The garden of Eden was the original kingdom. Everything man needed was there. With his expulsion from the garden came work. “Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” Genesis 3:23-24  For the past several weeks I have been burdened for the the Body of Christ concerning it’s restoration to the kingdom of God. By faith are we saved not of works least any man should boast. From the beginning God has chosen us to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. Salvation is only to the righteous. The way of righteousness is by faith. It is a race to run. Sanctification is all about cleansing and renewing the mind to the word of God. God has called us to a glorious kingdom by sending His only begotten Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sin that separated us in the garden. Now Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father expecting to make His enemies His footstool. This kingdom whose seed was prepared in Israel established on the throne of David is awaiting our full entrance. In Christ we are destined to be with Him in our Father’s kingdom. Now it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He appears, we shall be like Him.

 

God always used a seed to show us the way to His kingdom. From the seed of Abraham to the seed of David, man has been taught the message of sowing and reaping. Jesus masterful illustrated the kingdom as a seed. Our faith is as a seed that is destined with proper nourishment, to bring abundant blessings. God has put in the seed the essence of creative elements necessary to develop what ever the seed is meant to be. What ever it will be, the seed has the plan. Man was given responsibility to sow the seed as a testimony of faith and obedience toward God. God responds to our faith by allowing life to prosper and grow.

 

"And they continued steadfastly in the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayer. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need..." Acts 2:42-47

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:...and it doth not ye appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” I John 3:1-3  The seed does not yet appear what it shall be, but the plan is that it will be the will of God. What ever God envisions in the seed this is its destiny. Thus the seed is the hope of what ever is God’s plan. We like a seed are destined to be in the image of Christ. It is important to those seeking the kingdom of God to know that the laws governing our destiny is already determined. Only by the righteousness of faith is there genuine hope of entering the kingdom. Only the right seed, God’s word can renew our minds to be in His image. Only through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in truth can we expect to be saved! Moses was faithful and all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. All the sacrifices spoke of only one worthy sacrifice - Christ. Jesus challenged us “...if any man come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow” Matthew” 16:24 There is no other way to follow Christ. This is the only seed we can sow that yields the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Denying self to follow Christ is being sanctified into life. This is the cleansing and renewal spoken in the burnt offering sacrifices of Israel. In Israel is the portrait of approaching God’s holiness, Righteousness and judgment. Paul writes “Present your body a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1  I submit to you this is the one single seed that will make all the distress of modern ministry joyful.

 
 

In Christ we are, wholly acceptable through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. We need not worry about tithes and offerings. Once we have given our life to Christ all things are God’s. Note in Acts 2:44-47 “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people, And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Giving characterized the attitude of the New Testament church. The believers did not have to be preached a sermon on tithes and offerings. They demonstrated their love for one another by sharing every resource. They had all things common. One of the biggest problems in the church today is covetousness  which Paul called idolatry that will surely keep us out of the kingdom of God. If any man would deny self they could follow after Jesus to enter the kingdom where each member meets the needs of each other.

 

“And they continued steadfastly in the Apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayer. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need...” Acts 2:42-47

 

The ministry should never view giving as the source of getting the vision of the ministry done. Rather giving is the source of entering ministry. The rich young man in Mark 10 came running, kneeling, questioning Christ what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? After quizzing the young man on basic religious keeping, Jesus went right to the heart of what the kingdom was about challenging Him to “...go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” Mark 10:21 Most people get excited about the kingdom until they hear about selling all. In reality if we really desire the things of God, we will not be content with just the things of the world. No man can serve two masters. The test is “trust”.  Where our treasure is there is our heart also. If we reign with Christ, we must suffer with him. This is the challenge facing the body of Christ. James says a double minded man is unstable in all His ways and should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. The ministry of today is far from the New Testament ministry. Whereas today’s ministry rely on so many natural things to carry out its mission, the New Testament ministry had only the hope in Christ. Because of this it had power. Obviously tithes and offerings were not the heart of the ministry as Peter and John went to the temple and saw the lame man waiting before the gates beautiful to ask alms. “Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. ...Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping, and praising God.” Acts 3:3-8  This is what today’s ministry really need - the power of God. As long as we are trusting in uncertain riches rather than treasure in heaven we will never finish the greater work. So many today are blind, lame, begging for things to fulfill lust of the flesh to destroy their temple (body) desperately needing wholeness. How can they hear with out a preacher with the power and faith to believe God for all things. These are the true seeds of the kingdom of heaven. The most often quoted message to promote tithes in Malachi, is seldom taken as a whole as a prophesy of Christ’s return to the temple to cleanse the ministry to offer offerings in righteousness. Malachi 3. The storehouse has its origin in the reign of Hezekiah, who built chambers known as storehouses to store an over abundance of gifts given to restore the temple. II Chronicles 31:11

 

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

 

In our ambition to get church buildings built and program going let us never over look that the “temple” which contained storehouses was a revelation of Christ himself. Also the temple testified of our bodies - the temple of the Holy Ghost. Christ identified the temple as his body telling his disciples He would destroy and rebuild it in three days. Let us not build again those things Christ came to abolish in revelation of Himself. The veil in the temple separated the holy place from the  Holy of Holies. At Christ’s crucifixion this veil was torn in two from top to bottom giving revelation of our immediate access into the presence of God by faith in Christ. To magnify the testimony above the reality -“Christ” undermines salvation by grace. Surely Peter and John were not cursed with a curse as they went to the temple empty handed and healed the man waiting at the gate by the power of God. Jesus taught in Matthew 6 that when we give alms let not the left hand know what the right is doing. Surely this is a message of not trusting even in giving as the source of God’s acceptance. As we give our whole life by denying self we follow Christ into that glorious kingdom.

Let us not be blind to the testimonies of God. They clearly mirror us in the image of Christ. This is our only worthy offering. We need not go through life always defeated by lust disqualified from running the race to full entrance in the kingdom of God. Christ, our fore runner has entered within the veil for ever. Christ is the captain of our salvation perfected through suffering to bring the many sons to glory. He has sanctified us as His brethren. Hebrew 2:10-11  He became poor, that we may become rich. His image settles all controversies concerning meeting basic needs. Jesus says “Therefore ...take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what shall ye shall put on...Behold the fowls of the air...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; ...yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:25-34  God has fashioned all heaven and earth for our appearance in the New Jerusalem the highlight of His glorious kingdom.  His ultimate desire is our fellowship by our partaking of His divine nature. Christ is the expressed image of God. We the many member body are the expression of Christ.  God has created a new thing- Jerusalem a rejoicing and His people a joy. Let us be His house holding fast to rejoicing in the hope firm until the end!

 

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek shall suddenly come to this temple, ..and he shall purify the sons of Levi...that they might offer unto the Lord offerings in righteousness.” Malachi 3:1-3