The Ekklesia or The Church of What's Happening Now*

      

     Years ago, a comedian named Flip Wilson used to make jokes about a certain kind of church. He called it "The Church of What's Happening Now." He would poke fun at the things that were not right in the church. It was funny because it was based upon true and recognizable weaknesses. What kind of church are we supposed to be? What kind of church do we choose to be - a supernatural church standing upon an immovable rock, or a church that swings in whatever direction the world is going?

     Jesus described a church based upon the revelation of Him as the Messiah/Christ, the Son of God, which Peter received from heaven at the time. Jesus said to him: "And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church (ekklesia - called out assembly); and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Mt. 16:18). 

     This is the first mention of "church" in the New Testament, which is the Greek word, ekklesia. This ekklesia church, and the revelation of Jesus Christ that it carries, is not a joke, but the stopping force against hell. The ekklesia church is built by Jesus Himself, as the verse above tells us. This ekklesia church is not a Sunday social club, but each member is called by God and joined into the greater assembly according to the meaning of the Greek word.

     Peter, who received the foundational revelation of the ekklesia church, wrote about the meaning of this church, and those called into its assembly: "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings...Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ...ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar (peripoiesis - obtained, purchased, saved and saving, preserved and preserving, keep safe, purchased for One's self, to make to remain) people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Pet. 2: 1, 5, 9-10).

     Jesus said above that He would build His church which Peter called the spiritual house of God. Zechariah also prophesied of this Builder called The BRANCH: "...and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." (Zech. 6:12-13). We have missed the fact that this Builder of the temple is the Messiah/Christ, Jesus.

     Paul also wrote that there is no other foundation that can be laid for this living building of God, the ekklesia church, than Jesus Christ. (see 1 Cor. 3:9-11).

     The called out members of the ekklesia assembly are to lay aside previous behavior, no longer reflecting the ways of the world, but the ways of the One who purchased and preserved them. This promise of being a called out and special people, of being royal priests and a holy nation, is not just a New Testament principal but is found in the Book of Exodus as the LORD spoke to His people: "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." (Ex. 19:5-6).

     "Keep My covenant" the LORD said above. Jesus described the law and the prophets to be summarized into two principles: Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

     Jesus read from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue. He declared Isaiah's prophetic Word from God to be fulfilled that day: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." (v. 1-2a). This was as far as Jesus read that day because the "day of vengeance of our God" mentioned in the verse was not yet fulfilled. However, Isaiah's prophetic Word continued: "But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.,,in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them." (v. 6-7). This is a picture of God's people that we don't often see today.

     When God's people, including the church, have been supplied revelation knowledge, He expects His people to walk in it, or He will reject them from being a priest to Him. (see Hos. 4:6-7). So why is the church not walking in it?

     Ezekiel was given a vision of the pattern of the house of God to show to the house of Israel so that they could follow it, including keeping all of the laws and ordinances of the pattern of God's house: "This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house." (Hos. 4:6-7, see also Isa. 2:1-3). Without the knowledge of this vision, God says that His people perish.

     Isaiah received from the LORD the ordinances of His house, and Jesus also confirmed them. The house of the LORD is not based upon rituals that do not contain the Spirit of the LORD, nor come from our hearts. God corrected His people, saying in part what Jesus also read in the synagogue from Isa. 61: "Is this not the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer...If thou take from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity...thy darkness shall be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul..." (Isa. 58:1-14, excerpt).

      We see the same precepts in a parable that Jesus spoke about a King (meaning Himself) who rewards the righteous, the sheep placed on His right, who did as they were called to do: "For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." (Mt. 25:31-36). The righteous asked when they had done all of these things for the King (Jesus). The King (Jesus) answered: "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (v. 40). 

     To the goats, the unrighteous, placed on His left, the King (Jesus) pointed out that they had done none of these things for Him. The unrighteous asked when they had refused to do these things for Him, and the King replied that when they had refused to do these things for the least, they also didn't do it for Him. (v. 41-45). Of the unrighteous "goats", Jesus said, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (v. 46).

     We can see the foundation of Isa. 61 and Isa. 58 as mentioned above in this parable of Christ's. These are the ordinances of the house of God that Christ is building, the ekklesia church. This is the kind of house and church that stands against the gates of hell. Are we truly doing the things that give entrance into heaven? Are we robbing hell to populate heaven? I seriously question it.

     The prophet of God, Hosea, wrote of God's people being an empty vine, and warned of the day when the consequences would fall upon Israel: "...and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. O Israel, thou hast sinned..." (Hos. 10:1, 8-10). Revelation 6:15-17 also says: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" As Jesus went to the cross, Simon, a Cyrenian from Africa was made to carry His cross by the soldiers. As the women in the crowd were weeping, Jesus said to them: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold, the days are coming...shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" (Lk. 23:26-31).

     We see this prophecy above repeated three times here. Who will be able to stand before the Lord when He returns? We, those called to be part of the assembly of the ekklesia church, have been blessed by God with abundant zoe life, the kind of life that is found in God. It is not for us to hoard but to share. God desires for His ekklesia people to grow into the fulness of the stature of Jesus Christ, not conformed to the world, but transformed in the mind in order to prove the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom. 12:1-3). We are to live as if Christ is coming at any moment, and to be found doing all that He has said for us to do. Do not let hell prevail against the ekklesia church!

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 2/16/25 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at Kenneth Stevenson. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.