WBS.034
FUNDAMENTALS OF
DISCIPLESHIP
A KINGDOM HEART - IV
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance of the will of IAUE.
Acts 11:22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of Elohim, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Master.
Our last post concluded with this statement:
“To the extent that we believe we can have small compromises, hold to certain loves of the flesh, we demonstrate wrong thinking…carnal thinking; and we fail to recognize that we are resisting the Master’s right to rule over us. We fail to recognize the goodness of IAUE and the whole purpose of His grace.”
Contemporary Christianity fails the church by embracing the world in many ways; not the least of which is the luxury of compromise. Pastors and other spiritual leaders routinely make jokes about sin. They laugh when they speak of their own compromises; making Satan appear to be the straight man to their comedy routines. The compromise of the leadership infiltrates the thinking of the whole body resulting in a general intolerance for explicit obedience and continuous walking in the Spirit. It makes such persistent and faithful obedience the realm of the ascetic or the social rejects…those who have nothing to lose in this world by only following the will of Elohim. Wrong thinking is a disciple slayer. Compromise is the enemy of the church.
To the Corinthians, Paul said it like this:
1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify Elohim in your body.
To the Romans, he said it like this:
Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto IAUE through Yahushua Messiah our Master.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto Elohim, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto Elohim.
To the Galatians, he said:
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Messiah: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Messiah liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of Elohim, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
To the Ephesians, it was:
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Messiah Yahushua unto good works, which Elohim hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
To the Colossians, he said:
Colossians
3:1 If ye then be risen with Messiah, seek those things which
are above, where Messiah sitteth on the right hand of IAUE.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth.
3
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Messiah
in Elohim.
To the Thessalonians:
1 Thessalonians 2:11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,
12 That ye would walk worthy of Elohim, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
In all of Paul’s epistles, he expressed the expectation that those who have become followers of Messiah would walk worthy of Him, having turned from a life of disobedience to a life of faithful and joyful observance of the will of Elohim. In the church, today, however, we repeatedly hear that all of the sins which we have ever committed and ever will commit have been forgiven; and when we do sin, now, all we have to do is confess it to the Father, not for forgiveness, but for restoration of fellowship with Him. This message, being replayed over and over again leaves one indelible impression upon a carnal mind---there is no real consequence to disobedience. Once we pray “the magic prayer” of “accepting Messiah into our hearts,” we have our ticket to eternal life. Nothing we can do from that point forward will impact our eternal destination. The carnal mind concludes, therefore, that we can enjoy the world to its fullest and still reap the reward of the sacrifice of Messiah. With that belief system in place, who would even care about doing the will of Elohim at times or in circumstances when it is inconvenient or undesirable? If the only perceived benefit is fellowship with Elohim; then that is an insufficient reward to replace our love of the world.
What would motivate one to give all that he has to the poor to come and follow Yahushua Messiah when he can pray a simple one-sentence prayer and keep it all to himself? Why would one subject himself to rejection and mistreatment by the world to serve Messiah when he can be loved by the world and by Messiah at the same time, and enjoy the benefits of both?
Wrong thinking is a killer.
Proverb 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Proverb 16:25 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Anything that steals, kills or destroys in the life of a disciple is the handiwork of the enemy (John 10:10). Wrong thinking is the enemy’s greatest weapon against us because it turns us against ourselves. When we think wrongly about why Messiah died for us, we undermine the very foundation of the gospel.
John 3:16 For IAUE so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For IAUE sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of IAUE.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Virtually the whole world is familiar with John 3:16; but
they are not familiar with it in context.
Messiah was sent into the world to save “the world,” not to save “the people.”
In the Greek, it is the “kosmos.”
The world represents the social order of man. We know from Scripture that all that is in
the world (now) is not of the Father.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of Elohim abideth for ever.
Remember the Master’s parable and our illustration from the last post? The heir to the throne was removed from his domain awaiting a time when the conditions would become favorable for his return to assume the throne and reclaim dominion over his kingdom. The one thing that made it favorable for him to return was the changing of the hearts of the people to serve only Him as the rightful ruler. It is by the reclamation of the people that the world may be saved.
Messiah did not come to condemn mankind because man stands condemned already. Man’s heart is turned away from IAUE to love this present evil world. Man loves darkness. All that is in this present world is darkness; and it all leads to death; “but he that doeth the will of Elohim abideth for ever.” Deliverance is not found in a magic prayer or church attendance, or ascribing to a religious culture. Salvation/deliverance is found in doing the will of Elohim. It is the current world’s systems that turns the heart of man away from the will of Elohim.
The only real definition of salvation in the New Testament is found in the story of the naming of Zacharias’ and Elizabeth’s son.
Luke 1:67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
68 Blessed be IAUE Elohim of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath
raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant
David;
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been
since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of
all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant
unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him
without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all
the days of our life.
IAUE has raised up a horn (a kingdom) of salvation for us. That salvation specifically is:
1.
Deliverance
from our enemies
2.
Deliverance
from all that hate us
This deliverance from our enemies and from those who hate us specifically rescues us to be able to do two things which, without this salvation, we are unable to do:
1.
Serve
IAUE without fear all the days of our life
2.
Serve
IAUE in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life
It is this present evil world’s systems that captures the heart of man in the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life in order to secure wrong thinking…a carnal mind; keeping man the enemy of IAUE by fostering enmity against His will. Man was created to do the will of Elohim; and his fullest joy will never be realized until he is wholly given to that purpose. His condemnation is that he does not do the will of Elohim. Notice, now, how man comes to recognize this fact; how his eyes are opened to see this truth.
Luke 1:77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins
This is the conclusion of the prophecy of Zacharias. It is not the forgiveness of sins or the remission of sins that is our salvation. It is through the release from the guilt and power of sin that we obtain “the knowledge of salvation.” By saving man from sin, Messiah releases man from the bondage that has restrained him from doing the will of Elohim…the true purpose of salvation. Failure to recognize and walk in that purpose is the result of wrong thinking.
Acts 11:23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of Elohim, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Master.
Most believers today would read this posting and experience a war within themselves. The love of the world would be battling against the truth to maintain its ascendency over their wrong thinking; to maintain and secure the death-hold it has over their lives. Until one gives in to the will of Elohim, and with purpose of heart, cleaves to the Master, the real joy of salvation will never be his/her experience.
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