The purpose of the ministries and gifts given to the Body of Christ is that the members of the Body may come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. It is then, when we have come to maturity, that God and Christ can dwell in us. When God and Christ dwell in us, we being one with Them and in Them, the nations of saved people of the earth will come to experience the love, Person, way, and will of God. This is the goal toward which everything is working.

The Lord Jesus told us of the plan.

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so the world may believe you have sent me. (John 17:21—NIV)

The world will believe God has sent Jesus Christ when the members of the Church are one in the Father and the Son.

We see, therefore, that the purpose of the present age is to perfect the Church so throughout the ages to come the Church can bear witness of God.

Conclusion

It is not unusual for us Christians to desire to go forth and tell the world about the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation. This is a worthy ambition. However, the world will not believe that God has sent Christ until the Church is one in the Father and the Son.

Today the Spirit is calling us to the fullness of union with God through Christ. Sometimes ambitious believers view our efforts toward a closer walk with God as being an undesirable introspection. "You should be out saving souls! You are sitting in the pews getting fat while the world is dying without Christ.!"

The spirit that is criticizing those who are seeking more of God may be well- meaning but it is not of God. I do not believe God is speaking to most Christians today to go out and try to bring the world to Christ. I think the Lord is knocking on the door of each Christian heart, asking for admittance.

One of the hardest decisions a zealous Christian makes is to let go of his plans to build the Kingdom of God and turn to Jesus and wait to hear His voice. So many doubts assail us. "Are we in deception, in passivity? What if it is true that God has commanded us in the Bible to preach the Gospel to every creature, while here we are, waiting for instructions and not just doing what the Bible says?"

Yet there is no way to move past Pentecost into the feast of Tabernacles, into the rest of God, until we let go of our own plans and ambitions and look to the Lord for His directions.

Those who today are at Pentecost are shooting off in numerous directions. But how many really have heard from the Lord? How many of these enthusiastic leaders really know what they are doing? The Pharisees were ambitious religious leaders but they murdered Christ, the one Person who really knew what He was doing; who really was hearing from God.

To be continued.