Good afternoon, brothers and sisters.
I’d like to see how many of you are here for the first time this year. Would you raise your hand so we can see?
Where have you been for twenty-five years?
You see this name here on the front. Do you know who George Fox is? How many of you know George Fox? You say, “It’s a dog.” A few.
Usually, here in the Northwest, we meet at the Lutheran school up in Tacoma, Washington. But this year we have gone a hundred years ahead, and we are meeting with George Fox.
George Fox was a brother from England. In about 1640, God revealed to him by His Word the spiritual reality of the new birth. He spent his life preaching the truth of following the Holy Spirit, and he spent many years in prison for this faith.
Late in the nineteenth century, three churches of the Quakers were established here in this town, Newberg. In 1890, or around there, they built this college for the glory of God.
Last time we were in the Northwest at WCCC, we were Lutherans; but now we are Quakers.
We want to read some Scriptures as we begin today. I would like us to begin in Genesis 45. Joseph is speaking to his brothers.
Genesis 45:5:
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Genesis 45:7-8:
And God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Then, in Genesis 50, we have Joseph’s last words to his brothers. Genesis 50:19-20:
And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
A few verses from Daniel 4. Daniel is telling King Nebuchadnezzar of the judgment awaiting him. Daniel 4:25-26:
That thou shalt be driven from men; and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; and thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven: and seven times shall pass over thee; till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.
And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
Then we have David’s testimony in Psalm 62. Psalm 62:11-12:
God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this,
That power belongeth unto God.
Also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth lovingkindness:
For Thou renderest to every man according to his work.
Then, in Romans 9, the testimony regarding Pharaoh. Romans 9:17-18:
For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee My power, and that My name might be published abroad in all the earth.
So then He hath mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardeneth.
Second Peter 3, verses 3, 4, and 9:
Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts,
And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Second Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Habakkuk 3:1-4:
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth.
O Lord, I have heard the report of Thee, and am afraid:
O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.God came from Teman,
And the Holy One from mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
And His brightness was as the light;
He had rays coming forth from His hand;
And there was the hiding of His power.
Finally, one verse in Matthew 6. Matthew 6:22:
The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Let us pray.
Our Father, we come to speak about Thy kingdom, and we bow before Thee. It is Thy kingdom, Thine is the power, and Thine is the glory.
Give us deeper revelation of the kingdom of God, and may the King be enthroned in our midst. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is very familiar to many millions of Christians.
I was not a Christian until I was twenty years old, but by six years old, I had memorized the Lord’s Prayer because, in the church I went to, they repeated it every service.
I went to a church where they said, “Forgive us our debts,” not “trespasses.” But we all memorized this prayer.
Now, if we had a quiz today, how many of you have memorized this prayer? You could repeat it completely. I see some people raising their hands halfway.
Our brother Stephen, from his youngest days, knew this Lord’s Prayer. I do not know about our brother Chris, but since he memorizes everything, probably he knew that.
It is spoken of all the time. What does it mean?
I had memorized this prayer, but I had no idea what it meant.
The most popular use of this prayer in Matthew 6 is that it is a prayer formula to have your sins forgiven.
Many people go to the Roman church, and when they confess their sins, depending on how bad their sins were, the priest tells them to pray this prayer ten times every day.
Now, I was not Roman Catholic, because, to me, it would have been fifty times a day.
I grew up among many people like this, and they could even say the Lord’s Prayer in Latin. But it was just a magic formula.
I remember when I went to seminary to study to be a minister, you had to go to a speech class. Many times in such a school, they teach you lessons on the Lord’s Prayer. That is, how to say it.
Because when you become the pastor and say the Lord’s Prayer, you have to say it religiously. So we were taught the prayer in three parts.
The first part, you must speak very humbly: “Our Father.” Oh, so humble.
Now, when we make our petitions, we are supposed to lift our voice. We are to earnestly pray, especially for daily bread, for forgiveness, and for deliverance from evil.
And when you come to the end, “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,” there is where you press in with your most reverent voice. You only had three sentences, and everybody knows that the prayer is almost over.
But what is this: “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory”? Is this a doctrine we believe? Is it a statement of faith? Is it the reason we can ask and make requests? What does it mean to us?
Is it prayer? Is it worship?
You see, this simple matter brings in so much. But the real question is this: it is not the repeating of this prayer that has any redemptive value.
It was our Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples about kingdom reality. Is this real to you?
“Thine is the kingdom. Thine is the power. Thine is the glory.” This should be the disciple’s reality.
This was the reality of our Lord Jesus when He was on earth. Everywhere our Lord Jesus went, you were touched by a kingdom reality.
He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. As He preached, there was a demonstration of kingdom power. At times, one could see the glory of God in the Lord Jesus.
Now, of course, this was His reality. He was the King of the kingdom.
In terms of power, He had all power. He defeated Satan in the wilderness. He bound demons. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He ruled over wind and waves. He was even master over the authorities in Jerusalem. He lived this kingdom life.
And for the church, after Pentecost, they lived in a daily reality of this kingdom.
But what about us? When our Lord spoke this prayer to the disciples, in this simple prayer He opened their understanding to two things.
There are two great forces going on in their midst. The Father, who is in heaven, was King and Lord over all. His was the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
But there were also things going on upon the earth: the kingdoms of this world, even the religious kingdoms of this world.
These two things, which seemed separate, were being united through Jesus Christ. Now the kingdom of heaven could touch the kingdoms of this earth.
The disciples suddenly realized that there was so much more to life than just walking on this earth. They were to walk on this earth, but take orders from heaven.
They were going to have to understand what it means to live in the kingdom of the heavens as a reality while walking upon this earth.
The Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples many things concerning the kingdom of God. But it did not become real to them until the power came from on high. Then they realized the kingdom of God had come down to earth in the church, and they began to preach the gospel.
The early disciples, these followers of the Way, began to preach—and continued to preach—the gospel of the kingdom.
Now I want to briefly review what the gospel of the kingdom is. I see a number of young people here, and there are many here for the first time.
The gospel of the kingdom has four basic points. We can see these points by reviewing the sermons given to us in the book of Acts. Do you know what the gospel of the kingdom is?
The first point is very important, and today it is often not mentioned. The first point of the gospel of the kingdom is this: God rules and reigns over all.
He has created all things. He sustains all things. He blesses all things. He must be given account of by all mankind.
He is the Creator; we are the creatures. We must respond to His kingship.
When you read the various messages of our brothers in the book of Acts, you see that Paul and the others are careful to bring this matter up.
When Paul was speaking to Gentiles in Athens and spoke to them the gospel, he began with the unknown God. He told them that He was the Creator of everything, in whom they live and move and have their being. They must be accountable for judgment as to how they respond to this one great God.
The second point of the kingdom gospel, given to us by the prophets of the Old Testament, is that God had a plan.
He was planning to set a Man upon the right hand of His power, to reign in the kingdom forever and ever.
In the fullness of time, God would make heaven and earth one by the kingship of a glorious Man sitting on the throne at the right hand of the Father.
The third point: Jesus came as the King for His kingdom. Through His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and sitting down at the right hand of God, He defeated the usurper of the kingdom of this world.
He made an open show of principalities and powers, and He opened a new and living way for many sons into glory.
Then the fourth point: repent and believe. Why repent? Because we have lived our lives independently of this God who rules.
Now it is time for the creature to cease his rebellion and bow before God. By faith in the King, the Lord Jesus, those who repent and believe are transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.
Now, this is a tremendous gospel. When we preach this gospel, it has power. But when you preach this gospel, it produces conflict.
You remember the passage we read in 2 Peter 3. This really applies today, does it not? Think especially of this first point.
If you tell people today, “God rules over you, and you are responsible for that,” what would be the response of most of your friends who are in the world?
Immediately they begin to mock. “Where is this God? Where is this promise of His coming?”
“Throughout the history of the world, everything has remained the same. There is no God who rules over me.” Today, this world is full of mockers.
But there is something interesting. In the first chapters of the book of Acts, when the church was living in kingdom reality, the people in Jerusalem were afraid of the church. They dared not casually visit these people of the Way.
This leads us to ask the question: is the church today living in kingdom reality?
Is God ruling over us? I think it is in this very first point of the gospel that we find the necessity, even today among God’s people, for repentance.
In Matthew 6, where our Lord speaks of this prayer that we are studying, we read verse 22 about the disciple having a single eye for the kingdom.
When it comes to the problem of why we do not sense the kingdom today, the issue is this matter of having a single eye.
Remember, the Lord Jesus says you cannot serve two masters. You cannot seek first His kingdom if you are worried about what you shall eat, what you shall wear, and where you shall live.
But those who seek the kingdom and His righteousness first taste kingdom reality.
What is this single eye? For us, it is that single eye that looks to the Lord in everything.
Down through the history in the Scriptures, we see that there have been servants of the kingdom who had this single eye. It was a single eye that saw the power of God.
These servants through history saw God sovereignly ruling and overruling in the affairs of men.
While most men walk through this life without an awareness of God’s rulership in this world, these men could see it. In the lives of these servants, a revelation of the kingdom broke in upon their lives, and they were never the same.
Our brothers spoke this morning of Abraham. After the God of glory appeared to him, he began to sense that God was ruling and reigning behind his life.
So it was with Isaac and Jacob. We read in Genesis 45 of the case of Joseph. Do you hear what he said?
“You, my brothers, are just seeing what has happened on this earthly frame. Do you not know that God has ruled and overruled in everything that you have done?”
“You meant it for evil. God used it for good. You did not send me to Egypt. God sent me to Egypt to preserve a remnant.”
Now what does Joseph see? A God who rules and overrules; a God who carries the life of His servant.
Abraham came to such a faith in the sovereignty of God’s power that somehow he believed that, even in the offering of his son Isaac, God would bring him back to life in a great, powerful overruling.
This story continues through the history of the old covenant. Moses was standing before Pharaoh. Pharaoh was all-powerful; Moses was nothing.
Moses spoke to Pharaoh and said, “Pharaoh, God is using you to display His power.”
We read a few verses from Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar was all-powerful; Daniel was nothing. But Daniel had this single eye.
What did he say to Nebuchadnezzar? He said, “Nebuchadnezzar, you are the ruler, the king and lord of all this earth, because God gave you this power.”
“If you will not recognize that it is He who has given you the power, then you will become as an animal. You will be humbled by the providential power of God until you recognize that His kingdom rules.”
Is that not amazing, that Daniel could see through? He saw through even to the rising and falling of the great empires throughout history, until finally the kingdom of God comes down as a stone and destroys all the kingdoms of the world. What a view he had.
When we read Psalm 62, David’s testimony is this: “Once the Lord has spoken; twice I have heard: all power belongs to God.”
But that is not just a statement of religious worship. David saw that the Lord had the power.
Even as a young man, when he stood against Goliath, he saw not Goliath, but the God who rules over Goliath.
When he became king and went to war with the Philistines, he did not simply go to war. He said, “Lord, should I attack?”
Both of our brothers have already pointed to David’s testimony at the end of his days in 1 Chronicles 29. David gave tremendous wealth to God, and he said, “Everything I have—even this wealth—has come by Thy power.”
“Thine is the power and the greatness.” Do you see through in your life?
Many of you have come to the United States seeking freedom and a better way of life. Do you know that our God is sovereign? If you forget Who has given you wealth, what does God do by His power?
He sends us into a wilderness.
In Deuteronomy 8, Moses is talking to the children of Israel. He says, “God has taken you through the terrible wilderness so that, when you come into the land and God blesses you, you will not say, ‘My power has gotten me this wealth.’”
Brothers and sisters, we need that clear, single eye as to who gets the glory for everything that happens in our life.
Do you see the ruling and overruling God reigning over your life? We are talking about the power of God, and yet we have not talked about any great demonstration of His power.
But now I tell you a mystery: the greatest manifestation of the power of God is His sovereign providence in our lives.
He is ruling and overruling in order to bring us to His desired end.
You remember Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. What did he say? I will put it very simply.
“You took Jesus and crucified Him.” But you did not take Him. This was God’s predestined, foreordained plan.
You put Him to death. God has overruled and raised Him up again.
Do you see? You have been working against the purpose of God. Now repent.
That is a very powerful message. Imagine realizing that everything you have been doing in regard to Jesus has been at cross-purposes with the all-powerful, omnipotent God.
The story goes on. What is the book of Acts? Is it not a testimony that the Lord Jesus is on the throne at the right hand of the Father?
He is ruling and overruling through circumstances, from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. He is moving men, saving the rebellious, performing miracles, and overruling.
Throughout it all, we see God building His church. Even as Daniel said in chapter 4, when God moves, none can stay His hand.
Of course, we see this in the book of Revelation. We see the Lamb on the throne. We see the scroll in His hand. We see Him loosing the seals, sovereignly determining the destiny of this world.
The Bible gives a great testimony of God’s power. When we say, “Thine is the power,” do we have this single eye of realizing that everything He is doing today is toward His purpose and end?
In these last days of great outward falling away, there are yet some who see that God is ruling and overruling in order to recover His testimony.
In church life, we may see difficulties, divisions, and loss of life. Yet God is ruling and overruling all to prepare a bride for His Son.
My brothers and sisters, this is so crucial for us to understand. God is moving. None can stay His hand.
But we, as His children, can understand what He is doing and cooperate with Him. Or we can be blind to what He is doing and find ourselves being overruled all the time.
That is why I think that, when we say, “Thine is the kingdom and the glory forever,” it needs to be said from the knees.
Those who understand the meaning behind those words are also those servants who are frequently found in a place of repentance.
How God wants servants who yield to His rule.
Here we enter into a mystery that is hard to understand. Why does He want us to see His purpose in all that is happening?
Because it is His kingdom, but He wants to share that kingdom. It is His power, but He wants to delegate that power. It is His glory, but He wants us to know this glory.
There is a great plan of God today. It is moving with power and providence. There is a flow and a purpose to all that is being done.
If we see what He is doing, if we are adjusted to what He is doing in such a way that we can cooperate with His work, then He delegates His power, giving authority unto men.
As our brother spoke last night, it is not that God wants to demonstrate His power, but to demonstrate His power through man.
We mentioned all of these different men down through the ages, including those in the early church. These men were taken up and carried by this tremendous vision.
But we have to remark regarding the place of most of God’s children. There were those who were faithful, but there were many, many more who spent their energies resisting God.
As our Lord Jesus began to explain to His disciples this matter of discipleship in the kingdom, He warned them that if they kept their lives, they were going to lose their lives.
But if they gave themselves to the Lord’s purpose, they would discover their life.
Now, we all know these words. But are we resisting our King? Are we controlling our own lives?
Do our plans get in the way of God’s plan? Are we controlling our environment? Are we overconcerned with mammon, food, or drink, finding ourselves in some kind of unbelief, worrying about small things?
Meanwhile, there is a kingdom purpose that, if we are taken up with it, God will add all other things unto us.
Who can sense what God is doing today? His kingdom is very near.
Now I want to speak of one more matter regarding this kingdom reality as we live in it today. I would like you to turn back to that passage in Habakkuk 3.
There is a little phrase at the end of verse 4 that I want to use to encapsulate my thoughts. This verse speaks of the hiding of His power.
This is important because the reality of the kingdom of the heavens that we live in today involves the hiding of His power.
Now, what does Habakkuk mean by this? You will remember Habakkuk was very upset when he saw the invasion of the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, into Judea. He did not understand what was happening.
He needed vision. He stood on the wall to receive vision, and God said, “I will give you vision. With this vision, you can run through a desperate time.”
Chapter 3 is what Habakkuk sings and prays after he saw the vision. He understood the hiding of His power.
What did God say? “I will tell you what I am doing, but you will not believe it. I am using the idolatrous and worldly Babylonians to discipline My people.”
God, in His sovereign power, was about to use Babylon in order to discipline and purify His people.
Habakkuk understood. Behind this whole thing was God’s power, irresistibly moving toward His purpose for His people.
When he saw the absolute power of God, he did three things. First of all, he feared.
“I have heard the report of Thee, and I fear.” Yet, because he saw what the Lord was doing, he could say, “O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of this time.”
Is that not an incredible prayer? He goes beyond that and says, “In wrath, remember mercy.”
Here is somebody who understands the hiding of His power.
So he begins to sing this song about how God has manifested His glory and shown His power throughout history, in great moments of Israel’s history.
Yet even in these moments, where His power was manifest, it was only the hiding of His power.
Now, why does God hide His power? Why does He not manifest it fully? None of us could survive.
God said in Malachi, “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”
Peter said in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is hiding His power for mercy’s sake—not wishing that any should perish, but that all may come to repentance.
In the kingdom of the heavens today, where we live, there is the hiding of His power for the sake of mercy.
It is not only mercy upon those in darkness in this world. This is the time for us to be faithful and preach the kingdom gospel, that all who would be saved will come in.
But the hiding of His power is also because of His mercy toward His people.
Jeremiah, when he saw Jerusalem destroyed, wrote Lamentations. Jeremiah saw the whole outward thing destroyed, but he said in Lamentations, “By His mercies we are not consumed.”
Our God has no interest in just our outward things.
If we move at cross-purposes with His ways, our God does not have to destroy anything. He just removes His Spirit.
As our brothers shared this morning, the glory left the temple. Yet the temple carried on.
In this day, the church carries on. The church is in control of itself. The leaders are full of their plans. The people are satisfied.
But we must realize that this is the day of the hiding of His power, because He is having mercy upon us.
He removes the testimony. He removes His presence from our lives and from our assembly. Do we see it?
Leaders, look at our assemblies. What does that cause you to do?
Brothers and sisters, look at our lives—our runaway lives. There is so much loss, so much coming at cross-purposes with God.
God would rule over His people.
Even today, in the midst of outward problems, the Lord is raising up hidden ones—those who know the Lord and fear.
They are those who are praying from the depth of their hearts, “Thy will be done in my life on earth.”
We understand today that God’s power is not fully manifest, but it is to give us time to repent.
God has a precious plan. It will not be frustrated. God is using the events of this day, here in our country.
His overruling is a mercy to us. When He does not allow us to go our own way, it is a mercy to us.
How the Lord wants to recover in His church His throne—absolute mastery.
May this be a day when we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. God is moving. None can stay His hand.
Are you taken up in His purpose, with that single eye on the Lord Jesus? The providential power of God—thine is the power.
All things will be brought to the light. So we cry for mercy.
Let us pray.
Our Father, we come here representing many different gatherings of Your people, in various different states of disrepair and need.
Some are outwardly strong, inwardly dead. Some are under attack, small, and yet Your presence is with them.
In these last days, we pray that those who are here, even this week, could hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches.
In the day of Thy power, in the day of Thy coming, all things of Your power will be revealed.
O God, You are Lord, King, Master. We fear You.
We pray, revive us, Lord, in the midst of these years. And even in wrath, remember mercy.
This alone will give us that life we need, up in the high places with hinds’ feet. This alone will allow us to rejoice in the God of our salvation, even if our barns are empty.
Press in upon us with renewed vision of Your kingdom purpose, and help us conform to Your way.
We pray in the name of our King and Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.