Redefining The Church by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Three Levels of Revival

Genuine, authentic, biblical revival is threefold:

1. Personal Revival — God dealing with the individual, bringing them to a point of repentance, brokenness, and righteousness.
2. Corporate Revival — God dealing with his church, the ekklesia as a body.
3. Societal Revival — God using the revived individuals and the revived body to transform society and nations.

God's instrument for transformation will always be men. He always starts with an individual, then transitions to his body, then uses his body to penetrate systems and structures.

Redefining the Church

Micah 4:1–2 — In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established above the hills, and many nations shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and he will teach us of his ways."

This was a prophetic word about the end-time church — the body of Christ rising in influence and the global harvest responding.

In Matthew 16:13–18, Jesus asked his disciples who men said he was, and there was silence until Peter spoke: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus responded: "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The first mention of the word "church" in scripture came from the lips of Jesus himself.

Why There Is a Growing Disdain for the Church

1. Character inconsistencies, especially among the priesthood. The vessels that communicate the counsel of God have not always been able to model the best of character. This must be acknowledged with honesty: the best of men is still human. The object of projection must be Jesus himself, not men. Men are ushers leading us to Christ — the Bible says looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
2. The absence of intelligent, life-applicable teachings that offer real solutions to human problems. For as long as sermons are laden with prejudices and biases and do not bring real scriptural solutions to the problems of people, pews will remain empty. People will go to any length to see solutions provided. The church must restore doctrine. When investing hours in a church gathering, a person should leave wiser than they came — with greater understanding of the mysteries of the Kingdom and the laws of life.
3. The absence of genuine spiritual power that backs and defends our propositions. Many things are claimed but the requisite spiritual power to prove them here and now seems to be absent. Acts 1:8 — you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses. A witness is a validator of a claim. No witness is a true witness without evidence. In Acts 8:5–6, when Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ, the people gave heed because they were hearing and seeing. The world must hear and see.

What Is the Church?

1. The church is a spiritual strategy.

Beyond the people and beyond the buildings, the church is an invention of God's own intelligence. In Jeremiah 51:20, God said: "Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war; for with thee I will break in pieces the nations, with thee I will destroy kingdoms." Every time Satan shows up to fight the purposes of God, the solution is the church. The church is a strategy.

2. The church refers to men and women who have chosen to submit to the governing influence of Christ.

A convergence of people alone is not the church. For a people to be called the church, Christ must be the head — the epicenter. 1 Peter 2:5 — "Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood." He was not talking about bricks and mortar when he said "I will build my church" — he was talking about men and women who make themselves malleable by submitting to the governing influence of Christ.

3. The church is an institution.

1 Timothy 3:15 — the house of God, which is the Church of the Living God, is called the pillar and the ground of the truth. When someone is confused about life, lied to by social media, misled by mainstream media, and seeks verification for their life and destiny — the institution to resort to for clarity is the church.

Hebrews 10:24–25 — Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.

God's Resting Place Is the Church

God on Earth does not reside in a river. He does not roam freely in the air. The Holy Ghost has an exact place of residence — it is called the church. When Solomon was dedicating the temple, he said: "Arise, O God, and come to your resting place" — not your place of visitation, your resting place.

Jesus himself said: where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them. It does not matter the location. Even in the midst of trouble, the Fourth Man will always come. If uncertain whether God will show up, find another believer, and another — and the moment there are two or three, that is the church.

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What Is Found in the Church

Acts 2:42–47 describes the early church:

• Doctrine — they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine
• Fellowship — the word is koinonia, sharing together and participation
• Breaking of bread — communion and the sharing of scripture
• Prayer — burdens, disappointments, and family struggles can be brought before God together
• Signs and wonders — many wonders and signs were done by the apostles
• Love — they sold their possessions and parted them to all as every man had need
• Favor — the grace that makes for unusual kindness, unusual access, and unusual acceptance is found in the house of God
• Increase — the Lord added daily to the church as many as should be saved

No amount of excellence will replace his presence. No amount of intellectual acumen will replace his presence. It is his coming that makes it church.

The Call to Return

Society now views the church as a nuisance to civilization, but removing the church from any conversation about transformation destroys the life-giving factor.

For many who have been hurt by church — by a pastor, a member, an experience of betrayal or pain — on behalf of Jesus and his servants: we apologize. But the church is still a place of love. Come as you are. However, there is power there to not leave you as you are. He says: come follow me, and I will make you.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. When it is church, the language is "we" — not just "I am saved." The vision extends to family, to staff, to all who are within reach.