The Church – Its distinct purpose

The end is just the beginning

Rev 11:15
“The kingdom of the world has become
    the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,

    and he will reign for ever and ever.”

Matt 28:19,20
 
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age.”

Gen 1:28
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on
the ground.

Matt 6:10
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

3 Key Words
1. Gospel
2. Ekklesia
3. Kingdom

In the first 300 years of the church it had taken over 25% of then know world.

 No Church buildings
 * Very few Paid staff.
 *no the unique communication opportunities that we have.
 The church Ecclesia –was not religious in nature or connotation at all
since by the time Jesus first used it, it had been in existence for centuries
to refer to a secular institution operating in the Market Place in a
governmental capacity.
 Jesus choose to introduce it as His redemptive agency.

Jesus used this term only twice. Matt 16:18; 18:17
How strange we do not have one command to plant or grow a church in the NT.
How strange we are not instructed to ‘win the lost’ in the NT

Where did the term Church (Ecclesia) come from.

3 institutions in the NT Synagogue, Temple and The church.

Church originated in Greece – it was the ruling assembly of the Athenian

democracy. It encompassed all male citizens who had done 2 years military
service, in essence, people committed to their city-state and willing to invest
their life to protect it.

Romans assimilated the concept and used the Ecclesia as vehicle for the
colonizing new territories.
Sir William Ramsey, when ever a group of Roman citizens came together they
constituted the CONVENTUS CIVIUM ROMANORUM. Even if it was not a Roman
colony or city, where two or three citizens gathered, the spirit of Rome was in the
midst.
William Barclay NT Greek words. This was the Roman Ecclesia in microcosm,
Any time 2 or 3 of the Roman citizens got together, even in unconquered
territory they could count on the backing and authority of the Emperor and the
Empire
The version consisted of a group of faithful subjects deputized by the Emperor to
ensure his will was done in the region. People understood Ecclesia to mean both
the institutional and system by which territories were impregnated with the
style and customs of Rome.

NT eg Paul and associates Gaius and Aritarchus brought by local union of

silversmiths. In Acts 19:32,39 the word translated assembly is the same as
rendered church. Acts 19:41 “town clerk dismissed the assembly (church,
ecclesia).

Jesus did not discard the Temple or the Synagogue but incorporated key
dimensions of both his Ekkelisia.
Temple –picture of the dwelling place of God
Synagogue –central role in learning of the scriptures.

They were static, but the church was mobile operating in the market place.

By using the term Ecclessia he revealed his intention to co-opt a secular

institution already in existence to bring don the Gates of Hell and hades.

Lords Prayer: Thy Kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Go and disciple nations.

It was well understood what the church was by the disciples so He did not have
to mention it more than twice.

2 Sides of the coin

1. Evangelise the planet – Mark !6:15

2. Disciplining nations Matt 28:19
Jesus introduced His Ecclesia, in embryonic expression of the CONVENTUS OR
THE MORE EXPANSIVE FORM OF Roman Ecclesia, as a vehicle to inject the yeast
of the Kingdom of God in to the dough of society, so that people, then cities then
nations would be disciple (colonised). Jerusalem was taken over after just a few
weeks.

What are the keys

Rev 1:18 – he took from the Devil. Those keys were used for death and evil. The
“Keys of the Kingdom’ are for good and life and can only be used by the Ecclesia.

2 Key facts to consider

1.The number of people to be saved is so vast that it constitutes complete nations

being saved. Rev. 21:24
2. The church in the present form cannot handle the coming harvest in its
present structures, of buildings, trained clergy, and infrastructure capable of
transforming society and the world.

The church is not just a transfer station to heaven.

There is a huge need for relevance to society if the church is going to impact
cities and nations.

What have we done right – evangelise the world. Last 200 years been amazing.
90% of all people that have been saved in history, come to Christ in the last 100
years. Every day 187,000 people get saved.

What could we do better – disciplining cities and nations

We have vast churches with 10,000 of people in. no cities won. EG Brazil.

The Disciples were aware that Messiah would restore Israel, Jesus taught a larger
and great concept the Kingdom of God would flood the earth, and His Kingdom
would come and His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

A Lifestyle or a Task

Matt 28:19 often seen as a task, but the word ‘go’ in the original its ‘present
continuous tense’ ‘ going’ Which speaks of a way of life instead of an occasional
activity. See Matt 5:16

What happened with this approach in the NT

Acts 5:28 ‘They filled Jerusalem with their doctrine”
Acts 19:10 ‘All who lived in (the Roman Province of) Asia heard the word of the
Lord both Gentiles and Jews’
Rom 15: 19; 23-24 Paul had run out of places to preach as he gone as far as
Jerusalem to Illyricum and how had his eyes on Spain.