Have you ever met someone with whom.
You'Re trying to share your faith or an aspect of your faith, and it.
Just seems like there's no way they're getting any of what you're saying into their head?
It seems like time ticks by and not much is shifting. I want to submit to you that sometimes what we consider as to be.
A curse or something that is wrong is actually something that God has given us to be a blessing to humanity.
Let me tell you what I mean. If there is a man, perhaps, who.
Shifts his beliefs fundamentally every other day.
And every other week, it seems he's got something new.
Would you respect such a man?
Would you trust what he ever has to say?
If you know that tomorrow he's going.
To believe in something completely differently?
Of course you will have great doubts, and you will be very careful to listen to him.
See, credibility that we all as believers.
Ought to have is something that in part comes from stability in what we believe. That what I believe today is what I believe tomorrow. And in ten years and in 20.
Years from now, now, that does not.
Mean that God isn't going to show us revelations and things that we had wrong.
And when that happens, yes, we should be changing. Ultimately, we should always remain open to.
Being wrong, but at the same time.
Be slow to pray through everything, to study yourself, approved, to understand not just the basic, a surface level understanding of what you are looking into, but the depths of it. Ultimately, if we are going to be making fundamental shifts, let it be something.
That doesn't occur often. And with that in mind, how could we judge other people for being careful of changing their mind in fundamental ways about their faith? Whether they're converting from paganism to Christ.
Or whether there is a certain commandment that they don't understand, or whether there's gifts of the Holy Spirit that they've.
Only had negative experiences about before.
Whatever it is we should be understanding if they would like to take their time in gaining understanding in praying and.
Approaching this with caution, the scripture says.
In Ephesians 414, so that we may.
No longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Therefore, be patient with your family and with your friends when sharing with them, keeping in mind that God has given us a character of responsibility when evaluating new beliefs.
But also, you wouldn't want them to be shifting easily in big ways, because who knows what heresy and what crazy.
Beliefs they will pick up tomorrow or.
The day thereafter if they aren't careful. Now, with regards to the scripture that I just read to you, I want.
To conclude with you understanding where that.
Came from, when we want to become more stable, as we have been discussing, so that we are not taken away.
By every wind of doctrine.
Paul explains the way that this occurs.
In the verses prior in verse eleven.
Ephesians four, we read this.
He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and.
Teachers to equip the saints for the.
Work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we are no longer tossed by every wind of doctrine.
The way by which Paul prescribes to us to remain stable and mature in unity is for us to respect the.
Offices and gifts that God has placed.
In other people around us.
That when we recognize that God has gifted a brother or a sister in.
The body to be a teacher or an evangelist, or a prophet, or an.
Apostle, as he described, or even a shepherd, a pastor, we should respect the gift that God is placing in them, that God wants to use through them to teach us and to edify us in their area of expertise that the.
Holy Spirit has revealed to them. And so with this, you can understand that it is impossible for the body.
Of Christ to be built up into maturity and unity without assembly of the saints, without the coming together in an assembly where these different roles can play out and where we can learn from one another. That is the design of Christ in and through us. For us as a body to come together, it is impossible to be edified into perfect unity without the assembly of the saints. And that is why I will caution you, I understand that it is something.
Difficult to find an assembly.
But I have to also caution you.
That to be alone is dangerous in that you will struggle to find stability in your faith, and you will find yourself in a place where you were tossed to and fro by every wind.
Of doctrine, shifting beliefs easily and quickly.
By everything you hear, because the stability that is brought in by a body of Christ surrounding you is absent. And so, in the least, if you cannot attend a physical assembly of sort, find online assemblies, find people. But, and I'm talking about actually a.
Place where you can engage and speak and share and talk through what you.
Are thinking right now.
Because we need to have iron, sharpen iron.
We should never be going alone, because.
That is where the enemy will come with his deceitful doctrines. In hoping to deceive us. This is design that God laid out in the scriptures and it would be.
Good for us to follow it so that we can be edified into the image of the Messiah. Thank you for joining me. Subscribe to this channel for more teachings just like this one and I can't wait to see you in the next one.