We have been looking at how the terms of ‘ecclesia’ (Church) and gospel (‘evangelion’) can be better understood in relation to the authority of Jesus’ Kingdom reign, which He has delegated to His followers. To understand this better, this week we will look at how this can function in practices, together with a few examples.

“Majesty, Kingdom authority, flows from His throne, unto His own.” Millions of Christians have sung those words from the chorus Majesty. Do we always know what they mean? When Jack Hayford, who wrote them, pastored a pioneering church in California in the 1970s, he based his ministry on a theology of ‘kingdom’, and what in practical terms it meant to say that 'kingdom authority flows' from the throne of the Risen Messiah to His followers. When he called the church ‘The Church on the Way’, he meant on the Way to being, doing, and becoming ‘Kingdom’.¹

Sometimes, it can be helpful to use Ephesians 1:20-23 as a form of prayer. It is not being prescriptive, we are not trying to tell God what to do. Rather, we are just proclaiming the authority of the Risen Messiah over a particular situation, and leaving Him to work out the practical details.

There may be times when prayer becomes proclamation, speaking directly into a situation. Normally scripture directs us to “make our requests known to God” (Php 4:6). That is the general principle. But sometimes the Father wants us to “say to this mountain” (Matt 17:20). “Say to” doesn't mean to pray and ask Father. Of course, that is the normal way, but that is not what Jesus is saying here. There may be times when the Spirit will give us a particular gift of faith (1 Cor 12:9) to speak to the mountain.² Then we have to speak directly.

Examples of using authority from the USSR

Steve Lightle is a well known Jewish believer in Yeshua (Jesus), who for many years travelled behind the Iron Curtain throughout the old USSR, seeking out Jewish communities, showing them the scriptures relating to aliyah, and preparing them for a time when God would force the Soviet authorities to let them go home. Earlier in his life, when Steve prayed asking the Lord to intervene in a particular situation where an offensive poster had been put up adjacent to his business, he received an unexpected reply.

“No” the answer came back. “You do something. I have given you the ‘rod of authority’. You have My word and My authority. In My name, use it.” So Steve stood in front of the sign, pointed at it with his finger, and spoke out loud “I command you in the Name of Jesus to fall down”. He spoke ‘to the mountain’', as commanded in scripture. The result was very dramatic. The next morning the offending poster had fallen down. The ground was littered with paper, and the advertising company never put up another offensive poster while Steve was in business there.³

Steve relates that over time “I learned to know the power of the Holy Spirit in a very practical way, and to use the authority we have in the name of Jesus”. Subsequently on many dangerous missions behind the Iron Curtain he testifies that “time and time again while I was travelling in Eastern block countries, and challenging situations occurred, I dared to use the authority we have in the name of Jesus.”⁴

There may be times when prayer becomes proclamation, speaking directly into a situation.

Another kind of delegated authority is described in a prophetic trip throughout the Soviet Union which Steve Lightle made in 1985. “We made the trip into the Soviet Union to open the gates to the various cities which had Jewish populations. This trip was made so that at the set time, the Jewish people would be allowed to leave those areas. We were simply to go to the gates of those cities and in prayer cooperate with God, prepare the way for the people … By prayer a banner was placed on the gates so that the Jewish people would be able to immigrate to the nation of Israel.” Steve believes his prophetic actions, under Holy Spirit authority, were instrumental in releasing the Jewish people to go home.⁵

In 1988 Steve was preaching in Nome, Alaska at a time when a summit conference being held between the United States and the Soviet Union. A large naval ship from each nation was anchored in Malta harbour, with Presidents George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev aboard their respective vessels. One of the key topics to be covered was the plight of the Jews in Russia, and the release of the Jewish people from the USSR. The Russians were demanding that American support for the Jewish cause should cease, because it amounted to interference in Soviet internal affairs.

During the Friday evening service Steve felt he should pray “a very bold, prophetic prayer based on what I saw in the Spirit”. He prayed for such a violent storm to take place that the anchored ships would be tossed to and fro, the naval sailors would even be vomiting over the sides, and that the summit conference would be cancelled “so that the topic of the Soviet Jews could not even be spoken about”.

The people of Nome were most certainly not impressed with Steve’s prayer; they viewed his prayer as extreme presumption, quickly distanced themselves, and went home. However, during the following day there was indeed a tremendous storm in Malta, the summit conference was indeed cancelled, and CNN News showed Russian and American sailors being sick over the sides of the ships anchored in the harbour. Word got round Nome very quickly, and that evening the church was full of hungry people seeking God.⁶

Recognising the voice of the Spirit

There are many other examples which involve coming under authority, recognising the voice of the Holy Spirit, before we can exercise authority.

We all have a calling to find out in what way Messiah wants to exercise His reign through us.

There is a story of a man named Ananias who was told to do something which was irrational, dangerous, and well outside his comfort zone. Sensibly he objected. But he had been chosen because he knew the voice of the Holy Spirit when he heard it. So when the Spirit told him again, he went. He came under the authority of the Holy Spirit, and exercised the authority of Messiah Yeshua over Saul the Pharisee, and a new ministry of gospel and kingdom began (Acts 9:10-19).

This is not to ignore normal daily Christian obedience; coming under the authority of scripture and seeking to serve God by day-to-day walking in faith. Of course, that is our normal experience. As we seek to serve, in whatever way we are obedient, so we ‘come under authority’, then the Kingdom can flow through us. Daily prayer, washing feet, obeying scripture, loving the Father, loving others, loving Israel; let's not disparage our normal Kingdom walk. These all extend the Kingdom. Of course they do.

There are different areas of delegated authority for us all to grow in. Paul’s favourite metaphor of the Body of Messiah always deeply emphasises the variety of ways to serve; different ways to be under authority; different ways of becoming Kingdom as hands, feet and so on, of Messiah (Rom 12:4-8; 1 Cor 12:5-31; Eph 4:11-13). We are all different. But we all have a calling to find out in what way Messiah wants to exercise His reign through us.

Summary: Messianic Authority in Kingdom, Gospel and Church

Over the last few weeks, I have tried to show why a revolutionary understanding of spiritual authority, which requires a servant heart and a listening ear, influenced even the very terminology used by the New Testament writers.

The concepts of Messianic authority, gospel and kingdom are intertwined. One should not be separated from the others. For the New Testament writers, the varied expectations of a Messianic kingdom which were prevalent in Second Temple Judaism became subsumed into the idea of a Messiah ruling in the place of authority and power, whose authority was exercised in and through the New Testament community.

The widely recognised concept of kingdom and authority is closely linked to the concept of gospel. All three Synoptic writers consciously make the direct link. The word ‘evangelion’ does not simply mean ‘good news’, but is deliberately borrowed from the jargon of Imperial Rome to denote an official proclamation of a life changing nature, which will impart blessing and authority to those called to receive it.

The link to ‘ekklesia’ then becomes obvious. It relates to those called out to exercise such authority. The New Testament writers persistently used the one and only term, among the many they could otherwise have chosen, to denote gathering or assembly, to carry through this pervasive theme of delegated authority.

The Psalm, the Kingdom, the Gospel and the Church: taken together these central New Testament themes demonstrate a theological insistence that Yeshua the Risen Messiah is actively reigning now, with His delegated authority being exercised through His Resurrection community, the ekklesia.

Frank Booth has a degree in Economics & History, and an MA in Biblical Interpretation. He lives in the Cotswolds, and has two children and two grand-children.This article was based on an original research paper by the author, published by CMJ under their series of Olive Press Research Papers (No 28), which can be found on the CMJ UK website.

Notes

1. David Stern, ‘Jewish New Testament Commentary’ (Jewish NT Publications 1992) p199
2. Jack Hayford, ‘The Church on the Way’ Zondervan / Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1985) See especially p 61-86
3. In my personal experience Matt 17:20 and 1 Cor 12:9 often go together.
4. Steve Lightle, ‘Exodus II’ (Bridge Publishing 1983) p27
5. Lightle, ‘Exodus II’ p28
6. Steve Lightle, ‘Operation Exodus II’ (Insight Publishing 1998) p21
7. Lightle, 'Operation Exodus II’ p118-120