Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Some of God's mysteries are meant to be understood, and others are not. In this series of messages, our Bible teacher Pastor Al Runge discusses the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. And now, with today's message, here's Pastor Al Runge.

Pastor Al Runge: Thank you for tuning in. I want to bring to you another message in my series on the mysteries of the kingdom of God. In my last message, I spoke about the mystery of Israel. The main truth that I brought out is that the nation of Israel has not yet received its promised spiritual birth.

Remember what Moses said to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 29? He said in verse two, "You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all the land, the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs and those great wonders. Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, eyes to see, and ears to hear to this very day. I have led you for 40 years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet."

But in spite of all those wonderful miracles that the Lord showed to them, they did not believe. But here's a wonderful promise in the new covenant in Jeremiah 31:34: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them," saith the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." And that was given to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

The Apostle Paul explains the mystery of Christ and His church in Ephesians 3, verse 4. Listen. "The mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power."

The mystery of the church is that through the Messiah, a new people of God have been gathered together and will be, according to scripture, made up of Jews and Gentiles who believe. I want to share two mysteries of the true church. First, God is glorified in His church. Secondly, God demonstrates His power through the church.

First, God is glorified in the church. Look with me at Ephesians 3:21. Listen to this: "To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." How does God receive glory in the church? I'll tell you how God receives glory in the church: God receives glory through the praises of His people.

After I retired from the ministry as a pastor, I went into a slump of self-criticism. I thought of all the mistakes I made. I confessed them over and over again. The more I thought about them, the worse I felt, until I focused on what God expects from me as a part of His church. Here is a verse that helped me. Listen to 1 Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

The joy returned when I began each morning with a time of praise. I began to meditate on His benefits: the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, regeneration, sanctification, and the gift of His Spirit, not even excluding the fact that we have the hope of glory and heaven thrown in. Hallelujah, praise God! Now don't you feel better? I do, because I am a member with you of a royal priesthood called to offer up sacrifices of praise.

Now, even as Israel fell into apostasy and spiritual blindness, so did the organized church. There is an invisible church which is alive and consists of born-again children of God connected with Christ. We are all baptized into that one body by the Holy Spirit. Then there is the visible earthly church, which is only organized—an organizational church.

Unfortunately, there are times that the organized visible church has not reflected a true spiritual church. I can talk about the Crusades, the Inquisition, anti-Semitism, and the refusal to face truth. For example, in 1616, Galileo publicly announced his discovery that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. The church authorities reacted with hostility.

Galileo was arrested and brought before the Inquisitor of the church. He was told to recant or be tortured until he did. Galileo recanted. When a new Pope came to the papal throne, Galileo thought it was safe to tell the truth again, but he was wrong. He was arrested and threatened with torture, and here was the document he signed, quote: "I, Galileo, in my 70th year, being a prisoner and on my knees before your Eminences, having before my eyes the holy gospel which I touch with my hands, curse and detest the heresy of the movement of the earth."

Galileo was sent to prison anyway to die. The church did not allow his body to be buried in his family tomb until just recently. Why? I'll tell you why. Their theology was based not on the Bible but Aristotle's view that mankind was the center of the universe and the sun rotated around the earth. The church leaders of that day wanted to protect their cherished theology. So religion doesn't always glorify God, nor does it want to hear the truth.

Remember, it was religious leaders who plotted the death of Jesus. God is glorified through the true church made of true believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, God demonstrates His power through the church. Look with me at Ephesians 2, verse 20: "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Did you hear that? Above all that we can even think or ask, He can do through the power that works in and through us. God has invested His power within the church. When we demonstrate His power in the church and through the church, God is glorified.

About 20 years ago, I was a frustrated pastor. People came into my church and left no better than when they came. I asked the Lord what I could do about it. The idea of an open prayer altar came to my mind. So I began inviting the congregation to come to the prayer altar with their requests. After three years at my last church, I asked the congregation, "How many of you have come to the altar and God answered your prayers?" About 700 hands were raised.

Someone asked me, "I prayed about my need for years and nothing happened. But after I came to the altar, God answered my prayer that very week." I thought about the question, and here is my conclusion: our Lord Jesus meets with His people in the assembly. He loves them, and He loves to worship with us.

Listen to Hebrews 2, verses 11 and 12. Listen to this: "For both He that sanctifies"—who is our sanctifier? Jesus.—"and they who are sanctified"—who are sanctified? Well, we are, by His grace.—"are all of one, for which cause Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren, saying, 'I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.'"

Some of us have forgotten that our Lord is declaring the name of His Heavenly Father in the church, in the sanctuary, in the assembly. Jesus is also singing praises with us, even though we don't hear it. This is why there is power in the church assembly. We need to restore our prayer altars.

This is why we must be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit with whom we are sealed together unto the day of redemption. When we grieve the Holy Spirit by our petty fights, He will not work in us and through us. This is why Satan, our adversary, is always seeking to cause internal conflicts among us. I am observing a growing epidemic of church conflicts and splits.

The vast majority of those church disagreements are over personality clashes, unrealistic expectations, and—listen—the question they have is who's going to control this agenda. The chaos is not just happening in liberal churches, but also in evangelical churches.

Let me share with you how we can restore spiritual power to our lives and to our churches. Turn with me to Ephesians 4:32: "Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." We need to put aside our egotistical ambitions to be dominant in the church. We need to forgive those who hurt us so that the power of God will flow through us as a church to affect the world.

When God's people work together with the spirit of kindness, love, and forgiveness, the power of God breaks forth, and the gates of hell crumble before the church. Our Lord Jesus told us how the world will know that our message is genuine. In John 13:35, He said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another."

There are many evangelicals who do not attend church anymore. Perhaps it was because they were hurt by someone's unkind words, or they simply grew indifferent to the needs of brothers and sisters within the church. The devil seeks to scatter the flock of God while our Lord Jesus seeks to gather us together into His flock.

Let me give you a word of exhortation from God's word. I want you to hear this because so many have deserted the assembly. In Hebrews 10, verse 24: "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching."

We need one another. We need to love the church. We need to love God's work, and we need to work together. And when we do, we will please the Holy Spirit to break forth and bless us and our communities, our families, and, yes, the world. Now, I'm going to continue this message on the mysteries of the church. I want to talk about the third mystery of the church in our next message. I trust until then, God will really bless you with this truth.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Pastor Runge. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. We've been listening to Pastor Al Runge teach on the mysteries of the kingdom of God. If you would like to have your own copy of this series or perhaps you'd like to share it with a friend, you'll be glad to know that it's available on convenient compact disc. Just ask for ART 24, "The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God."

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