Fren-10 Le Royaume De Dieu (The Kingdom of God) — Art Katz

The Kingdom Requires Rooting Up and Planting

Plasters and bandages all on. He has cut, but he will heal. He has rooted up and plucked out and destroyed, but he will build and plant. And we believe that this is that day for building and for planting.

There was a necessary work of clearance first, the debris, the clutter of human tradition and things that are familiar and dear to be able to get rid of all this clutter of human tradition, all the things that prevent us from seeing clearly all that is human, intellectual, cerebral, traditional.

All of these things have to be rooted out before there is a building and a planting. Now I understand better than ever before why the ten days in the upper room. Waiting on God is more than mere passivity.

It is a time of profound preparation. Which has to do essentially with the removal of things. God does not describe to us what took place in that upper room. But I am persuaded now that they needed to be profoundly emptied, that they might be profoundly filled with the spirit of another kingdom, that there might be a kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven.

And for that, everything that is earthly needs first to be removed. However dear it has become, and we Jews have an affinity for traditions also, and a kind of arrogance. Though all the world deny you, yet will we deny you never.

And there could not be a kingdom on that basis. It would be tinctured or tainted by human presumption. The builders of the kingdom not only needed to be emptied from their human presumptions and prejudices and traditions, they needed to be emptied from themselves.

For it is eminently the kingdom of God. We need to meditate upon that. Paul says, for of him, and through him, and to him are all things. To whom be glory forever. And remember that before his glory fell, everything that was not of God needed to be consumed in the fire.

When the glory fell in the dedication of the temple, the priests could not minister for the glory, and had to come out of the holy place. He'll not share his glory with another. And where his kingdom is, his glory is.

And where his glory is, his kingdom is. Paul exhorts men that they might walk worthy of the manner for that which they were called. The glory and the kingdom. My prayer for you this morning is that the Lord shall plant and build the kingdom of God in your hearts.

Restoration Rather Than Religious Improvement

Now I understand and begin to glimpse the strategy of God in these days. We came with all our variety and assortments of opinions and orientations. Our deep attachments to things Catholic, Protestant, charismatic.

Hoping yet for renewal. Improvement. It's almost the cry of Abraham, can't Ishmael live? No, only the Son of promise. God doesn't want to improve. He wants to restore. That which was his intention from the first.

And that which shall endure forever. A kingdom of heaven in the earth. So I want to take you through a little excursion in the scriptures this morning. To show you that this was forever the prophetic theme of God throughout the ages.

I say, I want to take you. He wants to take you. Of myself I can do nothing. It's interesting today that my condition is especially decrepit. I'm just all weakness. Woke up in an utterly groggy and crumpled state.

Without inspiration. Without direction. Having to remind the Lord, this is the concluding day. And that's exactly the point. One cannot even speak about the kingdom. Let alone perform it. Except by the king himself.

It is the kingdom of God. Not just about him. But by him. And the kingdom is eminently a resurrection phenomenon. It waits upon his life. Wait in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high. That you might be witnesses unto me.

Not do witnessing for me. What kind of a witness? The witness of the kingdom. Because nothing less reveals the king. What a king we have. As they say in French. Magnificent in all his ways. What single man could ever reveal him?

However splendid he is in himself. It's going to take something far more phenomenal. To show the glory of the king to the world. It's going to take his kingdom come. This corporate majesty. By which the attributes of God.

His humility. His self-sacrificing spirit. His purity and righteousness. His unfeigned love. Unconditional. Is exhibited by his people. In their relationship with each other. Who are living in a heavenly way.

In the earth. Pray this, Jesus said. The greatest prophet of them all. Pray this, he said. Our father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. In earth. Lausanne.

Geneva. Metz. Paris. New York. Moscow. Jerusalem. In the earth. Exactly as it is in heaven. What a task. Because that which is heavenly. Contradicts everything that is earthly. In every point and particular.

God tells us clearly. That heaven is as distant from the earth. As his thoughts from our thoughts. On earth it's enough to be sociable and affable. In heaven you have to love one another with a pure heart fervently.

Unto unfeigned love of the brethren. That's more than a full gospel hug. How you doing brother? How you doing brother? That satisfies us on earth. But it doesn't fulfill the requirement of heaven. To love one another with a pure heart fervently.

Unto unfeigned love of the brethren. In obedience to the commandment. That we should love one another as he loves us. By the Holy Spirit. You see the kingdom is not possible on the basis of our effort.

Sorry about that. Probably you are as humanly speaking as qualified as any people on earth. I mean look how nicely you have done in Switzerland. The efficiency, the cleanliness. It's a superb civilization.

Humanly speaking. But it falls short of heaven. See we were able to perform even religion on the basis of our own ability. We can conduct services and programs. And do them well. And impressively. But you cannot perform the kingdom.

It requires his life. That's why the king himself had to die. Be buried. And be raised from the dead. And ascend up to heaven. To the throne of the father. And from that place to pour out upon the earth.

Pentecost and the Visible Life of the Kingdom

Men and women who had been profoundly emptied in repentance for ten days. Seeing their utter and complete collapse and failure. That Jewish zeal cannot perform the kingdom. Because in the moment of ultimate extremity.

It flees from the king. And allows him to be crucified alone. Something else is required. The very life of the king glorified from heaven. Poured out into men. That brings so radical a change. That they can no longer continue in an earthly way.

All of a sudden no man thinks that the thing which he has is his own. They have all things in common. Those that have houses and land sell them. And there's not one among them that has one. They go from house to house daily breaking bread.

Mea Sunday services are not enough for them. They can't get enough of each other. It's more than something religious that has happened. Or a little charismatic addendum. It's a virtual kingdom that has come.

An entire social phenomenon. Which has economic consequences. Another political system. Where the government is upon his shoulder. It's a kingdom come. And it reveals his glory. And it is this that God wants restored.

But he could not do it. Until there was first a rooting up and a plucking out. A tearing down and a destroying. Anything that is earthly must be removed. However dear it has become to us. Because his kingdom is not of this world.

It's for this world. But it's not of this world. It comes down from above. By the spirit of his life. And it is expressed through his saints. His kingdom people. Not his protestant people. Or his catholic people.

Or his charismatic people. His kingdom people. Through the intensity of their relationships. In their authentic and organic joined together. Not just the people who come out casually for a Sunday service.

But a nation within a nation. The Zion of God. A kingdom come. It says in the scripture don't you know that the saints will judge the nations. That the nations will come up to Jerusalem. That the law will go forth out of Zion.

Our minds, our earthly minds are not even prepared to consider this. And we have been disarmed and ruined. Many of us by one of the most terrible heresies of modern times. That the church somehow is going to escape.

Lifted up and out. So all we need to do is just wait. That's what waiting is. Stuff your mouth with Swiss chocolates. And turn casually through the scriptures. Attend your meetings in the kind of lackadaisical way.

Waiting to be raptured. Burping all the way to heaven. The earth is the Lord's. And the fullness thereof. And those that dwell therein. Pray this he said. Thy kingdom come. In earth. As it is in heaven.

I'm looking for God's glory in the earth. For the nations are in extremity. They are being profoundly shaken. And all of their computers. And all of their technology. Shall not save them. Something is passing away.

And something is emerging and rising and becoming visible. That cannot be shaken. The kingdom of God in the earth. So though it's yet a little late I want to pray. Lord. Thy kingdom come. In earth. As it is in heaven.

Praying for the Kingdom in a Shaken World

Lord our flesh boggles at the thought. Our minds stagger. We cannot conceive of it. With our natural eye we see the weakness of the church. We see all of its defects. We see its contradictions. We see its fragmentations.

And yet your word says. A kingdom that shall endure forever. That shall fill the whole earth. And Lord we ask that this day. Would be a day of building and planting. In us. Not just a concept. Even something more than a vision.

But the holy kingdom seed itself. Be planted in our spirits. And fill our consciousness and hearts. Because we have been emptied in these days. We have been ripped and torn. You have divested us of our dearest things.

That we might receive this. Be builted and planted in this. Thy kingdom. Your heavenly kingdom. Lord do this work. That we might bring it to our fellowships. To our communities. To our nations. Let it be historic my God we pray.

And we'll thank you and praise you. For this work today. That only you can perform. By the word of spirit and life. The word that is given and sent. The word that creates. That plants. That builds. Your word.

Give it we pray. Thank you and praise you. In Jesus holy name. Amen. What I hope to do is not in any way exhaustive. Rather a kind of introduction. Just to show you the continuity of the theme. Which when we have stumbled upon it.

We have not believed. It's amazing how chronic and stubborn. Our unbelief is with regard to the kingdom of heaven. It's as if we have all automatically entered into an unspoken conspiracy. To reject the kingdom as any kind of practical possibility.

It sounds to us distant and ephemeral. Some kind of pleasant sensation. An astounding abstraction. Which perhaps after we die we'll experience. Those are the scriptures that seek first the kingdom of God.

We thought that that was a kind of a general word of exhortation. And we ourselves have fallen into the habit of using the phrase generally. Someone is saved. We say he has entered the kingdom. But the fact of the matter is that in the experience of most of us there is no kingdom experience at all.

We may be saved out of our sins. We may be saved out of hell. But we continue in the kingdom of this present world. And yet the scripture says that the end shall not come. Till the gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the nations.

And I don't know that we have heard very much of this gospel. There's been great emphasis on the gospel of personal salvation. To be saved out of hell. Saved out of sin. But he brought us out that he might bring us in.

Into what? The kingdom of heaven on earth. A tangible reality. Something made manifest. Though its origin is from heaven. It is expressed through believers in the earth. In all of their relationships.

In their mindset and perspective. In their values and their purposes. In their absoluteness toward God. In the centrality of truth. And the sacrificial sharing of their lives. They're respectful to the laws of the nations in which they live.

But the law by which they live far exceeds those laws. It's the law of the kingdom. Their government is upon his shoulder. And even though he's yet invisible. And yet contained in the heavens. Their life is under his authority.

They don't take their vacations when they want to. And where shall we go this year? The Riviera? Or New York? Which saint thinks to consult God? What would you have for me to do? The only question to them is, do I have the leisure?

Do I have the means? No one ever thinks that God should have anything to say on such a question. And to that degree his government has not come. From the first announcement of the messianic prophecy of a king to come.

We are told clearly of his government. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And of the increase of his government and his peace there shall be no end.

How's your peace this morning? That's a very real question. And I want to give you a very real answer. Your peace, your inmost serenity. No matter what whirlwind takes place around you. The world can be shaking in its convulsions.

Your peace is not pinned to its conditions. It's in proportion to his government. Has there been an increase of his government in your life? What you do with your money? Your time? Your leisure? Your energy?

The vocation you choose? Your life's partner? The church you're attending? Where you live? What you speak? What you do? Moment by moment. You see the Lord of it. Great peace have they. Whose Lord is God.

And if there's going to be peace on earth. It's not going to come from the political council tables of men. I'll give you this piece of territory if you give me that piece. And we'll put a border between us and we'll have armed guards on both sides.

That's not peace. Maybe a truce. Peace is that which God breathes. It's the shalom of God. That comes on this condition. That the government is upon his shoulders. And dear children. If we could see as he sees.

Waiting on God and the Ten-Day Fast

Which alone is true seeing. Many more of us would have been down on our faces on that floor last night. If the Lord would reveal our self will. Our independence of spirit. Our rebellion. And the subtleties of the forms that it takes.

By which we are lords unto ourselves. We get up and going and doing as we please. Presuming upon God. That somehow we're enjoying his blessing. When he has not so much as been consulted. We would be down on our faces.

Our own community has gone through a recent experience. We waited ten days on the Lord together. I counted one of the high water marks of my life in God. It was born of God. It was not some kind of human undertaking.

Because I had been preaching everywhere that the church was born in waiting. He gave them only one command. Wait in Jerusalem. Until. And in obedience to that command. The glory of God fell. And the kingdom of God was born.

The church was born in waiting. Priestly waiting. And as it was born so needs it to continue. Frequently, periodically. And I can almost say continually. That even while we're active. Our spirit is yet palpitatingly waiting upon God.

Even as I'm doing this morning. Because in a sense I don't know where I'm going. I only have a kind of pre-sentiment and inclination. I see I'm turning to scriptures but I'm not yet speaking from them.

I'm being overruled. And there's a hesitation. Even as I'm speaking one thought I'm waiting yet on the next. And this is the kind of priestliness that God wants birthed into his people. This is foundational to the kingdom.

For the opposite of waiting is presumption and arrogance. And on that basis no kingdom can be built. That is heavenly. And so I had been preaching everywhere that the kingdom of God was born in waiting.

And after a meeting some young newly saved boy came up to me. Completely heartless and naive. The kind that God sends. And he said brother in all your travels around the world. Have you found a fellowship today that has waited ten days on the Lord as they did in apostolic times?

It's the kind of question that when it's asked you feel like you've won. The wind goes out of you. You're completely... You thought why haven't I asked that? And my mind raced quickly to the finest fellowships that I know everywhere.

And finally I just had to conclude and say no I don't know of one. Then the spirit of God asked the next question. How about your fellowship hotshot? So I came back and I gave the report to our fellowship.

Yes they thought it was an excellent idea. One day we really need to do this. Because if God so honored that waiting two thousand years ago. That he poured out the very glory of his life into men. What will he not do now?

They began as it were with a blank slate. We have the more demanding task of restoration. By which things that have been established over these generations need first to be removed. How much more then do we need the glory of that same slate?

Not that we might speak with tongues. No I speak with tongues more then you all. But that we might have the energy and the stamina and the mind of God to do and to build. Because this is his eternal glory.

The glory of this house shall be greater then the former. So yes it's a good idea we ought to do this one day. Of course we'll have to wait for a time when the phone is not ringing. When the kids are home from school.

When there's no great pressure or demand on the ministry. The ideal time. It never came. The world somehow will never provide it. The kingdom of God suffers violence. It cometh not by observation. The violent take it by force.

I can almost paraphrase that. The prophetic take it by force. The single eyed. The intense. The uncompromising. Those that are jealous for the glory of God. And are concerned for something more then good services.

They take it by force. So we just decided to say that beginning on Monday. We are waiting ten days on the Lord. And we began. Hardly knowing how to do it. And the Lord just began to unfold the way. All of the men fasted the complete ten days.

And the women as much as they felt capable. There was 24 hour prayer around the clock for ten days without ceasing. We first tried ourselves, the elders, to stay up all the night in prayer. We were not too successful.

The spirit was willing. But the flesh. So the Lord showed us three hour shifts. And there was a remarkable rotation. By which you found yourself one time or another in the course of those ten days with one group of saints or another.

People with whom I had been living over seven years. But never ever thrust into this kind of situation. Let me commend this to you. To be perhaps say in the sixth or seventh day of your fast. And find yourself with three, four or five other saints from say three to six o 'clock in the morning.

You have long ago ceased being clever. You have even ceased being spiritual. In a word you have ceased. And that's what God is waiting for. That we should come to a complete place of ceasing. That's what the word Sabbath means.

It doesn't mean so much to rest. As it means to desist. To come to a stop. Of all that impulsive and impatient human necessity. And it's remarkable the kind of prayer you'll hear then. It may not be eloquent.

And in that condition it's often not even grammatical. But it is true. It's deep calling unto deep. There's nothing in the way. Your exhaustion and your fast has eaten it up. You don't have the strength to assert your personality.

It's whatever you nakedly are. Before God and before men. Is now being expressed. And you cannot believe the quality and the character of that prayer. Prayers that you would not dream to pray. If your mind was still alert.

But waiting is a form of dying. As also fasting is. And out of that death. His life is expressed. Even his prayers. By his faith. Which so exceeds our own. That it will bring heaven down. Wait he said.

Waiting Without Conditions

And I want to say what for me was the highlight. The glory of God did not fall. We would have loved it. But maybe the Lord was wanting to teach us something. That if you enter a period of waiting. In expectation of a certain reward.

Even spiritual. It is no longer waiting. You are still bringing that same human propensity. That stubborn Jewish mentality. That wants to invest something in order to obtain something. That still makes us the center of our concern.

What we are going to do in the future. What we are going to obtain by virtue of our spirituality or sacrifice. And God says no. That is not yet the kingdom. The kingdom is when you come without any strings attached.

Without any expectation. Any demand or requirement. You say why then should you wait on God? Because he is God. And no other reason. And when you will have done that. You will have restored the foundations of the church.

That is the foundation that has been torn down. In this egocentric age. In which everything is predicated upon man and his needs. God has become for us an expedient. An instrumentality by which we obtain by faith.

Things that pertain to our self-interest. But when have we waited upon God for God's sake? Because he is God. And because the only true and foundational posture of man before God. Is utter prostration.

Where you have nothing to say. Nothing to ask. Nothing to demand. No petitions to raise. You are simply down on your face. Because he is the creator. And you are the creature. God says that is the place of true beginning.

And you will only find it in waiting. I am grateful for the experience. And when I found myself on my face like that. Utterly emptied of myself. With such a sense of the magnificence of God. That the whole earth is full of his glory.

That he deserves to be waited on. To be acknowledged for the king that he is. I thought, Lord, how have we gone on so long. Without waiting. Without asking. That we presume to do this. And we thought that if we prayed together, that would be sufficient.

How presumptuous our whole mode of conduct has been. How shallow our prayer. You were given only a passing moment's consideration. We were so bent on our own purposes. Even though we presumed to do it in your name.

We did not wait. And for this reason his kingdom has not come. Our ministries have come. Our movements and our denominations have come. Built on our human energy. And will. But his kingdom has not come.

And therefore we cannot say to France. Or Germany. America. The nations of the earth. Repent. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That is true kingdom evangelism. And we have had no foundation to cry it.

It has not been spoken in 2000 years. We have not really the authority to call the world to repentance. Because it is inextricably joined together. With a kingdom at hand. Not a phrase spoken. Or another religious cliche.

But an actuality. That can be demonstrated. That is visible. That can be examined. See how they love one another. No man thinks that the thing which he has is his own. These people are strangely freed from selfishness.

They do not exhibit any insecurity. They have some kind of a sublime confidence in God. By which they even sell their houses and lands. And lay the proceeds at the feet of the apostles. They live as if they expect a king to come momentarily.

Such as a piece of their theology. They live as if they anticipate a soon coming king. That is how the church lived 2000 years ago. And that is the only true living. Freedom from insecurity. You are anticipating the king.

The king is coming. And we ourselves are hastening that day. Because we are building the kingdom of heaven. Here in the earth. It is at hand. And when we shall have done the work. By his life. The king will come.

Who has been pent up in the heavens. Waiting for the restoration. Not of our weary tired religious establishments. But of that which God intended from the beginning. The restoration of the kingdom of heaven in earth.

The king is coming to Zion. Do you believe that? If you are not living as if you believe that. You really don't believe. The first church lived apostolically. Gloriously. In anticipation of that coming.

Though it was 2000 years distant. Were they deceived? No, we are. We who are at the very doorstep. The eve of this realization. We live as if this is some very distant consideration. And they who were 2000 years removed.

Lived as if it were imminent and momentary. They were right. And we are deceived. Because we live naturally. Sensually. By what we see. They were in the realm of spirit. They were in the heavenly place.

Which is beyond time. It's not fixed by the categories of men. The future is now. They are in the eternal now. And they lived in that palpitating anticipation. And they lived. That's true living. It's kingdom living.

Kingdom expectation. Kingdom hope. That enables you to build. And to give yourself. It's going to take more than Sunday services. They went from house to house daily breaking bread. It's going to take a whole new changed mindset.

Kingdom Community and Mutual Exhortation

No man thought that the things which he had were his own. It's going to take walking in the light as he is in the light. Confess your faults one to another. Exhort one another daily while it is yet today.

Next Sunday is too late. The deception has already gone too far. Living in this sin-filled earth. And all of the power of its seduction and subtlety. Exhort one another daily. Lest there come that hardening of heart by the deceitfulness of sin.

For the first manifestation of sin is its deceitfulness. Even to disguise sin as sin. We call it only a personality quirk. Or love or temperament. We rationalize, we justify. That's why we need a brother who loves us.

And who will face us. For the truth of the gospel sake. And say, brother, I've got to say to you. That there's something that is happening in your life. I can hear it even in your voice. That makes me uncomfortable.

This relationship with this woman. You may think it harmless. And you've not done anything. But I want to tell you before it goes any further. This is unseemly in God's sight. Make not even the appearance of evil.

Thank you, brother. I didn't see that. I was just completely taken up with this. And I really thought it harmless. But now that you speak these words. I'm convicted. The word is Lord for me. Out of your mouth.

It's truth spoken in love. And I'm going to change. Thank you for saving me. From what might have been an increasing deception. And then a fall. Do you have brothers like that? Those that believed were together.

Was more than sitting alongside each other in pews. Those that believed were together. And they went on from glory to glory. Seeing in each other's faces. The glory of God. Not seeing the back of each other's heads.

They were not all looking up to a platform. Where one minister was conducting the whole show. Where the room is in the form of a theater. And the minister himself is compelled to be a performer. While the congregation becomes passive spectator.

That needs to be rooted up and plucked out and destroyed. And I'll tell you what has to be restored. When you come together. Each one has. A tongue and interpretation. A revelation, a hymn, a song. We need to turn the pews around.

We need to face each other. We need to end this domination of single men over entire congregations. They might even be grateful. To be relieved of the unnatural burden. Our Christian life needs to be more than a succession of services.

We're called to be a community of God's people. A kingdom come. It's a social phenomenon. Something being planted even as these words are going forth. God is wanting to do something more than just present a kingdom.

A concept. This is more than an idea that should be entertained. This is something holy that needs to be planted. The passion for his kingdom. The faith to believe for it. That will enable you to sacrifice for it.

Because God says my house shall be called a house of sacrifice. It's the end of being a passive spectator. We need to be dynamic participants. Every joint needs to supply. That we might all come. Into the unity of the faith.

Into the fullness and stature of Jesus Christ himself. Unto a perfect man. Till we all come. And for this purpose. God gave to the church. And is still giving. Some apostles and some prophets. For the church, this kind of church.

Built upon the foundation. Of the apostles and the prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. This building shall not be shaken. The glory of this house shall be greater than the former.

That when the queen of Sheba came and saw the glory of that temple of Solomon. She said the half has not been told. Paul says unto him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus. Not by the good intentions of men.

Or their religious effort. By Christ Jesus. The very life of the king himself. That is put into dead men. Who are prostrate before him. Who have no life of themselves. Or for themselves. That of him and through him and to him.

Through him. Be glory forever. Unto him be glory in the church. Be of the manner in which you were called. For the kingdom. For the kingdom and the glory. Glory. You will not find it in the dictionary.

It has got to be planted in you. The sense of jealousy for the glory of God. That will ruin you for anything less. God wants to destroy. Any other kind of ambition. Than the jealousy for the glory of the king.

It is something that he has to do. As he has done everything else with us in these days. It is his word that has rooted up and plucked out. And destroyed. That he might now build and plant. The glory of his kingdom.

That we might walk worthy of the manner in which we were called. It is another kind of walk. It is more than just being proper. Or being polite. Or free from carnal sin. It is walking worthy of the manner of the glory of the kingdom.

The Body of Christ Requires Each Other

And it is a walk for which we are not capable alone. For this we need each other desperately. I need my brother. I need his truth for me. Because there are things that I cannot see to which I am blind.

And I need the kind of love that will not spare me. Which is true love. And not earthly sentiments. I need his finances. When I have not my own. I need his prayers. That are more than just a momentary aside.

But avail much because they are fervent. Because he is a righteous man. Because the saints have helped him so to be. Because God has used the saints to correct and adjust him. We need each other. And Sunday's will not do this.

You say, but brother my career. My job. My family. My suburban home. Seek first. The kingdom of heaven. It is the purpose for which we were saved. And when the gospel of this kingdom shall be proclaimed.

Then shall the end come. The end of the earth being looted and pillaged and raped. The end of debauchery and rape. The end of warfare and bloodshed. Then will the end come. And the new beginning. The heavenly Jerusalem.

The city of God. And all the nations. Shall come up to Jerusalem. I do not know if that means the actual physical place there in the Middle East. The Lord shall go forth out of Zion. Not the expediencies and the compromises of men and their political intrigues.

But the law of God. Righteousness shall prevail in the earth. For the earth is the Lord. And he shall rule and reign. With his people. Through his church. Don't you know you're going to judge angels? Seeing these things.

What manner of men ought we to be? When you see these things. You beat your chest and you cry out, woe is me. That I was caught up in the excitement of the charismatic renewal. And some hope for ecumenical unity.