I will build my church

Transcription

1 I will build my church Introduction: The church that Jesus founded and the first disciples spread was powerful and world changing. Indeed it turned the world upside down and in three hundred years in took over the Roman Empire and ended pagan worship in most of the known world. However this apparent success held the seeds of decay. The emergence of Christendom, where state and church are almost synonymous; resulted in the human institution becoming dominant over the spiritual movement. All human institutions are vulnerable to demonic influence and manipulation; thus become less than God intended, unless frequently broken upon the rock of self examination, repentance and revival. Historical layers of control, manipulation, power politics and survival have left much of the visible church weak and powerless, falling far short of its original mandate. It s time to get back to that mandate! This paper seeks to examine from Scripture what the original plan and purpose of the church was and offers some suggestions about how we can bring elements of that plan back into the daily experience of the saints at the start of the 21 century. Church: what s in a word? The word that Jesus chose to use for the corporate gathering of people who loved him which is translated church had a very specific meaning in the Greek NT. The word was ecclesia. It was derived from two Greek works; ek= out of and klesis= calling. Thus a common working definition was that, the church was a group of the called out ones. NT Greek has another word for a group of people gathered to worship, the word is synogue but this is not the word that the Jewish Jesus chose to use. His vision for the new thing he was starting went far beyond the local gathering of like minded people, from a persecuted minority, for survival and preservation of their faith and practices. The synagogue system had good point which we will see later the early church drew on but in the first century the followers of Jesus were being persecuted and expelled from the synagogues so synogue was hardly a suitable name for the new thing emerging! The word ecclesia was used in Jewish thought. When the translators came to translate the Jewish scriptures in Greek (LXX version) they saw a dynamic equivalence between the Hebrew word qahal and their Grk usage of ecclesia. The word qahal is used over 100 in the Septuagint translation See NIV Theological Dictionary of New Testament words. V Verbrugee p388 1 P a g e

2 Let s look at how qahal (ecclesia) is used in the OT? It is used of the gathering of the people for a solemn assembly with Yahweh (Dut 9:10) People gathering before the tent of meeting (Ex 33:7-11) It is frequently used of the gathering of people together for battle It denotes the assembly of leaders to make decisions about religion (1Chron 13:2-4) or political direction (1Chron 29:10) The gathering of people as a judicial assembly (Mica 2:5) So the Old Testament expectation of a gathering was more than to sing hymns and hear a sermon they were part of an action filled participatory assembly for Gods purpose on the earth. How is the word ecclesia used in the NT? As you will know the word Church = ecclesia only occurs twice in the gospels but in Luke s second book Acts he uses the word 23 times. Luke obviously felt it was a word he could not use until Jesus had gone back into heaven. Choosing to use the word ecclesia is to put clear blue water between Christians and Jews. Jesus called the 12 apostles but He did not build ecclesia during his earthly life Instead He would build it through his apostles. A new word, for a new structure, in a new age Mt 16: this is the first mention of the word ecclesia and thus of great blue print significance! They had a relationship with Jesus but they were also asked to do something with that relationship. Relationship always results in function. For instance my relationship to my wife may well result in a function as a father. My relationship to my county as a citizen may well result in my having to function as a jury member. If I am an uncle or an aunt, I have a clear function as a present giver at birthdays! Thus our relationship with the Father and with our brothers & sisters has an outworking in a kingdom function on the earth. We reduce, minimalize, disempower church, when we define it outwith its Kingdom bringing function. Too often we define church as a set of human relationships and end up man centred instead of mission centred! Is this too task orientated? Please notice the context of the first mention of the word ecclesia it s all about activity, opening, closing, turning keys. We have a task to co- build something with Jesus. Let s not confuse Jesus mission with our mission! 1Cor 15:23-25: Jesus has finished one part of his mission. By his death resurrection and ascension to glory he has secured all the provision of heaven for people s salvation. It is the job of the ecclesia empowered by the Spirit to manage the provisions of the cross so that people may be saved healed and delivered and the kingdom may come in their lives There is however another dimension. Jesus is seated in heaven and He is waiting for something. He is waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool (Heb 10:13 & 1:13) so 2 P a g e

3 that He can come back to the earth (second coming). Our mission is to produce the environment that is conducive to the return of Jesus. His enemies systematically put under His feet until death is the only and last enemy left then Jesus can come to deal with that last enemy. Jesus last command to the apostles was to disciple the nations (Mt 28:19). This is not just a command to preach the gospel but to bring about societal change. I remember speaking with some serious missionaries from Africa during my time in YWAM. They were commenting on some research, which said that on the Sunday prior to the start of the genocide in Rwanda, more that 80% of the population had been in some sort of church service. If this statistic is true, it shows the need for church to move on from personal salvation to Kingdom realization. Large church attendance based on getting saved and going to heaven, does not ensure that we create an environment on the earth, which is ready for the return of Jesus in fact it often militates against it! Discipling nations is not about a new Christendom, not about having a government that passes Christian laws; it s about creating an environment where it s harder to go to hell than heaven and where it s harder to do hells bidding than heaven in your life & work. We all know the answer to the saying How do you eat an elephant? we say one bite at a time! Jesus question to us is what s your bite? We know from the parable of the sheep & goats (Mt 25:31-35) that at the end, after we have done all we can to promote Jesus return, there will still be a division between people, in the light of Jesus perfect judgment, based on all the facts. Jesus will separate out sheep nations and goat nations. Sheep nations look more like heaven than hell. Goat nations look more like hell than heaven. If there are sheep nations (not utopian perfection but with recognisable patterns of the Kingdom on the earth, in home family business justice, arts etc) then the ecclesia has done its job well for that nation! The Ecclesia are the called out ones called out for what? In the Greek city state culture in the years before the time of Christ, every free able bodied male of the city was a member of the ecclesia. The council was called to meet times per year. It meet to discuss what was happening, to respond to the news, to govern and make decisions about what they were willing to allow to happen within their city and how their city was meant to function. It was a governmental structure. Is it possible, in deliberately choosing this word to describe the emergent group of Christians, Jesus was making a statement? Was He saying; The church is more than a glorified sheep pen rather it is my government on the earth! We are not called out to be separated from the world; we are called out to, the service of ruling and reigning in the world, with Jesus! 3 P a g e

4 So now let s take a closer look at Mt 16:17-18 Jesus said I will build my church (ecclesia) Jesus was saying I will build my government. We know government was a function that was to rest upon the shoulders of the Messiah so it should be no surprise to us that His body follows in the family business....and the gates of Hades Hades is the place of death the opposite of the Kingdom of God. Gates... the gates were the place of meeting, doing deals and of government in a city in Jesus world. The enemy has plans that he wants to prevail over the church He is trying to obliterate and remove all sign of a ruling and reigning church. Jesus said that Satan s plans will not prevail in other words all the devil tries will not overcome the plans of God through His church. A functional ecclesia can see the enemy plan and can see a release of Kingdom plans and culture to prevail over the hellish culture. In other words the representatives of Gods can rule over the reps from hell! Jesus then says that Peter has...the keys of the Kingdom... this is a singular statement here but in Mt 18:18 it s a plural statement. Keys are symbolic of the right to rule to open up and to close down with authority. Part of this authority is the right to bind and to loose Binding and loosing is a technical term from Jewish rabbinical practice. As the Rabbi declared something to be true in his teaching he was loosing that truth in the spiritual realms. When he declared something to be under a ban He was forbidding the exercise of that thing; literally he was binding it up so it could not happen in the community of Jews he was teaching. This passage seems to be concerned with a judicial use of authority. Jesus saw this as a function to be exercised by the apostles and later, to some extent by the rest of the church (Mt 18:18) Thus we are authorized to declare what is and is not permissible in our zone of Kingdom influence, based on what the King is decreeing at this time. A better translation of the verse should say something like...that which you bind on the earth will have been bound in heaven... We can only bind or release that which God is declaring bound or released in heaven. The primacy in spiritual government is from heaven to earth It does not start with my will or desire rather with God s will, we pass on decrees and proclamations from heaven to the earth and God backs up his words for us. So how do things get bound in heaven and what role do we play in this? We are not autonomous in the spiritual government arena. Is it all based on what Gods saying or releasing to us? Is it just about sovereign decrees of God or did the apostles and disciples get to play an interactive role? It seems that God retains control whilst seeking to co-work with mankind. He mandated Adam to rule and reign in the Garden of Eden on His behalf as a regent of Heaven. In Ps 115:16 it says...the highest heavens belong to the Lord but the earth He has given to man... Are there protocols for the exercise of this regency? 4 P a g e

5 The Kingdom of God is delivered from heaven to earth. Always, the idea is, that if something God has in heaven, (spiritual blue prints?) can be formed on the earth, then Gods power, glory and presence, can come and rest on that earthly copy resulting in a powerful manifestation of Gods Kingdom, in other words,...your will being done on the earth as it is in heaven.... For example Moses was asked to make a tabernacle exactly after the pattern he had seen in heaven, during his encounter with God, at the top of Mount Sinai. Moses created the earthly tabernacle and it became an ongoing magnet for divine visitation. God s glory came to rest on the human replica Are there any biblical models for; gates, courtrooms or places of government? If there are and we can copy them, then they can become blue prints for governmental activity. This will then attract Gods, attention, power and presence. There are plenty of biblical references to the courts of heaven for us to work with. What do Heavens courts look like? A favourite idea in OT, is the Mount of Assembly where Father Son and Holy Spirit come together with the angelic beings (Isa 14:13 & Ps 89:5-7). The Lord reigns by establishing a throne for justice (Ps 9:7). God has a throne of judgment from which His Kingdom flows (Ps 103:19-22). We see clearly that God convenes courts in heaven (Job 11:10) Then God takes His place in the courtroom (Isa 3:10-15). God presides over all the court (Ps 82:1) God is consultative looking for ideas and input. He consults with the Angels and then releases them to do tasks for the court (1 Kings 22:19-22). God sits on a throne whose foundation is always righteousness and justice (Dan 7:9-10) We see a clear worked example of the court of heaven in action in the prophetic vision of Zechariah in Zech 3:1-10. We see standing before the court the accuser (Satan) who is bringing accusations against the accused Joshua the High Priest (Joshua has a great destiny but has fallen away from it. God wants to restore him but Satan is saying no because of his sin). The judge (God) makes decrees and the Angels enforce and implement the ruling of the court. So far it is all a sovereign act of God but notice in v5, the prophetic person, who observing all of this, cannot resist chipping in to ask for more to be done for Joshua! The Judge nods and the angels act and Zechariah has become involved in the process of acquitting, blessings and restoring Joshua to his God given destiny. Its Gods supernatural court but He welcomes human pleading; it s not all pre-set but God interacts with those that appear in the court room! This story is about an open prophetic vision, others say they have gone to these courts as an actual translocation experience but it is also possible to enter theses courts by faith and conduct a conversation & plead a case based of what we know of the Judge from what He has said in his Word. 5 P a g e

6 The Books of the Courts of Heaven All courts have systematic law codes and very comprehensive records of all pleas and decisions made. Queen Esther was able to access justice for her people because of things written in the court records of the empire. God courts have books like any other court and works according to what is written in the books. (Dan 7:9-10) Some of these are open and accessible from the earth i.e. they are written in scripture; others need a level of spiritual revelation and discernment i.e. they are prophetically accessed. Here is some of the main court documents referred to in heaven: The Lambs book of Life: Ex 32:32-33, Rev 13:8, Rev 20:11-15 & Phil 4:3 - this document pertains to salvation and is the basis for dealing with accusations and slanders against us as believers. Books of the laws & covenants: Dut 28:61 Neh 8:8 pertains to the terms of the covenant agreements that you operate under. The new covenant is infinitely superior to the old covenant. In these books laws of spiritual cause & effect are laid out cursing & blessing. All scripture is useful and forms a basis for pleading before the court as God quickens it to you as a now word for the situation God s book of days: Ps 139:16 pertains to life span and deals with any attack by Satan to shorten a person s allocated life span Lambs scroll of Judgments: Rev 5:2-10 pertains to judgments of God and hidden rulings that are to be released at the right time* The Prophetic Scroll: Isa 34:16 - pertains to the word of the lord spoken over your life prophetically. God does not forget these words they forms a basis for pleading when enemy is seeking to bring contradictory circumstances to frustrate the word. The Scroll of Tears: Ps 56:8 pertains to justice and recompense. You can ask for God to dry your tears and give back to you what has been stolen from you by the evil one The Scroll of Remembrance: Mal 3:16 - pertains to covenants prayers & promises you have made with other believers. God expects us to deliver. The Destiny scroll: Heb 10:7 & Ps 40:7 pertains to your destiny, deeds purposes and works that are set out for a person to do in their life time Gods not finished with me yet! If you are seeking to pray in a governmental manner you may be prompted by the Spirit to ask God to show you what is on the Destiny scroll for a community or group. You can then declare or release that destiny in your prayer Similarly if you are battling for someone in a life threatening circumstance asking for revelation concerning information from the Book of Days might give you an insight as to what to release in terms of rebuking the destroyer robber & thief. *See Victorious Eschatology by Eberlee & Trench p 138 & P a g e

7 Did the early church see their role as governmental? A working definition of ecclesia is a body that legislates in the spiritual realm and then implements in the natural realm. The popular view of the early Christians is a meek, mild, persecuted and other worldly people and they were all waiting to be rescued from this evil age by the imminent return of the Lord Jesus! I would like to suggest that the early church saw its role as being far more governmental and ruling than we think. A recent visit to the opticians for an eye check showed me the importance of lens. I am looking at the same eye chart all the time but different lens put into the frame, produce drastically different results. Our view of the churches purpose and role has a similar lens issue. The issue is whether we view church through an apostolic ministry lens or a pastoral ministry lens? Throughout history, churches that have exemplified a pastoral vision of the Christian life have been considered safe and tolerated; since it does not challenge any vested interests or power structures, its role is primarily the care of the saints on their way to heaven their permanent home. This view emphasises language like; family, flock, needs, love, mercy, gathering & separation, to make its point (These are all really good things and to be embraced but they have to be tensioned with apostolic verbs to avoid a flaccid church) An apostolic lens (and this was the only lens functioning in the first years of the church until other ministries emerged) and world view, creates a very different church, with an army mentality, warring to change, transforming, seeking to partner with angels, to legislate, to release the Kingdom into the culture, via signs, wonders, miracles, to bring righteousness and justice on the earth. An apostolic lens sees the mission as nothing less than total cultural transformation to prepare the way for the return of the Lord Jesus The first Apostles saw their role as governmental. How would they express this? They were influenced in this by their Jewish cultural models (Much of which God had revealed to Israel is a template for mankind). In Jewish society they had a clear court system; at the heart of this was a body called the Biet Din. This was composed of three very senior judges with great learning and great authority. They were assisted by a bench of seven helpers, who implemented decisions and they were advised by a wider council of elders of Israel, seventy in number (Known as the Sanhedrin). The highest and clearest expression of a Biet Din is the Trinity of Father Son & Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts sees Peter James and John emerge as team of three who in Paul s words were the pillars of the church Then a group of seven helpers emerged in Acts 6 and occasionally they called the whole church together for a council This 3/7/70 configuration shadows the Jewish court system and provide a model for spiritual government to this day. Leadership teams of three, over specific areas, supported by groups of helper; is not only biblical & practical, it is also governmental, since it is earthly shadow of heavens patterns! See paper Transitioning from the church age to the Age of Ecclesia by Robert Henderson on the internet 7 P a g e

8 Does Bible support the idea that we still have a co-ruling assignment in heaven & earth today? Eps 2:6 tells us that...we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus... Judgments are rendered by judges sitting on benches or thrones. Part of the actual landscape of heaven appears to be the Court Room. Therefore it appears that being seated with Jesus as judges is something that we are sometimes called to do. Rm 5:17: We are called to reign in life now! The word there reign is basileou and means to rule or reign in a kingdom. This verse is not just about winning battles in our personal walk with God. Reigning here has a corporate dimension. 2Tim 2:12: We will reign with Jesus as we endure with our tasks assigned to us by Jesus. Rev 5:10: We will reign with Jesus now in a here and now Kingdom. Notice the focus of these verses is the Kingdom now on the earth. So the Bible clearly support a here and now reign of believers on the earth. So what is the practical application of these truths? Mt 18:18-20; Two or three believers agreeing on the earth, creates a powerful loosing or binding effect, that can change practical situations. (In this case a serious division within the church) The believers are agreeing with either what is said in heaven or what is written in heavens books. Please note that this is often called a prayer of agreement. Who is the agreement with? The agreement is with God not with each other. It is as we submit to the revealed will of heaven that we have authority. This is not about a posse of Christians trying to beat up on the local sinners by agreeing together against them. We come into agreement with heaven not each other primarily. Once we know what heavens saying we have the opportunity to speak it out and to prophetically declare the word of the Lord over a situation. Prophetic legislation needs to be followed up by apostolic application! Prophetically commanding demonic power to step aside without a commensurate filling of the vacuum with apostolic activity (i.e. That means healing the sick, provision of care, provision of food, creative solutions or manifestations of spiritual & social entrepreneurship) Otherwise you get something seven times worse coming into the garden you have just weeded! We also need to follow the Little by little rule and not bite off more than we can chew, (Ex 23:28-30) The Lord would only allow Israel to take the land step by step, so that it did not get overrun by wild animals. This is about keeping in step with the Holy Spirit and not running ahead in our enthusiasm We need to recognise that we all have different levels or metrons (Eps 4:7) at work. Each of us has a metron or level of assignment and task given to us by Jesus. Some groups have a regional Beit Din metron, some national, some of us are part of a team ruling over a community for others it a family or a workplace situation. Try to pray within your area of responsibility. 8 P a g e

9 In conclusion; a High Court Judge sits on the Queen s Bench but they are not the Queen (they can t make up laws or decide new forms of punishment) The judge has authority when they operate within the frame work the Queen has willed and spoken. We are judges under God enforcing Gods legislation and will for people. As we hear it from heaven we create on the earth. We are called to rule & reign so that a Kingdom culture can begin to develop. A Kingdom culture is the values, ethics, morals and virtues of our King impacting the sphere he has made our metron to develop heavens patterns on the earth When Rome conquered a people they did not just aim to win the war but also to win the peace. They sent cultural ambassadors to the new subjects the aim was to create something that; looks like a Roman, smells like a Roman, sounds like a Roman, thinks like a Roman and acts like a Roman! It s very hard for the habits of barbarism to come back into the space occupied by a superior culture. As we release the culture of the Kingdom of heaven it s very hard for hells culture to make a comeback! Brining heaven to earth is our assignment not building bigger and better churches, not forming a Christian State. The assignment of the ecclesia of God is to create a culture that smells like, looks like, thinks like, heaven, in every culture, so that no one lacks a worked example of the goodness of God, in their cultural environment. What type of church do you want? What type of church does Jesus want? What type of church is Jesus going to get? Jesus said He would build the church (That s His job not ours!) so what is our job? It is simply to disciple nations by brining heaven to earth to transform cultures. 9 P a g e

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