Adding Churches to the Body

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Adding Churches to the Body

“… And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)

The church has one foundation. According to the doctrinal standard set by the original Apostles of the Lord, the way believers were added to the church in the early days of the church is the same way churches established by followers of Christ must be added to His church for relevance.

There is one church; which is the Body of Christ. Any church that is not part of the church of Jesus Christ is part of the harlot church, which belongs to the founders and their adherents. The harlot church is characterised with corporate style organizational setup, physical buildings, religious pageantry and large followership.

The true church belongs to and is nourished by one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. Although the Holy Spirit is the Person currently forming the church on earth with His gifts, God the Father and God the Son have significant roles to play in the build-up.

The idea of denominational and independent churches has no foundation in the Scriptures. Is your church part of the Body of Christ that the Holy Spirit is currently building?

It’s high time we began to reinvent the 12 Apostles doctrine and fellowship standards.

Collins Enyeribe

#evangelicalfellowshipinstitute.org

Apostles’ Fellowship

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Apostles’ Fellowship

From its beginning, the church of Jesus Christ was designed not to incur capital or recurrent expenditure. Brethren met in small contiguous groups in the homes of fellow brethren.

For the Lord’s Table that was administered during their daily evening meetings bread and wine were taken out of the normal supper of participants as Holy Communion emblems.

The concept of Area churches was one of the deeds of the Nicolaitans that Jesus hates. No wonder it evolved as mega churches that gradually diminished the ministry of individual members of the Body of Christ.

Collins Enyeribe

#Reinventing the 12 Apostles’ Standards

 

Ambassadors for Christ

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“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:20 NKJV)

As God’s ambassador on earth, I think it is good to avoid the unscriptural things ungodly people do to ‘enjoy’ themselves in this life. Those things are obviously the issues that hasten many unbelievers to premature physical death.

The life of a saint does not consist in the abundance of the things he or she possesses or enjoys. Many things people regard as pleasurable most times are deceitful. Only Jesus can give real and enduring pleasure.

The hope of every pilgrim is to be like Jesus Christ by being like Him in everything we think, say or do. We are His ambassadors on earth.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 Jn 3:1-3).

Collins Enyeribe #evangelicalfellowshipinstitute.org

Judgment of Sexual Sins

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Judgment of Sexual Sins

Festive times like Easter, Christmas, national holiday and birthday celebrations have the tendency of lowering the gauge of moral compass among laisser-faire Christians. Every action has a corresponding consequence.

Ordinarily, judgment for sins takes place at the point of death or church rapture but sexual sins are judged in this life by God the Father.  It is on-going now. “Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” (Heb 13:4)

Why does God the Father judge sexual sins of adultery and fornication whereas all other sins have been reserved for the judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ?  Any time people engage in sexual intimacy they are invoking the creative power of God to bring a human being with eternal existence into the world. It does not matter whether that was the intention or not. Sex for fun is an easy way to end in perdition.

In this life nothing is free. Legitimate pleasure is not free; it carries a heavy responsibility.  For everything we do in this life, there will always be accountability.

Earthly life has an end. God has a peaceful expected end for His children. However, when His power of creation ceded to mankind is abused it kindles His wrath a great deal.

Careless involvement in sexual activity among God’s children even by those in marital union kindles the wrath of God for debasing His image and impugning His integrity. Sex is a gift from a loving Father.  Its misuse carries heavy consequences both in this life and in the life to come.

“Keep away from the desires of the flesh. Every sin which a man does is outside of the body; but he who goes after the desires of the flesh does evil to his body.” (1 Cor 6:18 BBE)

@Collins Enyeribe #www.evangelicalfellowshipinstitute.org

IMITATING THE LORD’S 12 APOSTLES

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IMITATING THE LORD’S 12 APOSTLES

The church the Holy Spirit established on the Day of Pentecost started with few members. From one hundred and twenty men and women who were with one accord in the compound where the apostles were fasting and praying in an upper room, it increased by three thousand after Peter’s inaugural message. Soon after the Apostles preached at the Temple and another five thousand men and women who believed were added to the church.

With one accord those who believed the gospel of grace of God preached by the Apostles were together. They went about fulfilling the Great Commission. “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul” and as time progressed they turned the known world of their generation upside down for Christ. The original apostles and those who followed them were focused on the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

 20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The original Apostles understood the twin assignments of preaching the gospel of grace of God to unbelievers wherever they are found and teaching those who believe the gospel the commandments of the Lord. As a result, they designed a module termed ‘Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship.’ In Acts 2:42 it is written: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

The Apostles’ doctrine is not another set of fundamental truth but designs for practical application of the concepts in the doctrine of Christ.

Mark 16:

14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

 16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

 17 “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

 18 “they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God

 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.  (NKJV)

The Apostles’ fellowship was the vehicle for communicating the commandments of the Lord to believers to enable them grow in grace from babyhood to maturity in Christ. The original apostles of the Lord so pleased God that the sacred records command followers of Christ to imitate them.

1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

2 Thessalonians 3:7 “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you.”

1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.”

The church of Jesus Christ can only function effectively on earth by adopting the original Apostles’ doctrines and method of fellowship by brethren.  A House church with few members where everyone has the opportunity to contribute his or her gifting to the fellowship is the only way to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Collins Enyeribe #Reinventing the 12 Apostles’ Fellowship standards.