A Kingdom Without Borders
By J. T. Pugh
“To His kingdom there shall be no frontiers” (personal paraphrase).
The year was 1934. As a ten-year-old boy I pulled myself up level with the window ledge of a small wooden building and viewed a part of God’s kingdom for the first time. It was a gathering of less than sixty people.
Three years later I attended a Louisiana |District Conference. There were thirty five preachers present. In 1938 I was beaten for the gospel’s sake. In the office of Pastor Paul Cook there hangs a picture of a General Conference held in 1940 in Port Arthur, Texas. The picture shows 200 people present. At age sixteen I sat among them filled with expectancy.
The present Pentecostal revival ha such a small beginning. It was postured as such in the prophecy of Isaiah in 740 B.C. He stated that “The Mighty God” would be born as a child and the increase of His government and peace should have no end (to His kingdom there shall be
no frontiers). This promise was underwritten and guaranteed by the tact that “the zeal (passion) of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” A spiritual kingdom was promised that would finally have no frontiers. It would be without borders.
Let what has happened just since 1940 justify this prophecy. What an advance has been made in the last 62 years! By what is claimed to be a reliable count, more that 500,000,000 people now speak with tongues worldwide. This growth occurred in a time of only 102 years. The Catholic Church by contrast, has been present in the earth 1700 years. Their size is counted at more than a group that came into being only 102 years ago.
It is true that the vast majority of tongue speaking people have not yet embraced the full apostolic message. But don’t forget God’s promise; “The zeal (passion) of the Lord of hosts shall perform this” (Isaiah 9:7). More and more we hear of entire congregations being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
The world has experienced a tremendous rain of the Spirit in the last century. This is according to the prophecy of Joel 2:28. Other prophecies also predicts a rain of truth. In his last words to Israel Moses spoke two great prophecies that are the heart of Jesus Christ’s church today. He prophesied the coming of Jesus: “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto me,… he shall speak unto them all I command him … my words shall he speak in my name” (Deuteronomy 18:17-18). In this same address Moses prophesied a pouring out of revelation; “My doctrine shall drop as the rain; my speech shall distill as the dew, … because I will publish the name of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 32:2-3).
I am convinced that many Jesus name Pentecostals living today are going to witness not only continual spirit outpouring, but shall also see, “doctrine drop as the rain.” Jesus stated that true worship was not accomplished unless both the elements of “Spirit and truth” were involved. “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:23-24).
The greatest revival of “Spirit and truth is in the future, not in the past. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32). Jesus is saying that the focus of God is upon people still in the present frame of time. The saints of the past are sealed in safety. They “are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). As the eternal “I am” God has no past (Revelation 1:18).
With the exception of Southern e Baptist all other old-line religious organizations are in a state of decline. Southern Baptist has escaped stagnation by continuously profiling a greater future. They attempt to utilize “the pull y of the future.” All heritage driven denominations always stagnate. Such organizations focus on a bit of history that someone else caused to be. The energy that drives them runs through a few generations and is dissipated. The pull of the
future is stronger than the memory of the past. That which one wishes to obtain has a greater attraction than that which we wish to retain.
For that reason Jesus Christ postured His church as ever emerging. “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). What advancements the Kingdom of God has made since I received the Holy Ghost 65 years ago! The best is yet to come! “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). To his kingdom there shall be no frontiers. It shall be a kingdom without borders.
The Above Material Was Published By The Indiana Apostolic Trumpet, May 2002, Page 7. This Material Is Copyrighted And May Be Used For Study & Research Purposes Only.
