Tag Archives: kingdom of God

He Is Still Speaking

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HE IS STILL SPEAKING!

“‘Go to this people and tell them this:
You’re going to listen with your ears,
but you won’t hear a word;
You’re going to stare with your eyes,
but you won’t see a thing.
These people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.”

“‘You’ve had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And, believe me; they’re going to receive it with open arms!’

“Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all the matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open.” Acts 28:26-31 (The Message).

And so our journey with Paul ends today. From Jerusalem to Rome — what a journey! What a story! Paul was no ordinary traveller. He could have made the trip across land in a few weeks or by ship in a few days. He was a messenger, a herald of the King, taking the message of hope to an earthly empire ruled by fear. His story had to be painstakingly told, day by day, town, by town, city by city, giving people an opportunity to listen, think and respond.

His biggest disappointment was the response of his own people. Time after time he met with the same reaction. A few believed but many rejected him and his message. He experienced what the prophets had spoken of centuries before, and they knew what they were talking about because they had first-hand experience of their people’s stubborn hearts.

Once again, in Rome, Paul had to shake the dust off his feet of those who heard the invitation to choose life but had chosen instead to walk away. He had faithfully delivered his message to them first but most of them were not interested in a place in the eternal kingdom of God. They were comfortable and complacent in their sin. It was too much effort to rouse themselves from their stupor and their false hope to embrace this new life, full of suffering, yes, but also full of hope.

As we cast our eyes across the years and across the miles of this man’s journey, what do we see? We see man who had only one vision. One would think that Rome would be his cue to retire. After all, had he not fulfilled his commission to take the good news of Jesus to the world?

Rome was the heart of his world, and here he was, at last, telling his story in the centre of his universe. But “retire” was not in Paul’s vocabulary. Like the Cheshire cat in “Alice in Wonderland”, whose smile was the last thing to fade, when he finally left, only his voice would be left to tell the story of Jesus!

Luke does not finish Paul’s story, perhaps because his story is not done. He had a mission to complete, to stand before Nero to offer him the opportunity to believe in Jesus. Nero too, rejected the message and demanded Paul’s head as the price for his faithfulness.

Like Abel, whose voice cried out from the ground long after his death; like Jesus, whose blood speaks of better things, Paul’s voice was not silenced when his blood was shed. His life, his letters keep on speaking of the One he faithfully served, and he still calls for a response to his eternal message of hope.

God Has His Ways!

Christian Life, ,

GOD HAS HIS WAYS!

“The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them…Saul was right there, congratulating the killers.

“That set off a terrific persecution of the church in Jerusalem. The believers were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. All, that is, but the apostles. Good and brave men buried Stephen, giving him a solemn funeral — not many dry eyes that day!” Acts 8:1-2 (The Message).

God has His ways of getting the job done and His instructions carried out. In the early history of the world, He instructed the first pair, Adam and Eve, to multiply and fill the earth. They multiplied alright but, instead of moving out across the earth, they congregated in one place and began to build a tower and set up a false religion in rebellion against God.

At that stage they spoke only one language. God is smart! He knew how to get them to move – confuse their languages, which is just what He did. When they could no longer understand one another, they separated and moved away from each other. Those that remained called their city Babel — the place of confusion — which became the city of Babylon, symbolic of the anti-God world system which will be destroyed when Jesus returns.

Jesus told His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. But they stayed in Jerusalem. They were comfortable in their circle until this moment when all hell broke loose against them and they were forced to flee from Jerusalem.

But instead of persecution destroying the church and silencing the believers, it only served to spread the message beyond Jerusalem, which was exactly what God wanted. Wherever the believers went, they carried with them the precious story of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit who was in them. Their love, their unity, their unshakeable conviction that Jesus was alive, and even their courage in the face of persecution was so compelling that more and more people joined their ranks in spite of the personal danger of associating with the church.

We see, repeatedly, how God orchestrates the lives and circumstances of His people, which often times seems unfair and even cruel, to serve both His kingdom and His people. No matter how bad things seem to be, the outcome proves that God knows what He is doing. What we think is irreversible disaster turns out to be the best thing that could ever have happened. On hindsight we would not have wanted it any other way!

Look at the scenario. The Jerusalem church was growing, consolidating and flourishing. The people had great favour in the city and then…Peter and John went and healed a crippled beggar! That got the attention of the religious authorities. This was not just a co-incidence. This Jesus, whom they thought they had exterminated, was rearing up His head again. His followers were not only claiming He was alive, they were proving it by doing what He did. They had to be stopped. So they jailed and threatened them.

But it didn’t stop there. Stephen was not even an apostle yet he was also doing what the apostles were doing — and accusing the Sanhedrin of more than murdering Jesus. He accused them of perpetuating the murderous behaviour of their forefathers who killed the prophets for foretelling the coming of Messiah.

This aroused the bitter hatred of a fanatical young Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus. The incident with Stephen released a flood of persecution led by Saul, which sent the believers scattering — just what God wanted!

Does this not give us huge encouragement? The story of the church in the book of Acts is the story of global war — God’s kingdom and the dominion of darkness, but is was and is a one-sided conflict. “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 (NIV).

By What Power?

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BY WHAT POWER?

“The next day a meeting was called in Jerusalem. The rulers, religious leaders, religion scholars, Annas the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander — everybody who was anybody was there. They stood Peter and John in the middle of the room and grilled them: ‘Who put you in charge here? What business do you have doing this?'” Acts 4:5-7 (The Message).

Get the picture? All the religious ‘who’s who’ in Jerusalem, in full regalia and in all their blustering authority, confront the apostles who have done something they did not authorise. Man-power and God-power go head to head. Which one is God going to back?

We must remember, according to the teaching of the Apostles Paul and Peter, that the governing authorities are ordained by God and delegated by Him to maintain order in society. Therefore, no matter what they do, God backs the government because He put them there. But, of course, He also holds them accountable for what they do because He makes the rules and, if they do not uphold and obey them, they are culpable.

But now Jesus has put a spanner in the works. He came to re-establish God’s kingdom on earth. This kingdom takes precedence over the kingdoms of the world. He commissioned His disciples to announce this kingdom and invite people to enter it by way of faith in Him through His sacrificial death. This kingdom is one of righteousness, joy, peace and power which they had just demonstrated by healing a crippled man.

The kingdom of God is not about maintaining order. It’s about restoring everything that is broken. Broken bodies, broken spirits, broken lives, broken relationships, broken hopes, broken dreams, everything broken by the Fall stands in line for the power of God to restore. What happened to the crippled beggar and what happens to millions of people around the world is a foretaste of the final and complete restoration of all things when Jesus returns to finish what He began.

Who does God back in this conflict? The apostles, of course! The religious hierarchy threw all the power they had at the apostles but it could never match the power of God. It was His determined purpose to set up His kingdom in the hearts of men. He was revealing the true nature of the King by healing hearts and bodies. No threats, intimidation, persecution or imprisonment could stop His emissaries from delivering the message to whoever would receive it.

Even if they lost their lives in the process, they had nothing to lose. Death held no fear for them because Jesus had conquered death and delivered them from its terror, as Paul said, “‘for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.'” Philippians 2:21 (NIV).

What these poor benighted religious leaders did not realise was that the apostles were actually supporting them in their role as governing authorities. Every new member of God’s kingdom signed on to be law-abiding citizens of the state as well as obedient children of God. They should have been rejoicing and supporting the apostles instead of opposing them and shutting them up in jail.

Such is the nature of deception! What the religious leaders wanted was not true allegiance to God but the power to control the hearts and consciences of people; and they were losing it. They were determined to control at any price – even resorting to murder again as they had tried to get rid of Jesus. Would they never learn!

To try to oppose God is as foolish as trying to empty the ocean with a thimble. Not even the most powerful civil authority or religious force can prevent God from achieving His goal. Hitler tried and lost. Communism tried and failed.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,
and He will reign for ever and ever.”
Revelation 14:15b (NIV),
is the triumphant cry of heaven.eligious force

Timing is the Father’s Business

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TIMING IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS

“When they were together for the last time, they asked, ‘Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?’

“He told them, ‘You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the world.'” Acts 1:6-8 (The Message).

The disciples were like bulldogs with a bone. They never let go of their belief that Messiah was going to free them from the Romans. Just think of how much of the impact of Jesus’ teaching they missed because they had a fixation for getting rid of Rome. It was probably one of the motivations behind Judas’ betrayal. Perhaps he wanted to shock Jesus into action — but it didn’t work.

Their constant squabbling was always about who would be ‘Prime Minister’ in Jesus’ cabinet. His teaching about greatness in the kingdom of God fell on deaf ears. They could not understand it because it always collided with their preconceived idea about the kingdom of God.

Even the cataclysmic events of the past few weeks had not dislodged their expectation. Now Jesus was about to leave them and He had still not said or done anything about the Romans! All the instruction He had given them about the kingdom of God over the past forty days had been filtered through the notion that He would take action now so that they could administer the new kingdom for Him after He had gone.

They finally brought their expectation out into the open. ‘Is this the time?’ they asked, hoping against hope that He would say yes. The answer they got cut them short, once and for all. ‘Timing is the Father’s business.’ It was not their business, and neither is it ours, to question God’s timing or intentions. Like the disciples, this is often something that consumes us so much that we miss the bigger picture and the valuable lesson.

These men were about to learn a new way of life. Up to now they had Jesus with them. He set the pace and they tagged along, not knowing what was going on but content to be with Him and let Him do the stuff while they watched and listened. They did what He told them and went where He sent them. He had given them authority and power and they had tasted some of the impact of the kingdom He was presenting.

From now on He would no longer be with them in person. They had witnessed the Holy Spirit’s power in His life. Now it was their turn. His physical presence would give way to the Spirit’s internal residence and they would have to learn to recognise His voice and follow His leading from within. This would put a new responsibility on them; to learn to discern His voice, understand His leading and follow His instructions.

Jesus did not leave a “Google map” for them, with all the details of the journey and the destination. That would have been so much easier to follow. Instead He promised them another person just like Himself; same disposition, same power, same wisdom, same purpose, same destination, but one who would be in their spirits, always there, always the same, always in charge.

This time they would do the stuff and the world would watch and listen and be convinced that Jesus is, after all, who He said He is. The issue is, like the disciples, like us, do we listen and follow, or do we ignore the Holy Spirit and do life our way? There is no better way to squelch the work of God on earth than to do it our way.

A Wonderful Harmony

Christian Life, , ,

A WONDERFUL HARMONY

“Everyone around was in awe — all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

“They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added daily those who were saved.” Acts 2:43-47 (The Message).

Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it! Everything happening in perfect harmony — no needs, no discord, no conflict with their neighbours, even the outsiders approving what was happening! Peace, joy, worship, praise, eating together, day after day after day! Sounds like heaven!

Actually, it was a bit of heaven that had touched earth for a while. God intended it that way as a foretaste of the life to come. The kingdom of God was ruling in that little corner of the globe as the people who believed in Jesus were living out their kingdom lives in the middle of an ocean of selfishness, greed and ungodliness. Even the outsiders liked what they saw.

Unfortunately it did not last. The old nature in them saw to that. A few chapters later the apostles were in trouble with the authorities, a couple of hypocrites tried to buy the church’s approval and were nailed by the Holy Spirit and there was discontent in the ranks over racist practices.

But that’s how real life is. There is nothing idyllic in the Christian life this side of the grave. We have to live it out in the midst of a world system driven by greed, people who hate, fight and destroy, hypocrites who pretend to be who they are not, people who always want to be the centre of attention, others who are never satisfied, or divisive, and those who are just plain infantile.

That’s the beauty and glory of God’s kingdom. It flourishes in people who truly love Jesus and are submitted to Him regardless of their environment, in the midst of greed, selfishness, hypocrisy, discontent and divisiveness. The rest of the book of Acts bears witness to that.

There will always be those who are not real; those who are in it for what they can get out of it; those who use it to further their own ends, those who exploit it for fame or fortune; those who hide among its people but keep living their old sinful lives and those who go with the flow but never participate in displaying God’s splendour and bringing “up there down here.”

In spite of all that, what happened in the beginning keeps on happening in pockets all over the world as a testimony to God’s intention and power to restore His creation to its original purpose. There is an expression in Hebrew that says it all — tekkun olam — God is fixing everything that was broken, to the horizon.

As long as we live in the present scheme of things, God is at work, through His Holy Spirit restoring everything to its perfection. That does not mean that everyone will be saved but it does mean that He will consign to the rubbish heap everyone who chooses not to be a part of His rule on earth so that His creation will once again willingly and perfectly love and submit to Him.

It happened in embryo when the church was born and it will be completed and perfected when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom in earth forever — “olam”, to the horizon.