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Most of our
study so far has focused on the believer as an individual.
In this chapter, we study the Ekklesia, (the Church,
which is the corporate Body of the Messiah), and we will
focus on the form and function of the collective body of
Believers.
I have
preferred to use the Greek word Ekklesia (pronounced
ek-klay-see-ah) in this article, because of the
widespread wrong concept of what is meant by “the church.”
We all talk
about “going to church,” or “we’ll have the meeting in the
church,” or about “he church on the hilltop.” But as most of
my readers know very well , “the church” is not a building.
It is not a denomination, and it should not be equated with
“Christendom” which is a divergent mixture of believers and
unbelievers. “The church” is the people - or to be more
correct, the born again believers.
THE BODY OF MESSIAH
An
Ekklesia can be “an assembly, a gathering, or a
synagogue,” but the Ekklesia of the New Testament is
primarily speaking of “the corporate body of believers in
the Messiah.”
In the
passages we will study, we see that that corporate Body is
called the Body of the Messiah. It is also called the
Household of God, the Little Flock, the Bride of the Lamb,
and the Temple (Dwelling Place) of the Holy Spirit. Each of
these aspects of the Ekklesia is composed of born
again believers only.
The
Ekklesia is a select group of people, but it is not an
exclusive religious club. It is open for constant new
membership, but it is neither the leaders nor the people who
select and confer membership on the individuals. It is God
Himself who has selected, or chosen the individuals who
become members of His Ekklesia. In fact, He chose
each one before the world began.
“Blessed
be the God and Father of our Master, Y’shua the Messiah,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in the Messiah, just as
He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and blameless before Him, in love, having predestined us to
adoption as sons through Y’shua the Messiah to Himself,
according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise
of the glory of His grace, with which He favoured us and
made us accepted in the Beloved.”
(Ephesians 1:3-6)
Believers
were chosen to be sons of God, and also chosen to be members
of the Body of Messiah, which means also, chosen to be
members of the Bride of Christ, members of the Household of
God, and members of the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
So while
using the word Ekklesia,
I want you to be clear about its definition - it is
“the corporate, universal Body of
Messiah, made up of all born again believers of this present
dispensation of grace (from Pentecost to the
Rapture).”
MEMBERSHIP IN THE BODY
“Now you
are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it.”
(1
Corinthians 12:27)
Membership
in Messiah’s Ekklesia is not obtained by signing a
form, paying a fee, or having your name registered in a
church or society roll. This does not mean there was no
cost, and that there’s no “roll.”
There was
cost, and it was paid by the Saviour. It was the cost of
your redemption:
“For you
know that it was not with perishable things like silver or
gold that you were redeemed from the futile way of life
handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the
precious blood of the Messiah, a Lamb without blemish or
defect.”
(1 Peter 1:18-19)
The moment
you are redeemed, your name is added to the Heavenly Roll -
to the Lamb’s Book of Life.
“Nothing
that defiles or profanes, nor anyone who practices
abominations and falsehood, shall ever come into it (the
heavenly city), but only those whose names are recorded
in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
(Revelation 21:27)
“You have
come ... to the Universal Assembly, to the Ekklesia -
the corporate body of “The Firstborn” who are
enrolled in heaven.”
(Hebrews 12:23)
“Rejoice
that your names are recorded in heaven.”
(Luke 10:20)
Membership
is obtained by being placed “in Christ” - by being baptized
into the Messiah - into His Body. This is not water baptism
here; it’s the work of the Holy Spirit, which happens the
very moment we believe and receive Y’shua as our personal
Saviour.
“For by one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether
Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made
to drink of one Spirit.”
(1 Corinthians 12:13)
“Or do you
not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Messiah Y’shua have been baptized into His death?”
(Romans 6:3)
“For all of
you who were baptized into Messiah have put on
Messiah - you have clothed yourselves with Him.”
(Galatians
3:27)
MESSIAH IS THE HEAD OF
THE EKKLESIA
This
statement should not be surprising, for we recognize that
Y’shua is the Master who came from Heaven. But we should
note that it is the Father who made Y’shua the Head of all
that pertains to the Ekklesia.
“And He,
(the Messiah), is the Head of the body, the Ekklesia;
and He is “the Beginning,” the “First-born from the dead”;
so that He Himself might come to have first place in
everything.”
(Colossians 1:18)
“...
in accordance with the working of His (the Father of
Glory’s) mighty strength which He exerted in the
Messiah, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at
His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all
rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to
come. And He put all things under His feet, and made Him the
Head over all things for the
Ekklesia - the
universal Body of believers who are in fellowship with the
Messiah - which is His body, the fullness of Him who
fills all in all.”
(Ephesians 1:19-23)
The Head is
the control centre, as we can see from our own bodies.
Y’shua is the Head of this corporate Body. He is not a
nominal Head, or a constitutional Head; He is the real Head.
On earth,
the Ekklesia has various leaders:
“And He
gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some
as evangelists, and some as shepherd-pastors
and teachers, for the perfecting of the set-apart
believers ...”
(Ephesians 4:11-16)
“And God
has appointed in the Ekklesia, first of all apostles,
second prophets, third teachers ...” (1 Corinthians
12:27-28)
Notice the
Master did not appoint any other head, substitute or deputy
head!
Men may
appoint other men as the Head of a denomination. But none of
these leaders are the Head of Messiah’s Ekklesia.
Christ alone is the Head of the Church!
“What about
Peter,” some may ask. “Wasn’t he appointed as the head of
the church on earth?”
No! Peter
was an apostle, shepherd and teacher, but not the Head. At
the Jerusalem conference
(Acts 15)
it was James who delivered the conclusion or recommendation,
not Peter. But neither of them was the Head apostle.
But look at
that verse in Matthew closely, and you will see that Y’shua
was building the Ekklesia upon Himself, not on Peter:
“And I also
tell you that you are Peter (Petros, a pebble), and
upon this Rock (Petra, a bedrock) I will build My
Ekklesia - My Body; and the gates of Hades - Hell
- shall not overpower it.”
(Matthew 16:18)
Although I
place great value on the two epistles of Peter, I’m ever so
glad that I am not built on Peter - or upon any man other
than the Man of Glory, Christ Jesus - Y’shua the Messiah!
THE EKKLESIA IS “THE
LITTLE FLOCK”
“Do not be
afraid, little flock, for your Father has been so pleased to
give you the kingdom.”
(Luke 12:32)
In the analogy here, the Messiah’s people are like a
flock of sheep that is cared for by the Good Shepherd. The
analogy emphasizes the dependence of believers on their
Shepherd’s care. Sheep need shepherding!
“You are
with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
(Ps. 23:4)
“I am the
Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and My own know
Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I
lay down My life for the sheep.”
(John 10:14-15)
“So watch
yourselves and watch over all the flock of which the
Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Ekklesia
of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
(Acts 20:28)
THE EKKLESIA IS THE
HOUSEHOLD OF GOD
The apostle
Paul said: “I am hoping to come to you shortly; but in case
I am delayed, I am writing these things to you, so that you
will know how one ought to conduct himself in the Household
of God, which is the Ekklesia of the living God, the pillar
and support of the truth.”
(1 Timothy 3:14-15)
The Household of God is made up of believers - sons and
daughters of God. It is clear that the household Paul is
speaking about, is the New Testament Ekklesia, which Y’shua
indicated was still future when He said, “I
will build My Ekklesia.”
There was a household of God, of course, in the Old
Testament, but it was not the Ekklesia. Paul indicates that
there are various families in heaven:
“For this
reason, I kneel before the Father of our Master, Y’shua the
Messiah, from whom every family (every lineage) in
heaven and on earth derives its name.”
(Ephesians 3:14-15)
In one sense, all believers of all ages are part of
God’s family. It’s like all humans being part of the one
human race; and yet the human race is divided into many
families.
Messiah’s Ekklesia is a
new Body - a new household - comprised of Jewish and
Gentile believers.
“For
Messiah Himself is our peace, who has made both
groups into one, and has broken down the dividing wall
between us by abolishing in His flesh the enmity
and the Law of commandments contained in
ordinances - His purpose being to create in union with
Himself one new man out of the two, thus
making peace, and in this one body, to reconcile both
of them to God through His death on the cross,
by which He put to death the enmity.”
(Ephesians 2:14-16)
Y’shua, speaking to the disciples who were the nucleus
of the new man, the new creation, said:
“In My
Father’s House are many dwelling places ... I go to prepare
a place for you.”
(John 14:2)
This also indicates that Messiah’s Ekklesia is
one special entity - the very Bride of the Messiah, for whom
He is personally preparing a glorious dwelling place - the
New Jerusalem of Revelation 21.
THE EKKLESIA IS A
DWELLING PLACE
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The apostle goes on to the Ephesian believers that they
(as all Gentile believers) are fellow-citizens with the
Jewish believers who were the beginning of the Ekklesia; and
that they are also a dwelling place, a temple, of God.
“So then
you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are
fellow-citizens with the set-apart people of God, and
members of the household of God, having been built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah, Y’shua
Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the
whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy
Dwelling Place (temple) in the LORD; in whom you also
are being built together into a Dwelling Place of God in
the Spirit.”
(Ephesians 2:19-22)
Believers individually are “temples of the Holy Spirit,”
but the Ekklesia is the
corporate temple,
which Adonai Elohim - Father, Son and Holy
Spirit indwells.
The Hebrew titles used for the Almighty are
Adonai
(Lord/lords), and Elohim
(God/gods). Both titles are plural words, and imply the
three eternal manifestations/personalities of “the Eternal
One.”
This is the uniqueness of Messiah’s Ekklesia -
the Eternal Three-in-One - Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
indwells the members individually, as well as the corporate
Body.
“Y’shua
answered him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and
My Father will love him, and We
will come to him, and make Our home with him.”
(John 14:23)
“The one
who lives in the teaching of the Messiah
has both the Father and the Son.”
(2 John 9)
“And if
Messiah is in you,
though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is
alive because of righteousness. And if
the Spirit of Him who
raised Y’shua from the dead dwells
in you, He who raised the Messiah from the dead will
also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who
dwells in you.”
(Romans 8:10-11)
“Do you not
know that you are a Dwelling Place
(temple) of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16)
“For we are the temple of the living God.”
(2 Corinthians 6:16)
(See also Ephesians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2
Corinthians 13:5; Galatians. 2:20; Colossians. 1:27;
1 John 2:23-24)
A PROFOUND MYSTERY:
THE EKKLESIA - THE
BRIDE OF THE LAMB
The Ekklesia, seen as the Body of Messiah is likened to
a “New Man.” But seen as the eternal companion of Messiah,
it is likened to a “glorious Bride.”
In Ephesians 5, Paul teaches two things in the one
passage: 1. the desired relationship of husband and wife; 2.
the intimate relationship that He has with His Ekklesia.
The intimate relationship that He has envisioned for the
members of His Ekklesia, both individually and corporately,
is presented here in the analogy of the closest human
marriage relationship.
“Husbands,
love your wives, just as the Messiah also loved the Ekklesia
and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her,
cleansing her by the washing of water with the Word, and
that He might present the Ekklesia to Himself, a glorious
Bride, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing
- but that she should be holy and without blemish.
“Likewise
husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own
bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. After all
no-one ever hated his own body, but feeds and cares for it,
just as the Messiah does the Ekklesia - for we are
members of His body - of His flesh and of His bones.
FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS
FATHER AND MOTHER, AND BE UNITED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO
SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.
[Genesis 2:24].
This is a profound mystery - but I am speaking with
reference to the Messiah and the Ekklesia.”
(Ephesians 5:25-32)
Yes, it is a profound mystery, but it shows us the
uniqueness of the Messiah’s Ekklesia.
If you have
not read our article,
“A Love Relationship”
(THE
BRIDE AND THE MESSIAH)
I encourage
you to do so.
THE LOCAL ASSEMBLY:
THE EXPRESSION OF THE CORPORATE BODY
“To the
Ekklesia of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been
sanctified (set-apart) in Messiah Y’shua, set-apart ones by
calling, with all who in every place call upon the Name of
our Master Y’shua Messiah, both their Master and
ours.”
(1 Corinthians 1:2)
It is
obvious that the whole Universal Ekklesia was not
present in Corinth. What was present was a local expression
of the Universal Body.
The
glorified Messiah sent seven messages through John to the
local Ekklesiais
(plural).
(Revelation 2 & 3)
“He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Ekklesiais
(assemblies).”
(Revelation 2:7)
Please read
our booklet,
“Messiah’s Messages to the Seven Churches”
for a
heart-searching message from those seven letters.
In the seven messages we see the direct concern of the
Head of the Ekklesia for the local bodies. The
messages are addressed to “the Messengers” or “Angels,” of
the assemblies. Messengers are not Heads; they are elders
who have been placed as overseers, teachers, or
shepherd-pastors in the local assembly.
“Bishop”
(Gk. episkopos)
is another English word for “an overseer.” Archbishop is not
a Scriptural word. Archangel is Scriptural, but it refers to
higher angels such as Gabriel and Michael. “Pope” is not a
Bible word, although it means papa (father). But as there
is only one Father, there is no place for “pope” in
Messiah’s Ekklesia.
“There
is one body and one Spirit ...one Master ... one God and
Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in you
all.”
(Ephesians 4:4-6)
“So watch
yourselves and watch over all the flock of which the
Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Ekklesia
of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
(Acts 20:28)
THE NEW TESTAMENT
EKKLESIA
The local
Ekklesia in the NT
was not instituted by men, although men were building blocks
in it. It was neither a man-organized denomination, nor a
multinational organization; it was not an organization at
all. It was an organism. It grew through the ministry of the
Holy Spirit within the members of the Body.
The NT
Ekklesia was an
assembly of born again people who gathered together in the
Name of Y’shua the Messiah, to study Scripture, to share
with each other (fellowship), to break bread in remembrance
of the Master (worship), and to pray together
(Acts 2:42).
It was a called-out, set-apart body of believers, centered
around the Person of the Messiah, who, although absent in
Body, was always with them in Spirit.
The Ekklesiais
were in fellowship with the Messiah, and with each other.
Its leaders and members were devoted to one another in
brotherly love (Rom 12:10). They were earnest in prayer and
good works, and sought to build each other up in the faith.
Each member was normally filled with, and led by, the Holy
Spirit. Each exercised the various gifts given to him or
her, for the edification of the Ekklesia, for the
proclaiming of the Gospel, and for the extension of the
Kingdom, and glory of God.
The assemblies were unpretentious, simple in style,
fervently evangelistic in outreach, persevering in
persecution, and overcoming evil with good. They were deeply
concerned for believers who were in prison for the faith, or
suffering in other ways.
The members of the Ekklesia were constantly
awaiting the return of the Master, and in the meantime, they
were like salt, and a light in the community. They were a
display of the power of God at work in the world.
Sounds like a perfect church? But
the
ekklesiais were not perfect; they encountered
various problems. They were zealous, however to learn, and
to follow the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit was moving
mightily amongst them.
FAILURE IN THE
CHURCHES TODAY
Can we find a perfect church today? Yes. In Heaven! On
earth, however, it is very hard to find a fellowship that
meets all our expectations - a Spirit-led, Bible-based,
caring, balanced, evangelistic, missionary minded,
Rapture-awaiting church like the NT
Ekklesia I have described above.
In local churches today, unfortunately, there are many
flaws, drawbacks and problems, and we have all encountered
some of them at various times. There are disgruntled
members, rivalries, personality differences, pride, selfish
ambitions, pettiness, politics, clashes, dogmatism,
narrow-mindedness, intolerance, racism, financial troubles,
wrong doctrines, unbelief, extremism, apostasy, and so on.
All these flaws, of course, may not occur at the same time.
Some churches may be able to say that most of them are
seldom present in their congregations.
In some churches the flaws may be in the shape of their
easy-going, comfortable, complacent, lukewarm church-style,
that helps the members to feel good and peaceful. They are
not much of a spiritual force for the Master's Kingdom. And
Satan leaves them alone, because he is not threatened by
sleeping saints, and complacent Christians!
Most of these conditions are the result of the
main failure in the
Ekklesia today - the failure of
believers to apply the principles of the Word of God in
their lives. We are exhorted to
grow in the truth of the
Word, and to be doers of
the Word.
(2 Peter 3:18. James 1:22)
“All
Scripture is divinely-inspired - God-breathed, and is
profitable for teaching, for conviction and reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the
man of God may be adequate and complete, thoroughly equipped
for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
In many churches there is a lack of enlightening
teaching of the Word that builds up, and strengthens. Often
the “teaching” is milk and not solid food.
In other churches there is good solid teaching. The
members “know it all,” but it does not sufficiently impact
their lives, because they do not apply the truth in their
lives. When problems comes along, they resort to human and
carnal solutions, rather than Scriptural and spiritual
principles.
Without the application
of the Word in the believers’ lives, the Ekklesia
will be spiritually anaemic, and the problems of
carnality will develop.
Prayerlessness
is also a main problem. Prayer seeks the will of God; prayer
helps to bring unity; prayer helps to keep believers from
making mistakes; prayer helps to increase love and faith in
lives; prayer helps to dissipate selfishness; prayer opens
the door for the Master’s solutions, and helps to thwart the
activity of the enemy.
“Take also
the Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God, praying in the Spirit at all times, with
every prayer and supplication. To this end, keep alert
and watch with all perseverance, interceding for all the
set-apart people of God.”
(Ephesians 6:17-18)
THE BUILDING UP OF THE
EKKLESIA
The Master has provided for the building up of His Body.
And this building up involves every member of the
Ekklesia. The Ekklesia is not individualism; it
is a multi-member organism - millions of born again
believers learning, growing together, and reaching on to
maturity and full stature.
“And He
gave and placed some disciples as
apostles, some as prophets, some as
evangelists, and some as shepherd-pastors and
teachers, for the perfecting of the set-apart believers,
for the work of service, for the building up of the body of
Messiah; until we all come
to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to a full-grown, mature,
perfect man, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Messiah.
“This is
so that we should no longer be children ... but speaking the
truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into
Him, who is the Head - the Messiah, from whom the whole
body, joined and knit together by that which
every joint supplies,
according to the effective working of
each individual part,
causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself
in love.”
(Ephesians 4:11-16)
That’s how each local Ekklesia should be
progressing. Every member is important, and has a gift and a
role in helping the buildup of the whole. There are many
gifts, talents and abilities. As well as the gifts of
teaching, evangelism, shepherding, Paul has mentioned the
gifts of helping, administration and languages
(1 Corinthians 12:27-28).
And there are gifts of encouragement, discernment, caring,
service, liberality, leading and exhortation.
(See also Romans 12:6-8)
The goal is
conformity to the full stature of the Master - ultimate
perfection - the perfect Ekklesia in Heaven.
THE MYSTERY OF THE
ETERNAL PURPOSE
Paul said:
“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given,
to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of the
Messiah, and to bring to light what is the plan, and the
meaning, of the mystery which from the beginning of the ages
has been hidden in God, who created all things through the
Messiah, Y’shua.
“His
purpose is that now, through the Ekklesia (through the
universal body of those who are in fellowship the Messiah),
the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the
angelic rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He
carried out in the person of Y’shua the Messiah, our Master,
through whom we have boldness and confident access to God
through faith in Him.”
(Ephesians 3:8-12)
The eternal purpose of God is to manifest His
multi-faceted wisdom to all powers (including the Satanic),
through His glorious, effective and incomprehensible work in
the Ekklesia - Messiah being the Head, and the
members, the rest of the Body.
When the Ekklesia is complete and glorified - totally
filled with the Sh’khinah Glory of God - it will stand as
God’s most resplendent “new creation.”
The
wonder of it all !
- how the Messiah could redeem from out of the hog-pens of a
most depraved world, a people - a Body - in which all
defects have been eliminated forever, and that is conformed
to His own perfect image! Oh, the wonder of it all!
Even Satan will have to confess on that day, that Y’shua
is indeed Adonai, the Heavenly Master, and that He has done
all things well, and that the Ekklesia is His
Masterpiece.
And now, already, the satanic forces can see that the
Ekklesia is well on the way to completion, (for most of
the Ekklesia is already in Glory). And those evil
forces are determined by all means, to hinder and frustrate
the perfection of the Body.
That’s why, at present ...
“... our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
principalities, against authorities, against the
world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
(Ephesians 6:12)
“Be of
sober spirit, be on the alert, for your adversary, the
devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour. But resist him, standing firm in the
faith.”
(1 Peter 5:8-9)
THE PROMISE OF Y’SHUA THE MESSIAH
“These
things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take
courage! I have overcome the world.” ... “I will build My
Ekklesia, and the gates of Hell shall not overpower
it.”
(John 16:33. Matthew 16:18)
“Oh, the
depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and His ways beyond finding
out! WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD? OR WHO HAS BEEN HIS
COUNSELLOR? WHO HAS EVER GIVEN TO GOD THAT IT SHOULD BE
REPAID TO HIM?
For from
Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be
the glory for ever! Amen.”
(Romans 11:33-36)
r r r r
r
The
article, “The Mystery of the Ekklesia” was
Study
#21
on
the PLAN OF GOD, from the series,
“MYSTERY 888,
MESSIAH IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY”
By
Don Stanton |
