Transcription
Why do we teach? Why do we have teachers and apostles and pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets? For the equipping of the saints. Verse 12, Ephesians 4. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Look at verse 13. Till we all come to the unity of the faith. The faith.
Now, the faith is different than the faith to move a mountain. It's different than the faith for healing. It's the faith is actually a perspective every Christian is supposed to have of why they're born again and why the spirit of God lives in them. If you study out in your New Testament, he uses the word faith a lot of times like a tool in your belt to move a mountain, to get a prayer answered. And then he throws the word 'the' in front of faith in a lot of scriptures. He's talking about an overall perspective that every Christian is supposed to have. It's how you find your identity through that perspective. You see who you are now that he came. It's like in second or 1 Peter 5, the enemy, he's roaring like a lion, seeking who he may devour. Doesn't say rebuke him, remind him of his future, cast him out. It says stay steadfast, resist him, standing steadfast in the faith. So when he comes to try to devour your identity, devour your motivation, devour your growth, devour your life, you resist him standing steadfast in the truth of who you are now that Jesus came. It's called the faith. You're supposed to be established in the faith. Not established in faith, established in the faith. He's talking about something different than a tool in your belt to move a mountain. Are you following me? Yes.
Be established in the faith. Be built up in the faith. Early in the book of Romans, like chapter 3, obedience to the faith, striving together for the unity of the faith. Philippians 1. Are you with me? That means everybody in this room, he's saying everybody in this room, a goal should be we should all be on the same page. Get to a place where we all understand that we all wake up for the same reason. [Music] That's oneness. That's unity. And in our great diversity and age difference and preference of music and styles and fashion, we can all live to shine. We are all on the earth to manifest his image. We're all on the earth to love. That if we'll believe that and stop fighting over theological differences and actually all wake up to shine and understand that nobody owes me a thing and mercy woke me up today to give me another day to look more like him, we will run well and we will cause some damage on the earth. [Applause]