2 Timothy 3:13-17 “Evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Pastor Kyle continues that we all have more to learn about the Word of God. The truth is that there is infinitely more to God, His creation and His Holy Scriptures in the Bible for living than we can learn in a lifetime. The Lord reveals the mysteries of life and spirit as He determines able to handle for us and our growth. So, we need to continue to invest in our relationship with God by studying the truth of Scripture. It is one of the primary ways that Jesus forms us spiritually. How many of you read the Christian books that you already own? Start investing in your biblical worldview by using the true life-giving materials at your fingertips. Christian churches are built by disciples (student / followers of Jesus Christ) who study and know the truth. Make time spent in the truth so we can recognize who the Good Shepherd and the God of all truth is, over and above every ungodly lie in the culture. Know the real Lord and live the real Christian life.
Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
The third clear ways in which Jesus builds His church one is that churches are built when Christians move form nominal Believers (in name only) to God’s Kingdom Keyholders. The Lord Jesus is not a genie in a bottle and when we say his name the right way, we get whatever we want, whenever we what it. That is not Christianity. The Greek word for “Lord” is “kyrios”, meaning He to whom a person or thing belongs, about which He has power of deciding; the owner; one who has control of the person, the master; this title is given to: God, the Messiah, the Christ. In scripture, the Supreme Being; Jehovah. When Lord, in the Old Testament, is prints in capitals, it is the translation of JEHOVAH, and so might, with more propriety, be rendered. The word Lord is applied to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. Christ is called the Lord of glory, and Lord of lords. The sovereign Creator is the Lord; the created creature is subject and subordinate to the Lord, their Maker, following and obeying the Lord’s Laws, Commandments, Statutes, Decrees and direct Orders. No Lord is an oxymoron.
Some misguided Christians state that if you are praying and not getting what you want then it is because you are not praying “right”, you are not saying the “right” words, or even worse, that you do not have enough faith. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” Being a Kingdom Keyholder means taking up your Cross daily to follow the Lord. The Cross was an instrument of torturous death by Crucifixion used by the Romans.
So, taking up your Cross daily and following Jesus meant dying to what we want in order to truly discover what God wants for our lives. It is in that process that we find the Will of God, and when we find His Will, then we can confidently say that whatever we bind in earth is going to be bound in Heaven, and whatever we loose on earth is going to be loosed in Heaven, because when we are dying to our desires, then we are more in tune with what God desires. When we are more in tune with God’s desire for our lives, then our prayer life begins to reflect that and pray for what God actually wants in a situation. When we pray for what God wants, the answer is going to be “yes”.
The problem is that too many of us confuse our wants with God’s Will. Keyholders implies responsibility for whatever they hold the keys to. By being handed the keys to the Kingdom of God, means that we have responsibility for kingdom matters. Jesus gives His disciples the keys to unlock the power of the kingdom of Heaven. Being a Kingdom Keyholder today means to make daily sacrifice in forsaking the secular world, kingdom responsibility and accountability to God. It doesn’t mean that you punish yourself, but repent and walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Jesus died on the Cross in your place in order to pay the penalty of your sins and the sins of the world as a redemptive sacrifice and acceptable atonement by His blood.
In response to all that God has done for us, all of us are asked by God to pick up our Cross in daily sacrifice and obedience to remind ourselves that we are not living for the Gates of Hell and that we are not living for the natural kingdom of God’s created earth; we are living for the Kingdom of Heaven. And this church (the Body of Christ) has been built upon the faithful sacrifices of many saints (those who have been sanctified in Christ). They want to make an impact for God, His ministry work here and for the kingdom of Heaven. Intentionally make a difference within your sphere of influence, purposefully build the Christian church and faithfully advance the kingdom of God.
In Christ, Brian
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