The Church - Disciples Who Grow and MultiplyНамуна

The Church is part of God’s will. It is the means through which He chose to establish His Kingdom. The Holy Spirit makes the Church a place of life, health, growth and miracles

REFLECTIONS:

Read Acts 2:42-47, Ephesians 3:9-11 and Romans 16:25-27 and take some time to answer the following questions:

➤What does Paul call “God’s plan”?

➤According to these passages, what is the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church?

The Church is not a human invention. It is not a charity, organization, club or some other movement set up with good intentions. The Church is part of God’s eternal plan – the “mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God”. It is important to understand that we are not the reason why the Church exists. It does not exist to satisfy us, to give us what we need, to entertain us or even to please us. For example, I don’t think it matters at all whether you enjoy the worship time or not, because the worship isn’t for you. The important thing is for you to be involved and to praise Him! We are the Church, and this Church exists for Him, to accomplish His will and to allow His Kingdom to come. That is God’s priority (cf. Matthew 6:10).

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” This statement has often been understood to mean that nothing can extinguish or destroy the Church, so many churches have adopted a defensive and protectionist stance to keep the faith intact. But that’s not all that Jesus meant when he said this. Far from it. Think about a house with gates outside. The only thing the gates can ever do is open or close. They can’t come in the house and attack people sitting on their sofa, because they are fixed in one place and their role is to let people in or keep people out. Although gates can’t attack you, because they can’t move by themselves, you can open gates or knock them down. That’s precisely what Jesus is talking about.

The Church is on earth to make the Kingdom of God manifest and to push back the kingdom of darkness. The Church is therefore called to be proactive and aggressive in driving out demons, to conquer ground stolen by Satan and his henchmen. This aggressiveness is only ever directed against the spiritual realm (cf. Ephesians 6:12). Nothing can stop the Church when it is on the move.

Jesus promises to build His Church, so He asks us to make disciples of all nations. This means that Jesus takes care of His Church and ensures that it grows, while we should take care of making disciples. If, on the other hand, we seek to build our church or churches based on our own model or our own vision, God does not guarantee our success. Success is guaranteed to those who listen to God and practise what He puts on their hearts. The challenge is that it is often easier to want to adopt a method or programme than to seek God and receive His plans and His will for His Church. He has a unique plan for you, and you can understand that plan when you are in His presence.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the Holy Spirit is the main person at work in the Church. The Spirit grows the Church every day by incorporating the men and women who are saved by faith. He performs miracles, convicts hearts, directs the Church, establishes leaders, sends people on missions, and so on. If we are to be the Church that Christ wants us to be, we need the Holy Spirit. The norm for the Church is to be led by the Spirit so that we experience the very nature of God and see the number of disciples being multiplied. Take the time to reread the New Testament, setting aside the image of what the Church is today so that you can better receive His heart and His vision.

The Kingdom of God is the presence of the King (that is, Christ Jesus), and it is through the Church that His Kingdom expands as multitudes encounter Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and when the disciples experience the reality of the Kingdom where they are. It is therefore important to learn to work with the Holy Spirit to be the Church that Christ wants you to be and to bring heaven to earth.

MY DECISION:

➤How this applies to my life:

➤My response to what I’ve learned:

➤ What you decide today will determine who and what you will become tomorrow!

Translation of an excerpt from Un disciple en marche by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse. All rights reserved.