Kingdom Series IV
September 26, 2021
Fr. Phil Eberhart
Profession & Proclamation
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Profession & Proclamation:
Your Call as an Ambassador
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This is the fourth in the Kingdom Series of sermons. We’ve talked about the Kingdom of God as …
Ø Power for the
Powerless
Ø Presence of the
King
Ø Possession /
Position with the King, and this morning…
Ø Profession and
Proclamation of the King
In our opening hymn this morning, we sang about The Great Commission: “Go ye therefore… baptize and teach, heal
and preach!” Jesus, as He sends His
disciples out in Luke 10 tells them, “Freely you have received – freely give!”
God’s Kingdom program is one that has an inward component and an
outward component:
The Inward Component of the
Kingdom of God is the formation of the Character of Christ in each
disciple. You are destined to “LOOK LIKE
JESUS.”
“…for those He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the
image of His Son.”
“All we who with unveiled faces, behold the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to the next; this
comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”
“…don’t let the world press you into it’s mold, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind…”
“He has given us His great and precious promises, that by
them you may… become participants in the divine nature.”
Do you sense a theme here yet?
Romans 8 and 12; 1 Cor 3; 2 Peter 1 and the beat goes on! Across all of Scripture:
Our destiny is to become conformed to the Image of the Son of God,
from glory to glory, in an Inner Transformation, so we actually come to
PARTICIPATE (KOINONIA] in the Divine Nature!
Secondly, AS THAT IS HAPPENING, we are called into service as
Ambassadors.
The dictionary defines “ambassador” this way: “a diplomatic official of the highest
rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative”.
Paul, the Apostle, in his second letter to the Corinthians, lets them
(and us) know that this is now our calling and station. We are ambassadors of
the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, sent and stationed ON EARTH, to be the representation
and extension of the KING and THE KINGDOM in this place!
He says it like this:
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is
making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled
to God. 21 For our sake he made him
to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God.
Actually let’s back up a verse or two:
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to
himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself,[d] not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us…
Friends, this is the
OUTWARD part of our destiny – the OUTWORKING of the INWARD IDENTITY that you
have as a son or daughter of the KING, is that you are an AMBASSADOR for the
KING and the KINGDOM.
What are your
Ambassadorial Duties? What do
Ambassadors do?
An Ambassador is the
highest ranking appointed representative of the President and the Nation, to a
foreign nation or other entity, such as the UN.
The Ambassador
represents the interests of the nation, negotiates with the power of the
President and under His direction, confers with other diplomats on matters of
state, coordinates activities of an EMBASSY – an outpost of our nation on the
foreign soil to which the Ambassador has been appointed.
This is quite a job!
It’s YOUR JOB!
Paul says it this way:
“God is
making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled
to God.”
6 As
we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God
in vain. 2 For
he says,
“At an acceptable time
I have listened to you,
and
on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is
the day of salvation!
The last piece of this Kingdom series I want to speak on is the URGENCY
OF THE KINGDOM.
In the final verses of Revelation there is a line that I think bears
repeating. John is quoting from Isaiah in fact:
16 “It
is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you [John] with this testimony [of
Revelation] for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the
bright morning star.”
17 The
Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
Friends, our world is thirsty!
Very thirsty, and they do not know how to quench their thirst !!
Would you consider giving them a cold bottle of water?
There is just nothing better !!
It is your profession of the King and your proclamation of His
Kingdom, as an AMBASSADOR here on this planet, here in this country, here in this
state, here in this city – in your neighborhood and in your own house.
This is the why and the where of our calling to GO and TELL !!
You are an AMBASSADOR, urging Reconciliation to the KING.
The class we are hosting on Wednesday evenings, our outreach to the
neighborhood, our Treasure sale, the Community Thanksgiving service that is
coming – all are part and parcel of this work.
The Kingdom of God is here now -
God’s power is available to us … We are in the seat of authority,
representing the King and the Kingdom.
His Presence actually goes WITH US as we represent Him, as we make our
appeal to those here on the earth around us:
ARE YOU THIRSTY?
BE RECONCILED TO GOD !!
LET’S PRAY:
Almighty God our Savior, you desire that none should perish,
and you have taught us through your Son that there is great joy in heaven over
every sinner who repents: Grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken
world. May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers, that
the lost may be found and the dead made alive, and that all your redeemed may
rejoice around your throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Increase, O God, the spirit of neighborliness among us, that
in peril we may uphold one another, in suffering tend to one another, and in
homelessness, loneliness, or exile befriend one another. Grant us brave and
enduring hearts that we may strengthen one another, until the disciplines and
testing of these days are ended, and you again give peace in our time; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is error, truth; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
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