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399: Signs (or Not) of the Kingdom of God
If you’ll take the time, you’ll find the core message of Jesus was about the kingdom of God. Over and over again we find summary verses like this one:
Matthew 4:23 – And Jesus went about all Galilee, (1) teaching in their synagogues, (2) preaching the gospel of (what) the kingdom, and (3) healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
In fact, Jesus said the object of the gospel He preached, and commanded us to preach, is the kingdom of God. Consider what Jesus said in His olivet discourse:
Matthew 24:14 – “And this gospel of (what) the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
There are also certain kingdom characteristics in the lives of believers that the Scriptures point out to us as signs of His kingdom. In essence, when believers manifest certain characteristics of the kingdom in their lives, we can know the kingdom of God is present. And, conversely, when a believer doesn’t manifest these kingdom characteristics, we can also safely assume the kingdom of God is far from them.
This is a sobering thought. Character, holiness, and sanctification matter. Do you want to discover more about the signs of life in the kingdom? Then keep listening.
398: When Our Blessings Become Curses
One of the greatest blessings the church has experienced has become its greatest curse. And that is wealth. Opulence. The ability to run ahead of God rather than waiting on Him to provide what His church needs and when it needs it. Then there’s the great blessing that comes with persecution that a wealthy church always views as a curse. How did it become so upside down?
The early church understood the blessings that come with persecution. Because they remembered the promise of Jesus when He preached His sermon on the mount where He said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12).
And later, Paul would tell his son Timothy that “Yes, and all who (condition) desire to live godly in Christ Jesus (result) will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). Do you see the condition and the result? If you desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, which most Christians would say they do, then you will suffer persecution because of your godly life in Christ. It’s a given. A promise.
And the opposite of this promise is also true. If you are not suffering persecution, then it stands to reason you do not desire to live godly in Christ Jesus. Sobering, isn’t it? This is not how the early church lived. They embraced every opportunity to live godly in Christ, regardless of how they suffered. Do you want to know more about people who love Jesus that way? Good. Then keep listening.
397: The Same Day at Evening
In John 20 we find some events that took place on that momentous Sunday, the first day of the week, when Jesus was raised from the dead. Some of those events took place early that Sunday morning and other events happened later that day, at evening. It was at this time, in the evening of the same day, that Jesus appeared to His disciples and others who were hiding for fear of the Jews (John 20:19). And then, to this frightened and confused group of friends and disciples, Jesus spoke these words:
John 20:21 – “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
His words to them were comforting and also challenging. Just like they are to us today. And then Jesus uttered some of the most misunderstood words in all of the gospel accounts. He said:
John 20:23 – “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Do you see how a lazy interpretation of this verse could lead you to believe that God has granted fallen, mortal men the ability to forgive sins? And those sins are forgiven, not because they are confessed by the one who has sinned, but by the forgiveness of an uninterested third party. How can that be? Want to know more? Then keep listening.
396: The Holy Spirit in the Early Church
Trying to live the Christian life in the flesh is exhausting and, quite honestly, impossible. But that’s how many believers live today. They start out well, full of hope and empowered by the Spirit, and then digress into a life of flesh, pride, and reliance on human wisdom rather than the wisdom of God. But the early church shows us the “abundant life” Jesus promised those who follow Him fleshed out in real time (John 10:10).
And it’s all based on faith.
Look at the faith involved in the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful. Question: Whose faith is the agent God uses to perform this sign and wonder?
Acts 3:6-7 – Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
Note what happened here. Peter had something that he was able to give to the lame beggar. What was that? And how did Peter know he possessed whatever he possessed? And the healing took place, not when Peter spoke the affirmation, but when he “took him by the right hand and lifted him up” (Acts 3:6). That’s faith. But whose? The beggar’s? Not really. It was the faith of Peter.
What does this mean? And what can we learn about exercising our Spiritual gifts in the world today? Want to know more? Then keep listening.
395: What Does it Mean to Live by Faith? – Part 2
The best way for the early church to disciple the 3,000 who came to faith after the preaching of Peter’s sermon would be to let them learn to live like the disciples had lived for the last three years. Think about it. How did the disciples of Jesus, who had left everything to follow Him, support themselves during the time they went from city to city with Jesus? Did they take out a home equity loan on their house? Did they max out their credit cards to fund their extended mission trip? Did they cash in their 401k, take the tax hit, and continue on with their vision quest with Jesus? What did they do?
They lived by faith. Just like the early church did. Consider the following:
Acts 2:44-45 – Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
And later…
Acts 4:32-35 – Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
Did you ever wonder how that is even possible? How can we trust each other that much, like they did? Seems impossible, doesn’t it? Want to learn more about living by faith? Then keep listening.
394: What Does it Mean to Live by Faith? – Part 1
In Acts 2, after the promised Holy Spirit came mightily upon the faithful praying in the upper room, and after Peter preached his Spirit-empowered sermon, the infant church grew from 120 to over 3,000 literally overnight. And now the apostles had a logistics problem. How were they to manage a crowd of over 3,000 newbies without the benefit of Christian literature or Lifeway, CCM, K-LOVE, God’s Not Dead 1 and 2, WinterJam, or local mega-churches with multiple, cross-town campuses? What were they to do?
The answer was simple. They were to teach their new Christian brothers exactly what Jesus spent three years teaching them— how to live by faith. That’s right, faith. Remember?
Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith (pístis) is the substance (to place under, the basis, foundation, that which underlies the apparent) of things hoped for (confident expectation, to abide still, to expect fully), the evidence (proof, conviction, assurance, supreme confidence) of things not seen.
As we dig deeper into the life of the early church, we’ll discover that faith was pretty much all they had. And it was enough for them to turn their world upside down (Acts 17:6).
Do you want to know more about what it means to live by faith? Good. Then keep listening.
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”
Revelation 3:15-17