By Glynn Adams
September 3, 2023
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my ekkelsia and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.”
“Has a nation changed god when they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens at this, and shudder, be very desolate, declares the LORD. For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:11-13)
“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness (immorality, fleshly, lewd) and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 3-4)
Jesus clearly stated that He would build His ekkelsia which is a Greek word that means an assembly. Ekkelsia has appeared over 100 times in the New Testament and has always meant an assembly of God’s People. That is how the word is used in the Greek World – men would assemble at the main gate to the city to discuss government business and how to better influence the people of Greece.
Ekkelsia is not a religious word but a government word. Jesus said He was going to build something against which the gates of hell would not prevail – this assembly of the followers of Jesus Christ would influence their culture to the ways of God and expand the King’s Kingdom. Have the truths spoken by Jesus concerning His assembly been misunderstood? Do we have an overall lack of understanding of who and what Jesus called His assembly to be?
Jesus came to earth to give us a Kingdom Government not to start a religion called Christianity. He had a specific purpose for His assembly. Because we don’t understand who we are in Christ and what He intended for us to do on this earth; evil, ungodly men have crept in unnoticed and have corrupted the assembly of Jesus into a man-made religious and business model, not led by Jesus Christ as the Head but by pastors who have replaced the Headship of Christ and have turned the workman and warriors of Jesus Christ into passive followers, totally disregarding the Priesthood of the Believer. We are totally ineffective, passive, existing in religion, disobedient, and waiting for Jesus to rapture us out of here.
Unless we get a revelation of what Jesus intended for His assembly and His kingdom government as well as our role as the assembly of Jesus, we will continue to be led by these evil, wicked men who have crept in unnoticed and have corrupted what Jesus has built. Without revelation of who we are in Christ, we can’t really function to our full potential in His assembly – whether we are as Paul said, a foot, hand, eye, ear, or any other part of His assembly.
The assembly Jesus built worked well in the First Century until sometime in the Third Century. Then evil, ungodly men appeared specifically to corrupt what God had built. The corruption was the Catholic Church and the Church of England, both controlled by the State. Both ruled the people of faith and did not allow them to read the Word of God. Reading of the Bible was done by the state-owned clergy who were the only ones with the Word.
Then God raised up a man, William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English from 1525 until 1526 so the common people could have access to the Word of God. Both state churches were angry with Tyndale for many reasons but mainly because he translated the Greek word “ekkelsia” as assembly. Assembly would show the people that they are God’s assembly and not the State. He was arrested and placed in prison because his work was not authorized by the state church of Rome and England, and Tyndale refused to change the translation of ekkelsia to something other than assembly and he was burned at the stake.
In 1611, after seven years of work, the 47 scholars who produced the King James Version of the Bible drew extensively from Tyndale’s original work and used approximately 83% of his translation of the Old and New Testaments. What few people realize is when King James of England authorized the translation of the King James Bible, he demanded that the translation of the word “ekkelsia” not be assembly or congregation. So, the translators, who knew not to disobey their sovereign king, transliterated or made up the word “church” for the translation of the word ekkelsia. The word “church” intended meaning in those days was going to a building or a religious place you attended for worship. Never as an assembly of God’s people!!!
The KJV of the Bible is a good translation but evil, ungodly men crept in as did many other men before, during, and after the Reformation Period. Perhaps the most evil and ungodly of these who did more to corrupt and move what God built to a religion called Christianity was the Emperor of Rome Constantine. He erected special buildings for worship, elevated the pastor’s pulpit above the people and He changed the Sabbath, the day of rest, from Saturday to Sunday. Proverbs 5:6 says, “Do not add to His Words lest He reprove you and you be proved a liar.” Constantine had no authority to change what God instituted.
I will remind you that in the First Century, the assembly of the disciples of Jesus met in homes, along the roadways, or at the gates when and where they could. and it was Luther that made preaching the centrality of the worship service and it has remained to this day. Very, very few pastors realize that most of what we do in our worship services has no biblical basis but came to us via Constantine, Luther and the Catholic Mass and they did not get it from the New Testament but rather it grew out of ancient Judaism and paganism. Think of this next time your pastor boast, “That what we do here is based on the Bible.”
I do not intend to use the word “church” again if I can help it. It is a corrupt word that was made up to deceive people of the purpose of God’s ekkelsia and what He built. Today, passive religious people go to a building rather than being God’s active citizens in the Kingdom of God doing the work of Jesus. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Today, our religious ways are ineffective and are not doing the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven. Today we go to a building rather than get out of our comfort zones and confront the evil in our nation. There are serious consequences for allowing these false religious systems to openly operate in this nation under the name of Jesus Christ and to continue to give false presentations of what God expects His people to do while on this earth.
The Old Testament was written for our instruction and example that we not make the same mistakes as God’s people made in earlier generations. (Romans 15:4, Corinthians 10:6, II Peter 1:6, and Jude 7) That being said, I want to give you the same instruction that Moses gave God’s people in Numbers 33:55-56, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land in which you live. And it shall come about that as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.” HATH GOD REALLY SAID?!!!
Don’t we have inhabitants in the land of America who are thorns in our sides, pricks in our eyes, and are troubling us in our land by taking our land captive, Satan now rules over us and not God, and we have become a habitation for demons? Did not God say to drive out the inhabitants of the land and if you don’t, then it shall come about that as I plan to do to them so I will do to you? Yes, He did say that!! Are we going to do what He said do and drive them out or continue to ignore Him like we have in the past.
These inhabitants are men and women who follow the way of demonic entities and Satan that take away our freedoms, are killing and corrupting our children, and are robbing, stealing, and destroying our land. God said to drive them out of our land and if we refuse, then God will drive them out and as God plans to do to them so He will do to us also. Come on American citizens and followers of Jesus Christ. This is not the time to be deceived, passive, and a coward.
Most of the blame can be laid on pastors for allowing this to happen. The word for pastor is only mentioned one time in the Bible and his function is that of a shepherd. They are not obeying Ephesians 4:11. A pastor is not to dominate the worship service with their sermons and soliciting funds to pay for their expensive buildings, staffs, and TV ministries. The traditions of men have put these pastors in a place of authority in God’s assembly they have not been given.
A shepherd is one who cares for and has a heart for God’s people, he feeds and teaches the believers the truth. He goes after the people when they stray from the Lord. But mainly the pastors are to, to equip God’s people for the work of service, building up of God’s people until we all obtain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature person.
Is that your pastor? Is he training and equipping you to live in the Kingdom and for this spiritual war we are in and this destruction before us? Or is He entertaining you on Sunday by delivering to you a sermon to help you discover the real you and to make you feel good about yourself while in your sins. Unless you are challenged by your pastor, the average believer will remain passive toward their spiritual responsibilities and works of Jesus? Passive and disobedient is a dangerous place before a holy God!!!!
I am not trying to be cruel or cute here but to show you just how far we have strayed away from God’s pattern for His ekkelsia and people. In the kingdom, your responsibility is to be obedient, submissive, committed, faithful, and show allegiance to your King!!! It is time we to restore the ekkelsia to its rightful function in the Kingdom of God.
Speaking of the Kingdom of God, I sincerely hope each of you will seek a revelation of the Kingdom of God and the vital role that the assembly of God’s people plays in the Kingdom. There are two kingdoms – the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. God’s Kingdom began in Genesis 1:26 after God created the earth and mankind and put Adam and Eve into the garden. He gave them dominion on the earth and said let them rule over the earth, be fruitful and multiply and to cultivate and keep it. Revelation 1:6, “He has made us to be a kingdom.” “Do not be afraid little flock, for our Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) The Kingdom of God is a country and is a government. Jesus came to earth to fulfill Genesis 3:15 and to restore what Adam lost in the garden – a kingdom government and dominion and to die for the sins of man so we can be forgiven in order to be holy to receive the Holy Spirit. When you are born from above (John 3), you receive the Holy Spirit and become a citizen of God’s kingdom. In addition to being called a citizen of the kingdom, we are called priest, sons of God, and ambassadors of Christ. Nowhere in the Bible did God call us Christians.
Jesus said in Matthew 4:17, Repent, for the Kingdom is near you. Kingdom means the rule of God – God wants to rule in your life. The word repent means to change your thinking. Change your thinking from religion, the ways of this world to the Kingdon and the ways of Jesus. Kingdom citizens grow to reflect King Jesus’ kingdom culture, values, morals, nature, and lifestyle.
Then we move out into our nation to make disciples and to influence our culture, government, media, institutions, public schools and universities, media, television, social media, any business or anything or anyone to Jesus’ values, morals, nature, and lifestyle. We are to influence people to move from the darkness of the Kingdom of Satan to the light of Jesus Christ and His kingdom. God’s people have failed to do this because our nation does not reflect Jesus but is ruled by Satan and his demonic world. We have become a dwelling place for demons and demonic strongholds and high places. SHAME ON US!!!
Perhaps the greatest hindrance to living the kingdom life of Jesus is we do not understand His sovereignty. As King Jesus is sovereign. There is no wisdom against Him or no council against Him. He has absolute rule in His Kingdom and when He speaks it is law and it is unchangeable. God’s Word is His law. In a kingdom, a citizen has no opinion or private interpretation. Since you are an ambassador of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, you have no opinion; you only say what Jesus says which is the Word of God.
We live in a charismatic generation that values experiences over the centrality of God’s Word. The call to be all in, pick up your cross and follow Jesus is not very appealing when we can run from revival to another prophetic conference just to hear what our itching ears want to hear. But God’s ekkelsia is a culture of truth and is not a culture of feelings. You cannot separate Jesus from what He says and still have the real Jesus. “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last days.” (John 12:48)
Too many people who claim to follow Jesus, frame their opinions of themselves or their accomplishments on their intentions. In reality, the only measurable thing in your life is the action you take and what that action produces in you and the lives around you that you influence. Not your hopes, your desires, your dreams, or your intentions. It’s what you do that is actually measured in the end by Jesus.
I don’t know how God is going to deal with our religion and our passive attitude of not resisting the evil before us. If you want to know what God will do, read the Word of God to see what He did in the past to rebellious and disobedient religious nations like America!! I really believe we have lost our fear of God!!!! We openly ignore what God’s Word says about our responsibility in the Kingdom and to deal with evil. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 the gate is wide that leads to destruction and the gate is narrow and the way that leads to life is hard and those who find it are few. So many are headed for a rude awakening!!!
God bless, I remain His warrior and watchman, Glynn Adams (Thanks to the late Myles Munroe and his wonderful books and tapes on the Kingdom of God and the books Ekkelsia by Joe Nicola and Way of the Victorious by Parker Green. Last week I referenced Pagan Christianity and Rethinking the Wineskin by Frank Viola in my article. I was asked to correct this as the new version of Pagan Christianity is coauthored with George Barna and the revised and professionally published version of Rethinking the Wineskin is under the new title, “Reimagining Church.” You can view all of Frank Viola’s wonderful books at frankviola.org/books)
© 2023 Glynn Adams – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Glynn Adams: glynnadams@sbcglobal.net
