised that He will build and establish His Church and it will be as a blameless and spotless virgin for Christ. So, all of the tears that we shed for this to occur will be transformed into joyful shouting when we see the completion of this project. Moreover, all of the saints before us who labored in prayer, who were martyred for keeping the faith, and who left the professions for the gospel will all be made complete (remember that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses). We all will rejoice together because God will complete, perfect, and establish His work through us! Therefore, let us stop pursuing other selfish ambitions, and let us leave the congregation of the weak church and begin the journey of entering into the Body of Christ.
And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.
This prophecy specifically addresses the siege of Jerusalem due to Israel's idolatrous acts towards God. However, if we meditate on this passage, we will find great meaning for us as New Covenant believers. The first question that should be addressed is why was Christ crucified for us? For what reasons was He pierced for us in the context of this passage? As believers, we all know that Christ was crucified for our sins, serving as a substitute for us on the cross. However, in this passage, the emphasis is not placed on individual justification, but the emphasis is placed on "the inhabitants of Jerusalem". Looking through the New Covenant, this is a picture of the Church. So, the question becomes in the context of the Church, why did Christ give Himself for us? Why was it necessary for Christ to be crucified on behalf of the Church? The answer of this question lies in John 14:12-14
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father
In speaking to His disciples, Christ says that the person who believes in Him in the full conviction of faith will not only perform the same works as Christ (such as miracles, signs, and wonders), but they will also do works that are qualitatively different and greater than Christ's works on the earth. What works are greater than the works that Jesus did on earth? The answer is the unity and completion of the Church. When Jesus was on Earth, he healed the sick and raised the dead, but He could never make the apostles one. This became the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So on God's priority list, so to speak, the oneness of the Church on earth with Christ is of highest priority. This was so important that the last prayer in John before He went to the cross was a plea to the Father that we may become one:
"...they may all be one, even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that You did send me. And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that You did send Me, and did love them, even as You did love Me." John 17:21-23
This is the heart's desire of our Lord and Savior; He believed that the oneness of the Church is so important that it was worth giving up His life for and sending the Holy Spirit for. The same desire still exist; the Church is still the bride of Christ and Christ constantly repeats this prayer to our Father, pleading that we may become one. Our Father also seeks to find those who has the same passion for the Church as He does. Sadly, in today's church, we don't see an united Body of Christ growing together in love, power, and grace. What we see today is a congregation of isolated members- an Old Covenant representation of the church. We live in a Christianity today where it is perfectly acceptable to go to a church building and passively listen to a preacher preach, while the elders carry the majority of the burden for the Church. Today, it is perfectly acceptable to sit next to a person week after week in a church building and have no genuine concern for their spiritual well-being. Today, it is perfectly acceptable that there are cliques within the Church, wide-scale division, selfish ambition, and jealousy among the members, and these things are accepted. What has been troubling to me is that very few people see this as bondage and captivity. The reality is that although a person goes to church every Sunday and Wednesday, they are very much alone. They live their Christian life isolated from others and many pastors will justify their behavior by stating that true believers usually live their life isolated from other believers. They do not know that they are held in bondage and captivity because a person's spiritual development is intricately tied to their fellowship with others. 1 John 2:10 states that the one who loves his brother genuinely abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. However, to the one who is apathetic towards fellowship with their brothers, he walks in darkness and stumbles because his eyes have been blinded by darkness (1 John 2:11).
What we are seeing in modern times is the destruction of the Church; the question is whether or not anyone truly cares? Going back to Zechariah 12:10, is anyone weeping and mourning concerning the state of the Church? Is there anyone zealous for the house of God, which is the Church? I ask this question because this was my life experience for the first 5 years of my Christian development, until God convicted me concerning His Church. I lived my life, ignoring the true meaning of fellowship until I realized that my spiritual development came to an abrupt stop. I realized that I was living in captivity- in the same type of captivity that Israel experienced when they were exiled to Babylon. I realized that the enhancement and proof of my sanctification is done through the body of Christ and not through a congregation. The passages of scripture that I was led to was found in Nehemiah 1-4, Psalm 133, and Ephesians 4. Nehemiah was the answer of the prayers of several prophets before him who longed to see the restoration of Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity. Nehemiah had a fairly comfortable life as cupbearer to the king and when he heard about the state of the remnant who had survived the captivity, he responded as follows:
"... I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, 'I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven... let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel You servants, confessing the sins, which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned." (Nehemiah 1:4-6)
Here is a man who lived his life comfortably and when he heard about the distress of the captives, it convicted him to the point where he left the comforts of his life and dedicated himself to rebuilding Jerusalem. Moreover, his conviction prompted him not only to confess his own sin in causing the captivity, but he took responsibility for the sins of everyone around him- as a true intercessor does. What was in Nehemiah's heart that prompted him to do this? Ezekiel 6:8-9 describes the heart of the exiles who escaped:
"Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes, which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations."
This was the position that Nehemiah took; after hearing about the distress of the exiles, he was brought to complete repentance because he realized his role in the matter. He realized that his sins not only hurt the heart of God so deeply that it caused Him to bring Israel into captivity. Where do we find individuals like this who understand the modern desolation of the Church literally breaks God's heart? Moreover, where do we find men and women like this who will leave their nice Christian life and dedicate their lives to the rebuilding of the Church? This is why the Holy Spirit needs to be poured out upon the Church; we will only devote our lives to building fellowship when we see how much our Father desires it and we will only become zealous about this matter when the Holy Spirit fills us. After the godly concern for the restoration of Jerusalem was in Nehemiah's heart, we see God's sovereignty at work. God stirs the heart of the king to the point where the king doesn't just give permission to Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem, but He completely financed the entire trip. This is the beauty of our God- when we are zealous for the Church to the point where we begin to labor for Her, our Father does whatever is necessary to restore the Church. Even in the midst of opposition, if our heart is towards the restoration of the Church, then our Father will be as "a wall of fire in our midst" (Zechariah 2:5). Nehemiah and his fellow builders faced great opposition from those around them to the point that the workers became discouraged and fear. However, when Nehemiah saw their fear, he arose and said:
"Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses!"
The same is the case for us. There are many ways by which the Church can become divided, but it has already been promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. Therefore, with this faith, we must fight for our fellow brothers; we must constantly challenge, encourage, and comfort one another. This is how the Church prevails against any opposition: when the opposition comes, it must draw us together closer. Listen to the words of David
"Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commands the blessing- life forever." Psalm 133
It is only when dwell in unity together as a body that the Lord gives us life. When we are isolated and divided, only death and destruction can persist in us. In our divided state, we are very much like the dry bones in a valley described in Ezekiel 37- lifeless and powerless individually. Once again, in this passage, what enables the valley of dead and dry bones to become an exceedingly great army is the Holy Spirit. When God's breath came upon the bones, Ezekiel looked in amazement as the bones began to re-attach to one another with skin and flesh and then through God's breath, life entered into the bones and they became an exceedingly great army. What a marvelous picture of the Church! We see this concept in Ephesians 4
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature, which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness by deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
This is our destination- growing to a mature man in the stature of the fullness of Christ as one body. When this occurs, we will see all of the deceptive powers of Satan and man put to nothing. When God breathes His life in us, He produces a zeal for the Church so that each individual part may fit together so that there is mutual edification and fellowship. However, as this passage states, this only occurs when there is the proper working of each individual part. For this reason, we must all participate in the building of the true Church of God. No gifting is insignificant for the Church, but every single gift is needed so that we can stand as the Church. In reading Nehemiah 3, we see that God takes the time to mention the name of every person who assisted in the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Much of the work was not grand, but it was the heart and passion that moved God to mention them. The same is for us today. To those whose heart is full of faith and conviction for the rebuilding of the Church, He records our name as being faithful to the calling by which He gives us. When we all complete our appointed task, then we will see God works miracles for the Church. It is only then when Satan will be crushed under our feet (Romans 16:20).
However, this process of building the body starts only when we leave the congregational-counterfeit of the Church and enter into the true body of Christ. Our oneness is not based on personality, socioeconomic status, hobbies, vision, or even doctrine; our oneness is based on the foundation of our faith which is Christ Himself. The Church exist for Him and as believers, our destination is to be conformed to His image. We must reject the belief that we can exist as believers on an island; the one who desires to walk the Christian walk is seeking his own desire and acting out of selfishness. It is this person who will never leave the Old Covenant church and will live in constant defeat of sin. To those who are desiring fellowship, I want to encourage you to remember God's sovereignty- because your heart is turned toward Him and His thoughts, He will not allow you to walk this path alone. He will bring others from unexpected places so that you can build fellowship. Remember the story of Elijah; after running from Jezebel, he believed that he was the only prophet zealous for the Lord. However, the Lord rebuked him, saying that I have 7000 who haven't bowed to Baal (1 Kings 19). So like the apostle Paul, I entreat all of you to walk with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit at all cost (Ephesians 4:2-3). Our union as a Body is proved when we refuse to allow any breaches in our fellowship due to unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, or selfish ambition. Let us be filled with His Spirit of grace because grace is the strength that enables us to forgive quickly, to become transparent with one another, to live humbly before one another, and most important, grace is strength that enables us to knit our hearts together as a body, even during the most difficult of circumstances.
I will end this on Psalm 126
"When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them'. The Lord has done great things for us... Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him"
The context of this passage refers to the remnant who survived the captivity finally leaving Babylon, a picture of the counterfeit church, to enter Jerusalem, a picture of the Church. Imagine being an Israelite- for several generations, everyone you ever knew lived in captivity and eventually, after living in captivity so long, you begin to adjust and accept that it is the fact of life. Imagine the joy on the faces of Israelites, after being in harsh captivity for several generation, when they have the opportunity to leave. The moment is so surreal that it feels like a dream, until you realize that it is real. All of the prayers and crying to God has finally been answered as you pick up your belongings and leave captivity. Therefore, all of the tears turn into joyful shouting and all of the prayers that have been sown, so to speak, have now come to harvest.
This is a picture of the multitude of individuals who will escape from the congregation and come to the Body of Christ. Many have been living in a second-rate Christian experience of fellowship that they have begun to accept this as normal. However, there are some who look around them, observing the captivity, and refuse to accept this situation. They will leave the congregation and actively in faith pursue the rebuilding of the Church. They will give up their lives and comforts for this because they know how valuable our Father views the Church. All of the labors, tears, and hardships that will be faced will all be worth it because God will fulfill His promise. God promised that He will build and establish His Church and it will be as a blameless and spotless virgin for Christ. So, all of the tears that we shed for this to occur will be transformed into joyful shouting when we see the completion of this project. Moreover, all of the saints before us who labored in prayer, who were martyred for keeping the faith, and who left the professions for the gospel will all be made complete (remember that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses). We all will rejoice together because God will complete, perfect, and establish His work through us! Therefore, let us stop pursuing other selfish ambitions, and let us leave the congregation of the weak church and begin the journey of entering into the Body of Christ.
posted by The Emissary at
2:38 PM
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