It's Time for a Reality Check

Are we living in the day, when we are experiencing the judgement of God upon the man controlled church system?

A church system, that has departed from the God given pattern and blueprint and is a pale reflection of the early church, of which it was said, that the religious leaders marvelled taking knowledge of Peter and John, that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4v13.

They saw something different, something that was other worldly, something that they had to acknowledge - in spite of all their religious tradition and ways of thinking - that made these men stand out because they had a living and vital relationship with Jesus, which marked them as having the unmistakable touch of heaven upon their lives.

A system that esteems man's wisdom, ways and wants above God's wisdom, ways and what the Almighty wants and desires from His called out assembly (Ekkelsia).

A system that is characterised by programmes for growth, a fixation with buildings (how big they are, aesthetics i.e. how they look, how powerful a sound system they have, how large the congregation is on a Sunday morning or Sunday night), membership, how much money is coming in, seminary, bible college and training programmes, creating a seeker friendly environment, with a watered down message which has more to do with new age philosophies than the anointed, unadulterated, Word of God.

A system, that is characterised by an absence of God's presence, power and conviction. Substituting the real with the fake, with smoke machines replacing the tangible, visible glory of God, as experienced by past generations and even under the old covenant (2 Chronicles 7v1-16).

Loud music and ecstatic fleshly behaviour, replacing the true shout of triumph and Holy Spirit inspired and anointed worship, which ascends as a sweet fragrance to the throne of God, as the true spirit worship that Jesus spoke about in John 4v23 & 24 when he said to the Samaritan woman

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth

However, we have substituted spirit and truth worship for man controlled, man inspired singing, which we have labelled worship.

Musical talent is now the qualifying factor rather than a person living a life of praise and worship in the secret place with God. A true worshipper, who has been taught of the Spirit to be sensitive to His moving and voice, relying on Him to give them spiritual songs and produce and foster a lifestyle of worship.

The worship team or ministry is now the focus with their pre-planned programme and songs that have been chosen by a select one or two.

Where is the spontaneity?

Where is the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to move and inspire true worship?

Where is the Priesthood of Believers with each having a psalm, a hymn, a spiritual song, a doctrine, a revelation

1 Corinthians 14v26, Ephesians 5v19.

Someone in the congregation may well have the key to the meeting.

I remember, many years ago the Lord, would give songs to my Dad (and not just him but others), and he would start a chorus under the anointing, which was the key to bringing liberty and a deep sense of God's presence in meetings. Those days are long gone. Everything is pulpit and platform centered, rather than having a focus on the Body of Christ coming together in unity, with every joint supplying, according to the effectual working in every part. What is the result of the body ministering to the Lord and complementing one another, instead of competing for position to be in control of proceedings?

According to Ephesians 4v16, the body is build up and edified. The KJV says that when the body is fitly joined together and every joint is supplying then it;

"Maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love"

The Greek word for increase is "auxesis":

Strong's g838

- Lexical: αὔξησις

- Transliteration: auxésis

- Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine

- Phonetic Spelling: owx'-ay-sis

- Definition: increasing, increase, growth.

- Origin: From auzano; growth.

- Usage: increase.

- Translated as (count): increase (2).

The Greek word for edifying is "oikodome":

Strong's g3619

- Lexical: οἰκοδομή

- Transliteration: oikodomé

- Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine

- Phonetic Spelling: oy-kod-om-ay'

- Definition: (a) the act of building, (b) a building, (c) met: spiritual advancement, edification.

- Origin: Feminine (abstract) of a compound of oikos and the base of doma; architecture, i.e. (concretely) a structure; figuratively, confirmation.

- Usage: building, edify(-ication, -ing).

Remember the Ekkelsia is likened to

1. A Body: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

2. A Bride: Ephesians 5:22-33

3. A Building or Temple: Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10

I believe, that Paul in Ephesians 4 details God's pattern and blueprint for the New Testament Church and in doing so, uses both the analogy of a body and a building (temple), to convey the image of how the body grows, matures and increases, as each part of the body contributes and operates, as it should, in its specific function and by the same token how a building or temple increases and is build up, to become that which is perfected and becomes a habitation for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2v20, 1 Peter 2v4&5

We have Departed from the God given Pattern

When are we going to evaluate what is happening and realise we have departed from the God given pattern, as detailed in the New Testament epistles and as exemplified by the Early Church.

Remember, even in the old covenant, God instructed Moses to ensure he did everything according to the pattern that was revealed to him in the Mount, in relation to the construction of the tabernacle and all the furniture, utensils etc. Exodus 25v40; Hebrews 8v5.

Matthew 16v17-19 says

17¶ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (NKJV)

The Greek word for church is the word ekkelsia. It means a called out assembly.

Vines Expository Dictionary defines Ekkelsia as follows:

from ek, "out of," and klesis, "a calling" (kaleo, "to call"), was used among the Greeks of a body of citizens "gathered" to discuss the affairs of state.

The reality is, we have made the word church, mean something very different from what God intended it to be. We have it made all about a building, a meeting place, instead of a called out people that God has chosen for Himself.

"Are you going to church?"

"What church do you belong too?"

"What does your church believe?"

"How many people go to your church?"

Are you getting the idea? Do you see what we have made it?

We - the living stones - are the Church, God's Ekkelsia

We may meet in a building or a house or a field but that's not what's important. The important thing is that God is building His Church, while in many cases, man is building his own kingdom and attributing the name of Christ to his own efforts, motives and ego.

We need to be honest, as God desires truth in the inward parts. Are we part of something that is man controlled and man focused or are we part of the true church that God is building?

A dear brother told me, that he advised a servant of God, who has a real heart for souls, that we didn't need yet another "church" but an encounter with God, so that we could be a true light and witness, in the midst of a dark and perverse generation. He wasn't trying to discourage but what I believe he was saying was, let's meet to seek God's face and cry out for revival and position ourselves to be part of what God wants to do in this last hour. Let's get on fire, have a burning bush/Upper Room encounter and then we will be truly equipped to minister life to the lost and dying. Not just have three or four meetings a week and have religious gatherings, which are ineffective in producing the true disciples and encounter with God, that is essential in these last days.

Lets get the foundation right and let God do the work, according to His pattern and plan.

Let's face it we have a "church" or house of religion (in most cases several) on every corner, in every town in this land, with many operating in a sectarian, denominational spirit, which has divided the Body of Christ, on the basis of denominational creeds and traditions of men. How is that glorifying to God and how can God move in something that is so far removed from His heart and divine purposes?

The answer is He can't and what's more He won't!

God will not build His church on a man made, man controlled foundation.

No argument, no pleading or praying or no man will get God to go against His prescribed pattern.

Forget it, it ain't happening!

God does not change for us or align with our plans, we must change and align ourselves with His purposes and plans or like he did with the house of Eli and King Saul, He will reject us and just pass us by. 1 Samuel 4 and Acts 13v21&22.

Remember, under the leadership of Eli that the ark of God was taken and His son's wife called her newborn son, Ichabod which means "the glory has departed". 1 Samuel 4v2

Psalm 78v60 says

60 "So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men"

God judges by just departing and leaving us to our own devices.

Remember what happened to King Saul in I Samuel 16v1&14?

1¶ And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?

14¶ But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. (NKJV)

God rejected Saul and chose David. Notice that when the Spirit of God left Saul, he tried to kill the one who God had chosen to take his place.

Are there those in positions of power today who God has rejected and the judgement of God rests on them and on those who come under their control and influence?

In Hosea 8 we read these solemn words,

1¶ Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law

2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.

3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.

4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

I want to highlight a few things from this passage, which I believe is a true prophetic reflection of our day:

1. They despised and sinned against God's law i.e. His Word. His prescribed way and pattern

2. They rejected what was good

3. They set up kings and princes (leaders), which were not ordained or chosen by God. How many in our pulpits today are there because they went to bible college or got a degree in Divinity but were not called or ordained by God. We must be chosen and ordained from our mother's womb and have a God given calling and be sent by Him (Jeremiah 1v5, Galatians 1v15&16). True ministry is not a profession, its a holy calling and the true servant of God is not chosen in seminary but in the furnace of affliction and testing and like Mary, by sitting at the feet of Jesus and receiving His heart and life changing Word.

4. They had forgotten and turned their back on God their Maker but yet they build temples (houses of religion) and fenced cities. Like today, they had departed from the pattern God had revealed on the Mount and from following His ways, yet they were still very religious and their focus was on the building and temple of religion, instead of on God. Religion became their God. Buildings became more important than God and they substituted true worship for a fake religious "church" system.

5. Note the stark warning ⚠️ I will destroy and devour your cities and palaces

Please don't misunderstand what the Lord has laid on my heart to share (although some inevitably will). I am not saying that the people of God shouldn't meet together or that we shouldn't have local assemblies. Neither, am I saying that it is wrong to take interest in a gathering place and make it look good and maintain and decorate it to a high standard. It only becomes wrong when it becomes the centre of our focus and becomes an idol and object of worship.

However, what God is asking and challenging us to do in this hour, is evaluate and take a long hard look at ourselves and examine our hearts and motives and see if we are aligning ourselves with the pattern that he has prescribed for the Ekkelsia.

Are we more focused on meetings, religious gatherings, the building we meet in and our programmes, than we are in having an encounter with God?

Remember Paul's rebuke to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 11v17&18

17¶ Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. (NKJV)

Does our meeting together produce eternal fruit?

Do we attend out of religious duty and to satisfy our religious conscience or to please man?

Are we being changed and conformed to the likeness of Christ through all the activities that we participate in or are we stagnating and dying a slow spiritual death?

Are we competing with each other, rather than encouraging and in honour preferring one another and the ministries that God has given as a gift to the Body of Christ?

Are we serving one another or are we lording it over our fellow saints and manipulating and controlling them?

Are we focused on building our own kingdom or God's kingdom?

Are we threatened by other brothers and sisters, to whom God has imparted a special gifting and like Saul with David, we resent and seek to extinguish and eradicate their effectiveness in the Body of Christ?

Remember what Ephesians 4v11-13 says

11¶ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 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:

Note the following:

1. He gave "some". Not everyone is called to the five fold ministry. God does the choosing. However everyone is called to fulfil a specific calling whether that be as an intercessor, in a leadership role (governments), through the ministry of helps, healing, working of miracles, to encourage and strengthen others 1 Corinthians 12v28-31. Not everyone is called to preach or teach but one thing is sure God, has a specific role for you in His Body.

2. The purpose of the ministry gifts

• For the perfecting or maturing of the saints

• For the work of the ministry i.e. to equip the saints to fulfil and operate effectively in their God ordained ministry and calling

• To edify and build up the Body of Christ

• So that we can come collectively into a place of maturity, in the unity of the faith and into a place were we have such an experiential knowledge of Christ and walk in such close fellowship with Him, knowing Him so intimately that we come unto

• A perfect man (mature, fully grown) unto the fulness of the stature of Christ i.e. we are conformed to His image Romans 8v29. We are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone Ephesians 5v30

God is calling a remnant to himself in these last days. A people who will follow his leading and align themselves with His purpose and pattern for the true ekkelsia.

Will we heed the call or will we continue to despise and reject His ways, preferring instead to follow man's ways and to conform and submit to the "church system".

Churchianity or true Christianity - that's the stark choice that the remnant is being faced with in this last hour.

1 Corinthians 6v16-18

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

The Apostle John speaking of spiritual and commercial Babylon in Revelation 18v4 says:

4¶ And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

What Next?

I used to work in a Learning and Development role and the one of the key elements of the training cycle, was evaluating if the training need had been effectively met, through the training that had been delivered.

The reality is what is the point of doing anything and not reviewing or evaluating if it's effective or successful.

In the natural world, businesses and organisations, carry out reviews, to examine and identify areas for improvement, in order to be more effective.

Why would we think, that as the Body of Christ we would be any different, both individually and collectively?

This is a biblical concept.

We are told in 2 Corinthians 13v5 to

5¶ Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. (NKJV)

The word examine is the Greek word peirazo:

Strong's g3985

- Lexical: πειράζω

- Transliteration: peirazó

- Part of Speech: Verb

- Phonetic Spelling: pi-rad'-zo

- Definition: to make proof of, to attempt, test, tempt.

- Origin: From peira; to test (objectively), i.e. Endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline.

- Usage: assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt(-er), try.

A different Greek word is used in Galatians 6v4. The word is dokimazo and it conveys the same meaning.

3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. (NKJV)

Strong's g1381

- Lexical: δοκιμάζω

- Transliteration: dokimazo

- Part of Speech: Verb

- Phonetic Spelling: dok-im-ad'-zo

- Definition: to put to the test, prove, examine; to distinguish by testing, approve after testing; to be fit.

- Origin: From dokimos; to test (literally or figuratively); by implication, to approve.

- Usage: allow, discern, examine, X like, (ap-)prove, try.

In the book of Revelation (chapters 2 and 3), Jesus examines and evaluates the 7 churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). Five out of the seven churches were rebuked following His evaluation.

He appeared to the church at Ephesus as the One who walked in the midst of the 7 candlesticks (churches) and told them they had left their first love.

To the church at Smyrna, he revealed Himself as the first and last, the one who was dead and is alive. He didn't reprove them.

To the church at Pergamos, he revealed Himself as the One with the sharp two-edged sword and rebuked them for holding to the doctrine of Baalam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitians.

To the church at Thyatira, He appeared as the One whose eyes were as fire and His feet like fine brass. He rebuked them for tolerating that woman Jezebel, with her seductive teachings and corrupting ways.

To the church at Sardis, he appeared as the One with the 7 Spirits of God and 7 stars and told them that He didn't find their works perfect before God.

To the church at Philadelphia, he revealed Himself as the Holy and True One, who had the keys of David. Like Smyrna no rebuke or call to repentance.

To the church at Laodicea, He appeared as the Amen, the faithful and true witness and the beginning of the creation of God and rebuked them for their lukewarmness and being deceived and thinking they were something which they must definitely were not.

Every church was evaluated and their works tested and the only ones who were not rebuked or told to repent were the two churches that faced persecution.

I had the privilege of sitting under the ministry of Pastor Dempster, an Elim Pastor, with a deep love for God's Word. I always remember him saying, that the Word of God is a two-edged sword. One side cuts while the other cures.

Will we allow the Word of God to cut and challenge us about churchianity and how we have departed from God's pattern and blueprint for the Ekkelsia?

Conversely, will we allow it to cure and heal us, as we allow it to do it's perfect work in our lives? James 1v3&4; 1v25

Hosea 6v1-3

A Call to Repentance

1¶ Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

2 After two days He will revive us;

On the third day He will raise us up,

That we may live in His sight.

3 Let us know,

Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.

His going forth is established as the morning;

He will come to us like the rain,

Like the latter and former rain to the earth. (NKJV)

What a promise. We are on the verge of the promised outpouring of the former and latter rain. The Lord may cut and convict us through His Word but He has promised to heal us, revive us and to raise us up.

The third day is on the horizon, when we will experience the resurrection life and power of God being manifested through the Ekkelsia, in preparation for His soon return.

We must position ourselves and align ourselves with God's plans and purposes.

Will we come out of Babylon and churchianity, so that we might enter in to the land that is flowing with milk and honey, to the Sabbath rest that God has prepared for those who love and fear Him and a life were we will experience days of heaven upon earth?

Yes there will be giants.

Yes there will be trouble and persecution.

Yes there will be impossible battles and trials.

But God has promised to fight for us.

To give us the land that every place the sole of our feet walks on,

To give us victory and make us more than conquerors.

So that no enemy shall be able to stand before us. Joshua 1v1-9.

All scriptures are King James Version (KJV) unless indicated otherwise.