CHAPTER 7 — THE DEMAND OF THE KINGDOM
The Kingdom of God offers to men divine blessings—the blessings of The Age to Come. The study thus far has been devoted to an exposition of these blessings. Our Lord began His ministry with the announcement, "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the good news." We have found that the Kingdom of God is God's redemptive reign. It is God's conquest through the person of Christ over His enemies: sin, Satan, and death. God's Kingdom is manifested in several great acts. At the Second Coming of Christ, His Kingdom will appear in power and glory. But this glorious Kingdom of God, which will be manifested at Christ's return has already entered into history, but without the outward glory. The future has invaded the present. The Kingdom of God which is yet to come in power and in glory has already come in a secret and hidden form to work among men and within them. The power of God's Kingdom which in The Age to Come will sweep away both evil and all its influence has come among men in the present evil Age to deliver them from the power of sin, from servitude to Satan, and from the bondage and fear of death. The life of God's Kingdom which will be realized in its fulness when Christ comes, when our very bodies shall be redeemed—that life of the future Kingdom has entered into the present so that men may now be born again and enter into God's Kingdom—the sphere of His reign, the realm of His blessings. The Holy Spirit who one day will completely transform us so that we become like the Lord Jesus Christ in His glorified body has come to us before the arrival of the New Age to dwell within our hearts, to give us the life of the Kingdom here and now that we may enjoy fellowship with God. Tomorrow is here today. The future has already begun. We have tasted the life, the powers, the blessings of The Age to Come.
The question remains: How does one enter into that experience? What demand does God's Kingdom lay upon us? How does one receive this life? How is the righteousness of the Kingdom to be obtained ? How does one find the indwelling of God's Spirit imparting the life of the future Age?
The Word of God comes to us with a very simple answer. Indeed, its very simplicity involves a profound difficulty. While it is simple, it nevertheless reaches down into the very depths of our being. To the Romans, Paul wrote, "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10: 9). To the jailor at Philippi, Paul said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16: 31). The Fourth Gospel constantly reiterates the purpose of the book: "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20: 31).
Is the Kingdom of heaven to be entered merely by taking the name of Jesus upon one's lips and making a verbal confession? Is the blessing of life to be received by believing in the resurrection and deity of Christ? Can a creed save me? Can the utterance of three words, "Jesus is Lord," bestow life upon me? What does it mean to confess Jesus as Lord?—to believe in the Lord Jesus ? The answer may be found in the demand of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom makes one fundamental demand: the demand for decision. In Christ, the Kingdom now confronts us. The life of The Age to Come now stands before us. The One who shall tomorrow be the Judge of all men has already come into history. He faces us with one demand: decision. Bultmann is right when he says that Jesus proclaimed the nearness of God as The Demander. Jesus' message was, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The basic meaning of "repentance" is to turn around, to reverse the course of life, to change the whole direction of action, to turn and to embrace in decision the Kingdom of God.
Life is made up of decisions. The course of every man's life is determined by his decisions. One might say that the difference between the success of two men who are equally talented is determined by the way in which they make decisions. The adequacy of one's decisions, the intelligence with which they are made, and the ability, once a good decision has been made, to rest upon it and to move forward to the next important step will often decide the measure of success or failure. Some people go through life vacillating, wavering, unsure of themselves, never able to say a distinct Yes or No. These are people who never accomplish anything worth while for themselves or their fellow men, but who dissipate life and energy in inner conflict and indecision.
The essence of repentance is a decision which determines the quality of present life and future destiny.
As Jesus was about to leave Galilee for the last time, he sent seventy disciples to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom through out all the countryside. The injunction He laid upon His ambassadors was this: "Heal the sick in it and say to them,' The kingdom of God has come near to you'" (Luke 10: 9). The Kingdom of God came into these villages in the person of the emissaries of our Lord. These preachers looked like ordinary people, Galilean fishermen; yet they were bearers of the Kingdom of God. How would the residents of these cities react? They could either welcome the emissaries of Christ and thereby receive the Kingdom itself; or if they chose, they could reject it. But this rejection would be a terrible thing. " But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,' Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town"—because it had refused the Kingdom of God (w. 10-12).
The basic demand of the Kingdom is a response of man's will. Men must receive it. They must yield to it. God's Kingdom does not ask us to find in ourselves the righteousness that it demands; God will give us the righteousness of his Kingdom. God's Kingdom does not ask us to create the life that it requires; God's Kingdom will give us that life. God's Kingdom does not set up a standard and say, "When you achieve this standard of righteousness, you may enter the Kingdom." God's Kingdom makes one demand: Repent I Turn! Decide I Receive the Kingdom; for as you receive it, you receive its life, you receive its blessing, you receive the destiny reserved for those who embrace it.
As we study this demand for decision in our Lord's teaching, we find that it cannot be taken lightly. Jesus required of men a resolute decision. This is set forth in Luke 9: 57. "As they were going along the road, a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'" Here was a man who seemed ready to make the decision to follow Christ. In response, Jesus said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head " (v. 5 8). Jesus challenged the seriousness of this decision. Do you know what your decision involves? Are you willing to become a disciple of one who is homeless, who has no standing and no prestige? Have you thought it through? Have you considered its implications? Jesus demanded a resolute decision, an intelligent decision, one not lightly made.
Again, Jesus said to another, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father" (Luke 9: 59). Here was a man who professed readiness to make a decision, but there was something else to be done first. " Yes, I want to follow, but wait a bit. There is a prior claim upon me. Let me first care for it, and then I will follow. I have good intentions, but just give me time." But Jesus replied in words which seem harsh unless taken in their context, "Leave those who are spiritually dead to bury those who are physically dead." I am interpreting the verse now. "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God" (v. 60). The Kingdom of God demands immediate, urgent decision. When the claim comes to you, you cannot trifle with it. You may think, First, I must live my life. First, there is a career to be pursued. I have important plans for my future which must first be carried out. I have obligations which I must first discharge. No I Jesus said there must be an immediate decision which is resolute and unqualified.
Again, another said, "Lord, I will follow thee." Yes, I recognize I ought to embrace the Kingdom of God, that I should become a disciple; "but let me first say farewell to those at my home" (Luke 9: 61). On the surface, this was a reasonable request. If a man is to leave home to devote his life to discipleship to Jesus, it is fitting and proper that he take farewell of his family. But we must interpret this saying in its context. Jesus said unto him, "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (v. 62). Here was a man who professed willingness to make a decision, but he was reluctant. Jesus says, There is no room for reluctance. If you respond to the Kingdom of God and its claims upon your life, there must be no hesitation, no looking back. One cannot try to hold on to what he has left behind him. One cannot cling to the past. There must be no uncertainty as to whether one is prepared to go all the way. "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." The Kingdom of God demands a resolute decision, an irrevocable decision, a clean-cut decision.
Furthermore, the Kingdom demands radical decision. Some decisions are easily made and require little effort; but the decision for the Kingdom of God is often difficult and requires great energy of the will. Jesus said, "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven works mightily, and men of violence take it by force "(Man. n: 12). This saying has received many diverse interpretations, but we may follow Luke's understanding of it. "The law and the prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one enters it violently" (Luke 16: 16). The Kingdom demands a response so radical that it may be described in terms of violence and force.
How are we to understand these words? What does violence have to do with receiving God's Kingdom? Our Lord Himself illustrated this demand more than once. " And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell" (Mark 9: 47; see also vv. 43-46). Here is indeed violence: the plucking out of an eye, the cutting off of a hand or foot, in ordet to enter the Kingdom of God.
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10: 34). A sword is an instrument of violence. Sometimes decision for the Kingdom will be a sword which cuts across other relations bringing pain and suffering. Indeed, "if any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife ... he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14: 26). Hatred: this is a word of violence.
"Strive to enter by the narrow door" (Luke 13: 24). The Greek word is a strong term from which the English word "agonize" is derived and means "to strain every nerve." It is the common word used to describe the physical conflict in athletic games. Here again is violence, striving, intense effort.
All of this metaphorical language describes the radical character of the decision demanded by the Kingdom of God. The modern man is usually quite casual about his religion. He will often undertake radical measures in the pursuit of wealth, success, power; but he is unwilling to become deeply moved about the concerns of his soul. Jesus says that such a man cannot know the life of the Kingdom. It demands a response, a radical decision, an enthusiastic reception. Nominalism is the curse of modern western Christianity. Jesus' disciples must be radicals in their unqualified enthusiasm for the life of God's Kingdom.
The decision which God's Kingdom demands is also a costly decision. A rich young ruler came to Jesus with the question, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" (Matt. 19: 16). There are few men who in their more sober moments have not asked themselves this question. There is a hunger for life within the human heart. This life, as verse 23 proves, is the life of the Kingdom of God. It is the question of salvation (v. 25). This young man was expressing the deep desire which all men possess—the desire to find life, eternal life, in a realm beyond this earthly existence which is hemmed in by sin and death.
After ascertaining his sincerity, Jesus faced him with the fundamental issue: decision. "Come, follow me" (v. 21). There is the issue. Turn about! Leave your old life. Receive the Kingdom. Follow me!
In this case, this decision was not a simple or easy matter, for it involved great cost. Jesus said something to this young man he is never recorded to have said to another. He looked into his heart and saw what was holding him back from making this decision. The young man was rich; and Jesus perceived that he was attached to his wealth. Therefore Jesus said, " Your decision for the Kingdom of God must be unqualified. Your wealth is standing in your way. Therefore, go and sell everything you have, and you will then be free to follow me."
It should be clear that liquidation of wealth of itself would not make this young man a disciple. Discipleship, decision was lodged in the demand, "Follow me." The man could have become a pauper and still have remained outside the Kingdom had he not followed Jesus. Disposition of wealth was not itself discipleship; but in this case it was a necessary prelude to disciple-ship. Jesus demanded the removal of a barrier. Anything, whether wealth or career or family, which stands in the way 01 decision must yield before the claims of God's Kingdom.
Jesus laid no universal demand for poverty upon men. His concern against the laying up of wealth upon earth in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6: 19) is not to bring men into poverty but to deliver them from a false security. Men think that by the accumulation of wealth they will free themselves from anxiety. Jesus said that they only add other anxieties which are involved in the fear of the loss of their wealth. Poverty itself is no virtue. Jesus' demand is for decision, for submission to God and His Kingdom. Wealth is evil when it stands in the way of such decision. So Jesus said, "Young man, you have a barrier. You love your wealth and all the comforts and good things it brings to you. It commands your affection. That affection must give way to a higher loyalty—to the Kingdom of God."
This remains true. The demand of the Kingdom is still a costly decision. If wealth, position, influence, or ambition command a man's loyalty so that his life is directed to the attainment of personal ends, whether material or social, rather than the glory of God, his life must have a new centre of orientation. Every other interest must become secondary and subservient to the rule of God. The issue relates itself fundamentally to a man's will and to the objectives he chooses to serve.
I have seen young men who appeared to be Christians of great promise who became possessed by driving personal ambition. A struggle ensued between the claims of God and ambition, and a choice was made. When the choice was for self-advancement rather than for God's Kingdom, love for the things of God withered.
The proper attitude of a disciple of Jesus to material blessings is beautifully illustrated by the Apostle Paul. Paul had been "delivered . . . from the domination of darkness and transferred ... to the kingdom of his beloved Son" (Col. i: 13). Paul was living for the Kingdom of God, which was not "food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14: 17). Because Paul had experienced the life of the Kingdom of God, he had acquired a new conception of the place and importance of possessions. "I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4: 11-13). Paul kad been initiated into a secret of contentment, because his happiness and his security did not depend upon externals. If he was in want, he did not feel God had forsaken him. If he experienced abundance, he did not become so attached to his abundance that his happiness depended upon it. His security was in "him who strengthens me"—in the Lord.
This experience is essential for every one who would know the blessings of God's Kingdom. For the rich young man, life did not consist of "righteousness and peace and joy"; he knew nothing of the Kingdom of God. Life consisted of "food and drink," of the things his wealth could buy. His first love was his wealth and all it represented. Nevertheless, he was not satisfied. He did not know contentment. This unsatisfied hunger brought him to Jesus with his question about eternal life. However, when faced with the alternatives, he made the wrong choice. He was unwilling to cut loose from his dependence upon his wealth and material resources.
God may not always require a man to forsake his wealth, but He does demand that he forsake love of possessions. God demands a decision of the will which entails a willingness actually to forsake wealth if He should so lead. The question is one of affection. A child of the Kingdom will receive the good things of the physical realm as gifts from a loving father (Matt. 6: 26-30) and will be thankful. But his love, his dependence, his security rest in the Giver and in God's Kingdom, not in the gifts. He will seek first God's Kingdom and trust God to provide what is needed for his daily life (Matt. 6: 33-34). The rich young man did not dare trust God. He trusted only his wealth. Therefore it was necessary for him to free himself of this false security before he could give himself to God and His Kingdom. He had to decide; for the Kingdom demands decision, costly decision. Sometimes this decision may cost the affection of loved ones.
This is apparent from the instructions Jesus gave his disciples as he prepared them for their ministry. They were to announce that the Kingdom of God had come near in their own proclamation (Matt. 10: 7). A demand was laid upon their audience: to receive the emissaries of the Kingdom and thereby to receive the message of the Kingdom, indeed, the King Himself. "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me" (Matt. 10: 40). In some instances, this would be a costly decision; for it would cause the rupture of normal family ties. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth: I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me "(Matt. 10: 34-37).
Does this mean that when one becomes a Christian, human affection has no further place in his life? When one follows Christ, must he sever all his family ties ? Surely this is not required. In fact, the opposite is often true. When a man and a woman have shared a human affection which is in turn sanctified by a mutual love for God and His Kingdom, they are the happiest people on earth.
There is, however, a stern truth here. When a human relationship stands in the way of the demand of God's Kingdom, there can be but one choice. If the demand of the Kingdom has confronted you, but your father or your mother, or even if your husband or your wife says, "No, I'll not have it; you cannot follow Christ and have my affection," then there is only one decision which can be made: for God and His Kingdom. Even if human affection and family ties are shattered, the claims of God's Kingdom have priority.
We are thankful to God that in our culture with its Christian heritage, we are infrequently called upon to pay such a price. Fortunate is the child who has Christian parents praying for his salvation from birth, indeed from before birth. Blessed is the man, blessed is the woman, who has a wife or husband who shares a deep faith in the Lord, who can pray together and who share a common love for the things of God. Unfortunately, it is not always so. Sometimes, there comes a crisis. A decision must be made: for God or for family. In such times of decision, Jesus says that it must be a costly decision.
Again, the Kingdom of God may cost a man his very life. In Matthew 10: 38 Jesus said, "He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Here is the ultimate cost of decision.
What does it mean to take one's cross? People often talk about the difficult of cross-bearing. What a cross I have to carry 1 I have a physical burden, I suffer from migraine headaches or ulcers; I have arthritis, or rheumatism. What a cross of physical weakness and pain is laid upon me I
Others talk of the cross they must bear because of problems they have to face. My husband is short-tempered: what a cross I have to carry in putting up with his disposition! Others say, My cross is the necessity of working in an environment that is not Christian. I hear profanity and uncleanness day after day. What a heavy cross I must carry!
Such experiences are not crosses. They are burdens; and sometimes burdens may be crushing. But a cross is not a burden; a cross is a place of death. Don't talk about bearing the burden of a cross. When you take up your cross, you are ready to die.
On another occasion, Jesus said, "Let him deny himself" (Luke9:23). Deny himself what? Candy before Easter? Tobacco during Lent? Something you want to do but don't think you ought to? Or does it mean self-denial, personal sacrifice to promote the Gospel?
Denial of self does not mean that I am to deny myself things. It means to deny myself, not to deny things to myself. " If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross . . ." (Luke 9: 23). Self-denial is self-centred; denial of self is Christ-centred. Denial of self means death, nothing less. A cross is an instrument of death. Obviously, the saying does not mean that every Christian must suffer physical death. It does mean, however (and we speak carefully), that every disciple of Jesus must be ready to die. If we find ourselves in a situation where a choice has to be made between death and loyalty to Christ and His Kingdom, we shall be prepared to choose death. There are people in this evil Age who are paying the price of their lives and are spilling their blood because they love Jesus Christ and have responded to the demand of His Kingdom.
This is what cross-bearing means: a readiness to die with and for Christ. It means complete dedication to Christ, even though this dedication costs one his life. It means an act of self-surrender which holds nothing back, not even life itself. It means that my life, my will, my ambitions, my desires, my hopes—all are given to Christ. It means that I count myself as dead that Christ may live and reign in me. Paul expresses the same fundamental thought when he says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2: 20).
The taking up of the cross is something which takes place in the depths of the human spirit and is fundamental to one's relationship to Christ. If I am ready to die for Christ, then my life is not my own, it is His. My life belongs to Him together with all that life includes. Cross-bearing involves the question of lordship, rulership, of kingship. Christ cannot rule my life until I count myself dead, crucified. There can be only one ruler in my life: self or Christ. When I take up my cross and die, Christ can rule.
This principle of cross-bearing is illustrated by one of our seminary students who was preparing for a ministry of evangelistic music. He had received a musical training in one of America's outstanding schools of music and was an accomplished pianist. He loved his music, and when God called him into the ministry of the Gospel, he was happy at the prospect of using his musical gifts and training to serve the Lord. However, during the course of his seminary preparation God spoke to his heart. Suppose God wanted him in the ministry of preaching or teaching the Word rather than the ministry of music? Was he not dictating to God the terms of his ministry? Did he love his music more than he loved the Lord? Had he really surrendered his love for music to the Lord? Had he surrendered himself? A severe struggle ensued in his soul. Who was his master, Christ or music? He found release from the struggle only when he gave his music to the Lord and promised to serve in whatever way the Lord should lead, with or without music. In other words, he had to crucify his love for music. Indeed, he had to crucify himself, his will, his desires, before he had victory in his life. After he had given his love of music to the Lord, God gave it back to him, and he is today serving God as a missionary, using his musical gifts to glorify God. But first, he had to make a radical decision—a decision that involved his greatest human affection.
Finally, the Kingdom demands an eternal decision. The decision for or against the Kingdom of God in the present determines a man's future destiny. Jesus said, "Everyone who confesses me before men, the Son of man also will confess before the angels of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God" (Luke 12: 8-9). "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38). There is to be a day of judgment, a day of separation among men. Christ one day will appear as the Son of man in glory to bring salvation to the sons of the Kingdom and a just condemnation to the sons of darkness. The Kingdom of God will then appear in power and glory.
But in His grace, God has sent His Son among men in advance of that day. Christ has come among us to confront us with the blessings and the demands of God's Kingdom. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." Receive it! We may make a decision for that future Kingdom long before it comes in glory and judgment, because He who will be the future Judge has appeared among men to offer to them the life and blessing of that Kingdom here and now. The Kingdom demands decision as it confronts men—eternal decision. Tomorrow has met today. The Age to Come has entered This Age. The life of tomorrow is offered to us in the here and now. Heaven, if you please, has kissed the earth. What are we to do ? One thing. The Kingdom of heaven has come near. Repent! Turn around, and receive the Good News. Surrender to its rule. This is the demand of the Kingdom.