Book 4 of Musings Preached as a Testimony
I do believe we are not preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom as a testimony.
The gospel we are preaching is manmade. It is the gospel of make a profession of belief in Jesus Christ so you will go to Heaven. Did John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the early Apostles preach the gospel of making a profession of belief in Christ so we will make our eternal residence in Heaven when we die?
Whatever happened to the Good News of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth?
The Jews were waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God.
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)
When John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles preached concerning the Kingdom of God, the Jews understood them to be referring to the kingdom proclaimed by the Prophets of Israel. This belief would have been passed on to the Gentiles, for their first teachers of the Gentiles were Jews.
The Gospel is the Good News that the Kingdom of God is coming to the earth, the kingdom that will bring justice to the meek of the earth; the kingdom that will remove all that is sinful; the kingdom that will make the earth a safe place for little children.
How did the Gospel of the Kingdom get changed into a ritualized formula by which we are permitted to live forever in the spirit world?
The Lord Jesus told us the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached as a testimony to all nations. When this has been accomplished, the end of the Church Age will be here.
We are not preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom as a testimony. We are preaching a gospel of how to get saved and go to Heaven when we die. This is not a testimony, it is a way of getting to Heaven.
The Divine testimony tells of the Person, will, way, and eternal purpose of God in Jesus Christ. Once these four truths have been made known, the testimony has been given. Maybe people received Christ. Maybe they did not. The testimony has been given. We have been successful.
If our gospel is that of teaching people how to get to Heaven, and no one receives Christ, then we have failed. So the effort to bear witness and the effort to make converts are different in kind.
When the Lord sent out His witnesses He told them to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and tell the people the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Matthew uses the term "Kingdom of Heaven." A comparison of the expressions "the Kingdom of Heaven" and "the Kingdom of God," as used in the Gospel accounts, will demonstrate conclusively that they refer to the one Kingdom.
As you go, preach this message: "The kingdom of heaven is near." Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7-8)
The Twelve were to bear witness concerning the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven to the earth.
The Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul and the other apostles and evangelists preached the Kingdom of Heaven, of God.
After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)
But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. (Acts 8:12)
Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. (Acts 14:22)
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. (Acts 19:8)
Now I know none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. (Acts 20:25)
They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. (Acts 28:23)
Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 28:31)
Now tell me: What did the early Apostles preach?
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, (Romans 14:17)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (Hebrews 12:28)
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (James 2:5)
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, And you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11)
Do you see anywhere in the Gospel accounts, the Book of Acts, the Epistles, or the Book of Revelation, where the testimony of God has to do with our making our eternal home in Heaven? If you do not, and if there are several references to the Kingdom of God, then our teaching and preaching are unscriptural.
What are we going to do about it?
Here is why there is a practical difference between promising people if they will make the correct theological statement they will go to Heaven when they die, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom as a testimony to all nations.
We can present grace as an excuse for sin and tell people they need do nothing except believe the facts about Jesus Christ. This is a free trip to Heaven. It makes little or no demands on the believer. Consequently numerous Christians in the United States undergo virtually no moral transformation. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ came so we would be transformed morally and thus be made fit for the Kingdom of God.
If, however, we preach the Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven is soon to come and be installed on the earth, then people have to make themselves ready for that coming. It is not a case of floating off to never-never land in the sky. Rather we are thinking about the coming of Christ, His saints, and His holy angels to establish righteous behavior on the earth. Quite a difference!
He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Saved from what? Saved from destruction when the Kingdom of God comes to the earth.
The Kingdom of God that is coming will bring in a new righteous world. First on the present earth. Later on a new earth.
All people who have lived on the earth will be judged sooner or later. Those who have chosen to live decently and honorably, receiving Christ if He has been presented to them, will be found worthy of life in the new world of righteousness.
Those who have chosen to live in the treachery and moral filth of the sinful nature, whether or not they profess Christ, will be assigned to an appropriate place with others of their kind. The truly wicked will be cast into fiery torment.
The Kingdom of God is a genuine kingdom, with a king, nobles, an army, and ranks and roles of many kinds.
The primary meaning of "saved" is to be permitted entrance into the Kingdom of God.
The secondary meaning of "saved" applies to the members of the royal priesthood. It means to be conformed to the moral image of Christ and to be brought into untroubled rest in the Center of the Father's Person and will.
Everything is centered on the Kingdom of God. It is returning to earth with the Lord Jesus Christ and His saints.
We have been charged to bear witness of the coming of the Kingdom.
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)
We cannot bear witness through means of our own intelligence, wisdom, talents, and dedication. Only the Holy Spirit can bear witness of the Kingdom of God and of its coming to be installed for eternity on the earth.
The witness we bear has three dimensions. All three emerge from the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and who empowers us for service.
First, the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome sin and behave in a godly manner. This is the most important aspect of the Kingdom witness. When people see our good works they will know we have been with God and speak truth. They will glorify God.
No person no matter how gifted can bear witness of the Kingdom of God if he is not living a righteous, holy life. All the preaching and teaching in the world means nothing whatever apart from a godly life.
Second, the Holy Spirit gives us miraculous utterance. We have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that we might declare the wonderful works of God, and the coming of the righteous Kingdom to the earth.
Third, the Holy Spirit enables us to perform works of miraculous power. When we are not performing miracles we are not presenting a full testimony of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
We overcome Satan as the Holy Spirit empowers us to overcome sin; as we declare with supernatural wisdom and power the coming of the Kingdom of God; and as we work miracles. This is the word of our testimony.
The Lord Jesus promised us that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. It is a testimony of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. We bear witness of God, His will, His way, and His eternal purpose in Jesus Christ.
The world of today is waiting to hear and see the true testimony of the Kingdom of God. There is a multitude of denominations. There are statements of faith. There are religious edifices. There is preaching and teaching. It is confusion, to a great extent. It is Babylon.
This is not to say there are not genuine works of God taking place throughout the earth. There are. But God has much greater things in mind.
Today God is using the Arab nations to chastise the Western nations. There is a cultural clash, but there need not be. The wars and terrorism exist because of the sinful ways of the Western nations, of which America is a prime example.
Our hearts should go out to the Arab people. The majority are not terrorists but kindly, affectionate people.
I pray for them that the God of Heaven will reveal the Lord Jesus Christ to them, not so they will join a denomination but so they will love and worship Jesus and be prepared to be part of His Kingdom.
I saw in a kind of vision one of the Afghan warlords. He had just been killed. He was standing in a dry land. I saw no grass, no trees. He was fiercely angry. He said, "I have been deceived."
I don't know about you but I have compassion for him. Certainly he has done harm in his life. But he had been deceived. Perhaps he had been deceived because the Christians did not bear a true testimony of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps the Muslims have cause to refer to America as the great Satan, considering the river of moral filth that pours from Hollywood, California.
Let us not be drawn into the endless political battles as self-serving, deceitful, ambitious politicians continue with their treacherous maneuvering. Our task is to patiently, joyously declare that a new world of righteousness is on the way. A Kingdom is coming from Heaven. The King and His princes are people of integrity, not moved by any force other than the will of the Father.
Can you imagine a world in which all the rulers are godly servants of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, this is the kingdom that soon is to come.
So we are bear testimony to the coming of the Kingdom of God to the world. It was at hand in the days of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth because Jesus is the Kingdom and in Him is found all that is of the Kingdom of God.
The Lord told us before the outer kingdom would come to the earth, the inner kingdom must be developed in us. The seed of the Kingdom has been sown throughout the earth and has borne much fruit.
But in the days to come the mightiest anointing of all will fall on God's saints and they will bear witness throughout the earth of the return of Jesus Christ and His saints to govern the world.
The denominations and church organizations will conduct their programs until finally they become Babylon the Great.
Meanwhile the true saints, those whom the Father has given to Jesus Christ, will obey the Spirit of God until the true witness of the Kingdom of God has gone to every nation. No power can prevent the Gospel of the Kingdom from going to every nation because the Father has declared that it shall happen. There is no power against the Father!
Let us rejoice and be glad. The highest hopes and most fantastic dreams are soon to be fulfilled. First there will be the fiercest of battles as the Father faces Satan; Christ faces Antichrist; and the Holy Spirit faces the False Prophet. These three shall be totally overcome. Then the heavens and the earth shall break forth into singing. All that the Prophets spoke shall be here. The Garden of Eden raised to the thousandth degree of loveliness and wonder shall fill the earth. God shall live among the people He has created.
The Spirit and the Bride say to all nations: "Come! Drink freely of the water of eternal life."
Eternal life shall flow from those in whom the Throne of God has been established.
This is the Kingdom of God, and it truly is at hand!
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 11:15)