After showing Ezekiel this
beautiful temple of His glory, the Lord gave him an interesting command: “Son
of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of
their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern” (Ezekiel 43:10).
In the same way, we need a
revelation of the true temple of God in all its glory and perfection so that we
too will recognize our true condition. We must be willing to see ourselves as
the Lord sees us. “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have
need of nothing;’ and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind,
and naked; I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may
be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your
nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may
see” (Revelation 3:17,18). The present day church has fallen into ruin. We
have not revered the Lord. We too have gone into captivity, captivity to sin.
Our temples are broken down with idolatry and iniquity. We have been desolated
by broken relationships, sickness, and oppression. The Lord’s abiding presence
is no longer in our midst. Our members pine away in captivity, perishing in the
wilderness of despair. We too need to repent of our idolatry. We need to see the
divine pattern that the Lord has given us in His word for His glorious church
that his throne would be restored in the midst of His temple. We need to rebuild
His temple according to the divine pattern so that the Lord’s presence and glory
would abide in the midst of His people once again.
Everything of the kingdom
of God is found in Christ. He is both the head of the church and the fullness of
the body. He calls us to Himself. The Lord proclaims through the Psalmist,
“Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by
sacrifice” (Psalm 50:5). The Holy Spirit is gathering the ekklesia
or ‘called out ones’ together for the fulfillment of God’s purposes. The
true
Jesus exhorted His
disciples, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark
8:34,35). He called the people to Himself. They were gathered for the purpose of
being with Him. Then He laid down the requirements for His ekklesia:
denial of self through the cross of Christ. It is only as we are willing to give
up our own lives for the sake of Jesus Christ and His kingdom that we will find
true eternal life. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:15: “He died for all, that
those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for
them and rose again.” The
There is a gathering taking
place orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. He is gathering the saints of God to
Himself, a covenant people willing to sell all for the
The Holy Spirit is drawing
a people together, the ekklesia, the ‘called out ones’ of God, to reveal
Jesus Christ in all His glory and goodness. It is the body of Christ under the
headship of the Lord. It is a people who come together to, “consider one
another in order to stir up love and good works . . . exhorting one
another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching”
(Hebrews 10:24,25). It is a people who surrender their lives to Christ in order
that He might live His life through them for the building up of His church in
love. It is a gathering for no other purpose or agenda but the will of the Lord,
waiting upon Him, seeking Him. It is a people laying down their lives for one
another and for Christ who died for them. It is a gathering to worship Him in
Spirit and in truth, exalting God alone, having no other gods before Him. It is
a people with a single eye, focused on Christ alone, dependent on Christ alone,
trusting in Christ alone, believing in Christ alone. It is a gathering of the
Holy Spirit: Spirit led, Spirit driven, Spirit filled. It is a faithful people
with changed hearts, free from idolatry, tested by fire. It is a people of
grace, life, rest, liberty, and Spirit. It is the
The ekklesia of God
is a people who know they are the church, the body of Christ. They can do with
or without buildings or programs, but they can do nothing apart from Christ. Out
of union with Him flows all ministry for the building of the church in love.
They don’t measure themselves by themselves. They measure all things by the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and Him alone. Their measure is
one of agape love, the fruits of righteousness, Christ in us, formed in us. It
is a people gathered around the ark of His presence, gathered to Christ with one
hope, to see His glory. It is the fellowship of the saints, one with Christ and
one with each other, “willing to lay down one’s life for his friends.” It
is a people with a passion for Christ, a zeal for His kingdom and fervency for
His ministry. It is a gathering to seek the Lord: to know Him, to love Him, to
trust Him, to obey Him, to serve Him, and to be like Him.
God is building His church.
He is gathering together His saints to Himself. He is bringing forth the
outcasts and healing their hearts. And when He builds up Zion He shall appear in
all of His glory. “The LORD builds up
The Holy Spirit is God’s
Administrator and Executor. He is moving in the earth to ensure that the bride
of Christ is ready and waiting on the appointed day. The Bridegroom will not be
stood up or be disappointed on that day. He is bringing forth an army of
righteous laborers for the end time harvest, sanctified and useful to the
Master. He is brooding over the people of God to stir up a divine hunger and
thirst for the deeper things of God. It is as the Proverb says, “The
laborer’s appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on” (Proverbs
The
Lord is calling forth a people for Himself, a people called by His name, a
people sold out to Him alone. They are constrained by the love of Christ to no
longer live for themselves, but for the One Who died for them. They reject the
traditions of men and the liberal doctrines of self. They despise the status quo
of the apathetic, lukewarm church. There is a fire burning in their bones and
they can no longer hold back. They advance with purpose and determination under
the voice of the Lord. They are the army of God that has come to execute His
will against the enemies of His kingdom.
This new breed of crucified
ones, the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God, walk in the spirit and
power of Elijah with the cross of Christ. They maintain ranks at all costs in
perfect obedience to the Lord of Hosts. They are of the truth, hearing the voice
of the Lord. They are the hidden ones, clothed with Christ, fitted for battle.
No longer content with business as usual, the zeal of the Lord propels them into
a deeper walk, a higher place in Him. They are a scepter of righteousness in the
hand of the King to extend His government to the nations and the hearts of men.
They are the righteous ones who live by faith, willing to go outside the camp to
Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their faith. They have been filled with His
perfect love and now lay down their lives for Him and His Gospel. They are the
glorious church, the bride of Christ.
It is time for a revolution
within the body of Christ in order to bring about God’s plan for a glorious
church. A revolution is the violent overthrow to bring about what ought to be.
We need a revolution against everything that has set itself up against the
knowledge of God, everything that has usurped the power and authority of God in
our individual lives as well as in the corporate church body. The purpose of
this revolution is to remove everything that has illegally taken claim to the
throne of Jesus Christ in our hearts and churches and to return that throne to
its rightful ruler. We need a violent overthrow of all the traditions of men and
the ways of flesh in order to bring forth a holy habitation for a holy God, thus
establishing an atmosphere for spiritual truth to penetrate the hearts of God’s
people and bring about a transforming work in their lives. This means that we
must violently overthrow every ungodly thought, every tradition, every false
way, every doctrine of demons, every work of flesh, every stronghold of the
mind, and bring all things back into captivity to Christ. We must pull down the
strongholds of doubt and unbelief that have kept us out of our inheritance and
have kept us in bondage to sin. As Paul stated above, we must have faith in the
power of God to do what He has promised.
Paul said that to be united
with Christ is to be one spirit with Him. This means we must come into the same
relationship Christ had with the Father, seeing as the Father sees and doing as
the Father does. Individually and corporately, we must place ourselves under the
headship of Christ as head of the body and
create a holy habitation for the abiding presence of God. Jesus Christ
must be given His rightful place among His people in all of His fullness.
“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all”
(Ephesians 1:22,23). The church will only become a place of living truth that
sets people free when it becomes the fullness of Christ. Spiritual truth does
not come through intellectual reasoning, but rather by the enlightenment of the
Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must create a dwelling place for the manifest
presence of God through which His Spirit can release the spiritual truth that
will transform God’s people. This will happen when we embrace by faith the power
of God to raise us up with Christ into the newness of His life in true
righteousness and holiness.
Jesus is returning for a
church which He gave Himself for. “That He might present her to Himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she
should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). We are all waiting for
the second coming of Christ. There is no doubt that He is going to return, but
return for what? Jesus is returning for a bride, a glorious church without spot
or wrinkle, a people who are holy and without blemish. He is talking about a
practical reality, a holiness which can be seen by the world. He is going to be
glorified in us and through us before He removes us.
It is time to set our
hearts and minds to seek the Lord for His promise. “Sow for yourselves
righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to
seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:12).
It is time to persevere until His word is fulfilled. “For Zion’s sake I will
not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her
righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns”
(Isaiah 62:1). Faith will not keep quiet until the word becomes flesh. “I
have set watchmen on your walls, O
Can you believe it? Will
you believe it? Or will you continue to have a form of godliness denying the
power of God? Are you ready to cry out day and night to remind God of His
promise, to give Him no rest until you obtain His resurrection life? He will
have a glorious church. He will have a generation that seeks His face. He will
have a people who are willing in the day of His power. Will you be one of them?
Will you cry out to God until He does His work in you? Are you tired of form and
ready for some substance? It is finished!
God is looking for a
people, a bride for His Son, a holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, to finish
His plan for creation. Will we be those people, a holy people, walking in the
resurrection power of Christ, defeating His enemies, taking back the lands for
the
"Sanctify
them by thy truth. Thy word is truth" (John
17:17).