Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Keys Of The Kingdom, The Mission Pt.14

Amen! Looking forward to that day, amen? I like that old song, I'll Fly Away. Can't help but think of Jeff Johnson, friend of our family. His father was a song leader of the church that we first ministered in back in 1970. I think we sang that almost every service somewhere along the line. Jeff was looking for the coming of the Lord, and he finally went to meet Him. He believed He was going to come before he died, but he went the way of the grave, and he's absent from the body and in the presence of the Lord, amen? Jeff was needing the grace of God. He was that guy I told you about that we'd go out on a workday or whatever, he'd pick his tools up, and he'd say, "Everybody I offended today, I'm sorry," and he'd head on home. It took a lot of grace to work with Jeff, it took a lot of grace to get him home, and I believe he's home, praise God.

We want to continue on our study on the mission of the church. We've been talking for weeks now concerning the method of establishing the church—the foundation of the church, the government of the church—and we started talking about the mission of the church. As we look at the mission and then the subheading, the message of the church, we begin to get a feel really for what is taking place in our lives here and what is supposed to be taking place in our lives. We said that the mission of the church first of all was to worship God. So many people think the mission of the church is to evangelize. That's not what the church is all about. The church's first responsibility is to glorify God, to worship the Lord. So it's important to understand that part of why we come together. We didn't come here just to study or to prepare ourselves to work in the kingdom; we've come tonight to worship the Lord, amen? To give honor and glory to his name. So we see then that there is that call upon our lives to worship.

We saw also that there's the responsibility that we have—and these I'm giving in my preferred order. Here's what I believe is the most important. I believe that the most important thing is that the church is to edify itself in love. What does that do? That enables us to do the rest of our responsibility. If we're edifying ourselves in love, if we're building one another up in the most holy faith, and if we're lifting up hands that are hanging down, and if we're bringing reproof and instruction in righteousness to one another, all of these different things, then we can go about the other tasks that God has given us. So I think number two is the edifying of itself in love. Number three we see is the declaration of the gospel—the declaring of the gospel. That has to be then the by-product also of this mutual edification. As we mature, get built up, love beyond ourselves, we're able now to go out and proclaim this gospel that we so freely received.

So we understand then that there's that part of the proclamation of the gospel. The church is here also to be able to minister to the natural needs of one another. The scripture speaks very clearly and really in numerous accounts of the need to provide for our natural needs within the community of believers. So we realize these are all part of the responsibility.

Now under the edifying of itself in love, we have some subheadings we need to deal with there. We deal with maturation, discipleship. We would find under the edifying of itself in love one that you could almost make another title, but I would put it here as the subtitle and that would be the building up of the home. The church's responsibility to bring strength and order into our domestic lives so we could be about the work of the kingdom. So those are some of the topics that we'll be dealing with.

Let's go back and talk a little bit more as to where we were Sunday. We were talking about the message of our mission—the proclamation of the gospel. We saw in Mark 16 that we were to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. We saw that the preaching of the gospel though, it required along with this proclamation of the good news, the heralding of the great news of God, was that the gospel was to have signs and wonders attached to it. I think in this century, especially here in America, we've seen some bright spots of the visitation of God's Holy Spirit with signs and wonders, but it seems to have always gotten off track and began to emphasize men instead of God and became in so many instances a reproach rather than bringing glory to God. We think back about the movement, and probably the most famous was that of Oral Roberts as he began to get on media in the 50's and began to make nationwide this declaration of the supernatural. The Amy Semple McPhersons, the A.A. Allens, and up into the more contemporary times that we've been through, we've seen so much of the emphasis as you look at the different Katherine Kuhlmans and many others. The personality became the focal point. I said all that to say this: the message has to be the focal point, the gospel. Paul said I'm not ashamed of the gospel; it's the power of God unto salvation, amen?

Turn over to Romans 1 for just a second. I heard something today that really bothered me on Focus to the Family, Focus on the Family. Chuck Colson was on and was sharing from his newest book. Chuck Colson, as we know, a very learned man and a man of great conviction and persuasion, I believe a man that has a heart to serve in the kingdom, and yet I really was bothered by a statement that he made today and he was emphasizing in his new book, and it was how to bring the—I want to try to grab his words if I can—in walking into the now 21st century, how we can as Christians make a stand for a biblical Christian ethic against a secular society that really is looking at Christianity as a dead religion. Worshipping the creature more than the Creator, the scripture says. And he said that what's needed is a grassroots movement—and this part I agree with—he said if there's going to be any kind of a change that would ever be effected in this nation, and he was talking about the desire to see the nation saved and there's no hope for—God doesn't save nations, He saves people. What we're looking at is the need, he said, to share the gospel over the back fence and with our neighbors and with those in the workplace, and he said so we need to be able to defend and represent the faith through proper apologetic principles. On two occasions in this discourse—he was being asked questions by college students—on two occasions he said whatever you do, do not say the Bible says. They don't want to hear what the Bible says. Bring them biblical principles in secular terminology. Okay, this was what was being spoken. It grieved my heart because beloved, the power is in the message, amen? It's not in the argument. You're not going to persuade anybody. The natural mind cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [and even to the American]. For therein [the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them." He quoted verse 19 but not verse 16—there's a knowledge in them, and so when you speak in these secular terms they have a conscience, they'll know right from wrong and be persuaded toward right. I think not! Now this is a man that's a better theologian than I am, more learned than I am, and tragically, what we see is many that have those abilities draw upon those instead of the simplicity of the gospel, amen? This message that you and I have been given is the power of God in the hands of the masses—the simple ones like us—who don't need doctors of theology, who do not need to be able to read Hebrew and Greek but have a testimony of the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in our lives and can simply share this message of God so loving the world that He himself took upon himself the form of a man through the incarnation, was made sin as the substitutionary sacrifice on the cross, died under judgment, was raised again by the power of God, ascended to the right hand of God the Father, lives to make intercession for us, an imminent return expected, a receiving to himself a bride, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

As we bring this message to the people, it's simple. You don't need to understand all of the intricacies. They have the ability to believe the incarnation without understanding it because it's from faith to faith. You see, the gospel brings the gift of faith. When people hear the gospel, faith comes with this gospel message to believe. I can believe it even though I don't understand it. How many of you understood the incarnation as you were getting saved? You don't understand it now! The Trinity! We don't understand how prayer works. All of these things that are able to be appropriated by the gift of faith when the gospel is just simply declared. It grieved my heart as I heard that today and thought about the secret power of lawlessness. I don't believe this man's consciously trying to lead people away from the gospel; I think he's trying to lead people to Jesus. But we've got to be very careful that the message that we bring is the message of truth or there will be blood on our hands, and we'll be propagating a lie, and it will be the message of Diablo and not the grace of our Heavenly Father, Abba, the lover of our souls.

So as we look at this gospel message, Mark 16, preach the gospel. That's what we are called to do, church. This is what the Spirit of God is empowering us to do. I don't know how many of you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit during communion Sunday night. There should have been some of you that if you haven't, that have. Share it with somebody. Most importantly, begin to allow that to express itself in your life that you'd be built up in your most holy faith, and you'd receive a renewed power to be a witness to Him as Acts 1:8 says.

If we're going to bring this gospel, it's to be a gospel of power. Be prepared, beloved, to—once you've spoken this simple message—be prepared for the moving of the Holy Spirit in your inner most being for this gospel message to be confirmed. Be prepared to lay hands on the sick and watch them recover. Be prepared to cast out devils. It comes with the territory; it comes with the message. You see, this isn't just an intellectual message. Paul didn't come with enticing words of men's wisdom; he came in power and in demonstration. This message that Paul brought was that kind of a message—one of power.

Turn to the book of Acts for just a second. Let me show you something in Acts 26 of Paul's testimony. This message that Paul brought was a gospel confirmed in personal visitation. We left off Sunday night, you remember, talking about the empowering of the Spirit and how they had counted it such a privilege to suffer for his name's sake as they were being threatened and forbidden to preach in this name, they said, Lord, grant us that we with all boldness might declare these words and that there would be a confirming by the hands of the Holy Child Jesus, the power of this message. As they sought that from God the place was shaken where they were gathered, and again they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And the boldness that they sought, the Scripture says, was infused to them. What am I saying? It's to be a message that you've experienced. This isn't to be an intellectual argument. There should be a power in you; there should be a knowing in you. We should be epistles that are read of men; they ought to be able to take note that we've been with Jesus, amen? That's what the gospel message is all about. That's what the church is; we're to be different than they are. Now we know that different—you know we talk about being different, so people say, well the church, we shouldn't dress like them, so if they are wearing tight clothes then we ought to wear loose clothes. If they are wearing loose clothes then we ought to wear tight clothes. Now how many of you know that's stupid? We have been given the dictates of how to dress—it's modestly, it's with sobriety. So we have the guidelines, and we can't be governed by the world. But we should be unique; we don't have to dress like the Amish. We don't have to, like the Mennonites, wear little baskets on our heads. We don't have to, like the Catholics, look like little penguins walking around and try to appear separate or different. The difference is in the source of our life. The difference is in the treasure of our heart. The difference is in the pearl of great price that we pursue. Their god isn't our God. So we begin to hear part of this message preached by the Apostle Paul.

We saw a couple of the messages that Peter preached in the beginning of the book of Acts, and we're going to look back at those again in just a moment—the great messages of Peter of the resurrection of Jesus. Paul says this in verse 14 of the 26th chapter. He's giving his testimony and he says, "And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." You remember the testimony in the other narrative when the scripture tells us that as Jesus was speaking, those that were around Paul heard noise, they thought it thundered, but they weren't understanding what was being spoken. So many people today, God speaking clearly to his church and the crowds are just hearing thunder, just noise, nothing transforming, no specific guidance. People are satisfied with the thunder of God, they love the noise, they love the excitement, they love the visitations, but they're missing the message of this hour that God's called us to as a people. And He's speaking specifically to Paul, and He says in verse 16, "But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, [I like this passage] to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee." Galatians 1:12, we'll talk to you about that appearance as the great revelations that you and I call the truths of the epistles were spoken to him face to face by Jesus. This man caught up into the third heaven, this man spoken to by the resurrected Lord things that are unlawful to speak, whether in the body or out of the body I don't know. As he had this visitation of the Spirit of God and the lordship of Jesus manifesting to him these great truths that govern our lives. The reason I place the edifying of the church in love in such a high position as we were talking concerning the prioritizing of these is because all that we have in this New Testament, the majority of what we have in this New Testament that's addressed to the church is for that very reason. That's what all the epistles are about. So it's important for us to understand that the evangelizing of the world, the great commission of Jesus, is the natural consequence of understanding and embracing the love of God. Once we have received freely, we naturally give. This is a supernatural law of reciprocity. It can't be hindered; we cannot help but speak the things that we have seen and heard. Beloved, people will take note if we've been with Jesus, okay? That's the bottom line. Tragically, too many of us just have words, and we need more time in the presence of God. We need to be able to come forth and our faces aglow with the presence and the glory of God as Moses, because this is truly a greater glory that we bring.

People ought to be able to see the joy and the peace on our faces and in our hearts. Let me ask you a question. Are you just as bummed as your neighbors; you just as stressed as everybody else on the job? Are you just as bound by worry and fear, by image? I know that we all battle these things. I'm not talking about the fact that we breeze through this, and it's not even a trial; I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that we contend with these things differently, and we have the promise of victory, amen? Because his joy is our strength. He said I will not leave you nor forsake you; I will not leave you without comfort. I have given you everything you need that pertains to life and godliness. So we have these promises; we are epistles read of men. Beloved, they are watching our lives more than they are listening to our words. What kind of stands are you taking for righteousness? How different are you really? So as we look at these responsibilities that we have, Paul speaking of his own personal testimony, the call on his life, it's interesting that he says, "Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, [and here's what I want you to do church] To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." Now the Bible tells us that we have been given the keys of the kingdom and the what—gates of hell will not prevail. He said, I am going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I give you keys; you can bind, you can loose. We talked about that as the authority in the local church, but I want you to understand that the universal church has the ability to bind and to loose in the spirit realm, and as you and I as the church take on the full armor of God we're able to stand against principalities and powers; we're able to bruise Satan beneath our feet with speed. We, beloved, as the church, are the enemies of the kingdom of darkness, and daily we're at war. So as the church, we need to understand that in the proclaiming of this gospel message, it's not going to be without retaliation of the powers of darkness. Expect a counterattack; expect, once you've shared the gospel with somebody and you've been living a good example before them, expect some temptation to come on you, some opportunity to fall, fail, in that arena. Because this is what the war is all about.

And so He says, go and open their eyes. How 's Paul going to open their eyes? The Scripture tells us, doesn't it? As we read and we understand the Scriptures as it speaks about itself, this is talking about bringing light to the gentiles. What is this word that you and I have? It's a lamp, isn't it? Unto our feet. It's the light of this glorious gospel. The Scripture tells us what this word is all about: it's the precious seed of God that converts the soul, that illuminates the mind. So all of these things that Paul is being admonished to do here are the results of the word of God. The opening of the blind eyes—the Scripture talks about the god of this world wanting to blind their eyes. What is it that brings illumination to them? The word of God.

And so as we're looking at these things, Paul's giving his testimony and he says, "that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me [Jesus speaking of himself. Now Paul responds and says:] Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." There's the message that we're supposed to be bringing. And so you and I are called to preach a gospel, Luke 24 says, of repentance and remission of sins. It's a gospel of power. It's a message of repentance and remission of sins. Then we're told in Matthew to teach all nations. That word "teach" there is better rendered "disciple." So we're not out just heralding a message and hoping that the seed that we're scattering is taking root. There's an awareness that when we sense or know there's germination taking place, we now need to take some time to bring to them the word of God more clearly so they can understand, and a foundation can begin to be established. Because the teaching of the Lord tells us that when germination starts to take place, what follows that—immediately, what happens? Satan comes to do what? To try to remove that seed, that life. So we need to be conscious of who around us is a babe in Christ, those that are needing the sincere milk of God. A lot of what our responsibility is, beloved, is finding these who are those tender sprigs and begin to bring nutrition to them, encouragement to them. It's a great, great responsibility that we have. The discipling is not limited to just our local fellowships. When we see people that are believers and that are needing this grace imparted to them, we need to, if we are going to be doing what our mission is, bring that life, that hope, the instruction to them that's going to cause the church to be glorified in this generation.

Let's go on. I don't want to—I want to get through the teaching here, and there are some other areas we're wanting to go into and yet still do justice to this part of the teaching. It's so important that we share this gospel and to share it in power. If you haven't been filled with the Holy Spirit, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. The ability to pray in the Spirit and build yourself up so that you can declare this gospel in power—and you shall receive power to be witnesses unto me. You see, we already have authority to be witnesses. We saw in the commission, He said all power has been given unto me. Go. So we've been given the authority, the exousia. We need the dunamis, the power, that presence that comes from the experiencing, the knowing of the work in our own hearts. Whether it's the simplest of testimonies—Paul was great about giving his testimony—whether it's the simplest of testimonies that we see in Acts: All I know is once I was blind, now I see. That's a pretty simple testimony, isn't it? Did it have results? People got stirred up. Why? Something happened in his life. So many of us seem to think we have to have some kind of great earth-shaking testimony. We want to—some of the testimonies, one of the most probably talked about in Pentecostal circles for years was the testimony of Nicky Cruz and Dave Wilkerson's ministry. Nicky's still living off that testimony; and he still can't speak English—I can't believe that after all of these years. But it was a real experience; it was a testimony of an individual who was blind and could now see. But we don't have to have a testimony of having once been a murderer, or drug addict, or some kind of lascivious or heinous lifestyle. Everyone of us can identify with the loneliness that people are experiencing and especially in this world.

One thing interesting that Chuck Colson said in that session today that stood out—they were asking how things have changed in the prisons over the years. I thought this was interesting. He said years ago when he was first starting this ministry, he said, there was always a cry from the young that when they went into the prison systems, to be protected from the old, hardened criminals. He said now what's happening is the older criminals are asking to be protected from the young people. The youth of our nation are far more dangerous than anybody that's ever walked the streets because we are dealing with people without consciences. We all have some conscience, but I'm talking about developed. We're dealing with a whole generation that's never been told no, that's wrong, you can't do that, it's not yours, don't take it. He said it's amazing to see these that are coming off the streets with hearts that are hardened and consciences seared, no more soul than an animal. Sad, and I'm going to tell you one thing—apologetics won't reach them. There's only one hope for these young people, whether they are the kids that are on the streets or without any supervision, or whether they are executive hedonists in their $3,000 suits, they are all afraid; everyone of them is afraid. Dealing with the fear in a different way, but afraid and lonely and without hope in this world. You and I have the only message that can set them free.

Read Romans 1 and 2 again, read it clearly; see the condition that man finds himself in, and see then the responsibility that the church has to bring this message: I'm not ashamed of the gospel; it's the power of God to salvation. People aren't going to believe me, they are going to begin to ask me all kinds of questions—well you know, how do you know the Bible's true? And immediately we get baited into wanting to try to answer that. Well, you know it's like no other literature written you know, and there's actually more ancient remnants of biblical manuscripts than any other literature in the world. In the midst of all of these thousands and thousands of manuscripts, they have the power and uniqueness of unity and harmony. What other literature has ever been written the way the Bible has? You have books that have been written by Mohammed, and you have books written by Joseph Smith, but this is a book that was written over 1,500 years by 40 different authors. It's unique, it's unity of harmony and message. Forty different men spoke over a 1,500-year span out of three different cultures, from three different continents, in three different languages, and are all saying the same thing. The Bible is true; there is no other literature like it! The guy is watching TV. You know, I was like you once, afraid and alone; I didn't understand, but I just asked Jesus to take over my life and forgive me of my sins. Man, I was instantly changed and the peace and the love of God became a reality, and I'm free man, and it's for you! Sounds awful simple. It works! So be quick to share your testimony with the power of God—the fact that Jesus Christ—you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that God has raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus was the substitutionary lamb of God, my sins were taken on to Him, He was smitten of God, He was bruised for my iniquities. God so loved me that He sacrificed his own Son, killed Him on my behalf, and then raised Him from the dead to be a God of justice and to destroy the power of death and of sin. Pretty neat, isn't it? You kidding me? Yeah man, I'm telling you the truth! Most aren't going to believe, but this gospel message carries faith unto faith, Romans tells us. So let's get out about his business, and let's have a testimony. Let's be refreshed in our own hearts, and let's be convinced of our responsibility to be involved in the proclamation of this gospel.

Let's end with this for this evening. As we're talking about the mission that we're on and the message that God has called us to, I want you to see that there's another part of this. Turn if you would for just a second to Mark 13. This is a part that we don't always like, but this is something that went along with Paul's call. Mark 13, let's look at verse 9, "But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them [now we were just reading about that in Acts, weren't we, last session?]. And the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate [and try to come up with some kind of an argument]: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." As you read on, he says, "Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." You see, this is part of the mission of the church—persecution. It's one of our great testimonies that we won't bow our knees to Baal. This is a gospel beloved, worth dying for. This is a gospel that's motivated by blood. Not only the blood of the supreme Sacrifice, but the blood of the martyrs by which the great whore is drunken and not realizing that what she drinks and revels and rejoices in, the fact that she is in her eyes destroying the church, is actually bringing life and strength and purification in the final day of judgment. Don't think that we, church, are going to come into these last days without persecution. If you endure to the end, you're going to be saved. How's it going to come; when's it going to come? I don't have a clue, but it's coming. Already around the world we know there's great persecution. Yet at the same time God is opening doors of utterance that have never been opened in some of the countries of Islam, some of the Hindu countries. So we hear the word, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." We can't all go into the Third World nations, the isles of the seas, but I'll tell you what man, it'll make going to work a lot easier tomorrow if you realize you are going to the mission field, if you know that there are souls out there to be touched, if you know that you are being sent by God to represent his kingdom, to move in power, and see the captives free.

Father, make it a reality in Jesus' name. Cause the heralding of this gospel to be the reason we live, Father, in this society. We live to worship you, we live to serve you, we live to be like you, and we live to declare you in this generation. Now Father, all we have so far tonight is words, but we believe words of power; we believe words that if they find good soil tonight, there will be germination, there will be life that's beginning even at this very moment to surge in our hearts. Beloved, if this message doesn't move you, something's wrong. If there's not a movement somewhere in your spirit that says, man, I have not put the value on my ministry as a missionary, as a minister of the gospel, as a heralder of the truth that I should. I've had the whole wrong attitude on going to work, and I ask you, Father, to change my perspective and to make real in me tonight who I am and what my mission is, in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand before the Lord.

As Gary plays and we allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us—have we spoken words on the job but have the same treasures they have? Have we spoken words in the marketplace but no conviction or power or anointing to see captives set free? Have we seen the innocent ones on the job and yet we're too busy working for the man that we couldn't take some time at lunch or after work to bring them the sincere milk of the word? Jesus, make it real to us why we're here and what our mission is. The easiest thing, beloved, would be to sell all you have, give it to the poor and follow Him and go to China. It really would; that's the easier way to do it—full-time ministry, that's the easier way to do it. It's difficult to be in the secular and keep everything in proper perspective, but his grace is sufficient for you. His call on your life is not diminished by the schedule and how hectic this society is; it's time to seek the Lord. It's time to put proper order. Oh you owe them a fair day's work for the wages, but they're not your lord, and that's not your god. Wouldn't you love to overhear someone at work, wouldn't you love to hear somebody at work tomorrow, behind your back say these words, as you just happen to overhear them: that guy's been with Jesus. Somebody taking note that you've been with Jesus; you're different—different God, different treasures, different message. Make it real, Father, in the name of Jesus. Let's sing this together and just thank Him for the opportunity of serving, the opportunity of being ambassadors.

Hallelujah, hallelujah! Just worship Him tonight. Take a moment and just delight yourself in his presence. Oh, thank Him for the anointing of God in you. Thank Him for the call of God on your life. Ask Him to reveal to you tonight where your treasures are, what's been the most important? The job, the fulfillment from it, the excitement, the position, the power, the prestige, the benefits, the home, the money, the—what is it? The Scripture says your vocation is Christian. Father, don't let us lie to ourselves. Don't let us soothe our minds with our intentions as our heart's convicting us tonight, but let us purpose to obey, in Jesus' name. Amen. Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "Preach the gospel." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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