The Kingdom and the Church

(See references within the message below)

Jesus preached that the kingdom of heaven is among us.  It is near.  It is accessible.  He is the narrow way to see it and enter it.  He told us to have a change of mind (repent) because the kingdom is coming.  And Jesus said He would build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  This church is not something men can build.  Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build. (Ps 127:1)  Jesus builds His church with people who see, who experience that they are alive by the Holy Spirit.  They have become a new creation in Christ.  They know that Jesus gives them life and that life will never die.  So we are living stones if we have received His Spirit and now know Christ. (1 Pet 2:5)  We are members of His body.

He called His disciples and assigned them to make disciples of all nations.  And He made us, as disciples to be members of His family.  So God is our Father by the Spirit who lives in us.  As John wrote, we find ourselves in stages as children, young men, and fathers. (1 John 2:13-14)  As we grow and mature as His children, we become sons with authority to do the work of the ministry. (Rom 8:14, Eph 4:16).  The body grows and we each overcome so that we may become pillars in His house holding up others by prayers and intercessions for greater growth of all the members. (Rev. 3:12)

As believers, we often hear the phrase that we are here for such a time as this.  That could become a trite phrase.  We can only know the true purpose, our specific calling, as we hear from the very mouth of God.  Certainly, through the scripture we are guided, but we also are guided beyond the page.  Are you led into an occupation, a location, a marriage, a church?  Those who are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God.

In every season since His ascension, the Lord has had genuine disciples, those who believed and followed Him.  When the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, a great shift in the history of the universe, of the world, took place.  The promise of the Spirit, of God’s Holy Spirit, was fulfilled.  The day of Pentecost had fully come.  It extended, and so extends today, as those who are being filled with the Spirit go as they are sent.  They followed Jesus’ instruction to wait in Jerusalem.  Similarly, they waited on the Lord at Antioch.  (Acts 13:1-3) True leaders of the church gathered at Antioch.  As they focused on the Lord, the Holy Spirit made it clear that Barnabas and Saul were called, set apart, for a purpose.  They set apart time.

Here, fasting is mentioned twice.  I think their fasting included food but was more.  It was a separating their entire beings to focus on the Lord.  As indicated in Isaiah 58:13-14, fasting includes speaking the Lord’s words, not ours, and doing His will, the works that please Him.  Indeed, such works are His idea.  They are initiated by Him.  For now, Christ having come and poured out His Spirit, we have the mind of Christ, and we work out from the sabbath rest of the finished work of Christ.   

May He find us waiting faithfully in our day to be directed by His Spirit.  Wait on the Lord, look to Him, suit at His feet, spend time in His presence.