In His Name

Greetings;

I hope you are all well and enjoying the transition of fall to winter. Such are the seasons!

I am going to continue today with the subject of leading the church as the ekklesia of God. I have proposed that the ekklesia of God is the bride of Christ. She is the life-giving womb of God in the earth. She is God’s means of bringing the realities of heaven to the earth. She is made of many members called together by the Holy Spirit to make kingdom decisions in this earth on behalf of her husband, Christ Jesus. She is the one who bears His name. His name is His character, nature, way, power, and authority. Wherever there is an expression of the body of Christ there is the governing rule of Christ.

Matthew 18: 18-20  “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

These verses reveal that the power of binding and loosing is in the hands of the church. More specifically, wherever two or three agree on earth having gathered together in His name it will be done. What does it mean to gather in His name? A name is a character, a nature, a way, a power, and an authority. It is not merely a label, but it is a substance. When two or three come together by the calling of the Holy Spirit there is a manifestation of the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ. Decisions that are made from that reality change the realities of the earth. In a democracy it takes a majority of an assembly to be a quorum when making decisions. In the kingdom of God it takes two or three to come together in Christ’s character, nature, way, power, and authority to be a quorum for kingdom of heaven decisions to be made in the kingdoms of the earth. This is the testimony of an ekklesia, an assembly of members called out by a town crier in order to make governmental decisions of the community. This is the condition upon the earth that makes heavenly decrees to change the environments of the worlds we live in. As leaders in the body of Christ we must lead in a way that facilitates quorums of God’s kingdom for heavenly changes in the earth. The town crier is the voice of the Holy Spirit instigating the Father’s will in the name of His Son. It is not merely reciting the name of Jesus and thinking that anything will happen, but facilitating the manifestation of Christ’s character, nature, way, power, and authority whereby anything can happen. When the family name is manifest the family way is implanted. It is a matter of relationship and intimacy, not a formula of power of ministry.

The sons of Sceva discovered that the power of heaven is not released by merely reciting the name of Jesus as though it was a label of endorsement for ministry and power.

Acts 19:13-16 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

In these verses we see that the demons were able to over power the sons of Sceva for their lack of substance. The demons knew who Jesus was and they knew who Paul was, but they did not see the mere words of the Sceva boys as a threat. It was the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ made manifest through Jesus the head or Paul as a part of the body of Christ that would cause them to flee, but not the mere reciting of a name. The substance of the name had to be present and that substance would be made known through the true testimony of Christ. The Holy Spirit comes in Jesus name and if He is not present there is not substance of Jesus name, even if His name is recited in words. There has to be a manifestation of the ekklesia in order for there to be an enforcement of Christ’s kingdom life to the world.

As leaders in the body of Christ we must lead to facilitate the manifestation of the name of Christ. The name of Jesus is only made known through the one who bears His name. She is bride of Christ, the eternal Eve joined to the eternal Adam of life! The testimony of the name of Jesus is seen in the anointing of Christ within and upon her in every moment of relationship with Him in heavenly places. Recognizing the voice of the town crier is more important than the implementation of mere Christian principles. Let’s be leaders who facilitate quorums of the kingdom of heaven upon the earth. Those quorums are manifestations of the family of God joined together with Jesus in His body of life. It is not a matter of facilitating power or anointing, but manifestations of intimacy in Christ. It is filled with members in agreement with one another in agreement with His presence. These are not mere words, but the fullness of His substance of life!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

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