Proclaiming the Kingdom of God

“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.’ And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” (Luke 9:1-6 ESV)

Now these instructions that Jesus Christ gave to his twelve disciples were his instructions for them at that specific time in history for the particular task to which he had assigned them, so they may not all be his specific instructions for all of us today. So, we must pray and inquire of the Lord as to what may apply to us today or what general lesson he may have for us out of this that we can apply to our lives today.

Well, for one, he has called for all who believe in him to take the message of the gospel to the people of the world. For we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth and we are God’s holy people called of God to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness (sin) into his wonderful light (Jesus Christ, truth, the gospel, righteousness, salvation). And we are to be his witnesses, and we are to make disciples of Christ of people.

So, we are his disciples, and we are his sent out ones, and we are his messengers, and we are to spread the truth of the gospel to people everywhere possible. But we are also to be those who are encouraging one another in our walks of faithful obedience to our Lord, who are exhorting one another so that none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness, and who are speaking the truth in love to one another so we don’t believe false teachers.

And the power and authority that we have for doing this comes from God and not from the flesh of humans. For, by faith in Jesus Christ, if our faith is genuine, we have the Spirit of God living within us giving us guidance and instruction and counsel and wisdom and empowerment to do what God has called us to do and to say whatever it is he gives us to say. And we are to operate in that God-given power and not in our own strength and wisdom.

Now they lived in a different time and culture than we do now, at least here in America, so this whole idea of entering people’s houses and staying with them is foreign to me, unless it is someone who has invited me to visit with them and to stay with them. But from this we can certainly learn that we can take the message of the gospel of our salvation wherever there is an open door for us to share the gospel, but we may not always be well received.

Yet, as long as there are people who will listen, we should remain until the Lord sends us elsewhere. But where they do not receive us, and where we are not welcome, and where they might say to us, “Go someplace else where you will be a better fit,” then we should leave and we should consider that they are not open to hearing the truth, and so we should not try to force ourselves upon them, but we should just let them go. 

And this doesn’t mean that we give up and that we “throw in the towel” and we stop sharing the gospel. We persevere, but we go someplace else where there are people who will receive us and who will listen. But then there are those times when God sends us to obstinate people, like he did with his prophets of old, and he tells us to speak to the people whether they listen or not, so we just need to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading in our lives.

The main thing is that we are taking the truth of the gospel to the people of the world and that we are being the Lord’s witnesses and that we are teaching people to become followers of Christ and not just those who profess Christ with their lips only. And it is that we are following the leading of the Holy Spirit in where to go and in what to say and in how to respond to rejection and to people not receiving us well, and that we do God’s will.

And his instructions to us and the words that he gives us to speak may not be exactly the same every time, depending on the circumstances. But whatever they are, we are to do them, and we are not to be afraid of how people are going to respond to us. And we are not to fear their rejection. And we are not to get discouraged if they do not receive us. But we are to keep on in doing what the Lord says and in saying what he tells us to say.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

Here is Your God!  

An Original Work / July 18, 2012

Based off Isaiah 40:9-31 NIV

You who bring good tidings to Zion,

Lift up your voice; raise with a shout,

And do not be afraid of the people.

Say, “Here is your God!”

See how the Lord God comes now with power.

His arm rules for Him; His reward with Him.

He tends His flock just like a shepherd,

His lambs in His arms.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? 

Has it not been told you from beginning?

Our Lord sits enthroned above all things.

None to Him compare.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens.

Who made all of these? Who calls them by name?

Because of His great power and strength,

All accounted for.

Why do you say, “My way is hidden

From the Lord, and my cause forgotten”?

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Lord, He is your God.

He will not weary. He gives us power.

Those who trust in Him will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings just like eagles;

Walk and do faint not.

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