3 things

[aron]

A kingdom is an area over which one has some sway, some authority. And we each have received a portion. Our portions vary -- some have one talent, some 2 talents, some 5 talents (someone might have 3.6 talents; we are not strictly limited to those 3 enumerations by Jesus. They are hypotheticals given for comparison purposes only).

Now, if we have 1 talent, we don't want to hide it in a napkin, in a hole in the earth. We want to do business. Likewise, if we have 2 talents, we want to gain 2 more. Merely gaining 1 talent from an original disbursement of 2 talents signifies an opportunity cost. It's like selling your BMW for 2,000 dollars. Yeah, you got something, but it was worth at least $8,500 in that condition, so your "gain" of 2,000 dollars actually represented a 6,500 "loss" of what should have been your return. Likewise, you want to get 2 more talents from your original 2 talents, and to gain 5 talents from your 5. Anything less will be considered sub-optimal.

But, you also don't want to overreach. If you have 2 talents, and try to gain 5, you will suffer loss. Like overbidding in the game of "21". You don't want to get a hand of 22, because that equals "0".

I say this because of the parable of the man going out with 10,000 who meets a man coming against him with 20,000 troops. (Luke chapter 14) Jesus said, "Don't fight against one stronger than you." If God wants to deal with this opposer, God can produce an army greater than 20,000. Instead, you should take your 10,000 troops and find a smaller opponent, say 5,000 troops. Then you'll have your victory, with commensurate spoils.

Well, what does this have to do with my topic? We have full command over our inner kingdom, our heart. If we want to be miserable, we can just turn on the news for a while; eventually we'll see something disgusting and we can become outraged and angry. The world is full of bad news if you want to find some. But if you want an inner kingdom of peace and joy, you also have that option.

This inner kingdom is fully given to each and every believer. Through faith in Jesus Christ we have made peace with God and with one another. And when we receive one another, and we assemble together, and we trade our peace, and joy, our consolation and hope and encouragement, we are "doing business until our Master returns"... and we can expect some reward.

But as YP put it, we are limited in space and time, so we should not overstretch our allotted portion. God has wisely put a neighbor next to each one of us; someone to care for and uplift. But if we go all "universal", and try to become the arbiters and spokesman for the "feeling in the Body", as some of our midguided brethren seem to be doing, we overstep our bounds. We just showed a hand of "22" in the game of "21". We reveal a hand of no value.

So how do we know our limit? How to avoid overbidding? My thought is to follow the Spirit. We are like blind men in a room: we cannot see the walls, the edges. All we can do is follow the spirit. At some point the spirit will say "stop" and we have to train ourselves to listen to this small still voice.

Paul at one point wanted to go and preach the gospel in Asia and Bithinia, but the Holy spirit forbade him to do so. At one point Philip was walking down by the south road from Jerusalem, and the Spirit told him to run up to a chariot and address the rider. At one point the Spirit might say "go", another point it might say "halt". Jesus said that we shouldn't worry before hand what we are to speak, because the Spirit in that very hour will supply us with the utterance (see Matt. ch 10).

Jesus said that the Spirit would come, and guide us into all the reality (see John ch 14). Reality is nothing less than the abiding Spirit (John 15). We are being trained to follow the leading of the Spirit by His presence, His parousia. When we meet with one another, there is a strengthening of this inner presence, and also an outward expression; an issue.

But any desire to meet for "extra-local" affairs, i.e. for domains or realms beyond the assembly itself, whether they be ministries, sects, denominations, movements, or whatever, are a distraction from the leading of the Spirit, which is the neighbor He's sovereignly placed beside you. When you trample your neighbor for some "foriegn affair", you clearly have left the leading of the Holy Spirit.