Is the Kingdom the Church? There are those who "spiritualize" the Kingdom of God into the church, drawing on metaphor, analogies and subtle inferences from scriptural ambiguities. The simplest way to disprove such theories is to see what the Bible says about the church. Christ said, "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter [Greek; Petros, a pebble, or small stone], and upon this ROCK [Greek; Petra, meaning a craggy cliff, monolithic rock, a mountain of stone] I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH; and the gates of hell [Greek; hades, meaning the grave] shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16: 18). The Greek word for church is Ekklezia, which is better rendered "assembly" or "group." Today, the word "church" in the English language has become corrupted. Most think of a "church" as either a national or international organizational hierarchy (like the Catholic "Church"); as a denomination, (like the "Methodists"), or as a building ("That is my church over there on the corner"). One might say, "I will see you in church today," meaning they will meet inside a building called a "church." But the Bible was not written in English – it was written in Hebrew. Greek . and Aramaic. The Greek word, Ekklezia which Jesus used. no more means "building" than the word "typewriter" means "airplane"! There is simply no connection between the two! Christ meant He would establish His group of specially-called and chosen disciples (who would become the original apostles), empower them with the Holy Spirit, and that "assembly" of individuals would represent, collectively, the church! Christ is the HEAD of His true church. "...and gave Him to he the HEAD over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:22, 23). Paul went on to say, ''Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners. but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God: and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20, 21). Both I Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 represent the church as analogous to a body, or a building, having various members and parts. The Church of God (its authorized name, used more often to describe the church than any other) is that group of converted, called-out ones who are committed to perform the WORK of God on this earth; that of fulfilling Christ's great, two-fold commis.sion. Notice! "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all rations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world [margin; 'age'], Amen" (Matthew 28:19, 20). The commission to the church is to preach the Gospel OF THE KINGDOM! The church is NOT the Kingdom – it is the spiritual organism, made up of individual human beings who may, from time to time, be organized, humanly, to perform the work of the church – and the church is commissioned to preach the advance good news (and warning) contained in the gospel! And what is that Gospel? It is the "glad tidings," or "happy announcement" of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD! The church is NOT THE KINGDOM, it is the organism responsible for ANNOUNCING the coming Kingdom! Christ told His disciples, following His resurrection, "...that repentance and remission of sins should be preached..." IN HIS NAME among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem! (Luke 24:47). He prophesied, "And this gospel OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14). In a sense, the church is a type of the Kingdom; a microcosm. But it is NOT THE KINGDOM! The church does not "rule them with a rod of iron!" or smash governments of hostile, God-rejecting nations like shards of broken pottery! (See Revelation 2:26, 27.) The church is called OUT of this world (John 15:18, 19; I John 2:15-17), and told NOT to partake of its Babylonish sins (Revelation 18:4). It is not "ruling" or holding sway over governments IN this world! Contrary to the belief of those who like to justify a church organization structured as a vast, rich, powerful, worldly hierarchy, Jesus Christ spoke of His true Church as a "little flock" of persecuted, rejected, despised people – not having great, worldly pomp and splendor, NOT accepted by this world's leaders! Christ predicted His true servants would be DRAGGED before kings. emperors, dictators, prime ministers, presidents and various heads of state – NOT WELCOMED WITH A RED CARPET! "Behold, I send you [THE CHURCH] forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues, and ye shall be brought [manacled, under arrest] before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when-they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be HATED OF ALL MEN for MY NAME'S SAKE, but he that endureth to the end [of his life, if need be], shall be saved" (Matthew 10: 16-22). Christ never intended His true church to have concourse with world leaders; to become respected, receiving accolades and approval from governments! He said, "If they have hated me, they wil1 hate you!" It is a terrible PERVERSION of scripture to suggest the church is the KINGDOM OF GOD on earth. It is NOT. The church is the instrument in the hands of God to ANNOUNCE the coming Kingdom – it is described as a small, weak, sometimes scattered group, not rich in this world's goods, yet rich in faith, doing the WORK OF GOD!

Be careful church! Don't be drawn away by every "thing" that happens by! We are "the church" and the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is within, not without.

TAKE THE PROMISE BY FORCE!

Blind Bartimaeus is a good example of a man who took a promise of God by force. In Mark 10, we see that he was sitting beside the road begging, and he heard some good news.

Look at what verse 47 says: "And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He heard about Jesus and immediately chose to receive what Jesus had.

The voice of faith began to come out of him. He began to cry out, "Jesus, have mercy on me! You are for me!" That's how radical he was. He was so bold and aggressive that the all the religious people around him got nervous, and like a lot of religious people do, they began to warn him, "You'd better not cry out so loudly. Be quiet!" It's interesting to note that people will use sophisticated and acceptable words as a mask for their own unbelief.

Bartimaeus' crying here out of a pure heart was exposing the rebellion that was in the people around him. He was going for God. The others acted like they were, but they were really worshipping themselves, as they seemed offended at Bartimaeus' faith-filled actions.

Jesus never rebukes your crying out to Him when it is from your heart! Pay the price of faith, and cry out! Don't let religious, backslidden christians stop you. Bartimaeus didn't! He kept his faith toward Jesus and cried out all the more for Him. He didn't just cry out a little; it says he cried out a lot! And through his cry he was saying, "I receive! I want YOU! Jesus, You're for me! What You promised is for me!" And he received it.

We saw that when the woman with issue of blood received the Word, she began to say, "If I can only touch Him!" Even when it looked impossible with all the people around Jesus, her faith spoke! We've seen how Bartimaeus received it; he began to cry out for it and draw it over himself. What did they do? They heard; then they received.

What have you heard? What do you believe? Cry out! Press in! Receive what Christ has for you today! Are you desperate?
Are you desolate? Press in! Cry out! Don't worry about what others think or say...just ask them if they've cried out to Jesus today. Believe that it is true...God is for you...Read Mark 11...

bye for now................