First Posted: 3/24/2015
For some years, the Lord has been giving me patterns that are in the word. There are many patterns in the Bible, made so simple for us to follow for success in life. Once we find them, we must apply them to our lives.
Recently, He has been speaking to me about the church and the reason the church is not operating in the power that God intended. I have learned that the church is really out of order today and not following the pattern He set forth to duplicate the Antioch Church of the book of Acts.
The Antioch Church was a church of great faith and power. 1 Timothy shows us the keys to the success of the local church today.
1 Timothy 4:14: “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the presbytery.”
What is a presbytery?
It’s a group of elders that make up the government of the local church. We can find no record of one man ruling any local church. God intended for the running of the local church to be that of a group of elders called an apostolic-prophetic presbytery.
This presbytery is not operated by men but by the Holy Spirit, through fasting and prayer. The church of Jesus Christ should not be a dictatorship or democracy but rather a theocracy, a group led by divinely guided clergy. In this case, of course, the leading is done by the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of man has contaminated what was meant to be holy, righteous and powerful. We must remember there is no flesh in the spirit of the Lord. Flesh cannot dwell in the spirit. Just because a church may be large does in no way mean that it has power and authority from the Lord.
The apostle and prophet are the foundation of the church while the chief cornerstone of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:20).
1 Corinthians 12:11-28 lets us know the apostle, prophet and teacher have the greatest authority offices in the church. Jeremiah 1 shows the Lord giving apostles and prophets highest spiritual anointing for deliverance, to tear down, destroy, build, plant and throw down.
We also want to make it clear that in God’s pattern there are no church boards. You will not find a board in the Bible. They are not scriptural. Pastors should never ordain; that is the job of the apostles — and no one is ordained without prayer and fasting by the presbytery, to allow the Holy Spirit to speak.
I believe the church has not embraced this pattern because pastors have been handed so much power, control and authority by man and they do not want to release it. But God is going to have that Antioch Church. We see that that the children of Israel had a problem with the government of God and as a result asked God for a king. He gave them Saul, and you already know how that worked.
It is the same with the church today. Many have set man above God in church matters, which is the reason things are working the way they are. It is impossible to me to share all on this subject in one column, so expect more in the months to come. We must get this right while there is yet time. Remember that God intended for the presbytery to be the true authority in the local church, not a man or woman.
