Members Exclusive September 2024
Members Exclusive
Part 2: A People Called Out
by Bruce Billington
A Whole New Nation
Last month we did a message on how God can, and in fact, desires to use anyone who becomes born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Of course, this assumes that they turn up for training and are in shape for what He has called them to at that time. An excerpt from that article says,
“But the essence of the Kingdom of God is not a matter of our abilities and strength, but a matter of our poverty; it is not about what we bring with us, but what God puts into us; not a matter of natural virtues, of strength of character, of knowledge, or of experience— all of this is not what God is wanting from us. I then quoted 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.”
Although this must be our starting place, it is not the end of the story – in fact, it is only the beginning. Once, we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour everything changes. We become like caged animals that have been let loose out into a world that does not know how to cope with us, and one that we are empowered to change.
Let’s begin with what Peter says about us.
1 Peter 2:9 – “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”
This verse has remained obscure for too long.
It speaks of His marvellous (wonderful) light. This light, (the Gospel), cannot be found elsewhere. It is brought into the darkness by those who are sons and daughters of the resurrection and are walking in the Way of the Lord, as revealed in the Gospel. They are pronounced as being God’s royal priesthood and have been given the power, in Christ, to invade the kingdom of darkness with the Kingdom of Light. This makes these people a divine reality – not only a beautiful holy nation possessed by the Lord God Himself, but also His representative on earth, walking in harmony with the Holy Spirit.
As His beautiful jewel, we are here to spread His love upon this earth and should be the most approachable, gentle, personable, and well-mannered people possible. Those who encounter us should be amazed at our honesty, the way we consider others as more important than ourselves and how we go out of our way to help those who need it.
Is that you?
Is that what people encounter when they meet you, spend time with you, or live with you? As you engage others, do they have your full attention, or do you have one eye on them and one on your cell phone, totally tuned out to what is going on around you? The latter now is commonplace but that does not mean it is acceptable. Actually, it is quite rude. Don’t allow yourself to be ensnared in that trap. There are too many important things the Holy Spirit would have you notice as you keep your heart tuned to Him. We must never tune out to Him or the people we are with at any time.
I like the question that asks, “What did you impart or leave behind you when you left a meeting with someone?” Did you leave them in their lack of hope and despair, or did you bring some encouragement and light from the Kingdom of God, into their life?
But That is Not All
As wonderful as the above is, it is still not the full picture of who we are. Jesus said,
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Amongst other things, we have been called into war. At the time of Christ’s resurrection, the church was birthed and was given the mandate to become a dynamic reality. We are called to pull down strongholds and everything that is raised up against the knowledge of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). We are sent out to storm the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). To this end we are armed and powerful and are meant to be a force to be reckoned with (Ephesians 6; Hebrews 4:12). For sure, we must remind ourselves that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6), but we represent both the Lamb that was slain AND the Lion of Judah, which means we are dangerous people, and the kingdom of darkness must know that it is not good not to mess with us.
Matthew 11:12 – “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
The course of this age is not meant to be one of unrelieved evil when God’s people are surrendered helplessly and passively into the hands of hostile powers. The Kingdom of God will not be established until the return of the Son of Man, meaning that this age will be one of tension: the tension between evils that characterise history, challenge the role of the followers of Jesus, and contest the active and aggressive proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom, by those same people – us.
The church is designed to be the agent for the Kingdom of God. God has and will continue to call men and women to labour with Him in building the church – and every believer has a part to play in that. According to 1 Corinthians 12, the Church is the community of all believers. But building the church is not the message of the Gospel – the Gospel message – according to Matthew 24:14 is being an agent for the Kingdom of God.
As Christians, we are called to impact every arena of society – Religion, Family, Education, Government, Gospel, Arts, and Media – and it is not just to win souls – it is also to call those areas of society to come into line with the Word of God.
Now, although being a warrior is only one attribute of His character, it is an important aspect that we are called to imitate when confronted with the kingdom of darkness. For too long, many men have cried out to God to deliver them from the anger and violence that is in them – when God has put it there for a purpose. The only issue becomes whether it is surrendered to Him or not.
Why did He put His anger in us? Because this war, which broke out in Genesis 3 and doesn’t stop until Revelation 22, is raging all around us, devastating, and destroying the lives of those we are in contact with. How can we fight a war if we have no anger, passion, or violence in us? Jesus stated in Matthew 10:34 that He didn’t come to bring peace – He came to bring a sword! Our challenge is to clearly define the nature of this war and then find what part God has called us to play in dealing with the enemy as a warrior. At this point, His sword comes out and it is “game over” for the enemy.
The Issue of Sin
Proverbs 8:13 – “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.”
Romans 12:9b – “Abhor (hate) what is evil; cling to what is good.”
We are not called to resist sin. We are called to hate and destroy it. God’s hatred for sin and evil is so violent that when it manifests itself the Bible says strong men’s hearts fail with fear. This is real violence. God did not give us a warrior spirit to resist sin – it is there to attack it to the point of totally eradicating it. Only the warrior spirit will do this. We must put on the same ruthless and uncompromising attitude towards sin and evil that God has – and this requires a spirit of violence. It has to be unyielding and aggressive when in pursuit of the enemy. If we don’t become warriors, we go into captivity to all sorts of things.
What is the Church?
The church of Jesus Christ is neither a building nor an organisation. It is a special people (as shared above from 1 Peter 2:9). Speaking theologically, it is a people who are in covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ and with one another.
As they come into the fullness of what this is, and begin to embrace and express it, the Apostle Paul makes this amazing statement, describing this as one of the great mysteries of the ages. He says,
So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10).
We must first understand and then embrace the mandate that we, as Christ’s church, are given here. Paul is teaching us that God is going to use the church to display His wisdom and purposes to the heavenly places. This is to take place at all times until the end comes. This incredible statement gives us, as His people, almost unique insight into the dignity of the church that we are part of.
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father (Ephesians 3:14).
What else can one do but worship God, in the knowledge that He has chosen us, as His people, to do and be this? The church (His people) has been chosen to be a mirror, in which angels (both good and bad) will behold the astonishing wisdom of God displayed in a way that has been unknown to them before. It was something that, until this time, was hidden in God and is now revealed through His church.
Since around 1850, most of the Western world churches separated the Gospel from the kingdom (unlike Jesus, who preached the Gospel of the kingdom; see Mark 1:14-15). The results have been disastrous.
Attaching the kingdom to the Gospel obligates the corporate body of Christ to steward the earth. In contrast, an individual gospel merely offers a way for people to escape the world and go to heaven. Consequently, the majority of sermons today in the global church, are self-focused, don’t challenge sin, and are oblivious to what is going on in their societies. They do not expand the Kingdom’s influence and they hold little interest in bringing restoration to the communities and cities they are in.
This is a sad development for both us and God. The church is treated as somewhat of a joke and has very little to offer anyone who has a heart and hope that the world can become a much better place than it currently is.
At SRT we unapologetically embrace Isaiah 58:12 as our foundational Scripture and our modus operandi.
“Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins.
You will raise up the age-old foundations.
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.”
Ultimately, by God’s grace, we want to be a part of the beautiful and powerful expression of the Kingdom of God, especially in the way it can be embraced through His beloved people.
We are excited to be on this journey together and look forward to all that God will be doing with us. If you are already part of us, you can look forward to all that we believe God has for us as we continue to grow together. If you are not currently part of us but would like to join, please contact our amazing administrator, Justine.
May God bless you.
Bruce Billington