Seeking Jesus First Jan. 28, 2025
The “church” is not just a congregation. The church is the ‘ekklesia’, the “called out ones”. The ‘ekklesia’ is a group of sent ones who establish God’s kingdom culture in a city or locale. The church is a group of people called out to influence culture. The ‘ekklesia’ is a governing body of heaven’s ambassadors in an occupied land.
The church is ‘apostolic’ in nature. Apostles can’t have faded away, as some believe, because the ‘ekklesia’ is apostolic. For a church to operate orderly, an apostle must be first, then the prophet, then the teacher, then healings, miracles and so on. Without the demonstration of power in the ‘ekklesia’, we end up with teachers being first. Look at who the modern church sets up as first leaders in the local churches. They are really good teachers and preachers. Many are charismatic in nature but do not promote the charismata of The Holy Spirit.
Apostle Paul said,“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:4–5, NKJV)
This is why apostles and prophets are first and second in the church. Just as The Church is built upon the apostles and prophets with the cornerstone being Christ Jesus, so is the local church. “…having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19–22, NKJV)
Please don’t accept the explaining away of “the exceeding greatness of His power to those who believe” in the earth.
Who benefits from a powerless ‘ekklesia’? Certainly not the church! Certainly not the kingdom of God in the earth! Certainly not the oppressed! Certainly not the lost! Only the gates of hell benefit from the church being without power and authority.
We, the ‘ekklesia’ either stand in Christ’s authority and power, or we don’t. If we don’t, then no one has the right or authority to even start a church, leaving the church as a dying remnant of pathetic people trying to hang on to religious teachings. However, if we do... stand in Christ’s authority and power... the church is alive and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us. The whole church benefits from the powerful gifts of The Spirit. The kingdom of God benefits and expands because the oppressed are set free and the lost are saved. God did not leave us as powerless orphans. He has empowered us with His own Holy Spirit.