BRINGING THE KING TO OUR CITY
MF Blume
September 25, 2011
1 Chronicles 12:38 MSG All these soldiers came to David at
Hebron, ready to fight if necessary; they were both united and
determined to make David king over all Israel. And everyone else in
Israel was of the same mind--"Make David king!"
Our church is coming towards a celebration of our first Anniversary in
Portage!
- We had a radio interview with CHVN about
Portage and Winnipeg Outreach this past Thursday.
- God has spoken to me about our church.
It is wonderful to note the parallels between Genesis and Revelation,
and everything in between.
Genesis 2:7-12 MKJV And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul. (8) And Jehovah God planted a garden
eastward in Eden. And there He put the man whom He had formed.
(9) And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The tree of life also
was in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and
evil. (10) And a river went out of Eden to water the
garden. And from there it was divided and became four heads.
(11) The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which surrounds
all the land of Havilah, where there is gold. (12) And the
gold of that land is good. There is bdellium and the onyx stone.
Some say Bdellium is a resin or highly perfumed gum, and others claim
it is PEARL.
Precious stones, pearl and gold.
Revelation 21:18-21 MKJV (18) And the foundation of its
wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
(19) And the foundations of the wall of the city had been adorned
with every precious stone. The first foundation, jasper; the second,
sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; (20)
the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the
eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh,
hyacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. (21) And the twelve gates
were twelve pearls. Respectively, each one of the gates was one pearl.
And the street of the city was pure gold, as transparent glass.
NEW JERUSALEM has pearl, precious stones and gold.
- Notice the raw materials were in the Garden
and the City has them used for material.
Revelation 22:1-2 MKJV And he showed me a pure river of Water of
Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb. (2) In the midst of its street, and of the river,
from here and from there, was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve
fruits, each yielding its fruit according to one month. And the leaves
of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
So you can see that JESUS is the real ADAM.
- He rules in a CITY where the tree of life
sits.
- We have a wedding just as with Adam and Eve
being husband and wife.
- Enemies are taken over and defeated as David
came to the throne of Jerusalem in ZION conquering enemies.
Jerusalem is home of ZION, CITY OF DAVID, and is very much
associated with DAVID.
The CHURCH is called the wife of Christ in Eph 5, while the NEW
Jerusalem is the bride.
- Heb 12:22-23 speaks of us having come to the
heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion in the same breath as saying we’ve
come to the church of the firstborn.
- Abraham looked for a city and it was not a
physical city but a spiritual one, because its maker and builder is God.
- The church is supposed to be a CITY SET ON A
HILL that cannot be hid.
So the progress of DAVID TO JERUSALEM shows the overall church of JESUS
to NEW JERUSALEM.
- And that pattern is also seen in LOCAL
CHURCHES.
The place where DAVID BEGAN HIS SERIES OF EVENTS UNTIL HE CAME TO RULE
IN JERUSALEM was THE CAVE OF ADULLAM.
Saul became so jealous of David.
- He knew David had the presence of God AND he
did not.
- People were praising David.
- Saul sought to kill David until David fled
finally to the cave.
1 Samuel 22:1-2 MKJV And David left there and escaped to the cave
Adullam. And his brothers and all his father's house heard, and went
down to him there. (2) And every man in distress, and every
man who had a creditor, and every man bitter of soul, gathered
themselves to him. And he became commander over them. And about four
hundred men were with him.
Notice that David did not plan to leave Saul’s house and flee to
a cave where he would have these men come to him when he first came to
Saul’s house.
The first place ADULLAM is mentioned is in reference to an ADULLAMITE.
Genesis 38:1-3 KJV And it came to pass at that time, that Judah
went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite,
whose name was Hirah. (2) And Judah saw there a daughter of
a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in
unto her. (3) And she conceived, and bare a son; and he
called his name Er.
Judah found his wife and married her and children were birthed.
- So there is an association with BIRTHING
here.
A REAL CHURCH is BIRTHED, not planned by a group of people who want to
see a new church.
- It seems to just come about.
- Our church was not planned when we first
came to Portage.
- We seemed to see it birthed due to a cry for
people to want the KINGDOM to come.
When a church is birthed, it is as it was with David in the cave of
Adullam.
- ALL THAT WERE discontented, indebted and
distressed people came to David.
- NOT TO BE IN LIMELIGHT because they could
not be there under Saul.
- They were not getting what they needed under
Saul’s kingdom.
- They knew David could give them more.
- They saw something in David that met their
needs.
- They turned from being discontented,
indebted and distressed people into MIGHTY MEN AND HELPERS OF WAR.
- BRINGING DAVID TO JERUSALEM!
ADULLAM means JUSTICE OF THE PEOPLE.
- It was like there was not real justice under
Saul.
- They saw they would find justice with DAVID.
Now, do not make the mistake of thinking DAVID represented THE PASTOR
of a new local church.
- DAVID STANDS FOR JESUS.
- These men were coming to JESUS after being
sick and tired of the SAUL SYSTEM.
- Indebted by the SAUL system.
- Distressed by the Saul system.
- Discontent by the Saul system.
- AND they wanted DAVID TO RULE to solve all
those problems.
JESUS is our answer.
- After these men saw David and were changed,
they WANTED TO BRING DAVID TO THE CITY!
- BRING HIM TO JERUSALEM.
And the KINGDOM is understood in the Bible as being foreshadowed BY
DAVID.
- The Bible says DAVID would have a son who
would not lose his throne as SAUL LOST HIS.
- The sure mercies of DAVID would be upon the
MESSIAH.
- That is why MERCY is hollered out from
people as they call Jesus the SON OF DAVID.
Bringing DAVID TO JERSUALEM is like BRINGING JESUS TO PORTAGE.
- BRINGING THE TRUTH OF THE KINGDOM TO PORTAGE!
These men’s heartbeat was to bring David to the city.
- The cave of Adullam was a place of HIDING.
- OBSCURITY.
- You would not HIDE in a cave that was famous.
- It was called the STRONGHOLD in 1 Sam 22.
True churches are born in OBSCURITY.
- Not planned by people seeking power in a
powertrip.
- Birthed.
- Birthed due to a spiritual relationship as
children are born from a man and woman’s relationship.
The men who came to David were so dedicated to David that we read they
sacrificed their lives in events that finally led to TO BRINGING HIM
EVENTUALLY TO JERUSALEM.
2 Samuel 23:8-21 KJV These be the names of the mighty men whom
David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the
captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against
eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. (9) And after him
was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men
with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered
together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:
(10) He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was
weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great
victory that day; and the people returned after him only to
spoil. (11) And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the
Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop,
where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from
the Philistines. (12) But he stood in the midst of the
ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought
a great victory. (13) And three of the thirty chief went
down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam:
and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of
Rephaim. (14) And David was then in an hold, and the
garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. (15) And
David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of
the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! (16) And the
three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew
water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it,
and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but
poured it out unto the LORD. (17) And he said, Be it far
from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the
men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink
it. These things did these three mighty men. (18) And
Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among
three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them,
and had the name among three. (19) Was he not most
honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit he
attained not unto the first three. (20) And Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many
acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a
lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: (21) And he
slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his
hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out
of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.
THREE MEN SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES by fighting through Philistines in
order to bring David a mere drink of water from a well in Bethlehem.
- Then fighting through again to bring the
water back and not spill the water!
Today it can be so easy to focus upon ourselves rather than really
focus on Jesus.
- We believe in the prophetic, and this, in
fact, is one thing we want to bring to Portage as well.
- But in the right way.
- The prophetic has turned many people into
seekers of a spiritual HIGH of getting a word about what God says about
THEMSELVES.
- And many people have become addicted to go
from this one high to another time to get that high.
- Their lives are not really stable and strong
lives.
- They become focused upon themselves to hear
what GOD WILL SAY TO THEM ABOUT THEM!
When you sacrifice YOUR LIFE, you are not focused upon hearing what God
says to YOU about YOU.
- You are dedicated to LET YOUR CITY HEAR
ABOUT JESUS AND WHAT JESUS HAS TO SAY ABOUT HIS KINGDOM AND HIMSELF, to
they can have their needs met BY RAISING JESUS UP AS LORD.
- We actually sometimes try to see our needs
met by LIFTING OURSELVES UP to hear about what God says about US.
- But our lives are still messed up and our
needs ARE NOT met.
- Look at what we read about MEN COMING TO
DAVID.
1 Chronicles 12:1-2 MKJV (1) And these were the ones who
came to David to Ziklag, while banned from the face of Saul the son of
Kish. And they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war,
(2) right and left-handed, armed with bows, with stones, and with
arrows, with the bow from the brothers of Saul, of Benjamin.
1 Chronicles 12:8 MKJV And of the Gadites mighty men separated
themselves to David into the stronghold in the wilderness, men of the
army for battle, setting in order shield and buckler, and their faces
were the faces of a lion, and as gazelles on the heights for swiftness:
1 Chronicles 12:14-18 MKJV (14) These were the sons of Gad,
captains of the army. One of the least was over a hundred, and the
greatest over a thousand. (15) These were they who went
over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks.
And they put all those of the valleys to flight, toward the east and
toward the west. (16) And some of the sons of Benjamin and
Judah came to the stronghold to David. (17) And David went
out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If you have come to me
in peace, to help me, my heart shall be knit to you. But if you come to
betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, let the
God of our fathers look on it and rebuke it. (18) And the
Spirit came on Amasai, chief of the Thirty. And he said, We are yours,
David, and on your side, son of Jesse. Peace, peace be on you, and
peace on your helpers. For your God has helped you. And David received
them and made them captains of the band.
1 Chronicles 12:22-38 MKJV (22) For at that time they came
to David day by day to help him, until it was a great army, like an
army of God. (23) And these were the numbers of the chiefs
of those armed for war who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom
of Saul to him, according to the Word of Jehovah. (24) The
sons of Judah bearing shield and spear were six thousand and eight
hundred, armed for war. (25) From the sons of Simeon the
mighty men of power for the war, seven thousand and one hundred.
(26) From the sons of Levi were four thousand and six
hundred. (27) And Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites,
and with him were three thousand and seven hundred. (28)
And Zadok, a young man mighty in power, and of his fathers' house were
twenty-two captains. (29) And the sons of Benjamin, the
kindred of Saul were three thousand. And before, the most of them had
kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. (30) And of the
sons of Ephraim were twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of
valor, famous throughout the house of their fathers. (31)
And from the half tribe of Manasseh were eighteen thousand, who were
chosen by name to come and make David king. (32) And from
the sons of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know
what Israel ought to do, the heads of them were two hundred. And all
their brothers were at their command. (33) From Zebulun,
such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all the weapons of
war, fifty thousand who could keep rank. They were not of a double
heart. (34) And from Naphtali, a thousand captains; and
with them with shield and spear were thirty-seven thousand.
(35) And of the Danites, expert in war, were twenty-eight
thousand, six hundred. (36) And of Asher, going out to the
army to set in order the battle were forty thousand. (37)
And on the other side of Jordan, from the Reubenites, and of the
Gadites, and from the half tribe of Manasseh, with all of the weapons
of war for battle were a hundred and twenty thousand. (38)
All these were men of war, keeping rank, they came with a perfect heart
to Hebron, to make David king over Israel. And also all the rest of
Israel was of one heart to make David king.
1 Chronicles 12:38 MSG All these soldiers came to David at
Hebron, ready to fight if necessary; they were both united and
determined to make David king over all Israel. And everyone else in
Israel was of the same mind--"Make David king!"
Anything we seek for in reasons aside from MAKING JESUS KING is sought
for for the wrong reason.
- When you seek an experience from God, what
is it for?
- Can we be honest?
- We live in Portage.
- We claim to be DEDICATED to bring the truth
of the KINGDOM TO PORTAGE.
- BRING JESUS TO PORTAGE.
Charismania is where we seek spiritual experiences and prophetic words
and hands laid on us FOR REASONS OTHER THAN BRINGING JESUS TO PORTAGE.
Notice these men of David – men of war – were gifted and
empowered supernaturally with awesome abilities.
- BECAUSE THEY WERE OF ONE MIND… MAKE
DAVID KING.
- These ABILITIES are what made them HELPERS
OF WAR.
- They facilitated the road to be paved for
DAVID TO RULE IN JERUSALEM.
If we put our focus on JESUS, and seek experiences in order to HELP
PAVE THE WAY FOR JESUS TO COME TO PORTAGE, God will anoint us and
empower us with gifts and abilities TO ACCOPLISH THAT.
- He is not going to anoint anyone to make
their own little kingdoms.
- If you will keep PORTAGE in your focus, and
bringing JESUS here, and seek every experience you can get WITH THATH
GOAL IN MIND – BRING JESUS TO PORTAGE—God will empower you
and anoint you.
SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM, and your needs will be met!
- The self esteem we seek to find by hearing
what God says to us about us will be supplied without that focus on
ourselves, IF WE TRULY SEEK HIS KINGDOM TO COME HERE ABOVE ALL
ELSE.
We need to be clothed and fed.
- Spiritually we seek to be clothed and fed
with words of prophecy spoken over us.
- And charismania will distort and pervert
that so we genuinely seek THAT FIRST above our own needs.
- Attention on OUR NEEDS without a focus on
HIS KINGDOM COMING TO OUR CITY will pervert us and make us terribly
unbalanced.
- It’s like a honey bee flying from one
flower to the next.
- One spiritual high of a prophetic word or
falling out after another, for NO PURPOSE like bringing Jesus to
Portage.
There has to be a PURPOSE in our search for the supernatural.
- If there is no purpose, no seeking of an
equipping in order to BRING JESUS TO PORTAGE, when we seek
supernatural, then it’s a Corinthian sounding of brass and
tinkling cymbal.
- It’s having gifts of the Spirit
without the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
- FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT comes from people WHO
CARE ABOUT OTHERS.
- THE FRUIT has to do with what affects our
relationship with OTHER PEOPLE.
- Why do we need longsuffering?
- Patience?
- Temperance?
- It is because we have to live with people
and THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS ABOUT OUOR RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER in
RIGHTEOUS BEHAVIOUR, PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER and not causing offence
BYUT JOY IN PEOPLE.
- The Corinthians were the epitome of
CHARISMANIA.
- They spoke in tongues and did not care if
heathens or unbelievers were present or not.
- They did not SEEK TO BRING JESUS TO CORINTH.
- Had that been on their mind, and they
realized they are the vehicles through whom JESUS would come to the
unbelievers all around their neighbourhood, they would see the
unbelievers present and SEEK TO BE USED IN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT TO
CAUSE THEM TO SAY “SURELY GOD IS IN YOUR MIDST!”
NOTICE reference to LIFE OF LOVE:
- Read this with me as you think of your focus
of all focuses, and purpose of ever being used in the gifts is to BRING
JESUS TO PORTAGE – to the UNBELIEVERS WHO DO NOT KNOW HIM.
1 Corinthians 14:1-6 MSG (1) Go after a life of love as if
your life depended on it--because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts
God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth. (2)
If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands
you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between
you and him. (3) But when you proclaim his truth in
everyday speech, you're letting others in on the truth so that they can
grow and be strong and experience his presence with you.
(4) The one who prays using a private "prayer language" certainly
gets a lot out of it, but proclaiming God's truth to the church in its
common language brings the whole church into growth and strength.
(5) I want all of you to develop intimacies with God in prayer,
but please don't stop with that. Go on and proclaim his clear truth to
others. It's more important that everyone have access to the knowledge
and love of God in language everyone understands than that you go off
and cultivate God's presence in a mysterious prayer language--unless,
of course, there is someone who can interpret what you are saying for
the benefit of all. (6) Think, friends: If I come to you
and all I do is pray privately to God in a way only he can understand,
what are you going to get out of that? If I don't address you plainly
with some insight or truth or proclamation or teaching, what help am I
to you?
1 Corinthians 14:12-19 MSG (12) It's no different with you.
Since you're so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don't
you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church?
(13) So, when you pray in your private prayer language, don't
hoard the experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to
bring others into that intimacy. (14) If I pray in tongues,
my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is
wasted. (15) So what's the solution? The answer is simple
enough. Do both. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray,
but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. I should sing
with my spirit, and sing with my mind. (16) If you give a
blessing using your private prayer language, which no one else
understands, how can some outsider who has just shown up and has no
idea what's going on know when to say "Amen"? (17) Your
blessing might be beautiful, but you have very effectively cut that
person out of it. (18) I'm grateful to God for the gift of
praying in tongues that he gives us for praising him, which leads to
wonderful intimacies we enjoy with him. I enter into this as much or
more than any of you. (19) But when I'm in a church
assembled for worship, I'd rather say five words that everyone can
understand and learn from than say ten thousand that sound to others
like gibberish.
1 Corinthians 14:23-33 MSG (23) If you come together as a
congregation and some unbelieving outsiders walk in on you as you're
all praying in tongues, unintelligible to each other and to them, won't
they assume you've taken leave of your senses and get out of there as
fast as they can? (24) But if some unbelieving outsiders
walk in on a service where people are speaking out God's truth, the
plain words will bring them up against the truth (25) and
probe their hearts. Before you know it, they're going to be on their
faces before God, recognizing that God is among you. (26)
So here's what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one
of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a
hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an
insight. (27) If prayers are offered in tongues, two or
three's the limit, and then only if someone is present who can
interpret what you're saying. (28) Otherwise, keep it
between God and yourself. (29) And no more than two or
three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking
it to heart. (30) Take your turn, no one person taking
over. (31) Then each speaker gets a chance to say something
special from God, and you all learn from each other. (32)
If you choose to speak, you're also responsible for how and when you
speak. (33) When we worship the right way, God doesn't stir
us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the
churches--no exceptions.
Let’s live up to our VISION STATEMENT.
- What should we change in order to make that
statement our true vision?