Shalom all, you’re welcome to this sermon review on the topic, “the Seal of Perfection”. The goal of this sermon is to make us grasp the purposes of the heavenly bridegroom with his earthly bride. God has one church on earth -and in His unsearchable wisdom, He has designed the fivefold ministry (upon whom the government of His body is established) for his divine plans. Thus, He cannot be haphazard, He is doing something definite per time in His church, because He has a goal, and this we want to understand.
TEXT: Ephesians 4:9-15, Malachi 4: 4-6, Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:41, Hebrew 6:1, 1Corinthians 13:9, James 1:22, Philippians 3:21
PERFECTING AND PERFECTION (Ephesians 4:12, Philippians 3:12, Colossians 2:10, Philippians 3:15)
One of the purposes of the fivefold is for the perfecting of the saints. Perfecting, obviously, is different from “Perfection”. What is perfection? It means for something to be complete, without fault, without error, having nothing to add or remove from it. However, perfecting is the continuous gaining of experience, understanding, and wisdom as you age in the Lord -and you will never get to the end of it -so long as you’re on earth.
If the work of perfecting glaringly from scriptures is seen to be given to the fivefold ministry, then, it’ll be quite painful for any man to believe God gave him a ministry that will perfect the bride. No, the ministry that will do the work of perfecting is given solely to His blessed fivefold -there is no single ministry that will perfect the bride. To what end is such a claim? Don’t try to make a name for yourself with scriptures. For some that we have around the world, the problem comes from misconstruing ‘perfecting’ to mean ‘perfection’. For those who believe in the message of the seventh angel, whilst it is so important for you to read the sermon book, perfecting does not come from reading the sermon book, not even reading the bible from Genesis to Revelation, instead, applying whatever you understand in your life is what do you good -and bring about this perfecting.
Paul, in Philippians 3:12, said he has not attained perfection, right? Would you then tell Paul that he cannot make heaven? Or perhaps, he lost his salvation? Definitely not! That wasn’t what Paul was trying to depict, rather, he’s making us understand that being in the flesh, there’s a need for him to keep learning, to keep working upon himself, to keep growing which is the definition of what ‘perfecting’ means. As far as Paul’s salvation is concerned, he was complete in God, because we are saved by grace, and whatever Christ does is perfect -there is no half salvation. But regarding perfecting, I would call it maturing. And of course, you would believe with me that there’s no end to maturity -you keep maturing. So, perfecting is for those who have been saved and baptized into the body.
The Three Steps of Perfection
- Perfection by Salvation: On the cross, a thief surrendered his life to Jesus, and right there, he met salvation. And yes, that salvation was perfect, he was not half saved, that salvation was not gradual -it was complete. On the day of Pentecost, three thousand people were saved, they heeded the instruction of Peter who spoke by the Holy Spirit, repented of their sin, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. That is how this salvation comes, not by saying some sinner’s prayer, not by baptizing in trinity titles. Act 2:38 gave the emblem of what a perfect salvation is! Check it out!
- Doctrinal perfecting: After the three thousand repented and got saved, Christ could then begin his work of perfecting in their lives. Interestingly, the bible says in Acts 2:42, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. This is the next phase of perfection -where you are rooted and grounded in the right doctrine of Christ that is able to build you up. This is where you begin to learn the ways of God because, without the right doctrine, you cannot have the right worship. The more you’re knowing God here, the more you get humble -you’re simply maturing. Thus, it will be needed to know here that when you believe (thanks to God who spared your life afterwards), you don’t stay home and claim you’re fine. You are not supposed to forsake the assembling of the brethren. It’s a sign that God is working in your life when you love to hear the word of God, because that’s where God deals with your carnal man -and he does that by His word. Amen! This is where maturity begins. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Apostle Peter told us of the things we should be adding to faith in 2 Peter 2:5-10.
- Maturity -Life Perfecting: This is where life comes into play. To live the life of what you preach is the evidence that what you’re preaching is inside of you. The essence of all the revelation God gives us is so that we can live a life worthy of the kingdom. A revelation without a life is useless. This is the highest level of perfecting. If you cannot live the life of the doctrine you’re preaching, please stop. Stop, and check your faith, perhaps you’re not saved yet. We keep growing in Spirit till, eventually, we will have our vile bodies changed. We’re told in scriptures that it is the doer that’s justified and not the hearer.
Therefore, we indeed cannot overemphasize the importance of fellowship, on consciously adding the need to our faith, on the importance of having a Life in God. The word of God is what builds you, the word of God is what equips you, the word of God is what perfect you, but you have to with diligence, take conscious effort to walk with God.
God help us. Shalom!