Every Christmas I like to share this song that was written and performed by some friends, Larry and Dana Berry, and Larry Hakala. The music was recorded in my home studio and the video was produced by our friend in Christ, Roger Legg. Enjoy!
Tag: Gospel
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First the Kingdom part 24, The increase of the Kingdom
In my early years I remember hearing that eventually the numbers of believing Christians would be reduced world wide. Very few people would be saved like in the days of Noah when only 8 people survived. That upset me. I hated to hear it, hoping that it was not true. Back then I only heard the passages of scripture that seemed to support this dire expectation.
You can imagine the excitement I felt when I began to learn of other passages of scripture which helped to explain the plan of God more clearly! While I admit of my bias against the old negative outlook I have confidence in the positive one for several reasons. First of all, it presents Jesus Christ as the wonderful, powerful and victorious Savior who I have come to know! He is so very real to me and has been so for over 40 years! It is inconceivable to me that he could ever possibly fail in His purpose. His Word has penetrated my heart, my mind, my life so thoroughly and completely to the point that it is more real than what I can see, hear and touch with my senses!
Over the past 40 years I have found countless others who have also been so touched by our Lord Jesus, Who is Lord of us all! We are not like those who have a shared illusion. Not at all! We have a shared reality that is not only subjective and personal to us alone, but can be backed up by hard evidence as well! In spite of the many trials and failures, the Lord Jesus is still building His church, and the gates of hell have NOT prevailed against it!
Every passage that appears to be showing otherwise must be weighed and considered along with many more that glorify God, revealing His wisdom, power and love for His creation.
A well-known passage from the prophet Isaiah that is often shown on Christmas cards tells us of Christ’s incredible victory:
Isaiah 9:6-7:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.”
ASV
Here we do not have a picture of a diminishing reign, but one of unending advancement! The entire bible presents the reign of Christ as more than territorial. It is about the power of His character, His virtue, His justice and love at work in the hearts of people. His goal has never been to destroy humanity. He has gone to great lengths to restore us to sweet fellowship and communion with Him that existed in the beginning.
2 Peter 3:9:
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
ASV
The message of Jesus was the Good News of the Kingdom of God. He called everyone who heard Him to repent of their sins and to believe in His Good News. When He was eventually crucified it did not at all appear to be good news. However his resurrection, His ascension to the throne in heaven and His outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon believers on the Day of Pentecost proved that the time for the reign of the heavens had finally come to mankind!
His power was not to steal, kill and to destroy but to give life. He was lifted up on the cross that He might draw all mankind unto Him! The fact is that everyone was enslaved, even the Romans who had long oppressed the people of God in Israel. Even the religious leaders who hoped to control them were in fact victims of Adam’s fallen nature. Christ died and rose again so that even they could be free!
His strategy was simple. He would gather unto Himself the humble and teachable. He would then empower them to spread the Good News through their words and actions. They became a city on a hill that could not be hid! Violent and evil men tried to suppress them as they do to this day. Yet, for 2,000 years the Kingdom of God has continued to increase in the earth. It does not depend upon the political or the economical power of this world. Too often Christians forget this fact. Our power is our faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit Who lives within us!
Every time a sinner hears and believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and is changed by the Holy Spirit from within, the Kingdom of God advances. Every inch of spiritual growth is Kingdom growth. Every time believers gather in love for christ and one another, there will be an increase in the reign of Christ. Each time one discovers and operates in his or her spiritual gift to build up the Body of Christ, Christ will be seen and His will can be revealed.
This is not so much about visible church attendance but about our individually and collectively demonstrating the good, acceptable and perfect will of God! God’s kingdom comes to us, and His will is done in us as in heaven when we trust in His wisdom and love! The increase of His government and peace will never end!
In some quarters my words are considered heresy. Some believe that such optimism is naive and only belongs to liberal humanists or New Age adherents that deny the sinful nature of mankind. To them I would answer that the sin of mankind is no match for the grace, wisdom and love of Christ, and only their unbelief is standing in the way of their part in the greatest turning to God that the world has ever seen!
If any of these words ring true to you, I would encourage you to embrace this optimism that can only come from the Creator and Lord of all. If you have questions about bible prophesy, there are greater scholars than myself who can guide you through the difficult passages and can reconcile the different views for you. But most of all I hope you will join with those of us who proclaim that Jesus is Lord NOW, and who desire to live as citizens of heaven today, working to advance His reign by sharing His life day by day!
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(Original radio broadcast from March 27, 1998)
When considering the state of Christianity in general, do we sometimes find that believers often fail to experience the full and abundant life that Christ came to give? Could this situation then reflect falsely to the unbelieving world, and fail to accurately witness to the resurrected Christ in the earth?
And what about the lack of Kingdom consciousness among believers? In view of the fact that Jesus gave the last 3 1/2 years of His life as a man on earth to the Good News of the Kingdom of God, one could wonder why His followers have such a lack of interest in it. If His desire and joy is our strength, should not His pleasure and purpose become ours as well? Should not our zeal and energies be directed to discovering and finding delight in His plan?
It is my conviction that a renewed interest in the wonderful Good News of God’s reign in the earth could cure many of the ills of Christianity, and recover a fuller witness to the life of Christ among men. By the Lord’s grace His Church is recovering her testimony in the earth, to bring greater glory to our Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
This, in part, is the focus of this ministry. The Heart of God cries out for it, and humanity groans to see it. All of Creation awaits the glorious liberty of the children of God!
Do you really want to see revival in the land, and souls won to Jesus? Well then give yourself in loving service unto Him, and to discovering His Will and His Kingdom Life for you today!
In order to establish a prophetic foundation for this series of teachings, we will turn to a well-known passage in the Book of Daniel, chapter 2, verses 31 through 45. It is the famous story of Nebukanezzer’s dream, and the interpretation giving by God to Daniel:
“You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue–an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
“This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king:
You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron–for iron breaks and smashes everything–and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.
Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
Now it is commonly understood that these four kingdoms are Babylon — the head of gold. Medio-Persia — the chest and arms of silver. Alexander the Great’s Grecian rule was seen in the belly and thighs of bronze, and the Roman Empire was represented by the legs of iron with feet of iron and clay. It was during this time in history that Christ came on the scene.
Verse 44: “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It willcrush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands–a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”
By the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God we can begin to see both the power and simplicity of God’s wise and wonderful plan! In the fullness of time, that is the time of the Roman Ceasars, Christ came. He was cut out of a mountain, God’s own dominion and authority, but not with human hands! Conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, He grew unto manhood, and so became the most dangerous man of all history!
He was only dangerous to the thrones of men, and to the forces of darkness, but little did they know the manner in which their powers would be ultimately destroyed!
His unshakable love, uncompromising truth, and unyielding determination to fulfill His destiny would forever alter the course of human history! His very existence was unto the pleasure of His Father’s Heart!
Who could stop a truth, a message of freedom for all, that was authored and commissioned by the great Creator of the universe Himself! Who could extinguish the spark that He ignited in the heart of every person with whom He came in contact? You can know God! You can be free! You can experience love, forgiveness, grace, and live in the hope that justice will ultimately prevail!
But would He call down armies from heaven or rally earthly troupes to break the power of Rome? No! The power of Rome and the tyranny of it’s iron rule was broken by an inner transformation in the heart of every soul that entered into and came under the reign of a Holy, and Just God!
The God of Heaven set up His Kingdom in the hearts of the weak, the helpless, and the lost! When Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” He meant it! When He said “the Kingdom of God is Within you,” He shook their traditions and brought to them the reality of His righteousness, peace and joy as a present dayexperience!
The Living Word of God Himself became a meek and lowly man Who could be tortured, and murdered, and supposedly defeated. But even His death would further God’s righteous reign! By it He proved the eternal essence of His message and the immortality of His person! By His resurrection all of humanity would be liberated from the slavery of Satan’s rule of death and fear!
When He taught us to pray, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, THY KINGDOM COME, Thy will be done IN EARTH, as it is in heaven,” did we realize our part in this ongoing world-wide revolution? Did we realize that the wonderful inner peace of His Kingdom would be accompanied by outer struggles and conflicts that are beyond our human imaginations? Have we caught the vision of His glory, which even now outweighs the immense cost of our participation with Him in His Kingdom?
Consider these ordinary men that Jesus called into His circle of intimate fellowship. None of them were found to be shining examples of courage and fortitude, untilthe work that He accomplished within them! By His example, His Word, His death and resurrection, and finally the indwelling of His living presence within themat Pentecost, they found true liberty and the strength to duplicate and reproduce His life, furthering the revelation of His Kingdom reign in the earth! Every deed and sacrifice was motivated by His Eternal Love that was abiding deep within their breasts! Who can defeat a Kingdom such as this?
The first to realize the threat of His Kingdom message were the religious rulers of that day. It wasn’t until many years later that Rome began to feel the Rock chipping away at its feet of iron and clay. But Jesus and the early saints kept patience. They continued to love and give, and care and share. They knew and understood the power of His Kingdom, the revelation of the rule of God from the heavens! They were already living the heavenly life!
They knew and experienced both the power and grace of the Light, the Love, the Truth of God’s great compassion for all! They also knew that humanity could not resist it forever!
A few centuries later the great Roman Empire ceased to exist, and no other power has succeeded in uniting all the nations under one head. This nation, the United States of America, only exists by the grace of God and the prayers of its believing citizens. But the time has come for all of us to swear our greater allegiance to Christ and His Kingdom, lest we also fall in the judgments of God on America. Indeed many have already fallen. Fallen in materialism, lust for pleasure and personal security, bringing only shame on themselves and their Lord.
May the Lord convict us and restore His Church to Her former glory, where She was actually hated of all nations for the dangerous threat she, in her weakness, devotion to Jesus and family love, posed to them!
The truth of the Good News of the Kingdom of God is very deep yet very simple. It is as simple as the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” but it goes as deep as the sin hidden in the heart of every person.
It strikes at our pride and self-centeredness, and lifts us up unto the most noble of all conditions. We are both free and committed, as He binds us together and unto Him in the cords of His Divine Love.
Do you want to be part of a revolution of goodness, grace, peace and joy? Do you want to turn against the tide of gloom and destruction that surrounds you? Well then simply ask the King of Glory to come into your heart, to begin His reign in you and through you! He will set you free to know Him, live in Him and pour out His goodness to all who are around you. You can then begin to see how the “Kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He will reign forever!” (Revelations 11:15)
Heavenly Father, we rejoice in YOUR joy, rest in Your peace, and trust in Your righteousness. As we yield to your love and grace and its’ working in our lives, help us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith and the champion of our salvation. Establish your kingdom reign within us all, and may we continue to look for the increase of your rule in this earth.
In the Name of Jesus our Lovely Saviour and Lord,
Amen
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