The King and the Kingdom

Wednesday 09/30/15

Series: The King and the Kingdom IV

Message – The Setting aside of Israel & the Time of the Gentiles I

In this follow up teaching on the Good Heart – we’ve defined a few things about the seed that was sown in that good heart.

The seed is the Good New (or gospel message) of the King and His kingdom!

The good heart receives both the word AND the PURPOSE of the word.

The purpose of the message, seed or Good News is the rule & reign of Christ in the hearts of men. This is the current expression of the Kingdom of God in the earth today – and that is what we will be talking about before the end of the message today.

Last week

We ended on Sunday the 27th, by mentioning the four people groups in the earth with which God is currently working….

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” .

We did this because, knowing the other things God is dong in the earth beyond working with His church, will help us in this time of the end of this age. 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”.

We specifically ended with verses that covered the relationship of God to Israel and the Church and the transition of God’s focus from Israel to the Gentiles.

This week we started by learning about how God is currently working with the “church” as the current representation of the kingdom of God in the earth. This dispensation is referred to in scripture as the “time of the Gentiles”.

During this time God is primarily judging his church, which is NOT a popular doctrine in the church today, but it IS 100% biblical!

Geek’s Corner!

What do we mean by Judgment?

Ok…I’m going to get geeky on you here so hold on tight!

The word judgment in its most simplistic, straightforward meaning is simply – to distinguish between and come to a conclusion.

The word used by Peter in the passage we are referencing is,

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” ~ 1Peter 4:17

This is a primary verb that is often added together with another word to form a compound word. This compound word is similar in meaning, yet distinctively different.

Let me illustrate…

The familiar passage in 1 Cor. 11:31-32,

“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.”

In the above verse we have both words….

“For is we would JUDGE ourselves… this word is diakrínō. It comes from the prefixive word diá denoting separation, and parent verb used in 1 Peter above krínō, meaning to distinguish or decide between.

So when taken together the word means – To separate throughout and completely. Used transitively and in the middle voice it means to separate oneself and particularly, to separate oneself from.

So in 1 Corinthians it means, if we would separate ourselves from sin God would not have to make a decision for us. When He does make a decision and decree in our place – it is only so that in the end we will not be separated from Him ultimately along with the world.

This verse then illustrates the meaning of the word Krino (or Krima) as applied to the Church, God’s children, by saying it is the same thing as chastening. Chastening is something God does in the role of a parent…

“And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD, NOR BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU ARE REBUKED BY HIM; FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons….Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” ~ Heb. 12:5-8,11

So, this time of God judging His church is in order that we may be partakers of His holiness and righteousness IN ACTIONS – rather than just by spiritual birthright. We are MADE righteous or right with God by placing the whole of our trust in the cleansing work of the blood of Christ. However, if it is TRUE relational trust (faith), this faith will effect our obedience and therefore our external character – meaning the way we live and conduct our lives.

So you have what is often referred to as “positional” righteousness and then actions of righteousness. BOTH are necessary for true salvation. For more on this please see the Article entitled, Faith or Works? (I will add this later)

A great summery verse for this segment of our teaching is found in Ephesians 5:25-27,

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

The setting aside of Israel

The rest of our time we spent looking at Romans 9-11, though we only got to chapter 10. These chapters offer perhaps the clearest window into God’s dealings with Israel AS A NATION.

It is important to realize the following:

In setting aside Israel for the time being, God is NOT done with Israel. He will still fulfill His promises to Israel, for the sake of the fathers.
In setting aside Israel as a nation, God is not blocking ANY Israelite from entering the Kingdom through faith in Jesus. ANY Jew may come to Christ at ANY time. Paul, Peter, James, John and all the other early Jewish converts are proofs enough of this fact!
Just because God has set aside Israel and has turned to the Gentiles, does not mean we have reason to boast. In fact we are still in Israel’s debt since it was to them that the covenants and promises were made…we covered this is detail in the recording.
Just because Israel has been set aside does NOT mean that God has removed His sovereign protection from them. In order for God to keep His promise to Israel on behalf of the fathers, Israel MUST survive to the end of the age.

Beginning on Sunday we will begin to cover the rest of Romans 9-11 and begin talking about the land God promised Israel and the Millennial Kingdom in which Christ will physically rule on the earth!

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.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

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!