Apostle Don Meares
As Christians, we have to know about God’s structure, order, and ways of ruling His people. We must understand how God’s government works. In the dictionary, a government is defined as the governing body of a nation, state, or community. It is the system governed by a nation, state, or community. A great deal of your success and ability to make it in life depends on your understanding of your function within the government in which you live. As a local body of believers, we can suffer or experience negative consequences because we do not know how the government of God functions here on earth. In the government here on earth, there are consequences to be paid when we violate laws. And the same is true in the Kingdom of God.
In our nation, our type of government is a democracy. However, we must know that God’s government on earth is not a democracy but a theocracy. These are two very different concepts, but the Bible tells us that no one can completely understand the Godhead. The first part of Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God.” And in Deuteronomy 6:4, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” Our local church believes in the Trinity of God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. One God, three personalities to which some would say three manifestations.
1 Corinthians 11:3 makes it very plain that Jesus is the Head of the Church. He is the authority over His Body, the Church but God the Father is the head over Jesus. In other words, Jesus has authority over the local church. God the Father has the authority over Jesus. We’re also aware that Jesus, in His ministry, said that He had to leave the earth so that the Holy Spirit could come. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is going to dwell in you as you repent. He will give you a new spirit, and your body will become the temple of the Lord because He has bought you by His blood. The Holy Spirit doesn’t live in your mind or your emotion but in your spirit.
The Holy Spirit can come and live inside you if you have repented of your sins and confessed Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit is now to be the authority in your life, and His purpose is not just to lead you and correct you but to reveal Jesus to you through your relationship and obedience. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says:
“Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”
Many Christians consider themselves to be under the Lordship of Christ by their works but in Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” This clearly teaches that Jesus looks at the people who think they’re under the Lordship when they’re lawless and never under His authority. The issue of working out one’s salvation is what the Holy Spirit comes to do. You have not come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ if you do not believe that your role in life is to seek the Kingdom first and He’ll add all these things (Matthew 6:23). You can’t make it happen for yourself.
When you have been born again, it is not the same as understanding God’s government in the Kingdom. It doesn’t mean that when I’ve been born again that I’ve entered the Kingdom. It means that I can see the Kingdom. If I’m going to understand God’s Kingdom or government, I’ve got to come under His Lordship. This means that if I will operate in the Church, I have to become a disciple. This is beyond just attending church on Sunday mornings. Being a disciple means that I have to know the teachings of Christ, and I have to obey them.
What we need to know about God’s government
God’s government is a theocracy. It is based on knowing the new covenant, the foundation individually and corporately. It is a government that deals with a covenant the Son has made with the Father and us. The Kingdom of God is built by a revelation of who Christ is. In this covenant, we have all of our rights, freedoms, and justice. We have the promises that God has made to us. We have His authority, and we have His power in us. Likewise, in this covenant, we have the penalties and the consequences. If we violate or disobey the covenant of God’s government and Kingdom here on earth, there are penalties for disobedience and rebellion.
The basic level: Your purpose
As an individual, you have to know the covenant. When you come under His Lordship, you will understand His purpose for your life. As part of the Church, you are to obey the teachings of Christ as a disciple. You are to fulfill the vision of Jesus, which is the Great Commission, and you become a minister of reconciliation. You were born for a divine purpose. You discover this when you come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit that dwells in you. When you are under Christ’s Lordship, your heart and spirit become acceptable to reproduce the seed of God’s Word and government.
One of the significant things about your purpose is your vocation. God has a specific type of work that you are to do. Why? Because this will be the passion you have in life and what will bring out all the gifts and talents He’s placed in you. When you have a relationship with God, your vocation will be revealed to you.
You have to take up your cross daily. To understand this, you need to have a prayer life. Are you faithful in your priestly requirements before God as an individual? Do you have a lifestyle of praise and worship? What does your walk of faith look like?
Are you pleasing God in your walk of faith?
We are to serve God with the right attitudes. You don’t have the right to be down and out and have a spirit of heaviness. This is out of God’s will. We are to serve the Lord with gladness (see Psalm 100:2). Your attitude is very important to God. This has to do with your destiny and purpose here on earth. If you’re not going to come under His Lordship, you’re not going to fulfill this calling of your purpose. It all depends on the relationship that you have with the Holy Spirit.
The greater level: The passion of Jesus
This level is much more important than a person’s individual covenant with God because we’re now going to deal with the passion of Jesus. When we talk about the passion of Jesus, we talk about His Body–which He is the head of. We also talk about His bride–the Church–where His love is directed. This is a much deeper, higher, and more important relationship to Christ when it comes to the corporate purpose.
When you are under the Lordship of Jesus, you want to go into His passion for the Church. Jesus wants to build the Church. It is the Church that has the power. It is the Church that Jesus gives the keys to. It’s the Church that has the authority to bind and to loose. The Church is what He’s coming back for. If you’re born again, you are the seed of Abraham. So the covenant belongs to you. The blessings of Abraham belong to you.
The problem with the churches in America is they have built the local church not according to what God says. Most of the churches in America have been established on a pastoral anointing where the pastor is the head. While we must have pastors in the church to unite us in our faith, a pastor cannot do what an apostle can do. These two callings are different in their gifts and abilities. When it comes to the foundation of a local church, it can only be built on the revelation of who Christ is.
We have to be built on the Rock, who is Jesus. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The local church has to be built by the apostles and prophets. We can see this in Ephesians 3:4-5:
“by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:”
This was also mentioned in Ephesians 2:20:
“having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,”
The Apostle Paul wants us to share in the knowledge of the mystery of Christ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men but has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets in the Bible.
Ephesians 4:11-12 helps us understand this further:
“11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,”
These five-fold ministry gifts are given to the Church. They cannot be imparted and other people cannot do something to earn them. You’re either called by Christ with this gift or you’re not. This is not an office with positions or delegations to be obtained as with other organizations.
However, there are indeed offices as seen in the Bible which we as Christians should desire and are obtained by meeting specific qualifications listed in the Scripture to become either a bishop, elder, or deacon. These should be desired. These are the only three offices in the Church now. While these roles are not the same, one is not higher than the other. These offices were meant for servantship.
The reality is that God will never be a democracy. A committe will never rule him. He will never go by popular vote of what you think He should do. God is God all by himself. He is higher than anyone else. Because God is sovereign, He will decide what He wants to do and when and how He wants to do it. He is not going to change His ways for anybody.
If these five-fold ministry gifts are not being exercised in Church, you cannot be equipped. When it comes to the foundation again, the pastor, evangelist, and teacher cannot lay a foundation in a local church. It can only be laid by a revelation by apostles and prophets because their gifting demands that they have a special revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It’s proven throughout all of the Bible
You can have two people with the same giftings in the Church but this does not make them equal because they can be totally different in their level of anointing. For example, they can be different in their geographical calling. Prophets can also be different because they can either edify, comfort, or exhort. In the Bible, we see how the Apostles Paul and Peter were different– one was an apostle to the Gentiles, while the other was sent for the Jews. Still, both their gifts were used mightily in the place where they were called. Both were used in the Church–the heart and passion of Jesus Himself.
Our role in God’s government
The Government of God has a structure. God has delegated authority. If God’s power doesn’t flow through the Church, you’re out of order. The Church is the gate of Heaven. When it comes to tithing, where do you bring your tithe? If you bring it to any other place than the Church, then you’re out of order. The Bible makes it clear in Malachi 3:10 that you have to bring the tithes to the storehouse, the house of God. This doesn’t mean that you can no longer give to other ministries. This only means that you can’t tithe to them. You have to tithe to the local church where God has planted you.
When it comes to being planted in a church, it has nothing to do with your decision. It’s not your authority to make the choice. If you are under the Lordship of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:18 says, “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”
God is a god of order and government. He does not work in a democracy but in a theocratic form of government. In the Old Testament, God’s people didn’t do well with the theocracy. They wanted their own king. In the new covenant, God has apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. He has offices and He has anointings. We need all of them in the Church. If the Church is really in sync with the government of God, it becomes so powerful because it becomes the gate of Heaven itself. When this happens, it allows what goes in and comes out of the church.
If we want to possess the gates of our enemies, apostles with a divine calling must challenge the status quo. We’re not going to sit here all of our lives. We must take over some more territory no matter what it takes to get it done. We’re not just going to hold down the fort, we’re not circling the wagons, and we’re not waving the white flag. We have a promise to possess the gate of our enemies. We are to get up and be on our way because we have the authority. We come in the Name above every name. As a local church, those who live godly lives shall suffer and persevere.
We have to understand that the purpose of the Church is to release the things of Heaven, to have the authority over the earth. We have to come under an open heaven where the Word of God is unhindered, the Word has to go forth without fear and with favor.
