|
The Kingdom of Godsermon by Manfred Schreyer >> (Mat 16:19 NIV) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." I want to tell you a little what I experienced at our Annual Conference. I went with much fears into the conference, because of the many decisions which were about to be made in our beloved denomination. There was a very common theme that I would like to talk to you about, and that is the "Kingdom of Heaven." We as Christians know that the Kingdom of God is the direct opposite of the kingdom here on earth. On the one side is the Kingdom of God, which is perfect. God’s will reigns in His Kingdom and because the Kingdom of God is the perfect condition no one has to suffer and it is the condition which each one of us so much desires. There are no more desires, pain or suffering, just endless moments of joy and fulfillment. On the other hand is the created Kingdom here on earth, where desires rule, where the lies of the devil to us destroys our lives. There are glimpses of happiness, but constant struggle or pain and suffering. When we read the story of creation, the story tells us that after everything God created God said: "And it was good." That tells us that the essence of what God created was good or very good. But slowly but slowly we as humanity did not follow the will of God and we set different priorities in our life, we created our own laws by our own free will, and we created a new world after our own liking. The reality is that the devil fed us lies, he challenged God and he challenged us to rebel against God. When we read Gen. 3:1: "Did God really say?" We ask that question constantly to incorporate our desires instead of reaching for the will of God for us. Deep within us however we still feel the once existent good condition. How? Because we know that this cannot be it! We know that there is a better condition. . . . that feeling reminds us of the condition which once existed in the Garden of Eden. Now here is the amazing thing: Many of us believe that we rebel against God, but that is NOT so! The bible tells us that we are created after the image of God and therefore we rebel against ourselves. So, on the one side is the Kingdom of God that has the perfect condition for us and on the other side we grow up and are educated in this world which is corrupted. Both of these worlds live in constant tension. Why? Because no matter what happens in this world; any act, any belief, anything will find it follower or supporter, because we live in a humanistic world where we are taught in our educational institutions and in many of our churches to respect any belief, and any action . . . We in the church, who have the keys to the Kingdom, have allowed the kingdom of this earth to infiltrate us and our faith. We have taken the desires of ourselves and incorporated them slickly into the Kingdom of God, because we do not want to hurt anyone. That is a very dangerous act, because what should happen is that we should have the objective to incorporate the things of the Kingdom of God into the kingdom on earth, so that this world changes. And not change the Kingdom of God to the ideals and humanistic ideas of this world. We as Christians have fallen for the lies of this world! We are led to believe that it is OK to accept homosexual ministers. We are led to believe that abortion will help the world population, we are led to believe that if we disallow prayers in school it will liberate human kind, we are led to believe that we should have the right to kill those who are destined to die, we are led to believe that marriage is not a sacrament, and the list goes on and on. But there are NO multiple truths, because Jesus said: (John 8:42-47 NIV) Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. {43} Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. {44} You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. {45} Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! {46} Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? {47} He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."Let me come back about Annual Conference. I met Susan Boyer. The congregation Susan serves, decided last year that they would perform same sex covenants. I oppose such acts! Allow me to say not only the act itself is a great sin but my sister Susan Boyer is committing a great sin as she will be judged much harsher. I asked her twice in e-mails why she was willing to perform such sacramental acts and how her congregation came to such conclusion and I have received a response. Now, what is worse for me is that Susan is the speaker at the National Youth Conference. Even though she will not talk about same sex marriages she is elevated by our denomination as one of the spiritual leaders of this conference. What is our responsibility? Well, I met a representative from the congregation of La Verne, CA. This congregation intentionally sought Susan out, because they knew that she would perform same sex covenants and they would be willing to perform same sex marriages as well. They approached her to come to their congregation and Susan accepted. Again: Susan Boyer is the speaker to our teens at NYC. Do you see what is wrong with this picture? In my conversation with a congregation member of La Verne I found out that there are now at least 12 congregations within the Church of the Brethren who will perform same sex covenants within the CoB. Do you understand what is wrong with sister Susan Boyer speaking at NYC to our youth? You can tell me that I should not be the judge of her and that and I should look at my speck in my eye. Brothers and sister: I am not judging my sister Susan Boyer, but I know that it is great sin to commit a same sex act and it is even a greater sin to give a sacramental blessing to such sinful acts. If you can prove to me in the Word of God that my understanding is wrong I will change my mind, but as of now and for over thousands of years this act is and was understood by the people of God as a sin. Go ahead show me the speck in my eye, tell me that I’m a sinner and tell me my sin. . . .Yes, I am a sinner, but I’m willing to repent and I am grateful that you hold me accountable to the Holy Spirit. And that is the difference . . . But when you validate sin as a non-sin, then you do not need accountability or forgiveness you do not need to repent and then finally you do not need God. The La Verne congregation through one of their representatives made their understanding of sin to all delegates and visitors very clear: They said that we should be able to live with a different understanding together as one. And that we should just leave it at that. And then they said something amazing: They sometimes feel as if they do not belong, when we as "the others exclude them . . . " Let me make it clear this is the church that belongs to God. The church of God does not allow to promote sin, but to bring us to repentance and to bring God’s will to us. Jesus gave the spiritual leaders the keys to heaven and we will never be able to open the Kingdom of God with our own fabricated earthly key. There are no privileges in when you are come to God. You have to can do one thing, and that is to fall on your knees and repent and forgiveness will be given to you. . .and that is all. You will NOT be able to make sin a non-sin. We are led to believe by minorities who follow a political agenda that everything is normal. Well, look around you and you’ll come to the conclusion: "Nothing is normal any more except the "Normal" setting on your dryer" And when everything seems normal, then both Kingdoms are on a collision course. Jesus tells us repeatedly that the domain of this world is the Evil One. On fact this world is ruled by the evil one. When we fall for the devil, we fall just like Adam and Eve did. And no matter if we are saved or not we fall from the build in grace of God, which God offers in this world. There are build-in blessings which come along with following and obeying the will of God. Why is it that we have such a strong desire to follow our own desires and not the loving will of God? One reason is that because God gave us a free will we also have a desire of independence from that which guides us. No matter at what stage we are in life, we want independence. It starts at a very early stage in life and as we grow older we want independence physically but also intellectually. We are in this lifetime on a mission to become our own God. And to validate this process we try to pull others into this thinking process . . . because it validates this process. God on the other hand asks us to surrender. Surrender in a way that is against anything what this world teaches. God asks us to surrender to His will. You know how you can tell if you are doing God’s will? Ask yourself about any theological decision if you have any motive in the story. And if you can truly say "NO," then it must be God’s will. . . .your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
share this page with a friend |
|
|
|
|