The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God Romans 14.13-28 I Corinthians 4.20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Acts 1. 3 After His suffering, he presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Romans 14.17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit Jesus said, Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness... What is the Kingdom of God? What it is not... not a matter of talk, not a matter or eating or drinking, not of this world. * It is a matter of power Look at the context of Acts 1 v.3 v.6-8 Power= dü'-nä-mes strength, ability, power to do miracles, from reliance on forces or armies We need to be baptized anew into the Holy Spirit and power today. That is the singular greatest need in the church, our church It is not a matter of speeches, words embodying a concept or idea. It is a matter of power. It is a matter of planting seeds and watching God work in amazing ways... * It was a group of people gathering in the mid 1940’s from the Patchogue and Bellmore Churches of the Nazarene and holding services in Bay Shore. It was Pastor Rapalje coming in the 1970’s and leading the buildings where we sit today and never borrowing any money to do so. * It is this same building which will host 2 other congregations today. * It is work in Haiti and now Columbia that came out of these churches. * It is these congregations giving to our denomination’s missions in a time of challenge for all churches. * It is what Jesus is doing in your life today... what He is about to do. * It is what Jesus is doing by His Spirit all over the world. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,     and Your dominion endures through all generations. Psalm 145.13 * It is a matter of righteousness Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness Matthew 6.33a Righteousness= being acceptable to God. integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting God setting up His rule in my life and me joining Him is setting up His rule on this earth. Obedience to the law is crucial in these days. Obedience to Christ is supreme. It is not some hard rigid relationship. It is one of fellowship, love and adventure. Seek= seek in order to find The kingdom of God is among you. His Kingdom is already active on the earth today! It is attainable. It is possible to live in Kingdom come. The Kingdom of God ... * It is a matter of peace National Tranquility Harmony between individuals Condition after death of the devout Romans 12. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. People you cannot have peace with: Those with haughty eyes,         a lying tongue,         hands that shed innocent blood,         a heart that devises wicked schemes,         feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies         and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Proverbs 6.17-19 Titus 3:10, “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them." I Timothy 6.2b These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. Blessed are the peace makers. James 3.18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Peacemakers don’t argue seek to bring people together forgive enjoy the fellowship of Him Who is our peace. Ephesians 2.14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, A matter of power, righteousness, peace and... * It is a matter of joy in the Holy Spirit We are not talking about happiness, which is dependent on circumstances. Joy is Knowing my name is written down in heaven. Knowing God Strength, of the LORD The Kingdom of God is a party! Here and all over the world. * It is an Everlasting Kingdom Psalm 145.10-13 Zechariah 14.9 Revelation 22. 12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Living in Kingdom Come: His power His righteousness His peace His joy His return, longing for it, loving it

Understanding The Present Time

Understanding The Present Time Romans 13.11-14 11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. While there is much concern about the future we must live in the present. There is much excitement and not a little anxiety and certainly a lot of press that makes for fascinating reading and sleepless nights. Yet when all the data is analyzed it becomes apparent that our crystal ball remains filled with fog no one knows for sure what will happen. Will there be collapse? Will we thrive? Will we transition? One fact, however, is certain; something Historical is happening in our lifetime! - Richard Swenson Margin 1992 In his book Dr.Swenson was talking about the need for Margins in our lives. Time, money and activity is out of control. Eating, Entertainment and Sports are too. We need to reel it back in a bunch. What is going become of our poor country? The Word of God is being disregarded. National Laws are opposed to God’s Law. Spiritual life is at a low place. The church has lost the fire of faith. What do we need today? I Chronicles 12. 32 from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command; There are very few people who understand the present time. Predictions are being made about the Pandemic and the economy and the nation and church that are not accurate. We are in a time of excessive national debt, a time when the government is trying to redefine family, a time of depression, a time when we are losing young people to the Opioid Crisis. We, as believers in Jesus and followers of His should be leading the way. Of all people we should be understanding the times. We are the light of the world. This is our time! We are called by God through Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Romans to... * We are told to understand the Present Time To see with the eyes, perceive, discern the present time... a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for The return of Jesus Christ is nearer now than it has ever been before This is the context of the rest of this paragraph. Jesus warned about His Coming and recognizing the time Luke 12.56 You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Matthew 16.2-3 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. Luke 19. 41 As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” Having this understanding of the times, now we are told what we need to do The men of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel (governed by God) should do. We are told to wake up The hour has come definite time, point of time, moment Jhn 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour G5610 is come, that the Son of man should be glorified This is it. No more half hearted commitment to Jesus. All out for Him until the end which is close for all of us, even young people. Understanding the times can only be done if we are awake and alert. A drowsy kind of faith will miss much of what we need to know. We can only perceive the times if we our eyes are open. God is looking for broken people in this present time. Psalms 119:136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed. He is looking for people Whom He can cry through. Look at the Father in the Prodigal Son, the waiting Father. It easy to be disgusted. It is hard to be broken. Psalm 79.8 May Your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. The night is nearly over This time of darkness is coming to an end, soon! The Day is almost here It won’t be long! We are told to put aside the deeds of darkness Get rid of any sin in your life. Ephesians 5.16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil Put away things that are sinful, be done with them! Seize each moment. We are in a Day of Evil but God is in control. We are more than conquerors through Christ! We are told to put on The Armor of Light Armor because we are in a spiritual battle, a war for souls. Ephesians 6.10-18 There are two extremes we need to avoid. * Giving too much attention to the Devil, Satan Don’t talk to him, Don’t talk too much about him. * Being unaware of him. II Corinthians 2. 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. Right behavior Living to please God I Thessalonians 4.1 As for other matters, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. Clothed in Jesus Christ Turning away from sin. We need to remember This is a message of grace and warning. A message to the church in America! This is a call to awaken, to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you. To stop the rush, to be still but to be active in the Kingdom. To be ready when that day comes and Christ returns or calls you home.

More Blessed Than The Eyewitnesses

More Blessed Than The Eye Witnesses John 20. 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My LORD and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I have a friend that said would not it had been cool to be here when Jesus was here, to watch Him, to talk with Him. As wonderful as that would have been we are told by Jesus that we are blessed because we have believed without seeing... more than the eyewitnesses? It seems like Jesus is implying that here. There is a special blessedness in believing without seeing, a blessing even the Apostles of Jesus could not enjoy. It seems that there were some regrets floating around from following Jesus... after He died, before they believed He had risen by His Appearances. The two on the Road to Emmaus, we had hoped Peter saying earlier, we have left everything to follow You, then going fishing in John 21 Thomas’ skepticism As I have attempted to follow Jesus all my life I have no regrets. I have had a glorious journey with Jesus. I am enjoying serving Him now. Dr. Mary Grace Garis, a clinical psychologist wrote of the 5 regrets people have at the end of their lives. “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” “I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.” “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.” “I wish I had let myself be happier.” Thomas did not have regrets over not being there when Jesus appeared the first time. People who are overwhelmed with doubt about God often have no regrets. Filled with doubt he made his statement about Jesus’s Resurrection. He had to see it, touch Him or he would not believe. It did not bother him that he was not there. He had to see it to believe. He was not going to take his companions word for it. Eye witnesses have their place, an important place. Take an accident... or news... or court, they can sway a jury. One of the priorities of the Apostles were to serve as Eye Witnesses of the Resurrection. Reliable witnesses are needed. The word, witness, is the Greek word, μάρτυς, martys. Does this mean all witnesses die? Yes, in one sense... we are taking up our crosses, we are living sacrifices. We will suffer at least... II Timothy 3.12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. How are we more blessed than the eye witnesses? I Peter 1. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. We are talking about faith. Hebrews 11.1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Thomas saw and believed. We have not seen and believe. Jesus pronounces a blessing on us. ...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” What ways is it blessed to believe without seeing? * We Love Him without seeing Him. We know Him. We serve a Risen Savior He walks with us and talks with us and assures us we are His own. This is faith. We walk by faith. We are going to see Him face to Face! Jesus prayed for us! John 17. 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in you. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The blessedness of not seeing but believing * We Believe In Him and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him We walk with Him, we trust in Him. In Him we have put our hope. We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield. Psalm 33.20 Genesis 12. 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him... Abraham believed and obeyed. I Samuel 17.47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” David believed and defeated Goliath with the tools of a shepherd. Jesus calls us to faith... Faith in Him John 7. 38 Whoever believes in Me as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” He prayed for us to be with Him. We wonder what that Day will be like. Like no other. We are waiting for that Day! * We are Filled With An Inexpressible and Glorious Joy It will be worth it all when we see Jesus! Right now we have this overflowing experience Jesus spoke of. Joy in the Holy Spirit! John 7. 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Acts 13:52 And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 16:25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 1 Thessalonians 1:6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 1 Peter 4:13-14 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. * We Are Receiving The End Result Of Our Faith, The Salvation Of Our Souls. Heaven is not on earth. We are not home yet. We have heaven in our hearts as we hobble there. We will be home one day. As we walk this pilgrim pathway... But when traveling days are over!

Why We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead

Why We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead Mark 16.1-14 We can only imagine what this was like! The shock, the joy, the feeling of, “Is this really happening?!” It was a surreal time. They could not take it in at first. Miracle of miracles! Hope restored. He is Alive! I believe in Jesus. I believe He is the Son of God. I believe He died and rose again. We believe... reasons for our firm faith... Why We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead: * The Scriptures said He would and He did. He never spoke of His suffering and death without speaking about His resurrection. Every word of God is flawless. His word is truth. What Jesus says he will do He does! He often said, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise." Mark 9.31 Living by the Word of God Having it proved true in our lives Watching the Proverbs unfold in front of us. Standing upon His Promises. We have no reason to doubt and every reason to believe! Why We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead: * There is an EmptyTomb in Jerusalem today. I have been there. He is not there. He is risen. Tombs of Mao Tsa Tong, Paul Revere, Grandparents in New Jersey. All contain their remains. The place where they laid the LORD is empty because He rose again. His disciples came in the night and stole His body. No way would they have even thought of this. Their hopes were dashed. Fear was larger than that stone in front of the tomb. If you are frightened and hiding you would not dare to attempt such a feat. The Empty Tomb means: Death is defeated. Christ is LORD. Our last enemy will not win. We will live with Jesus forever All the tombs/graves will be emptied one day! I Thessalonians 4. 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage/comfort one another with these words. Encourage, console, comfort, strengthen, admonish pä-rä-kä-le'-o The word for the Holy Spirit is Paraklete. It has these meanings but the first meaning is to come alongside. Jesus spoke of His going and the coming of the Spirit on the night He was betrayed. He is with us and in us! Let us call others aside in the grief. Why We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead: * He continues to Build His Church. Baptisms Hospitals, schools, wells and cisterns Feeding programs The church around the world... in Haiti and Colombia! Feeding 100 poorest families this week there and now have 16 going to Colombia this summer! My Mom and those in need. The widows and the orphans throughout the centuries... in the 21st Century Through Livestream and YouTube and blogs! Why We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead * He Continues to Answer Prayer Today. We are seeing some amazing answers to prayer! God is working. I am saying, “Thank You” to the LORD more than ever before. I love to look back on my prayer journals! How often have we experienced this: Philippians 4. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. * He Lives Within My Heart. The witness of His Spirit with our spirit Romans 8.16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Romans 8.11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you. Wasting away outwardly, inwardly being renewed day by day. * He Walks with Us! Even through the Valley of the Shadow of Death! We have experienced that. On our Emmaus Roads Luke 24 Each day as we journey in His Word and follow Him * He Is Coming Again! John 14.1-3 I will come and receive you unto Myself That keeps us. That gives us hope. He is our Hope. That helps us persevere. Billy Graham said that he could give the argument for God in one word, “Israel.” We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead