DOING and TEACHING-Being Like Jesus!

OF ALL THAT JESUS BEGAN BOTH TO “DO AND TEACH…”

Acts 1:1-3- The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom also He present Himself alive after His sufferings by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forth days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

SPEAKING OF THE THINGS CONCERNING THE KINGDOM…

The kingdom of God is more than a message, it is a lifestyle… Jesus lived the kingdom with his apostles for three and a half years and then in the 40 days before His ascension He did nothing but speak of the things pertaining to the kingdom…

Not only is His message to be modeled, but His method as well, as the fellowship He had with his apostles was not based on just producing results, but ‘becoming’ whom He wanted them to be! I believe it was more than casual relationships and just eating and drinking, it had to do with righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17)

In understanding our forum, the primary thrust of the kingdom is the restoration of relationships, being rooted in the order of “fathers and sons!” This being the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, as the spirit of Elijah coming in John the Baptist began preparing “the hearts of many in Israel being turned to Jesus…” (Luke 1:17)

THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS WERE UNTIL JOHN…

Luke 16:16- “The Law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.” We are in the ‘called out’ of the called out, as there is once again a “crying out” for the rule and reign of God through our Lord Jesus Christ in the land. We can have no remnant, unless there has been “washing of the water with the word”, that is preparing this apostolic/prophetic company of sons to arise in the earth! Without His dominion, there is no kingdom!

YOU HAVE NOT MANY FATHERS…

I. Co. 4:15- For though you might have ten thousand instructors (boy leaders, boys teaching boys), yet you do not have many fathers; for IN CHRIST JESUS I have begotten you (became your father) through the gospel.

FATHERING is not about who brought you “to” the gospel, it’s about who is bringing you “through” the gospel of the kingdom! Acts 17:28 says, “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring…’ Once again, the kingdom of God is not just about “DOING” but “BEING”, about living in the kingdom of our resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ our Lord.

CONTINUING IN THE APOSTLES TEACHING and FELLOWSHIP.

Acts 2:42- And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayers….vs. 46,47-  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The thrust of the entire message of Jesus and the book of the Acts of the Apostles through the power and authority of the Holy Spirit was to present to the church the gospel of the kingdom so that the kingdom could be presented back to the Father! We are on a collusion course of heaven and earth once again bringing the kingdom so that we may “embrace the heart of the Father!”

THE BOOK OF ACTS BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE KINGDOM.

Acts 28:30,31- Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Paul’s mandate as a Father in the Faith was to bring the rule of the kingdom and the gospel of Christ to a place in the sons of God that nothing could shake them out of the kingdom. On His last trip to Ephesus and speaking to the elders of the church, he said in Acts 20:24-28-“But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God…

GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD- THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

“And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves (the elders) and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.”

These are the things which we must DO and TEACH! There is no living without an example. There is no teaching that that we must not do, or live. There is no doing without serving, and hence, there is no serving without being!  Matt. 20:28-  “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

LET US BE AND DO, SERVE AND TEACH… This is what our Lord Jesus Christ did, and this is the goal of Apostolic Teaching Fathers… (ATF!) Let us IMPART this to our sons and daughters, blessings…. Luke 12:32-  “Do not fear, little flock;  for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

JB.