Call to Worship: 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”
Songs:Celebrate Jesus - Don Moen
Let the Praises Ring- Travis Cottrell
Yours Is the Kingdom - Hillsong
Scripture: 2 Kings 19:14 “Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. 17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
1 Kings 18:36 “At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Song: Let Your Kingdom Come - The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Sermon: “A Kingdom Worth Waiting For”
Closing Song: Revive Us Again Andy Park
Benediction: The Lord’s Prayer- read together
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Sermon: “A Kingdom Worth Waiting For”
When most hear the title of this sermon they think waiting for the millennial kingdom to come and many aren't sure. The answer is easy as Jesus himself said in Luke 11:20 “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” In that same chapter Jesus said “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.” Jesus also said Mark 1:15 “The time has come, The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” This is the foundation for this Kingdom to be built on. This is the kingdom we wait for and lay our lives down for. So then why wait for something that is already here. This kingdom is available to us already but since God has turned his face from us because of our disobedience, we wait for God to bless us once again. This is made clear all throughout scripture. The foundation for this kingdom is obedience to God’s word. It is about belief, trust, faith and honouring God by them in our obedience. Jesus already showed us what this kingdom looked like, how it operated and the power that went with it. He has already shown us what to do, empowered us to do it; he is not coming again to show us what he has already done and already empowered us to do. The reason why so many are waiting for this future kingdom is because their present doctrinal views don’t have power and instead of repenting they add to scripture to cover their nakedness.
Because of our faith and obedience to His word, we wait for God to move in power once again. His kingdom is a kingdom of power and has nothing to do with man’s power. His kingdom has always been this way and always will be a kingdom of power. This is where satan has deceived many. He has deceived many into thinking that the kingdom is still a building and the more organized the better. satan has given many men and women the kingdoms they want and yes they look powerful from the world’s perspective but there is no power. Yes they write books and travel the world telling anyone who will listen and there are many, what they can also build with their own hands. satan even has them do his bidding. They stand in their pulpits and say what satan wants them to say. He tried to do this to Jesus so don’t be surprised he does it to men and women. Luke 4:5 “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Today and I mean today there are men and women teaching a false gospel and are denying Jesus Christ from the pulpit and leading millions astray. Why? Because men and women didn’t take heed to the answer Jesus gave satan. Luke 4:8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” So these man made, satan endorsed kingdoms, proclaim false gospels declaring proudly that God’s kingdom no longer has power and that his kingdom has not come as Jesus said it did. They have lulled their congregations into a state of apathy. satan still asks“ Genesis 3:1 “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Because of this, death was ushered in Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” But Jesus changed everything and we celebrate. 8 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” God said in Genesis 3:22 “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” But by the grace of God we have been offered eternal life in Jesus. John 5:24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” Revelation 2:7 “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” This is the kingdom we wait for. Death where is your sting. But you must choose to believe. John 8:52 “At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death.” John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Mark 9:1 “And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Now many teach that this kingdom will come in the future and sadly for you, you will not have the same power the disciples were given. That means you will not have the same spirit they had. This is true by the way. You do not want the spirit these false teachers have. Revelation also said Revelation 22:19 “And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” Men and women by the millions have listened to these teachings and have been led astray by them. If we are not disciples of Christ, then whose disciples are we. I gave you the answer just a moment ago. If you follow those who lead astray, blackest darkness will be reserved for you also. Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Luke 13:23 “Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.” This is not where you want to be heading.
Last week we were talking about the foundation that was being rebuilt. The reality is the foundation has been here all along. Luke 17:20 “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” This is not about building something but doing what Jesus commanded us to do. Yes last week I talked about building the foundation and like the one rebuilt in Ezra, some cried and some praised. Yes they rebuilt the altar, the temple, the gates and the walls but they were stones, ours isn’t. Ours is Ephesians 2:20 “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” The only way to be part of this is to be part of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, then and only then can we be part of the true temple. “The whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” The only way to get back to the truth is to repent and turn from our wicked ways. The problem is there is so much deception in the church today that people can’t see or hear the truth. We are in the midst of a severe famine of hearing the word of God and people are going their own way. Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” Ruth 1:1 “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.” Judges 21:25 “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Since most in the church today have rejected the words of our king, we too are in a severe famine. So instead of truth being proclaimed, false kingdoms and gospels have saturated the church and my people love it this way but what will you do in the end. Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” This does not just apply to the charismatics but to those also who preach a message they say is from God but is only their own imaginations.
By turning from our wicked ways as we were told in 2 Chronicles 7, God will then hear our cry. As we prepare to rebuild on the true foundation, that is the word of God not man’s word; we ask what exactly are we waiting for. The answer is we are waiting on God to turn his face to shine on us once again so that his kingdom is one of power once again. As we have said many times Samuel is just around the corner, so we wait. This kingdom is worth waiting for unlike those in Psalm 106:12 “Then they believed his promises and sang his praise. 13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.” Luke 24 tells us that we are to wait to be clothed with power. The kingdom is a kingdom of power. Paul said 1 Corinthians 4:18 “Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” The kingdom we wait for is all power. Luke 9:1 “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 10:8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” The spirits are supposed to submit to us. Matthew 10:1 “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” There is no other gospel but this gospel of power.
This kingdom is a gospel of power but you would not believe the number of so called christians who do not believe this based on some demonic doctrine, or the so-called christians who prefer the tepid temperatures, or the ignorant who just don’t care. The ones who do appear to want power, don’t seem to have discernment to tell whether or not satan is masquerading. 2 Corinthians 11:12 “And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” Sure they want the power but they get excited about gold dust, fillings and feathers, people falling down on their back, speaking gibberish. Jesus warned us Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” These people come to you in many shapes and size but the big ones are the charismatic movement and dispensationalism, which are just the tip of the iceberg as far as false teaching go but we have spent time on these. These have moved across the church. 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words”
We could spend a lot of time on this but the deception and delusion has left the church in disrepair and desolation. Nehemiah 1:3 “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” Matthew 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.” So yes you will have the likes of the Toronto Blessing, Redding, Brownsville and the likes of cessationism of which I have shown you videos of that teaching. You will have false teachers getting you to listen to false voices like speaking in tongues as it is in the charismatic movement. There is no power but just gibberish. You will also have a powerless gospel taught as it is in many churches today. You will have an empty, powerless kingdom preached with the promise of the real one coming in the future for a thousand years. They will tell you there is no power until then. What you end up with is exactly what we see now. Men and women with followers but only 2 Timothy 3:5 “a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” We have been warned over and over again.
If they rejected God’s word when he walked on this earth, people will continue to reject him today. Remember the bible is written to the church. John 1:9 “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
I know the word wait is offensive in our time. I like Webster’s definition of wait. It means to stay in place in expectation of. So while you wait, you expect God to fulfill his promise. It is by faith you believe and trust that God will keep His word. So lets be clear. We are waiting for the promises of God to be fulfilled according to his word. That simply means the church will operate as intended just as I read earlier and the kingdom of God will come near just as scripture said it would. Why do you think satan has so many believing the kingdom is down the road. He knows his time is short. Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
We are waiting for God to turn his face to shine on us once again so that His power will flow in us as intended. That is the only way satan will be defeated. That kingdom is worth waiting for. There is even a prayer of blessing. Numbers 6:24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Why because as God said to Moses Deuteronomy 31:15 “Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent. 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’ 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.” Well that has and is happening. Those who have gone before us have not acted according to his word but the good news is 2 Chronicles 30:9 “If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” 2 Kings 13:23 “But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.” Psalm 102:1 “Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. 2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.”
Most people who do not wait, refuse to believe that they need to. Due to faulty teaching this is most people in the church hence the desolation and delusion. Now having said that if the Holy Spirit was moving in power, we would be clothed with power and going to the ends of the earth. Here is an example of the faulty teaching I have heard preached. Reinhardt Bonnke said “to wait on God is an Old Testament concept. The last ones who waited were the 120 in the upper room. Now God waits on us. Green means GO. When the light turns green, you do not need a permit from the secretary of transportation. You just go.” As I read that the Holy Spirit would have stirred your heart and you would be disgusted by it. Here is the problem. The upper room is New Testament and it is not a concept but a command. In his arrogance, he points you right to Luke 24 and Acts 1 where you are told to wait but what will you do with it? This is why the church is in captivity because they refuse to wait on God. They go their own way. They were told along the way that they were filled, sealed and secure because they prayed a prayer yet where is the power. All you have to do is look around. There is no power as described in scripture. The leaders have not taught with discernment and saw that there was no power but came up with new teachings to cover this fact. Lamentations 2:14 “The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.” Most in the church have been given a false sense of security. This happens all the time.
Why do we have to wait? The answer is easy. Whenever God is present, there is power. We read earlier “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” If God is dwelling, then there is power. In 2 Chronicles 7:1 “When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.” We too are to be an offering with an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Paul said 2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”
Then we have Pentecost. Acts 2:1 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The very presence of God came and dwelt among them and then there was power. Again this is why satan teaches the power gifts have ceased. 1 Corinthians 12:4 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” This is what we wait for.
So people refuse to wait, believing they think they have all they need. Why? Deuteronomy 32:5 “They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. 6 Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? 28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. 29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!” The Jews tonight begin their High Holy Days or Days of Awe. Tonight begins Rosh Hashanah and then next week Yom Kippur continues. This is a day of judgment as to who lives and dies this next year. So year after year they do this all the whiling rejecting their king, the creator of the universe. Jesus replaced this head of the year and because of this we can celebrate daily because He has risen. This is supposed to be a celebration but it doesn’t happen once a year. As God turns his face to shine on us once again, this celebration will once again change the world as we return to His word. The Jews have missed the Messiah and now so have the Gentiles. Paul said Ephesians 4:20 “That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” So in Christ we have great hope. 2 Corinthians 3:12 “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Please understand that it doesn’t simply mean read but it is referring to not believing in Jesus and the new Covenant. It doesn’t mean we don’t read the Old Testament as some believe. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 3:1 “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”
Unfortunately the Gentiles now have veiled faces and cannot see because they too refuse to believe in the Holy One of Israel. They refuse to believe God’s word and are crucifying him all over again to their shame. They have followed other gospels and refuse to bow to the truth. This is why we wait for God to turn his face back to us. Those who have gone before us have angered the Lord God almighty. We have seen the wickedness of our ways as we had also followed empty ways but no longer will walk in those empty ways. We cried out for God to have mercy and save us from this desolation. Deuteronomy 26:15 “Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.” So we wait just as we were commanded to. We have seen God’s word and we have seen the church and they are not the same. That can’t be, so we have turned from our wicked ways. Scripture makes it obvious what we are waiting for and that is the true gospel of Jesus Christ where God dwells among us and the power of the Holy Spirit flows from us as we follow wholeheartedly the words of Jesus so that we will do as he did. We once again want to celebrate everyday that Jesus has risen and satan is defeated. We want that hope of living eternally. Today the Jews will begin to focus on making sure their lives are right before God yet continue to reject His son Jesus. The Gentiles have followed in their ways also.
We must have a willing heart to wait on Him. Yes the journey is long and hard and at times it feels as if God has abandoned us but we know that he who seeks finds. Job 23:8 said “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. We know how it turned out for Job and all the others who waited on the Lord. Psalm 22:22 “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”
So no we are not waiting for the kingdom to come in the future for a thousand years. Jesus is King of Kings and sits on David’s throne as scripture tells us. We are waiting to have God turn his face to shine on us and bless His remnant once again so that the church will rise up from the ashes of this desolation we are in. 2 Peter 3:11 “what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
We celebrate that God has heard our cry and Exodus 3:7 “The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.” 2 Samuel 22:7 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. Psalm 28:6 “Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.” God said Jeremiah 29:10 “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
We wait for this Kingdom because we want to be part of it and to serve our king wholeheartedly. As it stands now we are being defeated just as the word of God said. Deuteronomy 28:15 “However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: 20 The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. 25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.” We wait for the Kingdom so that we can defeat our enemies. Deuteronomy 28:7 “The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.” 9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.” We do not want to be defeated by our enemy satan. We want to defeat him. 1 John 3:8 “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” We are to continue in that work but we must have power. We are waiting for this kingdom so that we too can Acts 26:18 “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” I want to read these verses again. Matthew 10:1 “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” There is no other gospel but this gospel of power. Mark 9:1 “And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
David said in Psalm 27:13 “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Isaiah 40:27 “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 30:18 “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
