as observed by Nancy G. Daniel
Proverbs 21:21-22 (TPT) The lovers of God who chase after righteousness will find all their dreams come true: an abundant life drenched with favor and a fountain that overflows with satisfaction.22 A warrior filled with wisdom ascends into the high place and releases regional breakthrough, bringing down the strongholds of the mighty.
In our troubled times, we need to use the tools that we have been given to see the kingdom come and the glory of God be released in the land. Our school has been studying these topics for some time. One of our graduates Peggy Anderson did an exceptional job writing her master paper on the topic of ekklesia (Greek) as a governing body. However, with so much turmoil many are looking at Romans 13 and teaching to always be obedient to authorities while others want to take things into their own hands and fight.
We as believers in Jesus Christ and His kingdom must look at things the way He does. We are on the earth but we are on the kingdom and serve the government of God first. Everything else follows. We live from a place of victory and completed works in Christ. The kingdom is at hand in and through us as we bring heaven into reality.
Some of our friends from South Africa would read this and probably say it’s about time, (smile). So while this may seem simple to some for others it is outside the Christian paradigm.
We also understand in theory but we must put into practice what we have been given or it is worthless.
In recent days, the Lord has put the gifted intercessor, Rees Howells on my heart. He stopped Hitler during World War II through intercession in his school, they prayed for three and a half years morning, noon and night. This takes serious commitment to see this through for the glory of God!
God moved and Europe was saved. I have been asking the Lord to raise up an intercessory prayer as Rees Howells for the things we see happening in the world today, as this is a very practical application of what we are to do as a body of Christ.
I am not the only one who has been moved by Rees Howells. Dutch Sheets, a well know intercessor, speaker, a teacher in the USA, along with others formed a prayer network for the past several years all over the USA. Recently he has mobilized this group and sends out 15-minute prayer points weekly. This mobilization of the body and the ruling government of God on the earth is shifting things. To some, it is not evident yet but will become so over the next year. Dutch has a few books and I will quote some in this article. To understand the depth of what is happening and how to activate it where you are we must take theory and put it into practice.
The Lord raised up Sean Feucht to go to the troubled places and worship. The principle is that Judah plows. Sean plowed the way. And then Dutch mobilized his ruling ekklesia in the government of God. What’s next with God?
Theory To Practice
Each of us has a powerful light. That light CONSUMES the darkness. If you go to a dark room and turn the light on, darkness does not creep away it disappears. This is what we have in us.
The kingdom of God is like a natural kingdom, however, the level of our authority with God and man in God’s kingdom is determined by our time in a relationship with Him and our callings. The more I behold Him the more I become like Him.
The Lord taught me a very powerful principle over several years. Find the lampstand or man/woman with God’s authority in an area and agree with what they are praying and declaring to see the environment shift in the natural. Every country or region can do this. We have seen and have heard this taught in India as well.
As an example, last year there was a battle in a country and our friends were stuck, they are a bright lampstand in the Lord and function with authority or ekklesia. The Lord showed me a vision and the word was released throughout this ruling and reigning ekklesia to agree and God moved.
The government of heaven on earth operates with local pastors or leaders who God has His hand on with authority in that area. People see it and honor that person for it. This is your local lampstand. There are local, regional, and national lampstands that God has given authority to God and man. You can build this but need to find each local authority and agree in prayer with what God is saying to them.
Dutch Sheets has earned his authority with God and man, in intercession as he built a network in the USA over several years. This network operates as local governing bodies of believers with authority in their region. When Dutch and team visit they listen to the local ekklesia or spiritual authorities and pray and declare with them as they are the local lampstand. Then on a national level, Dutch has unity and all the lampstands agree as one. As we agree with Him in the government of Heaven we can see things shift on the earth.
We must understand our role or level of authority in the government of God and how to use the tools that we have been given to shift the environment. We cannot be like Lot and keep to ourselves not affecting change around us. We can indeed go to the Lord get a word and declare what He has shown us. How powerful it is as we come together as a body understanding our authority in Christ. This is not mystical or magical but practical and relational with God and man and is the basic prayer Jesus taught us as we pray thy kingdom come thy will be done.
Summary: Action Steps We Can Take
- Pray in the spirit with the local spiritual authorities.
- Honor the local authorities as God’s lampstand.
- Let them pray first and agree with them.
- Write crafted prayers. A crafted prayer is written beforehand that you have received from prayer and fasting.
- Read the crafted prayer and make the declarations that God has shown you, so all can hear.
- As you listen to the local lampstand’s prayer and their declarations from what God showed them, recraft prayers and share them for daily declaration among the nation or the greater ekklesia.
- The national leaders must see the big picture in the local areas to bring them together and share concerns across the country for unity in the ekklesia.
Principle to Think About and Remember
- The more we behold the Lord the more we become like Him, the more we are like Him, the more authority He wields through us
- The authority to rule and reign with Christ in the kingdom is for now and it’s for me!
- We have the power by the spirit of God to forbid and permit things that affect the kingdom, in other words, to forbid or permit in our ekklesia.
- When there is a struggle or an issue in a region or area find God’s lampstand authority in the ekklesia and agree in prayer with that authority
Background Information
Much more detail is available. This is a brief to gain a basic perspective. If you or your team want more please request it.
Kings and Priests
Many have given definitions to these roles in Christian circles but as we look at what the Bible says we can find some amazing surprises.
….and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
We are to function as both by the Holy Spirit. We can study this out in the Old Testament.
- Priests bring the sacrifice, and represent people to God and present the needs to God, they request, pray and operate in humility
- Kings enforce what God says, rule of law, judgments, etc., they command, rule, and decree in boldness, they present heaven’s role to earth.
To function as both priest and king requires a relationship as a son. Romans 8 tells us as we are led by the Spirit we are sons of God. In everyday life, we are a priest when we bring a sacrifice of worship, time, energy, and life resources to pray or intercede and bring supplications before the Lord on behalf of others.
An example of functioning as a king would be doing what Jesus did. Jesus only did and said what He saw the Father doing and saying. He only knew this from spending time with the Father. As we spend time pressing into the heart of God we understand what we are to say or do and as we declare what we saw or heard we are acting in a kingly way. To rule is to take dominion in the kingdom. We are ruling as an ecclesia. Let’s look at ecclesia in theory and reality then look at the tools or keys that a king would use.
Background: Ekklesia or Ecclesia-The Assembly
In Matthew 16, Jesus proclaims what His church is built on and that it will prevail against hell. Unpacking the location, Greek, and context of His statements can shed some light on the function of the “church”.
To appreciate what is happening during the conversation it is good to look at the context of where Jesus and the disciples are and the language they are using.
A Sign at the Site
“THE GROTTO OF THE GOD PAN: This cave is the nucleus beside which the sacred sanctuary was built. In this ‘abode of the shepherd god,’ pagan cult began as early as the 3rd century BCE. The ritual sacrifices were cast into a natural abyss reaching the underground waters at the back of the cave. If the victims disappeared in the water this was a sign that the god had accepted the offering. If, however, signs of blood appeared in the nearby springs the sacrifice had been rejected.” To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats.[i]
In the photo below on the left: I am standing on the rock that many believe was the place that Jesus and the disciples were as Jesus spoke this portion of scripture to them. This is a big rock and below it was what they also believed to be a gate of hades in the temple of Pan. This was the door to hades, so this was profound teaching, as the gates of Hades would not prevail against the ekklesia.
In the picture on the right: this is what remains of the temple walls, one can see the carved areas where other gods were displayed, to give perspective the image on the right is actually above the grotto that is pictured on the left. Jesus was confronting the gates of hell and telling us it would not prevail against us.
In essence, Jesus was saying:
“I will build My ekklesia or ruling body of believers,
and the powers of darkness shall not overpower it
or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it.”
The following is taken from Dutch Sheet’s book “Giants Will Fall”.
Contrary to what most believe, the Church isn’t a building, an organization, a congregation, or a worship service. In Christ’s day, to both Greeks and Romans, an ekklesia was a governmental assembly. It was a ruling body, a legislature. The Romans actually included the concept of discipling in ekklesia—shaping the thinking of nations. The governmental teams Rome sent to conquered regions in order to rule them, (ekklesia) were also charged with the responsibility of changing the culture of those regions. Romans knew that through this, they could keep conquered nations from rebelling and attempting to re-establish their former identities. Their goal was to make them think like Romans in all facets of life! The concept of an ekklesia being a government body is why Jesus, when stating that He would build His ekklesia, went on to say they would be given the keys (authority) of His kingdom government.[ii]
Keys and Their Function
In Christian circles, we are taught this is a spiritual tool to bind and loose demons, but there is much more to what Jesus was saying in Matthew 16:19.
These are legal terms, “to bind” means “to forbid”, or “legally restrain” and “to loose” means “to allow” or “permit” or “legally liberate”. This is also why Jesus said the “gates of hell,” a phrase meaning “the government of hell,” would not stop His ekklesia—His Kingdom government—on earth.
The verse actually means, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth shall have been forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth shall have been permitted in heaven.” Jesus was saying that binding and loosing or rather permitting and forbidding are directly connected to this issue of authority. In Jewish circles, they understood this was practical, not spiritual. So whatever you allowed in the body of Jewish believers was allowed.
Another Perspective
Matthew 18:15-20, AMP “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens and pays attention to you, you have won back your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 17 If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile (unbeliever) and a tax collector. 18 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth shall have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth shall have [already] been loosed in heaven.19
We have been given kingdom keys, we need to use them! There is a personal level of authority and there is an authority in the ekklesia. There is also a corporate level or a regional/national/global level.
Practical Use of Keys
The word of God is like a double edged-edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12 (AMPC) For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.
The Greek word for double-edged is distomos which means having a double or two mouths as a river. This is God’s mouth and yours! When you declare what God is saying you are bringing heaven to earth as if Jesus walked into the room and did it Himself.
How you use the keys is with your mouth. This is not from your soul but from the Spirit of God to you. Declaring His heart.
Resources:
https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/gates-of-hell-article
Sheets, Dutch. Giants Will Fall: Become A History Maker And Take Out The Giants. Dutch Sheets Ministries. Kindle Edition.