SoiKosum

Perhaps such leaders have in them a fear of man rather than the fear of God. Nowadays virtually every church is focused on numbers - they see Church growth as a sign that God is blessing them. This is erroneous. From the growth in numbers, the offering increases, with which the Church can use to fund more building projects, programmes, etc. The richer the church, the more holy and blessed the Church is perceived to be. The richer the church, the more "influence" it has. No congregation - no money; no money - no status and so the fear begins. The leader will not confront and instead compromises are made. Confrontation and rebuke can serve to open the eyes of the person being rebuked, provided this is done in love. Refusing to confront can also put the leader in the firing line - "why didn't you tell me?"

Moses was distracted by the people. He was influenced by the people (foremen) who were blaming him (Moses) for their troubles. In turn, Moses turned to God and started to question God. He allowed himself to be manipulated. We see with our natural eyes and many times, our first response is to question God. This could stem from a lack of faith, fear, unbelief or may be even disobedience. God will reason and encourage but up to a certain point God will command. After repeated attempts, Moses and Aaron were still refusing to bring God's word to Pharoah. God had no choice but to command them to do so.

Our fear to obey is because we do not know the outcome - fear of the unknown. We do not see the big picture. We are not willing to move out of our comfort zones. We need to submit to God. We need to have the living Word dwell richly in us. God has already said that He has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of boldness. Fear can sometimes give us the courage to act. We need to be able to channel that fear, through our faith and focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, to spur us on to action. Courage to act and do what is right is important because the road is not smooth. People do not automatically follow us just because we are in positions of authority. Our beliefs and actions will always be challenged. There will always be differing opinions and a "better" way of doing things. However, to believers there is only one way - God's way. Thus we must have the boldness, confidence and courage to act, based on God's way.

God demands our single-minded focus and commitment. We are not to waver to the right or to the left. Our focus should always be on the Lord Jesus Christ. When Matthew's focus was on Jesus, he was able to walk on water. As soon as he took his eyes off Jesus, Matthew began to sink. When we make excuses, it is an affront to God. Imagine being summoned to the King's palace and instead of making haste, we dragged our feet and made excuses about being busy and having other responsibilities. That will be a gross insult to the King. The call is urgent as we have been commissioned to bring the Word to the ends of the earth and then the end will come. The Second coming of Christ is dependent on when this commission can be fulfilled. Our excuses is trivial as God's intention is to make sure that the Great Banquet is completely filled before the doors are closed and the feast can begin. The Lord is patient ... not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

One theme of the Great Banquet is about grace and mercy. Those who are not worthy to come to the Lord's table i.e. the poor, lame, crippled, blind, are invited. We who are unworthy to eat at our Lord's table, have now been invited and cleansed to feast with the Lord. The Great Banquet is also about judgement as the first batch of guests who rejected the Lord's invitation will now never eat at the feast in the Kingdom of God. The second batch of guests eg the poor, the lame, the crippled and the blind are sought and urged to come to the Great Banquet. This is about evangelising and bringing God's word to the people. The End time event is the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Kingdom of God is small because God uses the weak, the poor, the insignificant and the individual to bring His word to the world. As God works through His disciples, the number of people who acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Saviour will grow and hence the Kingdom of God will grow. The way to the Kingdom door is narrow as we can only find it when we are truly repentant and obedient to the word of God. The Kingdom banquet is large and diverse because the invitation of made to all peoples including both Jews and Gentiles. However, it is also selective as one must have a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus before we are allowed to stay.