By REV. TIMOTHY L. MELTON, PASTOR
CHEROKEE PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH
Read Ephesians 4:1-9; Matthew 28:18-20
We’re told by Paul that while in prison he was still able to serve the Lord. By his choosing to witness of all Jesus had accomplished, he could not withhold the Good News from anyone else he encountered. He continued to witness while in prison, even after being placed there for his doing so. He counted it as an honor that he could show his love and dedication to the Lord in that way.
In all things and in all ways, we each are to be serving Jesus, too. In Paul’s writing to the Ephesians, while locked away from the world, he lets us know we are to continue doing what the Lord has given each person to be doing for Him. When we’ve been found ‘worthy of the life,’ it is a way we each can achieve, adding more ‘worth’ to our life.
The Bible is also our book of privilege and of power. Once saved, we have been given the right, with His love for mankind, and His power, to put the devil away for good. After that’s been done, it will usher in a wonderful time for celebration and joy, such as the world has never seen before.
We ought also to be attending and joining in with the rest of His Church in learning how this is done and in how to best witness to others. Everyone on this planet is to be, at the very least, invited to participate in the celebration. To bring many others into the Kingdom of God, there can be no exceptions for those who have freely accepted their invitation to the Marriage Feast, or for not participating in His service in some capacity.
In this, we must also understand that not even the Church can actually save anyone of the ‘fleshly persuasion’. Although people may be attending a church, by remaining unsaved, they can prove themselves as ‘most challenging.’ However, others should also realize they are the very ones who can be changed as soon as they do make their decision. Their growth will begin as they accept Jesus as their Lord, and will show from the inside-out as they begin ‘to grow outwardly.’ The other Church members need to be filled with the mercy, grace and patience of the Holy Spirit at all times to really help them.
There is a song, “He’s Still Working on Me” that truly epitomizes the applying of that reality to all of us. We are called to live up to the standard Paul held up for us. We know that no one is yet perfected on this side of heaven. However, we are all to be maturing, and are to begin by our demonstrating God’s promised anointing of grace, love and mercy of us towards each other, first.
Living up to that standard, especially with no more misery or hangovers, the Church can truly have a much more successful walk together. We are to walk worthily in humility and meekness, even holiness, bearing each other up in the unity of the Holy Spirit. For each person it may mean that there are sometimes when one doesn’t get everything their own way, but it can, by prayers, help save the Body of Christ from becoming fractured or by painful Church splits.
To every believer is given an anointing, a full measure of His grace. The Anointing results in our spending much time in learning of Him and developing our trusting in and of Him. We can begin to see the measure and how God operates in each life. We can never boast in them as they are given so that our vocational calling may be a powerful one. The Anointing is only for helping others, not for ourselves. The Holy Spirit gives to mankind other gifts, too. Unwrap them and examine each gift carefully and respectfully as they are all very powerful.
Jesus went not only through the brutal beatings and the cross, but He also went to hell and took away all the keys of heavenly authority which the devil had stolen from Adam. Jesus returned all things to us and fulfilled all things for us so that we will now have every blessing needed.
Whatever we are called to be, our amount and quality of preparation is most important—not any church program. We function only to our highest level of preparation. Ministry is when the saints demonstrate their gifting or as taught, then God shows up and everybody sees and talks about results.
