The Future of the Church: The Healing of the Body

In the previous two issues, we looked at the vision of the church and the counter-culture nature of the Body of Christ. In this installment of the special report on the future of the church, we look forward to the healing of the Body.

We know that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. But, more accurately, He died for the church. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Jesus Christ gave Himself to die on the cross, for the church. Earlier in Ephesians, Paul wrote that the church is Christ’s Body in the earth. Ephesians 1:22-23.

This is an important theme in the New Testament. Jesus built a church, which is considered to be His Body on earth; while He is in heaven, He is still the head of that Body. Paul told the saints at Colossae that they were called into one Body. Colossians 3:15. In Romans 12:5, he wrote that there is only one Body.

The Body of Christ is not Christianity generally, or a mystical group made up of true believers in every denomination. No, the Body of Christ is a separate and identifiable fellowship – just as it was in the New Testament. We cannot take the time and space here to review the scriptures on this important point. Suffice it to say that our churches believe that Brother William Sowders was called of God to lead a people that are the modern expression of the Body of Christ.

The fellowship has been separated, divided and even scattered over that last 50 years – just as Israel was separated, divided and scattered for 2000 years. But Israel came together in her homeland (or at least a remnant from all did). Even so, the Body of Christ will come together, too.

Separation is not always the wrong thing. Separation is sometimes of God, In Genesis 49:26, Joseph was separated from his brethren, yet the separation was of God. Genesis 50:20. Moses was separated from the Israelites for 40 years, but God was in it. David was separated from most of Israel in Ziklag. God caused the 10 tribes to be separated from the two tribes; yet He loved both Israel and Judah and sent great prophets to each. Paul was even separated from the majority of the work of the Lord and spent several years in Tarsus.

Separation, even if it is of God, is not always permanent. God’s plan sometimes provided for a temporary separation of His people. Moses spent 40 years on what the Bible calls the backside of the desert. He was there with his wife, and father-in-law. But God separated Moses and Jethro, sending Moses on a mission to Egypt. Yet there was a coming together again.

The eighteenth chapter of Exodus gives the account of Moses and Jethro coming back together. it was a time of rejoicing. There was no animosity, or recrimination. Jethro did not reproach Moses for leaving. Moses did not demand an explanation for why Jethro did not go with him into the battle. Moses listened to his father-in-law. Exodus 18:24. Jethro brought the family back together. Verse 5. Those who had been separated went into one tent, together. Verses 7-12. “They asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.”

Later, Moses made this statement to his father-in-law: “We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good.” Numbers 10:29. The divided Body of Christ is also on a journey. We should embrace one another, not recriminate against each other, and say, “Come with us, and we will do you good.”

The eighth head of the beast is being healed, and none can stop it. See Revelation 13:3. Man’s final beastly government is coming on the scene. The Bible asks, who will confront this beast? Verse 4. Will the Body of Christ “make war” with the beast? If we remain weak, cut back, divided and scattered, how can we?

Jesus spoke about the work of the church at the time of the end in Matthew 24. In verses 10-12, He said that many would be offended, and many would be deceived, that iniquity would abound, and the love of many would wax cold. But in the next two verses, Jesus said that those who endure to the end would be saved. And He said that the gospel of the kingdom was to be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations. Who is going to do that?

We are still looking for a cloud like a man’s hand, that will arise out of the sea. 1 Kings 18:43-45. in type, that is an allusion to a five-fold ministry that will bring an abundance of rain – a great outpouring of God’s Spirit. We are still seeking showers of blessings, in what we’ve called the latter rain. See Ezekiel 34:26. God’s people were told to ask for rain in the time of the latter rain. Zechariah 10:1. We are asking.

In Joel 2:23, the Lord said the former rain came moderately, but the latter rain would come abundantly. In fact, other prophecies said it would be like the former and latter rains coming together. See Hosea 6:3. There is still one more great outpouring of God’s Spirit for this world. It may be even greater than what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2.

The church began in a blaze of glory; it will not end in a fizzle. The book of Acts shows how the early church turned the world upside down in just 30 years – without the internet, faxes, cell phones, airplanes, tape recorders, printing presses, or other means that are now available. All they had was the power of God; and it was enough! But how much more could be done today with a comparable, or greater, manifestation of God’s Holy Spirit?

The Lord is still going to give power to His two witnesses, and they wil prophesy. Revelation 11:3. in order to confront the beast, there needs to be a healing in the divided Body of Christ. Brother Lloyd Goodwin was used of God to proclaim: “A healed beast necessitates a healed Body: not the entirety, but a remnant of the whole.” May God help us to be a part of that healed Body.