We have briefly discussed how the democratic principles born out of the church during the Protestant Reformation have blessed and set free many nations in this age. It is also the form of government which, when applied to the church, is considered by many to be one of the great inhibitors to the freedom of the Spirit to rule in the church. Certainly this can be the case, but it need not be. Historically, it was the Reformers applying democratic principles to church government that fired the greatest advance of the gospel since the first century through the Protestant...

As we are addressing ways that we can help build the highway for our God and the coming of His kingdom, and that a kingdom is fundamentally a government, we should expect the coming government of God to be born out of the church, His body, through which He will shine His light to the world. However, there are presently many different forms of church government, some of which seem to be in opposition to one another. Even so, as we proceed toward that time, we will instead start seeing them complement one another.

The kingdom is much...

As we continue this week with our brief study of the kingdom government of God, we will consider democracy's place in that government. Of course, many great teachers who have had a vision of the coming kingdom have stated that there will be no democracy in the kingdom because the people will not rule in it, the Lord will. This argument certainly has a lot of merit to it, but there are other factors that we need to consider.

Democracy was born out of the church, which was one of the great contributions of The Reformation that certainly...

From a basic knowledge of church history, we can begin to recognize, understand, and avoid the traps that continue to cause many Christian movements to stumble. This is good and necessary, but we also need to understand the foundations for the coming kingdom which have been laid by our spiritual fathers and mothers so we can see more clearly what we are called to do in our own generation, and to carry this forward in preparing the way for the Lord. This is the building of the highway for our God.

The kingdom of God is basically God's...

As we proceed toward considering how we can help build the highway for our God, we want to occasionally fortify the foundations of our own spiritual lives. Just as there were five pillars at the door of the Holy Place in the tabernacle of God and the Holy of Holies, there are five basic principles that enable us to enter the deeper realms of the spiritual life. These are basics which we should have growing in our lives, regardless of how mature we become. They are:

1) To continually grow in our personal relationship...