DANIEL 2:40\u201344<\/b><\/p>\n
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed \u2026<\/i><\/p>\n
(Dan. 2:44)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The popular hymn \u201cOnward Christian Soldiers\u201d describes the church in its current state, as the church militant. This does not mean that the church wields the sword, but it does mean that the church is advancing in the world with the proclamation of the Gospel. It means that through our love, service, benevolence, profession, and sacrifice, we are witnesses to a lost people of the hope in Jesus Christ. It also means that this advancement is a threat to the world, to its complacency in sin; and, as such, the church is considered a danger. When the world has not been able to silence this \u201cthreat,\u201d this testimony of Christ, it has persecuted the church. As is apparent from the bloody history of the church, Christians are engaged in a battle; it is a spiritual warfare, but it is often manifested in physical attacks on the church.<\/p>\n
When the church was scattered from Jerusalem because of persecutions (Acts 8), the people went forward with the cross of Christ held out before them. The leaders of the church were not the ones who fled, but it was the rank and file Christians\u2014the laity, whom Christ used to spread His Gospel to distant lands. It is the job of every individual in the church to be advancing the kingdom through their witness either in word or deed, or through evangelism, which is the proclamation of Christ and the call to repentance. As the laity is mobilized in families, communities, and nations, the kingdom of God is advanced. This kingdom is not like the kingdom of Israel, a visible nation with kings and judges, but it is a spiritual kingdom whose leader is Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n
Jesus has promised that His church will continue to advance, that even the gates of hell will not prevail against it as it moves forward, proclaiming the Gospel to a hopeless world. Then one day, when Jesus Christ returns to gather in His sheep, the battle will be won, and the church will enter eternity as the church triumphant, as the church at rest. But that day has not arrived, and until it does, we are called to stand fast in the battle, to continue to advance the kingdom of Christ by being witnesses and by proclaiming His truth. In this way, more and more will be added to the church and Christ will be glorified by the faithfulness of His people.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalms 19\u201321<\/p>\n
Acts 20:1\u201324<\/p>\n
How are you personally playing a part in the advancement of Christ\u2019s kingdom? How are you being a witness to His power in your life? Set aside some time this week to do something specific as a Christian witness. Share the Gospel with your neighbor, serve at a Christian soup kitchen, or give clothes or other supplies to the poor. Be creative.<\/p>\n
For further study: Matt. 28:16\u201320 \u2022 John 18:33\u201337 \u2022 Acts 8:1\u20133; 18:1\u20139<\/i><\/p>\n
wednesday<\/p>\n
july<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DANIEL 2:40\u201344 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed \u2026 (Dan. 2:44). The popular hymn \u201cOnward Christian Soldiers\u201d describes the church in its current state, as the church militant. This does not mean that the church wields the sword, but it … Continue reading “THE CHURCH MILITANT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}