How to be Especially Good unto the Household of Faith
Part III
Galatians 6
:10 As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
How Continued:
Be thankful for one another.
Colossians 1
:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ
which are at Colosse:
Grace be unto you,
and peace,
from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying always for you,
:4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus,
and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
Be thankful for all those that are in household; that are
the Saints--sanctified/set apart ones--and the faithful in Christ. Without the
body of Christ we would stand alone, not a pleasant thought.
Magnify the Believer's opportunity for growth.
Colossians 1
:9 For this cause we also,
since the day we heard it, [heard
of their love of God]
do not cease to pray for you,
and to desire
that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will
in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding;
We need to pray for the spiritual growth of one another so that:
:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might,
according to his glorious power,
[the standard of the might, which is magnanimous]
unto all patience [unto--eis moving
towards with the purpose of reaching]
and longsuffering
with joyfulness;
We pray for each other's spiritual
growth so that we can walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. The
consequences are: being fruitful in every good work (ok, not bad, I can take it)
and then, as we pray for each other--this is asking God for each of us to be
filled with the knowledge of His will and understanding--we will increase/grow
in the knowledge of God compulsively, as natural result.
I need to take a minute and talk about the work
'increase'. It is the Greek word auxano: to cause to grow or increase. There are
22 occurrences of auxano in the New Testament.* The growth
experienced is compulsive, without any willful effort. When a seed is planted
and it germinates the plant grows it is the end result of being fed and watered.
When Jesus Christ was a child he grew up, just as we did. It is this compulsive
growth, a natural result. When we are fed the sincere milk of the Word, when we
are fed the knowledge of the Word we grow compulsively, as a natural result.
As we increase/grow compulsively in the knowledge of God
we are strengthened with all might limited only by God's glorious power moving
towards with the purpose of reaching all patience and longsuffering and
joyfulness. So, pray for each other and desire for each other to be filled with
the knowledge of God.
Utilize the manifestations of the holy spirit they are for the
household.
I Corinthians 12 - 14 is given to us so that we may
understand and properly use the gift of the holy spirit that we are given when
we become born again and instructed. With this gift of holy spirit comes
manifestations--the external evidence in the senses world of the power and
presence of the holy spirit. I am talking about speaking in tongues,
interpretation of tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, work of wisdom,
discerning of spirits, faith, miracles and healing. I have heard them called
gifts; let us look at the Word of God.
I Corinthians 12
:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren,
I would not have you ignorant.
The two words 'spiritual gifts' is the Greek word pneumatikos
meaning spiritual matters. 'Gifts' is in italics and can be left out for there
is no corresponding Greek word and it is improperly supplied.
:4 Now there are diversities of gifts,
[charismata-gifts
of God's grace, the God given ability, horizontally from God to man]
but the same Spirit.
:5 And there are differences of administrations,
[diakonia-ministrations,
gifts of God in action, man-to-man horizontally]
but the same Lord.
:6 And there are diversities of operations, [energema-ways of
energizing]
but it is the same God which worketh all in all. [all
things in all members]
:7 But [set in
contrast to that which is mentioned previously]
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every
man to profit withal. [emphasis added]
:8 For to one [for that profit] is given by the Spirit
the word of wisdom;
to another [ profit] the word of
knowledge by the same Spirit;
:9 To another [ profit] faith by the same Spirit;
to another [ profit] the gifts of
healing by the same Spirit;
:10 To another [ profit] the working of miracles;
to another [ profit] prophecy;
to another [ profit] discerning of
spirits;
to another [ profit] divers
kinds of tongues;
to another [ profit] the
interpretation of tongues:
:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, [the
gift]
dividing to every man severally as he will. [emphasis
added]
[the
man's will, otherwise God would have said 'dividing to every man severally
according to the will of God']
God has given to all of us nine ways to manifest the
spirit-His gift, the Christ in us--to profit the church and us. He has given
them all to us, and it is up to us to desire with zeal to operate them. The word
'desire' in the following verse is yearning zeal.
I Corinthians 14
:1 Follow after charity,
[agape--love
of God in the renewed mind in manifestation]
and desire spiritual gifts, [pneumatikos-belonging
to the spirit or spiritual matters]
but rather that ye may prophesy.
:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men,
but unto God:
for no man understandeth him;
howbeit in the spirit he speaketh
mysteries.
:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification,
and exhortation,
and comfort.
:4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself;
but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
:5 I would that ye all spake with tongues,
but rather that ye prophesied:
for greater is he that prophesieth
than he that speaketh with tongues,
except he
interpret,
that the church may receive edifying.
God is telling us to follow after the love of God and to
desire, with a yearning zeal, spiritual matters. Then we come across the words
'but rather' (mallon de). This does not set in contrast desiring
spiritual matters and prophecy but puts prophecy as an even greater importance
or significance to the matter at hand, which, as we read on, see that it is the
edification of the church. God explains that speaking in tongues is speaking
unto God. If you are speaking in an unknown language it does not profit the
listener, just the one speaking (I Corinthians 14:6-19). So in the church
prophecy is preferred except he interprets. If the person speaking
interprets the tongue he just spoke (which is the proper operation of speaking
in tongues with interpretation) than it is profitable to the church like
prophecy.
The rest of the manifestations
are also available to us to profit the church except for the manifestation of
faith or believing. When looking at the word 'other' that precedes each
manifestation we see that two Greek words are used in the list--allos and
heteros. Allos is used when more than two are involved, heteros
is used when only two are involved. Heteros is used in reference to
speaking in tongues and faith. Speaking in tongues profits the individual as
well as the manifestation of faith/believing which we are given so that we may
carry out miracles and healings. It is used by the individuals to bring about
the other manifestations, just as speaking in tongues is used by the individual
for spiritual growth and to edify oneself.**
God wants us to utilize the manifestations of the holy
spirit-the gift that He has created within us when we made Jesus Christ our Lord
and believed that He raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9 and 10). I would like
to recommend a book by Rev. Robert Lindfelt called Speaking in Tongues, A
Biblical Perspective. This book is a foundational study on speaking in tongues.
You can order it from the San
Diego Biblical Studies Fellowship or Amazon.com.
Seek to Edify
I Corinthians 14
:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts,
seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
:13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue
pray that he may interpret.
We are given the manifestations and are to have a yearning
zeal to use them and that is good, yet the reason for doing so is to edify the
church, the body of believers, the household of God. So, for those of us speak
in tongues and for those who will we must pray and believe to interpret also.
When we speak in tongues it is God who gives us the words
to say via the holy spirit gift that He has given. Our spirit teaches our mind
and we speak it forth out of our freedom of will. The same with interpretation.
God tells us what to say via the holy spirit within us. We merely trust in Him
for the words. Seek to edify the household via speaking in tongues with
interpretation and prophecy.
Be affectionate one to another.
I Corinthians 16
:20 All the brethren greet you.
Greet ye one another with an holy kiss.
My children didn't care for this verse--but it is not up
to them is it? This is what the Word says. We are to be affectionate to one
another. We have the love of God! The world cannot give you the
unconditional love without hypocrisy that the household can.
Be kind one to another.
Ephesians 4
:31 Let all bitterness,
and wrath,
and anger,
and clamour,
and evil speaking, [figures
of speech Polysyndeton-emphasis on each item]
be put away from you, with all malice:
:32 And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted,
forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
[figures
of speech Asyndeton-emphasis on God forgiving you]
This is what we are to do. Let us do it.
What we sow we reap. As we behave according to
God's Word the whole Body of Christ will be edified and taken care of. Read
these next few verses slowly contemplating their message.
Galatians 6
:6 Let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
:7 Be not deceived;
God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.
:8 For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting.
:9 And let us not be weary in well doing:
for in due season we shall reap,
if we faint not.
:10 As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Usages of auxano
It is used of Jesus Christ growing up (Luke 1:80 and 2:40)
The lilies of the field growing (Matthew 6:28, Luke 12:27)
The mustard seed (Matthew 13:32, Luke 13:19)
Seed growing (Mark 4:8)
Jesus Christ must increase and John decrease (John 3:30)
God's Word increasing/growing (Acts 6:7, 12:24, 19:20)
Number of people growing (Acts 7:17)
God gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:6 & 7
[established], II Corinthians 9:10)
Our faith grows/increases (II Corinthians 10:15 [as we put
the Word on])
The Body of Christ grows together (Ephesians 2:21, 4:15,
Colossians 2:19)
We grow by the sincere milk of the Word (I Peter 2:2)
We grow in grace and knowledge (Colossians 1:10, II Peter
3:18)
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** Speaking in tongues is documented to do eleven things for
the Believer:
Edify you - I Cor. 14:4, Jude 20
Speak to God divine secrets - I Cor 14:12
Speak the wonderful works of God - Acts 2:11
Magnifies God - Acts 10:46
Perfect prayer - Rom 8:23, 27
Gives thanks well - I Cor 14:17
The spirit bears witness with our spirit - Rom 8:16
To know you are a joint heir with Christ - Rom 8:17
To strengthen you with might in the inner man - Eph 3:16, II
Cor 4:16
A sign to unbelievers I Cor 14:22, Mark 16:17
Rest to the soul - Isaiah 38:11, 12, I Cor 14:21
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