Seek First the Kingdom - Part 14

(1) Creating Shalom Out of Chaos
(2) The Fall Brought Chaos Back Into Creation
(3) The Kingdom: God’s Plan to Restore Peace to the World
(4) Jesus Was Sent for This Purpose
(5) What is the Kingdom?
(6) Patterns of the Kingdom in Scripture
  - The Garden of Eden
  - The Wilderness
  - The Promised Land
  - The Kingdom of Solomon
  - The Days of the Apostles
(7) The Life and Ministry of Jesus
(8) Attributes of the Kingdom
  - Prosperity and Joy
  - Peace
  - Righteousness
  - Holiness
  - Knowledge of the LORD
(9) The Millenial Kingdom
(10) The Believer’s Responsibility to Progress the Kingdom (Part - 14)

THE BELIEVER’S RESPONSIBILITY TO PROGRESS THE KINGDOM

“Since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe,” (Heb 12:28)

Knowing that we will receive a kingdom should motivate the believer to produce fruit that demonstrates the attributes of the kingdom to the world around us, that is, “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17-18). Through actions of the believer, the kingdom grows in this world. In the words of Jesus, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened,” (Matt 13:31). In this parable, “leaven” is seen as the positive actions of believers who, through the miraculous aiding of the Spirit, spread the kingdom. The flour represents the world and “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations,” (Matt 24:14).

 

The kingdom is a call to service. Listen to the works of those who enter the kingdom from the parable Jesus told His disciples,

 

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "…’The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'” (Matt 25:34-40)

 

The actions of kingdom people produce fruit that brings about “righteousness and peace and joy” to the person who hungers, is thirsty, is naked, or has a pressing need to be comforted in their time of affliction and grief. When Jesus cursed the fig tree because it had no fruit (Mark 11:21), He expressed disappointment that the servants of the kingdom were not producing fruit in the kingdom.

 

Kingdom people bring about the kingdom through every righteous action when they “walk in the same manner as He (Jesus) walked,” (1 John 2:6). Richard Jones, the former Valley Bible in Westcliffe, Colorado, wrote this in his book “The Un-taming of the Church,” 

 

“As genuine faith grows within each of us, a new way of living begins to emerge among us as people of faith (like yeast working its way through flour). Forgiveness begins to come a little more quickly. We begin to endure one another’s weaknesses a little more patiently. Even when disputes arise, gentleness begins to guide our words and actions. We are less likely to demand our own way and more eager to seek the good of others. We start to loosen our grip on money and material things, and we begin to share. Battles of conflicting self-interests begin to give way to seeking the purpose of God, and unity begins to take root.”

 

The last three parables recorded by Matthew, the parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25:1-13), the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30), and the parable of the Shepherd separating the sheep from the goats, all deal with the importance of producing kingdom fruit. The parable of the ten virgins begins, “The kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins,” (Matt 25:1). The ten virgins are waiting for the bridegroom to return and to be ushered into the wedding banquet. Unfortunately, it is only the five who have oil, “those who are ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut,” (Matt 25:10). When the five without oil return and ask to be let into the wedding banquet, the bridegroom tells them, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you,” (Matt 25:12).

 

The meaning of the oil in the story of the ten virgins is confusing.  However, when these final three parables are read in succession, it becomes apparent that all are relating the need for kingdom people to produce works of the kingdom until the time of the king’s return. In the parable of the talents, the person who produces more talents (works) is put in charge of many things, but the worthless slave is thrown “into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Matt 25:30). In the parable of the sheep and goats, the people who feed, nurture, cloth, and visit will “inherit the kingdom” (Matt 25:34), while those who did not perform these works are sent “away into eternal punishment,” (Matt 25:46).   The oil in the lamps of the five virgins can be seen as the works they performed. Those who did not produce works are told, “I do not know you,” (Matt 25:12), and are excluded from the wedding, a picture of celebration in the kingdom.   In the end, the works of the righteous will be remembered forever, they are the treasures stored up in heaven. The deeds of the wicked will be forgotten from memory.

 

We must constantly be asking ourselves, “Are we progressing the kingdom in our daily walk?” For example, when an automobile cuts in front of you and almost drives you off the road, are you tempted to retaliate (tohu-bohu) or to forgive and restore Shalom to the world? When a harsh word is spoken to you, and we are inclined to respond in equal measure, do we remember, “A gentle answer turns away wrath” (Prov 15:1)? If we do and respond in the proper way, the kingdom of God progresses because order, not chaos, reigns.

 

The great Hebrew sage Hillel, born eighty years before Jesus, made famous the principle found in scripture that he called “tikkun olam.” The phrase literally means, “repairing the world,” although it is sometimes translated as “perfecting the world” or “bettering the world.” Hillel believed that in every task a person performs he has a responsibility to make the world a better place. In the words of Paul, to “overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21), just as the LORD God originally brought shalom to the world out of chaos.

 

The Rabbis understood that when a person recited the twice daily Shema, “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut 6:4), they made a profession of obedience to the commandments and accepted the “yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven,” (Ber. II. 2) Believers are commanded to manifest the kingdom in the present world. As Jesus said, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasures things new and old,” (Matt 13:52). We would expect that disciples of the kingdom would bring forth fruit of the kingdom.

 

“How many of us pray as Yeshua taught us, ‘Your kingdom come your will be done’? How many of us expect that we can, as Peter suggested, hasten the coming of the Messiah?” (The World to Come, Derek Leman) 

 

Producing fruit is a requirement of kingdom people, for “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter,” (Matt 7:21). Scripture comes with a sober warning to people who do not produce the fruit of the kingdom.

 

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.” (Matt 21:43)

 

In the words of the Hebrew writer, “Since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe,” (Heb 12:28)

 

What are believers willing to give for “a kingdom which cannot be shaken”? Believers should be willing to give everything they own. This is exemplified in the exortations of Jesus,

 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

 

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matt 13:44-46)

 

 

(THE END - Scott) 

BAPTISM: We Will Be Surprise In the End

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.” (Matt 12:43)

We understand that baptism is the outward sign of a repentant heart. In the words of Peter, “an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” (1 Pet 3:21). I think that there is a good chance that when we get to the other side we will find out that our baptism had much deeper spiritual significance than we ever imaged. We might get to the other side and find out that the physical act of baptism actually purged us and helped protect us from spiritual forces of the enemy. How could this possibly work?

As we know, water plays a prominent role in the creation and in sustaining life. I am fascinated by the passage of Jesus speaking of the “unclean spirit” that attempts to find rest in “waterless places.” In the Hebrew mind, it is living water that cleanses and make a person or an object “clean.” If you are an “unclean spirit” you probably would try to avoid living water because it would be contrary to your nature and potentially harmful to your make-up. These thoughts lead to an interesting question, “Can unclean spirits pass through water or does living water have some power to drive away that which is ‘unclean’ from our flesh”?

Let’s look at the healing of the man by the pool of Bethesda with the concept that water might drive away a demonic spirit, which is sometimes seen in scripture as the cause of disease and physical ailments. John explains the people’s understanding this way, “For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever…first… stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted,” (John 5:4). Maybe the water at times had the power to drive away an unclean spirit when the source of the illness came from the unclean spirit. There must have been some healings at the pool of Bethesda prior to Jesus’ appearance otherwise, why had the understanding flourished?

When Jesus cast the demons into the herd of swine “the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters,” (Matt 8:30). An ocean, a sea, and a lake are considered to be “living water.” We talk about the abyss as being the dwelling place of the demonic spirits, but maybe it is actually a holding cell where spirits are kept because they cannot pass through the water. In the Book of Revelation, it is necessary for the fallen star to open the abyss for the locusts (evil spirits) to rise out like smoke, (Rev 9:2). Maybe the act of sending the swine rushing into the sea imprisoned the spirits rather than leaving them to roam and torment other victims.  Maybe there will be no sea in the world to come (Rev 21:1), since no demons need to be imprisoned because “nothing unclean…shall ever come into it (the New Jerusalem),” (Rev 21:27).

 During creation, God “separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse,” (Gen 1:6). The waters below were gathered into seas. The “gathering of the waters” (Gen 1:10), is translated from the Hebrew word “mikvah” and lead to the understanding that “seas” are acceptable for baptism. Paul alluded to this when he said, “They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” (1 Cor 10:2).

The waters below are necessary for baptism and might protect the creation from spirits in Sheol, but what function do the waters above serve? The obvious first answer is that the waters above provide clouds for rain, but they might also serve a second purpose. Maybe the waters above served as a protective barrier against “the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms,” (Eph 6:12). Some protection may be provided, but not complete insulation as Satan was still able to move between the heavenly and the earthly and to tempt Adam and Eve.

There is some indication in scripture that the canopy that protected the earth was diminished after the flood. Without the canopy, the effects of solar radiation quickly shortened the age of individuals from over 900 years before the flood to slightly over 100 years by the time of Abraham, ten generations after the flood. Maybe a shortened life was caused by increased solar radiation or maybe is was the weakening of the protective covering between mankind and the “spiritual forces of wickedness.”

God is often seen as being enclosed in a cloud such as when God called to Moses from the cloud on Mount Sinai (Ex 24:16), a cloud that led Israel during the day; the bright cloud at the transfiguration of Jesus (Matt 17:5); Jesus being caught up into a cloud (Acts 1:9), Jesus promised return in a cloud (Matt 24:30), and a future time with the saints will be caught up to be with the LORD in the clouds (1 Thes 4:17). Are these just coincidences? Certainly God does not need a water barrier to protect Himself from wickedness, but the cloud is a testimony to the purity of God, that nothing unclean can be in His presence?

I think there is a good chance that when we pass to the other side we will find out that, in addition to a profession of faith, baptism was much more than some “legalistic” requirement or the cure for the common cold. We will then wish that we had placed greater emphasis on the importance of real baptism, the dunk you multiple times completely under water, like Naaman in the days of Elisha. We will also wish that we had personally performed baptism on a more frequent basis.  What a change from my own perspective in the past.

How I am looking forward to being baptized on Yom Kippur!!! (Scott)