When
Christ came to the nation of Israel, and John the Baptist was the
herald of Him that was to come, the promised King like onto King
David, and more than that a Prophet as unto Moses and greater than he, and he said the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He also said
that this man will be the one who will baptist men with the Holy
Spirit and with fire. Well what was he talking about? The King was in
their midst! The King, literally and physically in the person of
Jesus of Nazareth who was in their midst, and He was offering them
the opportunity to have the Kingdom over which Jesus Christ would
rule and reign. So that was the whole concept as it came to the
nation of Israel. They could have had His Salvation there and then as
it had been promised them through their Prophets but like the
Prophets said, they being the great portion of the population
rejected Him and the kingdom message. Because they had been lead to
believe that the new kingdom was to be earthy, of the world and a purely
physical one, even to this very day they are still looking this to
happen. Many reject any possibility of a Spiritual reality because it
reaches beyond the comprehension of the mind. This turned the whole
program upside down and nullified the whole idea. But this was NO
surprise to God as He had already made provisions for a keeper of the
gate in Saul of Tarsus.
We
as gentiles are not associated with the nation of Israel in that kind
of kingdom relationship, but since Israel’s King is our Savior, Who
is the Head of the Body. Here again we do have a relationship, and
for this reason the Holy Spirit has caused Paul to put this in here
that we have been made citizens and ambassadors of the kingdom in
heaven, and with that I agree with 100 %. I still maintain that Paul
never calls Christ our King. We are not in a King – kind of subject
relationship. We are in the Head of the Body, and members of the
One Body, a Family which makes up a Home. This makes us heirs with
Christ, joint heirs. As we just saw in and by the means of the Lord's
Last Supper, a Covenant meal. As believers we are figuratively
married or conjoined to Christ, in a Spiritual relationship, now
seated with Him, a relationship restored. But nevertheless we are now
citizens of this heavenly kingdom because God the Father of spirits
has delivered us from the power of darkness. We become His
ambassadors at large through this revelation....that is to say, in
the understanding of His secrets (mysteries).
Let
us return to our comparing Scripture with Scripture. This time I will
even go outside Paul’s realm, and go all the way back to Matthew
chapter 16. For those of you who have been under our teaching, you
have heard this more than once, because this is Peter’s confession
of his saving faith during Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. And
remember that this is just at the end of His ministry to Israel. From
here they’re going to go on up to Jerusalem and He will be
sacrificed by crucifixion. They where up in northern Israel in the
area that is in the news lately, just west of the Golan Height. They
were up there at Caesarea Philippi, which is at the northern border
of Israel, right at the foot of Mount Herman, and at the head waters
of the Jordan river. And from there they’re going to make their way
down to Jerusalem. Where Jesus is to be crucified outside the cities
gates, in accord with scripture. This was hidden from their
understanding until after words, this is why we must be born again
and I mean truly born again through the Spirit. Not by mans
inventions but through God's working. What is not known, or revealed
in scripture, is that this reign held many shines dedicated to the
pagan gods and trees carved in their images spread all about here.
Which makes what Peter says even more important for us.
Matthew
16:13-16
"When
Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they
said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and
others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto
them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
That
is as much as Simon Peter said, was it enough? Yes it was enough, and
look what Jesus answered.
Matthew
16:17
"And
Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona:
(now this is the part we came back here to see) for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven (divine
illumination)."
Let’s
reconstruct the scenario. Do you remember the account how Jesus was
walking down the shores of Galilee, and He came across those fellows
probably mending their nets, and did He spend an hour or two telling
them who He was, and what He was going to do? No! Not from what we
understand Scripture. But rather what did He tell them? Follow Me,
and I’ll make you fishers of men! And what did those men do? They
dropped their tools and nets and followed Him. Have you ever asked
why? Well here’s the reason why, God opened the eyes of those
fishermen (through divine illumination of understanding) that here
was the promised Messiah, and nothing need more be said. So here in
verse 17, the Lord is saying, "Peter somebody didn’t twist
your arm to believe who I am. Some body hasn’t spent 3 years trying
to tell you who I am, but rather the Father opened your
understanding, He opened his heart to receive His Truth.
Matthew
16:17b-18
"…for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And
I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (the
divine illumination or inspiration and revelation, Not prophecy)
I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it."
In
other words it had to be a supernatural opening of even Peter’s
understanding. Has anything changed? No! The only thing today we
refer to the Spirit opening it rather than the Father, but
nevertheless they’re all part of the Godhead (in the name of
Elohim) so that becomes irrelevant. Now let’s take another one that
we’ve used many times before and when I tell people that we pray
almost everyday for Lydia's we're talking about the circumstance of
Acts chapter 16. Almost every morning we say, "Now Lord today,
give me Lydia’s by the hundreds and by the thousands." And
what are we talking about? The setting is in Philippi, again.
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