- Choices, Part 27
The first thing Jesus said about the end of this age was not to be deceived, yet we are now experiencing perhaps the greatest forces of deception the world has ever faced. Still, as we have seen throughout Scripture and history, during the greatest times of darkness, the greatest lights arose. As we see in Isaiah 60:1-5, when darkness covers the earth, and deep darkness the people, the glory of the Lord will appear on His people, and the nations will turn to the light. In other words, we will not be overcome with darkness if we are growing in the light.
As darkness increases, we should expect the greater lights to come from God. In times of great injustice, we should expect God’s champions of justice to appear. In times of the greatest confusion and dismay, the gospel of the kingdom will become the greatest hope the world has ever known. We are promised after this gospel is preached throughout the entire world His kingdom will come. For those who follow the King in these times, the gospel of the kingdom is our purpose.
The first verse of the book of Acts speaks of “all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (see Acts 1:1). It was our Lord’s practice to do first, then teach. He preached the kingdom. All His works and miracles also taught who God is, His kingdom, and how we can now live in His kingdom and under His authority. So, Jesus not only taught about the kingdom; He also demonstrated it. This is also our commission.
In the kingdom there are no cripples or blind people. When Jesus healed the crippled and the blind, He demonstrated the kingdom. There is also no lack in the kingdom, so when Jesus turned water into wine, or multiplied bread and fish, He demonstrated the unlimited resources of His kingdom. As we learn of His kingdom and learn to live in His domain, we too are called to demonstrate His kingdom in our lives.
Faith is the currency of His kingdom. True faith is faith in God, not just an outcome. He has overcome every condition on earth, and as we abide in Him, we can also overcome. As we grow up in the Lord, we too are called to live and demonstrate this.
Jesus did not perform miracles randomly. They were orchestrated teaching moments by which His followers could learn His ways. Jesus demonstrated this by only doing what He saw His Father do. This is a basic rule of the kingdom—being in complete harmony with and submission to God to do His will, not our will. We only have kingdom authority to the degree we abide in the King.
So, our life devotion is to draw ever closer to Him so we can abide in Him. As we do, He can do more of His works through us, in all the many ways He does them—through teaching, healing, delivering those who are bound, and His judgments on wickedness. The messengers of His kingdom will agree with and demonstrate both His kindness and severity (see Romans 11:22).
The primary onramp to His kingdom is becoming a member of His body. In the Book of Acts we see all who repented and turned to the Lord were added to the body of believers (see Acts 5:14). We cannot be connected to the Head without being connected to His body, the church. However, not much of what is known today as “the church” is in fact the church the Lord is building, but rather the church men have tried to build.
The church men have built may be built with the best of intentions and do many good things, but throughout history, it has also done the opposite of God’s nature and kingdom. It is rare to find a congregation anywhere in the world today that is fulfilling the Ephesians 4 mandate, so every member of His body can grow up into Him and become that functioning part of His body they were called to be. This is about to change. The Scriptures are clear: the Lord will have a bride without blemish at the end of this age, and His true body will deliver the message and glory of His kingdom. To do His will, we must find and take our place in the church He is building, not men’s. As we continue, we will examine the differences between these two churches.
© 2022 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.
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