Originally Released On 10.4.09.
Historian Will Durant, in The Story of Civilization, wrote that “There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians, scorned and oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials with a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the word, brutality with hope, and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena, and Christ had won.”
Contrast the presence of the Spirit of Jesus so prominently on display in the lives of His earliest disciples with our present day tendency to rely on effort and ingenuity, democratic will and political pressure, to ‘achieve’ our desires in the public sphere. Pretty stark indeed. Instead of concentrating on the invisible, the eternal, the spiritual, we worry about which politician can represent us best or which political party has our interests in mind. Let me clue you in on something: None of ‘em. On one occasion Jesus said to the Pharisees, “the Kingdom of God is within you” {Lk. 17:21b}; on another the apostle Paul said, “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” {Rom. 14:17}; in yet another he wrote, “the Kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power” {1 Cor. 4:20 NAS}. Jesus paints a picture of a Kingdom far different from any man has imagined. The very essence of its rule, power, and authority is spiritual and divine. The intrigue and power-brokering of our politicians and their parties have no lasting effect on its existence. None.
Contrast the presence of the Spirit of Jesus so prominently on display in the lives of His earliest disciples with our present day tendency to rely on effort and ingenuity, democratic will and political pressure, to ‘achieve’ our desires in the public sphere. Pretty stark indeed. Instead of concentrating on the invisible, the eternal, the spiritual, we worry about which politician can represent us best or which political party has our interests in mind. Let me clue you in on something: None of ‘em. On one occasion Jesus said to the Pharisees, “the Kingdom of God is within you” {Lk. 17:21b}; on another the apostle Paul said, “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” {Rom. 14:17}; in yet another he wrote, “the Kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power” {1 Cor. 4:20 NAS}. Jesus paints a picture of a Kingdom far different from any man has imagined. The very essence of its rule, power, and authority is spiritual and divine. The intrigue and power-brokering of our politicians and their parties have no lasting effect on its existence. None.
Think about elections, at every level, in the US and consider whether Jesus wondered if Octavian or Tiberius, Claudius or Caligula, was ‘God’s man’ for the Empire. Do you think the Apostles and apprentices of the early Church worried about whether there was prayer in Roman schools? You never see them in Scripture saying, “Oh no, Nero is a murderer, an adulterer, and a homosexual, what in the world are we going to do?” They understood that the Kingdom of Christ is, in His own words, “not of this world” {Jn. 18:36a}; therefore, all the kingdoms of this world with their power, persuasion— even persecution— could not stop its advance. It will go on conquering— be it the souls of men or the evil of the enemy’s institutions— unto Eternity. Our role and responsibility is to give our lives over to it, wholeheartedly, to labor in the Cause of our King and to pray again and again and again, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.” Done how? “On Earth” exactly “as it is in Heaven.” Yes, Lord, yes. Let Your Kingdom come in the hearts of men, let Your freedom reign in the lives of Your own, let Your soverign rule be seen in every word, every thought, every deed of every disciple. In Your mighty name. Amen.
-- Ric Webb
Pastor-Teacher
Heart's Journey Community
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