Exodus 19:5-6

19:5. `Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
19:6. `And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
–NKJ

To evangelize comes from a word that means “a good message.” It is the word behind the word “gospel.” To evangelize is to spread the good message. In the closing chapter of Matthew, Christians are directed to spread the good word to the ends of the earth. But before we can take that message to anybody, it has to start somewhere. Take a long look in the mirror and start with that person looking back at you.

Nobody is perfect, and we don’t have to understand all that the Gospel has to say before we tell others. A witness in a courtroom doesn’t have to study law, mechanics, engineering, forensics, or any number of specialties before they testify. All they do is tell what they witnessed. That’s all it takes to spread the word. Tell the part that you do know.

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Andrew Murray

V.

Matt 6: 33.–Seek ye first the kingdom of God.

You have heard what need there is of unity in Christian life and Christian
work. And where is the bond of unity between the life of the Church, the
life of the individual believer and the work to be done among the heathen?
One of the expressions for that unity is: “Seek first the Kingdom of God,”
That does not mean, as many people take it, “Seek salvation; seek to get
into the Kingdom, and then thank God, and rest there.” Ah, no; the meaning
of that word is entirely different and infinitely larger. It means: Let the
Kingdom of God, in all its breadth and length, in all its Heavenly glory
and power; let the Kingdom of God be the one thing you live for, and all
other things will be added unto you. “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” Let
me just try to answer two very simple questions; the one: “Why should the
Kingdom of God be first?” and the other: “How can it be?” The one, “Why
should it be so?” God has created us as reasonable beings, so that the
more clearly we see that according to the law of nature, according to
the fitness of things, something that is set before us is proper, and an
absolute necessity, we so much the more willingly accept it, and aim after
it. And now, why does Christ say this: “Seek first the Kingdom of God?” If
you want to understand the reason, look at God, and look at man. Look at
God. Who is God? The great Being for whom alone the universe exists; in
whom alone it can have its happiness. It came from Him. It can not find any
rest or joy but in Him. Oh, that Christians understood and believed that
God is a fountain of happiness, perfect, everlasting blessedness! What
would the result be? Every Christian would say, “The more I can have of
God, the happier. The more of God’s will, and the more of God’s love,
and the more of God’s fellowship, the happier.” How Christians, if they
believed that with their whole heart, would, with the utmost ease, give up
everything that would separate them from God! Why is it that we find it so
hard to hold fellowship with God? A young minister once said to me, “Why is
it that I have so much more interest in study than in prayer, and how
can you teach me the art of fellowship with God?” My answer was: “Oh,
my brother, if we have any true conception of what God is, the art of
fellowship with Him will come naturally, and will be a delight.” Yes, if we
believed God to be only joy to the one who comes to Him, only a fountain of
unlimited blessing, how we should give up all for Him! Has not joy a far
stronger attraction than anything in the world? Is it not in every beauty,
or in every virtue, in every pursuit, the joy that is set before us that
draws? And if we believe that God is a fountain of joy, and sweetness, and
power to bless, how our hearts will turn aside from everything, and say:
“Oh, the beauty of my God! I rejoice in Him alone.” But, alas! the Kingdom
of God looks to many as a burden, and as something unnatural. It looks like
a strain, and we seek some relaxation in the world, and God is not our
chief joy. I come to you with a message. It is right, on account of what
God is as Infinite Love, as Infinite Blessing; it is right and more, it is
our highest privilege to listen to Christ’s words, and to seek God and His
Kingdom first and above everything.

And then look at man again; man’s nature. What was man created for? To live
in the likeness of God, and as His image. Now, if we have been created in
the image and likeness of God, we can find our happiness in nothing except
that in which God finds His happiness. The more like Him we are the
happier. And in what does God find His happiness? In two things:
Everlasting righteousness and everlasting beneficence. God is righteousness
everlasting. “He is Light, and in Him is no darkness.” The Kingdom, the
domination, the rule of God will bring us nothing but righteousness. “Seek
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” If men but knew what sin is,
and if men really longed to be free from everything like sin, what a grand
message this would be! Jesus comes to lead me to God and His righteousness.
We were created to be like God, in His perfect righteousness and holiness.
What a prospect! And in His love too. The Kingdom of God means this: that
there is in God a rule of universal love. He loves, and loves, and never
ceases to love; and He longs to bless all who will yield to His pleadings.
God is Light, and God is Love. And now the message comes to man. Can you
think of a higher nobility; can you think of anything grander than to take
the position that God takes, and to be one with God in His Kingdom; i.e.,
to have His Kingdom fill your heart; to have God Himself as your King and
portion? Yes, my friends, let us remember that we must not just try to get
here and there one and another of the blessings of the Kingdom. But the
glory of the Kingdom is this: that it is the Kingdom of God where God is
all in all. The French Empire, when Napoleon lived, had military glory as
the ideal. Every Frenchman’s heart thrilled at the name of Napoleon as the
man who had given the empire its glory. If we realized what it means,–our
God takes us up into His Kingdom and puts His Kingdom into us and with the
Kingdom we have God Himself, that blessed One, possessing us–surely there
would be nothing that could move our hearts to enthusiasm like this. The
Kingdom of God first! Blessed be His name I Look at man. I don’t speak
about man’s sins, and about man’s wretchedness, and about man’s seeking
everywhere for pleasure, and for rest, and for deliverance from sin, but
I just say: Think what man is by creation and think what man is now by
redemption; and let every heart say: “It is right. There is no blessedness
or glory like that of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God ought to be first in
my whole life and being.”

But now comes the important question, “How can I attain this?” Here we come
to the great question that is troubling the lives of tens of thousands
of Christians throughout the world. And it is strange that it is so very
difficult for them to find the answer; that tens of thousands are not able
to give an answer; and others, when the answer is given, can not understand
it; The day the centurion found his joy in being devoted to the Roman
Empire, it took charge of him with all its power and glory. Dear friends,
how are we to attain to this blessed position in which the Kingdom of God
shall fill our hearts with such enthusiasm that it will spontaneously be
first every day? The answer is, first of all give up everything for it. You
have heard of the Roman soldier who gave up his soul, his affection, his
life, who gave up everything, to be a soldier; and you have often seen, in
history ancient and modern, how men who were not soldiers gave up their
lives in sacrifice for a king or a country. You have heard how in the South
African Republic not many years ago the war of liberty was fought. After
three years of oppression by the English the people said they would endure
it no longer, and so they gathered together to fight for their liberty.
They knew how weak they were, as compared with the English power, but they
said, “We must have our liberty.” They bound themselves together to fight
for it, and when that vow had been made, they went to their homes to
prepare for the struggle. Such a thrill of enthusiasm passed through that
country that in many cases women, when their husbands might have been
allowed to stay at home, said to them: “No, go, even though you have not
been commanded.” And there were mothers who, when one son was called out to
the front, said: “No, take two, three.” Every man and woman was ready to
die. It was in very deed “Our country first, before everything.” And even
so, friends, must it be with you if you want this wonderful Kingdom of
God to take possession of you. I pray you by the mercies of God, give up
every-thing for it. You do not know at once what that may mean, but
take the words and speak them out at the footstool of God: “Anything,
everything, for the Kingdom of God.” Persevere in that, and by the Holy
Spirit your God will begin to open to you the double blessing: on the one
hand, the blessedness of the Kingdom which comes to possess your heart;
and on the other hand, the blessedness of being surrendered to Him, and
sacrificing and giving up all for Him.

“The Kingdom of God first!” How am I to reach that blessed life? The answer
is: “Give up everything for it.” And then a second answer would be this:
Live every day and hour of your life in the humble desire to maintain that
position. There are people who hear this test, and who say it is true, and
that they want to obey it. But if you were to ask them how much time they
spend with God day by day, you would be surprised and grieved to hear how
little time they give up to Him. And yet they wonder that the blessedness
of the divine life disappears. We prove the value we attach to things by
the time we devote to them. The Kingdom should be first every day, and all
the day. Let the Kingdom be first every morning. Begin the day with God,
and God Himself will maintain His Kingdom in your heart. Do believe that.
Rome did its utmost to maintain the authority of the man who gave himself
to live for it. And God, the living God, will He not maintain His authority
in your soul if you submit to Him? He will, indeed. Come to Him; only come,
and give yourself up to Him in fellowship through Christ Jesus. Seek to
maintain that fellowship with God all the day. Ah, friends, a man cannot
have the Kingdom of God first, and at times, by way of relaxation, throw
it off and seek his enjoyment in the things of this world. People have a
secret idea life will become too solemn, too great a strain; it will be too
difficult every moment of the day, from morning to evening, to have the
Kingdom of God first. One sees at once how wrong it is to think thus. The
presence of the love of God must every moment be our highest joy. Let us
say: “By the help of God, it shall ever be the Kingdom of God first.”

And then, my last remark, in answer to that question, “How can it be?” is
this: it can be only by the power of the Holy Ghost. Let us remember that
God’s Word comes to us with the language, “Be filled with the Spirit;” and
if you are content with less of the Spirit than God offers, not utterly
and entirely yielding to be filled with the Spirit, you do not obey the
command. But listen: God has made a wonderful provision. Jesus Christ came
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and proclaimed “The Kingdom is at
hand.” “Some,” He said, “are standing here who will not see death until
they see the Kingdom come in power.” He said to the disciples, “The Kingdom
is within you.” And when did the Kingdom come–that Kingdom of God upon
earth? When the Holy Ghost descended. On Ascension Day the King went and
sat down upon the throne at the right hand of God, and the Kingdom of God,
in Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth, was inaugurated. When the Holy
Ghost came down He brought God into the heart, and Christ, and established
the rule of God in power. I am afraid sometimes, that in speaking of the
Holy Spirit we forget one thing. The Holy Spirit is very much spoken of in
connection with power; and it is right that we should seek power. It is not
so much spoken of in connection with the graces. And yet these are always
more important than the gifts of power–the holiness, the humility, the
meekness, the gentleness, and the lovingness; these are the true marks of
the Kingdom. We speak rightly of the Holy Spirit as the only one who can
breathe all this into us. But I think there is a third thing almost more
important, that we forget, and that is: in the Spirit, the Father and the
Son themselves come. When Christ first promised the Holy Spirit, and spoke
about His approaching coming, He said: “In that day ye shall know that I
am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that loveth me keepeth my
commandments; and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our
abode with him.” Brother, would you have the Kingdom of God first in your
life, you must have the Kingdom in your hearts. If my heart be set upon a
thing I may be bound with chains, but the moment the chains are loosened I
fly towards the object of my affection and desire. And just so the Kingdom
must be within us, and then it is easy to say: “The Kingdom first.” But
to have the Kingdom within us in truth, we must have God the Father, and
Christ the Son, by the Holy Ghost within us too. No Kingdom without the
King.

You are called to likeness with Christ. Oh, how many Christians strive
after this part and that part of the likeness of Christ, and forget the
root of the whole! What is the root of all? That Christ gave Himself up
utterly to God, and His Kingdom and glory. He gave His life, that God’s
Kingdom might be established. Do you the same to-day and give your life to
God to be every moment a living sacrifice, and the Kingdom will come with
power into your heart. Give yourself up to Christ. Let Christ the King
reign in your heart, and the heavenly Kingdom will come there and the
Presence and the Rule of God be known in power. Oh, think of that wonderful
thing that is going to happen in the great eternity. We read of it in 1st
Corinthians: God has entrusted Christ with the Kingdom, but there is coming
a day when Christ shall come Himself again to be subjected unto the Father,
and He shall give up the Kingdom to the Father, that God may be all, and in
that day Christ shall say before the universe: “This is my glory, I give
back the Kingdom to the Father!” Christians, if your Christ finds His glory
here on earth in dying and sacrificing Himself for the Kingdom and then in
eternity again in giving the Kingdom to God, shall not you and I come to
God to do the same and count anything we have as loss, that the Kingdom of
God may be made manifest, and that God may be glorified.

Ephesians 2

Summary
By comparing what we were by nature, with what we are by grace,
he declares that we are made for good works: and being brought near by Christ, should not live as Gentiles and foreigners, as in time past, but as citizens with the saints, and the family of God.

2:1. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2:2. in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
2:3. among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
2:4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
2:5. even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
2:6. and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
2:7. that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2:8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
2:9. not of works, lest anyone should boast.

2:10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
2:11. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands
2:12. that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
2:13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.
2:14. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us,
2:15. having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
2:16. and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
2:17. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
2:18. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
2:19. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
2:20. having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
2:21. in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
2:22. in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Comments:

Saved by grace. There is so much said here. First, we all started in a condition of death. The good news is that as believers, we have been made alive. How? Keep reading, but first here’s more on our sinful nature.

We once walked a path in the ways of the world. There are powers, evil powers, in this natural world. We once were at the mercy of those powers and living a disobedient life, in relation to what God intended. All we knew was the relative truth of our perspective. All we knew was what came from our emotions. We did things that seemed right, and felt good. Despite that pursuit of good feeling, we were angry.

While we were in that condition, God loved us. He made it so we could be brought back to life by the actions of Christ. We have been rescued from the harsh and wild place that this world is, and rescued back into his heavenly kingdom. We are placed in the throne of Christ, and have a permanent place in the future, eternal kingdom.

This salvation comes by grace. We don’t deserve it. We can’t do anything to earn it. To be able to work for salvation and earn it, is to be able for some person to boast and flaunt their deeds over everyone. That priveledge is for God alone.

Before I go on to consider the rest of the verses. let me pause and review some Old Testament things.

Historically, God’s chosen people were the Israelites. God made promises to them. Other people, other tribes and nations who stood in thei way were often totally killed off. God’s grace was extended only to the Jews. Nobody else. To be a Jew, you can only be one if you are born into it. So, If I were to want to take part in the promises of God, there would have been no other way for me. No hope. My parents are not Jews. Any non Jews, gentiles, are outsiders. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that the Messiah, the chosen one, was to one day come and deliver the Jews from the burden of their sin. The burden of sacrificing animals that had no power, but was just a reminder of their constant shortcomings. This Messiah would come to fulfill, or complete the old laws. God’s desire is for people to live moral lives, as explained in the laws. To live that way, and in loving God, is what salvation is about.

Here’s more good news. The coming Messiah would tear down the barriers and let the true believing Jews into the kingdom. But also, his power is so great, and so far reaching that he even provides a way for us nonJews to come to him. Though we didn’t start out being his chosen people, we can enjoy being adopted into the heavenly family.

Let’s get back to the passage at verse 10.

We are his workmanship. Literally, ‘we are his created things’. We have a purpose to do good works. God has a special good work for each of us. It has been preplanned. Each of us who are believers have a place already cut out for us. A job for everybody, and everybody with his own place.

Sometimes religious people set up clicks. An example is given here of certain circumsized folks reminding the gentile believers that they were still considered uncircumsized. Look closely at the words here. Don’t let anybody take away from the importance of your own salvation. “Circumcision made in the flesh by hands” For one, circumscision is one of those symbolic things, a sign of a covenant between God and his people. It is made by men, by hand. It is a self inflicted symbol that is a reminder that God has ownership over that person.

The laws were regulations over outward actions. Circumcision was a physical sign in the flesh. In other places in the New Testament, we are said to be circumcised in our heart. New Testament teachings are laws that rule our spiritual nature. The heart is a symbol of the seat of the emotions. To be circumcized in our hearts is to be marked in a spiritual nature. At any rate, we gentiles are just as much marked, and part of the family of God as those who have a physical birth into it.

There was a time when gentiles didn’t have any hope. Now, with the benefit of having Christ in the world, we have been accepted. We were distant, and far away. Now, by the blood of Christ, we are brought to be close at hand.

Jesus made peace between us. He takes the two types of people, Jews and Gentiles, and makes us into one people. He takes away all the hostility between people, and makes us into one body. He takes those hostile feelings and kills them so we are no longer enemies. The message of Christ is one of peace. If we say we are spreading the word of Jesus, and it results in having no peace and disunity, it is time to scratch our heads and see what we might be doing wrong. The good news of his message should bring peace and unite believers. It should have the power of bring two strangers and making a unified body.

Christ came to build a kingdom. He wasn’t on earth for very long. Long enough to lay down a cornerstone. The apostles laid down the foundation. As time progresses, all us other believers bring our own legacy to the temple. The building that God has been making. It is fitted together. Literally, tightly fitted together. Each believer plays his own part in this interesting structure. When it is done, we will be the house where God himself lives inside.

Wow, we are not only saved by grace, but for a purpose. Start living the life now.