Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Exodus 3:1

Moses, a man of forty years old, found pasture in a far away land, on the “back side of the desert”.  He had lived his entire life in the palace.  After murdering a man, he fled to a far away place, and found favor with a man named Jethro, a priest of Midian.  For the next forty years, until he was a man of eighty years old, are scarcely mentioned.  He married Jethro’s daughter, had children.  And, his greatest achievement to show the world up to that point, as a murder, was tending someone else’s sheep.  For forty years.

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But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

The demonstration of the Kingdom of Heaven is in power.  With respect to those who have gone before, who have had only their level of revelation from the scriptures, remembering that we, too, only see the portion of the words of Jesus that have been entrusted to us, unless the Kingdom of God is demonstrated with power, we have not fully preached the Gospel (Romans 15:19).

And this power is founded upon a Kingdom, whose throne is righteousness and justice (Psalm 89:14).  It is always in the context of exercising authority, while being under the authority of another (Matthew 8:9).  A servant that is proven unfaithful to the will of the master, who goes around saying, “In the name of my master, whom I serve”, while not serving Him, will have that power taken away, and given to another.

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They only asked us to remember the poor– the very thing I also was eager to do.

Galatians 2:10

Upon Paul’s visit to the first apostles, after seeing the mutual grace given to each other, the apostles only additional commission upon Paul was this, that he remember the poor.  As Paul indicates, he was already being led of the Lord in the same direction, for it was the very thing he desired to do.

The Lord is close to the broken hearted, and His ears hear their cry.  If we are to be of the Kingdom, and listening to the voice of the Father, it will invariable lead us to take care of the poor.  It will lead us to men of the highest, and lowest caliber, for the Lord is the Lord of the whole Earth.

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See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8

Our English word Philosophy comes nearly directly from the Greek, “philosophia”.  It is a compound word made up of two Greek words, “Philo”, which is the affectionate love for something, and Sophia, meaning wisdom.  Quite plainly, “philosophy” means “love of wisdom”.  It is a love of thought, rational thinking and the laying out of things, and ordered structural analysis.

While this might sound very noble and the very thing a Christian would want, and in some capacity, it may be, Paul warns directly of being taken captive by it.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

Ephesians 4:17-19

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When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:1-3

When the day of Pentecost came, something new came.  John had prophesied concerning Jesus, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16.  Jesus never did this in His life before the crucifixion, yet alive today, He is the baptizer with the Holy Spirit.

The Kingdom of Heaven poured out His Spirit, and the believers were given power from on high to be witness.This was the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  This was not the same as the receiving as the Spirit.  They had received the Spirit prior, according to John’s Gospel, after His resurrection when He appeared to them.

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The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:6 NIV, portion

The Kingdom consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).  It is seen only through the eyes of faith (John 3:3).  There is a way that seems right, but it’s name is really religion. Let us consider two similar looking scenarios.

Suppose a man understands by the Word of God that laying down everything in this life is worth it, and that God is a rewarder of those who diligently pursue Him.  This is a basic truth, and whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  But, there are two ways to approach this, ultimately.

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Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Mark 16:14

After the most dramatic day in history, and probably one of the most traumatic to the disciples, the Lord’s passion, the Lord appeared to the twelve.  Yet, the recorded portion of the content of His message on that day was not the substance of most sermons today.  Instead, He rebuked them for unbelief and hardness of heart.

Today, these are two of the things we must not have in our midst.  Unbelief, the belief in the natural over the Spirit, is the “un”-faith that will not see the things of God.  When Jesus ministered on the Earth, this was the thing that stood in the way of His mighty works (Mark 6:5).  Hardness of heart, however, is translated as “stiffness of heart” by the YLT.

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I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Matthew 16:18

It was upon a man with a revelation that Jesus chose to build His church.  It wasn’t loosely put together, or framed on the first day, as He didn’t even talk about his “ekklesia” before this point.  But, something shifted once Peter heard this direct word from God, and Jesus discerned the change in the Spirit, and confirmed Peter in his understanding.

The Kingdom of God can be likened to a treasure hidden in a field, worth selling all for.  The Kingdom can be compared with a pearl of great price.

And in the midst of Christ’s Kingdom, He has chosen his called out, ruling body, His church.  We are His body on the Earth.  As He was in the Earth, so should be the church.

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I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:25).  There is that which looks like labor and achievement, but, as a despondent King Solomon observed, it all the result of rivalry, envy, between a man and his neighbor.  It is vanity, meaningless, and a striving after the wind.

Consider the words of the apostle John.  He said that everyone who truly loves is born of God (1 John 4:7).  If love is the restoration God is looking to bring to the human heart (Matthew 22:40), then love is principally the one thing which fallen man cannot do (1 Peter 1:22, Galatians 5:6).  There is no true benevolence, as King Solomon pointed out, there is no real industry.  What appears to be love at the outset is really a misidentified attempting to gratify the flesh.

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I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;

John 14:30

The safest place to be is locked within the almighty.

He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, My God, in Him will I trust.

Psalm 91:1-2

When we have nothing in us of the evil one, no darkness, no vile things, no shadows in any part, the enemy can have nothing over us, and all we must do is to stand.  Jesus demonstrated the light and easy yoke.  Yet, even in its extremes, with the very prince of the whole world set against Him, He did not break under the weight.  Even under the weight of the heaviest oppression, with no one to stand with Him, He endured, and proved Himself to be God, to be perfect, Messiah, and King.

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