What does a healthy church look like?

⁴²They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.

⁴³Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

⁴⁴All who believed were together, and had all things in common.

⁴⁵They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.

⁴⁶Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,

⁴⁷praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.

¹I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

²with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love;

³being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.

⁷But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

⁸Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”

⁹Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

¹¹He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;

¹²for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;

¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

¹⁴that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;

¹⁵but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ;

¹⁶from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.

¹²For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.

¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body is not one member, but many.

¹⁵If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body.

¹⁶If the ear would say, “Because I’m not the eye, I’m not part of the body,” it’s not therefore not part of the body.

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be?

¹⁸But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired.

¹⁹If they were all one member, where would the body be?

²⁰But now they are many members, but one body.

²¹The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.”

²²No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

²³Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant propriety;

²⁴whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God composed the body together, giving more abundant honor to the inferior part,

²⁵that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.

²⁶When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or when one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to himself the elders of the assembly.

¹⁸When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews;

²⁰how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,

²¹testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus.

²²Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there;

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me.

²⁴But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.

²⁵“Now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching the Kingdom of God, will see my face no more.

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men,

²⁷for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

²⁸Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.

²⁹For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

³¹Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn’t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.

³²Now, brothers, I entrust you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

¹“To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: “He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lamp stands says these things:

²“I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false.

³You have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

⁴But I have this against you, that you left your first love.

⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lamp stand out of its place, unless you repent.

⁶But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.