Kingdom of Heaven vs Kingdom of God
Gospel of Matthew: He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given.
Gospel of Luke: And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables.
Kingdom
-Notice that in the Gospel of Luke it says “Kingdom of Heaven” but in the Gospel of Matthew it says “Kingdom of God”, — but it is really referring to the same thing. But the problem out there, — is that a rising movement is modeling that there is a difference between the two, but according to Jesus, there really is no difference – “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven.”
The differences created is that the “Kingdom of Heaven” is referred to as that heavenly government, while the “Kingdom of God” establishes a ruling governmental kingdom like the ones used by the kings of old. This rising movement has developed a Constantine type of system where both church and government work together. But according to Jesus, — this was not the model that was released upon the early church! Jesus released a Spiritual Kingdom backed by a Serving Government which is, to this day, totally influenced by the Holy Spirit, — the two are actually one!
A present day Constantine model has evolved into a dominionism to help 'kings and priests / apostles and prophets' rule in this present day dispensation. It is a kingdom application that is nothing close to the Kingdom that Jesus released on behalf of His Father. Because this rising movement is wanting to establish an earthly 'Kingdom of God' to help shepherd the sheep, they are convinced that a top-down government is the best way to release the 'Kingdom of Heaven'. But Jesus Himself demonstrated a Kingdom without any variation. Plus He established a whole new default as to how we need to roll with that Kingdom. A Kingdom where He modeled the importance of serving one another.
This top down system will once again cause the original design of Ekklesia to slip through our hands like the last season. This slight of hand designed by an opposing spirit would love to take us down the garden path where Ekklesia is weakened once again, having a minimal power within the harvest fields, only to add to the spiritual body count from the last season.
-Oikos and Ekklesia
This rising movement is once again downplaying the true meaning of “Ekklesia” by sliding it under the “Oikos” banner, completely watering down the true meaning of “Ekklesia”. When Paul used the word “Oikos”, he was referring to terms like “home”, “household”, and when you connect that with “Ekklesia”, it really means “A family, a gathering, an assembly on the move”. This has been flipped by opposing forces to mean that Ekklesia is for a home group setting only, and not a covering for the overall big picture when it comes to those bigger gatherings.
This misinterpretation completely slams “Ekklesia” under the “Oikos” which is a total misrepresentation of its original design. Stripping Ekklesia of its freedoms, it is once again under that top down administration as a home-group only. Instead of those weekly meetings being part of the overall theme where meetings like these play into that bigger picture, it has now gone back to where unity only comes when following the one behind the kingdom of god podium. Right from the very beginning it was always about the true character of Ekklesia where serving and connecting with one another is first, then “Oikos”. With Ekklesia stepping out like a well tuned 5-fold engine (apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors and teacher) exemplifying servanthood, Oikos automatically comes into the picture as the family now has that needed covering. Ekklesia sets the stage, the model, — Oikos reaps the benefits.
Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets
But before we go too deep, — lets touch on something else that directly adds to the distortion. And that is the true meaning of the “Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets”. Its not that I disagree that the “Apostles” are sent ones, — what I disagree is how they are instantly commissioned and knighted (figuratively speaking) as Apostles and Prophets. A commissioning that apparently downloads a complete understanding of the 5-fold ministry, along with a complete mastery on how the Kingdom of Heaven functions, — without having any prior knowledge or training in the 5-fold. This type of release never happened in the early church. The original disciples were trained in all the ministries as modeled by Jesus while they journeyed with Him from town to town. During their training, Jesus called them disciples, — it was the Holy Spirit that commissioned them as Apostles.
The other distortion that adds to being commissioned this way, is that many now step into a distorted top down ministry, where most are convinced that how the Kingdom of God needs to function here on earth, is a little different than how the Kingdom of Heaven functions up there in Heaven. John the Baptist and Jesus both proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven is coming forth, — as in accordance to Heaven. Jesus clearly came to define how we need to roll as in accordance to His Fathers Kingdom. That the Kingdom of God, as demonstrated by the Old Testament kings, no longer applies. The temple of old is completely different from the temple of the new. Jesus came with His Fathers Kingdom and He came with a whole new default on how we truly need to understand the Kingdom of Heaven as in accordance to His Father. Salvation came with a Kingdom as defined by Jesus, and we need to make that connection. Jesus then backs it up by giving us a whole new prayer model for that Kingdom. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven” has now landed with great authority.
Because the calling of the Apostle and the Prophet, along with the rest of the 5-fold are Spirit filled, Spirit led, Spirit engaged ministries, — it makes complete sense that as Holy Spirit did the initial releasing back then, that He would still be doing the releasing now! Molded and refined by the fires of the Holy Spirit, fueled and commissioned by the Holy Spirit, — Apostles, Prophets along with the rest of the 5-fold were then released. That was the process back then, and so should it be today! It was that very model that changed the world, — why change the model?
The disciples learned first hand what it is to walk with a shepherds heart and to walk in the prophetic. They saw Jesus who is the “Spirit of Prophecy” demonstrate the true model of the prophetic as it played a big part of moving everything forward. As Jesus came with a whole new priesthood and a better covenant, so did prophetic ministry also come with a complete upgrade.
There is now a language of kingdom government that allows these knighted apostles and prophets to walk in a government that does not line up with the early church. And to walk in a prophetic that totally misrepresents and misinterprets the true prophetic as upgraded by Jesus. It is this distortion that gives fuel to the warped interpretation of the “Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets”
This “Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets” needs to line up with the true representation of the characteristics of a cornerstone that Jesus modeled with the greatest love and the greatest servant-hood, where “Perfect Love” as mentioned by the Apostle John knits us together as a team. The very glue that Jesus used when defining his team of twelve, where the great commandment to love allows us to serve, eliminating our need for any top down government like that of the kings of old, but to truly honor one another. His leadership model exemplified a 5-fold governmental movement where everybody walks in their lane, serving one another, esteeming others better than themselves. For three and a half years Jesus expressed the Kingdom of Heaven and its government here on earth, — we need to stick with that model for it was that very model that put the whole world in transition.
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EkklesiaRising.com / JesusMinistries.ca
