Increasing the Government of Christ on Earth

Subject: Increasing the Government of Christ on Earth Sat May 23, 2009 11:59 am

Increasing the Government of Christ Here on Earth
By David Coker

...and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end… (Isaiah 9:6-7)

If you looked in the natural, you might say the Kingdom of God is not increasing, but withering up and dissipating. You see Islam, Hinduism and secular humanism taking over the earth. According to Christian researcher George Barna, thousands of people are leaving the church every week. Why are they leaving? What are they looking for? People are hungry for truth;
searching for meaning and purpose. They are looking for kingdom structure and government that would provide them with relevance and opportunity to make a difference in the world.

The word says that there is a Kingdom that is going to increase; like a mustard seed, the Kingdom of God will grow. In order for the Kingdom of God to grow, we must build churches structured according to the pattern of Kingdom government established in the Word. Every church is not a governing church. You may ask, “Why does there need to be an apostolic,
governing church?” Look around at the things that are happening in our world today: violence, drugs, perversion. God knows what strategies the enemy has planned for your territory. He also knows that the only way the enemy fails to overtake a territory is if there is a territorial, apostolic, governing church that will prevent it from happening.

We have built the entire operation of God around church services. The church service was never intended to be the culmination of our Christian walk. It was never meant for our lives to be built around church services. The church service was designed for believers to come together to learn the keys to the mysteries of the Kingdom. Jesus instructed His disciples in parables. Parables provide opportunities to learn what you want to know. If you ask questions of the parable, you will learn the true meaning. When a parable is told, you don’t have to learn anything you don’t want to know. Many Christians do not want to know anything new, because we become responsible for what we learn. It is a lot easier to put all the responsibility on God so we don’t have to take responsibility
for our personal growth.

People who are hungry will ask questions like the disciples did. When they asked, “What in the world does this parable mean?” Jesus replied, “Unto you is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom.” True disciples will seek understanding to know the mysteries of the Kingdom. Think about natural kingdoms. It is possible to be a citizen belonging to a kingdom or country, but not have access to the inner workings of the government of that kingdom. It is just as possible to belong to the Kingdom of God and not know or understand the mysteries or the keys of His Kingdom. Jesus explained to Peter that the revelation he had came to him because he was a disciple. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Yes, you know who I am. I am the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Peter, on this rock of revelation
I will build My Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you, my disciple, the keys to My Kingdom.” Who receives the keys to the Kingdom? Those with the revelation of the Kingdom!

To understand the Kingdom, we must go back to God’s original purpose. He created Adam and made him the first ambassador and overseer of this earth realm. He gave Adam dominion and, through Adam, He gave dominion to all of us. Adam committed high treason against the Kingdom of God when he gave information concerning God’s Kingdom to the Kingdom of Satan. Adam left the government that he was under and obeyed another government, becoming the servant of another government. Through him, we became servants of another government, too.

God gave Adam a management contract for this earth, and Adam took that management contract and gave it to Satan. When Jesus came, He did not come to bring us another religion. He came to bring us another government; another management contract. The devil took Jesus up on a mountain and showed Him the Kingdoms of the world and said, “If you will fall down and worship me, I will give you all of this.” You may say, “Well, he could not do that.” The fact is he could do that because they belong to him. The kingdoms of this world belong to Satan. He is the god of this world. Now, we’re not talking about the earth itself. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The geographic planet Earth belongs to God. The war is not over terra firma. The war is over the government. The war is over who is in control. The war is over who has control over the government.

We do not need another religion. AS a matter of fact, if a territory is to change, it is going to change because there is a change of government. Look at what is going on in Iraq right now. They are trying to change that nation by putting in a new government. The only way anything changes is when government changes. If the spiritual territory assigned to us is ever going to change, then the government has got to change.

Jesus came to bring us the government of God and was crucified because He was the King. Wherever Jesus went, the Kingdom of Heaven went with Him. Wherever He went, change took place. When He walked in the presence of sickness and disease from the kingdom of darkness, He brought healing to the people from the Kingdom of Heaven. He said, “If I cast out the devil by the finger of God, or by the Spirit of God, then you know that the Kingdom of God has come nigh unto you.” He said, “I am coming and bringing another government, and this other government is going to increase.” If Jesus came to set up His Kingdom, we can find the pattern that He used and follow that pattern so that we produce the same thing. The Word says the government of God would be on His shoulder; we are His body where that government rests.

Every time God gets ready to change governments and bring restoration, He starts with a man. How does God set up his government?

1. He supernaturally calls a man

2. He anoints a man

3. He tests a man. The man comes out of the test in the power of the Spirit.

4. Man begins to preach his message. He begins to tell the people God has called him, given him a message, and spoken to him.

5. The next thing the man does is he begins to carefully choose disciples, because without disciples
the message and the government will never last.

Jesus trained his disciples according to this pattern. He called them and began to put His message
in them. He began to teach them about His government. He took his disciples up on a mountain and began to tell them about the Kingdom.

Not only did He teach them the things of the Kingdom, but He demonstrated and showed them how to function in the Kingdom. He preached the Kingdom, cast out devils, healed the sick, raised the dead, and exercised the authority that Adam originally had. He came to reestablish the rule and dominion that was lost in the first Adam by teaching and raising up disciples. He worked together with them in the ministry. He demonstrated the supernatural part and taught them to do the natural part. Many people will not do the natural part, and never get to the supernatural. Once the disciples were equipped to do the natural, He sent them out to do the supernatural. When they rejoiced over demons being subject to them, He corrected them, reminding them that they should rejoice over having their names written in Heaven. Jesus established the pattern for apostolic government by making disciples.

You do not make disciples by bringing people to church three times a week and preaching to them. A disciple is somebody who sells out. They are not looking to have a good name in the community and go to a popular church, or be a member of the best country clubs. Disciples are people who are ready to lay down their lives for Christ. They realize they are seeing something bigger than other people see, and they have a hunger for something other people do not even care about. The Bible says in Proverbs that counsel in the heart of a man is as deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. We are here today, not because Jesus worked miracles, but because Jesus knew how to disciple people. He learned how to walk His disciples through the process of self-discovery, equipping them to implement the government of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God will be advanced in the earth. The Apostle John prophesied, “the kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdoms of our lord, and of His Christ.” As governing churches produce effective disciples who understand God’s government, the Church will increase instead of decrease.
We are going to change our territories by changing the government. As the governing rule is brought under the authority of the Church, the kingdom of darkness loses influence. The government of the Kingdom of God can only come through disciples in the Church.

DAVID COKER is a 1985 RHEMA graduate and the founding apostle of Gateway Believers Fellowship in Carnesville, Ga. He is also the founder of Breakthrough Apostolic Ministries Network (B.A.M.) His ministry can be reached at www.gatewaybelievers.com.

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