Mathew 16:18 says: Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. (KJV).
The Lord in the book of Mathew said to Peter that he would
build his church. My traditional concept about a church has always been
a big building that was built in the city of where I grew up. It did not take long that I discovered when
I travelled in Europe and abroad and wherever else I turned that there were many so
called churches and cathedrals amongst thousands of other homes in most centers
of towns and cities all over the earth. At first I thought that they were
replacements or copies of the tabernacle and temple that I knew from the Old Testament
scriptures except for the fact that there was only one tabernacle and one temple the enlargement commissioned
by God, even ever build as recorded in the Old Testament. God did not commission his
people to erect more than one dwelling place. His desire and purpose is to dwell amongst His people in the midst of them from
where He wants to set up His Kingdom to rule and reign over all the nations.
This will become a reality and it may be not too far off in the near
future during the millennial kingdom in which Christ and the overcomer will reign for a thousand years.
In the Gospels of the
New Testament we can see that when Christ came He was the replacement of the
tabernacle. Later on in the book of Acts we see the replacement of the tabernacle, the temple
which is the enlargement of Christ, the Body of Christ that is the Church. In the book
of revelation we see he rebuilding of the temple when the Lord comes back to
rule and reign during the millennial kingdom until there is no longer a need for
a tabernacle and the temple. Eventually there will be the consummation of the
New Jerusalem, where God and man dwell together in oneness, in a new earth and
new heavens. From the Gospels we see a real change from the Old to the new. God’s first begotten Son was the tabernacle of God and came to the earth to dwell amongst mankind. The apostle John said, “Behold the tabernacle of God”. God’s divine life and attributes were expressed in a man Jesus Christ who lived a human life for 33 and half years until His death on the cross. It was on the cross that his blood was shed for the redemption of mankind for by the shedding of His blood we receive the forgiveness of our sins. Furthermore through his death, the divine life was released as resurrection life and He begot many children of God. He was the one grain that was put into the earth to die but rose again and produced the many grains. They became his multiplication.
Christ’s divine Life has been released and He overcame death and ascended and descended upon the earth as we see in the book of Acts. It is here in the book of Acts that we see the Church come into existence, grow and develop. It was the first local church, the church in Jerusalem. His Spirit and life were poured out upon and within his believers and whosoever received Him became part of the Body of Christ, His enlargement as the temple of God. People were baptized into the reality of Christ, or the Spirit of Christ directly and all became members of His Body to be a corporate dwelling place as the temple of God.
From then onward we see the believers meeting from home to
home and continuing in the fellowship of the apostles. This fellowship of the
apostles is the fellowship of the Father, Son and Spirit and is now also
still working and operating within our being. Paul the apostle was one of the
apostles and upon receiving the Divine Life by the Spirit of Christ he and many
others travelled freely all over Europe to baptise, immerse people into the
reality of Christ, the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ or the anointed
one, the Messiah moved freely within and trough the believers among both Jews
and Gentiles. The anointed One as the
Spirit immersing many people of all
nations into the reality of the Body of Christ establishing many local churches in
cities all over the earth. The anointing
is still operating within many churches today! The Church is the enlargement by
the building work of the anointing One from within.
Once many local churches were established in cities such as Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philipy etc... many faithful ones who were filled with the
anointing travelled further, even reaching all continents around the globe,
further baptizing and immersing many into the reality of the Body of Christ. It is in
this simple way that the Christ, the anointed one is spreading, building and
establishing local churches, local expressions in many cities all over the
earth. Christ Himself as the anointing is spreiding as the Spirit in many places and cities today. There is still only One Church
universally but it is expressed in many cities locally. We need to ask
ourselves are we truly in the Church? Are we regenerated as millions of
believers have been and still are today? Are we truly in the process of being
built into the one unique Body of Christ to be One Holy Temple for His
expression universally and locally? Or are we simply maintaining our religious
traditions and hoping one day to see God?
We should not wait for that because the anointing is leading many people to
salvation every day who all partake of Him daily by enjoying Him as the Lamb
of God that was slain and as the life giving Spirit that regenerates, renews and transforms us to become the many sons of God in Life and nature
but not in the God head.
Christ is the Head of the Church and we are the many members of His Body. We become living stones that are being built into a spiritual house
as Peter pointed out in his epistles and we are built into a corporate dwelling
place not made by hands but by the Spirit of Christ, the anointed one, the messiah
who died and rose from the death to dispense the Life of God into us daily with
all its riches and attributes. Today there are many false prophets, especially all those who claim to be ministers for God without possessing the anointing or the reality of Christ. Anyone who has not the Spirit of Christ is not of Christ and has no part in the building work of Christ and the Church. The gates of hades have tried to prevail in vain! It is Christ Himself who is building His Church by means imparting Himself into all those who have been regenerated , renewed, transformed until the Life of Christ is being perfected and becomes manifested from within them. They in turn become gifts to the Body as apostles, evangelists, shepherds and teachers for the perfecting of the Saint unto the building up of the Body of Christ, the Church in many cities allover the earth. May the Lord have mercy upon us and open our eyes to see the salvation of Christ, the one who died and lives and imparts Himself into us as life and grace daily. The love of God, the Grace of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
