IMPORTANT MATTERS ABOUT THE CHURCH - 1

WHAT ABOUT THE CHURCH

The word ‘church’ as used in the bible is the Greek word ‘ekklesia” which means ‘a calling out’ or simply ‘called out ones’ or ‘an assembly’.

This is the word used to refer to saved persons who have RECEIVED SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH. The church is simply another word for believers. They are those who have been called out from the kingdom of this world to the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, those who have been called out form darkness to light.

The church was never a word used to describe a building or a cathedral where people worship. The error in definition came from modern dictionaries. The modern dictionaries are however not be blamed, as this has been the error passed down from ages past by ignorant and unskillful teachers. They teach that the church of God is the building instead of the people. This error had been since the time of the great schism. It is one of the many errors that crept into the body of Christ.

Now, to what reason do we refer to believers as the church?

In the Old Testament, just right after the fall of man and the calling of Abraham as the new starting point for the journey that will bring produce the messiah that will redeem mankind, people had been dealing with God by building altars and calling it the house of God. Wherever an altar is built, the Lord dwells there. These altars were sacred places which represents the presence of God at that time.

Right after that, many hundreds of years later, the dwelling place of God shifted to the tabernacle, precisely the holy of holies. This began during the exodus. Moses and his talented craftsmen built a tabernacle to house the presence of God. There was a most holy place, the office of God, in the tabernacle which is where only the high priest could enter.

Now, from “tabernacle”, the place of worship took another shift into being a “temple”. This was after the children of Israel had settled down in their own land and have chosen for themselves a king. The tabernacle was no longer relevant. The bible made us understand how that King David, was the man who chose to construct this temple which is also called the house of God. But God later gave the mission to his son, King Solomon who eventually built this temple. However, it is clear from God’s remark to David, that he will not dwell in this temple forever and that there will be another shift soon and this shift will be the final shift. Although Solomon dedicated the house of God, and it was a great day in the history of the Israelites, yet it was not the intention of God to live in a building. The intention of God was set to be revealed after the temple era.

See how Solomon puts it in 1 Kings 8:27…”but will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

Now, the intention of God was the Church – the saints, the believers, those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

All his dealings with people concerning his dwelling place all this while had been a shadow of the real thing. The real plan of God is to dwell in a house that is not built with hands. The plan of God was to dwell inside of the born again believer.

So, the house of God shifted from being an altar, to a tabernacle, to a temple and then to human body (the born again). This shift, is the main reason why the believers became the Church. The old patriarchs must build an altar before they can satisfactorily reach God, the congregation of the Israelites was bound to worshipping God in the tent, in the tabernacle, the Jews were strictly accustomed to worshipping God in the temple, especially the one in Jerusalem, but God has chosen in this last time to dwell inside us. Our worship is now in the spirit, therefore the church of God cannot be a building but those who worship the spirit.  This exactly what Jesus told the Samaritan woman; Worship has shifted!

So it is high time we understand what we call the church. The church cannot be the chairs and pulpit, a structure or a place where we go to worship God. We are the church; we do not go to church!

The early apostles and believers tried to communicate this truth and this is clear everywhere in the epistles. In Acts 2:47, the Lord added to the church daily…, In Acts 5:11, it was said that great fear came upon the church… In Acts 8:3, Saul made havoc of the church…In Acts Chapter 12, they vexed certain of the church… In Acts 12:5, prayer was made by the church… In Eph 5:25, it was said that Christ loved the church…

All these are CLEARLY REVEALED passages about the true meaning of the church. There is none of these which mean a structure or a building. Saul cannot persecute a building, Christ cannot love a building, and the building cannot make prayers for Peter when he was arrested and great fear cannot come upon a building and so on…

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

The born again believers are the church!

The CHURCH IS NOT A BUILDING! Not even a structure made with hands! Christ is the builder!

On worship days, we do not go to church; rather we (church) meet together in fellowship. Simple!

This is the first thing we need to get deep into our mindset, before we can grasp all that the Lord has for the church and all that he purposed to do with her.

God bless you!