The Kingdom of God- 2

Subtitle:  Now But Not Yet Fully

Various passages.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 23, 2025.

Next week, we are going to talk about how a person enters into the kingdom of God.  But, before we do that, we need to deal with something that was a surprise when it was revealed.

In some ways, Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God as something that people could and were entering in his day, but in other places, the Kingdom of God seems to be something that is still future.  The subtitle of today’s sermon is relaying the fact that the Kingdom of God is right now, but also, not fully here.  To say it in another way, the Kingdom of God is already present on the earth, but not yet complete.

Let’s look at some passages.

Passages that speak of the Kingdom as a present reality

Our first passage is Luke 17:20-21.  We have there a question posed to Jesus by the Pharisees. They wanted to know when the Kingdom of God would come.

The Pharisees as a group did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.  Definitely, there were some who secretly believed, and others who would believe after the resurrection of Jesus.  Yet, we should not suppose that this is a question that is asked out of a sincere desire to hear the wisdom of Jesus.   Their question probably represents an adversarial intent.  They are fishing for him to make his views clear so that they can then use his words against him.

We should keep this in mind when analyzing the answer that Jesus gives.  Jesus always gave truth to these men, but it was in a way that would be missed (or even dismissed) while they remained unbelieving.

The first point made by Jesus is that the Kingdom doesn’t “come with observation.”  The verb is actually present tense here.  Thus, the Kingdom is not coming (presently) with observation.

What is meant by the phrase “with observation?”  Some versions translate this as “with signs.”  This seems contradictory because the biggest sign that the Kingdom had arrived was staring them in the face.  Jesus did many signs before the people, whether casting out demons, healings, and his powerful teachings of repentance.  If the Anointed teacher from God was here, then the Kingdom was surely on his heels. 

Yet, though some of the actions of Jesus may have fit what they expected, many of his actions did not.  They were looking for one from the line of David to rise up, make a rightful claim to the throne, lead an army against Rome, and establish Israel above the nations.  These are the things they expected, or were seeking to observe.  The Kingdom was presently coming, but not in the way that they were expecting, not in that kind of way.  This would not be a replay of David.

Jesus then states, “For indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you” (NKJV).  “For indeed” is translating the word look, or behold.  It is exclamatory and calls a person’s attention to something they are missing.  If they had eyes to see, they would recognize the Kingdom.

The translation “within you” is unfortunate.  You will notice that many other translations will give the translation “among you.”  Why the difference?

If we take “the Kingdom of God is within you” to be a statement about a spiritual nature of the Kingdom, we would be able to find many passages in the New Testament that back this up.  The Christians did not try to take over the nation of Israel or establish a capital city with a king on a throne in those days.  Christ’s rule was realized within their hearts and minds.  By the Spirit, they were connecting to the King and living out his purpose and plan in this life.

Yet, in the context, Jesus is not talking to believers.  He cannot be saying that the Kingdom is spiritually in the hearts of these unbelieving Pharisees.  This brings us to a secondary notion of “within you.”  The you here is plural.  Within is most likely not referring to within them individually, but rather, in the midst of the group.   Jesus was even then right in their midst, within them as a group.  Yet, they couldn’t see him for who he was.  This is not a statement of the Kingdom’s spiritual nature, but rather an answer to their question.  It is here right now in your midst, and yet, you cannot see it!

There is no way around this passage.  Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God was already in the midst of the nation of Israel in his day.  He also taught that it was not coming in the outward way that they were expecting.  It would not be a nation like they were used to seeing nations.

We should resist the temptation to refer to this as simply a spiritual kingdom.  Rather, it is a kingdom on this earth unlike any kingdom before it.  It’s King (Jesus) resides and sits on a heavenly throne at the right hand of the Father.  He sends forth his Holy Spirit to draw people unto him and to dwell within his followers.  When we read the Word of God, we cannot observe the Holy Spirit applying it to our heart and speaking within our inner man, but it is very real.  We can’t see executive orders from Jesus to the angelic world and to his people on earth, but they are real nonetheless.  In fact, the followers of Jesus do very real things on the earth in response to a very real spiritual work within them.  Not everything done in Christ’s name is stirred up by his Spirit.  Yet, we cannot deny that the New Testament presents a real king operating by the Spirit in the hearts of his followers.  This is the Kingdom of God in the present age.

This helps us understand the words of Jesus before Pilate in John 18:36.  He tells Pilate that his Kingdom (notice he doesn’t deny its reality) “is not of this world…If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews…”  Jesus is a King over a very real Kingdom, but it is not of this world.  Don’t read that phrase as if it means it isn’t in this world.  Just as believers are born of the Spirit and are no longer of this world, so the Kingdom Jesus is creating is not of the world.  It is not like it, but even more, the world is not its source.  This is a Kingdom that God the Father is originating.  All other Kingdoms were created by mortal men and displayed a particular way of operating.  This Kingdom is not at all like those kingdoms.  This is why they didn’t fight to save Jesus.  His Kingdom is not worldly and focused on worldly attainment.  Rather, his Kingdom is directed by the Father for higher purposes that the world, and those who think like the world, cannot understand.

Luke 11:19-20 gives us another statement of the Kingdom’s present reality.   Again, Jesus is speaking to Pharisees who do not want to believe that he is Messiah.  Of course, they would have to explain the power Jesus displayed in casting out demons.  Jesus knew that some of them were saying in their minds that he was able to do this because he was in league with the prince of demons, Beelzebub.  Thus, it was a satanic ruse to get people to follow Jesus.  This really was the only option for unbelievers because there was too much undeniable evidence for these exorcism.  Men who had been tormented and tormented a whole region for years were suddenly in their right mind at the command of Jesus.

Jesus points out that this logic can be used against their own students who performed exorcisms.   Casting out a demon cannot in itself be proof that a person is in league with the devil.  You would need something else to establish that.

Of course, these disciples did not have the power and success-rate of Jesus, not even close!  Yet, Jesus is mercifully showing them the error in their logic.  However, their error in logic is not driven by inability to use logic.  Rather, it is driven by their unwillingness to accept that Jesus is (was) their Messiah.

Jesus statement at the end drives the main point home.  “If I cast out demons with the finger of God…”  It is put as a conditional because this is what they are struggling with.  Of course, Jesus knows that he does this with the finger of God.  This is not some admission that he isn’t sure how he is doing this.  The finger of God language comes from Exodus 8, when Moses stood before Pharaoh and his magicians.  They were able to duplicate some of the first miracles, but they eventually tell Pharaoh that Moses was not using magical arts.  This was the very finger of God working with him.  They could not do what God was doing through Moses.  By the way, Jesus is most likely implying to the Pharisees that their disciples are equivalent to Pharaoh’s magicians, and he is equivalent (actually greater) to Moses.  He was the prophet like Moses that they were told was coming (Deuteronomy 18).    When God shows up, there is no comparison between what men can do through ritual and reliance upon fallen spirits, and what He does through His people. 

Back to the statement of Jesus.  “If I cast out demons with the finger of God, behold, the Kingdom of God has come upon you!”  Jesus is challenging them to quit resisting the Holy Spirit and open their eyes.  They are hardening their hearts much like Pharaoh did.  Here it is!  Embrace it!  The King is in front of them displaying the power of the Kingdom over every evil thing, and they are blind to it.

Matthew 21:28-32.  This passage deals with the an issue that was similar with John’s ministry.  By what authority did John baptize people and tell them to ready themselves for Messiah?  Also, by what authority was Jesus doing what he was doing?  Jesus challenges them about John because they were unwilling to state categorically that John was not sent by God as a true prophet.  This was a political unwillingness because John was popular with the people.

Jesus then asks a question about two sons who were asked by their father to go work in his vineyard.  The first said that he wouldn’t do it, but later he regretted it and went to work in the vineyard.  The second son, however, said that he would go, but he never went into the vineyard to do the work.  The question is simple.  Which of the two sons did the will of their father?  The obvious answer is that it was the first son who was unwilling at first, but later did the work.  He then gives a powerful statement that would help them to see what the two sons represented.  “I say to you that tax collectors and harlots [enter] the kingdom of God before you.  He then goes on to connect their entering the Kingdom to believing in John. 

There is more here than I have time this morning.  In one way the two classes of sinners listed are like the first son.  They had rejected God’s purpose for their life and were doing their own thing.  However, the ministry of John the Baptist (and now Jesus) had caused them to regret this.  They believed and were doing “the work” that God had always asked of Israel: trust in Me and believe on My Anointed One when he comes.  However, the Pharisees through their lives were telling God that they were all about doing His work.  Yet, they refuse to embrace John, the Messiah’s forerunner (herald), and the Messiah himself.

We could also invert this by only focusing on John’s prophetic message as the Father’s call to go into the vineyard to work.  These Pharisees were refusing to believe John and now they are refusing to believe the One John pointed out as Messiah.  They could “regret it” and do the work, but they are continuing in their rejection of the Father’s will.  It is still possible that they could repent and do the will of the Father.  Our ability to do God’s will is not prevented by previous failure, though it definitely influences us. 

We should note that the verb in verse 31 is present tense.  Tax collectors and harlots were presently entering the Kingdom ahead of them.  The construction is not about any particular tax collector or harlot.  Therefore, it is not so much a statement about that very moment, but about those days, whether yesterday, today, or tomorrow.  People were entering the Kingdom at that time, and not because they were dying and “going to heaven.”  They were entering by doing what the Father was telling them to do, which was to repent and believe upon the Messiah who is Jesus of Nazareth!

Let’s go next to a passage in Paul’s letter to the Colossians.  Colossians 1:13-14.  Paul writes to the Colossians that “[The Father] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Paul had been one of those stubborn Pharisees who kicked against the goading of God to believe in Jesus.  He had given lip-service to doing God’s work, but when it came down to it, he was resisting and not doing it.  Yet, God broke through to his heart, and he finally embraced Jesus as the Christ.

Here, Paul is writing to the Colossians about something that has happened.  This is not something that is going to happen in the future.  This idea that God was presently transferring people from under the bondage of the power of darkness into the “Kingdom of the Son of His love…”  The Father had placed them in the Kingdom of Messiah Jesus.  This was not a geographical thing with a literal border.  This is a spiritual transfer that happens in the heart.

Let’s now turn to several passages that speak of the Kingdom of God as a future reality in some way.  This may look like a contradiction upon first glance.  But, a careful look will show that it is not a true contradiction.  It may not have been satisfying to many of the Pharisees  in the first century, but it was not contradictory.  Essentially, there are some ways in which the Kingdom is now, but there are other ways in which the Kingdom is still in the future.

Passages that speak of the Kingdom as a future reality

Matthew 28:11-12.  In this passage, we have a Roman centurion who has great faith that Jesus can heal his servant on command without ever going to his house. 

We can limit God through our lack of true understanding.  This is so in the case of the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda.  When Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed, all he could think of was how unable he was to get into the pool when it stirred.  His mind could not fathom that a pool was not necessary if God wanted him healed.  Jesus was willing to go to the centurions house and lay hands upon the servant, but the man protested that he was not worthy of Jesus coming to his house.

Jesus was amazed that this gentile had more faith than most Jews.  The grounds for this amazement has nothing about our ability to have faith.  Jews are not genetically predisposed to having faith at higher levels than gentiles.  Rather, the Jews have a history and records of many ancestors who believed God for impossible things.  They had a whole history of God doing impossible things.  They of all people shouldn’t have even blinked at demonstrating such faith.  Yet, precious few of them did so.

Jesus takes advantage of this gentile’s amazing faith to make a statement about the Kingdom.  “[M]any will come (future tense) from east and west, and sit down (future tense) with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.”  Jesus is telling us that there is a time in the future where believing gentiles will come from all around the world and sit with Abraham and the other patriarchs “in the Kingdom of Heaven.”  Now, we showed last week how the Kingdom of Heaven is just another way of talking about the Kingdom of God.  These “sons of the Kingdom” thought that their genetic descent from Abraham was a golden ticket into the Kingdom when it came.  Yet, Jesus is telling them that they and their golden ticket will find themselves shut out of the Kingdom while Gentiles come in and fellowship with the Patriarchs who were their ancestors.  Again, Jesus is pointing to something that would happen in the future.

Some Christians will interpret this spiritually versus literally.  They reason this way.  First, Jesus said his Kingdom is spiritual.  Second, this means that people are coming to him spiritually and fellowshipping with Abraham in the sense that they are believing just like he did.  It can even be extended to a heavenly meaning.  Many gentiles will die and go to heaven where they can sit down with Abraham and the patriarchs, while the unbelieving Jews will be shut out.

The problem with such interpretations is that they take a thread of truth and make themselves the judge of what God’s Word means.  They either treat everything as spiritual, i.e., nothing is literal, or they treat only the things they like as literal and the rest are metaphorical.  If I only take it literally when I agree with it, that is a problem.  Who is in charge of what the Bible means?  Me?  A religious hierarchy?

Of course, we all have to come to a decision about what the Word means.  However, we need to do so humbly and without limitations upon what God can mean and say.  When you read, ask God to give you wisdom and understanding.  Be humble.

Let me ask you a question.  The first coming of Jesus, was it all spiritual or was there some literal things about it?  Was Jesus the literal son of a literal virgin?  Yet, Jesus set them free from spiritual bondage rather than from the gentile powers.  We must beware of letting a spiritual truth cause us to reject any literal fulfillment.  Most often God is doing both spiritual and literal things.  They can both be true at the same time, or true at different points in time.

This begs the question.  Is the Kingdom of God only a spiritual thing that only take place in a spiritual place?  In this passage, Jesus presents a real common to life scene of believing gentiles sitting down with Abraham in the Kingdom.

Let’s look at another passage.  Matthew 19:27-28.  Peter asks Jesus what they who had left everything and followed him would have as a reward.  Jesus points to a time called the “Regeneration,” in which “the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory.”  He then states that those who have followed him (the Twelve disciples who were faithful to the end) would also sit on twelves thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 

The Regeneration is a rare word in the New Testament.  It has the sense of renewal, but this appears to be more than just a spiritual renewal in this passage.  Jesus equates the renewal with him sitting on his throne of glory.  This is a clear reference to the Messianic prophecies that speak of the Messiah renewing all things.  It should not be equated with the New Birth, though some do this. 

The tendency to spiritualize this passage does not come from the passage, but from a person’s prior persuasion.  Jesus is looking forward to a time in the future when all things will be renewed and he will sit on a throne of glory.  At that time, the twelve disciples would sit on 12 thrones judging the tribes of Israel (Judas was replaced by Matthias in Acts 1:15-26).  That seems to be a very clear statement about a literal reign of Jesus and the Disciples.

Some will say that the disciples did reign in the sense that they had authority in the new Church of Jesus.  They will also treat the thrones as symbolic of their authority.  The 12 tribes of Israel, then become symbolic of the various groups of Christians throughout the world, or Jews who believed in the first century.

Of course, it is true that the Apostles had authority to lay down the foundation of the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints.  However, we are left asking why a person would not simply understand it for what it says.  It makes most sense of a statement about a future time when God has restored the righteous through resurrection and setting up a literal kingdom on this earth that has literal thrones.

Now, from 135 AD to 1948 AD (1,813 years), there was no nation of Israel.  Christians would read this and recognize that there wasn’t a nation of Israel.  It was easy to read it and think that it couldn’t be literal.  There is no Israel.  It generally was seen as a replacement thing.  “National Israel is gone and we the “spiritual” Israel have taken their place.  Yet, 1948 blew this out of the water.  Why would God allow Israel to come back into existence?

For far too long, much of the Church has given up the expectation of a returning Jesus setting up an observable kingdom on the earth, one in which the nation of Israel would be “resurrected” from the dead.  This happened to the nation in the natural in 1948, but will also happen to the people of Israel spiritually in the future.

What we have here is Jesus looking forward to a time in which the Kingdom does become observable.  It presently is not observable in that kind of way (Jesus on a throne, the Disciples ruling in Israel, etc.).  However, one day it will be.

In fact, the throne of his glory is given more definition in Matthew 25:31-32.  The throne of Christ’s glory is connect to his coming in glory with the holy angles with him.  This is clearly about the Second Coming.  He speaks of all the nations (those who have survived to that point) being gathered before him and separated like sheep from goats. 

This is a very recognizable point.  The first coming of the Christ did not look like a conquering king.  His was a victory and a kingdom that was spiritual and over the hearts of men (Jew and Gentile).  Yet, his Second Coming will be quite different.  This is shown in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 

We could try and spiritualize even the Second Coming of Christ.  He comes gloriously when his messengers (heavenly and earthly) bring the glorious truth of God into the lives of those who embrace it and believe.  That same word is a judgment and destruction against those who reject it.

In the end, we need to let Jesus tell us what is going to happen, rather than we being the one determining what will happen.

In Acts 1:6-7, the disciples ask Jesus if it is time for the Kingdom to be restored to Israel.  Now, they are not disbelieving what Jesus said earlier.  They are simply asking if the future time had finally come.  Note that a lot of things had happened.  Jesus had been rejected by the rulers of Israel, executed on a cross, and resurrected from the dead.  We can forgive them for thinking that perhaps God had finished making His point, and now it was time to go into the observable aspect of the Kingdom.

This would have  been a prime opportunity for Jesus to explain to these guys that it would never be an observable kingdom (i.e., only in a spiritual way).  Yet, Jesus doesn’t explain to them that they are supposed to go back and spiritualize everything he said about the Kingdom.   However, Jesus tells them that it is not for them to know when this would happen.  It was only for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit and remain faithful to God’s plan for now.  The Kingdom would continue being present, but in a more spiritual way, until the time that God the Father was ready to move to the next phase, a more observable phase.

We could end with Revelation 19:11-20.  Up to verse 16, we could easily apply this completely to the first century with a spiritual interpretation alone.  Jesus has come.  The sharp sword from his mouth is symbolic for the Word of God that he was delivering.  He rules over the nations today, and his judgments are happening like a rod of iron.  The word of God is striking those of the lost who refuse to believe, and thus, they are spiritually slain by it.

However, at verse 17, we are given a description of a great supper of God that is put on for the birds of the air.  The overall picture is that of Jesus coming back to the earth in order to deal with the wicked governmental powers that have not only persecuted his people, but have also bound the whole earth under a beastly system that is antichrist.

Though we could spiritualize this too, we would be hard-pressed to see any way that the wicked governmental powers are being judged  by Christ and removed so that His kingdom could move forward with the righteous, resurrected believers.

On the flip-side, we do see a literal need for Jesus to come back physically and literally remove them.

There are many other passages that we could go through, showing a present or future aspect to the Kingdom of God.  The challenge for believers today is to understand that we are a part of a real and present Kingdom of God right now.  We need to cooperate with the Lord Jesus by pursuing his word and being filled with the Holy Spirit.  We need to do what the early Church did by telling everyone who Jesus is, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Yet, we also need to understand that we are not just doing the same thing over and over again.  We are not just being faithful in our mortal life so that we can enter a spiritual kingdom that is forever in the heavens.  No.  The emphasis on the New Testament is not us going to be with God, but rather, God coming down to be with us.

History is headed to a climax, and the times of the Gentiles will come to an end.  We will reach the great “until” of prophecy, as the Lord Jesus literally comes back riding the clouds of heaven.  Of course, there is room for metaphor and spiritual meanings, but that does not mean we should reject any interpretations that also allow for literal meaning.

The Kingdom is now, but not yet fully what it is promised to be!

Now But Not Yet Fully audio

The Kingdom of God- 1

Subtitle:  Introduction

Various Passages.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 16, 2025.

As we finished the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we saw how the Kingdom of God was an important theme.  The book began with Luke describing the teaching of Jesus to his disciples, after the resurrection, as “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).  Three verses later, the disciples ask Jesus this question.  “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  Of course, our Lord told them that it wasn’t for them to know the times and the seasons.  Rather, it was for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be enabled to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth.

Let me point out what Jesus didn’t say.  He didn’t say that their notion of a kingdom being restored to Israel was ludicrous or unfounded.  He didn’t lecture regarding the kingdom prophecies of the Old Testament that they were all intended to be read only symbolically, or spiritually.  Instead, he tells them that they are not supposed to worry about the timing of God’s seasons.

Of course, the book of Acts ends in chapter 28 with two more bookend-mentions of the Kingdom of God.  Paul explained and testified to the Jewish leaders of Rome concerning the Kingdom of God.  The book then ends with the statement that Paul was “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ…”

A person may be tempted to ask the question, “What about the Gospel?”.  However, we saw in our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount that the Gospel is essentially about the Kingdom. 

Matthew 4:23 says, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”  In Matthew 4:17, Jesus taught the crowds that they needed to repent because the Kingdom of heaven was at hand, or near.  This was true because Messiah the King (i.e., Jesus) was finally in Israel.  Later, Jesus rebuked the chief priest by telling them that “tax collectors and harlots are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.”

Thus, we can see that Jesus is telling them that the Kingdom and its King are at hand.  Yet, they need to enter it.  In fact, people who appeared to be disqualified from the Kingdom were finding the way to enter into the Kingdom at that time.  Of course, that way is to put your faith completely in God’s Anointed King, Jesus.  At its essence, the Kingdom is a reference to the King that administers it.  This is what the famous beatitudes of Matthew 5 emphasize.  Those who had been persecuted and were poor in spirit were told by Jesus that they were blessed because the Kingdom of heaven was theirs.  The King was there encouraging those who had ears to hear in Israel that their ability to participate in the Kingdom was not negatively affected by these things, but in fact, it seems to be in their favor! 

Matthew clearly shows Jesus as King Messiah giving his teaching (instructions) to those of Israel who wanted to be his citizens (his disciples).  The King is hear and they could enter the Kingdom!.

Let’s look at some passages.

The King/Kindom concept in the Old Testament

Psalm 29:10 pictures God seated on his throne during the flood.  The probability that the author means the flood during the time of Noah is extremely high here, in fact, hard to seriously question.  The Flood was a scary time for humans as a whole.  However, most of life throughout most of history has been difficult and scary for the average human.  Yet, the kings and kingdoms of the world are a cut above the average human.  At the Flood, kings and their kingdoms were just as powerless as the peasants who perished with them.  While the kings and kingdoms of men were washed away, never to return, God’s rule was not touched by the great destructive chaos on the earth. 

Of course, God’s heart is touched by the great destruction.  It was precisely because God cared for humanity that the Flood came.  Wickedness had filled the earth with violence.  The average experience was a boot in the face, death of loved ones, and death of self.  God was touched by the heinous violence that was playing out everyday upon the powerless by the powerful.  

Yet, God brings a remnant through the flood so that humanity is not extinguished, and His purpose for us would be obtained.

Yes, God is angry with the wicked, but His anger is not like our anger.  Human anger does not produce the righteousness of God.  However, God’s anger is pure and gracious.  It always has the redemption of humans at its core, and it is generally triggered by our treatment of one another.

The chaos of the flood, or even the chaos of those wicked kingdoms that existed before the flood, could attack or affect God on His throne.  His rule is absolute and cannot be harmed by the rebellion of the wicked.

Psalm 47:7-9 speaks of God in the terms of a great Emperor.  He is the King of all the earth (the kings of the earth).  He is King over all things.  He has always been King; He is King today; He always will be King.  The “shields of the earth” is a reference to kings and their governments.  They are supposed to be a shield to their people, but wickedness quickly infiltrates even the best of human kingdoms.  These kings and kingdoms all answer to God.  For the Christian, there is no question that God is King over all things.  By the way, He is also presented as King of the heavens as well, but that is not the place of our concern.

So, we can speak of the Kingdom of God as the simple reality that God has always been and always will be the Sovereign over all of creation.  We can call this the Universal Kingdom of God.

We may quibble over the things that are allowed to happen within His rule over the earth, but we do so because we don’t understand what He understands.  If a person finds themselves continually blaming God for all that is wrong on this planet and in their life, they need to read the Word of God and pray for understanding from the Spirit of God.  Our minds have been shaped by this world and by our flesh in a certain way of interpreting these things.  Our ability to hear what our Creator and Redeemer is trying to teach us and say to us needs His help.  It also needs us to be humble and ask for His help.  He is our loving Heavenly Father.  We will never benefit ourselves by trying to make Him the bad guy.

God is our King, but He is much more than that.  In some ways, it seems obligatory to trumpet the kingship of God and argue against anything that appears to diminish it.  However, I ask you to bear with me for a few moments.  When it comes to God’s Kingship compared to anyone on earth or even the devil, His Kingship cannot be questioned.  But, when it comes to contemplating all that God is, His Kingship is a subset, or facet, of Who He is.

If you start at the beginning of the Bible and walk through it (concordance queries will be quicker), you will go a long way before you run into the concept that God is King and that He has a kingdom.  Think about the picture in Genesis 1 and 2.  In chapter 1, God is presented as an all-powerful Creator, Artisan, Craftsman Who brings all things into existence.  Humans can create things that didn’t exist before, but we cannot do it like God does.  We merely assimilate matter that already exists and already has properties conducive to the effect we want.  God, however, is the One who made that matter and gave it the properties that it has.

Yet, God made humans to be His image-bearers on the earth.  This concept from Genesis 1 is fleshed out further in Genesis 2.  God is presented not only as Adam’s Creator, but also his Father.  He brings Adam into existence.  Men and women can do a similar thing today through procreation.  However, our method is a shadow of God’s absolute power to create a human being.  Adam is to bear the image of his Heavenly Father by giving himself to the purpose that his Father gave him, and by doing it in a matter that is like his Father.  This is why we see relationship, communication, and care happening throughout the passage.  Adam’s Heavenly Father even  obtains a bride for him.  Thus, Adam’s fathering of the children he produces with Eve is to be a reflection of God’s greater Fathering. 

There are kingly aspects to who and what a father is.  However, it would be a strange father who ran his home solely as if he were the king of it.  If he made everything become about how the kids could serve his purposes, and even treated their disobedience and defiance in the same way that a king would treat such from a rebel citizen, then that would not be a good parent.  He would essentially be a tyrannical man imaging that God is a tyrant, which isn’t true.  It would be a false image.  No, a father has a much more complex identity then to simply call him king.  God is King of all things, but He is far more than that.  He is something far grander than that.  He is our Heavenly Father.

First Corinthians 15:24 and 28 speaks of Jesus and part of his purpose.  His is going to abolish all rule, authority, and power.  The idea is clarified in verse 28.  When all things are subjected to Jesus, then he will also be subjected to the Father, Who has subjected all things under Jesus.  The rulers, powers, and authorities that are subjected to Jesus are both human beings and spiritual beings.  In the end, no one but God the Father will have rule, authority, and power.

Yet, notice the end result that is highlighted in verse 28.  The point is not about God becoming the only King, Kingdom, Rule, Authority, etc…  The point is about God taking His rightful place as the “All in all.”  The Father is our everything, which is so much more than our King.  We could even say that He is so much more than a Father.  He is our Everything.

I will point out that the word for subjected here simply means to take your proper place under one who has authority and power.  It is put in a passive form.  Thus, it points to something being done to human power, spiritual powers, and finally Jesus.  Yet, we should not see that as something that is necessarily forced.  The wicked will have their rule, authority and power forcefully taken from them.  However, the righteous and the Lord Jesus do so as volunteers, even as sons, glad to do the will of the Father at the time of His choosing.  Paul is looking far ahead into the final state of all things.  Humans will not rule and have authority over each other.  This picture is not about domination and subjugation.  In fact, it is about destroying all such warped imaging.  It is about all things being in harmony, taking their proper place, with God and not about establishing God as King over all things.

What you find in Genesis is that the use of king and kingdom is used of rebellious humanity.  Genesis 10:10 tells us that Babylon was the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom.  His name means rebel.  Even his city building is reminiscent of Cain’s city building as he went into the land of Nod in Genesis 4.  These are not righteous men.  These are men who are trying to accomplish something in the face of God, in rebellion to God’s purpose and plan.  Kings and kingdoms arose among the wicked.  Yet, God knew that this would be.  He would use this sinful concept of power and authority in order to teach humanity a better way.

If you think about it, humans were given dominion over the earth by God.  However, there is no concept that we would have dominion over one another.  It was the sinful rebellion of humanity in league with fallen spiritual beings that created a world of “better men” harnessing the lesser men for the glory of humanity.  This realm of kings and kingdoms subjugating one another is, no doubt, at the heart of God’s description of the pre-Flood world.  “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  Later in the same chapter, we are told, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”

The sinful rebellion of mankind creates a sinful warped concept of authority and power.  What should have been a godly dominion over the earth turns into an ungodly domination of one another through violence.  This was not God’s purpose.  He never designed humanity to be ruled by our betters (an aristocracy).

Before we go any further, I want to take a few moments to stop and flesh out the difference between authority and power. 

Authority refers to the right that one being has to give commands, create things, possess things, etc.  If you think of the word “authorize,” then you can begin to appreciate that authority among humans is a reference to certain rights we have.  Where do these rights, authorities, come from?  All authority comes from God.  He is the foundation of all authority.  We can know this is logically true when we ask what gave God the right, the authority, to create all that He has?  The answer is that He did.  If anything that was created has any authority, it received it from the Creator who is the ground of all authority.

If you imagine the right you have over your own body, mind, and possessions.  It is God who alone can be the foundation of that right.  Authority is a moral concept of a person’s right.

Let’s now add the concept of power.  Those who have authority (let’s say to have a child) may not have the power to do so.  A man chained in a prison may have a God-given right to marry a woman and have children, but he lacks the power to be able to do so.  On the other hand, a person may lack authority and yet, have the power to do whatever they want.  It is not too hard to come up with examples of that.  However, not all power is about that kind of force.  The serpent in the Garden used the power of persuasion, deception, lies, and temptation in order to interfere in a relationship in which he had no authority.  Powerful beings and powerful people tend to step on the authority that God has given to others.

When God rescued the people of Israel from Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, it was connected back to His promise to Abraham.  God promised that He would make a nation out of Abraham.  That nation would be His chosen vessel to bless the nations.  However, any nations that cursed Israel would be cursed by God.  When Israel comes to the promised land of Canaan, they are the invading Kingdom of God that God is using to confront the extremely wicked societies that lived there.  If those nations, people, would recognize God’s hand upon Israel and respect it, they would not have to be cursed.  Think about Rahab in Jericho.  She respected God’s close connection to Israel and chose by faith to throw her lot in with Israel.  God blessed her because of that.

Of course, the Old Testament historical books and the prophetic books present Israel as failing in its mission to bring the light of God’s justice to the nations.  Even the line of David is depicted as a fallen tent, a fallen dynasty. Yet, God promised through the prophets that He was going to raise up an Anointed Servant of God.  This servant would succeed where Israel had failed. 

The book of Isaiah is a great place to see this, although there are many examples.  Read Isaiah 42:1 and the following.  “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen one in whom My soul delights.  I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.”  This is the true purpose for which God raised up Israel in the first place.

Previously, in Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah prophesied of a special child that would be born.  This child would have titles that are incredible: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace.  We are then told, “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”  This special son of David would raise up the fallen tent of David and fulfill what those before  him had failed to do.  This is what Jesus is announcing when he shows up.  He is not announcing the overall truth that God has always been the King of heaven and earth.  He is announcing that the Kingdom that would be brought forth under King Messiah had arrived.  God was fulfilling His promise to the people of Israel.  It was time for them to follow that King into the Kingdom.

We are going to stop there for today.  However, I want to ask you this.  Have you put your faith completely in Jesus?  Are you living your life for Him and His purposes?  Of course, it is easy to say that we are.  However, life has a way of testing just how resolved we are.  This is why we gather on Sundays and other days.  This is why we pray together, read the Word of God together, and fellowship with other Christians.  We are being tested all the time and we are going to need more than just our own strength to continue to trust the Lord Jesus.  Don’t delay.  Press into the Kingdom of God by putting all of your trust in Jesus and the message He gave to His disciples.

KoG 1 audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 95

Subtitle:  The Kingdom of God

Acts 28:23-31.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 9, 2025.

We are going to finish this series today as we come to the end of the book of Acts.  It ends with Paul meeting the Jewish leaders in Rome.

They are representatives of the Jews of Rome, but they seem to symbolize the Jews who were dispersed throughout the nations.  A group as a whole may make a decision, but that doesn’t control the decision of each individual within the group.  In the beginning of the book, we saw how the Judean leaders in Jerusalem led the people to reject Jesus as Messiah.  Still, a significant remnant of people were not misled by this, and instead, put their full trust in Jesus.  The book now ends with the same dynamic occurring among the dispersed Jews among the nations.  This is the pattern.  The majority reject it while a remnant believes and enters into the blessings that God has for them.

I have entitled this sermon, “The Kingdom of God.”  The book of Acts began with the question of the kingdom.  In chapter 1, verse 3, Luke talks about how Jesus “also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God.”  Just a few verses later (v. 8), the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”  Jesus then tells them that they are not to worry themselves about God’s timing.  Instead, they are to focus on waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  When they are baptized in the Spirit, they will be enabled to take the Gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

Similarly, we now have two mentions of the kingdom of God in the last chapter of the book.  There are also 4 places in between these bookend occurrences of the “Kingdom of God.”  Clearly, this is an important theme in the book.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul explains what the followers of Jesus believe (v. 23-31)

The Jewish leaders of Rome want to understand what it is that Paul and the other followers of Jesus are teaching.  So, a day was set for them to come by his lodging place.  It says that many came to him to hear what he was teaching.

Luke uses two verbs to describe Paul’s talk with them.  First, he explained about the Kingdom of God.  It requires an explanation because it was not what they were expecting.  They expected Messiah to come and kick out Herod, defeat the Romans, and begin the Kingdom of God.  Why was he killed?  If he really was resurrected, then why isn’t he here now?  For what purpose would he be seated at the right hand of the Father?  Isn’t that a likely story to cover for his failure?

Notice that the point is not about the existence of Jesus, or whether he was crucified or not.  All of them agreed on that.  It was about why they think Jesus was fulfilling what Messiah was supposed to do.  Back in Acts 1:6, even the disciples were expecting or hoping that Jesus would now establish the kingdom.  Yet, Jesus told them that it wasn’t for them to know the times and the seasons.  What was for them (for us) was to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that they would be empowered to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

The second verb that Luke uses has to do with testifying.  Paul testified of the Kingdom of God.  This is the presentation of the evidence that backs up their beliefs in these things that are not what they expected.  None of those present saw the resurrected Jesus.  In fact, not everyone in Jerusalem saw Jesus after the resurrection.  However, he did present himself to over 500 people.  Even Paul, had a power encounter with the resurrected Jesus that he couldn’t deny.

You can already hear the protests that this isn’t fair.  “If Jesus wants everyone to believe that he is the Messiah and Savior of the world, then why doesn’t he present himself to everyone?”  Why doesn’t Jesus use the social media of his day, call up Hollywood and have them create a PR campaign, perhaps even a movie?  This is a typical protest of those who cling to atheism.  If God wanted me to believe, then He should step out on the clouds and call my name and tell me that He is Jesus, and I should believe in Him.  The argument is always, if God would do X, then I would believe.  That is easier said than done. If God did do those things, most of these atheists would be checking themselves into a psychological ward.

Paul can give them all kinds of evidence: the miracles of Jesus, the miracles of the apostles, the amazing death of Stephen, his own confrontation outside of Damascus, ad infinitum.  How did a man like Saul of Tarsus change his mind and turn his heart towards this Jesus that he was trying to stamp out?  This is the testifying that Paul was doing.

Of course, it is one thing to talk about Messiah in general, hoping that he would come.  It is quite another to point to a particular man (i.e., Jesus) and say, “There’s the man!  He is the One!”  Thus, we are told that Paul persuaded them about Jesus from the Law and the Prophets.

Paul’s persuasion is not on the personality and charisma of Jesus, but on the way that Jesus fulfilled Scripture.  How can I say this?  There were many people who did not like Jesus in day.  Wasn’t Jesus a likeable person?  Well, yes and no.  It depended upon who was looking at him.

We can have this idea that  goes like this.  If  you are more like Jesus, then everyone will be more inclined to like you.  This is ludicrous since Jesus was hung on a cross by people who hated him.  Yes, certain people may like you.  However, others will hate you for being so much like Jesus.  In Matthew 10:34, Jesus warned that he had not come to bring peace, but to bring a sword between intimate relationships.  This is because faith is a personal matter.  One spouse believing cannot guarantee the change of the other.  Of course, if both believe, then there will not be a sword between them.  It is not that his purpose is to break up relationships.  Rather, it is because not all will like it when another person embraces Jesus.  Following Jesus will make a lot of people uncomfortable in your life, so ready yourself.  You don’t know who those people will be so you humbly and lovingly walk forward in faith.  Essentially, this is exactly what the Law and the Prophets would be saying about Messiah (read Psalm 2; 22 and Isaiah 53).  He would be rejected and misunderstood.  Yet, he would be the salvation of all.

Verses 24-25 tell us that they were divided over his testimony.  They go from receiving Paul’s testimony to arguing among themselves over it.  This prompts Paul to quote Isaiah 6:9-10 (Acts 28:26-27).

The verses quoted are a message from God to Isaiah the prophet.  This is the event that begins his ministry.  It is clearly his initial calling from God to speak to Israel.  Isaiah has a  vision of the Lord on His throne and in His majesty.  He immediately senses his own sinfulness and falls on his face.  Yet, a coal is brought from the altar and it is placed against his lips.  Isaiah is told that this has taken away his iniquity and his sin is purged.  It is then that God asks for someone to be a messenger for him. Isaiah volunteers. 

The verses that Paul is quoting are the message that God wants Isaiah to give to the people of Israel.  Notice that the message clearly shows that Israel is blind, deaf and dull of mind.  Why would God send them a message about their blindness, deafness, and dullness of mind, if they won’t be able to receive it?  He does so because He is faithful, and His faithfulness is able to do the impossible.  Only the Spirit of God can break through the fog and insensitivity of spiritual deafness, blindness, and slowness of mind.

This division among the Jews over Jesus serves to highlight a particular issue.  We should contemplate Israel as a nation versus those individuals who believed upon Jesus.  These are called the remnant.

We tend to think of this dynamic as a corporate versus individual issue.  The group as a whole rejects Jesus, but there are individuals who believe.  The group as a whole will face the results of rejecting Messiah, but the individuals who believed receive a blessing of God even in the midst of those results.  Jeremiah is a good example of such an picture.  The kingdom of Judah was destroyed by Babylon.  Jeremiah had to go through that, but God blessed him in the midst of it.

This serves us well to a certain point, but it is missing one aspect that you may have seen already.  These individuals who believed on Jesus are not simply isolated people.  They too are a subset of the larger group.  The remnant is a term that recognizes that these individuals are a part of a smaller group.  The remnant community serves as a witness that it is not enough for Israel (or the Church) to do God’s things alone.  In the end, we must be a people believing Him, doing His things out of faith in Him and responding to His corrections along the way.  This is what it means to be a part of the remnant.

All of this begs the question, “If some are believing, then why is Paul being so hard on the group?”  If missionaries today were to speak to a group of  100 and have 10 believe in Jesus, they would be happy and speak of it as a move of God.  Of course, Luke shows us that God is moving here.  However, these Jews of Rome represent the Hellenized (Greek-influenced) wing of the nation of Israel.  Paul sees their overall rejection as a part of the larger corporate rejection of Messiah by Israel.  As the Judean leaders had rejected Jesus by crucifying him, now the leaders of the Diaspora (the dispersed ones) are rejecting him.

It breaks Paul’s heart to see this happening.  In Romans 9:3, Paul describes the idea that he wished he could be cursed and cutoff from Christ for the sake of saving his own race, but that cannot be.  Only Jesus could bear our curse, be cutoff, and through resurrection overcome our fate.  Paul is not an arrogant and angry man lashing out at people who reject his arguments.  His heart hurts for them like that of a brother, or a father.  He tells them the truth in love.  [Note: In the sermon, I wrongly cited the book of Galatians as the source of Paul’s cry in Romans 9:3.]

Yet, Paul also knows that the corporate rejection of Messiah by Israel affects the present experience of the Kingdom of God.  Do you remember Peter’s sermon in Acts 3:19?  “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”  If you pay close attention to these three emphases, then you will notice that Peter is teaching something about the Kingdom.  If the nation of Israel believed, then God would send Jesus back and all things would be restored.  This is not just about all things in relation to Israel, but all things back to the Tower of Babel, even further back, to Adam and Eve.  If Israel had believed after seeing these twenty years of signs that they were wrong about Jesus, then this time of waiting for his second coming would be much shorter.

I think about our united States of America.  We have been flooded with the Word of God from the beginning.  That is good, and yet, it is also bad.  This is similar to Israel’s experience.  It is good for those who take hold of God’s Word and believe it.  I mean put their trust in it and live a life loyal to it.  However, it is bad for those who cast God’s Word aside and ignore it.  It is also bad for those who pretend to believe it, but only wear God’s Word as a righteous cloak for their unbelief.  It seems that many in our culture are not interested in putting their faith in Jesus.  The longer we have had the light, while not embracing it, the more spiritually damage we do to ourselves.  Yet, God is faithful and able to do the impossible.  His mercy continues to give spiritually damaged people opportunity for a miracle!

Luke’s concluding remarks tell us that Paul stayed in Rome under house-arrest for two full years.  He was able to welcome anyone who would come to him.  Yet, Luke does not focus this conclusion on what happened to Paul.  Was he executed at the end of that two years?  Was he released?  Does it matter if Luke didn’t think it was worthy of being recorded?  Rather, Luke focuses upon what was happening with the Gospel.

Paul continued preaching, proclaiming, the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ.  We should pay attention to all that those three words entail.  The man Jesus is the Christ, the one who was Anointed of God to save Israel and the nations.  He is also Lord, the sovereign who has all power and authority, in heaven and on the earth.

We are also told that Paul preached with all confidence.  Some versions translate this as openness.  He was also unhindered.  Paul had both freedom to speak and frankness of speech to those who came to him.  Of course, this does not mean that the Gospel would never be hindered.  In fact, those who hear the truth of the Kingdom of God have a choice to make.  Will they embrace the kingdom or will they hinder what the Spirit is doing in their life?  It also doesn’t mean that Christians would always be free to speak.  This was a special time of grace for the city of Rome.  Not only  had Christians come to the city, but God had sent the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, to their city.  This was a time of the Holy Spirit graciously moving in Rome.

We are in a day where the nations of the world and its republics are making choices about Jesus.  We must be careful of looking too strongly to the governments of these.  We can lose sight that the Bible has always presented a remnant in the midst of corrupt corporate heads.  Regardless of what power structures in our land may choose, believers must beware being led by them.  We are to be following Jesus.  As we follow him, he will speak to us about what we need to be doing that is beyond what his word has already directed us.

We may be like Isaiah speaking to a people who don’t want to hear it.  “Who has believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1).  Choosing to be a part of the remnant is not an easy thing physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

As we finish the book of Acts, Israel was about to go through a tragic judgment where they would cease to be a nation, and the majority of them would be dispersed among the nations.  Have you ever been a part of a situation that fell apart?  Perhaps, dad and mom divorced and upset your world.  Perhaps, a job that had been going well came to an unfair firing?  It is heart-breaking in such times, but you have a choice to make.  Am I going to serve God through this or not?  It is always a hard choice for our flesh. 

I would like to challenge us with this.  Jesus went through hard and difficult times for us.  We have been quite blessed in this land.  Yet, we are being challenged on a new level.  Will you continue to stand with Jesus or will you follow the ill winds of our age?  May God give us the grace to remain as a faithful remnant that speaks the truth in love to a larger group that isn’t interested in embracing Jesus as Lord.

Kingdom of God audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 94

Subtitle:  Paul Arrives in Rome

Acts 28:11-22.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 2, 2025.

The first part of this passage deals with Paul’s itinerary from the island of Malta to the city of Rome.  They had wintered on Malta for about 3 months, but now it was time to get these prisoners to Rome. 

They finish the trip from Malta to Rome (v. 11-16)

You can go to https://bibleatlas.org/ to see these locations.  From Malta, they sail north to the island of Sicily.  There they stay three days in the town of Syracuse.  They then sail along the southeastern coast of Sicily headed towards the Strait of Messian.  They spend a day docked at the town of Rhegium, which is on the tip of the “boot” of Italy.  They then take advantage of a south wind (blowing north) and head up the western coast of modern-day Italy.  They dock at a town called Puteoli and end up staying there seven days.  From here, they will travel to Rome by land.

In Puteoli, they found brethren (other believers in Jesus).  It is probably through them that word is sent ahead to the Christians in Rome.

As they travel to Rome, we are told that the brethren came out to meet them as far away as the Market of Appius, which was about 43 miles from Rome.  This would be similar to the Rome custom of greeting a hero, or emperor, coming home to Rome from war.  Of course, there is a lot of irony in the fact that Paul is in chains and on his way to Rome as a prisoner.  From the viewpoint of believers, this makes him a hero, but from the Roman pagan mentality, he is not a hero.

Verse 15 tells us that Paul thanked God and took courage when he saw them.  Though he is experiencing a situation that would discourage most people, we see him being encouraged by God through many means: angel visits, dreams, help from unbelievers, and help from other believers.  God can and does employ a multitude of ways to help His followers.

It is easy to lose sight of the humanity of a man like Paul.  If you tell someone to follow Paul’s example, or Moses, or Elijah, they typically scoff it off.  “He was a saint!  I’m not.”  Of course, all Christians are saints, i.e., people who have been set apart by God for His purposes.   But, it is easy to be derisive of such encouragement.  We feel like there is no way that we can relate with a man like Paul.

When Paul is coming to Rome, he is a saint of God who is being faithful to his calling in the face of persecution.  However, these people meeting him are just as much saints as he is.  Paul was encouraged because a part of him was struggling with the difficulty of everything.  He is just a man, needing God’s encouragement through whatever means it might come.  Do you think that the Holy Spirit may have stirred their hearts to travel 40 miles in order to walk back to Rome with Paul?

We need to pay attention to this area of being encouraged because the enemy wants us to be discouraged and quit the work of God, or at least become paralyzed.  Many of the encouraging things above cannot be controlled (angel visitations, what others do, etc.)  However, there are somethings that are intended to encourage us, and they are completely in our control (at least, generally).  We can read the Scriptures like this story and be encouraged that the same God who helped Paul is working in our life.  We can pray to God and be encouraged by the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  We can also be intentional in connecting with other believers.  God intends for us to encourage one another.

They arrive at Rome.  Paul is not handed over to the captain of the guard.  Instead, he is allowed to rent a place where he can stay under the guard of a soldier.  This treatment is most likely because Centurion Julius doesn’t think Paul is a flight risk and has requested this kinder treatment.

Paul calls for the leaders of the Jews of Rome  (v. 17-22)

Paul would normally visit the synagogue on Saturday, but he is under house arrest.  Therefore, he sends word to the Jewish leaders, asking them to meet with him.

When they arrive, he begins by explaining that he has done nothing against “our people” and the “customs of our fathers.”  These counteract the main charges against Paul that have circulated throughout the Jewish communities.  They accused him of being a traitor and undermining the Mosaic laws, as well as trying to destroy the temple.

Yet, he has still been delivered into the hands of the Romans as a prisoner by the Jews of Jerusalem.  He also mentions that the Romans were of the mind to set him free due to the fact that there were no grounds to keep him.  Yet, the Jerusalem leaders objected so much to a release that Paul had to appeal to Caesar.  In all of this, Paul makes it clear that he does not intend to lay a charge against Jerusalem before Caesar.  He will only present his innocence.

He tells them that he is wearing these chains for the sake of the “Hope of Israel.”  His faith and belief in the Hope of Israel is at the foundation of why he is there.  There are many things that we can point to as a hope of Israel, but most of these are things that they are hoping for. 

The hope of Israel is another way of referencing the God of Israel.  This is seen in the book of Jeremiah.  Look at Jeremiah 14:7-9, particularly verse 8.  Jeremiah addresses God as such.  “O Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?”  Again in Jeremiah 17:13-14, we see, “O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame.”  Ultimately God Himself was the Hope of Israel.  God had also promised an Anointed Son who would redeem Israel and set all things right in the world.  The Messiah then, by extension, becomes the particular means by which the Hope of Israel had promised to help and to save them.

Israel was still giving at least lip-service to the hope of Messiah’s arrival.  Of course, this hope was realized in Jesus, that is the point.  Jesus was the Messiah, the Hope of Israel.  Yet, the leaders were not having anything with that belief.  They rejected Jesus as anything but a heretic.

Let me just say that Jesus is the Hope of Israel, but he is also the Hope of Everett, WA.  He is the Hope of these Fractured States of America.  He is the Hope of every nation under the sun.  If we are to be mistreated and looked down upon, let it be for the sake of the Hope of America.

Yet, there is a personal thing here too.  The Hope of Israel has become the Hope of Paul.  How?  It has become so by faith.  He has put his faith in Jesus.  He has believed God’s witness of His Son.

If a person is connect to Hope with a capital “H”, then they have nothing to doubt or fear.  Yes, in our mortal flesh, we will feel doubts and fears, but the Hope of Jesus is there to keep us out of bondage.  By his Spirit, he helps us to fight through those doubts and fears.  Paul was a man just like you and me.  Yes, I can sense your eyes rolling. So, what is the secret?  Quit looking at the chains and start looking to Jesus.  Quit connecting to the doubts and fears and start connecting to the Hope of the World.

The Jewish leaders tell Paul that no letters or men have arrived in Rome.  They have heard nothing about his case.  This may be because they know they have no case and fear standing before Caesar “wasting his time.”  It may also be that they think the problem will go away now that Paul is removed from the equation.

Of course, the work of Christ is not dependent upon any one person, even the Apostle Paul.  Paul is important and you are important.  Jesus works in and through all of his followers.  However, no matter what happens to me, the work of Jesus will continue where he wants it to do so.  The enemy can do his best to get rid of this person or that person because of their effectiveness.  But, this will never stop the work of our Lord Jesus.

We need to adopt this attitude.  On one hand, I am irrelevant to God’s work because I cannot stop the work of God.  Yet, on the other hand, God wants me (you) to join Him in this work.  He plans to use your successes and failures in order to advance His kingdom.

When that attitude surfaces that says, “I’m not Paul, so I can’t do anything.”  Stop it immediately.  Instead, trust God and do what He says for us to do.  You know, the general call to be a witness of Jesus.  And then, seek His specific calling and will in your life everyday.  Do what He wants you to do.

Though these religious leaders have not heard about Paul, they have had reports about these followers of Jesus.  This group is “spoken against everywhere.”

It is not easy being in a group that is maligned, pilloried, and lied against.  This is what it means to stand with Jesus.  In fact, today, different groups under the banner of Christianity can be the very ones maligning you.  Such a place is not comfortable for our flesh, like being on a cross. 

May God help us to get our eyes on something greater than the attacks against us.  May we see the glory of the victory procession of King Jesus.  In that day, none of the malignant statements and lies will stand!

Arrives in Rome audio