Please turn with me to a few scriptures in the Gospel of Luke.
First of all, Luke 4:42-43:
And when it was day, He came out and went into a desert place: and the multitudes sought after Him, and came unto Him, and would have stayed Him, that He should not go from them.
But He said unto them, I must preach the good tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also: for therefore was I sent.
Luke 8:1:
And it came to pass soon afterwards, that He went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good tidings of the kingdom of God; and with Him the twelve.
Isn’t that an interesting phrase: “preaching and bringing the gospel of the kingdom of God.”
Then Luke 16:16:
The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every man entereth violently into it.
Father, as we turn to You this morning, we want, Lord, in the light of Your Word and the ministry of Your Word, to confess our absolute need of Yourself, both in speaking and in hearing.
Lord, we have no other plea, and we have no other foundation. We have no other righteousness than the Lord Jesus. In Him we come to You, Father, this morning, and we by faith stand in all that glorious enabling power and grace that You have made available to us through the finished work of our Lord Jesus.
Will You open Your Word to us, so that it is not just a word of truth for the mind, but, Lord, that it may be that word of life deposited within our being? Lord, we commit ourselves to You over this very important matter of the kingdom of God. We ask it in the name of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Amen.
I think you all know that the theme of this time is, “Thy kingdom come.” I think you also know that my responsibility in this wonderful theme is the gospel of the kingdom—that good news of the kingdom of God which Jesus Himself preached, and which, in Himself, Jesus brought.
That is my theme, and I am very conscious of my inability when it really comes to it. But what I want to speak about this morning, by His enabling power, is this: the good news of the kingdom of God is all of His grace.
From beginning to end, it is all the grace of God.
Its foundation is the grace of God. Its topstone is the grace of God. Our introduction into this kingdom is by the grace of God. Our reaching the goal of this kingdom is by the grace of God. Every development within it, every step taken by faith, every new discovery of the Lord Jesus, and every new experience of His power and fullness is by the grace of God.
This is the gospel of the kingdom.
I have no idea why it is that, in Christian circles, they seem to have reduced this word gospel to something very introductory—something almost we could call kindergarten. They have called it “a simple gospel.” The Scripture speaks of no such thing.
It is described again and again as the gospel of the kingdom of God. I must say, I believe that this is the missing note in our gospel preaching.
We take simply the facts of the gospel: Jesus was born, Jesus died, Jesus has won salvation, Jesus offers forgiveness—which, of course, is tremendous. But the early church proclaimed first and foremost the kingship of God. On the basis of God’s absolute sovereignty, they declared the truth concerning God’s Son and then demanded, commanded, repentance.
That, it seems to me, is something far, far more than so much gospel preaching to which we are used today.
I know that when I say this gospel is all to do with the grace of God, some people will almost immediately shut off. They will say, “Now, this is not to do with the deep things of God. This is all kindergarten. This is going to be all very initial, so I might as well have a sleep.”
If you wish to sleep, please feel at liberty to do so.
But in my estimation, this whole matter of the grace of God is absolutely fundamental. It is fundamental not only to our entrance into the kingdom of God, but to every single stage in its development—in every single thing to do with the kingdom of God touching this earth, coming into our lives, coming into our circumstances, coming through the church into communities and localities, affecting a nation and affecting nations.
It is all to do with the grace of God: the sovereign grace of God.
Brother Stephen has already mentioned that Nicodemus, one of the great rabbis of his day, had an encounter with the Lord Jesus in the night. You remember those marvellous words in John 3:3-7:
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew.
This second birth is something beyond fallen man in himself. The greatest scientist cannot produce a second birth. The greatest doctors of medicine cannot produce a second birth. The greatest doctors of theology—and we have many of them—cannot produce a second birth.
Only the grace of God can bring a man or a woman to a second birth.
Only the abounding grace of God can bring a man or a woman—whoever he or she is, whatever their background, whatever their cultural context, whatever their pedigree or lack of it—to the kingdom of God.
Once we begin to see that, we begin to understand why, in this same conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus went on to say:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
That whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
The good news of the kingdom is that God alone has done the impossible. That is the good news of the kingdom.
Let me try to explain what I mean. This really is good news. What is impossible to fallen man—what is impossible to the best of fallen man, to the most educated and the most religious of fallen men; what is impossible to fallen man, whether he is bad or good, ignoble or noble—God has made possible through His grace.
Fallen man, man born of Adam, however clever, however resourceful, however knowledgeable, however gifted, however religious, is barred from the kingdom of God.
Do you remember when man fell, right at the very beginning of the record of the world? God set cherubim at the tree of life with a flaming sword, lest man should enter into the kingdom of God and become a recipient of God’s eternal life in his fallen state. It is a picture of something tremendous.
In other words, God put a veto on fallen man. You can have your League of Nations and your United Nations. They can talk about golden millenniums and utopias. They can seek, with this ideology or that ideal, this philosophy or that philosophy, this political system or that political system, to bring peace on earth, unity, prosperity, love.
Every one of these great attempts ends in corruption, wickedness, enslavement, and evil.
God has put a veto on Adam and all that are in Adam. We are barred from this kingdom. The gates to this kingdom are closed.
Some of the Scriptures on this matter almost make a shudder run through you. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15:50:
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Did you hear that? We hear this at every funeral service normally, and it goes in one ear and out the other. Listen again: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”
You have to be born of the Spirit. Only that which is born of the Spirit can inherit the kingdom of God. Only that which is declared righteous by God Himself, on the basis of the finished work of the Lord Jesus, can enter into the kingdom of God.
Now, this is a very comprehensive term. Paul is not saying, as some people with Hellenistic ideas tend to think, “Flesh is always evil. Flesh is bad. If only we could be rid of the flesh, if only we could say goodbye to the body, if somehow or other the physical could be laid aside, then we should be pure.”
Satan himself does not have flesh. Nobody thinks of that.
As if, by getting rid of the body and the physical, we become pure. This is a Hellenistic idea. This is one of those unbelievable things that has seeped into the whole theology of the church and influenced everybody, so that somehow or other we get this idea that flesh is evil.
But, my dear friend, this flesh and blood can be so good, so noble, so religious, so devoted, so zealous. It can know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but it cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
It is only when we are born of the Spirit. Does it mean that, when we are born of the Spirit, we lose our flesh? Of course not. It may have to be crucified; God may have to do so. But in the end, our entire spirit, soul, and body will be preserved entire unto the coming of the Lord Jesus.
This is not speaking merely of flesh and blood that is Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, or all that is dark, ignoble, and base. This includes Shakespeare. It includes Goethe. It includes Schiller. It includes all the great poets, painters, and composers, with all their magnificent gifts to mankind.
This is flesh and blood which cannot inherit the kingdom of God—not because God does not like the creativity that is in us, nor because He does not like the genius He has placed within us, but because there is a poison in fallen man which can never be trusted, not now, neither in the age to come.
There is a divine veto on that kind of man because he is never safe.
Of course, most people understand passages such as 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:
Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
This kind of flesh and blood we are more acquainted with. Anyone sensible understands straight away that this kind of flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
But then we turn to Galatians 5:19-21 and receive more of a shock:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,
Envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Jealousies—oh, jealousies. Factions, divisions, parties, envyings.
When we take a good look at this kind of thing, if we are honest with ourselves and face the facts, we are barred from the kingdom of God. Even if we felt there was no jealousy in us, no party spirit, no partiality, no uncleanness in mind, thought, or heart, still we are flesh and blood—self-centred, egocentric flesh and blood from the moment we enter this life.
Upon us there is a divine veto.
Let me put it another way. Only those who are as righteous—listen carefully, please, those of you who are awake—only those who are as righteous, as pure, as holy, as perfect as the Lord Jesus, can enter the kingdom of God and inherit it.
This disqualifies us all, does it not? It disqualifies us all. We are disqualified.
I can live like a hermit. I can go like some of those dear men who went up on top of poles and spent their whole lives sitting on a pole to try to make themselves holy. I can wall myself up in a cave, a little way from my home, as many did in days gone by, trying to make myself acceptable for the kingdom of God.
But according to this Book, unless I become as righteous, as pure, as holy, and as perfect as the Lord Jesus, I am vetoed. I am barred. I am disqualified.
Yet God has called us to His kingdom and glory. Consider 1 Thessalonians 2:12:
To the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into His own kingdom and glory.
And 1 Thessalonians 5:24:
Faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it.
Then Peter speaks in 2 Peter 1:10-11:
Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble:
For thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
How can we have this rich supply of entrance into the kingdom of God’s eternal glory? How can you and I actually come to the kingdom—not just into the kingdom, but to the throne of God within that kingdom? How can you and I be educated and finally qualified for the kingship of God?
Only one way.
For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Not of works, that no man should glory.
Did you hear that very simple gospel word? By grace have ye been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
He saves us through His grace. But He does not merely save us. Listen carefully: this is the good news of the kingdom. He begets us. He actually brings us to a new birth, to a second birth.
It would be marvellous if we were saved merely to be subjects in the kingdom of God. But He does far more than just save us. He begets us again. In other words, He becomes Father to us. He brings us to a second birth, whereby you and I are born of the Spirit and qualify for inheriting the kingdom of God.
Listen to 1 Peter 1:3-5:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
This is such a wonderful word that it just runs off us like water off a duck, don’t you think it does? We get so used to these wonderful words: begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away.
My dear friends, does it begin to dawn on you—the good news of the kingdom of God? You, by the grace of God, have not only been saved, if you have put your faith in the work and person of the Lord Jesus. You have not merely been delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. You have been born again by His Spirit to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled.
This inheritance cannot fall. It cannot be spoiled. It cannot be compromised. It cannot be corrupted. It does not fade, as most things do in this world, from its initial glory. It is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away—reserved in heaven for you.
Who, by the power of God, are guarded unto that salvation. My dear friends, is that not marvellous? We are saved, we have been saved, we are being saved, and finally we shall be saved.
The full consequences of our salvation are reserved. Think about it for a moment: a new body like unto His, a likeness to the Lord Jesus. Think of all the consequences of this salvation. This inheritance is reserved for us, and by the power of God we are guarded unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Are you ready for something more? I have no doubt why the Lord Jesus called this good news. It is a tragedy that most Christians are basically unaware of this. The whole thing is relegated to an evangelistic meeting, and the result is that multitudes of Christian believers, truly born of God, do not understand their salvation.
They do not understand that grace lies at its foundation. They do not understand that every movement forward is by the grace of God, every discovery of God is by the grace of God, and every new experience of the Holy Spirit is by the grace of God.
I am told by Christian psychiatrists that it is a very sad fact that a very large number of psychiatric patients are evangelicals and charismatics. Isn’t that interesting? I will tell you why.
When a person becomes a believer, they suddenly take on a standard far, far higher than anything they had when they were unsaved. Being saved by grace, they know the love of God; but they feel God is always making discoveries about them.
They feel that suddenly the Lord says, “Oh, I had no idea that so-and-so was so rotten.” So they say, “I cannot come into His presence. I cannot speak with Him, because He has discovered something about me.”
Actually, He has not discovered anything about you. You have discovered something about yourself. That is all—as if the Lord did not know how rotten you were.
Do you know that every one of us, subjected to certain circumstances and certain temptations, would undoubtedly fall? Not one of us would stand but by the grace and power of God. It is the only way you and I can possibly stand: by the grace of God.
Turn to Romans 8:15-17:
For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him.
What a salvation! Not merely saved to be a subject or a servant in the kingdom of God; not merely born again of His Spirit and brought into a family, the family of God; but the Spirit of the Lord shed abroad in our hearts, establishing a practical, relevant, living, day-to-day experience with the eternal God, the Most High.
The Spirit is shed abroad in our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father.”
Many Christians suffer because they do not know this relationship in practice. For them, God is still a distant schoolmaster. He is some huge disciplinarian. He is some kind of—if I may be so irreverent to describe it, but it is true of many believers—divine capitalist, who has an enormous factory in which He works everybody to death.
How few believers know the fatherhood of God. How few believers appreciate the fatherhood of God. How few believers really know—and I am not talking about being familiar. I have heard people call God “Papa.” I think it is terrible.
The Holy Spirit may be shed abroad in our hearts in this marvellous relationship, but God is still God. Yet we have a relationship with Him. He is Father. He is Abba to us.
This, to me, is certainly good news.
Only those whom God justifies are subjects of His kingdom and members of His family. Did you hear that? Only those whom God justifies are subjects of His kingdom and members of His family.
How, we might well ask, could God break the hold with which the power of darkness holds us? How could He sever the link between us and a satanised and fallen mankind?
I wonder whether most believers have ever really begun to understand Calvary.
Sometimes preachers dwell on the physical sufferings of the Lord Jesus on Calvary, and we do not underestimate or devalue them. But the fact remains that Jesus suffered physically for six hours.
It is a most remarkable fact that the Gospels do not dwell on His physical suffering. We hear His cries, we hear the conversation, we hear the jeering of the crowds. The facts are given to us in an almost journalistic way.
It is almost as if the Gospel writers are so conscious of a fathomless mystery that they dare not talk merely about the physical. You have to go to the Old Testament to understand something of the agony of the One on the cross. In Psalm 22, you have the most unbelievable account of Calvary from the eyes of the One on the cross.
It is the untold story and the untellable story that is the real suffering of the Lord Jesus. I always take a few Scriptures and go for a journey through them with those who are with me. It is the only way I know of communicating something of that work which the Lord Jesus did on the cross.
Consider Isaiah 53:6:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
In the Hebrew, the word means that He made to gather upon Him the iniquity of us all. It is not just sin, but the most depraved word for sin—the word that speaks most of the abominable depravity of sin.
From Adam right the way through, all the great figures of history, every single person ever known—Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung—their iniquity came upon the Lord Jesus. Into one single human frame was compressed the iniquity of the whole world, from its beginning to its end.
Again, listen to John 1:29:
Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!
There is nothing more beautiful than a lamb, nothing more innocent, nothing sweeter than a newborn lamb. It is always, to people all over the world and in every culture, a symbol of innocence, purity, and righteousness.
But then we have this most amazing thing:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.
A snake is exactly the opposite. It is a symbol of all that is dark, cunning, and deceitful. It is a symbol of the underworld, a symbol and a name of Satan. It is everything poisonous, everything horrifying.
Now we suddenly find that this Lamb of God, upon the cross, became the uplifted serpent—as if into Himself He took the very poison of Satan, as if He took into Himself that venom which has poisoned all mankind and barred us from the kingdom of God.
Then turn to Mark 14:27:
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad.
He is quoting the prophet Zechariah, but the prophet Zechariah did not say, “I will smite.” The prophet said, “Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” If you look in the Hebrew, it does not say, “I will smite the shepherd,” nor in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament which the early church used.
Why did the Lord Jesus change this word, unless He was seeking to bring home to us that it was not Satan who struck Him? It was not even mankind that struck Him, Jew or Gentile. It was God Himself who struck His own Son.
When the Lamb became the uplifted serpent and all iniquity was laid upon Him, God struck Him. Out of the darkness, out of His tortured heart, came the words:
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
We do not know what happened in those hours, except that Jesus tasted death for every man. Not in just a general way—it is beyond our minds, beyond computation—that He tasted death as if it were your death, and He tasted my death as if it were my death. He tasted death for every man.
In that moment, Jesus died with those words: “It is finished.”
In Mark 15:38 we read:
And the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom.
I must finish, but my point is very simply this: we shall never understand what happened to the Lord Jesus, neither now nor in eternity. I do not care how long eternity is—it is endless. None of us, with our finite minds, even all of us together, will ever understand what the Lord Jesus went through.
But this we know: He won our salvation. He came back with a finished work, with the salvation of God, which breaks the link between us and satanised humanity and brings us to the place where we can be delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
This is indeed good news. Could there be anything more wonderful?
I think of all my sin, as the old hymn puts it:
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
The prophet Isaiah says:
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions.
And in another place, the Lord says:
I will remember their sins no more.
How could this be? In what way?
Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
Him who knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Did you hear that? He who knew no sin—that is the Lord Jesus—God made to be our sin: your sin, my sin, that you and I might become the righteousness of God in Him.
How is it possible for me? In myself, I was disqualified from the kingdom of God. How is it possible for me to become the righteousness of God? Only when God justifies me on the basis of the work of the Lord Jesus.
My sin was not only cancelled. It was not only blotted out. It is not only remembered no more. It has been transferred. Upon Jesus, in His perfect humanity, all my sin was placed; and His righteousness was transferred to me, so that God says, “Lance is righteous.”
Can you believe that? You know me well enough to know it is not possible, if God did not say, “I declare him righteous. I declare him righteous on the basis of My Son’s finished work. My Son became Lance’s sin, that Lance might become My Son’s righteousness.”
This is what it means to be justified: just as if you had never sinned.
It is such good news that most believers cannot believe it. It is as simple as that. Most believers cannot believe it. “Oh, no, no, no, it is going too far. This is extreme. This is radical. If it goes on like this, we shall all be able to live in sin.”
Of course, you cannot live in sin. There is much more; we shall come to that next time. But the fact of the matter is this: here is a foundation.
Have you begun to understand something? The foundation of God’s kingdom is the grace of God. It is the finished work of the Lord Jesus.
In Romans 1:16, it says:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Think of that.
Then 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 and 24 says:
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.
For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.
But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Here, then, we begin to understand the good news of the gospel. How can you and I enter into this kingdom of God? Only when we humble ourselves.
There is none of this presidential-election atmosphere so often found in many evangelistic meetings. We sell Jesus as if He were a commodity. We devalue Him. We make Him sweet and sentimental. We make Him appealing and popular, and somehow or other we ask people to vote for Him: “Put up your hand.”
I am not saying that you cannot be saved by putting up your hand or standing up. I myself came to the Lord when I stood up in a meeting. I thank God for such a challenge.
But the fact remains that this gospel is not some presidential election. It is not an appeal to you to throw your weight behind Jesus. It is not an appeal to vote for Him. It is not an appeal to do Him good, to put your energy and gifts at His disposal.
This gospel is that you and I need to humble ourselves before God, and we need to repent from all our dead works. We have to turn away from our sin.
If there were more old-fashioned conversion, with people weeping over their sin, we would not have the immorality we have in the church, and we would not have this superficiality in the church. We would not have all this wilderness in the church, because men and women would have, at the very heart of their experience, repentance.
This is the gospel. Look anywhere in the whole New Testament, and you will find every apostle and every evangelist saying, “Repent, and believe on the Lord Jesus.”
Humility, repentance, and faith: these are the three essential constituents if you and I are to be saved, if you and I are to be born of God.
But just wait. I have not finished. I will finish—do not worry—in a few moments. Listen carefully, because this comes home to us as believers.
The foundation of all God’s dealings with us, from the day you and I are saved, from the day we are born of God, is the same grace and the same finished work of the Lord Jesus.
Here are the three things: only if we humble ourselves can we go on. That is why God abominates pride. Where there is pride of any kind, it bars us from progress in the kingship of God. It frustrates the purpose of God in our lives.
I have seen people come into an experience of the Holy Spirit that changed their whole lives. I have seen other devoted believers who have not. Then these devoted believers come to me and say, “Why? So-and-so is a ragtag person. They are just no good. There must be something wrong with this whole matter to do with the Holy Spirit. So-and-so is absolutely nothing, and now look—he comes into a real experience of the Holy Spirit. I have been serving the Lord for years and years and years, and I do not.”
Then I will tell you why: there is no humility. Not only no humility, but you are trusting in your zeal, your devotion, and your work, as if that will win God’s favour and bring you into a deeper experience of the cross, a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit, or a deeper discovery of what the church is.
My dear friends, it is so simple. I find it terribly hard. I do not know about you.
You see, the foundation for God’s kingdom is grace. So here I come, and I feel, “Well, I am a Jew. I think I have a better chance than you. After all, these people are my relatives.” That is what I feel. I feel like the Apostle Paul did. I feel, “I have a claim on You, Lord. These others here are good folks; they have been saved, but they are only Gentiles. I am a Jew.”
And you know, the Lord does nothing.
Then I see someone who is a Gentile—and not just an ordinary Gentile. He comes from a family of convicts. He has behind him nothing but bad and delinquency throughout his life. Yet I see him entering into fullness, and he begins to see. I think, “What is wrong? Here am I. My mother came from the tribe of Benjamin. My father came from the tribe of Judah. Abarbanel, the great Jewish commentator, is one of my relatives. And him, my Lord? What is wrong?”
The basis of all God’s dealings in the kingdom of God is His grace—not your pedigree, not your background, not your knowledge, not your zeal, not your good works. It is the grace of God from beginning to end.
If I am going to know what it is to be crucified with Christ, only God can reveal it to me, and only by His grace will He reveal it to me—for no other reason.
If I am to know the Holy Spirit in all His indwelling and the fruit of the Spirit, it is only by the grace of God that I shall know the work of the Holy Spirit. If I am to know the anointing of the Holy Spirit with all His gifts and all His power, it is only by the grace of God that I will know such an anointing.
If I am to see what the church is and practically be involved in its building up, related to other brothers and sisters, then it will only be by the grace of God.
My dear friends, when you sit down and think about it, this is good news. If it really were a question of pedigree, background, studies, or zeal, where would we be?
No, my dear friends. Here we have something so marvellous that I say: this is the good news of the kingdom of God.
Many, many years ago, God gave a vision to a certain Hebrew prophet called Zechariah. It was all to do with the testimony—the testimony of Jesus. It was to do with the building programme.
Zechariah was so burdened. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Then God showed him this seven-branched lampstand and the two olive trees, and then came the word:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain:
And he shall bring forth the topstone with shoutings of, Grace, grace, unto it.
The work began in the grace of God. It developed by the grace of God. It would end by the grace of God.
Here, then, is the good news of the kingdom of God: any man or woman who finally comes to the throne of the Lamb, who finally overcomes and sits down with the Lord Jesus in His throne, who is part of that Bride, of that city which will reign with Him forever—it will be all of grace.
May the Lord bless every one of us, and may this preaching this morning of the gospel reach our hearts.
Father, we want very simply to respond to You. We take this matter to do with Your grace and the gospel—so kindergarten, and yet, Lord, so few of us understand it.
When You begin to deal with us, when You begin, as it were, to disturb us and turn us upside down and inside out, then, Lord, we become neurotic, nervous, full of accusations from the enemy and charges.
O Lord, let this gospel of the kingdom get into our hearts this day. May we know that whom God justifies, who can accuse?
Lord Jesus, work in our hearts in the most wonderful way. Open the eyes of our hearts to understand in a new and fuller way than ever before this matter of the gospel of the kingdom. We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.