Voice of the Kingfisher speaks out …from a different perspective
by Elinor Montgomery
What Really is the Church?
May 19, 2012
What really is the church? Does it resemble that which we call church today? There is but one place to find the answer, and it is in Matthew, chapter 16, of the Bible. No one but Jesus can establish His own church, with all other man-made forms being a counterfeit and a fraud.
It all begins with Jesus asking the question, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So, the disciples indicated exactly what the misconception men generally have, who come from religions of all sorts, as existed in Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus and His disciples were traveling, at the time He asked the question. The world of religion sees Jesus as just another one of the prophets; in fact, certain people saw Him as being the reincarnation of them.
Then, the question came next from Jesus, which would change the face of history forever; “But who do you say that I am?” The boldest of all the disciples, Simon Peter, answered saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now Jesus was a humble Man, though straight-forward and truthful, but one thing is for sure – He was not a braggart. It is likely Peter had never thought, nor could have known the answer he gave, regarding the relationship of Jesus to God as Father and Son. Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
What a shame more religious people do not heed this message, for Jesus clearly indicated that such understanding could only come from heaven above, in the form of revelation! There is no other possible source for a trustworthy message of who Jesus is as the Son of the God of truth. Perhaps if the religious priesthood of Christianity were to grasp this biblical truth, they would stand in their pulpits adamantly separated from any ecumenical movement toward religious unity, which might ask for the cross to be taken down and the name of Jesus removed from public prayer to make way for religious unity. Why would a believer trust man on this issue when God has so clearly spoken?
But, here is the source of the problem with what man calls ‘church’ and what Jesus goes on to indicate it will be henceforth and forever more. There is one and only one official doctrine – there is no other and Jesus stated it clearly in His response to the above preliminary dialogue; “And I also say to you that you are Peter (meaning little stone), and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
The church will sit on a firm, apostolic foundation of stone, cut by the truth of the Word, but never by the hands of man. No tools of religion will ever re-work the apostolic stones. It would become the rock foundation for the church of the future for which Jesus would go on to indicate that He is the chief cornerstone. The church has no other form except that laid by Jesus for the apostles, no matter how much Rome would have the world believe otherwise. The pope’s roots are from the pagan high priest of Rome and have nothing to do whatsoever with this declaration of the church, which was given by Jesus, and by no religious priest. He is Jesus who is inerrant, and not the pope or Caesar.
The church is not defined by the nation Israel; it is not defined by the high priest of Judaism; it is not defined by the name of Christian. The church is defined by Jesus’ washed-clean, spotless disciples of the Word to whom He handed the keys of the kingdom of heaven. He indicated that His church is a royal part of heaven, which can claim relationship to God as sons, who were given the keys to the very throne room, itself.
Jesus next gave the job description for these same men for whom He would pay the price and buy to be His servants. They, in no way, could be equated to pew-sitters. They not only carry the keys for themselves to heaven, but they will become responsible for opening the doors for all others to enter in, who can hear their truth of the gospels. At the same time, to those who willfully choose not to hear them, the church will shut heaven’s doors.
Jesus clearly did not want to be called the Christ, a name, which seemed to be limiting Him to the nation Israel, which believed the coming Sent One from God was only for the nation so her people could call Him their Messiah. He was so much more as the Son of God. He was the Savior who would return the sons and daughters of mankind back to God, the Father, as His good fruit intended to come from the loins of Adam.
The stones of the church are not like those used for buildings, but rather are more like rolling stones, moved as the wind of the Spirit moves them. They can be compared in many ways to the portable tabernacle of the wilderness, which moved as the Lord God, in the pillar of cloud over the ark of the covenant, led His people. So, too, would the Spirit of the Lord move each and every apostle who shared His cup and ate bread with Him.
There is no other church, only a counterfeit form of institutions belonging to the Babylonian System of religion, which came out of the final empire of Rome established by Constantine, the Caesar of his day. He gave to them the name of Christian, a mocking term, which originated in Antioch and was never used, never hinted at and never acknowledged by Jesus, Himself. It came with its own set of doctrines, incorporated by man and most certainly did not come as revelation from God.
Now, this tomb of religion has held the true church captive for centuries, and it will only be by revelation to a chosen few of these latter-days that Jesus will give revelation again, as God did to Peter, setting the time and pattern for Jesus’ return for His church, which He will first lead out of captivity and into freedom. The nation grew during her time as slaves, captive in Egypt, as did the church grow and spread throughout the world during her time of captivity to Christian Romanism.
However, the time has now come and is right at hand, for the true church to witness to the truth of who Jesus is as the Son of God. He can never be blended into a religious background, for He is the cornerstone of truth as the Son of the God of truth. He is about to set the captives free from their religious stalls or pews, as members of one religious form or another.
The true church and bride of Christ will offer the keys to the kingdom and roll out the red carpet for those who have ears to hear and are willing to depart from the great harlot of religion, lest they should share in the harlot’s sin and receive of her plagues (see Revelation 18:4). This will be the last call of the last prophets who are given the authority to speak for God. They are His voice in the Spirit serving their Master, the Kingfisher of men, as they carry out their great commission to fish for men. There will be no more or no less than 144,000 who make up the tribes of spiritual Israel, belonging to the crossover blessing of Ephraim, which was removed from Joseph’s first son, Manasseh, by his father, Jacob, led to do so by the Spirit of God.
The church is not a Nicolaitan system of priests and laity, nor was it ever such. All church members are called to the priesthood as witnesses to the light. They will only receive their light as a reflection of the Son. Religious men have very little light to impart to the pew-sitters, sitting in big, expensive buildings called church, which, in fact, are, in most cases, places, which can be enemies of the truth.
Come out of them, my friends, and into the light. For the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” to all who are weary and tired of the false institutions and are ready to come out of their tomb and become a part of the truly great revival of the apostolic church of Jesus Christ.