Statements of Two Kingdoms
I have been going through both the OT and NT reading schedule. It is very interesting to see the formation of the kingdom in the OT, while comparing it to the Kingdom that Jesus introduced in the NT.
A couple of weeks ago, we walked through the offense of the elder of Israel asking for a king. They wanted a king so that they could be like all the other nations.
At the end of the book of Joshua, the Israelites are told very specifically by Joshua that the plan God had for them was to bless them and make them more powerful than all the other nations – if they followed God. However, he tells them in Joshua 23:12 that if they cling to the customs of other nations, then God will punish them.
After Joshua died, there wasn’t another leader established to lead the nation of Israel. The Scriptures don’t give a reflection or interpretation on this at all, but it is interesting to note. The downward spiral happens in Judges 2:10. The story is always the same: another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the might things he had done for Israel. The story in Judges is disheartening. They forget about what God had done for them, they get disciplined by a foreign nation, they cry out, God delivers them through a judge, and after a period of rest, they go right back to forgetting about what God has done.
It culminates in the statement: “We want to be like the nations around us.” (1 Samuel 8:20).
This is so contrary to the story Jesus shares in Luke 17:7-10:
(NIV) “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, `Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, `Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?
Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

These are examples of statements from two kingdoms. When it comes to discussing the kingdom with our Lord, we can either begin our sentence with We want or We are . . .

We want to go back to Egypt. We want to be like all the other nations. We want . . .

Begin your evaluation of self within the kingdom as `We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’

I have been so intrigued by this little story tucked right in the middle of Luke. Don’t miss its power.

The statements of two kingdoms reflect which kingdom we find most compelling.

Wow.

Numbers 13-14
This is one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament. I won’t regurgitate the story here – go read it.

Fear. Here it is again. What is the deal with all of the fear? Forget that question. It’s unanswerable. Fear is ubiquitous (ever-present). Fear will be here and won’t go away until eternity. The most repeated command in Scripture: Do not fear. How is that possible? I don’t think he is telling us to never experience fear – that’s impossible. If my child runs out into traffic, I am going to fear and that fear is going to create a thrust of adrenaline inside of me to grab my child before catastrophe strikes. I believe the Lord is telling us to not be ruled by fear. Most of our fears hang with us for extended periods of time. Although sometimes we have an “instant” fear (like a child running out into the road), but most of our fears exist with us. Do not fear. Don’t let your fears keep you from doing what you’re supposed to.

The Israelites were afraid. They saw the “giants” of the land and they were afraid. I don’t buy for one second that Caleb and Joshua weren’t afraid when they first evaluated the land. Remember, courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s deciding something else is more important than fear.

We fear when we are in the presence of something more powerful than ourselves.

We have courage when we trust in the God who is more powerful than the objects of our fear.

Caleb and Joshua trusted. The rest did not. They once again distrusted the character of God by thinking that they were going to die in war. They would rather experience the horror of slavery than the horror of their fears. Fear is faith in what you don’t want to happen. God was blown away. How could we possibly believe, in light of all He has done, that He doesn’t have the absolute best for us in mind? How can we possibly believe, in light of all He has done, that He won’t fight the wars for us?

Fast forward to their first battle: Jericho. What did they have to do? Walk, play instruments, and scream. Wow. Those poor people. We have tons of faith in things that we don’t want to happen, and almost no faith in the God who is in control of what happens.

Fear makes us run away, it makes us rush into compulsive actions, or it makes us sprint into the shadow of his wings. The Israelites ran from the promised land, and then after God judged them, they compulsively decided to go into battle when they realized what the judgment was. Caleb and Joshua ran into the shadow of his wings.

We must war before we rest, but our war is not on the outside, it’s on the battlefields of our hearts.

If you woke up tomorrow and discovered you were living a life sold out to God, what would be different about you? If you struggle inwardly right now with living that life, what are you afraid of? What will you lose if you live that life? What are you afraid of giving up? Have courage. Your fears won’t go away, but you must decide something else is more important than your fears.

What does this mean????

This last Sunday, I approached a passage that many pastors probably fear to tread! That doesn’t mean I’m special, just a little too willing to take on difficult things.

The passage is Matthew 7:21-23: (NIV) “Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The main discussion of my sermon circled around how we as humans respond to fear in one of two ways: we either are driven by fear to God, or we are driven by fear away from God. In 1 Samuel 8, the leaders of Israel were driven by fear to make a horrible decision: ask for a king like all of the other nations have.

I won’t repeat my sermon here, you can listen to it at www.lakecenter.org. I approached Matthew 7 to talk about a healthy fear each of us should have as believers.

This is a very difficult passage to understand. First, it follows a description of false prophets by Christ. Many Bibles have a subtitle over verse 15, to distinguish it from the topic of verses 13-14. However, there is not a subtitle in my Bible over verse 21, separating it from verses 15-20. In some of your Bibles, there is. Understand that subtitles are not inspired! They are simply helpful tools placed there by the publishers to introduce a new topic.

I suggested that we need to separate the two passages. Verses 15-20 talk about false prophets, but verses 21-23 may be talking about believers. Here are my thoughts:

1.      Not everyone who says to Christ, “Lord, Lord”. 1 Corinthians 12:3 tells us that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. However, Philippians 2 states that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The latter passage is describing an exalted Christ, so it’s probably at the judgment of all people. The people in Matthew 7 seemingly called Jesus “Lord” when they were living on earth, so 1 Corinthians 12 applies here. Question: how can people say that Jesus is Lord when they can only do so by the Holy Spirit? It could be momentarily, like the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 when they momentarily declared “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” The same could be true of those in Matthew 7, but not likely. These were likely true believers. More evidence:

2.      Not everyone who says to Christ, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in Heaven. The main question: Is the kingdom of heaven salvation, or is it a kingdom that people can enter in eternity based upon their obedience and faithfulness? If it’s salvation, then the only people who can enter are those who do the will of God. Isn’t this works salvation? If I say, “I entered the kingdom of heaven (salvation) because I obeyed God.” That seems like works-based salvation to me. If the kingdom of heaven is not equal to salvation, but the display of great reward by those who did obey, it makes sense. This is a very difficult thought! In other words, some people will be saved, but won’t be in the kingdom. Salvation is a gift and all can receive it. Entering the kingdom is based upon rewards given for obedience. Endless books can be written on this, so allow me to throw the thought out and allow study and discussion to proceed from here.

3.      Jesus says in verse 22: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’” Can people preach in the name of Christ and not be saved? I guess it’s possible. But what about driving out demons? This is impossible. Look at Luke 11:15-20. Jesus was accused of driving out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus uses logic to call that idea “ridiculous”. How can Satan drive himself out? I do it by the power of God! So these people in Matthew 7 call Jesus Lord, preach in his name, and drive out demons in his name. These aren’t believers???

If they are believers, what is their crime? First, Jesus seems to be contrasting what these people did with doing the will of the Father. Look at the Pharisees. Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, then we won’t enter the kingdom of heaven. Good luck with that. They “obeyed” the law almost perfectly. We also know that the Pharisees were beautiful on the outside, but wicked on the inside (Matthew 23:27-28). They did “good works”, but their hearts were evil. It’s all about the heart. Is the will of God better described in Matthew 25:31-46? There is a clear distinction between those saved, and those not saved. The main acid test for obedience is that care for those less fortunate. One very interesting question that boggles my mind: Jesus tells the “goats” to be cast into the eternal fire. Why? You read it.

Back to Matthew 7. There’s only one of two options here: either these people are Pharisees who have the “lingo” and actions down, but are not really true believers. It seems confusing in light of my reasoning above. If these are true believers, then many of you can agree with me up to this point. What throws this whole idea into confusion is what Jesus says to them: “I never know you. Away from me, you evildoers!” I never knew you? If he never knew them, then were they ever believers? As well, he tells them to leave, and calls them evildoers! What is going on here?

Here is an email I received early this week:

Hey PG, 

You said that you were expecting emails, so here is an email.

 I have to disagree with your position on Matthew 7:21-23 as being directed toward Believers.  I think that this passage is directed toward those who followed false teachings about Christ and the way to salvation. 

 If we consider the context, the verses immediately before vs. 21 are referencing false prophets. 

The Bible is clear that there is only one way to be forgiven of sin and that is by believing in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  No other person, method or work can give eternal life.  In an attempt to be tolerant, however, some people assert that all religions are equally valid paths to God.  Even though we have a right to hold our own opinions regarding salvation, that doesn’t mean that everyone who holds some type of belief system will be accepted by Christ.   

When they call Him Lord in vs. 21, I believe that the people are acknowledging that they know who He is and perhaps that they thought that they had made a commitment to Him (for example salvation based upon works or being a good person).  In vs. 22, the people then begin to argue their position telling Jesus about all of the things that they did, presumably in His name, to earn their place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 Lastly, if we regard vs. 23 as speaking to Believers, “But I will reply, I never knew you.  Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws,” it would contradict Scripture.

 John 10:14  “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know Me.”

Some of my thoughts to this person:

First, this person “considers the context”. There isn’t much context all the way through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). If you scan over the sermon, you see that Jesus jumps from one topic to another. The only “context” is the overall sermon. He hits one unrelated topic after another. If you believe that he is talking about false prophets, then I ask you this: the false prophets in verses 15-20 bear bad fruit. The people in verses 21-23 are bearing good fruit (prophesying in his name, casting out demons, and performing miracles). None of us would call this “bad” fruit, and a person’s fruit is exactly how Jesus told us to differentiate good trees from bad ones.

Second, I can see their point about trusting in good works for their salvation, not in the work of Christ. However, at this point in time, it’s before the “the work of Christ on the cross”. Nevertheless, it’s still by faith in God that people in the OT were saved. The Pharisees banked everything on their own righteousness and were wicked. This may be the case here, because Jesus tells them that they break God’s laws, even though they were doing good works. Interesting.

I am still wondering about the other passages I noted above (1 Corinthians 12, and Luke 11). How did these people call him “Lord” and drive out demons if they weren’t believers?  Jesus asks the Pharisees in Luke 11, “If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, how do your sons cast them out? They will be your judges!”

The best point this person has is the “I never knew you” statement. I agree. There could be false prophets who speak lies against the gospel (verses 15-20), and there are Pharisee-type people who believe they are following God, but are really far from him. These two passages are probably separate, describing two different groups of people.

To summarize, here are four interpretations:

1.      Verses 21-23 are simply continuing the discussion of verses 15-20.

2.      The two passages are separate: the first group is made up of false prophets and the second group aligns with the Pharisees.

3.      The two passages are separate: the first group is made up of false prophets, the second group are believers who validate themselves, miss the point of Christianity (caring for those in need), and are cast out of the kingdom.

4.      The two passages are separate: the first group is made up of false prophets, the second group are believers who lost their salvation.

Application point: there are people who think they are incredible followers of God who are in for a rude awakening.

What’s your interpretation? What’s your evidence?

Have you ever really read through the names of Matthew 1? There are four women noted:

Tamar: Genesis 38. Her husband was wicked and the Lord killed him. She didn’t have any children and wanted to have a son to pass on the name of her dead husband. Her father-in-law (Judah) told her to wait until his other sons grew up, but that would take too long so she decided to dress up like a prostitute. Judah came into town, hired her and slept with her without knowing it (she had a veil on). She’s in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Rahab: Joshua 6. She did more than Tamar, her entire career was a prostitution! She was a non-Jew (Gentile). Joshua led the Israelites to the infamous town of Jericho. He sent spies ahead and Rahab hid them in her house. She made them promise to not kill her and her family when they came to take over the city. They did and she and her family were saved. Everyone else was killed.

Ruth: An entire book of the Bible was named after here. Her husband died. She was a Gentile like Rahab. She followed her mother-in-law to Israel, met a man named Boaz. He got drunk and laid at his feet (whatever that means). She became his wife and the great grandmother of King David.

Bathsheba: 1 Samuel 11. King David lusted after her, raped her, and she became pregnant. David called her husband home from battle and wanted him to take a break from war. His thoughts were to have him sleep with his wife and hide the sin. He didn’t want to dishonor his fellow soldiers by going home while they slept in fields so he slept on the doorsteps of David’s palace. David sent him back to war and had him killed. David married Bathsheba, but their child died. She eventually became the mother of the wisest man whoever lived and an ancestor of Christ.

Crazy! What does this tell you about who God is and how He works?

Genesis 6

One of the “fun” debates theologians have had throughout time is the topic of the “Sons of God” in Genesis 6. Who exactly are these “Sons of God”? Some believe them to be angels while others believe them to be followers of God.

Angels: The Hebrew word used here means “angels” in other places in the OT (Job 1:6). It is believed that angels lusted after and had intercourse with human women and created giants.

Humans: The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselvs of all whom they chose. If the sons of God were angels, then why would God declare His irritation with man in verse 3? If angels took whatever wife they chose, then it seems they would be upset with the angels, not man.

I am partial with the second meaning. To build my case, I noticed that back in chapter 4, men began to call upon the name of the Lord (4:26). Once this happened, there began a separation between those who followed God and those who didn’t. The sons of God were to be separate from the daughters of men and they weren’t. Even those who claimed allegiance to God fell away. This same principle is found in the New Testament as well.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

I believe that God became fed up with mankind because all of their hearts were evil continually (Genesis 6:5) and there was no separation between the children of God and the children of men. The children of God were (and are) to be separate from the world. In what ways are we to be separate? This has been examined throughout the centuries. How should we be separate from the world today? I suggest the following:

1. Read the Bible, pray, tell others about what Christ has done in your life, and serve God’s people.
2. Have integrity.
3. Put money in its proper place (don’t love it of course, but don’t assume that because you lack wealth you’re somehow more spiritual than those who have wealth. This would be many Christian’s sin).
4. Love the community.
5. Serve and take care of the poor.

Probably a more profound question is: “How do you see Christians misuse this principle?”