Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. I Corinthians 14:12

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1 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. I Corinthians 14:12 We have richness, abundance, long-suits, and ministries, all wonderful blessings from God, which are designed for us to have so we can share them with one another. We have two manifestations which God designed to be used in a fellowship of believers. What a privilege we have to operate them. We are to hold them forth to each other with the same grace that God has favored us with. Why hold anything back? Romans 13:8 Romans 15:1 Owe no man anything but to love one another. This is not speaking of monetary debt, but sharing our love and deference to one another We ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, not to please ourselves. Now that we are part of a body we have horizontal obligations and privileges that are our joy to lovingly share with one another. There are things we can do that no one else can do quite the same. And if we don t, it surely would be missed. Love is the model. God loves us and blesses us vertically. Then we share that love horizontally to one another. Now when we read the New Testament, the pages will come alive with new insights, because we ll notice those one-body-words indicating new horizontal aspects to what is there. The words indicating the greatness of this practical understanding of the mystery peek at us out of the Word like tips of icebergs in the sea. One such detail is a little word, dei, translated ought. This word does not deal with things which are of necessity, but rather things to which we are morally obligated. 46 Both Romans 12:3 and I Corinthians 8:2 contain it, and both are sections which deal with how we should walk with reference to who we are in the body of Christ. Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought [dei] to think; but to think soberly [sound mindedly], according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For those who are already willing to obey out of a ready mind, it is the less obvious things that we have to be told that we ought to do. The same is true today. Many faithful, walking believers have seen the obvious facet of the renewed mind. That has been good. Now we have seen a second facet pertaining to the body, equally as important, but less obvious. We ought to consider it for it is part of thinking sound mindedly. 46 Thayer, ibid, p

2 I Corinthians 8:1-3 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. knowledge puffeth up, but charity [agap!], the love of God manifested horizontally by the renewed mind] edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth [gin"sk"], has known by experience] anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought [dei] to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. What are these verses telling us? This less obvious facet must be very important. It truly is necessary for the individual to have the proper perspective. Without this orientation his other knowledge is valueless. Those are strong words, but watch where this tip of the iceberg takes us. This word serves as a signpost to guide us into this facet of the life that Jesus Christ came to make available. So we ll digress for a moment from Romans to track a few occurrences of this word. 47 Romans 8:26-29 We should pray as we ought. Just as in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 8, this word ought is encouraging behavior that is one-body oriented. God set up a method by which we may pray as we ought for the saints, without violating the sanctity of other believers personal relationships with God. It is intercession via speaking in tongues. Intercession requires specificity. The only other possible way to intercede with specifics would be for God to give the person praying revelation about the specifics of those being prayed for. That would be an invasion of their privacy and result in confidences that could be misused. God avoided this contingency by instituting intercession via speaking in tongues whereby we can pray, stating the specifics necessary, but in an unknown tongue. Verse 28 says that intercession is a prayer that is according to the will of God. He doesn t waste words! If you were able to translate it, there d be no ums or you knows in it. He gets to the point. This is supported by the word, groaneth, in verse 26. It is the Greek word stenagmos which is a noun derived from the verb stenaz". What English word do you think we get from stenaz"? Stenography. Intercession via speaking in tongues is spiritually abbreviated, concentrated, straight to the point prayer. Who ever said that we needed to pray for hours and hours for situations? (Sometimes that s beneficial, but probably more from the prayer s perspective than the prayee s.) That s why we can intercede for a few moments, and then have the quiet knowing that it s done. The results are on their way. Put this intercessory prayer that s according to the will of God, together with I John 5:14,15. I John 5:14,15 If it is according to His will Wow! If the prayer is according to His will, He hears [hearkens to] us, and we know then that we shall receive. What a lever for prayer intercession is! That s why Romans 8:29 is there, in context. It isn t a decoupage verse any more! The all things are what we just prayed for via speaking in tongues! Now let s return to our regularly scheduled program. 47 A study of all the New Testament occurrences of dei would be fruitful. 56

3 Acts 20:35 We ought to support the weak. Again we are encouraged toward a mode of behavior which is horizontal by the word dei. It is interesting that the word translated support here is a direct relative of the word translated helpeth in Romans 8:26. Signpost words like dei or all!lon will intertwine with other words common to their subject like threads in a tapestry s pattern, intersecting regularly. Prayer via intercession and believing is a valid labor of love which we ought to do for one another. It is part of the burden bearing that we are encouraged to do. Recognition of the other family oriented actions of Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8 is brought in by the word weak. I Thessalonians 3:12-4:1 We ought to walk in the manner prescribed by God in His Word. Our walk of love needs to abound one toward another in the body of Christ. We are encouraged, parakale", to walk that way as Romans 12 opens and to please, aresk", God as Romans 15 closes. The signpost words for walking in the body are thick here: Love, one another, Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints, exhort [parakale"], ought, and please. All echo back to Romans which is the cornerstone of the concepts of the renewed mind walk before God and toward the body. Tracking a few more occurrences of dei will list some more of the elements of this walk. I Thessalonians 4:1-6 Dei = ought (verse 1). Verses 4 and 5 deal with the way in which we ought to walk individually toward God. Verse 6 speaks of the horizontal walk using terms which fit with Romans 12:3 not thinking out of bounds and Romans 12:14-21 where God is our avenger. He does not stand for behavior which violates the body. The fit with Romans is clear to see. If one looks up all of the occurrences of this word, dei, it will lead them to many facets of one-body oriented behavior according to the mystery. Now we will see some verses which state this literally. Ephesians 6:20 He ought to proclaim the mystery. What ought he to speak? The things pertaining to the great mystery. This is the mystery presented in Ephesians 3 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in the gospel by Jesus Christ. This is the hidden mystery, regarding the Church since Pentecost, pertaining to the Church to which you and I now belong. This mystery should no longer be a mystery for it is the bedrock of Christianity, but it still is hidden to most believers. Because leaders have not lived up to their obligations concerning the triumph of good over evil, Christianity has sunken into worldly compromise and division. One result of this was that this great mystery, underlying God s actions from the beginning, even before the foundation of the world, was lost. They were not good stewards of the great mystery of God. If the apostle Paul ought to have spoken of it, should it not be our responsibility to speak of it too? We ought to proclaim the mystery, to the end that it no longer be a mystery to our generation. This is not only the responsibility of the leadership but also the believers. 57

4 Colossians 4:4-6 I Timothy 3:15 So we know how we ought to answer every man. That really connects it with the mystery. This word in this scripture here certifies family oriented behavior. We just don t renew our minds and act with respect to who we are in Christ, but also with respect to who we are in the body of Christ. This verse overlays the concepts of the house of God, the assembly of the living God [as opposed to idolatry], the pillar of the truth and the mainstay or central supporting beam of the truth and ties in to it the heritage of one-body oriented behavior indicated by the word dei. Orient your behavior toward one another in the body not just toward your own perfection. The horizontals are just as important as the verticals. The mystery of the one body is as important to our age as the law of Moses was to its age. This verse really demonstrates how great fellowship with one another really is. There are things that we cannot achieve any other way. The nurturing and growing and maturation process revolves around the house of God. It is where the spiritual fireworks are, not in some big production in some auditorium. It is in some Joe or Jane-believer s living room! The Great Mystery The great mystery is central to our administration. It was hidden throughout the Old Testament and Gospels and later revealed to the apostle Paul. But God knew it and actually had it demonstrated on the Day of Pentecost for the languages that were spoken were the tongues of the Gentiles. It took a number of years for the Church to discover the fullness of what happened on that day. It was first revealed to the Apostle Paul. Romans 16:25,26 I Corinthians 2:1-13 Had Satan known it, he wouldn t have had Christ crucified. Ephesians 3:1-11 Verse 6 implies full sharing with coheirs, co-body, copartakers. Colossians 1:21-23, 25-2:7 We can be rooted and built up and established. We can become mature, strong believers. Speaking in tongues is the manifestation that edifies us spiritually. That s because it is the only manifestation we can do at any time. So if you want to grow, speak in tongues much! But like with everything else there is a balance. We are not all spirit. Some of us may have secular jobs which do not give us pause to speak in tongues much while at work. That s ok, be your best at your job. Speaking in tongues is stenaz!, concentrated. There are many other times during our day when we can concentrate on it. Ephesians 4:15 I Peter 2:1-5 Luke 8: Grow up into him. Requires clearing away some crust first. Stay on the good ground spoken of in the parable of the sower.

5 Honest is kalos, meaning outward manifested perfection. Good is agathos, meaning inward perfection, harmoniously balanced. Ephesians 3:17 Colossians 1:23 I Peter 5:10 Grounded is themelio!, founded. Put on a solid foundation. Grounded is themelio!. Suffer means being acted upon by the experiences of life. Perfect is katartiz!, fully furnish, mend. Stablish is steriz!, make stable, steadfast. Strengthen is stheno!, moral and physical strength. Settle is themelio!, found, put on a solid foundation. Colossians 2:7 Ephesians 2:19-22 Established is bebaio!, secure, confirmed. We are built upon the foundation of the (New Testament) apostles and prophets. Genuine leaders help build. That is why I say that there are things that believers cannot get unless they ally themselves with genuine, functioning leaders. II Peter 1:2-10 I Peter 5:1-3 Luke 22:25 Mark 10:42-45 I Peter 4:10,11 We have been called all the way unto the end result of what happens when the whole body works together. Genuine leaders are to feed the flock without ulterior motive. Genuine leaders do not lord over their people. The genuine grow in authority as they grow in service. Leaders can decoupage these verses. Leaders are very important to see that we get rooted, grounded, and established. Leaders have authority. There are times when a leader may need to ban evildoers from attending fellowships, but this must be done very carefully and should be the exception not the rule. Matthew 18:15-17 should not be taken out of its context. Matthew 18:15-17 Matthew 18:12-14, Check the context! Fault, in verse 15 and sin in verse 21 are the same words! The context shows what the difference is. Mountains are indicative of the Adversary s deeply entrenched position. If a leader is unwilling to go into the mountains to effect a rescue, then they are unqualified to kick someone out. Furthermore, by comparing verse 15 and 21 where the words fault and sin are the same word, one must read the parable in verses to tell the difference 59

6 between the two situations. In the first, the offender is impenitent. In the second, the offender must be truly sorry for their offence and if they are, it is 490 strikes and you re out, not three strikes and you re out! The difference is that one person is sorry and is trying to do something about it. People should not be cast out unjustly when they are trying to do something about it. Romans 1:11,12 I Corinthians 1:3-9 II Corinthians 8:23 Spiritual gift refers to the gift ministries. We should come behind in no gift. Every church had a designate who worked with the Apostle. They were the messengers, apostolos, of the churches. This is why I believe that all the ministries can be represented at the local area level. Maybe not all the gift ministries will be represented by ordained clergy, or recognized apostles or prophets, etc. but there can be people who because of their love may function like one when that ministry is needed. There may be people rising up who will ultimately be recognized and ordained. All are there ready to blossom under the right conditions. God has thought of everything. Even if someone leaves, there are more available that He ll rise up to take their place. Just think of what a great fellowship it would be if the local area had one or more of each of these: an encourager, a teacher who instructs, a giver, a prophet who speaks for God, a merciful one, an evangelist who witnesses, helps who support, an apostle who innovates, an administrator who leads, those who faithfully serve, a miracle worker and a healer who demonstrate God s power, a pastor who undershepherds and those adept at manifesting speaking in tongues both great intercessors and who excel with interpretation and prophecy! That is available for every area as we all hold forth our blessings with grace and love, one-body minded. Colossians 2:16 This is a snapshot of the Body working together. God has called us from the beginning to fellowship with one body with all our wonderful ministries, and we can be rooted, grounded, and established. At this time if you have 3 or more manifesting believers, you may have the Recievers Session number 4 - see the Appendix: Receivers Session Guide for details. 60