Kingdom Concepts (part 4)
Jesus’ declaration that he had come to proclaim the GOOD NEWS that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, begs this question: To whom was it “good news”? Politically speaking, today, who is it that emigrates from a “home land” or seeks a new land? Who is it that elects a new leader? Is it not people dissatisfied with what they
have?
I’ll return to this idea in a moment, but consider this first. Even as Jesus began his ministry declaring “The Kingdom of God is at hand, listen to the subject matter moments before his death.
John 18:28-19:22 (The Message)
“They led Jesus then from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s palace. It was early morning. They themselves didn’t enter the palace because they didn’t want to be disqualified from eating the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and spoke. “What charge do you bring against this man?”
They said, “If he hadn’t been doing something evil, do you think we’d be here bothering you?”
Pilate said: “You take him and judge him by your law.”
The Jews said, “We’re not allowed to kill anyone.” (This would confirm Jesus’ word indicating the way he would die.)
Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus. He said, “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”
Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?”
Pilate said, “Do I look like a Jew? Your people and your high priests turned you over to me. What did you do?”
“My kingdom,” said Jesus, “doesn’t consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king.”
Then Pilate said, “So, are you a king or not?”
Jesus answered, “You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth. Recognizes my voice.”
Pilate said, “What is truth?”
Then he went back out to the Jews and told them, “I find nothing wrong in this man. It’s your custom that I pardon one prisoner at Passover. Do you want me to pardon the “King of the Jews’?”
They shouted back, “Not this one, but Barabbas!”
Barabbas was a Jewish freedom fighter.
So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.
Pilate went back out again and said to them, I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime.” Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe.
Pilate announced, “Here he is: the Man.”
When the high priests and police saw him, they shouted in a frenzy, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Pilate told them, “You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him.”
The Jews answered, “We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this, he became even more scared. He went back into the palace and said to Jesus, “Where did you come from?”
Jesus gave no answer.
Pilate said, “You won’t talk? Don’t you know that I have the authority to pardon you, and the authority to--- crucify you?”
Jesus said, “You haven’t a shred of authority over me except what has been given you from heaven. That’s why the one who betrayed me to you has committed a far greater fault.”
At this, Pilate tried his best to pardon him, but the Jews shouted him down: “If you pardon this man, you’re no friend of Caesar’s. Anyone setting himself up as ‘king” defies Caesar.”
When Pilate heard those words, he led Jesus outside. He sat down at the judgment seat in the area designated Stone Court (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was the preparation day for Passover. The hour was noon. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king.”
They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said, “I am to crucify your king?”
The high priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”
Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned him over to be crucified.
They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read:
JESUS THE NAZARENE
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Many of the Jews read the sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was right next to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The Jewish high priests objected. “Don’t write,” they said to Pilate, “’The King of the Jews.’ Make it, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
Pilate said, “What I have written, I’ve written.””
Earlier I asked the question. Who is it that seeks another country or citizenship? The answer: Those who are dissatisfied with the reign of the present ruler. From this account in John’s Gospel we can turn the question around and ask: “Who is that will not seek another ruler?” Those who find it advantageous to submit to the present regime. Or those who would find it too costly to themselves to make a change. The same principle will apply whether we are speaking of geographical/ political kingdoms or spiritual kingdoms.
If you were to go to your friends now and proclaim that the kingdom of God was at hand and that they could enter in, if they would repent and believe, what kind of response do you think you would get? If I offered each of you the same offer, what kind of response would I get? What kind of response have you made in the past? In other words, are your friends or you, dissatisfied yet with the conditions under which you live when the Prince of this world is your king? As we look at some passages that describe various lifestyles notice the contrast. Paul, in writing to the church in Colosse put it this way: Col. 1:12-14
“ …Joyfully give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion (or kingdom) of the darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Don’t shout out the answer, but put your hand up when you can identify who offers the following invitation:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door”
Answer: “Mother of Exiles”, or “Liberty Enlightening the World”, or the “Statue of Liberty”, as in the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. 1883
And this?
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Perhaps you recognize it as more familiar in these words:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
You may have guessed that at sometime a series of messages on the kingdom would have to come to the passages that got downright personal, and spelled out the things that keep one out of the Kingdom all together.
Passages in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians5:3-7, are pretty specific and pretty all encompassing. All three of these passages make reference to the Kingdom of God and emphasize that the lifestyle described is a barrier to entering the Kingdom.
I believe all of you will be familiar with the list of unacceptable practices so I will read only one of the passages.
I Corinthians 6:9-ll
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral no idolaters nor adulterers nor male prositutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
If we are totally honest we may conclude we don’t stand a chance.
Then consider a passage In Romans 14:17 that on first reading may suggest these things aren’t important.
Here it says: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.”
This verse almost makes it sound like it doesn’t matter about external practices. What it actually is saying in its context is that dietary rules, and personal preference are not something to get bent out of shape over, but to respect the feelings of fellow believers, and to go on and live victoriously in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The other passages are describing a chosen, habitual lifestyle--- personal pursuits and priorities as lifestyles, on the one hand which are outflows of our thinking, or if you will, the natural behaviour of one under the tyranny of an evil despot. Specifically, the devil, or the world or the appetites of our own flesh, all of which are in fact, the kingdom of darkness.
But in each of these passages, the secret of deliverance is given. It is in living life in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the contrast is between Law or Grace, Drudgery or Joy, Darkness or Light.
Given the choice, why would anyone refuse the invitation to Come to the King, The Son of the Father? This has been my meditation for the last few weeks. Once the Good News of the Kingdom is explained to anyone, there is no logical reason or objection for their rejection. Except one unarguable mindset. “I don’t want to” is the only objection for which there is no answer. The will is the one unpenatratable barrier. Until the emptiness of a life of sin overwhelms the denizen of darkness, and drives them to seek the light, they are not likely to hear your proclamation of “Good News.” Apologetics, and clever argument, will not win them. But a testimony of joy and love and peace may persuade them that you dwell in a better country, and that under your king there is liberty that they have hitherto not known. They need to know that they can emigrate and not fear deportation. They need to know they are secure in the new kingdom, under the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
The next time I speak about the kingdom I want to raise the question about signs and wonders that Jesus seemed to indicate were part of the kingdom message. Proofs as it were, that the Conquering king has the authority to Reign . [Editorial comment: Never followed up, but obviously in my mind, the natural followup.]
Remember the K-I-S-S acronym
Kingdom-living is Simply Submission [Developed in an earlier introductory message, and tied to Psalm 2:12 (KJV) & John 5:22,23 Kiss=embrace.
K-I-S-S also used to a preacher/speaker to mean “Keep It Simple (Stupid) only I substituted (Saints).
The question for today is:
I’ll return to this idea in a moment, but consider this first. Even as Jesus began his ministry declaring “The Kingdom of God is at hand, listen to the subject matter moments before his death.
John 18:28-19:22 (The Message)
“They led Jesus then from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s palace. It was early morning. They themselves didn’t enter the palace because they didn’t want to be disqualified from eating the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and spoke. “What charge do you bring against this man?”
They said, “If he hadn’t been doing something evil, do you think we’d be here bothering you?”
Pilate said: “You take him and judge him by your law.”
The Jews said, “We’re not allowed to kill anyone.” (This would confirm Jesus’ word indicating the way he would die.)
Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus. He said, “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”
Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?”
Pilate said, “Do I look like a Jew? Your people and your high priests turned you over to me. What did you do?”
“My kingdom,” said Jesus, “doesn’t consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king.”
Then Pilate said, “So, are you a king or not?”
Jesus answered, “You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth. Recognizes my voice.”
Pilate said, “What is truth?”
Then he went back out to the Jews and told them, “I find nothing wrong in this man. It’s your custom that I pardon one prisoner at Passover. Do you want me to pardon the “King of the Jews’?”
They shouted back, “Not this one, but Barabbas!”
Barabbas was a Jewish freedom fighter.
So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.
Pilate went back out again and said to them, I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime.” Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe.
Pilate announced, “Here he is: the Man.”
When the high priests and police saw him, they shouted in a frenzy, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Pilate told them, “You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him.”
The Jews answered, “We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this, he became even more scared. He went back into the palace and said to Jesus, “Where did you come from?”
Jesus gave no answer.
Pilate said, “You won’t talk? Don’t you know that I have the authority to pardon you, and the authority to--- crucify you?”
Jesus said, “You haven’t a shred of authority over me except what has been given you from heaven. That’s why the one who betrayed me to you has committed a far greater fault.”
At this, Pilate tried his best to pardon him, but the Jews shouted him down: “If you pardon this man, you’re no friend of Caesar’s. Anyone setting himself up as ‘king” defies Caesar.”
When Pilate heard those words, he led Jesus outside. He sat down at the judgment seat in the area designated Stone Court (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was the preparation day for Passover. The hour was noon. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king.”
They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said, “I am to crucify your king?”
The high priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”
Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned him over to be crucified.
They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read:
JESUS THE NAZARENE
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Many of the Jews read the sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was right next to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The Jewish high priests objected. “Don’t write,” they said to Pilate, “’The King of the Jews.’ Make it, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
Pilate said, “What I have written, I’ve written.””
Earlier I asked the question. Who is it that seeks another country or citizenship? The answer: Those who are dissatisfied with the reign of the present ruler. From this account in John’s Gospel we can turn the question around and ask: “Who is that will not seek another ruler?” Those who find it advantageous to submit to the present regime. Or those who would find it too costly to themselves to make a change. The same principle will apply whether we are speaking of geographical/ political kingdoms or spiritual kingdoms.
If you were to go to your friends now and proclaim that the kingdom of God was at hand and that they could enter in, if they would repent and believe, what kind of response do you think you would get? If I offered each of you the same offer, what kind of response would I get? What kind of response have you made in the past? In other words, are your friends or you, dissatisfied yet with the conditions under which you live when the Prince of this world is your king? As we look at some passages that describe various lifestyles notice the contrast. Paul, in writing to the church in Colosse put it this way: Col. 1:12-14
“ …Joyfully give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion (or kingdom) of the darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Don’t shout out the answer, but put your hand up when you can identify who offers the following invitation:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door”
Answer: “Mother of Exiles”, or “Liberty Enlightening the World”, or the “Statue of Liberty”, as in the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. 1883
And this?
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Perhaps you recognize it as more familiar in these words:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
You may have guessed that at sometime a series of messages on the kingdom would have to come to the passages that got downright personal, and spelled out the things that keep one out of the Kingdom all together.
Passages in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians5:3-7, are pretty specific and pretty all encompassing. All three of these passages make reference to the Kingdom of God and emphasize that the lifestyle described is a barrier to entering the Kingdom.
I believe all of you will be familiar with the list of unacceptable practices so I will read only one of the passages.
I Corinthians 6:9-ll
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral no idolaters nor adulterers nor male prositutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
If we are totally honest we may conclude we don’t stand a chance.
Then consider a passage In Romans 14:17 that on first reading may suggest these things aren’t important.
Here it says: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.”
This verse almost makes it sound like it doesn’t matter about external practices. What it actually is saying in its context is that dietary rules, and personal preference are not something to get bent out of shape over, but to respect the feelings of fellow believers, and to go on and live victoriously in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The other passages are describing a chosen, habitual lifestyle--- personal pursuits and priorities as lifestyles, on the one hand which are outflows of our thinking, or if you will, the natural behaviour of one under the tyranny of an evil despot. Specifically, the devil, or the world or the appetites of our own flesh, all of which are in fact, the kingdom of darkness.
But in each of these passages, the secret of deliverance is given. It is in living life in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the contrast is between Law or Grace, Drudgery or Joy, Darkness or Light.
Given the choice, why would anyone refuse the invitation to Come to the King, The Son of the Father? This has been my meditation for the last few weeks. Once the Good News of the Kingdom is explained to anyone, there is no logical reason or objection for their rejection. Except one unarguable mindset. “I don’t want to” is the only objection for which there is no answer. The will is the one unpenatratable barrier. Until the emptiness of a life of sin overwhelms the denizen of darkness, and drives them to seek the light, they are not likely to hear your proclamation of “Good News.” Apologetics, and clever argument, will not win them. But a testimony of joy and love and peace may persuade them that you dwell in a better country, and that under your king there is liberty that they have hitherto not known. They need to know that they can emigrate and not fear deportation. They need to know they are secure in the new kingdom, under the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
The next time I speak about the kingdom I want to raise the question about signs and wonders that Jesus seemed to indicate were part of the kingdom message. Proofs as it were, that the Conquering king has the authority to Reign . [Editorial comment: Never followed up, but obviously in my mind, the natural followup.]
Remember the K-I-S-S acronym
Kingdom-living is Simply Submission [Developed in an earlier introductory message, and tied to Psalm 2:12 (KJV) & John 5:22,23 Kiss=embrace.
K-I-S-S also used to a preacher/speaker to mean “Keep It Simple (Stupid) only I substituted (Saints).
The question for today is:
To whom are you submitting?
Who is your king?
posted by Mister A Muses | 2:59 PM
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