Living in the Kingdom XX

Sunday 02/14/16

Series: Living in the Kingdom XXI

Message – Unified in Purpose XII

Living in the Kingdom

Praying with fervency
Pray with sincerity
Praying with respect to God and His will
Exercising faith in God w/ patience
Being Persistence in Hope – There are two predominate reasons people give up hope:
1. Growing weary – tired and therefore discouraged. Growing weary is an indication that YOU have been the one carrying the burden. The remedy for this is considering Christ and His struggles, so that we will not grow weary and faint. As we focus on Christ we are to roll the whole of our cares upon Him – being anxious for absolutely NOTHING, and in that environment of worship we make our request to Him in trust.
2. Fear – People protect themselves from hope since it is so deadly to the human heart to have our hopes destroyed. It is easier to NEVER get our hopes up than to get them up and have them disappointed. Fear constrains our belief…it puts a choke hold on our trusting reliance upon Christ – Who told us that men ought always to pray and NOT loose heart.
Being filled with JOY!

We’ve illustrated these points as they were lived out in the lives of others like David, Jacob, Elisha and Jesus. In particular we’ve been looking at the pattern prayer given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus which clearly illustrates all of these points.

Let’s turn to Matt. 6:5-15 and pick up where we left off..

“And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors”

This is of course both in reference to natural debts AND debts of forgiveness. For Luke has this as, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive EVERYONE in debt to us.”

Mark’s gospel explains this with greater clarity…

Mark 11:25-26, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing. (26) [But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.”]”

Now again the grace movement and it’s various teachers will tell you this has nothing to do with us since it was spoke by Jesus Who was under the law and He was speaking to those who were “under the law”. While these two statements are true – the conclusion is NOT true.

As you know, Jesus taught the kingdom of God and told the disciples, “THIS” …. “This gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world….”

This is also addressed in another way in Matthew

Mat 18:21-35, “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (22) “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. (23) For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. (WHAT did He say His doctrine about forgiveness was compared with? The KINGDOM)”(24) When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. (25) Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. (26) “At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ (27) Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. (28) “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ (29) “At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ (30) But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. (31) When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. (32) “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. (33) Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ (34) And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay everything that was owed. (35) So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”

Finally, let’s skip down to verses 14 & 15 in today’s key text of Matthew 6 to see this very same principle truth mentioned specifically by our Lord following His prayer.

Mat 6:14-15, “(14) For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. (15) But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.”

“And do not lead us into temptation,”

This is NOT to be understood as a request to keep us from temptation itself. James in fact goes so far from such a possible understanding of this verse as to say we are to, “Count it all joy when we are laid pry by various temptations.”

This phrase means do not let us be brought under such temptation which we are not able to withstand – so that we are not overcome by temptations when they come.

In all reality this is actually more akin to what we read in 1 Cor. 10:13,

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.”

Never the less, even though God is faithful to do this, Jesus illustrates that it is desirable that we should pray that to God anyway – to keep us from being tempted beyond our ability. Again, this seems to have in view our need to keep ourselves aware of our dependence upon Him.

Wuest translates it like this,

“And do not lead us into the place of testing where a solicitation to do evil would tempt us to sin, but deliver us from the Pernicious One.” (The one who is subtly harmful to us)

“But deliver us from the evil one,”

Notice we are NOT delivered from the influence of the evil one – but from the evil one himself!

What is here meant is a cry for aid from being overcome by the power of satan and therefore being made subject to him.

Satan and fallen angels are stronger than we are – of that there is no question and without God’s protection we are easy prey!

2Peter 2:10-11, “(10) especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones; (11) however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.”

That this is in the power of God to aid or turn over is clear in several passages…..let’s turn to 2 Thess. 2:9-12…

2 Thess. 2:9-12, “(09) The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, (10) and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved. (11) For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false, (12) so that all will be condemned–those who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness.”

1Cor. 5:3-5, “(3) For though absent in body but present in spirit, I have already decided about him who has done this thing as though I were present. (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, along with my spirit and with the power of our Lord Jesus, (5) turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.”

1Tim. 1:18-20, “(18) Timothy, my child, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle, (19) having faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and have suffered the shipwreck of their faith. (20) Hymenaeus and Alexander are among them, and I have delivered them to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.”

2Tim. 2:24-26, “(24) The Lord’s slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, (25) instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance to know the truth. (26) Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been captured by him to do his will.”

“FOR yours is the KINGDOM and the Power & the Glory forever. Amen!”

This is ALL about the kingdom. Everything Jesus addressed brings us full circle to the kingdom again!

Deliver us from satan’s power FOR the kingdom is YOURS!

Col. 1:9-13
Ps. 145:13
Dan. 4:3
Dan. 7:27
2Pet. 1:1-11
Matt. 5:10

Satan knew it was all about the kingdom and that is at least one of the reasons why it was the focus of one of the temptations he confronted Christ with in the wilderness. – Matt. 4:8-10

It was the center of Jesus’ message He taught in His ministry and that He trained His disciples to teach after his resurrection.

Matt. 4:17
Matt. 9:35
Acts 1:3
Acts 3:12-13

We will finish up this and “the Power and the Glory forever. Amen!” next Sunday.

This is where we left off this week. We will most likely resume from here next Sunday…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!