The Kingdom As An ING Word- Part Three

[Bill Collier]

WHAT DO WE DO IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

Once we enter the Kingdom, what do we do?

Here is what it says in Acts 2:42-43, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

They were baptized. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine. The were in fellowship. They were breaking bread. They prayed, evidently together.

Here’s something interesting. Yes, we all know they sold their possessions and gave to the needy, although when we read the Epistles we see that having riches was not the problem, it was a matter of the heart, so this was what happened but we cannot say it was a universal condition all the time in all places, but what follows next pretty much was:

From verse 46, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”

This verse is filled with meaning!

In short, however, they acted like a family. The word “house” here is “oikos” and it means “Household”, a concept and way of interacting that is alien in our culture, sort of like an extended family that functioned in every sphere of life including the sacred, the social, the civic, and the regal.

The key element in manifesting the Kingdom, after we receive the Kingdom and enter into the Kingdom as “Kings” (Regal/Civic) and “Priests” (Sacred/Social) (Revelation 1:6/5:20, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 8:17) is the daily, face to face, breaking of bread and continuing in the “Apostle’s Doctrine”, which in the Eastern world was a lot more like hands-on apprenticeship than “classes” and, if the pattern that was usually followed was followed here, it involved DOING the works of the Kingdom, not just thinking about them, listening to sermons, and learning in a class.

 

 

[Juanita]

For tweeting

Is it a mystery? What do we do in the Kingdom? http://bit.ly/bcYqga

[F. Anthony DelGrosso, Jr.]

Bill...........We in the Kingdom of God seem to have fellowship, prayer, and the breaking of bread down pretty well. However, I would offer that heeding the apostle's doctrine is a largely missing ingredient in the recipe. I am not necessarily refering to the doctrine of the original 12, but rather the teaching of the present day apostles. Apostolic revelation is continually unfolding, not the foundational apostolic teachings which are the bedrock of Christianity, and are unchangeable, but the present truth coming out of an apostolic anointing for today. I offer that we, the Church, are largely deprived of this ultra necessary component. Ephesians 2:20 is a truth that has been greatly ignored by the present day structure of most churches. We would be wise to take heed to the whole truth in the perilous times we find ourselves in. Apostolic ministry takes us to I Chronicles 12:32, so that we would "know what Israel ought to do".

Be Blessed............................Anthony DelGrosso

[Jan]

Doing...instead of listening to sermons and learning in a class. Would that mean that our approach to doing "church" is a bit off compared to our first century brothers and sisters?
Would that mean that we..the people who are in fact really the church...are to be more involved in the worship service and not mere pew warmer?

[Bill Collier]

Acts 17:26:

26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Nehemiah 9:22:

22Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

1 Chronicles 16:31:

31Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth.

Genesis 10:5:

5By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

Genesis 10:32:

32These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

Genesis 17: 3-9

3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

4As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

6And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

7And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

9And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

Genesis 35:11:

11And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

Deuteronomy 15:6:

6For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.


Deuteronomy 28

1And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:


Matthew 28: 16-20

18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Revelation 1:6:

6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 16:19:

19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Exodus 19:6:

6And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 14:2:

2For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.


1 Peter 2:9:

9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Deuteronomy 4:7:

7For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

Psalm 22:28:

28For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

Psalm 33:12:

12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Psalm 86:9:

9All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.

Isaiah 60:22:

22A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

Isaiah 61:11:

11For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Jeremiah 4:2:

2And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

Ezekiel 38:23:

23Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Genesis 1:28:

28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Colossians 1:16:

16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Acts 3:25:

25Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

[Bill Collier]

Why not go to your church leaders and say "can those of us who want to have a participatory worship and sharing schedule a day and time for this?"

I believe that, rather than saying what the church should be, we need to BE the church we want the church to be.

If you want to have more participation, do it, if need be on a special day, but to disconnect from the Body, even if it is not being so "perfect" is a graver mistake than to have an imperfect worship service.

For our part, we do not do "services", but I would love to see churches embrace, even if on apsecial days, some sort of "participatory" worship and sharing model.

I used to attend a "bible study/worship service/prayer service" that was led by a moderator, with a shared subject, and included participation (we brought Bibles and Concordances) , where we went in turns, doing the basic subject, getting input/ideas, praying about this subject, and entering into worship.

People could come when they could come, since we had little subjects, not one sermon, if you came "late" you could still get the full measure of each subject, and if you needed to leave, you could.

This was on Friday nights. Sometimes we were there for an hour, sometimes for three or four hours, but we were not bored, and often we would simply forget the time.

I would not, however, sacrifice the unity of the Body, even if I felt a bit "bored", over this, I would try and BE the church I wanted the church to be. This guy, who set up the Friday thing, was named "Obi:, he was a Nigerian, he wanted this, so he asked to have the Friday "session".

This is good, but it is also good to just receive, to be led in worship and to hear a great sermon, even if it is merely a repeat of truth we know to refresh us and call things to remembrance.

The worse thing anyone could do with these things would be to use them as a means of saying "see, church, you have it wrong, and we don't need you."

I am not saying YOU are of that spirit, I don't see that at all, but I want to make myself plain on this score- "The minute your shadow graces the door, a perfect church is perfect no more..."


Jan said:

Doing...instead of listening to sermons and learning in a class. Would that mean that our approach to doing "church" is a bit off compared to our first century brothers and sisters?
Would that mean that we..the people who are in fact really the church...are to be more involved in the worship service and not mere pew warmer?

[Hope]

amen! Yes and in this manner of intimate fellowship we have the opportunity to test our faithfulness and really get down to cleansing our character before we go off into fighting against the world. Of course we need to go but we also have the relationship opportunities afforded us to see the mirror image of what we proclaim amoung the brethren. In a fellowship like this type of community we also get to experience everyones unique gifting and when it is all put together it is truly the church. I am so greatful I have that type of community right now, I am challenged daily to live Christ, to share him within and outside the community as I practice what i BELIEVE, and learn what further needs developed in me so that people see Christ not me.

[Bill Collier]

We are all part of "The Church", the "Household", of which you, Hope, are a part, brings LOCAL people from various local churches together, while the larger local church, where we congregate, gathers people of LIKE convictions from a larger region, so in the Household we gather with local people near us regardless of their church, in the church we gather with people from a larger region of a like mind.

It is not, as I am sure you know, "either this or that", it is not, "we are the church, therefore we do not need to go to a congregation of believers" but, rather, "we are the church when we gather as a Household, AND we are the church when we congregate with believers from a larger area and hear the preaching of the Word and experience the corporate worship within the Body."

Remember always, we must BE THE CHURCH we want the church to be: if we want the church to be more connected, WE need to go there and intentionally connect with people, even if that means we introduce ourselves to strangers or invite them to a Common Meal in our Households, so that they can see authentic community and experience it!

We must recognize the Body of Christ, in all its parts: the "covenant nation" we manifest in a household setting and the local church assembly led by the ordained officers of the church, the Christian business or para-ministry, ALL are part of "the church", but the SACRED Authority to build our faith and give us spiritual accountability, support, and instruction, comes from the LOCAL church body, which we, as those in a Covenant relationship with God and one another, seek to SUPPORT and participate in, not to separate ourselves from.

God Bless and, as always, Hope, GREAT post!

Hope said:

amen! Yes and in this manner of intimate fellowship we have the opportunity to test our faithfulness and really get down to cleansing our character before we go off into fighting against the world. Of course we need to go but we also have the relationship opportunities afforded us to see the mirror image of what we proclaim amoung the brethren. In a fellowship like this type of community we also get to experience everyones unique gifting and when it is all put together it is truly the church. I am so greatful I have that type of community right now, I am challenged daily to live Christ, to share him within and outside the community as I practice what i BELIEVE, and learn what further needs developed in me so that people see Christ not me.

[Hope]

yes you are right will get on that as I know I should Thank-you for sharing truth!

Bill Collier said:

We are all part of "The Church", the "Household", of which you, Hope, are a part, brings LOCAL people from various local churches together, while the larger local church, where we congregate, gathers people of LIKE convictions from a larger region, so in the Household we gather with local people near us regardless of their church, in the church we gather with people from a larger region of a like mind.

It is not, as I am sure you know, "either this or that", it is not, "we are the church, therefore we do not need to go to a congregation of believers" but, rather, "we are the church when we gather as a Household, AND we are the church when we congregate with believers from a larger area and hear the preaching of the Word and experience the corporate worship within the Body."

Remember always, we must BE THE CHURCH we want the church to be: if we want the church to be more connected, WE need to go there and intentionally connect with people, even if that means we introduce ourselves to strangers or invite them to a Common Meal in our Households, so that they can see authentic community and experience it!

We must recognize the Body of Christ, in all its parts: the "covenant nation" we manifest in a household setting and the local church assembly led by the ordained officers of the church, the Christian business or para-ministry, ALL are part of "the church", but the SACRED Authority to build our faith and give us spiritual accountability, support, and instruction, comes from the LOCAL church body, which we, as those in a Covenant relationship with God and one another, seek to SUPPORT and participate in, not to separate ourselves from.

God Bless and, as always, Hope, GREAT post!

Hope said:

amen! Yes and in this manner of intimate fellowship we have the opportunity to test our faithfulness and really get down to cleansing our character before we go off into fighting against the world. Of course we need to go but we also have the relationship opportunities afforded us to see the mirror image of what we proclaim amoung the brethren. In a fellowship like this type of community we also get to experience everyones unique gifting and when it is all put together it is truly the church. I am so greatful I have that type of community right now, I am challenged daily to live Christ, to share him within and outside the community as I practice what i BELIEVE, and learn what further needs developed in me so that people see Christ not me.