Jim Parker
Member
The State of the Union Address
Part one
What is it?
The State of the Union address is a communication between the President and Congress in which the chief executive reports on the current conditions of the United States and provides policy proposals for the upcoming legislative year.
The purpose of the communication is to allow the president to identify the issues of the nation, which he believes need to be the focus of attention for congress,
- in order to effectively take care of those issues
- for the benefit of the people of the nation.
That is why the founders of our nation established a government in the form of a constitutional republic. (NOT a democracy)
The government has three divisions each with its specific responsibility:
- the legislative branch, congress, makes laws
- the executive branch, the president, sees that the laws are carried out
- the judicial branch, the courts, see that the laws are in compliance with (aren’t in conflict with) the constitution on which all the laws are based.
So, every year, Congress and the Supreme court justices and the president get together to hear what the president thinks we they need to address.
- The president tells them what a great job he’s done so far
- then he tells them what he thinks we need to get done in the coming year.
Jesus gave the apostle John a “State of the Church” address comprised of the letters to the seven churches in the Revelation.
I’ll get to those in a little while.
But first, I’d like to point out that,
- just as the Government of the USA was set up by the founders and written
down in our constitution
- so was the “government” or organization of the church was set up by the Holy Spirit and written down in in the Bible.
There are three levels of leadership in the church:
(1) Overseers: those are like the “senior elders” and came to be called “bishops.” (1 Tim 3:1-2. Tit 1:7)
(from the Greek word for “overseer” which is “EPISKOPOS” and from which we get the word “Episcopal.
The overseer would preside at the gathering of the church for worship
The primary duty of the overseer was to insure that the faith of the
church was being kept free of heresy so that the people would not be led
astray by “every winds of doctrine”.
In the early church, there would be one overseer (“bishop” in English) at
each church and there would be only one church in each city.
After Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire in 313, there was a huge influx of people into the church so that none of the buildings could hold them all.
- It became necessary to build more church buildings and to send presbyters (elders) to minister to the congregations that met in them.
- It was at this time that the Bishop became the overseer of the many churches in the city where he presided.
(2) Elders or Presbyters: those who minister to the spiritual needs of the church in teaching, preaching, prayer, etc. (Tit 1:6)
(From the Greek word “PRESBUTEROS” which means an older, more mature person.)
In the English language, the word “presbyter” evolved into the word “priest.” (Presbyter to
Prester to Priest)
(3) Deacons: Those who minister to the physical needs of the church. The first deacons made sure that the distribution of food to the widows was done fairly. (Acts 6:1-6; Phl 1:1; 1Tim 3:8, 10,12-13)
Aside from those who governed the church, God also placed specific ministries in the church.
Lets look at Ephesians 4:11-16.
(1) The ministries: And He (Christ) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
(2) Their work for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
(3) The result of their work (in order) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
So: lets break that down into its components.
Christ gave the church the so-called “five-fold ministries” of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to accomplish specific goals and to enable the believers to be able to detect and reject false teaching and to do the “good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:10)
I. Those specific goals are:
A. Equipping of the saints for the work of ministry
(no laity vs. clergy in original church – the people did the ministry)
B. Edifying (building up) of the body of Christ
1. until we all come to the unity of the faith
2. until we all come to the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God
3. until we all come to be a perfect man (like Jesus)
4. until we all come the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
And what is the “fullness of Christ”?
Col 2:9: “…in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
That is the “fullness of Christ.”
That is the goal of every believer, to be filled with the presence of the Trinity.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined
to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29)
And the Son is: the image of the invisible God. (Col 1:15)
Let that percolate in your spirit for a while then strive to be the image of the invisible God.
II. Maturity enables the believers to avoid hazards to their faith:
A. We should no longer be children (should not be easily deceived)
B. Not be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
C. Not be misled by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting
III. The maturity enables the believers to perform the works which are the marks of Believers
A. Speaking the truth in love
B. Growing up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ
C. Who causes the whole body, the church, to be joined and knit together by what
every joint (every believer) supplies
D. By which every believer does his share
E. Resulting in the growth of the body (the entire Church)
F. For the edifying of (the Church) in love.
IV. What does “each joint”, that is, every individual believer, supply?
1 Cor 12:4-11 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Part one
What is it?
The State of the Union address is a communication between the President and Congress in which the chief executive reports on the current conditions of the United States and provides policy proposals for the upcoming legislative year.
The purpose of the communication is to allow the president to identify the issues of the nation, which he believes need to be the focus of attention for congress,
- in order to effectively take care of those issues
- for the benefit of the people of the nation.
That is why the founders of our nation established a government in the form of a constitutional republic. (NOT a democracy)
The government has three divisions each with its specific responsibility:
- the legislative branch, congress, makes laws
- the executive branch, the president, sees that the laws are carried out
- the judicial branch, the courts, see that the laws are in compliance with (aren’t in conflict with) the constitution on which all the laws are based.
So, every year, Congress and the Supreme court justices and the president get together to hear what the president thinks we they need to address.
- The president tells them what a great job he’s done so far
- then he tells them what he thinks we need to get done in the coming year.
Jesus gave the apostle John a “State of the Church” address comprised of the letters to the seven churches in the Revelation.
I’ll get to those in a little while.
But first, I’d like to point out that,
- just as the Government of the USA was set up by the founders and written
down in our constitution
- so was the “government” or organization of the church was set up by the Holy Spirit and written down in in the Bible.
There are three levels of leadership in the church:
(1) Overseers: those are like the “senior elders” and came to be called “bishops.” (1 Tim 3:1-2. Tit 1:7)
(from the Greek word for “overseer” which is “EPISKOPOS” and from which we get the word “Episcopal.
The overseer would preside at the gathering of the church for worship
The primary duty of the overseer was to insure that the faith of the
church was being kept free of heresy so that the people would not be led
astray by “every winds of doctrine”.
In the early church, there would be one overseer (“bishop” in English) at
each church and there would be only one church in each city.
After Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire in 313, there was a huge influx of people into the church so that none of the buildings could hold them all.
- It became necessary to build more church buildings and to send presbyters (elders) to minister to the congregations that met in them.
- It was at this time that the Bishop became the overseer of the many churches in the city where he presided.
(2) Elders or Presbyters: those who minister to the spiritual needs of the church in teaching, preaching, prayer, etc. (Tit 1:6)
(From the Greek word “PRESBUTEROS” which means an older, more mature person.)
In the English language, the word “presbyter” evolved into the word “priest.” (Presbyter to
Prester to Priest)
(3) Deacons: Those who minister to the physical needs of the church. The first deacons made sure that the distribution of food to the widows was done fairly. (Acts 6:1-6; Phl 1:1; 1Tim 3:8, 10,12-13)
Aside from those who governed the church, God also placed specific ministries in the church.
Lets look at Ephesians 4:11-16.
(1) The ministries: And He (Christ) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
(2) Their work for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
(3) The result of their work (in order) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
So: lets break that down into its components.
Christ gave the church the so-called “five-fold ministries” of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to accomplish specific goals and to enable the believers to be able to detect and reject false teaching and to do the “good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:10)
I. Those specific goals are:
A. Equipping of the saints for the work of ministry
(no laity vs. clergy in original church – the people did the ministry)
B. Edifying (building up) of the body of Christ
1. until we all come to the unity of the faith
2. until we all come to the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God
3. until we all come to be a perfect man (like Jesus)
4. until we all come the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
And what is the “fullness of Christ”?
Col 2:9: “…in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
That is the “fullness of Christ.”
That is the goal of every believer, to be filled with the presence of the Trinity.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined
to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29)
And the Son is: the image of the invisible God. (Col 1:15)
Let that percolate in your spirit for a while then strive to be the image of the invisible God.
II. Maturity enables the believers to avoid hazards to their faith:
A. We should no longer be children (should not be easily deceived)
B. Not be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
C. Not be misled by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting
III. The maturity enables the believers to perform the works which are the marks of Believers
A. Speaking the truth in love
B. Growing up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ
C. Who causes the whole body, the church, to be joined and knit together by what
every joint (every believer) supplies
D. By which every believer does his share
E. Resulting in the growth of the body (the entire Church)
F. For the edifying of (the Church) in love.
IV. What does “each joint”, that is, every individual believer, supply?
1 Cor 12:4-11 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.