...by My Spirit Pt. XX

Sunday 10/30/16

Series: …but by My Spirit Pt. 20

Message – Knowing the Holy Spirit III

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Living in the Kingdom

Review of Knowing the Holy Spirit…

Point #1 We understand God’s heart through intimacy with the Spirit.

Point #2 We learn to trust God’s good heart through praying in the Spirit.

Point #3 We participate in Joint Worship (kissing the hand) through Verbal Exaltation.

Point #4 We unite with God’s Good heart through Intercession.

Left off last week with…1 Jn. 2:1 – God of Justice Jesus our Advocate

Last Sunday, I mentioned that you could read Gen. 18 in prep for today and we will get there in a little bit, but I felt we should FIRST finish addressing this issue of God’s justice as the necessity for an Intercessor. IT IS AN IMPORTANT FACT that MANY are unaware of today, that even though we are born again – we still need an advocate to intercede for us and we will investigate that in next week’s message.

This week…

Isaiah 61:8, “For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them.”
Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.”
Job 34:12, “Surely, God will not act wickedly, And the Almighty will not pervert justice.”
Deut. 32:4, “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.”
Psa. 9:7,8, “But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.”

Gen. 18:16-33,

“(16) Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. (17) And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, (18) since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? (19) For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” (20) And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, (21) I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” (22) Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. (23) And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (24) Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? (25) Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (26) So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” (27) Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: (28) Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” (29) And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.” (30) Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” (31) And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” (32) Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” (33) So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.”

As we see later, God did better than His word to Abraham since there were not even 10 righteous in the city, God led Lot and his family out of Sodom into safety (only his wife was lost through disobedience). This shows us two things in regard to intercession.

#1 – It was always God’s heart to spare the righteous, before Abraham even interceded.

#2 – God’s intention in including Abraham was to evoke an heart of intercession out of him, since he was God’s covenant partner and the future Patriarchal leader of the Jewish people.

Exodus 33:1-23,

“(1) The LORD spoke to Moses: “Go, leave here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. (2) I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. (3) Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

(4) When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry. (5) For the LORD said to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.” (6) So the Israelites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

(7) Now Moses took a tent and set it up outside the camp, far away from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult the LORD would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. (8) Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent. (9) When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. (10) As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent.

(11) The LORD spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent. (12) Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You have told me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. You said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’

(13) Now if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, please teach me Your ways, and I will know You and find favor in Your sight. Now consider that this nation is Your people.”

(14) Then He replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (15) “If Your presence does not go,” Moses responded to Him, “don’t make us go up from here. (16) How will it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight unless You go with us? I and Your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth.”

(17) The LORD answered Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

(18) Then Moses said, “Please, let me see Your glory.”

(19) He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (20) But He answered, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

(21) The LORD said, “Here is a place near Me. You are to stand on the rock, (22) and when My glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. (23) Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back, but My face will not be seen.”

Exodus 34:5-14,

“(5) The LORD came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name Yahweh. (6) Then the LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed:

“Yahweh–Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, (7) maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.”

(8) Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped.

In a heart of adoring, awe-filled worship Moses intercedes for Israel…

(9) Then Moses said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Even though this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wrongdoing and sin, and accept us as Your own possession.”

NOTE: God had JUST revealed Himself to Moses as loving, compassionate, gracious and slow to anger – forgiving wrongdoing…rebellion & sin. So that was the basis of Moses’ prayer!

Of course God knew the outcome of these events and revealed His nature to Moses SO THAT Moses WOULD intercede. God desires mercy we need not be concerned on that point, but God also desires a heart to intercede in His people! In doing this we participate with the Holy Spirit in His rescuing work, unite with our Father’s heart and Glorify Christ all in one act of intercession.

We will continue here next week….Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!