Now I am crying in another wilderness. I think the Lord has impressed on me what He is doing, where He is going.

I will tell you the plan right now, and then you can quit reading and go about your business.

The ascended Lord Jesus has given us numerous gifts and ministries for one purpose—to build each member of His Body to maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ. The gifts and ministries are means to an end. The end, the objective, is perfect members in a perfect body.

The purpose of bringing each member to maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ is that God and Jesus may have a house in which to live. Bringing us to maturity is the means. The end is a suitable dwelling and place of rest for the Father and the Lord Jesus.

The purpose of providing a dwelling and place of rest for the Father and the Lord Jesus is that They might be able to live among the saved nations of people and bless them. The dwelling of God in us is the means. The end is the ability of the Godhead to live among people.

This is all I am going to say, so you can leave now—unless, of course, you would like to find out where all this is in the Bible.

Here goes!

The Purpose of the Gifts and Ministries

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. (Ephesians 4:7—NIV)

Every member of the Body of Christ without exception has been given the grace of a gift or ministry to the Body. Perhaps ninety percent of the gifts and ministries are not operating in the Christian assemblies at the present time. This may be because churches are thought of as places where the pastor is to gather as many people as possible under one roof, not as an assembling of a body of believers who minister one to the other.

You know what? In too many instances the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being used as a business. A pastor sees how many people he can get to come to his building and how much money he can raise. He works at getting more people, more money, more people, more money so he can build a bigger building and house more people.

The pastor is very nice to people. He preaches a positive message because he wants as many people as possible to attend the services at his building. His success is measured by the number of people who attend his services. It is a game—and not a bad way to make a living!

Since it is God's will in the present hour that Christ come to maturity in the believers, and since the only manner in which Christ can come to maturity is through the operation of the numerous gifts and ministries in each group of Christians, it seems we are going to have to start thinking about our goals, and then the means of attaining those goals. As part of overhaul of the church services, the gifts and ministries lying dormant in the congregations must begin to operate.

To be continued.