WHAT
ARE WE HERE FOR, ANYWAY?
October 14, 2012
MF Blume
Matthew 6:33 MKJV But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
Philippians 3:3-14 MKJV (3) For we are the circumcision who
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no
confidence in the flesh; (4) though I might also have
confidence in the flesh. If any other thinks that he has reason to
trust in the flesh, I more. (5) I was circumcised the
eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews. As regards the Law, I was a Pharisee; (6)
concerning zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness in
the Law, blameless. (7) But whatever things were gain to
me, those I counted loss for Christ. (8) But no, rather, I
also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ
(9) and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which
is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of
God by faith, (10) that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
conformable to His death; (11) if by any means I might
attain to the resurrection of the dead. (12) Not as though
I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I am pressing
on, if I may lay hold of that for which I also was taken hold of by
Christ Jesus. (13) My brothers, I do not count myself to
have taken possession, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind
and reaching forward to the things before, (14) I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.
Back in Spring of 2011 we spoke heavily about reference to the KINGDOM
and what the Kingdom is all about.
· And every now and then we have to revisit
the issue and bring our sights back into focus on the overall purpose
of the Church in the world.
· WHAT IS THE CHURCH HERE FOR?
We need to remind ourselves of what it means to see the Kingdom of God
come to our city.
· We can see these words every week to remind
ourselves, but what does it mean exactly?
· What is happening when a church is able to
say they are used in seeing the Kingdom actually here in our city?
· What does God want us to do as a church?
· Why did He put churches in towns and cities?
· What is it that He needs a church to
accomplish?
One way to understand what God’s will for the Church is is to see
what the BIBLE TEACHES the churches.
· What does the NEW TESTAMENT focus on more
than anything else?
· What did Paul write about most in his
letters to churches?
· What statements do we have in the NT that
point us to the things we should be emphasizing?
We read of miracles and gifts of the Spirit.
· What is the purpose for them?
The reasoning is that whatever the New Testament talks about the most
is obviously what the Church should be focusing upon the most.
When you read EPHESIANS, HEBREWS or GALATIANS, what is the major point
of those church letters?
Years ago in my ministry I asked these questions and the scriptures I
opened up with were the scriptures that came to my heart as though the
Lord informed me that He spelled it right out for me.
· Jesus actually said what we should seek
first.
· Paul actually said what rises to the top
above everything else in his journey.
· Seeking first the Kingdom and God’s
righteousness, and seeking above all else to know Christ and not be
found in his own righteousness, but in God’s righteousness.
· Righteousness is mentioned in BOTH PASSAGES
that speak of the TOP PRIORITY.
Then we see that the Lord’s Prayer mentions first, before any
other request, the need for the KINGDOM TO COME and God’s Will to
be DONE IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
When we really dug into the issue of the Kingdom, recall that we went
back to Mankind’s creation and showed what God said when He made
man.
· We realized that whatever God said when He
made man was the PURPOSE for man.
· And CHURCH is actually the PEOPLE OF GOD
brought back to God to do what God made man to do on the earth.
Genesis 1:28 MKJV And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be
fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it. And have
dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heavens, and
all animals that move upon the earth.
This falls in line with this Psalm:
Psalms 115:16 MKJV The heavens, even the heavens, are Jehovah's;
but the earth He has given to the sons of men.
So we are to have DOMINION.
· But WHAT does it mean to HAVE DOMINION?
· What are we doing and how are we living and
how is the church operating and what is it accomplishing to be able to
say WE HAVE DOMINION?
Basically, dominion is not vying for political office, although God
uses Christians for that, but it is generally HAVING POWER.
Paul said it like this:
1 Corinthians 6:12-15 MKJV (12) All things are lawful to
me, but not all things profit. All things are lawful for me, but I will
not be brought under the power of any. (13) Meats for the
belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them.
But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord is
for the body. (14) And God has both raised up the Lord, and
also will raise us up by His own power. (15) Do you not
know that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the
members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? Let it not be!
Paul said that he will not be brought under the power of anything.
· It’s like there is a tainted element
on everything in the world.
· Have it as though you do not have.
1 Corinthians 7:29-31 MKJV (29) But this I say, brothers,
The time is short. It remains that both those who have wives should be
as not having one. (30) And they who weep are as though
they did not weep. And they who rejoice are as though they did not
rejoice. And they who buy are as though they did not possess.
(31) And they who use this world are as not abusing it, for the
fashion of this world is passing away.
The world has POWER OVER US if there is in anything in the world we
cannot DO WITHOUT.
· Think of Lot’s wife who was so
attached to Sodom and Gomorrah that she could not help herself from
looking back thinking of something there that had power over her soul.
· When you possess as though you possessed
not, that means you may own a mansion of a home, but you are not
possessed by it.
· You are not so attached to it that if the
Lord took it away from you you would backslide and stop serving Him.
· Handle everything in the world carefully.
· Do not let it get hold of you.
· Some people cannot stand to not have the
latest car, or the latest new electronic device, or the latest fashion
of clothing, or the newest hair style, or furniture design, etc.
· RATHER WE SHOULD HAVE THE LATEST WORD FROM
GOD FROM WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING TO THE CHURCHES.
· Paul would not let anything in this world
have power over him.
· He had power over everything.
· FOOD INCLUDED.
· Some people leave food out of the picture,
though their flesh lusts far too much for food and it is not as though
meats are for their bellies, but their bellies are for meats –
meats control them and they live for food rather than live by food.
Paul talked about walking after the Spirit.
· That is KINGDOM business.
· When you walk after the Spirit, you do not
fulfil the lusts of the flesh and you are not discouraged nor defeated.
Galatians 5:16 MKJV I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall
not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
· You are in control.
· Circumstances do not push you around.
· You have so much kingdom authority in life
that no matter what happens, you are not the victim.
· When the Spirit leads
We spoke much recently about this.
· We mortify the deeds of the body if we are
truly Spirit-led.
· Paul actually put overcoming the works of
the flesh above all of the ways the Spirit can lead us as the TOP thing
and the MAIN ISSUE in what the Spirit ultimately leads us to do.
This is what this church is here for and what we are seeking to
accomplish.
· What we preach so that we can see in your
lives the effects of KINGDOM.
· It is getting you to overcome everything in
this life, and have dominion.
· Your kids and family and marriages will be
affected in blessing and victory.
· Money does not make you bow down before it,
but you make money bow down before God.
· You have victory over sins so that grudges
and hatred and jealousies, etc., that once plagued you are gone.
· You even physically become healthier so that
food does not control you.
So we bring people into our church to hear of this purpose for man in
the earth.
· We see them saved from sin.
· Then we proceed to preach to them to be
freed from fleshliness and lusts and INNER powers of sin.
· We teach them to rely on the Spirit.
· We operate gifts of the Spirit FOR THAT ONE
PURPOSE.
· Healing conquers disease and sickness, and
that is KINGDOM.
· Words of knowledge reveals issues that helps
people overcome situations that are made known by God, showing that God
knows about these things and wants us to have victory in them all.
· Prophecies speak to us things that bring us
higher in DOMINION on the earth and power by the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:1-5 Phillips NT (1) 1a Follow, then, the
way of love, while you set your heart on the gifts of the Spirit.
1b-4 The highest gift you can wish for is to be able to speak the
messages of God. The man who speaks in a "tongue" addresses not men
(for no one understands a word he says) but God: and only in his spirit
is he speaking spiritual secrets. But he who preaches the word of God
is using his speech for the building up of the faith of one man, the
encouragement of another or the consolation of another. The speaker in
a "tongue" builds up his own soul, but the preacher builds up the
Church of God.
(5) 5 I should indeed like you all to speak with
"tongues", but I would much rather that you all preached the word of
God. For the preacher of the word does a greater work than the speaker
with "tongues", unless of course the latter interprets his word for the
benefit of the Church.
Notice EDIFICATION is the issue.
· This is NOT saying prophecy is the greatest.
· Verse 5 says prophesying is greater than
speaking in tongues EXCEPT WHEN THE TONGUES ARE INTERPRETED.
· When tongues are interpreted, OTHER PEOPLE
aside from the one speaking in tongues are edified.
· When tongues are spoken and not interpreted,
only the person speaking is edified.
· So the BEST GIFT noted in chapter 12 is the
GIFT FOR THE TIME THAT EDIFIES OTHERS.
1 Corinthians 12:31 KJV (31) But covet earnestly the best
gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
It says BEST GIFTS, not BEST GIFT as if prophecy was the best.
· The best is what is needed for the
edification of AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE in any given situation.
The best gift when I am alone is TONGUES.
1 Cor 14: (4) He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth
himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
BUT IN THE CHURCH…
1Co 14: 12-13 PHILLIPS So, with yourselves, since you are so eager to
possess spiritual gifts, concentrate your ambition upon receiving those
which make for the real growth of your church. And that means if one of
your number speaks with a "tongue", he should pray that he may be able
to interpret what he says.
1Co 14:14 14-19 If I pray in a "tongue" my spirit is praying but
my mind is inactive. I am therefore determined to pray with my spirit
and my mind, and if I sing I will sing with both spirit and mind.
Otherwise, if you are blessing God with your spirit, how can those who
are ungifted say amen to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what
you are talking about? You may be thanking God splendidly, but it
doesn't help the other man at all. I thank God that I have a greater
gift of "tongues" than any of you, yet when I am in Church I would
rather speak five words with my mind (which might teach something to
other people) than ten thousand words in a "tongue" which nobody
understands.
I need to mention this point as well.
Notice how stress is to be put UPON JESUS all the time in Church.
John 15:26 KJV But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send
unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 16:13-14 KJV Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you
things to come. (14) He shall glorify me: for he shall
receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:13-14 ASV Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from
himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak:
and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.
(14) He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall
declare it unto you.
John 16:12 PHILLIPS 12-15 "I have much more to tell you but you
cannot bear it now. Yet when that one I have spoken to you about comes
- the Spirit of truth - he will guide you into everything that is true.
For he will not be speaking of his own accord but exactly as he hears,
and he will inform you about what is to come. He will bring glory to me
for he will draw on my truth and reveal it to you. Whatever the Father
possesses is also mine; that is why I tell you that he will draw on my
truth and will show it to you.
We love the moving of the Holy Spirit, but the way to tell if the HOLY
SPIRIT is really moving is HOW MUCH JESUS IS BEING STRESSED AND
UPLIFTED.
· If JESUS is not being stressed above all
else, then IT IS NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT that is moving.
Basically all that I have been preaching about is what I believe the
Lord has shown us as being KINGDOM MANIFESTED IN OUR CITY.
· Walking after the Spirit, to mortify deeds
of the body so that our own flesh does not control us nor sin has
dominion over us.
· When Paul was talking about being dead to
sin in Christ he said all of that so that sin would not have dominion
over us.
· Being able to forgive.
· Exposing false prophets who will take us in
a direction aside from DOMINION in this earth.
· Victory over offenses so the greatest weapon
of the enemy to distract us from getting on with our mandate is dealt
with.
So when you hear a sermon, please know that it is all focused on SEEING
DOMINION IN THIS EARTH in our lives.
· It’s what the Bible is focusing us
towards.
Prayerfully consider what God may speak to you about for us to more
greatly manifest the Kingdom here, and WHAT YOU CAN DO PERSONALLY for
that purpose.
