As we have studied in II Corinthians 9:8-10, it should be the goal of every Christian to have:

1) all grace, abounding

2) all sufficiency, in everything

3) an abundance for every good deed

4) our seed multiplying so that we have even more for sowing

Take this personally. This is the state of normal, mature Christianity. It is what God wants you walking in. He has unlimited resources, and not only does He not mind sharing them with you, but He delights in it. He wants you to live the most fruitful, prosperous life possible in order to bless many others, as being a blessing to others is always the greatest blessing that we can have.

Now we must consider this most basic factor if we are going to walk in this, which is the fruit of our Promised Land. That is, as we are told in II Corinthians 1:20, “For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes...” Again, all of these things are found “in Him.” All of these things are the fruit of abiding in Him.

For example, did He not walk in “all grace, abounding?” Did He not have “all sufficiency in everything?” Did He not have “an abundance for every good deed?” Did His seed not multiply and result in even more seed for sowing? Yet, He did not own a home, and at times did not even have a coin in His pocket. He did not need those things because He was able to draw on the resources of heaven at any time and in any place. The Lord did not have to be wealthy in earthly riches because He had greater riches.

Heavenly riches can be converted to earthly riches at any time, but the reverse is not true. This does not mean that we do not use earthly riches for kingdom purposes; they can never become heavenly riches—they will always be natural. However, as we have covered repeatedly, we must be faithful in the earthly riches before we will be trusted with the heavenly ones.

What would you rather have—the money to feed five thousand or the authority to turn a couple of fish and loaves of bread into enough to feed five thousand? Because we must learn to be faithful with “unrighteous mammon” before we will be entrusted with the true riches of the kingdom, we need to embrace and be thankful for the money when we do have it to do good with. Our hearts must be on the kingdom of God and walking in His authority and resources, which are unlimited and are even over “all things.”

For this we must ever be mindful that our goal is to abide in Him. We only have true spiritual authority to the degree that we are abiding in the King. So, practically, how do we “grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ”? (Ephesians 4:15). The next verse, Ephesians 4:16, tells us: “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” True church life, the way that it was designed to be, is what enables us to practically grow up into Christ.

It is now estimated that the majority of Christians are not vitally involved in a local church. This must also be considered as a primary reason why the majority of Christians remain weak, defeated, and often manifest the opposite of the fruit and power of the Spirit. This is why many fall into traps, deception, and doctrines of demons—some even turn away from Christ completely. Church life is not an option for true Christianity—it is essential.

I have heard all manner of excuses by Christians for not being a part of a local church, from the deception that their family is their church (if this were true, why did the Lord institute the church, since we already had families), to statements like “I love the Lord, I just don’t like His people,” which the Scriptures refute as not being possible. Granted, church life is often very difficult, but it is meant to be. It also contains the potential to be the greatest source of blessing we can imagine.

Without all of the wonders, love, excitement, irritations, frustrations, disappointments, boredom, and the trials and victories that are abundant in local church life, we simply will not mature in Christ. We may grow in some truth and understanding, and may even feel more at peace and self-satisfied in some ways, but we will not grow up as we should into Christ. The Scriptures make it clear that a vital church life is essential for this.

When there were just two brothers on the earth they could not get along. This was because of the selfishness that had entered into mankind when our first parents ate the fruit of the wrong tree. The first result from eating that tree was that “they looked at themselves...” This caused them to cover themselves up and hide. We have been doing those three things ever since, becoming self-centered, trying to provide our own covering or righteousness, and hiding with the multitude of facades that most people wear. True deliverance from the result of the Fall comes from being delivered from self-centeredness, not trying to cover ourselves, but accepting the sacrifice of Christ the covering of our sin. We should stop trying to hide and be open and honest with all. This is why the verse we quoted in Ephesians 4:16 begins with “speaking the truth in love.”

Because we are often given such an idealistic view of what church is supposed to be like, when it fails to measure up, it is hard not to be disappointed to the point of wanting to abandon it. Without question, the church, the way that the Lord intends for it to be, is the greatest social institution on the earth. However, we need to have our idealism transformed into true vision from God, not our own desires. There is a process required for this, but many are not willing to go through the wilderness to get to the Promised Land. For this reason they, too, like the first generation of Israel to leave Egypt, perish while going in circles, having never really tasted the fruit of the land.

As Paul prayed for the believers in Colossians 2:2-3:
 

Until we have been “knit together in love,” we simply cannot have the “full assurance of understanding” or a “true knowledge of God’s mystery,” Christ Himself. He is manifested in His body, the church. That is why He said in Matthew 23:39: "For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ' Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" After His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, we cannot see Him unless we see Him in those He sends, His people.

This is no easy task, but it is required if we want to walk in His authority and bear His fruit. To see Him in those He sends usually requires seeing past a lot of things that are not Him. That is why even the great apostle Paul acknowledged that “his flesh was a trial” to the Galatians, but they received him as if he was an angel from God (see Galatians 4:14). We will not see Him in others until we stop looking for the flaws and start looking for Him in His people. This does not mean we overlook the problems and not try to correct them, but we do it with faith from the positive perspective, and not the negative one of doubt.

Let us first keep in mind that the church is for the Lord, not us. Our main devotion should be to seek the place and people that He wants to dwell in, not just what will attract people. He chose some of the most unlikely leaders for His church—they were still arguing over who was the greatest just before His crucifixion and then they almost all scattered from Him when He needed His friends the most. Let’s face it; the original apostles were quite a piece of work. How could anyone put their trust in them, much less the Lord? The reason why He trusted them was because His trust was in the Holy Spirit, not them, just as ours should be.

In the beginning it says that the Holy Spirit moved upon that which was “formless and void” (Genesis 1:2) or as some translations state, He moved upon “the chaos.” He still seems to like to take that which is chaos and make a beautiful creation out of it. In the maturing process of every church there will be times which seem like that is exactly what we are, but this is one of the best opportunities for the Holy Spirit to move! We need to view every problem, even if it degenerates into what appears to be chaos, as an opportunity for the Holy Spirit, and rise with expectation to watch the great thing that He is going to do.

We love to see miracles, but few want to be put in the situation where they are going to need one. Not a single one of the Lord’s apostles were qualified for that great task. It was in their weakness that His strength was perfected. It was their lack that made them even more dependent on the Holy Spirit.

We want perfect authority before we submit to it, but if we reject the authority that the Lord sends to us, regardless of the condition they are in, we are rejecting Him. Indeed, the true test that will distinguish the sheep from the goats will be the ability to see Him even in the least of His people and to treat them as His people. This is why Moses explained to Israel that if they reject him, they were rejecting the Lord. Moses was not claiming to be perfect, but he was the one God had sent to them. So if you reject the messenger, you reject the One who sent him.

If we really want to grow up into Christ fast, the more difficult the church life, the better. Every problem is an opportunity to grow in love, patience, peace, etc. We are not growing in love if we only love those that we love. To grow in love we must learn to love the unlovable, and then even learn to love our enemies. As we are exhorted in Hebrews 6:11-12: “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

It is going to take both faith and patience to inherit the Promised Land that we are called to have. Don’t waste your trials. Don’t waste a single opportunity to grow in both of these essential qualities that all who bear fruit for the kingdom must have. Don’t run from church life, which you are certain to need, and can therefore grow. This is the seed bed provided for us to walk in:

1) all grace, abounding

2) all sufficiency, in everything

3) an abundance for every good deed

4) our seed multiplying so that we have even more for sowing

Do not settle for anything less than these in your life. This is your calling and your inheritance.