John to the seven churches which are in Asia…(Revelation 1:4)
I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16: 18)
We see in the book of Revelation there was one church recognized in seven different cities. Jesus did not say he would build “churches”. He said he would build his “church”, and the forces of hell cannot stop it or overpower it.
The church that Jesus builds is built on the foundation of his righteousness, his blood sacrifice for sin, his resurrection that defeated death completely for every believer, and his return back into heaven with his outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church in power . Jesus went back up into heaven, presenting his perfect finished work on behalf of mankind to his heavenly Father, so that everything that he obtained was delegated to every person who believes on him. In other words, he put every believer in the position to live out his righteousness with his authority over all things, to the glory of his name! The first church actually believed and acted on this gospel that was preached to them, and tremendous power was manifested for the good of multitudes. And, that is the key to being the victorious church of which Jesus spoke: keep hearing the word of the good news of Jesus’ finished work until you are believing it enough to start acting on it, completing the operation of faith so that good things begin to happen. Through faith the life of Jesus starts to manifest, and where Jesus is, there is power, authority, and victory for the good of the people who believe and receive.
In the word there appears to be one church in a locality with many different fellowships. The purpose of all is to be salt to preserve and bring out the best flavor of society, and light to dispel spiritual darkness so people won’t stumble unto injury. Certain fellowships can reach into dark places that other fellowships cannot. All fellowships have an important place. There are no big “I’s” and little “you’s”. Jesus is big, and those who are “in Christ”, trusting in his blood sacrifice and his word of authority and who are trusting in his name, carry the “bigness” of Jesus across the face of the earth every day. Our challenge is to persist in believing and acting on his word so that his life and power is released through our life. As that occurs, hell can’t stop his victory from being seen in the world. 3-1-15