To BE the Ekklesia*
The Church should not just seem to be the Church, but it should BE the Church as Jesus intended. New groups like Christian Nationalism and new denominations full of false doctrines are springing up that have nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nor the Church as Christ purposed it to be. There is a lack of the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Scripture that the Lord has called us to have: "Hear ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding...Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her." (Prov. 4:1-8, excerpt).
We are also told in scripture to hide God's Word in our hearts, but we seem to often miss the mark in getting His wisdom, which is called here, "the principal thing."
There is a high price to pay when we reject the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that the LORD has provided to us, as the LORD chastised Israel: "...the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish...and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night...My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity." (Hos. 4:1-8, excerpt).
In this case, the religious leadership particularly received the condemnation of God here, and were even removed from their positions by Him. It is often religious leadership that set themselves in opposition to the knowledge of God as they did in confronting and rejecting Jesus despite the miraculous signs, prophecies and teachings of the Kingdom of God that He brought forth. The LORD says of the people to Hosea: "And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings." (v. 9).
Hosea the prophet also wrote the desire of the LORD to heal and restore His people if they will turn back to Him and repent. This also is the wisdom of the LORD available to His people: "O Israel, return to the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips." (Hos. 4:1-2).
Israel was to understand and acknowledge that they had relied on foreign nations for their defense, rather than the LORD, and they had exalted their own ideas and labors until they had become as gods to them.
Even so, the LORD promised if they return to Him: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him...Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein." (Hos. 14:1-4, 9).
Walking in, and applying the knowledge and understanding of the LORD, causes His people to recognize sin in their lives, seeking the restoration of repentance with the LORD who loves them and waits to heal them.
Part of walking in the wisdom and knowledge of the LORD is understanding the signs of the times, as Jesus taught. The religious experts and leaders demanded that Jesus show them a sign from heaven to prove who He was (Mt. 16:1), even after He had just performed the miracle of feeding thousands from "seven loaves of bread and a few fish." (see Mt. 15:32-39).
Jesus rebuked this religious leadership as hypocrites who could discern the coming weather from the signs of the skies, "but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall be no sign given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them and departed." (Mt. 16:2-4).
Is the Church discerning the many current signs of the times that point to the soon return of Jesus Christ, or are some lacking the knowledge and understanding required to do so?
After this event, Jesus asked His disciples, who were fishermen and untrained as the religious leaders were, a question: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" They replied that some are saying that Jesus is one of the dead prophets, like John the Baptist, Elijah or Jeremiah, come back to life. (see Mt. 16:13-14). The people who said this did not have the wisdom, knowledge or understanding to discern correctly who Christ was.
Then Jesus asked His disciples: "But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (petros - a rock or stone, a piece of rock), and upon this rock (petra - a mass of rock, a projecting rock, a cliff or ledge of rock) I will build my church (ekklesia - the called out assembly of God's people; and assembly of Christians gathered for worship; the whole body of Christians throughout the earth); and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (V. 15-19).
Peter's answer did not come from the knowledge of men, but from the knowledge, understanding and revelation of God. Men thought Jesus was a dead prophet, risen, but God knew and revealed to Peter that Jesus was His Son. This is the kind of knowledge and understanding that the Church is to have. The Church is not built upon the small piece of rock that was Peter (petros), but upon the massive rock (petra) that is the revelation of the Son of God. Like Peter, we are each to be a small piece of this massive rock of revelation, knowledge and understanding, and are given the authority (keys) from Jesus to bind and loose on earth accordingly.
In contrast, Peter, just a short time later, rebuked Jesus by the natural knowledge and understanding of man, when Jesus revealed His own coming suffering from the religious elders, His death and resurrection. Peter told Jesus: "Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee." Jesus turned to him and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Mt. 16:21-23). Jesus didn't stop there but added: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me...For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with his angels: and then he shall reward every man according to his works." (v. 24-27). The Book of Revelation also says: "And behold, I (Jesus) come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Rev. 22:12).
This same Peter was now rejecting Christ's destiny in God based upon the knowledge and understanding of men, which Jesus equated with Satan, rather than the knowledge of God. Is the Church relying more on the words and doctrines of men and devils than the wisdom, knowledge and revelation of the Word of God? Is the Church relying more upon the gains and profits of this world, which are temporary and passing away, rather than the wisdom, knowledge and revelation of eternal life in the Son of the living God, which is what Jesus is building His Church upon? Do we truly understand what it means to take up the cross? It is indeed a learning process that requires getting wisdom and understanding, not from man or devils, but from the Lord and His Word.
In order to fulfill the command of Christ for His Ekklesia Church, He gave leadership gifts such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers "for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (Eph. 4:11-13). .These gifts of leadership positions are still necessary and existing today. We have not yet seen this unity in the Body of Christ, and there are false prophets and false doctrines in the Church today.
The Lord Jesus appeared to John on the island of Patmos, where he had been exiled. Those who wanted him silenced found that they could not kill him although they tried, so they isolated him instead. Still the Word of the Lord reached the churches with the revelation of Jesus Christ that John received while on this island. The Lord, "that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father...", had correction, warning, encouragement for seven churches that represent more than physical churches that existed almost two thousand years ago. There are various interpretations of what the seven churches represent, but the principal fact is that what Jesus said to them still resonates today within the current Church.
Some of the churches were poor, some wealthy and self-satisfied being neither hot nor cold towards the things of the Lord. Some were suffering severe persecution, some had accepted false and harmful doctrines and seducing spirits, while another was located in the place of Satan's throne. Some were patient and steadfast in the Word and in His name, and had works of charity, service and faith. Some had lost their first love from when they first believed: the love, passion, gratitude and enthusiasm for the Lord's salvation. (see Rev. 2:1-3:22). For those who needed correction, the stern message from the Lord was one of repentance. For those who were doing well, the Lord sent an encouraging word to continue steadfastly. Jesus' message through John promised various rewards for those who received their correction and repented, or for those who continued to overcome the challenges. The rewards were different for each overcoming church, however to all He said: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." The message and the challenges to be overcome are the same today: Hear what the Holy Spirit is saying and walk in that wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
After writing the messages to the seven churches, John was called by a voice like a trumpet and saw a door open in heaven. The voice said to him: "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter." John said: "And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." (Rev. 4:1-3). The Lord was about to show John all of the things that would come to pass in the last days before (and after) His return.
We are in the last days and time is short. The Lord is looking for a Bride without spot or wrinkle, with the light of a candlestick in its midst to shine the way to life for those perishing, loving the brethren and enduring with patience. Will you be this kind of church?
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