There is a new concept of Kingdom dynamics that we need to be aware of as the Church and be identified with. The Church has neglected her responsibility of kingdom administration in the market-place community because we have assumed that it is not part of the purposes of God to rule in this area, but the Lord is stirring the hearts of His saints to refocus on this assignment. The Kingdom of God will not be fully established in the earth if the market-place is still dominated by principalities, demonic supremacy and their agents. The end goal of God is that the kingdoms of this world should become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ for the reason that He might reign over all things forever and ever (Revelation 11:15), and this includes the market-place.
The kingdoms of this world include all of the spheres of life that affect our being. Some of the kingdoms of the world that the Lord has assigned the Church to take over are economics, medicine, law, politics (government), business, science & technology, education, arts & sports etc. The Church is yet to make an impact and take over these kingdoms. This calls for a whole new generation of Kingdom leaders and saints that must be raised up in the market-place and in government. Men and women with such characters as Daniel, Joseph, Esther, Abraham, Moses who will strategically develop Kingdom principles of invading nations, influencing government and those in high places to establish the purposes of God.
The truth remains that the church must change or we will become irrelevant. If we cannot train and position the saints in places of influence and governmental authorities then we will become subject to the ridicules of the enemy and unlawful decisions that will be to the detriment of our faith.
When Haman stood as an enemy against the Jews and plotted to destroy them nothing would have been able to avert the destruction that was coming, if Queen Esther had not stood in the King’s inner court to mediate for salvation. She desecrated the laws of the King’s palace and stepped into the inner court to meet with the King declaring “…if I perish, I perish”. The only reason Esther stood in this position was because she was prepared by Mordecai to take it, even though she was a Jew and it was not her right to do so. Mordecai recognized that she was prepared in her royal position for such a time as this.
This question stands before us today; have we as a Church prepared our Esther’s who will stand in their place of governmental authorities for times such as this?
Joseph the Jewish lad was made the governor over the land of Egypt. He controlled the economy of Egypt in the midst of famine and opened the storehouses to the nations, preserved the heritage of God’s people and brought unity among his brothers. In the midst of challenges, he went through the process of development to make his dream become a reality. From his lowest position in the pit and in prison he rose to occupy a seat in the King’s palace. He gained favour with God and with those in authority.
This question stands before us today; where are the Josephs of our day who will administrate and be in command of the economy?
Daniel, a slave Jew in Babylon, was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. When substitutes for God held powers, Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself. Daniel ruled in Babylon in the midst of evil and corrupt government, yet his integrity was set with a clear record without any guilty accusation found against him, except against his worship to God. God blessed him with knowledge, skill of learning, wisdom and understanding in all visions and dreams. He was positioned by God to influence the government of his day. He unveiled the revelation of the purposes of God to establish the sovereignty of His Kingdom that shall not be destroyed, but shall crush all kingdoms into pieces and consume them, bringing them to an end (Daniel 2:44).
This question stands before us today; where are the Daniels of today who will establish the sovereignty of God in the nations and rule in the midst of Babylonian systems with excellence and integrity?
There must be a clear revelation and understanding of Kingdom administration in the earth. Our dominion is not intended by the Lord to be over women or over His Church as we have been taught by tradition over the years, but our dominion is over the enemy and over everything the Lord has created in the earth in order for us to bring restoration and the establishment of the sovereign rule of God. It calls for aggressiveness in laying hold of the Kingdom and forcefully advancing it.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” (Matthew 11:12 NIV).
It is a scheme of the enemy to promote the separation of the Church and the State for the purpose of hindering the establishment of God’s authority in government. As a matter of fact there is no scriptural political State of government that exists outside the righteous principles and laws of God. The Church is designed by God to be the ultimate government in the earth that will administer the purposes of God and the political State is subject to this. If we do not change our concept of the Church in politics, we will continually give room to the wicked to rule over us. We are not to only pray for those in authority, but we must speak out for righteousness, and if need be, we must replace the political government with a righteous man that has the fear of God.
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2).
How can the righteous man be in authority when our mindset is against the Church in politics, and we continually cast our vote for unrighteousness by voting in wicked men who have not the fear of God? When the wicked rise and bear rule, men hide themselves and the nation decreases.
The Church must not get herself involved in the corruptness of politics by playing the Babylonian system that is the order of the day, but rather stand out to raise the standard and set a righteous rule in the midst of the Babylonian systems with excellence and integrity like Daniel in his time. The reason principalities and powers are still ruling is because the church has not risen to her place of dominion and authority.
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
There is a need to re-evaluate the system of Church activities and give priority to the market-place community that includes the government, so that we can make a significant impact in our communities and the nation at-large. If we are going to impact the market-place community, then we must move beyond the friendly seeker church principle of growing successful churches that only grow inwardly, but have no expression of outward Kingdom focus. Having attractive church programs that people can come and benefit from is good. Having a large number of people in church is good, but this makes us more like the Jerusalem church which became so satisfied with its local inward growth and daily pastoral activities that did not give priority to the apostolic mandate of reaching beyond Jerusalem, until the Lord sent persecution to bring a fulfilment of the mandate which resulted in the great Antioch Church plant that had its effect on the community. It is important that we ask; what is the focus of our local church? What impact is your local church having on your community? We must prayerfully and strategically reach out into our communities. Let’s make an impact through our sphere of influence. We need to speak of God in the market-place.
Men with Kingdom mindsets must rise up to speak to the economy, rather than running things down with our mouths. We have authority to speak to mountains by faith and bring a change. This authority must not be used to abuse the community and government. We must move from condemning our cities and nation to blessing and praying for them. Our words carry power and have an impact when we speak. When we speak the Word, the power of God is released. This is how the church can become the hub of affairs. We must walk in dominion and authority in the market-place as we speak to economic Babylon to be invaded.
“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7 NIV).
We should not position ourselves as opposition to the development of the community by speaking against it, but seek every means to be a blessing. We need to pray for our community on a constant basis. What the community becomes is a reflection of what the Church is. The reflection of our community and the nation defines the present character of the church. If change is to come, then change must begin in the house of God as we align ourselves with the Word of God in seeking His will. The extent that we impact our communities will be proportionate to how effectively each influential sector of our community is carried in positive prayers. Men of God in authority must rise to speak to the economy of the nation to effect change because they have the power to unlock destinies of nations.
Successful Christian leaders in the market-place ministries must come together constantly in unity, for the purpose of exchange of ideas and experiences about how to impact their society for Christ. Indeed, communities can be changed when churches come together in unity around a common vision for what the city can become through significant ministry and service.
Jack Dennison of CitiReach writes, “While solid relationships form the basis for unity, we can’t stop there. My observation in city after city is that oftentimes unity becomes an end in itself. So we see repetitive efforts to demonstrate our unity through citywide worship events, prayer vigils and other similar events. These activities are wonderful symbols of our unity but they rarely produce real substance. They make us feel good and sometimes result in great newspaper coverage, but the cities remain unchanged.”
Uniting the church around a common goal is preferable to trying to unite the church around a co-operative project. We align ourselves “in unity to pursue the same goals for our community while each participant determines the part it should play.” Functional unity does not exclude co-operative efforts, but functional unity also implies that each church can act with a degree of sanctified independence, not waiting for permission from others to serve the community, as long as it is working toward the agreed upon vision of a healthy, transformed community. Community transformation begins at the intersection of the needs and dreams of a community, the calling and capacities of the church and the mandates and desires of God for a community.
The five-fold ministry must recognize this grace and gifts and give opportunity for development within the Body of Christ. The Church must embrace the workplace and consider it as part of their field of influence. The Church must purposely minister to the corporate class in the society. This means we must strategically plan and budget towards this, and equip the people to reach out. We must put in place workplace ministries workshops to help gain ideas and strategies to succeed in the workplace. Developing and establishing a Kingdom Community in the market-place with an apostolic mindset of invading every corner of the earth. We must be tactical in this approach in raising “God’s Secret Agents” with specific mandates to infiltrate the kingdoms of this world in the nations and plunder it from within like cankerworms. It is like Moses who was raised in the house of the enemy in Egypt and became an instrument of God to plunder Egypt.
Our God-given purpose on earth is to rule the nations, using our God-given inventiveness as His image-bearers. This includes developing business initiative, technology and having a clear understanding about Kingdom Empowerment and the law of entrepreneurship. We must become innovative and creative by asking the Lord for wisdom to function in the market-place.
One of the reasons why the church must invade the market-place is to help bring in the wealth of the wicked for Kingdom purposes and Kingdom advancement. We are in a season of wealth transfer and this will come through the market-place. For this reason, our mindset must change. Old mindsets are strongholds that can captivate us to the spirit of poverty, thereby incapacitating us from fulfilling the purposes of God and from advancement His Kingdom in the earth. It is mandatory that we adjust our attitude to prosperity for Kingdom purposes. We must begin to align the mindset of the church towards a broader understanding of Kingdom Economics and Kingdom Empowerment. This will help us strategically look into the future to build something that will outlast and affect the next generation.
The church of today must develop an infrastructure for a continuing process of market-place ministry, through intentional strategies aimed at equipping Christians to express their faith at work in order to influence the workplace for the Kingdom of God. The market-place community ministry must become more than a minor program for limited few personnel, but it must be a sum total body mechanism that will produce a manifestation of God’s Kingdom. We must be committed to mobilizing and training the believers in the church to reach out to the corporate class in the market-place. This must be seen as a specific ministry calling to draw the people into active service.
In making a significant impact in the workplace and gaining the right attention, we must do things with excellence, anything less, will discredit Christ in the workplace. Daniel as a slave Jew and a stranger in Babylon was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him.
“It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” (Daniel 6:1-3).
Christian leaders and believers speak much about ethics and integrity, but we fall short of living up to expectation. Accountability and transparency must become a watchword even in our dealings in the secret place if we are to have a positive and transforming impact in our communities.
The problem with the Body of Christ which brings limitations to our effectiveness in the market-place is that we have taught only the establishing of the Kingdom of God in the earth to the limited dimension of our spiritual birth of inheriting eternal life through faith and obedience towards Christ. We have omitted the view of our dominion over the earth in subduing all things to Christ before He returns. The setback against this teaching is that we cannot figure out with our natural mind the possibility of all things coming into subjection to Christ before His return, because of what we see around us, such as corruption, wars, famine, natural disasters etc. The Church must live by faith and not by sight, and recall that the clarion declaration of the Father is that there will be a restitution of all things in the earth realm, and all the kingdoms of this world must become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever (Revelation 11:15, Acts 3:21). The revelation of the mystery of “Our Lord, and of His Christ” speaks of Jesus and His corporate body (The Church).
The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Glory will not be primarily for the establishing of the Kingdom of God in the earth, but to receive the Kingdom of God that is already established by the Church in the earth and to submit it to God the Father, that He may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:23-28). It is God who puts everything under Christ’s feet through His Church (Romans 16:20). This is our purpose and divine mandate.
It is imperative for us to constantly consider our focus and position in the earth and our understanding of God’s purpose, and make alignment to the plan, pattern and purposes of God. There is still much to be accomplished in our earthly responsibility of establishing the Kingdom of God. I challenge you in the name of the Lord Jesus that you become dissatisfied with your present achievement and success and look beyond for greater things. We must enforce the will of God over the systems of the world. The educational system is falling apart and it is important to note that this is where the mindset of many generations is being moulded. In the music world and entertainment industry there is a strong demonic influence. Carnality, immorality and decadence have filtered into that system and this is the work of the enemy. There is a need for us to ask and answer this question: If Jesus was here what would He do?
Our mindset and perspective must be from an elevated place – From the throne position. The Church must function with the mind of Christ and see things the way He does. Kings on the throne do not think and see things from a low mentality, as that affects the order of their leadership ability. They are not timid. Kings operate with wisdom and a high authority to penetrate the order of things to bring change and establish the desires of God. They make decrees to take ground. The Church must function with this kingship authority and establish the Kingdom of God in the earth. God is a Spirit who rules over the unseen realm. Man is created in God’s likeness to express His image in the earth as a Spirit-god to rule over the seen realm (Psalm 82:6), and this includes the workplace.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…..” (Revelation 21:1).
What is wrong with the present heaven and earth? There are thrones, dominions and principalities that have taken the place of God and they rule in the heavenlies and in the earth realm and this affects the purposes and government of God. The LORD of Hosts wants to dethrone these strongholds through His corporate Body in the earth and bring change by enforcing His will. He is LORD and He desires to reign over ALL THINGS.
“After this manner therefore pray ye:…Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9a, 10).
We must pray in the Kingdom for God’s will to be done. God is depending on us. The advancement of the Kingdom depends on our act to pray. We are an important element for the fulfilment of God’s purpose in the earth. God has subjected His government in the earth into the hands of the Church. When we take action, the Kingdom of God act and the will of God is done. God will not do anything in the earth except He works through the human vessel.
Our ministry called the World Crusade Outreach Ministries has been to over twenty nations in different continents. We celebrate the privilege of the grace of God in imparting the message of the Kingdom as we minister to leaders in a choice of churches and to all colour and race. Apart from declaring the message of the Kingdom and unveiling the purposes of God to the people, it has been our strategy to also establish God’s Kingdom in the region through intercessory prayers. Through prayers, demonic inhabitants are dislodged and deliverance is brought in the region as the Kingdom of God is repositioned.
The Church must become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might so that we can penetrate the systems around us through corporate prayers and strategic intercession (Ephesians 6:10-12). We must make war against the systems of darkness and make obligatory the victory in making the LORD to have His rule over all things. It is also important that we have a strategy for exit from spiritual warfare. Our involvement in constant warfare is a hindrance to the building of the house of God. We must recognize that the warfare is over (accomplished in Him) and it is time to rise and build. The Church must know when the warfare is over and not engage constantly in an unfinished spiritual combat that becomes a hindrance to the plan and purposes of God, because in times of war we cannot build as King Solomon noted in 1 Kings 5:3-5;
“You know how David my father could not build a house to the Name of the Lord his God because wars were about him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil confronting me. And I purpose to build a house to the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, Your son whom I will set on your throne in your place shall build the house to My Name and Presence.” (Amplified Bible)
Copyright © 2017 by Israel Onoriobe
Our ministry is a faith-based ministry and this material is provided free of charge to the body of Christ for equipping the saints. If this material has been a blessing to you or a source of encouragement we ask that you prayerfully consider giving a love offering to help us carry the message of the Kingdom of God to the nations – (Hebrews 10:6).
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen (so be it).
