This is about people who are walking with God, moving in the supernatural, but there's something really missing in what they do and how they do it. It's not that they aren't seeing results - they're seeing people healed, delivered, touched by the presence or power of God, but there's something missing at the core of their being. Notice what He says: 1) I didn't know you; 2) you did your own thing
Okay, just let's open our Bible in Titus, Chapter 2 again; and we're doing a series we started last week, and it was Zealous for Good Works [Sun 29 Apr 2012 AM]. I want to go back to the key verse on this. We'll just keep repeating the key verse, and God wants you to be productive with your life. One of the greatest concerns to me as a Pastor is, over the years, to watch people fritter away their life. You've only got one life to live and there's so much at stake; so for the first term we were sharing, giving an eternal perspective, and what's at stake for you; to live your life powerfully now, and to live it for God.
But then it raises the practical thing; well we're called to do something, not just come to meetings. And meetings are great, but that's not what Christian life is about. Meetings are to build you, so you can live out the Christian life; and the Christian life is about doing the works of Christ. Today I want to share with you just what I call Foundations for Fruitbearing. Foundations for fruitbearing - and then in another session I'll begin to show you how you can identify what Jesus has called you specifically to do, but as you'll see in this, all of us are called to do this, and this is a key to be actually effective. So let's just look at a couple of scriptures where we were, then we'll give you something new today.
So have a look in Titus 2 verse 14, and it says: Looking for the blessed hope, and glorious appearing, of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every inequity, or all inequity; and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Jesus gave His life for a purpose. It was not just to get you to Heaven. If you think in those terms, you miss that His message was about the kingdom. The purpose of God originally, for man, was to be His representative on earth, and advance His kingdom in the earth - to bring Heaven to earth. It has not changed.
In Revelation we see people, and they are reigning on earth. You have to get a perspective, you're called to change this world we live in, not run away from it. We're called to influence it. We're called to bring the kingdom of Heaven to it, and that's not something about praying for revival. This is about you engaging with God personally, and expressing His life through the things you do, the works you do. And so the question then comes up: well what does God want me to do? We'll address that in another session. This is a foundation to it.
Let's have a look in Matthew Chapter 7. Go back to there where we were; Matthew, Chapter 7 - because we saw that the difficulty was, when you just end up running around being busy, doing all of this and all of that; God is - His purpose is, that we be passionate and active advancing His kingdom; but one of the key things that we saw last time, was that intimacy with the Lord is crucial to knowing what He wants you to do. No one can tell you what He wants you to do. You've got to discover it for yourself.
The second thing we saw, was that the way you go about doing what you do, is also very important. In other words, not just go out and do your own thing. There's an alignment with Heaven that's important, so let's have a look in Matthew 7 verse 21. Not everyone who says: 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of Heaven. He that does the will of my Father in Heaven; for many will say in that day, speaking of the coming day of judgement, day of the Lord, that: we prophesied, and we cast out demons. Wow, we worked some great miracles. Yay, He said. I declare to you: I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice inequity.
This is an incredibly serious passage, so if you interpret that this is about people being saved or not saved - you've missed it. This is about people who are walking with God, moving in the supernatural, but there's something really missing in what they do, and how they do it. It's not that they aren't seeing results. They are seeing people healed, they are seeing people delivered, they are seeing people touched by the presence or power of God, but there's something missing at the core of their being. Notice what He says: two things; one, I didn't know you; and two, you did your own thing. To work inequity is to just do your own thing; whatever's in your life, do what you feel to do, what you think to do. There's a core of lawlessness around that.