Restoring Spirit of
Father to the Church
Today’s Focus: The
Pergamos Church and the Spirit of Father Part 3: Antipas Principal
Scripture: Revelation
2:13
Greetings Sons of
God:
Revelation
2:13: I know thy works, and where thy dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and
thou holdest fast my name , and hast not denied my faith, even in those days
wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan
dwelleth
When we examine Antipas we see the Lord
designate him as a faithful martyr. Now
we know God hides Himself in names so what does the name Antipas mean? It comes two words Ante and Pas and of course
this is in the Greek:
Ante – instead of, in place of
Pas – Father (from the word pater)
Antipas
– In place of or like the father
Antipas was the presiding elder and spiritual
father over the church at Pergamos. Now his
name means like the father or in place of the father and the reason is the
Father, God expresses Himself in the one whom represents Him and that is the
Son. Antipas as the spiritual father
over the House of God in Pergamos was the set-man and representative of the
Father to watch over and be a defense against anything that comes against the
family of God of Pergamos. The Spirit of
Father within Antipas prevented the enemy from coming in and destroying and
defiling the church. This is why his
martyrdom was brought about by the Lord in writing this letter and this is why:
When the people allowed Antipas to be killed
it allowed the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes (Doctrine of lawlessness and taking
the grace of God for an occasion to sin) to take hold and now Satan has a LEGAL
RIGHT to set up His throne within that church because the Spirit of Father and
grace of Father no longer is in place.
Satan can now sit comfortably amongst believers because the security
system of the church, the Spirit of Father is not resident. Antipas was a representative of the Father of
the family in Heaven and Earth. He is
not the Father but the representative who is carrying the grace of the Father
to watch over and protect the children of the Father. This is why we must shift
from the pastor/congregational model to the model of fathers and sons because
it is the Spirit of Father that will protect the children from the infiltration
of the enemy amongst the believers.
Now if we are saying that the Spirit of
Father resides in a son set to oversee a household of faith and help protect
and bring the sons of God to maturity.
We must now examine the principal of adoption. We do not want to be neglectful and think
that spiritual fathers carrying the Spirit of Father means they are the
Father. That is not what we are in
anyway saying. What we are saying is that he that the Father sets over a
household of faith is a mature son with the grace of Father who oversees,
protects, nourishes and represents the Father over the household.
In the next message we will examine the
principal of adoption because this is how the Father sets His House in the
earth and method by which He matures the sons.
Peace, Love and
Grace,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
