Bishop-Elect Dr. Monterey D. Lee, Sr.
“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” Ephesians 4:11-13.
The oneness that we have in Christ develops the calling that we are all given by God. Remember before He ascended, He descended first into the lower parts of the earth and gave gifts unto all men so that He might fulfill all things past, present, and future. This is the very reason He came to earth, to face sin and death as a victorious King, to rescue His people, and to give us gifts for the work of the Kingdom of God.
The nature of our calling or new life is to build up the kingdom of God as the church. This is our spiritual nature, which is why we live in the fullness of Christ—to do a complete work in His name.
Paul spent three chapters spelling out in glorious detail all that God did for us, freely by His grace. You are where you are today only by the grace of God. This is why we must walk worthily and honorably in the calling which we were called. Understanding who we are is the foundation of this worthy walk. We don’t walk worthily so that God will love us, but because He does love us. We are motivated out of gratitude, not out of a desire to earn merits from God.
The work that the Gentiles and Jewish believe did move them from membership to ‘followship.’ The unity of the spirit and the work of the kingdom of God is found in Christ Jesus, by the spirit of God.
This is why we don’t have our name on a register of membership, but a daily commitment of ‘followship.’ We follow after Christ, seek after Christ, and live near Christ because we are committed to Him. God has given us an enormous responsibility to make disciples.
“Go and teach all men,” Matthew 28:19.
This involves preaching, teaching, healing, nurturing, giving, administering, building, helping, miracles, exhortation, hospitality, faith and more.
So He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers to fulfill the work of the kingdom of God—to build the body of Christ. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ.
This is to equip us completely in the right way, to be right and do right—to be built up and to mature into a perfect man or woman in Christ, growing up in the Lord as we function together as one—unified in the Spirit!
