Our Spiritual Richness

I have been setting aside waiting on the LORD for guidance on what He wants me to look at next, well yesterday He gave me Colossians 1:11-16 which states this from the ESV, "May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible GOD, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him." Then this morning I looked at what Pastor Hoekstra has written on Grace which brought this into perspective with what I have concerning the LORD's kingdom into which we now bear witness of. This I will share after looking at Pastor Hoekstra, this is dealing with our transference into the LORD's kingdom. For there are / is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed by the LORD.

 
"The Boldness of Grace"
by Pastor Hoekstra


"Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word . . . and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness . . . And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:29, 31, 4:33)


"Those who serve GOD acceptably, must do so by grace seasoned with salt. "Let us have grace, by which we may serve GOD acceptably" (Hebrews 12:28). Those who serve by grace find that the boldness of grace develops in their lives.


The early church gave testimony to this reality. Soon after Jesus' ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were boldly proclaiming Jesus as the Christ throughout Jerusalem. This was extremely aggravating to the religious leaders: "being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached Jesus proven Him to be the Christ in the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:2). When they arrested the disciples, Peter boldly preached Jesus as the Christ before the Jewish authorities. "This [Christ Jesus] is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name [the LORD Christ] under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:11-12). This bold application of prophecy and proclamation of the gospel astonished the religious establishment. "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John . . . they marveled" (Acts 4:13). Yet, in their hardness of heart, they further threatened the disciples. Being released, they gathered the church to pray for continued boldness. "Now, LORD, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word." The answer to this prayer was another filling with the Spirit, resulting in further boldness. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word [Christ Jesus] of GOD with boldness." This filling of the Holy Spirit brought great measures of GOD's Grace actively at work in their lives, sustaining this powerful witness of the risen Christ. "And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the LORD Christ Jesus. And greater grace was upon them all."


This is the boldness of the New Covenant of Grace. "Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech" (2Corinthians 3:12). This hope is New Covenant confidence, which is part of the abundant life that the GOD brings us by His Spirit of Grace: "who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2Corinthians 3:6)."

Now I am breaking from my normal custom to share this from Hebrews 12: 22-24, 25-29 "For you have come to Mount Zion [spiritual mount] and to the city of the living GOD, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to GOD, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Christ Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse Him Who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused Him Who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him Who warns from heaven. At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to GOD our acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our GOD is a consuming fire."

Now I will draw from the well of GOD's revelation of our transformation into the kingdom of the LORD, in Christ.

Kingdom of Christ,


Matthew 16:24-27, 28 :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 (his spiritual life)? Or what shall a man give in return for his (spiritual life as Esau gave away his) soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then HE will repay each person according to what he has done.
Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Luke 22:28-30 "You are those who have stayed with Me in My trials, and I assign to you, as My Father assigned to Me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."


John 18:33-36, 37-38 and Philippians 2:1-11; Hebrews 1:5-2:4; Revelation 11:15-18 "Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" To this Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about Me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You over to me. What have You done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But My kingdom is not from the world."
Then Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice." Causing Pilate to say to Him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, "I find no guilt in Him."

Philippians 2:1-11 "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind [our discourse on Amos 3:3]. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of GOD, did not count equality with GOD a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself [of His sovereign deity], by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, HE humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore GOD has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name [of Christ-Jesus] that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of GOD the Father."

Hebrews 1:5-2:4 "For to which of the angels did GOD ever say, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You [in Psalm 2:7]"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son [in 2Samuel 7:11]"? And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "Let all God's angels worship Him. [in Psalm 97:7]" Of the angels HE says, "He makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire. [Psalm 104:4]" But of the Son HE says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore GOD, Your GOD, has anointed You with the oil of gladness beyond Your companions. [in Psalm 45:6-7]" And, "You, LORD, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe You will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. [in Psalm 102:25-27" And to which of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet [in Psalm 110:1, and Joshua 10:24]"?  Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the LORD, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while GOD also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

Revelation 11:15-18 "Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ, and HE shall reign forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before GOD fell on their faces and worshiped GOD, saying, "We give thanks to You, LORD God Almighty, Who is and Who was, for You have taken Your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but Your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding Your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear [reverence and are in awe of] Your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."


Revelation 17:8-14 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but he belongs to the seven, and he goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for HE is LORD of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful."