Sunday 03/20/16
Series: Living in the Kingdom XXVI
Message – Unified in Purpose XVII
Podcast: Download (90.5MB)
Living in the Kingdom
United with God in Purpose
Our focus for the purposes of illustration has been the example prayer Jesus taught His disciples.
It highlighted all of our key points on prayer…
- Fervency in prayer
- Praying with respect to God, His will & His way
- Steadfastness in faith – sterile way of saying that our trust in God as we come to Him in prayer is coupled with patience.
- Prayer with is Persistence in Hope
- Being filled with JOY!
- Sincerity in prayer.
His ending – summary statement in His prayer was…
“FOR Yours IS the – Kingdom – Power & Glory”
The Kingdom is – the Rule & Reign of Christ in the Hearts of man.
The Power is – His power to overcome and live His resurrection life in and through us.
The Glory is – Christ in us – a character metamorphosis where we both ARE and ARE BECOMING more like Him day by day which results in HIS being glorified IN US.
It is AMAZING to me how God seems to orchestrate our teachings to coordinate with many meaningful things which either further illustrate what we have been learning or correlated with things He has been doing in our individual lives or …as in this case, with major calendar events celebrated by the church world-wide.
Today is Palm Sunday and it is most fitting to end this part of our teaching on being united with God in purpose with the Triumphant entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem on the week of His passion!
Nothing could be more in keeping with the Kingdom – the power and the Glory of God than the week of the passion and not many things illustrate the Kingdom better than Palm Sunday.
Let’s see how what we have been talking about is actually illustrated in the events of Palm Sunday…
As you may remember, in the 2 weeks leading up to what we call “Palm Sunday” Jesus had made His famous statement, “I and My Father are ONE” for which the Jews sought to stone Him to death. So Jesus escaped from their power and made Himself scarce from Jerusalem for a few weeks hanging out on the other side of the Jordan.
Then Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick in their hometown of Bethany which was less than 2 miles outside of Jerusalem. Let’s look in on this event in John 11 starting in verse 1…
John 11:1-15, “(1) Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. (3) Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” (4) When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (6) So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. (7) Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” (8) The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?” (9) Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. (10) But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” (11) These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” (12) Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” (13) However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. (14) Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. (15) And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
Then Jesus and Martha discuss the resurrection of the dead….Jesus weeps over Lazarus’ death, orders the stone rolled away and then PRAYS – “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. (42) And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
When Jesus had prayed, He yelled loudly “Lazarus, come out!” and Lazarus came out bound hand and foot with death cloths, but Jesus commanded them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
You could get NO clearer illustration of the triumphant entry, the week of the Passion, the death…burial and resurrection of Christ and His church than this historic happening in the life of Jesus Christ.
Shortly following this event Jesus prepared to enter Jerusalem again the week of His crucifixion. Turn to Mark 11…
Starting in verse 1…
“Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; (2) and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. (3) And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.” (4) So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. (5) But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?” (6) And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. (7) Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. (8) And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. (9) Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ (10) Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (11) And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.”
Now let’s turn to Matthew 21:12-17,
“(12) And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. (13) He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” (14) And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. (15) But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, (16) and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (17) And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.”
Back to Mark 11 – starting in verse 12…
“(12) Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. (13) And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. (14) In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. (15) So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. (16) And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. (17) Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS’ ? But you have made it a ‘DEN OF THIEVES.'” (18) And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. (19) When evening had come, He went out of the city. (20) Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. (21) And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” (22) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
If you remember, I one time showed you the mountain Herod had moved by his word and the power of his kingdom authority. It was called the Herodium and it was often visible from between Bethany and Jerusalem. Although it is mere speculation it is very likely that when Jesus spoke these words about moving the mountain He pointed in the direction of the Herodium.
Herod and Rome provided a powerful illustration of the kingdom of darkness the Jewish nation (and the world itself) had been subject to all their lives and how simple faith in God and confession out the mouth was all that was needed to remove all mountains of oppression —-to deliver one from the power and authority of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love!
Last week we pointed out that…
- Eternal life was the future of those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, according to Rom 2:1-11.
- That we are called into God’s own kingdom and GLORY according to – 1Thess. 2:10-12
- That God has called us, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ according to 2Thess 2:13-14.
And that,
- God has willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of the mystery of the good new among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
- We discovered that suffering IS the precursor to Glory in Romans 6:1-6; Romans 8:15-32 “sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed IN US.” & 2 Cor. 4:15-18 which told us that, “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, (18) while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are”
What did we determine these sufferings took the shape of…? Temptations, tribulations, persecutions…etc.
***Closing thoughts comparing the Passion week and with His continued work in His church*** preparing them for the obtaining of their great hope and glory – Christ IN US!
Christ’s promise of glory –
Turn with me to 2Cor. 1:18-22,
“(18) But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. (19) For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. (20) For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. (21) Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, (22) who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
2Pet. 1:2-4,
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, (3) as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, (4) by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
2Cor. 3:12-18,
“(12) Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— (13) unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. (14) But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. (15) But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. (16) Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (17) Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (18) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Rom 5:1-2,
“(1) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
He is preparing us for glory –
Rom 9:22-24,
“(22) What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, (23) and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, (24) even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”
2Thess. 1:5-12,
“(5) For these are a plain token of God’s righteous judgement, which has in view your being deemed worthy of admission to God’s Kingdom, for the sake of which, indeed, you are sufferers. (6) A plain token of God’s righteous judgement, I say, since it is a righteous thing for Him to requite with affliction those who are now afflicting you; (7) and to requite with rest you who are suffering affliction now–rest with us at the re-appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, attended by His mighty angels. (8) He will come in flames of fire to take vengeance on those who have no knowledge of God, and do not obey the Good News as to Jesus, our Lord. (9) They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, being banished from the presence of the Lord and from His glorious majesty, (10) when He comes on that day to be glorified in His people and to be wondered at among all who have believed, including you–because you believed the testimony which we brought for your acceptance. (11) It is with this view also that we continually pray to our God for you, asking that He will count you worthy of His call, and by His mighty power fully gratify your every desire for what is truly good and make your work of faith complete; (12) in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and that you may be glorified in Him–so wonderful is the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ!”
Next week we will have a more interactive service where people in the church will share their reflections on the lives of those who knew and walked with Jesus and the impact that His death, burial and resurrection had upon them…Blessings!
I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
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Blessings!
