FRIDAY June 4, 2021
Adding to the Church
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:46-47
Church growth does not happen through manmade schemes: cookie sales, carwashes, entertainment or other gimmicks. The Church does not grow through manmade efforts or programs; it is the Lord who brings growth to the Church: “ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). God adds to the church daily as many as He desires to save (Acts 2:47). I love it!
The word Church is the Greek word Ekklisia. It is translated to mean “to call out or an assembly of people coming together.” In Acts 9:31, we find the Church was not only edified and at peace, but it multiplied as believers walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit:
Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
In Ephesians 5:23, once again we find ...Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. The Scriptures confirm that Christ is the head of the Church! The most beautiful and mysterious picture of the Church is seen through the typology of the marital relationship recorded in Ephesian 5:25-27:
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
What an incredible picture of the Church––the Bride of Christ and Christ as the Beloved Bridegroom.
If we be married to Christ, and He be jealous of us, depend upon it this jealous husband will let none touch His spouse.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
