Today we want to consider something, just fellowshipping together by the word of God. It has a title, but I don’t want us to be boxed by the title or be scared by it. We are meditating together on Equipping and Edifying the Church. Let us go to the book of Matthew 16:13 just to give us more background. The Bible says:
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples (and I am sure we are His disciples) saying “who do men say that I, the Son of man, Am?” So, they said “some say John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them: “but who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said “you ate the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him: Blessed are you Simon Bajona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” And I also say to you that you are Peter and, on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
May the Lord bless the reading of His word in our hearts in Jesus’ name. It says “I will build my church and the gates of hades (hell) shall not prevail against it.” From this Scripture that we just read; the intention of Christ was made clear. He has His church to be built, and He is responsible for the building od that church. So, what we are looking at today is “Equipping and Edifying the Church.” Of Course, the title can be further written as “the church of Christ” because we are not considering the church of Satan here. Now, Jesus said “I will build my church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.” Because we must begin to see the exclusive and shared responsibility between us and Christ. Jesus said “I, the Lord; will build my church” and in addition to this, I will also give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, I will give you the keys of the government of heaven and whatever you bound on earth, whatever you settle or decreed on earth, it shall be decreed in heaven.
But one thing must be important: You must receive the key from me before you declare it. You must receive my word into yourself before your own words become the basis for the building of your own life. So, a man who has refused my word cannot speak the right words into His own life. A man who has not receive the word of the Lord is not ready to speak any word into any situation. So, a man must first be commanded. If the Lord has not commanded you, you cannot command anything. There was a time Jesus said in the Bible and I think we should even read that place before we proceed to show us that until God commands a man, a man has little or nothing to speak. In the Book of John 12:48-50, the Bible says “he who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judged him. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day for I have not spoken of my own authority but the Father who sent me gave me a command.” I the Lord Jesus have not spoken to you on my own authority but my Father who sent me gave me the command. So, as I have received His command, I speak words to you.
Verse 49 again says: “for I have not spoken of my own authority but the Father which sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak and I know that His command is everlasting life…” I know that my Father’s command to me is everlasting life… therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak. No matter how big or small my words are, whatever I speak, just as my Father has told me, I speak. So, the words that I speak to you, they are the words that I have received from Him. Jesus says “I will give you the keys of the kingdom.” So, whatever you therefore now bind (based on what you have received) is bound in heaven. I am giving you authority to rule on this earth by your own words. Where the word of a king is, there is power. But a king who is not a king indeed is a king with mere words, without power. You know when they say someone is just barking, there is no effect; empty word, empty authority.
I am sure we remember the seven sons of Sceva. They said “we exorcise you in the name of Jesus that Paul preach.” And the demon said “Jesus I know, He has received a command. So, when He speaks, I must tremble. Paul, I know, Christ has commanded him. Who are you? Whose word is the basis for your effort? Who has spoken you into your own speeches? The words you speak, where have you heard it from?” So, it looks as if you have to hear it first before you also speak it. So, we are looking at equipping and edifying of the church. So, the church is to be built by the Lord Himself, but He says I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven so that whatever you bind on earth; don’t forget, you are not in heaven, you are on earth. But the same power of God that is at work in heaven is able to also work on earth. You can actually demonstrate the wisdom of God even though you are on earth. Why? Because you receive directly from the Father in heaven on earth.
So, as you receive the wisdom, you speak. As the power of God flows into your life from heaven, you demonstrate it. The blessings of God are released into your life directly from heaven, you walk in it. Do we understand? That is why at some point they said concerning Jesus: No man could have done these things that Jesus was doing except the Lord was with Him. Because it was clear, no wonder anytime Jesus did anything glorious, Bible says “And the people praise God and they glorify the Father who has given such power to men.” So, they knew that the things that Jesus was doing couldn’t have been done in the arm of flesh. I am sure we still remember that story in the book of Daniel when the king asked the magicians and the astrologers for his dream and his interpretations. And they said to the king “there is no one who can tell the king these things that he is asking for except the gods whose dwelling are not with mortal men revealed it.”
So, when they saw Jesus manifest, they told themselves: "these things couldn’t have been done by any other thing but by God who has given such power to men". So, you refuse to connect yourself to the source. Even though you desire the experience on the earth, it would only be a mere wish. And perhaps, at the beginning of your life experiences or your ministry, you connect. But you think you are now okay and so, you disconnect yourself, you will never be able to walk in it again. Assuming there could be a thorough research done on the people who have walked in the dimensions of God in the past – the whole world is littered with statistics of lives that God has actually at one point or the other, walked with. God said to Abraham “Walk before me and be perfect.” Because that is the only way to guarantee the things, I am able to give to you. You cannot walk with me for a season. Relating with God and working and walking with Him is not a seasonal occurrence. If there is anything that you desire from God so that you can supply to the nations, you must remain connected to God so that it won’t be for a season.
Jesus said in that John 12:50 that “whatever I speak”, somebody could say “whatever I do”, it says just as the Father has told me, I speak. Somebody could say “so I do”, not so I spoke. Jesus didn’t say “so I spoke.” Jesus said “So I speak”, indicating that it is a present issue. The Father spoke to me, I spoke, the Father is speaking, I am speaking, the Father will speak, and I will speak. So, there is the responsibility of the Lord in the building of His church. However, God also has a plan to walk with you in building that church. So, when you fail, the church that should be equipped will be ill-equipped. Should you fail, the church that should be edified will be ill-edified. So, you don’t have to say “Lord Jesus, are you not on the throne?” Why are you on the throne and your church is not equipped? The same time Jesus said “I will build my church was the same time Jesus said “I will give you the keys of the kingdom.” So, the question we are confronted today with is: Have you been entrusted with the keys of the kingdom? If yes, what have you been doing with the keys of the kingdom? It says “whatever you bind on earth, you bind in your local area, your country, shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you decreed shall be established.” Your word will become law, the thins you say becomes the guiding principles to many. But everything still depends on you receiving first.
You can’t receive the keys of the kingdom and live a life that is below the standards of the kingdom. Do we note that Jesus promised them the keys of the kingdom of heaven? That is the greatest kingdom in the entire universe. The government of heaven is the greatest government ever: both in the past and into the future. There will never arise any kingdom that will overthrow the government of heaven. So, we are talking about governing influence, the power for governing influence, God says “I will give to you.” Now, if the American government promises to give you certain keys so that whatever you decreed in Abuja would be established in the US, I am sure we know the implication. Because it is like Donald Trump sharing his power with someone else. Imagine Jesus now saying whatever you that you think you are a nobody, whatever you decree on earth it shall be established in heaven, and you still think you are a nobody? Jesus isn’t calling you into religion, He is calling you into governing influence, governing authority. Somebody might ask: over what? Perhaps over your own life. Your life must first be governed by the principles of heaven because when our own obedience is complete, we can then begin to bring others into subjection. Governing influence over my life, subjecting my life into the governing authority of Christ and then subjecting everything else around me into it.
When my circumstance does not go the way the kingdom of heaven desires it to go, I decree order into it, I speak stability and order and everything around me continue to move fine because I have spoken it. The real power is what you have in your possession. Jesus said “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” This is not the key of the kingdom of Ghana or Benin; this is not the key of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia; no! This is a spiritual key; it is the key of the kingdom of heaven. You know you use keys to open doors, but this is a spiritual authority, it gives you access to everything. When Jesus got to the tomb of Lazarus, the Bible says “He groaned in His Spirit and within Himself” and He said “Father I thank you because you have heard me.” When Jesus was groaning in the Spirit, those were enough for the situation to be changed. So, He only needed to get to the situation and say “Lazarus, come out!” Whatever Jesus decreed on earth, it was established in heaven and the Bible says “he who was dead came forth.” So, when He was groaning, He was declaring things, He was speaking to God. And so, God heard Him because He said “Father I thank you because you have heard me and you always hear me.”
Jesus lived His life to show us how we must live. “I will build my church”, the church that Christ said that He will build is you and He says He will give to us the keys to the kingdom and whatever you bind on earth, in your family, is bind in heaven. When some people start walking in the reality of this, you start getting jealous, you start wondering “is God different?” How come you don’t see this in your own life? They are simply walking in the reality of their inheritance. When apostle Peter was speaking, he said “these that you see happening to us now is what was spoken by prophet Joel”, you can be reading this Matthew 16 and you can be saying to your friends: These that you see happening now was what has been written. When Jesus was saying it then that He will build His church, talking about me and He will give me the keys of the kingdom that whatever I bind here on earth shall be bound in heaven, I am only walking in the reality of His words and you are seeing it.
So, if your life is going in a manner that you are not comfortable with, it is because you have kept quiet for so long. It says “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” It talks about spiritual establishment, establishing things by the power of the spoken words. That is why we tell some of us not to be ‘gisting’ too much because the Bible says it in Proverbs that in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking. When your words are too much, you are likely to find sin inside your words. Now that is on one side, another thing is you destroying your own life by your own words, in the multitude of your words. That is why when a police officer apprehends criminals, they say, “whatever you say will be used against you at the court of law, so you are advised to maintain your silence.” Don’t say anything that they will use it against you, which will now increase your count. Ordinary “why will you arrest me? Who are you?” They can even charge you again for resisting arrest.
So, your words can condemn, your words can justify, your words can liberate you. So, why do you then speak as if you are a nobody? Why do you say “this our struggle na continue e be oooo?” Why do you decree evil concerning your own destiny? Why are you shocked at where you are now, when you are the one that has said it, that this shall be your experience? Some have said it, that they will never marry until they are forty, the way this economy is, how can they even marry before forty? And now they are thirty-seven, they are complaining they not married.
So, mothers that are very wise, they are very careful in cursing because they know it; when they say it, they will have it. Because it has been said be careful what you wish, because you might just have it. Why wish for evil, when you hate evil? Why wish that you may not succeed when you desire success? Why wish your marriage will break, when in the depth of your heart you want your marriage to succeed? So, don’t wish for it because there is a close line between your wishes and your spoken words, because the things you wish for, you will ultimately declare. So, before you build wrongly, before you keep a wrong system or a wrong experience in the church, guard your words.
Now let us go to the book of Ephesians 4:7-16, you know I said that we are meditating together. The Bible says:
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”9 (Now this, “He ascended “what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Verse 14, “that we should no longer be children” who are the we? You know when you hear we, it includes the person that was used by God to write this. No matter your height, no matter your depth, no matter your status, you should no longer be children is a desire of God for your life, “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him.” So, until we fully grow into Him, we have not grown into anything. “who is the head Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies; according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
So, the DNA of the church is the DNA of edification and equipping. The church has a DNA of being edified, the church has a DNA of being equipped. And how does it happen? Everyone supplies into the church and we are all bind together, we are all connected together by the things we releasee, bring into the body. Verse 15 says, “but, speaking the truth in love” so we have a purpose of speaking, we have a responsibility of speaking. Of course, you must speak the truth in love but the truth is, you must always speak the truth. So, to help us understand the implication of the equipping and edifying, the bible has shown us that we have to speak the truth in love. And He says in verse 11, “He Himself” that is, talking about Christ. Christ Himself that said He will build His church. The bible says “He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” for a responsibility, not for a show. The bible says, “He Himself gave some, He now gave some, He gave some, He gave some.” So, the question is what did He give you? Some people will say “No! I am not among them.” You are not among these some, or these some, all the various “some” that was mentioned, you are not among? So, where are you among? That’s a challenge for somebody.
“He gave some” He says “for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry.” The reason why He gave, He gave, He gave is that the saints must be equipped for the work of ministry. And He now says “for the edifying of the body of Christ.” So, some are made apostles, some are made pastors and teachers so that the saints can be equipped, so that believers can be equipped, so that the disciples of Christ can be equipped. Equipped for what? The bible makes it clear, for the work of ministry. But He gave some these responsibilities to equip the believers for their own responsibility, is it not like that? He gave Bro Francis a responsibility and He gave Him that responsibility, so that he will speak the truth. Every time he is functioning in that responsibility, he is speaking the truth so that somebody else will be prepared to become like him, speaking the truth also.
So, when Jesus was building His church, He was not creating a system where some people become perpetually called or become perpetual saints. You know you are just like that. In 1969, you are a church member. 1972, church member. 1982, church member. 1992, church member. 2002, church member. 2022 that is coming now, you are still a church member. We have still come to the church so that your Pastor will tell us everything, that is not the will of God. That is not a church that is equipped.
A church that is equipped is not a church that sustains mediocrity in perpetuity, that sustains dwarfs or that pampers people in their state of weaknesses. There is a place where the bibles say “strengthen the feeble needs” those who are weak, strengthen them. This is not the congregation of the weak. The church is not the gathering of the fools. It’s not some are wise; some are not wise. No! It says “till we all come,” don’t think the apostle must be an apostle and you must be nobody for the rest of your life, then you will not join those who must come into.
Ephesians 4:13 says, “till we all come to the unity of the faith.” To the point where what Bro B believes in, is what you believe in. Till we all come, number one, to the unity of the faith, till we all come to the knowledge of the Son of God. You know Jesus the way I do, I know Jesus the way you do, that is an equipped church. When you say a unit of an army is equipped, does it mean the captain is equipped and every other person is carrying stick. Is that an equipped army? No! Everybody is kitted, every part of their body that needs protection is protected, everybody is ready to kill, everybody is ready to save, everybody is ready. That’s an equipped army, and that is the purpose of God for His church, and it won’t happen if some of us keep telling ourselves, it’s about them and it’s not about me.
In fact, if you read 1Corinthians, the Bible says, He has set up first in the church Apostles.” You must understand that English, “the first” but that wasn’t the last. In addition to the first, also in the church, there were evangelists, prophets, then you start mentioning other ministries. In Ephesians He says “He gave some apostles”. In case some people think they are not apostles, “He gave some prophets.” So, if you don’t have this, you don’t have this, which one do you have? In case you do not have, does it mean you will not have tomorrow?
What will make sure that you will never have, is it not because you have refused to be equipped? He says “you are no longer children tossed to and fro” but you want to be a child. You still want to be told the basic principles of godliness. So, you must arise to your responsibility. God does not want you to be a babe, a weakling in His church. He says “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail” the question is, are the gates of hell not prevailing over many people? You are in the church, yet you are making hell to record success. So, is it because Christ has not ordained your means of dominion? God has done it. He says you and I have the responsibility to ensure that everyone that calls on the name of the Lord Jesus is equipped. It is your God assigned responsibility. If you re equipped, I succeed. If you are ill equipped, I fail. If you are ready to face the enemy of your destiny as a man or a woman, I pass.
At what point do we start seeing it like that? That when you see a believer who is being messed up, who is being oppressed, who is being pressed down by life, by the oppositions of his or her life, and then the person lacks the understanding of how to rise up, it is also a joint failure for all of us. The fall of one is the fall of all of us. The shame of one is the shame of all of us. You are looking at the church in a manner that Christ is not looking at it. You are thanking God for your life, but God is looking at somebody that you are neglecting somewhere who is being oppressed. Jesus didn’t just say he will build only you. He said, He will build His church. If you follow Him, you are part of His church. You must be built, and you have a responsibility, haven received the keys of the Kingdom to speak the truth. Make sure you do it in love however. And your goal is simple, speak the truth till we all come to the unity of the faith. We have the same faith, till we all come to the knowledge of the Son of God. Till we all come to a perfect man, we all come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Until Christ is fully formed in everyone in your church, in your fellowship, in your family, your job is not done. So, when you are doing the work of an apostle, don’t stop because you have some money in your bank account, No! If you are evangelizing, don’t stop. No matter your responsibility in the church, don’t stop, whether men pay you or they do not don’t stop, whether men say well-done or not, don’t stop, continue doing it. Continue equipping the church, as the church is equipped, God is glorified on the earth. So, you get to a time in your life, that you know, there is a witness in your spirit that you are equipping the church.
Imagine God giving somebody an NGO, a responsibility that is so funny. All you do is to buy kits that military people use. And all you do is, you just look for military people and you drop it in front of their gate and you go. You throw it into their gate and you go. Every military officer waking up in your city, and they all have their kits from you, without any address linking to you. Somebody will say but they won’t say well done to me, they won’t know that I’m the one that did it, does it really matter, don’t you have a society that is more secured? That’s it, when you kit up people across the church, you have a church that is ready, a church that is prepared unto every good work, Christ can use them for anything. Before you know it, you start seeing people rising up, no more fear, everyone is confident, everyone has faith, everyone knows Jesus who has called them. You don’t need to pamper or deceive people; people don’t need to beg them with anything to do anything. In the days of His power, the people therefore become willing. And you are wondering what has happened? What has happened is that you have done your job in equipping the church.
We have a responsibility to equip the church. Forget about the pay, Equip the church, it’s an investment into the Kingdom. We want to read Malachi 2:1-9, to see the opposite of what the Lord has been sharing with us now.
“And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,” Says the Lord of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart. 3 “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it. 4 Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue,” Says the Lord of hosts. 5 “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name. 6 The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity. 7 “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” Says the Lord of hosts. 9 “Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.”
“And now, O priests, this commandment is for you.” I am sure you remember that except you are commanded, you cannot speak. Lest they deflect these to others so God was specific, O priests, this commandment is for you. Verse 7 “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge”, knowledge of what? Somebody might ask. Ephesians 4:13 says “till we all come to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God”. “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you, the priests have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law, the law of the truth. The word through which you were supposed to equip men. You have caused men to stumble at the same word. You remember the bible says, study to show yourself approved unto God, a worker who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The law of truth, rightly dividing it. That means you can wrongly divide it. You can explain the word of God in a manner that confuses people. You can teach people the bible in a manner that makes people to even backslide.
He says, in verse 8, but you have departed from the way. You have caused many to stumble at the law, you have corrupted the word of Levi, another word for that is, covenant of Priesthood says the Lord the Lord of Host. Verse 9, therefore, I also have made you contemptible and based before all the people, because you have not kept my ways and I have shown partiality in the Lord. Apostle Paul said “we are not of them that handle the word of God with deceit.” We don’t handle the word of God anyhow; we are careful at the word of God. Did you see what happened here? It says “for the people should seek the law from his mouth”. God expects the priests to speak the truth, to build the people up, equip the people, edify the people. But instead of equipping, instead of edifying, they caused them to stumble! No wonder God said, I have cursed already. So, what happens to you that choses to speak the truth in love, equipping the church, edifying the church, you are blessed already.
Imagine, God said, I will even curse your blessing, the things that you thought they are good things happening to you, I will turn them to evil. So, what happens to you when you start doing what God expects you to do, He starts blessing you. It is the blessing of God that makes you rich, He doesn’t add sorrow. There is nothing that is not working in your life. You are not only blessed of God, you are at rest, you are at peace. No worry, no anxiety, no confusion, everything your heart desires, God gives it to you. You can walk with God to a point that you are even praying less about your own needs. You can do the work of God to a point that it is God that takes responsibility for everything around your life, while you take responsibility for everything in the kingdom. He said, “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and every other thing shall be added unto you.” I will give you the keys of the Kingdom. Will God give you the keys of His Kingdom, when He knows you have no heart for His Kingdom? Will God give you the keys of the Kingdom when he knows that you will abuse the keys due to your own indiscipline, arrogance or carelessness? Should God bring lives under your command, would you not command them into sin or command them into error? This is a charge that the Lord has for us.
My prayer is that we will be indeed an equipped church, a church that is edified, a church that is growing into the fullness of the stature of Christ Jesus, that is growing into perfection. A church that is waxing strong in faith, a church of knowledge of Christ. Apostle Paul said it in Colossians, “Him we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Him we preach.” That’s why, for these priests, God cursed them. If God will not curse you, you must make Jesus whom you preach. So, when people come to your lips, they should find the knowledge of Jesus, expose Jesus to the people. Let people be built up in Christ Jesus and let them be awoken to their responsibility in Him. Let them know their identity in Christ, what Christ has prepared for them. Let them know that in Christ Jesus lies everything that they require. Everything that pertains to life and godliness, the Bible says, God has given them to us, but we will have access to them through the knowledge of Jesus. “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering even be conformed to His death.”
I believe it is a good time to pray!
