Living in the Kingdom XVI

Wednesday 01/13/16

Series: Living in the Kingdom XVI

Message – Unified in Purpose VII

As we are living in the kingdom, our pursuit of being unified in purpose with God requires faith and patience. As we ended our service on Sunday we illustrated these points with Psalm 37.

Today, after having a brief review, we went on to further illustrate these truths in Psalm 25…

Review

Paul prayed that the dedicated saints of Ephesus & Colossae would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will concerning two predominate things…

The knowledge of God’s will of their inheritance, which is Christ IN us!

The knowledge of God’s will and purpose IN THE SAINTS towards His Own inheritance – which is that we become His abiding place forever!

Knowledge of these two things is IMPERATIVE to our walking in Union with God.

Sometimes God’s will is found in prayer, and other times it is necessary in order TO pray.

Jesus taught continuance in prayer and lived it – Matt. 7:7,8,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

As you remember the words Ask, Knock & Seek all appear in the present tense, which in the Greek represents a continuous action!

Persistence is a theme throughout scripture and in fact, in much of Jesus’ teaching. He stirs us to take our faith to heart and practice it seriously!

Two Wednesdays ago we looked at Christ for an example of constant and fervent prayer in concerning whether or not the Father could allow Him to not go to the cross. How many times did He pray? Three times!

What did we learn from that? That continuance in prayer is IMPERATIVE!

A key text for this part of the series is found in Luke 18:1-8,

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, (2) saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. (3) Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ (4) And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, (5) yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” (6) Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. (7) And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Faith with Patience

Psa 25:1-22,

“To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. (2) O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. (3) Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

(4) Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. (5) Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

As is traditional with Jewish prayers, including those Jesus prayed, David prayed according to God’s perspective rather than his own.

Though it may not be immediately apparent, David is claiming at least partial responsibility for his situation by asking God to show him His ways, and teach him His paths, to Lead him in HIS truth and teach him. He does this because he sees God as the God of his salvation. David is…in effect, saying, my ways…my paths and my understanding of truth is clearly tweaked and wrong – I need a perspective that is true, trustworthy and solid – I need You!

(6) Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. (7) Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.

Here again, David is praying from the right perspective. He did not pray according to his need – but according to God’s character of longstanding mercy and goodness. In fact, David asked to be heard and responded to based upon the mercy of God for the SAKE of God’s goodness.

I’m afraid that this last statement is completely lost on most of this current generation. It is an appeal to God’s integrity to His Own immutable character. David claims to desire this deliverance NOT entirely for personal advantage, but in clear view to upholding the virtue of goodness which God owns as part of Who He is. This request is asking God to act in accordance with Who He is – so that His testimony as revealed by His actions towards His people, is consistent with and does not distort or take away from the perfections of His true character. For the sake of your goodness, please do this thing, David prays.

(8) Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. (9) The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Here David identifies himself as a sinner, brought to a state of humility under God’s grace.

(10) All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. (11) For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

(12) Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. (13) He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth.

(14) The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.

(15) My eyes are ever toward the LORD, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

(16) Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. (17) The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! (18) Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. (19) Consider my enemies, for they are many; And they hate me with cruel hatred. (20) Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. (21) Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. (22) Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all their troubles!”

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!