The CHURCH IS the WITNESS

A CHURCH IS A WITNESS

. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed *it* unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The word church was a lexicon of Christ. He first used it in the Bible and no one used it again until His death. There is no better place to learn the meaning from than from Him. According the arrangements in the Bible, Christ first used the word Church as place of solution of dispute after personal attempts and elderly attempts fail.

The second time I saw it used was when Peter had a revelation that Christ is the Son of the Living God. Christ introduced Himself there as the builder of His church. He told us on which Rock He will build His church and how His church will wield power over influences and activities of death and hades.

We have inherited a tradition that teaches us that a church is a Christian organization. But history has taught us that tradition is not always right, even so it is on this subject matter.

If we want to know what Christ meant by a church, we must find out all the things that He builds, which of them meets the requirement of a rock within the context which He used it and which of them is insulated against death and hades activities.

Currently what we call a church does not meet all these determinants. Almost all the seven churches in the book of Revelations had the activities of death and hades prevailing over them.

If Christ said death and hades will not prevail against it, it means His church will not die but will enter into eternal life. Just as it was in the beginning even so it is now that there is no guarantee that all members of a denomination will make the flight to stand before the Son of man. However this is the basic determinant of Christ’s church.

I will like to use the Rock, the structure on it and its power over death and hades to prove what a church is but Christ has made it easier for us, so I will chose the most easy and convincing way to explain my position. After that we shall use the Rock, structure and it’s insulation power as a test kit to prove it.

In Revelation 1:20 Christ told John that the seven golden lampstand that he saw in his vision means a church. The symbol of the church therefore is the seven golden lampstand. We know that symbols communicates messages, therefore it is imperative to seek the meaning of this seven golden lampstand.

The seven golden lampstand was introduces into the Tabernacle artifacts by Moses the prophet. Moses said the Lord gave him the design and its specifications and commanded him to tell Israel that it shall be the only lamp used in the Holy place for successive generations. Christ did not come to build any of the artifacts even though it was prophesied that He would build the house of God and not Solomon as we have been deceived to believe 1 Chronicle 17:1-15.

Rather Christ taught the meaning of all the artifacts in the Holy place, something we shall look at as you grow in the Lord. Now because the seven golden lampstand was to be used as the only lamp for successive generations, it means anytime Bible uses the word lamp, we must know that it is talking about the seven golden lampstand. The only worship lamp is the seven golden lampstand

Now Christ said the lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is good then your whole body is full of light but if your eye is bad, how great is the darkness in you. Christ was not talking about physical eyes and physical bodies. Many have very good physical eyes and physical bodies yet they languish in darkness.

Christ was talking about our spirit eyes and our spirit bodies. He said our eyes are our lamps. To understand what He meant, you need Psalm 105:119 which say the word of the Lord is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The word which is a lamp is our eyes and the word which is light is our sight. As lamps give out light even so must our eyes see. If you know scriptures, Christ term it you have eyes and if you understand scriptures, He term it you see.

If you know scriptures but do not understand them, Christ terms it you have eyes but cannot see. If you know scriptures and you understand it, your eyes are good and you see. When you know scriptures and understand them, in industrial language or symbolic language, it means you have light up your lamp.

Now Christ says no one lights up his lamp and puts it under a bucket or under his bed but puts it on a lampstand so that it can give light to the household. What this means is that you don’t understand scriptures and keep them to yourself, you must make other know what you know thus you must witness what you have seen, heard and handled by following Christ. When you witness what you know, you have put your light on the lampstand. The beneficiaries are your household. Now putting trimmed lamps on the lampstand is what Christ calls a church in Rev 1:20. It means a church is one who knows scriptures, understand them and make them known to others.

Christ wanted us to know that John the Baptist was a church that is why He described him in John 5:35 that he was the burning and shining lamp. John was a witness and not a hunter, his lamp could not be hunting lamp but worship lamp and the only worship lamp is the seven golden lampstand.

When Christ said He is the light of the world, He meant He is a church. There is no technology that provides light without lamps. This explains why as a lamb He had seven eyes in Rev 5:6.

We also have Rev 11:3 talking about the seven golden lampstand. After Christ explained to John that the seven golden lampstand is the symbol of the church, John saw the same symbols again. This time they were two and Christ explained they are the two witnesses who will come in the last days. Two people with two seven golden lampstand representing them, indicating that one seven golden lampstand stand for one witness and the second stands for another.

Christ commanded us that, the same manner He was sent, He also sent us John 20:21 so we must do the work as He did it as an answer to a disciples question that they should build three tabernacles in honor of Moses, Elijah and Christ but some did not get it and they went about forming organizations, chief among them was Apostle Paul. Christ was not interested in the organization so when He enters what they call the church of Ephesus, He will speak to churches instead of a church. To Him churches are those who have ears to hear what the Spirit says.

Groups don’t have the same ears; the one who hears what the Spirit says is the church. Now almost all the churches have death and hades prevailing in them and only few who overcame were the churches of Christ. There was no single organization that passed the test of death and hades will not prevail against it, but individual in same organizations passed that test to suggest that a church is not an organization but an individual who hears what the Spirit says. By understanding the Spirit was talking to witnesses within the organization. Such organization was supposed to be gathering of saints, or the godly also call the brethren and not a gathering of sheep and goats.

Christ came to build witnesses on the Rock of revelation by the Spirit of God. These witnesses wield power over the influences of death and hades. Christ did not come to build organizations on Peter. If He did why don’t you like the books of Peter but the books of Paul more than the books of Peter?

The Rock is the Holy Spirit, the church is a witness and it is true witnesses who wield power over death and hade. Heaven obeys witnesses and not denominations. Denominations don’t bind and loose things in heaven but witnesses do