Authority in the Local Church
June 15, 2020
We are all familiar with the incident when Jesus made a whip and chased out those doing business in the Temple (John 2:13-17 and Mark 11:15-18). As He gave them a thrashing, He said to them, “?? ??? ???? ?? ??????’? ????? ? ????? ?? ???????????!” and “?? ????? ????? ?? ?????? ? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ???????”. It appears then that God is absolutely zealous for His house. He is directly involved in the building of His church. As co-labourers with Him we must always strive to build His church according to the blueprints He has provided. Here are five things we need to understand if we are going to build His church according to His blueprints:
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In Haggai 1:4 God asks His people “?? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ??????, ??? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ?? ??????” Both this verse and Jesus’ actions in the Temple demonstrate that God is interested in:
1) the state of His house
2) the activities of His house
3) the perception and reputation of His house
God has a vested interest in His church because it represents Him in the world. The church carries His name and nature. He lives in, and manifests through, His church. The church is His body and He is directly involved in its construction and formation.
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The church is not the invention of Christians, pastors or denominations. It’s surprising how many saints and church leaders don’t understand this. We tailor the church according to our whims and fancies and those of our denominations. And we prioritize our personal experiences and salvation above God’s purpose for His church. God’s emphasis has always been on His church but we have made it about personal salvation. There is a higher purpose for the church than what we have assumed, and it begins when we understand that the church was birth in the heart of God.
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The church is seated with Christ at the right hand of God. The church is enthroned in glory. We are constantly in the presence of God. The church is far above all principalities and powers (Eph.1:20-21, 2:6). This means that the church wields extraordinary authority from the spirit realm. And her authority extends over all of creation. We can take down any work of the enemy. The sooner the church comes to this realization, the sooner we will be able to expel the spirit of coronavirus from our nations.
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The church is the expression point of heaven. We are the ‘invasion portal’ of heaven on the earth, the portal through which heaven comes down. Heaven will do nothing on earth outside of the church. Generally, God does nothing without us (cf. when Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah). The church is the only institution on earth that can receive heaven’s mandate. The church is God’s partner in destiny on earth. Furthermore, because the church is the portal of heaven, fresh moves of the Holy Spirit flow through us. And every new thing God wants to do on the earth, He will birth it and bring it through His church.
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The church must be expanding and extending God’s Kingdom reign on the earth. We are the general assembly that expresses God’s government and authority in the world. The church impacts and influences the world. We diffuse His righteousness and justice in every place. We are the priests and prophets for the nations. We intercede for the nations and declare God’s mind to them.
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The church is the center of power on the earth. She is the power source. The operations of sons of God (the true church) directly affect the activities within creation (Romans 8:19-22). And that’s why men have always sought to hijack God’s church and contaminate its identity and its purpose. This is the reason why Jesus reacted so severely when He cleansed the Temple. We too need to “???? ????????? ???? ??? ?? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???” (Eccl. 5:1). Because we can also hijack God’s house through our wrong understanding of the church and our wrong operations in it. Choose to return God’s house back to Him by returning to the purposes He set for the house.
Nel Sewraj
Nel Sewraj has been an ardent proponent of the apostolic reformation over the past two decades. His forte is to train and equip church leaders with accurate apostolic patterns for building strong local churches. He has a reputation for challenging the way five-fold ministers think, live and work. He is a church turnaround specialist whose unique apostolic perspectives will confront the status quo and eliminate mediocrity.
He relates directly as a son to Dr Jonathan David, the presiding apostle of the International Strategic Alliance of Apostolic Churches (ISAAC), based in Malaysia. He holds numerous postgraduate qualifications in a wide spectrum of fields including Ethics, Political Leadership, Theology and Education & Training. He is the senior pastor of Groundbreakers, a church with a strong apostolic and prophetic culture based in Ballito, South Africa. He is also the author of various books, blog articles and ministry training programmes.