1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:27; Revelation 1:4,6; 1 Timothy 3:5,15; Acts 14:21-23 “To the seven churches”… “To Him who…has made us kings and priests to His God and Father…” “You are the body of Christ, and members individually” “Do you not know that you are the temple of God…” [continued]

All believers (alive & dead) are in the church the Body of Christ. There are conditions to them being in the house (temple) of God, the kingdom of God and the churches of God. There is a direct link in the New Testament between the house of God, the kingdom of God and the churches of God (these terms refer to the same people in different respects)

1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:27; Revelation 1:4,6; 1 Timothy 3:5,15; Acts 14:21-23 “How will he take care of the church of God?”... “I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God” [continued] “They returned to Lystra, Iconium, and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’ So when they had appointed elders in every church…”

Linkages of the churches of God… Revelation 1:4,6: to the kingdom of God 1 Timothy 3:5,15: to the house of God Acts 14:21-23: to the kingdom of God

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:20,21; Ephesians 4:12,13 “…for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith…”

The Lord prayer (John 17): His desire that all believers would be united The basis of that unity was to be more than their common salvation, but “the faith”

“…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….” Ephesians 4:11-16 [continued]

The Body of Christ will only develop towards full maturity as believers are built up in the full understanding of the faith and of all the aspects of the person & work of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-16 “…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.” “…as 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…” [continued]

Each of us must carefully avoid all wrong teaching, and instead speak the truth of God to each other in love. As each of us receives the enabling grace from Christ through fellow- members (as evangelists, pastors & teachers), we in turn should minister to those we have contact with, again in love

We should all aspire to continue this process until together we reach a mutual and proper understanding and application of the teaching of the Lord for us, and a full enjoyment of every aspect of our relationship with Him.

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." John 14:21; Luke 12:48 “Everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

Inescapable conclusions: If the church I go to does not adhere faithfully to the full teaching of the Lord, in active fellowship with all other such churches, it cannot be a scriptural “church of God”…...If I am not in a scriptural church of God, I cannot be part of God’s house on earth, nor in the kingdom of God… and…

...IfI am not in the house of God, I cannot participate in the heavenly sanctuary worship of the holy priesthood, which is the summit of human experience and service today…. The answer to the question “Am I Missing Something?” would have to be “Yes”....If I am not in God’s church, nor in God’s house, and not able to engage in true worship, I am obviously missing something absolutely vital in my Christian experience (no matter what else of value I may be doing.)

The End “Reaching for the Summit” Seminar