Christian Fellowship on Maturity

In fellowship, the brothers took me to visit an Architect who used to be a vehement propagator of a certain religious sect of the country, who now has become an ardent lover of the Lord Jesus Christ and a gospel preacher as "tent maker." Since I was told that he simply would listen to the word without himself opening up, I purposely requested if he could tell how he got saved and which he willingly did. It was amazing to listen to testimonies of saved sinners. I too testified of how the Lord saved me, a sinner, too.

From being a saved believer to growth in life to fulfill God’s heart's desire was our further fellowship, which would issue in the church life. At length, we fellowshipped about how this could transpire based on Paul’s teaching on Ephesians. With that fellowship, we broke the ice and established a brotherly relationship.

Few days later, he visited us in our place when we ministered on loving the Lord with prayers and praises on loving the Lord Jesus Christ supremely above all. We further fellowshipped about the need for recovering back the beliefs and practices of the Bible from present day degradation and distortion to that of the truths of the Bible. The Lord strongly led me to minister boldly on the truth as it is, emphasising mainly on the importance and urgency of the believers' growth in life for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Our dear brother wanted more ministering on the significance of maturity in life. With that, we delved deep into the word of God in Ephesians 4.

Eph. 4:11 - And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers,
Eph. 4:12 - For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ,
Eph. 4:13 - Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The Lord led me to minster on these verses:

Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith

The work of perfecting the believers is the ministry, which is the building up of the Body of Christ. This must go on UNTIL we all arrive at the oneness of the faith. This oneness is much attacked by the enemy among the believers today. And this is our prayer too for the Lord to recover the oneness of, and in, the Body of Christ. The Lord's recovery is the recovery of the oneness of the Body of Christ. That's why we do not approve of the divisions and denominations of Christianity. Though we love the believers, we do not agree with the enemy's strategy of divide and rule. We minister life for the recovery of the oneness and fellowship of the Body of Christ.

Until we all arrive at the oneness of the full knowledge of the Son of God

There is an urgent need too, for the believers to arrive at the full knowledge of the Son of God. This entails an objective as well as the subjective knowledge of the Son of God. For this there is a need to pursue the knowledge of Jesus Christ in the ministry of the word till we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Until we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

Whence this is accomplished, we will be like Him!

1 John 3:1 - Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called  children of God; and we are. Because of this the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1 John 3:2 - Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is.

As genuine believers, children of God, we possess the life and nature of God. As we grow in the divine life, we will one day be matured as a full grown man, the full stature of Christ, to be like Him, Jesus Christ, as the fulfillment and reality of God creating us in His image and likeness in Genesis 1:26, and finally conforming us to the image of the Firstborn Son of God.

Rom. 8:29 - Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.

"This is full maturity,  not according to me,  but according to the Bible," I explained to the brother. In conclusion, God became man,  to make man God, in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.

With this ministering of the ministry of the word, he testified of the power and authority in the Word of God filled with the Spirit. To me, this is the ministry God has entrusted us that we might minister faithfully to all.

Lord, grace us all to grow daily unto full maturity!