As we look
across the pages of history we see the kingdoms of the world rising and falling
through the centuries. Historians tell
us that the world has known twenty-one great civilizations, but all of them
have only endured for a time/season and then passed away. Egypt, for instance, was once a mighty world
power; today it is weak. It can hardly
contend with the tiny state of Israel.
Babylon was once mighty, but today it has passed into history and its
former territory is divided. Syria, once strong, has become an archeological
curiosity. Greece and Rome have
fallen. What about the “Former Soviet
Union?” (the key word is “former”)
America, now at the pinnacle of world power, and like every world power
that has come before it, will not be able to escape the law/judgment of God.
Proverbs
14:34 says “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace/reproach to
any people.” Do we ever hear anyone in
government calling for “righteousness?”
Instead what we hear are calls for better voter turnout, gun control,
passage of more laws, term limits for politicians, impeachment, etc. as though
these things are the answer, but the Bible says it is righteousness that exalts a nation.
Both nations
and individuals sink because of sin. In
the Book of Daniel there is a remarkable evaluation of a kingdom just before
God destroys it. In frightening fashion,
God writes His evaluation on the wall.
Daniel 5:22-28 reads “And this is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN; this is the interpretation of each word. MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and
finished it, TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting,
PERES [plural of UPHARSIN}: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the
Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave
the command and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around
his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third
ruler in the kingdom.” We read in 5:18,
20-22 “O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and
majesty, glory and honor . . . But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit
was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his
glory from him. Then he was driven from
the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with
the wild donkeys. They fed him with
grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that
the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He
chooses. But you his son, Belshazzar,
have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.”
It does not
make any difference at what moment of human history you wish to consider, there
are always chaotic events, disasters, atrocities, war, etc. We are not to allow these things to bring us
down or get us off track. In Mat. 24:6
Jesus taught, there would always be wars and rumors of even more wars, nevertheless
His followers were not to be troubled by them.
Earthly kingdoms will perish for certain, but God’s Kingdom will be
established and it is an eternal kingdom over which Christ will rule and reign
forever!
The next
phrase in the Lord’s Prayer is “Thy Kingdom Come” (Mat. 6:10a). That should be the daily prayer on the hearts
of every believer. We can never be
satisfied with this earthly realm. We
are always desiring the perfect rule and reign which is in store. It should be abundantly evident from the
chaotic, imperfect, sin-filled world that we see today, that there is
overwhelming need for something much better.
Even unbelievers should recognize this, but often they do not.
The
establishment of Christ’s eternal kingdom is not merely wishful thinking, but
biblical reality. He taught this truth
to His own disciples. It is reality not
yet seen. Too often, even believers get
too comfortable here. One of the biggest
challenges for some believers is to yearn for the kingdom in the midst of
comfortable lives. However, our
comfortable lives can change very quickly and often do. In times past it was, no doubt, easier for a
great many people to long for the coming, promised kingdom. In their extreme poverty, bondage to slavery,
susceptibility to disease, genocide, etc. they could easily hope for something
better. But, in modern days it is much
harder for Americans to yearn in the same way while they set in an air
conditioned room in a LazyBoy recliner
watching a big-screen TV! For people in
our age, it might be impossible to yearn for God’s kingdom because we are
uncomfortable. We have then to do it
from a spiritual vantage point. What I
mean to say is, sinfulness needs to sicken us to the point that we long to live
in a world without sin. St. Augustine’s famous work The City of God talks about two cities
representing two kingdoms; the City of God and the City of Man. One kingdom seemed real but wasn’t and the
other did not seem real but was. You
see, the problem of this world comes down to this. The world sees the going thing as the coming
thing and the coming thing as the going thing.
The answer for the world is more laws, more development, more study,
more reconciliation, more education, and all it really is, is more of the
same. But the empty promises of the
future are their hope! While they press
ahead, they tend to believe God is dead, or irrelevant, a crutch, a necessity
of the past that is no longer needed, etc.
But they have it all backwards!
That is exactly Augustine’s point!
In one of
His parables Jesus compared Himself to a nobleman who went into a far country
to receive a kingdom and was then to come back.
In the meantime, however the nobleman left gifts in the hands of his
servants, charging them to be faithful and to be ready to give a good
accounting at his return (Luke 19:11-27).
On another occasion, after the resurrection, the disciples asked Jesus,
“Lord are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts
1:6). He answered, “It is not for you to
know the times or dates the Father has set by His authority [in other words, He
is saying, ‘you are right about the fact(s) of the kingdom; but it is not your
business to know when.] Right after that
pronouncement He ways ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and
to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Our greatest
desire should be to see the Lord reigning as the King in His Kingdom. More times than not, our prayers are
self-centered and focused on our needs,
our plans, our dreams, our understandings,
etc. People are often like tiny infants
who know no other world than the world of their immediate surroundings and have
no concern for anything that does not directly affect them and bring them
exactly what they want just as quickly as possible. How does a person get from being a selfish
infant to a giving adult? In one word;
the answer is maturity. The greatest opposition to the Kingdom of God
is the Kingdom of this present world, which Satan rules and Satan desperately
seeks to keep human beings immature like infants, only aware of their most
immediate needs and oblivious to the big picture.
The “Kingdom
of God” was always at the heart of the message Jesus taught. According to Luke 4:43 He came to “Preach the
Kingdom of God.” Even in the closing
words of Scripture, there is a final appeal for “Thy Kingdom Come” when in Rev.
22:20 we read “Surely I am coming quickly.
Amen. Even so, come Lord
Jesus!” The Kingdom for which we are to
pray, and of which we now have a taste, is of infinite value. In Mat. 13:44-46 Jesus taught “Again, the
kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and
hid; and for 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 beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of
great price went and sold all that he had and bought it. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure
hidden in the field.” How much do you
value the Kingdom? Enough to pray for
“His Kingdom Come” on a daily basis?
What does the thought of God’s Kingdom really mean to you today? All earthly powers are fading fast. It is time to get on board with the coming of
“Thy Kingdom.” Neither you nor I, nor
the world, nor even Satan himself has an ounce of power to stop it. So you might as well go with it. It is coming quickly!
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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