They say there’s a Church revolution
underway that’s making the Church as we know it obsolete.
They say Bible studies and house groups are going to become
the Church of the future. They say that believers can grow
spiritually and experience more of God without ever stepping
foot inside a local church. They even say that not going to
church is “healthy.” What do they know? I am here to say
that the devil is a liar. I beg to differ with that voice
because nothing will ever equal or replace the local church.
No,
friends, Church isn’t a Bible study at Pizza Hut, nor is a
sermon a spiritual conversation over a round of golf. The
Church is God’s governing seat of authority. The Church is
where we find the ladder in Jacob’s dream that connected
heaven and earth so Jesus could dispatch His angels with
Kingdom assignments. The Church is the house of prayer, the
place where He chooses to place His name and the gathering
place of His sent ones. In Jesus’ Church you find a
five-fold ministry gift that God has called and on which He
has put His anointing so they can execute His vision to
reach a particular territory and people with the powerful
Gospel of the Kingdom.
The definition of the Church is not merely some place – any
place – where two people come together and pray. That’s a
bit too simplistic because the Church is way more than that.
Two people praying together or a small group meeting
together is not “the Church.” It might be an opportunity for
two believers to agree together in prayer and shine some
light in a dark place. It might be a place to hold a Bible
study. I’m certainly not against prayer meetings or Bible
studies, but that is not the Church that Jesus is building.
No, you can’t find God’s governing Church over at Barnes &
Noble during your coffee break while you share your faith
with two Christian friends. You might find some members of
His Church there, but you won’t find “the Church.”
“So how do we identify the Church,” you ask?
I am convinced that there is a pattern for building the
Church of Jesus Christ and that it must be built according
to that pattern. Sometimes we need to be reminded that God
has a blueprint; a specific way of doing things. There is a
spiritual house that God is building by His Holy Spirit.
What does that pattern look like? First of all, nowhere in
the Scriptures do we see a committee of hirelings called to
build Christ’s Church. All the churches built in the New
Testament, for example, apostles built. Those who were
called by Christ built them.
The Church that Jesus is building has to start somewhere and
it always starts with a five-fold ascension gift. Scripture
declares that, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In whom you also are
builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit”
(Ephesians 2:19-22). Nobody is getting built without God’s
ascension gifts and no church is being built without one of
God’s five-fold ascension gifts at the helm.
Every five-fold ascension minister is chosen by the
sovereign will of God alone. It doesn’t matter how much
status a person may have, how good a person can sing, or how
much education a person may have attained. God alone is the
one that calls His man and assembles His team of equippers.
Scripture declares, “And he gave some apostles, and some,
prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of
the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ”
(Ephesians 4:11-12). He and only He does the calling. Then
Jesus begins to build His Church around His gift in that
called person.
The only thing an ascension gift has in the beginning of his
or her ministry is a calling, a vision, an anointing and a
territory. And, of course, filled with a consuming passion
to preach Jesus as the only begotten Son of God who was sent
to save a dying world from its sins through His shed blood
on Calvary to those who would repent.
I will never forget when God called me into ministry. All I
had was a supernatural encounter with Jesus on my road to
Damascus. Jesus was very specific when He told me to start a
church. Years had passed with my wife and I serving our
local church and pastor but then one day God said it was
time to pioneer a new work. So we rented a little room that
cost us $50 for each service. We went down to the local
music store and bought a black music stand for $30 that
would serve as a makeshift pulpit. Our praise and worship
team was a boom box and some anointed cassette tapes. We
told everybody we knew that God had called us to start a
church.
That first Sunday came and about 15 people attended. My
message spoke of Moses climbing up the mountain of God to
receive a mandate to confront Pharaoh and set the captives
free. The anointing showed up and the next Sunday the church
grew – all the way down to seven people. (Remember, we
started with 15.) But that didn’t stop me. I knew by whom I
was called and what He wanted me to do. If I had to preach
to the paint it didn’t matter because I knew that the
anointing would make a way for what Jesus wanted to build in
South Florida.
Then, I started prophesying Jesus’ vision for our church.
This brings me to the next thing that a church must have: a
godly vision. You can’t build outside God’s pattern and
expect God to inhabit it. That’s why church growth seminars
can only take you so far. You might get a big crowd together
but does the Holy Ghost show up? Scripture says, “Except the
Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it”
(Psalm 127:1). What God wanted done in Hallandale Beach,
Fla. didn’t come from me. It came from Him. As I preached
Jesus’ vision for our church people started responding.
Before you knew it we started to grow, little by little at
first and later more.
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So I don’t agree that house churches, cyber-communities and
golf course prayer encounters are the Church that Jesus is building.
No, that’s not a prophetic vision of the future for Christ’s Church.
The Church that Jesus is building will be a glorious Church without
spot or wrinkle. Don’t tell me that Holy Ghost on-fire Christians
are leaving Jesus’ churches by the thousands. There might be people
leaving, but it’s not the on-fire ones trading the local church
dynamic for a coffee shop fellowship. No way! Let’s get real.
People leaving a church does not make a revolution. In fact, there
can never be a revolution without the Church. I’m not saying that
house churches like those found in Cuba and China aren’t necessary
at times, but when freedom to worship arrives they should blossom
into fullness.
Let me tell you what kind of a revolution is really on the way. The
lukewarm are starting to freeze but the hot are getting hotter. I am
convinced that God has a people who will not forsake the assembling
of themselves together (Hebrews 10:25). I understand why some people
get discouraged. I did. But let me give you this promise. If you
will seek God with all your heart He will let you know what He’s
doing, where He’s at and where He’s going. Jesus won’t leave anybody
out of His plans who wants to walk in His will. His Kingdom will be
established in this earth and He wants to use you to do it.
Let me share how God talked to me about revolution. In 1999 I was
ready to quit the ministry. Like many others I looked around and saw
that “church” wasn’t anything like what I read in the Book of Acts.
You see, friend, I had the opportunity to look behind the curtain
into the lives of some of the big wigs of the day, only to see some
that were not really living the Christian life. I also saw others in
churches that were not living the life, either. You know what I am
saying.
So in 1999 I was walking through Piccadilly Circus in London,
England after leaving a mid-week prayer meeting. It was around
midnight when I heard the Holy Ghost say, “Son, that’s not My Church
that you are seeing. That’s religion.” He continued, “I have a
people who feel just like you that are sick and tired of dead
lifeless religion and are ready to come out of the wilderness and
enter the Promised Land.” He went on to commission me to, “Go back
to America encouraged and start preaching about the coming apostolic
revolution.” He also told me to, “Bring an apostolic identity to the
Body of Christ and know that thousands will listen to the sound of
the trumpet.”
Notice He didn’t tell me to abandon His Church. No sir, the Church
that Jesus is building is not dead, boring and lifeless. His Church
is alive! There is a revolution taking place but it won’t be found
over at Starbucks. It will be in His strong local governing churches
in every city across this nation and around the world.
We need a different perspective of Christ’s Church. Let me say here
that the Church is not just a hospital or a worship center. It is
also the government of God. It is a place where all can be equipped
to do what they are called to do. It is a place to hear what the
Spirit of God is saying to our generation. It is a place where you
can listen to the wisdom of God and a place to receive your
instructions in righteousness.
The Church (Greek ecclesia) means “called out.” The word “church” is
found in Scripture 77 times, “congregation” 364 times, and
“assembly” 49 times. Ecclesia is a really interesting word. The
Greeks used the word to describe their governing assembly. The
Romans later picked up the term and used it to refer to the Roman
Senate. Jesus chose to use this same word to describe His Church. So
when you hear the word “church” you should also hear the word
“government.” Jesus said He would build His Church (government) and
the gates of hell (demonic government) shall not prevail against it.
Granted the Church is not found in the elements of a building, but
it can be found in the elements of those gathering together in that
local church building. Those elements consist of born again sons and
daughters of God, the called-out ones. When they come together under
the leading of a five-fold ascension gift, their joints (gifts)
begin to provide increase in that body (Ephesians 4:18).
Let me ask you this question: Is a school a school when two students
meet in the classroom without a teacher? Is a school a school with
no books, teachers or a principal? What would a hospital be like
without doctors, nurses and medicine? What would it be like to have
passengers on an aircraft without a pilot? Are you getting it yet?
Yet some still insist that two born again believers are the Church
when they meet over coffee at Starbucks or pray together in the
Wal-Mart parking lot.
Christ’s Church is a governing church. It is a house of revelation
and a place to hear God’s voice. It is a place of healing,
deliverance, worship and equipping of every believer. It is a place
to hear the plan of God for yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is a
place of salvation and a place of God’s glory! Amen somebody…
It has apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, priests
and kings. It has psalmists, minstrels, dancers, artists, spiritual
fathers, chroniclers, porters, overcomers, anointing, communion,
baptisms, ambassadors – and God in its midst. You can get married,
baptized, and even buried. It has counselors, elders and deacons. It
has the Holy Ghost, signs and wonders, healing for your body and
miracles for your life. You can even find some challenges,
chastisement and correction, too. Oh, I better not go too far down
that road! That’s the Church, my brothers and sisters.
I don’t care what they say. I say it’s not the house church or the
cyber-church that’s going to emerge in the future, but a glorious
Church made up of a congregation of governing believers we call the
ecclesia. So next time you hear somebody tell you the revolution can
be found in the abandonment of Christ’s Church just say, “Get behind
me, Satan!”
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