The King and the Kingdom II

Wednesday 09/23/15

Series: The King and the Kingdom

Message – The King and the Kingdom II

We are officially finished with the soil and the hearts…that was a long journey but I believe it was both necessary and helpful!

So last week, was a transition week between what we were learning to what we are beginning to learn this morning, which is about the King and the Kingdom.

In last week’s teaching, we talked about how the Good Heart receives the seed – which is the Good News of the King and His Kingdom. Upon welcoming the Message of the Good News into a Good Heart they also welcome its purpose.

Last week…

We introduced the subject of how, at large, Israel did not accept the Good News of King Jesus and His Kingdom, which has created a parenthesis in History.

This parenthesis represents the day in which we are currently living, which the scriptures call the time of the Gentiles and this age will continue until the fullness of the Gentiles have come into the Kingdom.

“And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” ~ Luke 21:24

This time was created by God in response to the rejection of the gospel by the Jews – but if THEY could fall away from the Good News, then we could as well, as Paul clearly writes in the passage below,

“You (Gentile Christians) will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”

Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.

Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.“ ~ Rom. 11:19-25

One Purpose – Four agendas

Knowing the things God is dong in the earth beyond working with His church, will help us in this time of the end of this age.

God is active in the earth and is specifically dealing with 4 people groups…

The church
Israel
Ishmaelites
…the rest of the world

All of these, of course, fit into the much broader categories of “the world” and “the church” .

There are things God promised the physical nation of Israel through Abram.
There are things God promised to Abraham through his seed of Isaac.
There are things God promised both Abram and Hagar regarding Ishmael.
There are things God the Father promised both Abraham and Jesus concerning the world at large.

Nations owe their inception, boundaries and duration to the sovereignty of God. He establishes all of these things to accomplish His various purposes in the earth – one of which is clearly explained in Acts 17:24-27,

“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

We need to come to terms with the fact that history unfolds with Sovereignty allowing for freedom of human will. It is a hard thing for prideful man to swallow, to realize that not all of their choices are necessarily their own. While the Calvanist will agree with God’s sovereignty they will not agree with freewill. Likewise, the Armenian will agree with freewill and set aside God’s sovereignty. I, on the other hand, believe 100% in both – as do the scriptures!

God clearly places decisions before man – He did so with Israel…

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;” ~ Deut. 30:19

Clearly God was offering a choice – for we know what His will was, because He clearly stated it as a command “Chose life!”. Historically, the scriptures clearly reveal that Israel chose death regularly. Earlier when God had essentially placed the same choice before them at the giving of the law…Israel said they would choose life, but God nearly immediately lamented by saying,

“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” ~ Deut. 5:29

So here the Armenian would say “Whoopie! See I knew I was right! Man always has a freewill!”

Well wait a minute! What about King Nebuchadnezzar – who God took the sanity from and gave him the mind of an animal for 7 years….did that not effectively take away any freewill choices the King had during that time period? Was not his freewill, suspended (albeit temporarily) for God’s greater purpose?

“Let his heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him. ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.'” ~ Dan. 4:16-17

Also, consider the words of Solomon,

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” ~ Proverbs 21:1

So what are we to make of this? Overall, God give man incredible autonomy in the decisions he makes, and in most cases will not superseded his freewill given to him as a gift of stewardship – but that is not to say that there are not times when He will enforce His will upon that of another. God is sovereign over all his works. One thing seems clear though, and that is that God will not force a man to ultimately decide for or against God. God will not make a man love Him nor will He force destruction on a man – everyone is free to choose.

I do no have time here to re-address Romans 9 – but, many people misunderstand and misinterpret this passage and most of it’s difficulties could be easily seen clearly by going back and reading the story of Pharaoh in the book of Genesis. God sent Moses and Aaron to warn him, and gave them signs to verify their message – but Pharaoh refused. God additionally sent 10 plagues and Pharaoh said no to all but the last one – and even then he later changed his mind. So while it is true that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, it was in response to Pharaoh’s freewill choices. Examining these facts and considering them in light of Romans chapter 1, should clear the issue up for most people.

One thing that may help many is that there is a profound difference between predetermination and foreknowing.

So God is working with four people groups in today’s world…all of which could be fit

into two larger groups of the world and the church.

There is more clarity on this in the recording.

The falling away of the nation of Israel

It is important that we are not unaware of what the scriptures say about the time we are living in and so I thought wise for us to familiarize ourselves with the first half of the story…..meaning, what happened before the age of the Church or the “time of the Gentiles”.

Promise for Ishmael – Gen 16:1-16

Who has believed our report? Isa. 53:1; Jn. 12:38, Rom. 10:16

Wedding Feast – Matt. 22:1-14

Unworthy of eternal life – turn to gentiles – Acts 13:46

Mt horeb vs. mt siani – Gal. 4:1-31; Rom. 4:13-18

This is where we ended this week.

On Sunday we will begin to look at…

what it looks like to enter into God’s Kingdom
promises God has made throughout history which has in fact shaped history and WILL shape our future
the progression of the Kingdom departing from the nation of Israel and coming to the Gentiles.

Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!