In the traditional church model, it’s impossible for a pastor to teach something contrary to denominational doctrine. They’re invested in the doctrine. The doctrine supports them. All their relationships revolve around the doctrine. Their future and the future of their family are in the doctrine. It’s similar to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes. They couldn’t hear the truth from Jesus because they were too invested in their traditions, rituals, relationships, status, and livelihoods. But not me. God has provided me with a platform solely dependent on His Word. God provides everything necessary, both in Spirit and resources, for me to speak His word to build up his children in faith, hope, and love.
With that said, in the last episode, I said to live God’s truth, we need to start in the right direction. The first step in our journey of faith is the most important. In the traditional church, a believer’s first step is to learn what that church believes and become a member by learning their statement of faith. But if you’re a new believer, you have no concept of the Bible, much less how to read it or make sense of it. New believers are directed to church doctrines and rituals but not Christ.
When the first church began, it was different. Everything was new. The disciples were with Jesus for three years but understood very little about what they were supposed to do without Christ around. What did Jesus tell them (Matthew 16:19)? This conversation occurred just a few months before the crucifixion. Jesus was preparing the disciples for his death. How would they deal with their lack of understanding when he leaves them? There was no new members class for them to attend. Jesus would give them the keys to understanding the kingdom of heaven. Keys are a sign of authority. If you have the keys, then you have the power to unlock the door. Jesus gave the keys to them and us to open the doors of understanding the kingdom of heaven. I’m going to give you five of those keys. I promise you’ll unlock the kingdom of heaven in your life if you use them.
Jesus prepares the disciples for his departure in Luke 24:44-49. Everything that happened to Jesus was written about in the Tanakh – the Law, the prophets, the writings/poetry. This is a key to how believers must read the Old Testament. Everything points to Jesus (1 Peter 1:10-11 & John 5:39-40). The ability to be a witness for Christ comes from the Spirit, not from years of education, degrees, and ordinations. Believers are empowered to witness Christ to others by the Spirit. What is our witness? The image of Christ living in us, just like the disciples.
What did the disciples do with this information (Acts 1:12-14)? The first thing they did was pray. They knew prayer was a key to understanding the kingdom of heaven.
They grew and learned because they had the keys (Acts 6:1-4). In those days [the beginnings of the church], as the disciples were increasing in number [after the miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, and all the visitors to Jerusalem for the religious festival of Pentecost heard the Gospel in their language, many believed in Jesus] there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution [many Hellenistic Jews who had travelled to Jerusalem decided to stay in Jerusalem to learn more about their new faith. A Hellenistic Jew was a Greek who converted to Judaism and spoke Greek. The Hebraic Jews were culturally Jewish but could have traveled to Jerusalem for the festival from other places. Having this new faith, they decided to stay in Jerusalem, but either running out of finances or expecting the Lord to return quickly, they extended their stay. The church had to care for the widows since they didn’t have husbands to provide for them. This was becoming a point of contention in the young community].
The twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables [the disciples had been commissioned by Jesus to preach the Gospel. That was their number one focus. The 12 weren’t literally passing food out to the widows, but they were having to deal with the disputes coming up because of the food distribution. They had to devise a solution so they could focus on preaching]. Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty [the answer to the situation was to delegate. What qualified those to care for the widows needs? They had a ‘good reputation.’ What did that mean? The Greek word “martureo” means “bearing witness to the truth.” In other words, they were experienced witnesses for Christ. Our word “martyr” comes from this word. They have a good reputation as a witness of Christ. They had spiritual wisdom from the Holy Spirit, which every believer receives when they believe. Knowledge of the doctrines of the Greek or Hebrew Jews wasn’t important. They didn’t need good managers; they needed faithful believers]. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 Keys to Unlock the Kingdom of Heaven:
The Word: let the Bible interpret the Bible using Jesus as the interpretation key.
Prayer: seek God for enlightenment, guidance, and words.
The Spirit: the Spirit encourages, inspires, and empowers.
Faith: Faith is as faith does. We talk about what we believe in. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God.
Community: interaction with a community of believers.
If you use these five keys, the door to the kingdom of heaven will be unlocked in your spiritual relationship with God, Christ, the Spirit, and other believers.
