The Home Ekklesia | Part A

The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online.

House ekklesia, cell groups, and other terms refer to a popular movement today. Some have made a principle of separating themselves from denominations and emphasizing that only the house ekklesia is a viable representative of apostolic Christianity. Others have used the small group movement to infuse more vitality into a spiritless congregation. Others take a middle-of-the-road attitude, and engage in house ekklesia for practical reasons.

Both the Bible guidance and practical considerations are important. The simple fact is that there is not one single denomination in existence that adheres to all Ten Commandments. Most of them adhere to a majority of the commandments, but none to all of them. In fact, there is no denomination that adheres even to the three least kept of the commandments: one Eloah, the Sabbath, and prohibition of killing. So for practical reasons, the true believer simply cannot participate in any religious establishment.

While there are other issues to take into consideration besides the ten commandments, these form a good rule of thumb. They rule out all of the churches from the beginning. But just attending a house ekklesia is no solution at all. House ekklesia can and do participate in the same false doctrines that the denominations do. Finding or establishing a house ekklesia requires careful adherence to Scriptural guidance.

The first home ekklesia, the one that remains the ideal, is that of Adam and Eve. They met with Yahuwah for worship every evening as well as Sabbaths. (Gen 3:8) "And they heard the voice of Yahuwah Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day."

Walking with Yahuwah is the basic form of worship. It continued with Enoch (Gen 5:24) "And Enoch walked with Elohim: and he was not; for Elohim took him." This daily, family meeting with Yahuwah for worship, this walking with him, is the preparation for being taken from this earth one day to meet the Master in the air. Those in the days of Enoch who neglected the form of worship instituted with Adam and Eve were eventually destroyed in the Flood. Only those who maintained it were saved. (Gen 6:9) "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations (that is, family or home ekklesia), and Noah walked with Elohim."

The original home ekklesia practice expanded greatly by the time of Abraham. (Gen 14:14) "When Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, three hundred and eighteen, born in his own house, and pursued them unto Dan." Even with such a large number, the home ekklesia of Abram had been divided as described in Genesis 13:8ff. While the reason for the separation was conflict, the separation resolved the conflict, rather than continuing it. That is precisely the opposite of what generally happens within the house ekklesia movement today, and that should be a warning indicator. The house ekklesia movement today, unless the group is based on truly Biblical principles, is just another expression of Babylonian faith.
 

WLC Source: https://www.worldslastchance.com/practical-godliness/the-home-ekklesia.html