Jesus Christ Himself gave us His word that He will build His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I believe He is in the process of raising a glorious Church. An important and outstanding characteristic that will mark out this glorious Church is spiritual maturity. Not that every member of this spiritual organic Body will be matured, no. Individuals in the Church will be at various stages of of spiritual growth, but a large percentage will be matured, knowing who they are and what they have in Christ. They will be individuals who have developed in the 9 fruit of the spirit especially LOVE, and those who are manifesting the GIFTS of the Spirit as the Holy Spirit wills. The glorious Church for which Christ is coming will not be rescued from imminent danger like those who the fire brigade comes to pull out of a burning building before they perish. Rather they will be a people full of the power and manifesting the glory of God before whom no Satanic power can stand. They shall be men and women before whom the gates of hell cannot stand.
Actually, some Old Testament scriptures give us a prophetic view of the glorious Church. One among them is the Book of Haggai, chapter 2: 1-9
We are in the latter days and the Church of the Lord Jesus is here referred to as the "latter house". Here in this prophetic message through Prophet Haggai, God speaks to the leadership and people of Israel, calling upon them to be strong and build. The church, the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ of this end time will be one in which both the leadership and followership will stand in STRENGTH, the strength of the Lord. Strength which will come from a revelation of God's word and the power of the Holy Spirit who is at work in the life of every believer. Most of what we see in the Church today is the preaching of a self-serving gospel, messages that pander to the selfish and often covetous desires of people. The Church today is filled with many so called leaders who draw attention to themselves rather than to Jesus, they promise "blessings" and "miracles" which are nothing but quick fixes and fast food approach to things of spiritual importance. We see Christians today whose lives and lifestyles no longer affect or challenge people in their immediate surroundings. The present day believer has so much blended with the world that rather than utilise spiritual principles and methods to solve day to day problems, the Church is importing secular methods to bear upon spiritual matters.
There is a need in the Body of Christ. A need for anointed Teachers and Preachers of truth that will build up and thus bring the Body of Christ into mature manhood. This now is very necessary because the Church must stand up to do the work of the ministry, i.e. interceding for the lost, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom with power, getting newly born again believers baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit, ministry to the sick and the oppressed of our communities and being the eyes, mouth, hands and feet of God upon the earth. Becoming deliverers from eternal damnation, in the place of the Master who before He left instructed the Church to occupy till He comes. The Book of Obadiah says:
And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.
Oba 1:21
Note in the passage above, "And saviours shall come up on mount Zion ..." The word saviours speaks not of Christ but of His Church. Because now, Christ the Body must walk in the steps of Christ The Head, doing the works that He did and greater works also. For this to happen, the Church must come to maturity. Notice that when Jesus was on earth, He did not begin His ministry until He was 30 years old. 30 is God's number for maturity. The church of the Lord Jesus must come into mature manhood so as to do the work of the ministry effectively and successfully. For this to happen the five fold ministry offices of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher must arise in the Body of Christ to bring the Body into the place of spiritual maturity.
Presently, self styled apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers abound, decieved and deceiving many. The power of these ministry offices is not in the name, but in the function and anointing of God which rests upon the office. A truly anointed man or woman in the 5 fold ministry office will be recognised not by the title, but by the fruit of the ministry in which they stand.
As we speak, God is raising up within the Body of Christ a core of intercessors, who are desiring that God will release into the earth, "teachers of righteousness", men and women who will stand in the 5 fold ministry offices in this end time. Ministers who by the reason of the anointing that raise them up will be engaged in teaching the Body those things necessary for bringing her to the place of spiritual maturity. A church that will be consumed with the passion to see the Kingdom of God become manifested and functioning upon the earth today. A church that does not know her left from her right spiritually will be greatly handicapped, she will be taken advantage of by Satan and his cohorts. A baby church that does not know her rights and privileges in Christ will only be a breeding ground for spiritual failures and the like. It is therefore very important that those who God has raised up arise and stand in in the places of their calling to build up a people that will be spiritually matured in this last days, and then build up a company of people that will manifest God's glory. Let us remember that this is the time of Zion's favour. Let us grow up into Christ in character, wisdom, purity and power. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
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