The church is an organism, a living body composed of the many people who have been born again by believing in, submitting to, and confessing the Lordship of Jesus, the Christ. The word church means the assembly of the called-out ones. This refers to the gathering together of those who have been born of the Spirit and called out of the world unto God.

These born-again, Spirit-filled Christians are all members of the body of Christ. This is one body with many members. This one body of Christ is expressed in every city or locality where these born-again believers assemble together, holding Christ alone as their head. The Scriptures refer to the church in Corinth, the church in Ephesus, the church in Laodicea, the churches of Judea, the churches of Asia, and the church that is in their house.

These called out ones look to Jesus to guide and direct them both individually, in their daily lives, and corporately, as they assemble together as the church, His living body. These Christians tolerate no one usurping the headship that is reserved only for their Lord, Jesus the Christ.

Colossians 2:18-19 warns us of those who would seek to defraud us of our prize in Christ being fleshly minded “and not holding fast the head, from which the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” It is essential, if the church is to be healthy and grow, it must hold fast to Christ as its head, diligently rejecting any and all who would seek to usurp Christ’s place as the one and only head of the church.

Throughout His time on earth, Jesus continually taught His disciples. One of the lessons He stressed to them repeatedly was that of His unique place as head of the assembly, the church. He stressed that no one should exalt themselves over any other person in the church.

The day after Jesus and His disciples had come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, an argument started among the disciples as to who would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, took a little child to Himself, and told His disciples: “For whoever is least among you – this one is great” (Luke 9:46-48, HCSB).

Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee and came to Capernaum. In the house at Capernaum, in response to another argument that had arisen among His disciples along the way concerning which of them was the greatest, Jesus said to them: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:33-35, HCSB).

Again, while on their way up to Jerusalem, Jesus took His disciples aside privately and said to them; “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and the men of high position exercise authority over them. It must not be like that among you” (Matthew 20:25-26, HCSB).

And again, immediately after the “last supper,” just before Jesus was arrested and crucified, He again admonished His disciples, sharing with them the thing that was most heavy upon His heart. Jesus said to them: “The kings of the Gentiles dominate them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving” (Luke 22:25-26, HCSB).

Not only did Jesus stress this matter repeatedly to His disciples, He also confronted the religious leaders of His day concerning their arrogant ungodly behavior. Speaking to the crowds and to His disciples about the religious leaders in Matthew 23:2-13 Jesus said: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

“They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

“Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

This is why these Christians, assembling together as the true church, tolerate no person usurping the headship that is reserved only for the Lord, Jesus the Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 18:20: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.” Christ leads during the assembly, and the believers follow. This body, thus, is living and vibrant, every member ministering one to another, freely giving and freely receiving from one another, as their Lord, Jesus, has freely given to them.

By this ministering of every member, this prophesying, this speaking the truth to one another in love, the body is built up, edified, made strong in the strength of the Lord by that which every joint supplies (1 Corinthians 14:26-33). Ephesians 4:15-16 says, “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” This is the church as seen in the Bible.

Some organizations that call themselves churches are really just a part of the world system. They are a part of the world's religious system of ceremonial worship. If they claim Christ as head, but in reality their head is man himself, they are counterfeit churches. If they are devoid of the Spirit of God, but are full of the spirit of this world, they are counterfeit churches. If they only give lip service to the Scriptures, but embrace the philosophy and doctrines of men, they are counterfeit churches.

Counterfeit churches have existed since the time of the first century church. The apostle John writes in 2 John 7, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver, the antichrist.” John refers to one of these antichrists by name in 3 John 9-10, "I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.”

These antichrists are deceivers and false teachers. They do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ, as the life-giving Spirit, is dwelling in born-again believers. They do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.  Their counterfeit churches refuse to receive the true brothers and put genuine believers out of the church. This reminds me of the passage in Matthew 9:17, “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

It seems that when someone in a counterfeit church gets saved, eventually the antichrists that run the church will have the true believer thrown out. When the antichrists become aware of the Spirit of God bubbling up and overflowing in the believer, they realize that, to protect their kingdom, they have to eliminate the source of effervescence or it will eventually burst open their old wineskin.

If the believer chooses to remain there, the bubbling up of the Spirit will eventually be quenched and he will begin to lose his passion for the Lord and will begin to conform to the will of the antichrists. New wine must be put into new wineskins. Spirit filled believers are not compatible with counterfeit churches. Spirit filled believers must be put into genuine churches, then both the believer and the church will grow and mature together.

Are you a member of the body of Christ, the church, or are you simply a member of a religious organization, a counterfeit church? The meetings you attend, are they conducted according to the pattern set forth clearly in Scripture, where Christ alone is the head, or are they conducted, controlled, planned, and directed by a person, or persons, who have usurped the headship of Christ?

Perhaps you find yourself in the dilemma of being new wine in an old wineskin. Perhaps you are a member of the body of Christ but are assembling together with an organization that is just a part of the worldly religious system, a counterfeit church. Perhaps you attend the meetings of that organization because it gives you a sense of righteousness, because by just being there, you have, in some way, done your religious duty. Yet, there is still within you such a sense of frustration and emptiness because, deep inside, you know that there must be something more. The Spirit bubbling up within you tells you there must be something more.

You long to be fed. You long even more to be able to feed others, to share with the body that which your Lord has given so freely to you, yet there is no opportunity. The system prohibits it. The system holds you in bondage by its traditions, teachings, and practices. It holds out a promise of satisfaction, but never the fulfillment. Perhaps it even tells you that if you leave, you will be lost and will go to hell.

This world's religious system’s one purpose is to keep you from ever experiencing the real church, the unity of the Spirit and the oneness of the body of Christ, holding fast Christ as head. The counterfeit churches are a part of this world, this world that lies in the evil one. This religious system of counterfeit churches is the world’s great secret weapon.

In the real church, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers are given as gifts for the training, the equipping of the saints. The saints then are to do the work of the ministry, the work of building up the church. The saints are being trained to lift up Jesus, speaking forth Christ, both in the meetings and in their daily lives.

The trainers are training the saints to know the indwelling Holy Spirit and to hear His voice. The saints need to be trained to listen to the Spirit's speaking and to be diligent to obey. This training is to continue until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and maturity in Christ. The saints are to be trained to know and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve one another and to build up the church, the body of Christ.

 “My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices. Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him” (Psalm 81:11-15).

Pretending to be the church, these counterfeit churches are used by the world to keep the genuine church, the body of Christ, from being built up. Christ died to make us one body with Himself as head. However, these man-made counterfeit churches have divided the body of Christ into many parts and have built massive walls between the various camps to keep them separated, and sometimes to keep them fighting each other. They have usurped the place of Christ as head of the church.

Are you in a counterfeit church? Is God calling you to come out of it and be separate from it and begin to assemble together with other believers as the true church, the body of Christ, that recognizes no head but Christ Himself? The real church is composed of born-again believers that have been called to come out of the world system unto God.

If you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, and have confessed Him as Lord, don't you desire to live according to His Lordship in your meeting life as well as in your daily life? Jesus died for our sins that we might be delivered from this present evil world, delivered from its religious systems, and be brought into the fullness of His kingdom in the church.

Here in the church, while holding Christ as head, we each have every opportunity and responsibility to minister to, and receive from, one another, as Christ directs. We do this by esteeming each other as better than ourselves, that through every joint of supply, the body might build itself up in love.

This is what Christ is longing for. He desires a body, built up and mature, as a bride prepared for His return, looking to Him alone as its head.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.