What is the building up of the church? .. er.. part 1

In Matthew 16 the Lord Jesus spoke about the building of the church. After Peter received the revelation concerning Christ, the Lord said, “On this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). In saying these words, the Lord certainly did not mean that the building of His church would begin at the time of His second coming. At the latest, the Lord began to build the church on the day of Pentecost. In 1 Peter 2:5 Peter says that we are living stones being built up a spiritual house. This indicates that the building of the church is taking place today, not only in the future.

We thank the Lord for showing us that the building is taking place now. Moreover, He has shown us the way to have the building. Ephesians 2:21 says that all the building is growing, and the next verse says that we are being built together into God’s dwelling place. Thus, growing equals being built, and being built equals growing. This indicates that the proper building of the church is the growth in life.

In Ephesians chapter four we also have the thought of growth. Verse 13 speaks of a full-grown man (Gk.), and verse 15 says that we should hold the truth in order to grow up in everything into the Head, Christ. Furthermore, verse 16 speaks of the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Even verse 14 has the thought of growth, for it says that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro. To be no longer children is to have the proper growth. Therefore, in Ephesians 4:13-16 the thought of growth is found in every verse. According to these verses, the building of the Body comes through the growth in life.

In the entire universe God has just one dwelling place. The building of this dwelling place began, at the latest, on the day of Pentecost, and it is still going on. The process of building will be completed, not at the time of the Lord’s coming back, but at the end of the millennium.

According to the New Testament, from the time of Adam until the time of the millennium there are four ages: the age of Adam, the age of the law, the age of grace, and the age of the kingdom. The building of the church takes place during the age of grace and the age of the kingdom. It began on the day of Pentecost, the beginning of the age of grace, and it will be completed by the end of the age of the kingdom. Then the fullness of time with the New Jerusalem will come. Thus, the completion of God’s building will be in the new heaven and new earth, which will appear after the millennium. Although the New Jerusalem comes at the beginning of the millennium, its full completion, the completion of God’s building, will not be until the end of the millennium.

Although the building is going on today, the majority of Christians are not concerned about it and have no heart for it. They neither understand it nor speak of it. Today many of us have been captured by the vision of the building. We have seen that what the Lord is seeking today is the building. Without the building, there is no way for Him to come back.

wanna ask.. is the heaven a place shared among different religions? or different religion has their own heaven? my aunt was able to astral project and she told us hell & heaven is basically the same thing (she went there during AP), just depends what kind of frequency u vibrate at that u perceive either hell or heaven.

Nothing to do with them( phillipines). I use to go to CKRM in Ara Damansara, we have some similar happenings mostly tangible electricity. A few cases of translation in spirit, gold dust manisfestation twice. I been discipline by the Lord and the Lord like kick me out thru a series of little judgement I didnt reliase. I just know last 6 months.

I was in tis church in 2010 until august 2011 when I couldn't withstand the little accidents(judgements) anymore. So I left. I only knew God was disciplining me until 6 months ago.

How can, bro if you keep commiting sin you will be judged. Born again you be cleansed from past sins, tats correct, bro. Anyway I am trying to deal with it by looking for a good place for deliverance. Think I found it, by dont know God will take how long to deliver me.

True it may sound, but it also contradicts for we Christians believe what was written in the Bible is infallible, and inspired Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit - even for Old Testament.

I do not think Christianity History, which is mainly of the Church should be blamed when traditions and customs were playing a large role when Christianity was as its infancy 33AD-4th Century AD especially (people were relying on bits and pieces of Scriptures and Psalms), and Jewish were relying on mouth to mouth tradition - that is how the OT came about too.

Given a time machine, we would all now be praising God in latin, which is something not even early Christians understand very well (do we understand well the Bible in English? not even close like you said and like Jesus said, we lack the revelation to understand it) but early Christians do know this: love, which is the most important.

Apostolic Succession and Customs, Traditions
1 Timothy 3:15
if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:15
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. = Bible never mention about sola scriptura

God’s will is simply to reveal His Son, Christ, in us. We need to leave behind the religious ways of meeting, praying, and teaching in today’s Christianity. We should even leave behind our old traditional knowledge of the Bible. What we need is to have our entire being unveiled to see Christ and receive Him into us. As we experience the indwelling Christ’s operating within us, we all love one another, and the result is that we have the church life. The church life is not a matter of religious teachings, gifts, regulations, forms, or ordinances. It is a matter of enjoying Christ as the All-inclusive Spirit (or grace) for the Practical, Genuine, and Real Church Life

morning

can everyone tell me about hail mary? (mother of jesus)
why we call her as mother of jesus?

is she a real mother of jesus? or ?

:confuse:

recently just watch TV about a mary places help the poor the sick people. like a takecare place.

in bible got write any about mary?
i saw some movie about a nun pray a mary instead jesus christ.

i only know mary wonder the world and help the poor who cannot afford themselves

Catholics have too many traditions tat have nothing to do with Christ. And they dont emphasive enough on the area about relationship/intimacy with God. It ask us believe in forms and substance of catholic church tat cannot save souls.

But catholics who seek God are still gods ppl i guess.

the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,

the first line was based on
Matthew 28:19-20
New International Version (NIV)
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Actually, that term which means universal, came from the Late Latin Translation of the Koine Greek.

Just for your information :

Hebrews 12:23 to the GENERAL assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

The word catholic (derived via Late Latin catholicus, from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), meaning "universal"[1][2]) comes from the Greek phrase καθόλου (katholou), meaning "on the whole", "according to the whole" or "IN GENERAL", and is a combination of the Greek words κατά meaning "about" and όλος meaning "whole"

Hebrews 12:23 To the catholic assembly and Church of the firstborn,,, Not only shows it Catholic , but visible..

The Holy Bible (in 1st Timothy 3:15) says that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth.
Jesus promise (in Matthew 16:18) that the power of Hades cannot prevail against the Church.
The Spirit of Truth will guide the Church into all the truth (John 16:13).
The Church is commissioned to make disciples of all nations, and teach to the ends of the earth and to the end of age (Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8).

Initially, God's covenant was with individuals, then to a family, then to a tribe, then to many tribes, then to a nation, then to all nations OR κατα ολοι ["to all" in Koine Greek is "kata holoi" from which the name Catholic was derived.] (Acts 1:8 & Matthew 28:19) Hence, καθολικος (CATHOLIC).

Bearing in mind Apostle's Creed was before Protestant came about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles'_Creed

well, IMO it extends to all who believes in Christ, bec it means universal.

about Communion of Saints, well I explained it before. Nothing I can do to change your mind bro   

I have not yet returned to Malaysia, and Vatican has sent dignitaries to verify its authenticity. But I saw the image and it was unclear , vague at best.

IMO, it stirs up much throughout. No comments. As I have mentioned to bro before, catholics do , certain ones, to a certain extent, hold the idea that our Blessed Mother is higher than our Lord Jesus Christ to faulty understanding or catechism, mostly elders. Many are after-converts, and not many study till university, literacy rate was not high in the past.

as for me, I do not want to judge. Because I only stand by a simple principle which God would like us to: which is to love. It brings less confusion, less rage, less impure thoughts.

As I have mentioned to bro before, catholics do , certain ones, to a certain extent, hold the idea that our Blessed Mother is higher than our Lord Jesus Christ to faulty understanding or catechism, mostly elders. Many are after-converts, and not many study till university, literacy rate was not high in the past.

This is simply not true.
It's true that average Catholics lack of capability to explain why Catholics do certain things because they never even bother to learn how or some even don't care to learn their own faith, but no matter how indoctrinate they are, I've never met a Catholic that thought they are praying or worshiping to statue or Mary.

The only people that insist of thinking Catholics are praying and worshiping to statue or Mary, are Protestant* group of Christians. Even when attempted to correct them, they posses the attitude of "no, you are actually praying to / worshiping statue or Mary, but you just don't want to admit it"
*when I say Protestants, I mean the group that is formed after the reformation, and if I use "non-Catholics", it could mean Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, etc which do not fall into Protestant group.