Has the Kingdom changed?

Sunday 02/27/22

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Has the Kingdom changed?

Continuing on in the book of Acts – again looking for examples of the CHURCH working together with the Spirit and themselves in a shared life, shared resources and shared experiences…

Acts 5:1-42,

“(1) But a man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. (2) However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

(3) Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds from the field? (4) Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!”

(5) When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. (6) The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.”

Now so far we do not actually SEE the lie, just that he and his wife sold some land and kept some for themselves and gave the rest. That would not have been a crime, but there was more to it than that as we will see with his wife.

“(7) There was an interval of about three hours; then his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

(8) “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the field for this price?” “Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

(9) Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”

(10) Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.”

There have been many who have said that this was the unpardonable sin and that therefore these two were lost. While it is in fact a terrible thing to lie – especially when the inward witness of the Spirit is leaning heavily upon your conscience to not do so, but I am not convinced it raises to the level of denying the work and revelation of the Spirit of God or that it would be equal to railing against Him. It would seem to me that if their hearts were that strongly hostile to the Spirit, then they would never have sold the land and given ANY of it to the believers.

However, this is another clear example of working WITH the Spirit rather than FOR God. What Ananias and Sapphira did here was involve the Spirit in their sin since the entire church were filled with the Spirit and the selling of land for the aid of all in the body was a result of that filling. They were working the work of the Kingdom, locked arm with the Spirit of God – koinonia. This directly connected the Spirit with their actions, and if they were truly born again their would have been a STRONG inward witness that what they were doing was an egregious sin.

“(11) Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.”

(12) Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles.

By common consent they would all meet in Solomon’s Colonnade.

(13) None of the rest dared to join them, but the people praised them highly.

“(14) Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers–crowds of both men and women.

(15) As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on beds and pallets so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

(16) In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

The kingdom of God and Healing…

A number of years ago I did a series called Living in the Kingdom, and in that series we came across the fact that healing was a work and sign of the rule of Christ – which I am linking here & here.

I know that since we departed from our Word of Faith roots we have not taught on healing as much as we used to, but we in no way have altered our belief that in the greatest number of cases God’s desire is for healing both in the early church and now.

There are many in the body of Christ today who claim that such demonstrations of healing were for the early church ONLY and that even though God can and may still heal today – He does so without certainty or regularity. That the time of come and you WILL BE healing is over.

I can sympathize with this doctrine because it often seems to be the experience of the modern church, but our experiences are NO substitute for the scriptures. They do not stand on par with them and they offer no reliable means of interpreting them.

It seems to me that if God ever wanted to heal He still does. If sickness was ever seen as a work of the devil then I cannot envision how today it is now a work of God which represents His kingdom and rule.

Do I believe that there may be cases when a child of God has sinned enough that even though God in His love, faithfulness and mercy forgives, He also has an obligation to His Own justice to pass judgment regarding their reaping the results of their sin in their bodies? Yes I absolutely believe this and I will illustrate that such is an unavoidable doctrine and reality with two verses.

1Cor. 11:17-34, “(17) Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. (18) For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. (19) For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. (20) Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. (21) For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. (22) Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this! (23) For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, (24) and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (25) In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (26) For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (27) For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (28) A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. (29) For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. (30) That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. (31) But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. (32) But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. (33) So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. (34) If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.”
Gal. 6:1-10, “(1) Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too. (2) Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (3) For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (4) Let each one examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else. (5) For each one will carry his own load. (6) Now the one who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with the one who teaches it. (7) Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, (8) because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. (9) So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. (10) So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.”

You and I DO NOT KNOW all. We think we know, we think we understand, but there is much which goes on in each and every heart which we as mere humans may not know.

Healing appears to be a result of the rule and reign of Christ in His kingdom – so next week we are going to go a little deeper in our examination of the Gospel of the Kingdom to see if there is support for this notion.

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!